London: Taking a walk through Asia (Part II)

Hi everyone! I've been wanting to update the blog since the beginning of last week but it was a busy week for me. I went to Wellington for a couple of days and the weather was brilliant. Wellington put on a great show while I was there. Can you believe that it was my first visit to the capital? First visit to the domestic terminal in Auckland? As my friend said to me, I'm a foreigner in my own country. I totally forgot to take photos of the food I ate (which wasn't that much really), but had some really good beef rendang and mee goreng at KK's. That's pretty much all you need to know.

This is Part II of my Asian culinary adventure! This week we will be venturing all around China as well as Japan. After this blog, I will only have two more London posts! Quite sad really. I had some fantastic food memories in London.

Welcome to China:

I don't know where to start really. Chinese cuisine is quite broad and there are a number of different styles depending on the region. A few of the restaurants that I mention below were recommended to me by my ex-flatmate, N. Both my flatmate at the time, A, and I would pretty much just go with the flow with her recommendations as every place she took us to was always a great experience. It's a shame I never got to take my parents to any of them since the only food my mother likes to eat apart from her own is Chinese food. It's slightly embarrassing. 

Shanghai Blues

193-197 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BD (Closest tube station: Holborn)

I was told about this place thanks to Z ("50% off dim sum on the weekends!") who had been here previously. She thought it was better than Yum Cha Silks and Spice and warned me that while the food was good, there was less variety and was more expensive making the 50% discount vital. So along with Z and F, we embarked on a weekend dim sum feed. The moment you walk into the restaurant, it almost feels like a bit of a surprise. I don't exactly know how to describe it except that it didn't feel like a Chinese restaurant up until we sat down and ordered.

No dim sum experience can be without a pot of tea, so instead of the usual chinese/jasmine tea, so I ordered the chrysanthemum bud tea (£3.20 a pot per person), which was so floral and easy to drink. I had something similar at Silks and Spice, so I gather that I must like this kind of tea.

We ordered an array of dishes: mini golden pumpkins (£5), char siu bao/BBQ pork buns (£4.60), xiao long bao/shanghai dumplings (£5.60), shanghai pork dumplings (£5.60), crystal prawn dumplings (£5.60), and steamed rice with chinese mushrooms, chicken and chinese sausage (£6.20).

I wish I could remember why we ordered the mini golden pumpkins, because I would usually not order something like that. But whatever the reason, it was a good decision. The pumpkins consisted of a pumpkin juice pastry filled with pumpkin and chopped chinese mushrooms. They looked like mini pumpkins and were almost too cute to eat. However, nothing that cute gets by me and my stomach, so I gladly ate one! Yum!

Everything else was also pretty delicious to eat though F was not so much of a fan of the xiao long bao, as the colour and texture of the filling inside did not appeal to her much. F and I did agree that the char siu bao from Yum Cha Silks and Spice was much better, but was nevertheless still good to eat. I never used to like char siu bao that much actually, but London seemed to convert me. Same with egg tarts!

While everything was pretty solid, I still consider it not as good as Yum Cha Silks and Spice. Almost, but not quite. Without the 50% discount the dishes are priced way too high. Why pay over £5 for har gow when you can pay a couple of pounds less than that in Camden/Chalk Farm?

Royal China

24-26 Baker Street, London W1U 7AB (Closest tube station: Baker Street)

My trip to Royal China was an excuse to go out and not stay in my shoebox flat. After endless months of studying, exams were finally over. I was making plans leading up to the end of month, where I would move out to my new place and then travel briefly for a week with my parents who came briefly see me whilst travelling all over Europe. I can't wait for retirement.

When I did my dim sum research, Royal China frequently came up. Many of their restaurants are located throughout London and I had gathered that the Baker Street one would be the best out of the lot (excluding Queensway's one which was closed for renovations at the time). I requested some dim sum time with Z and away we went! We were pretty lucky to get away with no reservation as it was extremely busy once we arrived. We weren't that hungry (though I'm pretty sure I did most of the eating) so we ordered four dim sum dishes: Fried Glutinous Mixed Meat Dumplings, Fried Vegetarian Beancurd Rolls, Roast Pork Buns, and Prawn Dumplings. It's not that hard to identify which one is which from the photo. Everything tasted decent, but not as good as Yum Cha Silks and Spice. Probably not as good at Shanghai Blues, but at least Royal China is about £2 less per dish if you go by Shanghai's normal prices, and it's not like Shanghai Blues is magnificiently better either.

Another mention: It's a shame I don't have any photos but I feel like I must mention another dim sum restaurant. Many many months ago, I attended the Southbank Chocolate Festival with my fiancé (well he wasn't at the time :)) and after walking around the area, I was in the mood for a non-chocolate bite to eat and something to drink. You must seem to think that I'm perpetually hungry. I'm not, honest..

Anyway we were walking around and I noticed Ping Pong, a dim sum restaurant which a friend recommended to me when we had a conversation that had something to do with food (nothing new here). I thought, oh why don't we go here? My fiancé, M, was skeptical as he confessed to me that he did not like dim sum (!!!!) and has never had a good experience. He blames the texture. To dislike dim sum is a crime in my household. I thought it was my mission to convince him that there was good dim sum around and that he just happened to not experience any good ones!!! But let me tell you that I regret taking him here. If I knew that it was not going to be good, I would have taken him somewhere else. We ended up sharing a set menu that was for one (rather than for two) and most of dumplings we shared were below par. Maybe I should have asked my friend which dumplings to order because maybe those ones do in fact taste good and I would know if I had ordered them. Or maybe not. Since then I have been unable to get him to come and eat dim sum with me. He's too scared. But once he comes and visits me in NZ, he'll have no choice....

My Old Place

88-90 Middlesex Street, London E1 7 EZ (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

Thanks to my ex-flatmate, this was one of my favourite places to go to London. With restaurants like this one you don't really expect quality service, but it's quick and affordable. It also ended up being very convenient for me too during the summer, as it was literally a three minute walk from my flat. My Old Place specialises in Northern Chinese cuisine, but also has a few Szechuan-like dishes on the menu. It's a nice change from the Cantonese food I tend to eat if I'm in the mood for Chinese.

There are two dishes that I always have to order when I visit. One being the stewed potato-green pepper-aubergine dish (£7) and the other being the BBQ lamb skewers (£1 per skewer). The first time I went there, I was skeptical of the potato dish. Not because of the potatoes of course, but because of the green peppers and aubergine. But as I must have mentioned in an earlier update, My Old Place made me change my views about aubergine. I just absolutely love it in that dish and am not afraid to eat it elsewhere now. As for the lamb skewers, well it was love at first sight for me. I cannot resist anything barbequed – especially if it's meat. The lamb is extremely tender and is generously spiced with cumin and the heat from the cumin really makes the lamb sing. Everyone (except my fiancé) that has come to eat with me here are big fans of the skewers. My fiancé on the other hand, thinks they don't trim off enough fat from the lamb. I seriously don't understand. Every other dish I have had there has also been good, though watch out for the Szechuan peppers if you're ordering a hot dish! Yikes, a pepper on the tongue is literally like an explosion in the mouth. And not a good one if you know what I mean.

Four Seasons Restaurant

12 Gerrard Street, London W1D 5PR (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

This is another restaurant that I went to on the basis of my ex-flatmate's recommendation.  There are two Four Seasons branches around the Chinatown area. I have also been to the second branch on Wardour Street, which was long ago when my parents came to visit me the first time. My parents are not exactly the most adventurous type of eaters, so when they eat out, 98% of the time they will eat at fast food chains or Chinese restaurants. I ate a lot of Chinese food in Chinatown during that week they were here.

When I was taken to Four Seasons during the winter, I almost had to do a double check. I had thought to myself, haven't I been here before? I didn't even realise that there were two branches in Chinatown. For the record, the food was rather decent at both branches though Gerrard Street was probably marginally better. Four Seasons are well-known and supposedly reputed for their Cantonese-style roast duck (£9 for a portion, £12 for half, £20.80 for whole), which I tried when we ordered the "two combo BBQ"(£8.50) where you can choose two dishes from the BBQ dishes menu. With the duck we also tried the soya chicken and both were flavourful and tender. I'm not sure if it was the best roast duck I've ever had but it was excellent for sure. Another dish that I really enjoyed was the Fujian fried rice (£9.50) which was something that I never tried before but would definitely love to try again. It's a bit similar to regular fried rice except that it comes with a dose of gravy on top. Again, I don't think Four Seasons would win an award for its service, so don't expect too much on that front.

Another mention: Another notable restaurant to mention would be Young Cheng, but the one located on Lisle Street rather than the buffet on Wardour Street or the one on Shaftesbury Avenue. Once again, my wonderful ex-flatmate recommended this place and out of all the restaurants in Chinatown that I went to, this one was my favourite. The selection of dishes she ordered for us was superb. I think there might have been some dishes on the Chinese menu that wasn't available on the English menu, but I'm not entirely sure on that. I managed to try Roasted Pigeon for the first time, which was pretty good. Not as flavourful as duck is, but good nonetheless. I really enjoyed all of the dishes. At the end of our meal we were given a small bowl of yam tong sui with sago (pretty much a sweet soup with yam and smaller tapioca pearls). It sort of reminded me of a dish my mum makes at home (minus the sago), so it brought me back to some excellent memories! It was delicious.

Another place in Chinatown that I've been to is Cafe TPT, which is next to the Four Seasons Wardour Street branch. Their food is a bit sweeter in flavour compared to the Four Seasons, but it's not too bad as well. There are a couple more restaurants in Chinatown that I experienced with my parents, but I don't really remember anything because they were either not that memorable or not that good. Well there was one thing that I remember from Wong Kei, but that's probably for another day....

Welcome to Japan:
You have no idea how much I love Japanese food. I enjoy it so much that it's probably one of my Top 3 favourite cuisines. I probably cook more Japanese food than Thai food, that's how much I enjoy it! It is shamefully my favourite part when I travel there. For the most part, Japanese food is nutritious and flavourful. You never feel guilty when you stuff your mouth with sushi, right? There's a reason why Japansese people tend to live longer than anyone else.

Taro Restaurant
10 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4TF (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

I've been to Taro a couple of times. My friend, Z, and I noticed this place as we were strolling around Old Compton and Brewer Street. Certainly it wasn't the best Japanese food I've eaten (actually there are probably a lot more decent, affordable Japanese restaurants in Auckland then there are in London), but it was doable. It was a packed house when Z and I came for dinner. The ramen dish that she ordered looked and tasted a bit strange and was average, but the tori karaage (deep fried marinaded chicken, £4.90) was really good. The chicken yakitori sticks (£4.50) that I ordered were pretty average and I didn't have any qualms with the salmon teriyaki don (£6.90).

Weeks later, I decided to plan a group outing for my coursemates. Initially I had picked Bincho (which I will talk about later), but they didn't have a table for 12 people for the time that I wanted when I called them a couple of days before our outing (as I was chastised, "You should've booked a week in advanced!"). So with such late notice, I decided that Taro wouldn't be so bad. It was right next to Bincho and based on the experience I had with my friend, the food was okay and the prices were diminutive. I just wanted to avoid a trip to Pizza Express (is that so bad?). While I booked for 12 people, 12 eventually became 18 and luckily the staff at Taro didn't mind so much about that. I had the impression that the food wasn't so much a hit with most of my coursemates. A pretty mixed reaction depending on what you ordered, like the yakisoba and ramen dishes weren't so much a hit. I myself ordered the tori karaage again even though I knew I was going to be full with my chicken teriyaki bento box (£9.90, with sushi £12.90). The salmon teriyaki is much better than the chicken, as their cooking method for the chicken was kind of unorthodox and strange. My friend's gyoza (£4.80) was not too shabby as well.

I convinced my friend to try shochu and holy bananas do I regret it. I now realise that it is much stronger than the milder korean soju I've tried. It's like taking a shot of misery into your mouth.

Other mentions: I wish I had taken more photos of Japanese food. But once I see it, I usually pounce. When I moved closer to Liverpool Street, my fiancé and I most frequently visited The Japanese Canteen. The name suggests that it may sound not so good, but their food was really good value for money and we enjoyed every meal we ate there. Quick service and dimunitive prices. We would bring friends along sometimes and we never had any complaints. My fiancé would pretty much uninspiringly order the same dish because he liked it so much, which was the chicken katsu curry (breast £5.95, thigh £4.95). While I would mostly order the salmon teriyaki donburi (£5.95) which was delicious, I have tried the chicken teriyaki donburi (£4.95) which is not as good as the salmon, the volcano roll sushi (£5.95) which has a bit of heat to it but is very filling indeed, the takoyaki (£2.95) which was decent, and the miso soup (£1.50) which was better than the crap you can get at Itsu.

They seat around 130 people and it's a madhouse during the lunch service. That's all you need to know.

Z and I went through a Japanese phase after we ate at Taro. Ten Ten Tei, which is close the the other branch of Taro, is another Japanese restaurant around the Soho area. There is more seating downstairs and while it's sort of relatively inexpensive, it's inexpensive for London but costs a little tiny bit more than Taro (as far as I can recall). Dishes we ordered included agedashi tofu (deep-fried tofu with a dashi-based sauce), nasu dengaku (eggplant glazed with miso), tonkatsu (fried breaded pork cutlet) with rice, and beef donburi (or otherwise known as gyudon, beef on rice). Everything arrived promptly and service was efficient.

Last but not least, Bincho. One of the first things that I wanted to find when I moved to London was a izakaya/yakitori bar that would similarly fulfill the same expectations I usually have at Tanuki's Cave. I've been to both locations – once in Soho with Z and the other in Exmouth Market with my fiancé, though it looks like the EC1 location is closed since there's no mention left on their website. While not as good as Tanuki's, it's still pretty decent. I basically enjoy anything on a stick really. There's a minimum of two skewers per menu item and everything is pretty good from the menu. Even the chicken gizzards. My least favourites were probably the pork belly skewers (£2 per skewer) which were too fatty for my liking (yes, even for me!!) and the shiitake mushroom skewers (£1.75 per skewer) which had barely any flavour. You can do walk-ins at Bincho, but it can get really busy at night.

Japanese Canteen: 100 Middlesex Street, London E1 7EZ (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

Ten Ten Tei, 56 Brewer Street, Soho W1F 9TJ (Closest tube station: Piccadilly Circus)

Bincho: 16 Old Compton Street, Soho W1D 4TL (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

From the above, it doesn't really seem like I ate much sushi. But I ate tons of it. Shamefully (or maybe not so), I went to Wasabi for my sushi as a matter of convenience and price. It's not too bad. Just don't go there for warm/hot meals, it's not good at all. Not even worth the little amount you pay.