Baiwei

I've never been to Bar Shu or Ba Shan, arguably these would have been a better starting point, but Art and I recently ate at Baiwei, the newest offering from the group.

Despite having read about the understated decor, I was still surprised by just how pared back it is in there.  We ate in the first floor dining room, which is a little sleeker than the ground floor but small and packed with tables.  The restaurant wasn't full though so we didn't have any immediate neighbours.

We ordered tap water which was met with undisguised disdain, but we ignored it.  We were after a quick bite before seeing Blue Jasmine and it's the perfect place for a brief visit.  Food arrived quickly.

First up the pork belly and bamboo pot sticker dumplings (£6.50).  These were good, the pot could have been a bit stickier, but the best thing was the soy dipping sauce, so good.

More pork taking the form of soyed slivers which were to be wrapped in tofu sheets and garnished with spring onion (£6.50).  I've never eaten anything like this before, the wraps being completely different in texture to other Chinese varieties I have tried.  Different in a good way.

The unanimous favourite dish of the night was this tofu with pork and black beans.  It was doused in chilli oil and was fiercely hot, we ordered some boiled rice to temper it slightly.  Loved it.  Think this was around £8.

I was a bit disappointed with the dan dan noodles (£4.50), they lacked heat and sauce.  The minced beef topping was dry and the noodles claggy.  Yipin China's version is far superior.

Last to appear was the spinach in garlic (£6).  Really good and powerfully flavoured, loads and loads of garlic.

As usual, we ordered way too much and were defeated.  I'd echo Marina's sentiment that the dishes best executed at Baiwei are the tofu ones.  Was certainly true of our experience, I wouldn't say I'm a tofu lover, but that was the most memorable part of the meal.

Good value for the amount of food, we paid about £16 each, I might go back, but won't rush.  Happy to have eaten here though, because I work so close yet rarely eat in Chinatown, something I've been saying for years and still intend to rectify.

Baiwei
8 Little Newport St
WC2
6.5/10

June Round Up

Here are some other things I've eaten over the last few weeks which I don't feel warrant posts to themselves really, and I'm liking the recent round up from April/May, feels a bit like having a clear out so here you have it for this month...

Mama Wangs
Straight from the off here I'm going to rave about these noodles.  In my opinion, the pork cheek biang biang noodles coming out of this little street food stall in various locations across the city, is one of the finest dishes London currently has to offer.

I bloody knew I'd love it, and I do.  I've been to Harringay Market twice in 3 weekends to get my fix and I'll be back, whenever they are there.  The assembling of the dish is theatrical, the noodles hand pulled while you wait, flash boiled then combined with the carrot, cucumber and coriander mix, chilli oil, dried chilli, sesame, cumin seeds and topped with the pork cheeks and crispy crackling.  Once I've eaten it, I literally cannot stop thinking about it for hours.  It's that good.  Fiery and fragrant, you need these in your lives. 

I've also tried the cumin lamb but they weren't quite as satisfying as the pork version.  Still amazing though.  Mama Wangs also host supperclubs and various events, check their website for details of the next dinner.  They're really sweet people and are serving up something quite unique.  See, raving about it and to think, I once claimed to not like Chinese food, I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself.

Cookhouse Joe
One lunchtime I darted up Berwick St from my office to meet Art at the reasonably new Cookhouse Joe, another chicken restaurant.  I must confess I've not really gotten involved in the recent chicken revolution, I do really want to try Wishbone, but Brixton is a bit out of my way.  I must rectify it and get down there.  The thing Cookhouse Joe has going for it is value for money, and proximity to my work I suppose.  Also, it's rotisserie chicken, not fried.

For just £6 you get half a chicken with fries and a side at lunchtime, making this only 5p more than a takeaway salad from Vital Ingredient.  An absolute steal and quite delicious actually.  I opted for the salad but corn or slaw sides are also available.  Staff were cheery and there's an upstairs seating area so plenty of room, anyway it's not too busy,  yet.  You also get a choice of sauce, garlic, yoghurt or chilli. 

Savage Salads
Another food stall find, Savage Salads are at Berwick Street Market 3 days a week through the 'summer' months.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday they can be found outside The Endurance.  Salads come in box or pitta, an ever changing, seasonal menu and you get a bit of everything for £4 in a pitta, or £5 in a box.  I was 5p short when I stopped by and they sorted me out anyway, because they're nice. 

On the day the selection included a brilliant panzanella,  a red cabbage and parsley number, a red quinoa salad flecked with pomegranate seeds and a bulghar wheat and mushroom thing.  All come served on a bed of leaves and topped with grilled chicken, halloumi and garlic sauce, if you wish.  I wolfed it all down back at my desk.  A great new addition to the market.

Meatlover

John, Sue and I went to the Meatlover soft launch @ Filthy McNasty's in Angel a couple of weekends ago, bouyed by the idea of 50% off of a meat feast.  It was good value but not mindblowing, we went for the large meatlover to share between the 3 of us, the ribs were excellent, tender and sticky, really nice work. 

I had high hopes for the fried chicken, based on pictures I'd seen, but was disappointed by what we were served, it lacked flavour and tasted like old oil.  The pulled pork and the brisket were good, but the ribs really were the highlight.  The side of mac & cheese was textbook and the fries were great.  Cabbage and bacon was a token green order.  We shared the cheesecake and the strawberry shortcake for afters and it all came to about £30, until we added our bar bill, drinks were not 50% off.

To be honest, I won't go back, but they're open until the pub gets a revamp and becomes The Fountain, a respectable gastropub, this is McNasty's bowing out.  Open through the 'summer'.

Mama Wangs
Various Locations
Often Harringay Market
South Harringay School
N4
10/10

Cookhouse Joe
55 Berwick St
Soho
W1
7/10



Savage Salads
Various locations inc
Berwick Street Market
Soho
W1
7/10

Meatlover
Filthy McNasty's
68 Amwell St
EC1R
5/10

Yipin China

Upon failing to get a table at Delhi Grill at 8pm last Friday, things looked like they would end badly until I remembered I've been meaning to try Yipin China.  5 minutes later we were sitting down and very excited about dinner.

It's been a long time since I've had Sichuan food, but I'd definitely say it's my preferred Chinese cuisine and I had high hopes for this place.  Perhaps best known for their enormous photo menu, being able to see what your dishes will look like before you get them pretty much guarantees that you won't be disappointed.

As well as a selection of Sichuan dishes, Yipin China also serves Hunanese and Cantonese food.  I have to say I have only once before eaten something hotter than the food I ate here, the laab from Charuwan.  I loved the chilli hit from each of the dishes I tried and I genuinely can't wait to try more.  They do takeaway too for the likes of me, living nearby.

First up was some free pickled radish.  This was a fiery introduction to what was to come, crunchy and satisfying.  I got some iced green tea and had LOTS of tap water throughout the evening which they thankfully readily replenished.

  

The dishes come as they are ready in a steady stream rather than in a structured, starter followed by main course and sides manner.  First to arrive was the shared pork belly (£8.00) which had nice crisp skin and a great flavour.  Thinking about it, this was the only dish we had without chilli, and was the least memorable.

I have to say I chickened out of the more adventurous offal dishes on the menu, I was feeling a tad delicate and the chilli helped, but I didn't have the stomach for intestines, jellyfish or tripe, not sure I ever do to be honest.  I really loved the legendary dan dan noodles, a dish of minced pork served on egg noodles in chilli oil.  So good and seriously brilliant value at £3.50 for the bowl.

I also had the stewed beef brisket in five spiced sauce with radish.  The beef was very tender, with a nice amount of fat left on it.  I really enjoyed the fragrant rich sauce and the crunch of the radish was a great addition.  Couldn't eat it all, generous sized portion for £9.00.

Thomas ordered the dry wok Hunanese chicken (£13.80) which was the hottest dish of the night.  It came in a wok and is presented above a flame at the table so it continues to sizzle.  It can be ordered with or without bones and is huge.

As I've mentioned, I'll certainly be coming back, service was swift and efficient and we had no trouble getting a table although the place was full, there were a steady stream of customers coming and going.  It's a bit out of the way, a 5 minute walk down Liverpool Road but it's worth the trip, there's something for everyone on that impressive menu, it's great value and I promise to be (a bit) braver next time I go.

70-72 Liverpool Road
Angel
N1
8/10

Eat Street

Blessed with a fair bit of time off over the last few weeks, I've been able to make regular excursions a mere 10 minute walk due West of my house, to Eat Street at King's Cross.

 Blythburgh belly pork and hoisin and mushroom, 

walnut and miso steamed buns from Yum Bun

 

I love the idea of this venture, a collective of street food vendors take turns to pitch on King's Boulevard and it's gone super size for the Olympics.  Usually a lunchtime only treat for those in the vicinity during the week, they are now open on the weekends and until 8pm daily, for the duration of the the games.  Slightly different location at the southern end of the Boulevard.

Thai meatballs from The Bowler with rice, 

slaw and fiery chilli jam

Check the website for a list of who will be there each day and a whole heap of other info.  Also see Petra Barran's twitter feed, @EatStreet, for deets.

The porky sub from Tongue 'n Cheek

Also happening thanks to London 2012, is Eat Street at the Exhibition Road Show, where all the usual Eat Street traders and more, will be on rotation with 20 different options each day.  It's open all day, until late Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I cannot wait to get down there to try the likes of Anna Mae's and Speck Mobile.

 Balti beef Bhangra burger

If you can, check out Eat Street whilst the opening hours are expanded, it's well worth the visit, I've never been disappointed with any the food I've been served and here's hoping the rain stays away.

Eat Street Collective

Various locations

Yum Bun

6/10

The Bowler

8/10

Tongue 'N Cheek

8.5/10 

I can't wait to try more Italian treats from these guys using unfavoured cuts.  The pork cheek sub was incredible.

Bhangra Burgers

Not my burger, would be wrong to rate.

The Ultimate Student Cookbook

Quadrille Publishing sent me Tiffany Goodall's From Pasta to Pancakes: The Ultimate Student Cookbook to review and I've tried a couple of recipes from it over the last weeks.

Tiffany has her own blog here featuring many more recipes and her thoughts on restaurants. Having completed a cookery course and realising her dream of publishing her own cookery book, she seems to have made it. But, are her recipes up to scratch? I've seen much of her, in magazines and on the web during her book launch month but what of the food?

Having been hooked on Rick Stein's latest series for BBC2 'Far Eastern Odyssey' my cooking has taken a more adventurous turn and I opted to cook Tiffany's Chinese beef noodle stir fry one night after work. I am not the biggest fan of Chinese cooking but have been hugely inspired by flavours of the orient of late.

I did adapt the recipe slightly but am pleased to say that it was great, light yet punchy due to the chilli, packed with crunchy veggies and padded out with some rice noodles which I am having a phase of adding to dishes wherever possible at the moment.


You will need:

2 sirloin steaks, sliced
1 green pepper (I used yellow)
2 tbs ginger, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 red chillis, deseeded and sliced
rice noodles
2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs soy sauce
2 limes, juice only
1 tbs honey (I used sugar)

I also added
beansprouts
sugar snap
bamboo shoots and water chestnut
chopped coriander

The image is misleading, the dish looks a little dry but it wasn't at all, the combination of soy, lime juice and a little sugar was perfect with the crunchy vegetables and the sirloin (annoyingly I slightly over cooked it) and there was more than enough to coat everything, and to sup out of the bowl to round things off. I love the boldness of the use of chilli too, in size they can vary obviously and if deseeded they are milder in flavour but I left the seeds in and the resulting meal was brilliantly hot.

I struggled a little with the vagueness and at times contradictory nature of the instructions in some areas of the recipe, for example the print states that the pepper should be finely chopped yet in the picture it is clearly sliced. Also I got 2 large sirloin steaks and this was ample, yet the recipe suggests using 3. I think that this is probably what appeals to Goodall's target audience however, students naturally, who probably cook in haste or with a lackadaisical approach (which there is nothing wrong with - it seems that the idea here is akin to the Jamie Oliver 'pass it on' campaign, simplicity being key, with plenty of margin for interpretation).

I like the categorization of the book, healthy recipes, quick recipes, treats, there are even some cocktails towards the end. It's certainly geared towards a young novice chef with a chapter named Wasted Weekends. I think Tiffany Goodall has a promising future, if she is able to adapt her cooking style as she matures and retain the interest of her readers. If she is not, there will always be students who welcome a change to the usual takeaway and ready meals.

Catch Tiffany on Market Kitchen on Thursday 27th Aug, I'm interested to see if she has a TV presence to match the likability factor of the book. She clearly has a passion for food and a flair for home cookery.

Chilli Cool

I've been very keen to try Szechuan food in London for some time now and recently spent the evening in Bloomsbury sampling the delights of a student union bar, a little over £2 a pint, can't argue with that. After a few of those I thought at last, a chance to sample the delights of Chilli Cool.

I'm not a big fan of chinese food but had high hopes of this place. When we arrived there were several large groups and a few couples, it was refreshingly busy for a fairly out of the way location and I was delighted to find an area of Bloomsbury where all of the streets have the names of towns and villages in my home county of Kent, it all felt like it was meant to be!

Rob, Thomas and I each selected a couple of dishes from the menu, first to arrive was a chicken dish with lots of chilli and some aubergines with a heavily aromatic garlic sauce.


I loved the aubergine and being a fan of chilli the heat of all of the dishes was more than welcome. What is clear from this picture and is one of the things I found less appealing was the amount of oil. It all tasted good, and I was very hungry so greedily gobbled away but after a few bowls full it all got a bit much.

Another rather ovewhelming element of the meal was the amount of salt. Thomas and I actually downed 2 steins full of water when we got home. The shredded potato with chilli was a particularly bad offender but it has a really interesting flavour, I actually like very salty tasting food, feta cheese, capers etc and so I really liked the potato. The chillis did envoke a bit of fear due to the sheer size and quantity of them but I indulged and they were surprisingly fragrant and granted very fiery but not crazily so.


My favourite dish was the belly pork. The meat was so tender and the sauce mild and sticky, the fat was as it should be, soft and full of flavour, and this was a mild dish, no chilli, instead decorated with large slices of cucumber. I loved it.


This is how I wish it had been done at The Warrington where the belly pork had been so disappointing at the weekend, Chilli Cool's was a much tastier version.

I also ordered the dan dan noodles which were good, chopped spring onion and minced pork were sprinkled over the top and the noodles were delicious, nicely coated in soy based sauce and brilliantly long. Again rather salty due to the soy but really delicious.


Although the flavours hit the spot while we were dining, I felt like it had all been a bit heavy and most dishes were virtually swimming with grease. I liked the atmosphere of the place but am unlikely to return, this kind of food, for me, is certainly enjoyable but an occasional forray suffices. I'm certainly not brave enough to opt for the more adventurous offerings of intestines or tripe, I do wish I had gone for one of the fishpots which were the slightly pricier options on the menu. Chilli Cool is extraordinarily good value for money, our bill came in at just over a tenner each though we drank only tap water.

I know that many folk love this place but it's not really my cup of tea and my tummy was decidedly dicky for the rest of the night, not suggesting anything was amiss just that my palate is more accustomed to fresher lighter food, or perhaps we ordered unwisely?

Chilli Cool
15 Leight St, WC1H
6.5/10

Teachi

Finding Bento Café full we found we were forced to seek alternative nourishment in Camden one evening.

We chanced upon Teachi and gave it a try due, for the most part, to not having much time to spare before catching a movie. Close proximity to the Camden Odeon is a good thing. Chinese is not one of my favourite cuisines to be honest and so I welcomed the chance to see what Teachi had to offer.

Upon arrival we were seated and greeted swiftly and set to work ordering right away, soups to start, seafood for me and wonton for Thomas. The waiter seemed set against me having the seafood soup though, explaining that it is ‘sticky, not clear.’ Being unsure of what exactly constitutes a ‘sticky’ soup I instead ordered the vegetable and tofu soup, the waiter apologised but seemed pleased with my change of heart.


The chap serving the soups to us was on the receiving end of a rollocking from the guy in charge as he headed to the wrong table. The atmosphere between the staff was decidedly icy. The soup was good, very light and fresh, crunchy vegetables swimming in a decent stock and not in the least bit sticky. It was a very small bowl though, one can’t complain for £3.20 but there could perhaps have been a few more pieces of tofu. Thomas was pleased with his wonton soup, though it needed livening up a bit with the chilli sauce provided on the table.

For main I selected the pan fried black cod in light soy sauce and again the waiter suggested I may prefer something else. What the....? Anyhow, upon careful reconsideration I went for the char-grilled cod with vegetables and bbq sauce instead. I'm not usually a fan of bbq sauce but the fact that this fish dish was grilled swung it for me.


I was pleased with the dish, nicely grilled asparagus, tomatoes and mushrooms accompanied. It was well presented on some kind of leaf, pretty. My problem with it was that there were clearly MSG's in the bbq sauce. MSG's (something I learnt a few years back whenever I ate chinese takeaway) give me a funny head. I get a bizarre and unpleasant build up of pressure, not so much a headache but neurological discomfort. I used to get it behind my eyes, this time it was behind my ears. I've researched and it's possible I am MSG intolerant. Anyway, not nice but not their fault. We ordered some sides of rice and mixed stir fried vegetables which were fine and Thomas had the chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce.


This came with brocolli and was encased in an edible bowl which didn't taste of much but was crisp and looked like it could have been deep fried glass noodles.

The waiter, thankfully, had no problem with my choice of beverage, I had a Japenese flower tea which was delightful, a little strong by the time I got the bottom of the cup but so it's immensly entertaining seeing your drink literally grow before your very eyes. Thomas had a green tea. Also nice, less fun than mine but then he got a cute little pot.

I think the staff could do with relaxing a little bit, they're very attentive and seem determined to do their utmost to give diners a pleasant experience but are so on edge I fear what might happen if someone complained or a dish had to be sent back, there would most likely be tears. I probably won't hurry back and, whilst I think the food is better than other chinese meals I've had, it didn't wow.


Teachi
29 Parkway
Camden NW1
5.5/10