A London Lunch No. 7: Dim Sum at Young Chen, Lisle Street

Dim sum for lunch makes me happy, very happy indeed.

My Grandad on my Dad’s side hailed from Hong Kong, so certain delicious Chinese delights, such as Char Siu Bao, remind me of my first tastes of dim sum, and offer the same kind of comfort food nourishment to me as macaroni cheese or my favourite, Pie & Mash.

I like to think of dim sum as the Chinese version of ‘afternoon tea’, as I only ever enjoy after 12pm, however traditionally, I believe this is served all day, and of course with the accompaniment of Chinese herbal tea. Not a massive fan of herby teas, I usually wash my dim sum down with a bottle of two of Tsintao, probably the most well known Chinese beer.

Many of the restaurants around Chinatown in Soho get a bad press, but actually there are a few real jewels, and frankly I blame sheer snobbery for people shunning the ‘dutty’ looking venues in favour of more fine dining style Chinese. Dim sum doesn’t need to be gourmet or artisan, so here is a lunch recommendation for one of my favourites, Young Chen on Lisle Street.

Probably the most well known dish, Siu Mai, are the little pork and prawn dumplings topped with bright orange cod roe gems. An odd looking little dish of steamed parcels, there is a reason they are so commonly known, they are absolutely delicious, and the Young Chen varieties always leave you wanting more. The always have a mixed texture inside, minced pork, chopped up pieces of prawn and a flavourful bite from spring onion – they are a must order at any dim sum venue.

One of my favourite dishes, has to be King Prawn Cheung Fun, not least because it includes my surname. Again, this isn’t the most beautiful or inviting plate of food, however the cannelloni-like rice noodle wrappers, filled with deliciously fresh, large meaty prawns and sitting in a pool of sticky, salty soy sauce can bring such a joyful sensation to the mouth. Like many dishes served as dim sum, Cheung Fun has a sweetness to it and for me, it is a truly addictive plate of food.

Ha Gau, the other well-known dumpling, are another favourite – shaped like a sea shell, the original are filled, again with prawns and are quite simply fantastic little bites of joy. But do try other varieties too, such as those with chives.

I cannot order dim sum, no matter how many are in my company, whether one or ten, without ordering one of my favourite things in the world – squid cakes. I don’t know the Chinese name for these sadly, but they are fabulous patties made up of squid, fiery chilly, garlic and ginger and the herb that frankly improves most things to my mind, coriander. I didn’t take a photo on my last visit, despite knowing I would be writing about them, as I literally inhale as soon as they arrive.

If you like Char Siu Bao, or indeed deliciously sweet char siu, or the sweet BBQ pork of Chinese restaurants, then you will probably like what I call Char Siu Pastries. Little mini pies of slightly greasy flaky pastry filled with the delicious barbecued meat and topped with sesame seeds – they are to die for. The element of grease is particularly good if you have been on the sauce the night before too. 

These are probably the dishes I most often order and enjoy when having dim sum, but there are tons of others that often make up the selection, such as fried chickens feet (yes really), turnip paste and lots of other dumplings. If I go with a crowd, normally my family, then we might be likely to order Beef Ho Fun – flat, delicious fried noodles topped with tender beef in a black bean sauce, or crispy noodles with seafood to bulk up the order too.

One thing that I must mention, is the simple, but incredibly delicious dessert of dim sum – the egg custard tarts. An alarmingly yellow hued custard centre surrounded by sweet, flaky pastry these are an absolute must if you have a sweet tooth like me. 

Dim sum can vary in cost depending on how many of you there are and how hungry you are. But if you go in a two to Young Chen and order 4-5 dishes of the above you could expect change from £40 so it’s a reasonably, yet very enjoyable food experience.

 

A London Lunch No 6: Hummus Bros, Soho

As regular readers will know, Soho is my general stomping ground, whether work related or otherwise. The area is undoubtedly my favourite part of London, and some of my preferred eateries, not to mention watering holes, exist in this area.

Wardour Street is host to numerous delights and for a delicious and filling lunch I can thoroughly recommend Hummos Bros.

Open since 2005, it pretty much does what it says on the tin and makes bloody good hummus, with a seriously impressive selection of toppings.

My absolute favourite is to have the ‘chunky beef with tzatziki’. This is casseroled, large pieces of beef cooked in a rich stew-like sauce and each time I’ve had this I’ve been in heaven. The meat has been mouth-wateringly tender and falls apart. The beef sits on a bed of the delicious hummus, here it is rather smooth, although not as smooth as commercially produced packet hummus. It has that wonderful garlic hum, without being over powering. Two pitta bread pockets come alongside in a regular dish and all priced at £7.65 – a bargain.

I can never stick to one dish, especially when they are as flavourful and moreish as they are here, so I generally grab either the tabbouleh salad, or if I’m hungover and in need of stodge, the falafel salad – both of which are flavoured with my favourite herb, coriander which just makes everything taste incredibly fresh and, at least to me, delicious.

Although I am often a creature of habit, ordering the same dish when I return to restaurants, I feel almost smug in the fact I can also suggest the chicken, guacamole and mushroom version of the hummus topper, as I have also eaten and enjoyed all of these.  

The concept here is simple and it works. To me, this just proves that a simple menu can work well if you perfect the dishes on there and don’t deviate too much or try to over complicate.

If you’re a lover of hummus, don’t delay, head to Hummus Bros.   

A London Lunch No5: Byron Burger

Having worked in the West End extensively over the past few years, there are several lunch spots that I would describe as the perfect hangover go-to. Byron is most certainly a contender.

I have eaten in several Byron outlets, for there are 28 here in London alone, but my favourite is the brightly hued one on the Charring Cross Road in Soho.

If you are a Byron virgin, then my recommendation is to simply go for the signature Byron Burger. A medium cooked, pink beef burger (no horsemeat here) topped with smoky bacon, Cheddar, lettuce, sliced red onions and tomato and a little relish - it has made me happy as an egg on more than one occasion.

Priced modestly at £9.25 for a decent sized burger, it’s a beauty in a bun. You can add your own choice of toppings and or sauces as you wish and I tend to add on some avocado as it is such a natural bedfellow with bacon and together with everything else it just makes a wonderful, meaty burger full of contrasting textures and complementing flavours, all contained in a fluffy bun and with a very good ratio of burger to bun – none of this biting in and getting a mouthful of bread and nothing else.

I recommend sharing a couple of sides so as not to miss out - the French fries and onion rings are both well worth a try, they have that almost dirty level of grease without making you feel disgusted with yourself after eating them.

Even if you’re a vegetarian there is a very good burger option on the menu for you – the adventurously titled ‘Veggie’. This is a grilled huge Portobello mushroom, unctuous goat’s cheese, roasted red peppers, sliced tomato, spinach leaves, red onion and deliciously garlicy aioli. Having several vegetarian friends I have had a bite of this on a few separate visits, each time being very good – however for me, this is no substitute for a meaty hamburger.

If you’re in a particularly naughty mood then I can 100% vouch for the chocolate milkshake – it is an indulgence and not to be undertaken unless having a light meal as will fill you up!

Each restaurant has it’s own ‘personality’ and style, and the Charring Cross Road Byron has the look of an all-American diner, and the menu matches the look. I have only ever experienced excellent, helpful and smiley service, which makes me think the recruitment process is also good here.

There are seven burgers on offer as well as a choice of salads and I’m slowly making my way through the menu – so far I haven’t been disappointed.

Expect to spend up to £20 for a burger with sides and a drink.

Bubbledogs

Even before its’ opening last year, Bubbledogs was surrounded by a flurry of media hype. I’ve been meaning to go for a while and recently made it with a group of ladies who I’ve been working with, including the lovely Sarah of Little Lady Eats. We found that going en masse is a sneaky rue to avoid the tell-tale queues up the street – that’s right folks, you can book a table at Bubbledogs, you just have to be in a group. We had booked a couple of months in advance mind, but nevertheless, we were in.

Situated on sophisticated Charlotte Street, the whole concept of Bubbledogs is a clever one – Champagne combined with ever-so-trendy hotdogs, very now, very New York.

Eight made up our group and we were spread over two high tables on stools, towards the back – towards the much-lauded ‘Chef’s Table.’ We strutted immediately past the relatively long queue and found a rather narrow, wooden interior that immediately put me in mind of a ski lodge. The walls were adorned with drawings of dogs, which some in our group found cute, and I could see the connection, but being unmoved by animals as I am (unless eating them of course), I could take them or leave them.

As it was a mid-week work treat and not an extravagant evening, we ordered a couple of bottles of the house Prosecco, which was excellent and priced at £32 a bottle. The helpful waiter also explained that this was cloudier in appearance that other sparkling wines and had less fizz due to its’ preparation being different – I was impressed with the knowledge. After a quick toast amongst our number at making it through January, the single most depressing month, we moved on to the food. `

In what our group deemed as a rather hostile move by our, up until this point jolly group, the waiter informed us after we’d ordered that we would be required to ‘vacate the table’ at 8:30pm – precisely an hour and a half after we’d arrived. Never a fan of this style of time-managed dining, it was even more infuriating that there had been absolutely no mention of this when booking, or even on our arrival nearly thirty minutes prior. It did sour the mood a little, but hotdogs are obviously not going to take long to prepare so it was actually a notion that would and should’ve been left unsaid, but there you have it.

So naturally, Little Lady Eats and I were keen to try as much as possible so we ordered a different dog each and split them in order to try two each – a Sloppy Joe (chilli dog) and a Swedish Viking which was the special that evening, we both opted for the pork ‘dog.

The Swedish Viking was actually a great combination of pickled cucumber, sweet mustard, crispy fried onions and ketchup. The only disappointment was the actual sausage, which was of questionable quality. Don’t get me wrong, the hotdogs are reasonably enough priced, given the location at under £10 a pop, however bland, rubbery meat was the standard in our dogs and I thought it could have been better. When I was in Stockholm a couple of years back with six friends we enjoyed a hotdog or two when inebriated from the numerous street sellers which were priced at around £1-2 and frankly the meat was better there.

The Sloppy Joe was a ‘chilli dog’. Now Sarah and I were both expecting chillies or a chilli sauce in there, which is obviously down to our own lack of dog-knowledge – what we were instead greeted with, was a chilli con carne topping. Once again the meat of the chilli was of poor quality, the flavour was hiding in the overcooked, almost crusty meat and it was frankly a disappointment.

Aside from the dogs we had ordered one each of the sides on offer for each of our two tables. The standout side, in fact the tastiest thing I had that evening, was the sweet potato fries. These were soft, fluffy and sweet in the centre but crispy, perfectly seasoned and delicious on the outside. They were served with an absolutely to-die for truffle mayonnaise, and though the dish was a simple one it was completed elevated by the gourmet accompaniment.

The other two sides were incredibly average – a coleslaw that was perfectly edible, but nothing to write home about and a portion of ‘Tots’. I was fairly excited to try the tots as I remember an episode of Friends where Joey mentions them, but found they were in fact, a combination of a potato rosti and a croquette – very school dinner, very unappetising.

Given the hype around the opening, I was always going to try out Bubbledogs for myself, and now I’ve been, I’m unlikely to return – however I’m still glad to have given it a whirl. The reasonably priced menu cannot be denied and there’s certainly no hiding the fact that here in London, there is a huge appetite for conceptual restaurants like Bubbledogs. The long queues along Charlotte Street suggest this will remain a ‘hotspot’ for some time yet, but for me Bubbledogs just didn’t live up to it’s hype and from now on I’d rather spend my money on restaurants that rely on the food to guarantee repeat customers rather than a quirky concept.

Brasserie Zedel

I’ve long wanted to try Brasserie Zedel, not least because of the praising reviews I’ve read, but because I simply love the French classics and the menu just looked so reasonable – it’s been on my list for a while. I tried to get a walk-in table recently with a couple of friends on a Friday evening and failed due to the popularity and having made my way down and viewed the rather opulent looking space that was once The Regent Palace Hotel, my interest was further piqued.

I finally got to try it out one cold Thursday evening in January with my friend Jade and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Having viewed the menu online during the day I was determined to try the unbelievably priced, £11.25 set menu. However once we arrived and saw other dishes flying by I couldn’t resist trying some of the other delicious sounding dishes on the menu. I will return to try the much-lauded steak hache dish though, that is a certainty.

The brasserie area is simply huge with high ceilings and a busy, buzzing atmosphere, the constant sound of companionable chatter filled the room and it couldn’t help but put you in a good mood.

Once seated, we selected a bottle of the house Sauvignon Pays D’oc, a light, refreshing and crisp white – this helped with our decision-making.

It took a lot of deliberation over the menu, as there just wasn’t a dish on there that didn’t sound good. It’s a fairly short and simple menu, but one with lots of fantastically classic and delicious sounding dishes. Finally I selected the ham hock and parsley terrine as my ‘entrée’. Served with a basket of warm white bread, the terrine was lovely. Made up of coarse chunks of fantastically salty ham surrounded by the tell-tale jelly of a terrine. With vivid green parsley hues throughout, it was a pretty plate of food and was just as pleasing on the eye as it was on the mouth. 

Jade opted for French onion soup, which is the best I have tried in the UK for sure. Fragrant, soothing and with an almost addictive flavour, I would highly recommend this dish. And considering the location of the restaurant in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, an absolute bargain at only £2.25 a bowl. Served with cheesy croutons that were inhaled rather rapidly by Jade, we were both impressed and looking forward to the main event.

We both selected truly classic dishes, Jade the Boeuf Bourguignon, and I the Confit de Canard. The slow-cooked beef Bourguignon had the most tender, stewed beef, combined with an irresistible flavour of red wine. Served on a bed of the creamiest pureed potatoes this was a little plate of heaven – real comforting, solace food.

My confit duck was quite frankly glorious - crispy, fatty and utterly delicious at the skin, with a soft and tender, melt-in-the-mouth meat centre, that just fell straight off of the bone – an absolute sensation. The duck was served on a bed of white beans in a simple tomato sauce which made for the perfect accompaniment for the knock-out duck.

We also ordered the creamed spinach as a side and were both surprised when it arrived as it looked like a little pot of pesto, however it tasted fabulous. Buttery spinach with a hint of garlic and creamed to perfection. Each dish was served on a white plate with the signature red trim and the 'Zedel' name on which I thought was quite a nice touch too.

We couldn’t manage dessert but we were in such a good mood we couldn’t resist trying one of the Champagne cocktails to sit and enjoy the ambience of the restaurant. We both had a classic Kir Royale which was the ultimate finale to an evening of perfectly executed French food.

The service throughout the meal was faultless, our waitress was attentive, knowledgable and very patient with my French pronunciation. I have to say she was also incredibly tolerant of a very rude male couple seated beside us who were clearly after a free meal. They sat and enjoyed a full rib of beef, and after Jade and I had endured watching them both literally gnawing at the bones, at the very last bite one of the men proclaimed to have found a hair that had completely put them both off of their meal. He kicked off at the waitress and then, in turn the maitre d’ and they handled this rude pair excellently. You would think this kind of spectacle could put a dampener on the end of our meal but it simply added to our voyeuristic entertainment.

We paid around £75 including service and every penny was money well spent.

If you haven’t yet made the trip to Brasserie Zedel, make a booking now, I urge you!

Mid-week Magic: Haddock baked on a tomato, chorizo and bean stew

During the working week it is very easy to become stuck in a meal rut, cooking the same predictable dishes week after week.

I often draw inspiration from restaurants, cookery programmes, magazines, books and other blogs for some mid-week magic and aim to cook at least one ‘new’ dish each week.

I’ve decided to share some of these recipes in the hope that they inspire others to try something new. These recipes should give readers the idea for a meal that can be pulled together in well under an hour, that requires the minimum of effort on your part and that will be filled with flavour.

This first one takes forty minutes to cook, but after the first five minutes of preparation, pretty much takes care of itself. The bean stew makes a great, healthy carbohydrate substitute, and makes for a great meal on it’s own too. I served my white fish dish with a selection of curly kale, sprouting broccoli and asparagus tips, all steamed, but you could serve with any veg you have in stock. And if you’re after a true one-pot dish rather than having to cook the veg towards the end, you can always bulk up the stew with chopped courgettes, aubergines, carrots or mushrooms too.

After you’ve chopped all of the necessary, fried off the chorizo and bunged the dish into the oven, it’s a perfect opportunity to relax with a glass of wine, have a hot relaxing après work bath, or if essential crack on with any boring household chores.

Apologies for the dodgy bright white light on the fish – I have a new camera and am slowly getting used to it – hopefully this will improve soon!

Here’s How (for 2):

2 fillets of haddock, or your favourite white fish

1 can each of butter beans and cannellini beans

100g chorizo

Can of chopped tomatoes

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

1 small red bell pepper

1 red chilli

2 tbsp Manzanilla Sherry or a dry white wine

1 tbsp fresh or dried Oregano

1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley

1 tsp paprika

Salt & pepper to taste

Firstly get the oven on at around 180-200 degrees. Next chop the garlic, pepper, chilli and onion up small and add to an ovenproof tray dish.

Chop the chorizo into small, coin-like pieces and dry fry in a hot pan for four-six minutes, until the tell-tale orange-hued oil is exuded.

In the meantime open the beans and tomatoes and add to the dish with the herbs and spices and sherry. Add the fried chorizo, stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add to the oven for fifteen minutes, remove and place on top the fish fillets. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the haddock, cover with foil and then return the dish to the oven for a further 20-25 minutes – cooking time will depend on the size of the fish fillets but the foil will help to prevent the fish from over-cooking.

Whilst the dish is back in the oven, prepare your vegetables and when you remove from the oven sprinkle with a last flourish of parsley and oregano before serving. 

A non-London Lunch: Croma, Manchester

Croma, Manchester is a smart, yet inexpensive little Italian specialising in pizza with a few other delights. I loved this little place while I was living in Manchester as a student, and when I visited the city again recently, I was pleased to find the lunch here is still as good as it was back in 2003.

My suggested lunch would be a classic Americana pizza – topped with pepperoni, mozzarella and tomato, it is always a winner and is a bargain to boot at only £6.85 for a 10-inch, hand stretched pizza that is incredibly satisfying.

Cooked in the on-site pizza oven, the base is exactly as it should be crisp, crunchy, delicious and the toppings are generous too.

I’ve also tried the Roasted Vegetable, Cotto and the Parma which have all been good although I’ve not been tempted by some of their more unusual toppings such as peking duck and tandoori chicken! If you have indulged in any of these ‘alternative’ toppings do let me know your thoughts! I’m much more of a classic when it comes to my pizza.

Now, as I’m always a visitor to the city these days, it always feels a bit like a holiday or a jaunt so I make no apology for the fact that I’m also going to suggest the Croma Espresso Martini which is simply gorgeous – if you have a sweet tooth for drinks like myself then this is for you. It comprises vanilla vodka, which I love anyway topped with Tia Maria and of course an espresso – frankly it is the perfect accompaniment to a leisurely lunch.