A bit of Vietnam in Capel Street

Posted by David

Feb 22

My mouth is still tingling, in a good way, thanks to Jean of the superb website cheapeats.ie who recommended that I try today’s eatforafiver venue.

Aobaba is on Capel Street, close to the junction with Mary Street and on the opposite side of the road to Lenehans.

Here it is …

It’s Vietnamese, distinctive, stunningly good value, seats about 20 and it’s open from 11 to 9.

Here’s the menu …

Those bowls you see on the first page of the menu are ENORMOUS, packed with goodies and evidently pretty good, judging by the sounds of satisfaction emanating from the customers in possession. They cost €6 or less.

I kind of regretted my self imposed budgetary limit. Especially as I was pretty ravenous. But I ordered the Vietnamese Baguette (or Banh Mi, to give it its real name).

Ruth, who works with me in the day job, found this picture earlier today that explains the Banh Mi better than I could:

I puzzled a little over the incongruity of food from the Southeast Asia being stuffed into a bread roll until I remembered that Vietnam used to be colonised by France and supposed that it might be the result of some consequential culinary cross-pollination. This Wikipedia article seems to bear my supposition out.

Anyway, here’s my lunch:

Most of the components listed in the diagram above were there, with the exception of 5 and 7. The bread was a little stale, which was a pity because the filling was gorgeous. It had bite, a fresh taste (the filling, that is) and, as you can guess from the chillies, a bit of heat. It was pleasantly satisfactory and left me with the aforementioned mouth-tingle.

€4 it cost me. And that, as they say, is what it’s all about.

You can read the verdict from cheapeats.ie here.

I’m going to return to Aobaba in due course, probably with the older lad who has a grá for things from Southeast Asia, and get his verdict on some of the other items on offer.

During the week, I made this. It cost half nothing if you forget about the saffron (and you can, of course, forget about the saffron) and it was quick, easy and very tasty.

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Filed under: Asian, Vietnamese

Aussie Disappointment

Posted by David

Feb 13

Oh.

I had been looking forward to this for a while. The plan was for the young lad and I to celebrate the mid-point of his mid-term break with a flame grilled feast. The Aussie BBQ on South Richmond Street was to be the venue.

The website looked promising. Inviting even. Inside the main door is a lot of space with a food preparation area behind a long counter. A large wall menu indicates the principal offerings with several items for a fiver or less (wraps, wings, skewers, chips).

Another door leads to the ‘Restaurant Area’. A long space with tables against the walls.

The decor is mainly sport-related, with signed rugby shirts, photos of jockeys, cricket bats and so on. A ‘Man v Food’ -type challenge is advertised in one cubicle.

Two large TVs showing last night’s Champion’s League action topped and tailed the eating space. All very male. In a kind-of sweaty, pelvic-thrusting, beery-breath way.

Service was friendly and efficient. We ordered wraps, chicken for the young lad, pulled pork for me, each €4. Water arrived in a stoppered bottle. The young lad pronounced the water ‘nicely chilled’.

Our wraps arrived. The first bite was taken.

It looked OK …

… but the young lad wasn’t impressed. Asked to elucidate, he suggested that the chicken didn’t really taste of anything. I had a go. He was right. The chicken was in the form of ‘tenders’: strips of breaded, deep-fried chicken. It tasted principally of the oil it had been fried in. The lettuce and mayonnaise in the wrap didn’t taste of much either. Just blandness.

My pulled pork wrap included some coleslaw-type substance and a cloyingly sweet and sticky sauce/chutney. The sweetness was overpowering and not at all pleasant. On occasion I was able to taste pork, and it tasted pork-y but it was difficult to ignore the sauce.

I won’t dwell, as we didn’t. The man who took my money asked was everything to our satisfaction but didn’t seem that interested in my polite but critical response.

To be fair, the burgers and chips coming out of the kitchen looked pretty good, the place was busy enough and there was a lot of chat. We might have been better to choose items other than wraps. We could have got a couple of chicken skewers and a portion of wings for €9 and that might have provided a better impression of the place. But we didn’t. And we left a little disappointed.

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Filed under: Australian, Barbecue

An East Essex Street Jewel

Posted by David

Feb 8

A good end to a good week. So, on Tuesday evening, I went to the theatre. Actually, my favourite theatre: the Project Arts Centre on East Essex Street. To see Focal Point*.

Just opposite the Project, I saw this place …

… and, on the basis of the menu posted outside, marked it down for a visit.

Falafel and Kebab (which seems to be the preferred spelling, despite the sign over the window) has been here for about eight months. It’s clean and well-kept although it looks a little lived in. It has a Facebook page: here.

Inside is a split level dining area and a serving counter with a kitchen behind it. The hookahs in the window …

… are not just for show. They serve shisha – I saw two men sharing a pipe last Tuesday night.

It styles itself as a Mediterranean restaurant, the principal offerings being falafel, kebab (shish and doner), and chicken presented in a variety of ways. As sides/extras, it offers hummus (made on the premises), baba ganoush (however you want to spell it), stuffed vine leaves and tabbouleh (all at a very reasonable price). It also has a tandoor, in which it makes flat breads.

Here’s the menu (click to embiggen) …

I ordered the Falafel Sandwich for €4.50 from the friendly man behind the counter, took a seat and had a look around.

The restaurant seats about 25 people and the predominant colour is that orange you can see just inside the door in the first photo. There are a few wall hangings and ornaments and, although the place is quite small, it doesn’t feel at all cramped. The music was unfortunate (‘Now 66’ or whatever we are up to at this stage).

My food arrived, tastefully arranged and delivered to my table gracefully.

A fresh flatbread on which were four falafel, some fresh and pickled salad vegetables, chopped tomato, a pickled chilli, hummus and two sauces: garlic and chilli.

The falafel were fresh tasting, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. The hummus was good, with enough chickpea texture to indicate that it hadn’t been over blitzed in a processor. The vegetables were tasty and varied. There was just the right amount of sauce, and the sauces accurately reflected their descriptions. The bread was fresh, warm and provided a good background to the meal.

For €4.50, I think this was excellent value. (For an extra €3 you can make this into a ‘meal’ with the addition of chips and a can. I can’t think of any reason why you would want to do that.)

My lunch was filling, tasty, pretty healthy and nicely presented. The surroundings were comfortable and it’s a place you could hang around in for a while. I liked it and I’ll definitely go back to try some of their other offerings. I’d say give it a go.

Today, I bought ink and hemp.

* Focal Point, the play I mentioned above, is produced by TEAM Educational Theatre, with which I have an involvement. It was written by Manchán Magan, a polymath with a refreshing view of the Irish language and how it is being adopted and adapted by young people. Mikel Murfi directed it with an acute sense of dramatic pacing and the actors, Dónall Ó Héalaí and Jody O’Neill, brought it alive. Great stuff. It ends its run in the Project tonight and goes on tour to schools after half term.

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Filed under: Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, Mixed

stuffedforafiver@HIS FOOD

Posted by David

Feb 1

I first mentioned the Balkan restaurant in the Moore Street Mall in my first proper blog entry. That was in July 2011. And I’ve mentioned it a few times since. So, a little guilty that I hadn’t actually got around to eating in it, I decided that it would be my destination today.

The Moore Street Mall …

… is at the Parnell Street end of Moore Street.

It’s an unusual place. A wide open entrance leads you to an escalator that brings you to a basement. As far as I can make out, the basement is a substantial square, with retail and food outlets located against the outer walls and in two internal prefabricated blocks. There’s a curious mix of shops: two mobile phone repair units, an African hairdressers, a diet supplement place, tattoo parlour and a few Eastern European supermarkets. There’s a Polish restaurant, a kebab/pizza place, a tea parlour, three Asian all-you-can-eat-for-€6.50 buffets and His Food, a tiny Balkan restaurant.

Well, it’s tiny inside, with two bain marie units, a salad/cake display unit, two tables and a kitchen area. Outside, however, there are a further eight or so four-person tables (I counted them but I can’t remember exactly how many I counted) so it’s not that tiny.

There’s an astonishing range of food on display and further options listed on a printed menu and also on a large display menu above the serving area …

The server I spoke to took time to bring me through the dishes on offer and to explain what country each of them came from. Bosnia, Croatia and Romania featured most but there were also offerings from Italy and Greece. She also explained patiently the principal contents of the two items I had spotted for €4.50 each, on a hand-written menu stuck in the window …

The photo is a bit blurry but the first item is Ciorbă (de) Burtă which is a Romanian tripe soup (more of which later). The second item is Ciorbă (de) Perişoare, a meatball soup. For a variety of reasons, I opted for the latter.

The soup was ladled into a large bowl by the server (I’m kicking myself that I didn’t find out her name). She also gave me a huge bread roll and a small plate of vinegary salad comprising shredded cabbage, cucumber and tomato.

All this for €4.50! Result!

As you may recall (if you’ve been paying attention), my spouse keeps a soup blog (Minnie’s Soup Kitchen), so I’m more familiar now with the vast range of food items that may be called ‘soup’. This ciorbă was certainly more stew than soup. It consisted of eight walnut-sized beef meatballs in a rich broth that suggested chicken stock and cream, in which were various diced vegetables (onion, carrot and celery) and aromatics (garlic and herbs). The broth was a little salty but I’m probably being a bit picky to mention that. The meatballs were meaty, in a good way.

This was a very substantial and tasty meal for under a fiver. Actually, a substantial meal for any price. For the first time in my eatforafiver ventures, I couldn’t finish it.

My mother liked tripe. I seem to remember that she cooked it in milk with onions. I was forced to try it on a few occasions and found it pretty unpleasant. The consistency and taste suggested rubber underpants. A few years ago, having seen this …

… I bought some and stuck it in the freezer. And threw it out a few months later.

Given that history, I was a little nervous when the woman in His Food offered me a taste of the Ciorbă de Burtă. But my goodness. It was gorgeous. It was slimy, yes, but very tender and had none of that unpleasant taste that I remember from my childhood. I’d have a bowl-full anytime.

His Food serves good value, filling, tasty Balkan food. There’s lots of choice for under a tenner and it’s definitely worth a visit for those who want to try out some food from a part of Europe that I suspect many of us know very little about.

Moore Street is an extraordinary place now. The traditional vegetable stalls are still there, as is F X Buckley’s butchers but now they exist side-by-side with an incredible array of African and Middle-Eastern food shops, hairdressers, phone repair outfits and restaurants selling cheap food. Delhi O’Deli (my first eatforafiver venue) is still there (although its Daily Fiver offering is now €5.50) and has been joined by an all-you-can-eat-for-€6.50 place called Buffet79.

On my way back to the car park I called in to PC World and opened eatforafiver.com on all the iPads and Macs.

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Filed under: Balkan

Guilty Pleasure

Posted by David

Jan 23

Every year in January, the young lad takes part in a thing called Kangeiko. This Japanese term is roughly translated as ‘winter training’. He’s a member of the Hombu Dojo in Ranelagh, a professional, very friendly and expanding karate studio (he’s got a black belt – best not to mess him about). Anyway, Kangeiko involves 7 days of meeting at 7am, going for a short jog around the streets of the Ranelagh area and doing some karate training until 8am. On the last day there’s a party which, for young members, involves a cooked breakfast. Older members tend to carry on the party in a more traditional manner till later in the day. Parents can join in. I did it last year. It’s tiring, challenging and good fun.

Anyway, this is only relevant because at 8am, I bring the young lad somewhere close by for breakfast and then drop him into school.

Sometimes we have breakfast in McDonalds. DON’T JUDGE ME. At least until you’ve tried it.

There’s a fair choice, involving some combination of bacon, egg, sausage, muffins, rolls, porridge, pancakes and coffee/tea/milk/orange juice. Here’s the choice in glorious colour. Each item costs less than a fiver and, of course, they do meal deals.

Today, the young lad opted for a Double Sausage and Egg McMuffin meal and I for the Double Bacon and Egg McMuffin meal. The ‘meal’ bit at the end involves a hash brown and a drink. Milk for him. Coffee for me. Each meal cost €4.95.

Here’s most of it …

… earning this reaction

And here’s the rest, which came a little later …

The Double Sausage and Egg McMuffin (DSEMcM) is a glorious creation. Inside the 2 halves of the soft muffin are 1 egg (fashioned into a disc somehow), a slice of cheese (processed, obvs, and oddly square) and two sausage patties. These are the things that make this a sinful delight. They are juicy and sausage-y, but not like ordinary Irish pork sausages. I’m riffling through my taste memory as I type this … I’ve had sausages in Austria – ordinary sausages – for breakfast. They taste like them. I can’t be any more specific I’m afraid. I like them though.

Here’s the young lad, road testing the DSEMcM:

My Double Bacon and Egg McMuffin (DBEMcM) was pale in comparison. The egg and cheese were the same. The bacon was alright, slightly smoky in taste but nothing to dance about.

The hash browns which you’ve seen above are not very nice. They consist of grated ‘potato’, fashioned into a oblong disc and deep fried. They have no saving grace. They taste of nothing, except deep fry, and they leave a slightly bitter aftertaste in one’s mouth. The fresher they are, the less the aftertaste, but it’s still there. The milk and coffee were OK.

It probably doesn’t greatly matter but the McDonalds we were in was in Rathmines. It’s a 24 hour one and was quite busy this morning although quite a few people had left before I took this photo.

I wouldn’t go there everyday and I wouldn’t advise you to eat a DSEMcM if you’re on a calorie controlled or low fat diet but sometimes you just have to eat stuff like this.

By the way, you’ll be pleased to hear that, according to Hypestat.com, eatforafiver.com, as a site, is worth just over $11.

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Filed under: American, Burger Joint

Saved by a Chicken in Camden Street

Posted by David

Jan 11

I have to admit, today might not have ended well.

You see, I cycled into town with the intention of eatingforafiver. In my post-Christmas/NewYear state of subcutaneous plenitude, I knew I didn’t want to eat noodles, anything battered and deep fried or anything reheated in oil. I didn’t really feel like cycling over to the North side of the city either, so my search was kind of limited to the South inner city area.

On my way, I passed Buffalo 19 (see review here). It doesn’t open at lunchtime any more and there was no sign in the window about its previous €5 offers. I passed Ambala (see here). Its Masala Dosa now costs €5.50.

I thought about the little place (Café Sophia) next to the big motorbike shop at the bottom of Wexford Street. It has some all-day breakfast offers for a fiver that I might try some other time but not today thanks. There was another place I passed, at the junction of Camden Street and Kevin Street, which used to be Fafie’s crepe place. It’s called something else now, something to do with goose or geese. It (still) does crepes but nothing that said ‘eat me’.

Next stop, Clanbrassil Street. There’s an Asian restaurant there near Kebabish that specialises in Asian sweets. It also does non-sweet food and, driving past it recently, I thought I saw a fiver offer. It wasn’t open.

It was now after two o’clock. My hunger thing was very much on and I was descending into mild grumpiness. I cycled back to Camden Street.

On a recent bus journey, I had seen what looked like a new place near Carvill’s off licence at the top of the street.

This is it – Camden Rotisserie. They have a Facebook page: here. As you might guess, it specialises in chicken: roasted, not fried. And (yay!) it had something on the menu for under a fiver. Tick.

I LOVE chicken. I mean I REALLY LOVE chicken. So this place is right up my street. I’ll let the menu speak for itself:

Click a few times to make it big enough to read – it’s worth it

A quarter chicken for €4.25? OK. Feed me and we’ll ignore the strangely placed apostrophes (wings’s and side’s) for now.

The decor is pleasant. Four long tables with benches either side. Bright but not harsh. A large blackboard on one wall (on which you are invited to draw your own chicken). Kitchen area at the far end. Service is friendly and attentive.

There were eight diners including me there. All men, which was strange but probably coincidental (although you won’t see many women on their Facebook page either). But there’s nothing overly masculine about the place, so … well, I don’t know.

My quarter chicken arrived.

Excuse the terrible photo. It actually looked a lot better than that in the flesh, so to speak.

The salad/ garnish was unexpected but gorgeous. Baby leaves, red onion, cherry tomatoes with a nice, subtle balsamic-based dressing. Perfect, actually. And I don’t often say that about a garnish.

The chicken was good. Very good. It was, as you can see, a wing and accompanying piece of breast-meat. The skin was crispy and barbecue-blackened in places which was good. And the chicken tasted of chicken, which is not always the case in restaurants. This was a very tasty lunchtime meal in a pleasant, clean restaurant, for €4.25. It ticked all the boxes.

Camden Rotisserie is now firmly on my list for a further visit. It’s not a place for a long romantic dinner a deux but it is good value, it serves healthy food (I like the look of their omelettes too), it’s clean, it’s friendly and it’s on a street I like.

I was put in a good mood by my eatforafiver experience today. So I was encouraged to be more observant on my way home about future eatforafiver venues. I spotted three: the Aussie BBQ on South Richmond Street (loads for a fiver or less), Burdocks in Rathmines (Monday and Tuesday specials for €5 and €4 respectively) and, if you are a school student (in uniform), the Jaffa Thai, opposite the Garda station in Rathmines, at certain times of the day.

I was going to have a rant about the state of cycle lanes. But I won’t.

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Filed under: Chicken, European

PieMan in TempleBar

Posted by David

Jan 4

I think a lot of people are put off the Temple Bar area by apocryphal stories of violence, licentiousness and anarchy. The only unpleasantness I’ve ever come across in Temple Bar has been that ‘comedian’ David McSavage doing some tired and lame routine that involved the public humiliation of some poor unfortunate passer-by.

The place is a bit of a mess (especially Temple Bar Square) but I still enjoy wandering around it during the day, especially some of the streets leading from Dame Street, and its little nooks and crannies. And beyond Parliament Street, the area around Essex Street West has been newly developed and now has a theatrical interest with the brave redevelopment of Smock Alley Theatre. Temple Bar also houses the Elephant and Castle to which the spouse and I retain an emotional attachment from its early days.

Anyway, today’s Temple Bar-related adventure was almost serendipitous. The young lad and I were heading for gyozas in Capel Street led on by the Irish Times suggesting at the weekend that a plate of them could be had for less than a fiver. We found, however, that they came in at €6.50.

Undeterred, we headed across the river to a place I had spotted just before Christmas: The Pieman Café on Crown Alley, the street that leads from the back of the Central Bank to Temple Bar itself.

From outside, it looks bright and interesting. Offers are displayed clearly on the window and the sign board on the pavement.

Inside is inviting and comfortable, with interesting artworks, photos and postcards on the wall.

It’s quite narrow but the restaurant seats about 22. It’s been there for just over a year and has a Facebook page: here.

They offer a pie of the day and bangers and mash, each for a fiver. Otherwise, they have a selection of pies and one other non-pie main course for €6. You’ll also see some sides on the menu, some for less than €1, which I think is pretty impressive (having recently seen a bowl of basmati rice offered in Terenure for a shocking €5.50).

You may need to click this twice to enlarge it

The guys behind the counter were friendly and enthusiastic about the place. That really makes a big difference to the atmosphere of an eatery.

We arrived early and the bangers and mash weren’t quite ready but we were immediately offered an alternative, for a fiver, without any fuss. Now that’s good and thoughtful service. The alternative, which I chose, was Boeuf Bourguignon with mash. The young lad opted for the Chicken and Mushroom pie.

Nice big glasses of water were brought to us and the food arrived pretty quickly.

We’ll start with the young lad’s pie. A lot of people don’t like pies and I’ve had some pretty poor ones myself, with thick tough pastry, soggy bottoms and insipid fillings. This pie, however, in the words of the young lad, was ‘awesome’.

Piewhole

The pastry was thin and quite crispy, with sesame seeds on the top. Inside was a piping hot rich-tasting filling comprising lots of chicken, mushrooms, onions and sauce. It was very good indeed and came in a quite manageable lunch-size portion.

Pieopen

My Boeuf Bourguignon was delicious. Really delicious. Bacon, beef, tiny mushrooms, onions, carrots and herbs in a rich wine-based sauce, with smooth mash. And plenty of it. Delightful altogether.

We ate and left soon afterwards because we both had other places to be but it is the type of place where you could quite happily linger with a cup of coffee.

This place is certainly worth a visit or five (they have a loyalty card). Don’t be put off if you’re not a pie person. That Boeuf Bourguignon was delicious and I’d say from looking at their Facebook page that their other non-pie offerings are pretty tasty too. If you are a pie person, then this is a place you need to try.

Post-pie satisfaction pic

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Filed under: European

Spicy in Aungier Street

Posted by David

Jan 3

OK. So the young lad and I headed into town to visit the Kylemore in the Stephen’s Green shopping centre where, I had heard (from the older lad [Happy Birthday Tom!] who had heard from a pal of his), that they did a 4 piece all-day breakfast for a fiver. And for no extra charge, there was a good view over St Stephen’s Green. DISAPPOINTED. It’s now €5.50.

Thwarted but not dejected, the other options were a Balkan pie in Moore Street, a different type of pie in Crown Alley, gyozas in Capel Street or biryani in Aungier Street. Time and distance led us to the latter.

I’ve walked and bused (did you know that ‘bussed’ means ‘kissed’?) past this place (Spice ‘n’ Sugar) a few times. It’s at the top of Aungier Street, close to DIT and the junction with Wexford Street, in a small parade of shops and cafés.

Signs on the window advertise Chicken Biryani, Vegetarian Snack Box (with a free can of Coke) and a BBQ Chicken Roll, each for €4.99.

I had had the impression previously that the place was tiny inside but, actually, it stretches back a bit and seats 18, and probably more at a push. The decor is plain and functional, there’s no music and, it has to be said, not much atmosphere …

… which is a pity. I can’t get a clear picture of who this place is trying to attract but, at lunchtime today, it wasn’t attracting anybody except us. It needs to be softer with a little gentle music maybe, a few candles, darker paint and so on. It’s just not very inviting.

The bloke who took our order seemed a little distracted. He was later hammering numbers into a calculator with an air of increasing desperation so maybe that was the reason. But a smiley woman went off stage left with our order and we waited, with our free can of Coke.

The young lad – waiting

Our food arrived soon enough but not too soon, if you know what I mean. The young lad had ordered the biryani and I had ordered the vegetarian snack box (on a plate).

The biryani dish was substantial – a large upside-down bowl-shaped mound of rice and chicken, accompanied by some lettuce and red onion.

The chicken was tender and the dish was nicely spiced with a moderate level of spicy heat. At a guess, it was flavoured by a commercial biryani masala rather than having been made from scratch. No matter. It was tasty. A little too oily for a biryani, but tasty nevertheless. And there was a lot of it.

Mine …

… consisted of two onion bhajis (coloured a vivid red), a vegetable samosa and a potato pakora, accompanied by some lettuce and a lot of red onion. The sign outside promised a chutney and some mint sauce but these never appeared. To be honest, I hadn’t noticed at that stage that they were supposed to be included, otherwise I would have asked. The bhajis were ok. A bit oily and certainly not freshly cooked, but tasty enough. The pakora was nice and spicy and the samosa was OK too. I’d say, again, that these were commercially made products but at least they weren’t just stuck in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Together the dishes made a nice and substantial meal for two. If you were there alone, I’d definitely suggest that you go for the biryani.

The receipt

It was really puzzling to see the place so empty. Maybe it’s frequented by students from DIT in term time. I must check the next time I’m around the area. But, as I said, a little more effort on the owner’s part in relation to decor, lighting and general ambience could make a huge difference.

There are a lot of restaurants now on Aungier Street, catering for different tastes and budgets but Spice ‘n’ Sugar kind of falls geographically between those and the budget restaurants on Wexford Street.

Demise

Wandering around town just before Christmas, I saw that three of my previous eatforafiver places have shuffled off: Taco Taco in the Epicurean Food Hall, Mangal Kebabs on Dame Street and the Chinese Buffet on Moore Street. Not surprised about any of them really although, of all of them, I’m sorry that Mangal Kebabs didn’t try a bit harder.

CMJ

I don’t know whether any of you listen to cricket on BBC Radio 4. For me, it’s one of life’s pleasures and one of the last places in public broadcasting where there is an acceptance of some measure of eccentricity on the part of the commentators. One of the greats, to my mind, was Christopher Martin-Jenkins, who died on New Year’s Day and I’m very sorry about that. CMJ was distinctive, with his crisp diction, received pronunciation and broad vocabulary. When he described a ball bowled or a shot taken, you could see it in your head. And that’s what it’s all about. CMJ. RIP.

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

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Filed under: Asian

I Found All The Students

Posted by David

Oct 19

They’re all in the Mongolian Barbeque (MBBQ) (www.mongolianbbq.ie) on the corner of Anglesea Street and Cope Street. This place, …

… where I went for lunch today.

It does this

so it was, as they probably say, a no brainer.

I’d been there before with the spouse. Many years ago. I remember not being that impressed. The sort of control that you’re used to when cooking, where you can plan, taste and adjust, or even when ordering in a restaurant, when you have a reasonable idea what the food will taste like, is absent. And the consequence is that you can end up with food that tastes of nothing, or is over-flavoured to to the point of being the culinary equivalent of grey.

Interestingly, this seems to matter less when you’re getting fed for a fiver.

So here’s how it works (click to enlarge):

Here’s the food:

There’s noodles, onion, leek, carrot, bean sprouts, courgette, corn, spinach, tofu, mushrooms, mixed peppers and bamboo shoots.

The meat selection (excuse the crappy photo) comprises

chicken (naked), pork (also naked), or chicken in various sauces/marinades. To the right of this unit there is a selection of spices and flavourings (ginger, paprika, chilli powder, garam masala, five spice, garlic, fresh coriander and so on). Further on are containers of sauces (wine, sweet and sour, honey and soy, ‘tikka masala’, and a few others that I can’t recall).

There were two chefs, only one of whom was a ‘him’ as indicated by the instructions above. The one that wasn’t a him took my meat (I chose naked pork) and popped it on a big hot plate where it sizzled for a while alongside the sizzling meats of other lunchers.

As one’s meat progresses clockwise around the hot plate, the chef that is a him takes your non-meats (mine comprised leek, bean sprouts, courgettes, spinach and bamboo shoots) and tosses it on top of your by now pretty well cooked meat. Eventually your lunch reaches 12 o’clock and gets shovelled into a bowl and handed to you.

The operation is pretty slick. The place was VERY busy which makes a nice change from my usual eatforafiver experiences. When I first got there, there was a queue at the door so I went for a little wander and came back about 10 minutes later. The queue was gone but I had to wait a few minutes for a table to be available. I was managed with brisk courtesy by a helpful staff member who explained to me how the system worked and brought me to a table.

While I was making my selections and waiting for my food to be sizzled, a bowl of rice was brought to my table and later I was supplied with a big jug of iced water.

As the title suggests, the place was full of students most of whom had learned that the capacity of a bowl is not limited by its physical properties and that noodles, being quite heavy, can act as a stabilising force for a massive wobbling pile of food underneath.

My lunch …

… was OK. I suspect that after a few goes one would get more used to the proportion of flavouring to use relative to the quantity of food. I under-flavoured mine significantly. On the table was pepper and salt, soy sauce and a big bottle of what I suspect was sweet chilli sauce, which I left well alone. The bowl of rice was waiting for me to join it for some time and wasn’t that hot by the time I arrived.

So there you have it. The place is very well organised, it’s kind of fun putting your food together and it’s very good value.

It’s not really a place you’d go to alone – I think part of the enjoyment of somewhere like this is comparing choices and seeing how they turn out, so go with a few others.

I found this guy on the wall opposite:

Oh. And I bought a hat.

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Filed under: Oriental

McMeh

Posted by David

Sep 14

I’ve always been quite neutral about McDonalds. You have to be when you have kids, really. And sometimes you just need a quarter pounder with cheese. I love to suck the juice out of the meat. It’s my guilty secret. And I love that Egg McMuffin with the flat sausage yoke.

This is going to be short. I tried out the McDonalds Eurosaver Menu today. This is it …

I went for the double cheeseburger, the twisty fries and the fruit bag. A fiver.

Actually, I’d forgotten that I don’t like twisty fries. At least with the bag of straight ones you can pretend that they are chips. With the twisty ones, there’s no escaping the fact that they’re just extruded shapes of potato starch, covered with some crunchy crap and deep fried. They were very greasy. Not nice.

The burger was meh. Too much ketchup overpowered the taste of the meat. I’d never really noticed it before but the bun is pretty insubstantial. And sweet.

The fruit bag comprised about eight slices of watery apple and about five past-their-best grapes. Not great.

As I said, I don’t mind McDonalds. I didn’t enjoy it this time though. Enough said.

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Filed under: American

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CMJ

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