It's my third time in this small Vietnamese restaurant and it still gush about its food especially their pho. The soup base is simply the best I've tasted anywhere in UK. And its other dishes are no slouches as well. The only downside is its location in the depths of Deptford. Not exactly the most accessible part of south London.
My family would agree that this is my kind of eating place - small (almost like a canteen), friendly service, reasonable price, and most of all fantastic flavours in all their dishes. They have the kind of flavour that I was expecting from a Southeast Asian restaurant - bold, strong, with lots of combination of taste - sour-salty, sweet-salty-spicy, sweet-sour-salty-spicy, etc. For me, the balance of different flavours in strong doses is the cornerstone of SE Asian cuisine. Especially for Filipino food, the need for strong flavours in our dishes is important to balance out the relative blandness of rice which for me is really the centre of the Filipino cuisine.
Here are some pictures in our last visit:
All noodle soup orders come with this salad of fresh herbs, beansprouts, chilli, and limes.
We ordered Cha Gio (fried spring rolls) as starter.
Husband ordered Pho Tai Chin, a combination of well-done and rare slices of beef on flat rice noodle soup. Our son thought the soup was salty but both me and my husband find it full-bodied and just right.
For me this is the star among the phos here - Pho Ga or chicken noodle soup. The soup base is simply superb and all with sliced chicken meat and flat rice noodles then topped with green and crispy onions.
I had this Com Tam Cha Bi which is Vietnamese meat pie (kinda like meatloaf) and shredded pork skin with rice. The meat pie was great especially in combination with the spicy fish sauce. But I was not a fan of the pork skin. I thought it was crispy but it was soft and kinda limp. As usual I gave it to my food hoover husband since I was not keen on it.
This is Che Sun Sa which is a sweet coconut based drink with coloured jellies and I think sweet corn or something that looked like it. Yummy!
On previous visits I also ordered BBQ chicken with rice and it was fab as well. My kids loved the soup base in Mama Pho and agreed that theirs is probably better than any Vietnamese and Chinese that we have tried before. But they were not keen on the flat rice noodles. *sigh* They still prefer the eggs noodles of the Chinese restos. I think next time it will just be me and the husband who will come back. But hey, less competition for food is mighty fine with me! Their loss not mine. ;)
Mama Pho
24 Evelyn Street
Deptford
London SE8 5DG
Tel No.: 0208 305 6649
On our recent trip to Cornwall, we had the chance to sample some restaurants in the area around the Lizard peninsula and Falmouth. Our base was nearest to Mullion - a pretty village on the western edge of the Lizard peninsula. In our first evening we decided to try the local chippies there.
The fish and chips shop is called The Galleon Mullion.
We were quite impressed with the freshness of the fish and how tasty it was. You could almost taste the sea with every bite. The batter was crisp and cooked just right. The chips looks a bit soggy but it was good as well though not as crispy outside as the ones we were used to. Could it be because of the variety of potato they used? The mushy peas were nice though we noticed that the baked beans were microwaved.
Overall, this unfancy fish and chips shop is recommended if for just the fresh fish that they use. We will certainly be back if we are in the area. It's a shame it is currently on sale. I do hope the next owners will at least keep the quality of their offerings.
The Galleon Mullion
Nansmellion Rd
Mullion
Helston
Cornwall TR12 7BZ
The other one worth mentioning is the Waterside café in the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth. They’ve got a daily board specials in addition to the standard café fares of sandwiches, tea fodders, and snacks. The food was great with the fresh produce they used shining through in all the dishes we ordered. Besides the food, the café has a wonderful setting of having a front-side view of Falmouth harbour. While there we saw boats big or small come and go including a huge luxury cruise ship. I was so engrossed with all the goings on in the harbour that I forgot to take pictures of the food. All I have is the picture of our view (see above) isn't it great?
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Discovery Quay
Falmouth
Cornwall TR11 3QY
The downer we experienced was with the restaurant of the Roskilly’s organic farm in St.Keverne, Helston. It’s an organic farm that produces dairy products. The small farm was charming looking more like someone's backyard. Their ice cream was simply fabulous. I especially love the unusual flavours they have.
Naturally we thought their restaurant offerings would be great as well so we stayed on for their evening grill. Well, we were let down by the cooking to say the least. The grilled mackerel I had was not grilled enough on the outside. My husband's steak was the same. The grill probably was not hot enough. The accompanying leaf salads were limp with the rice curried one looking a bit too gooey for me never mind that the rice was undercooked. We should have known the portends of things to come when we sat down and there was the pervading stink of cow poo all over the place. I know it's a farm but ... well ... I don’t think it's ever appetising to eat with that smell hanging in the air. Sorry Roskilly we'll gladly take you ice cream, yoghurt, clotted cream and milk but we will have to give your restaurant a miss. I didn't get to snap any picture of the food because my family was just too anxious to get out of there.
Roskilly's Ice cream & Organic Farm
Tregellast Barton
St. Keverne
Helston
Cornwall TR 12 6NX
On a visit to Tintagel to take a peek on King Arthur's fabled castle ruins, we stumbled on a great find. There is this modern-looking cafe in the main road of the town where we had afternoon tea. We thoroughly enjoyed the nice spaghetti bolognese (for my son) and my scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Downed of course with Earl Grey tea. They were delish!
The prices were reasonable plus the dining areas at the back get a great view of the coast. If ever you're in the area we recommend you try Cream Cafe.
Cream Cafe Bar
Atlantic Road
Tintagel
Cornwall PL34 0DD
Canteen is one of the most ideal restaurant for me. I never hid the fact from anyone that when it comes to dining places the environment and ambiance are way down my list of criteria. First and foremost for me is the food (that's what it's all about innit?) secondly is the price - it had to be at least good value for money. So you can just about guess that down to earth places with reasonable prices and great food are my absolute favourites. If the surroundings and cutlery are nice then I would consider that a bonus.
This restaurant is no fancy place but had good settings in a minimalist way. The name was true to its word - it looks like a canteen. Most of the food are standard pub fodder but done in the best way possible. I likened the whole enterprise as like stripping a restaurant naked and exposing and highlighting the fabulous food it offers at prices that would not break the bank - I promise!
I ordered a steak (and ale ?) pie with mash and greens. The mash was the best I've tasted outside of my kitchen. Very buttery, creamy and ultra smooth. And the pie? On the outside the pastry was crisp and the inside was a great thick and flavourful beef stew. Although the filling was quite hot making me regret scoffing a spoonful as soon as I broke into it. I was wondering to myself how they managed to retain the crispiness of the pastry. Maybe they have them ready as baked shells and then fill it, top it then baked to crisp the outside. Hmmm ... food for thought.
Thank god the greens didn't come out cooked to death. It was handled just right making a fine complement to the pie and creamy mash. Oh before I forget, the gravy was delicious enough to bind them all together to give me a very satisfying meal.
Now I couldn't remember exactly the ice cream I had for dessert. I think it was raspberry one with a pistachio biscotti sticking like a tower on the side. But I could distinctly remember that the fruit flavour was vivid in a starring-role style not like some insipid ice cream whose intended flavours barely registered in your tongue. And did I say it was as creamy as a premium Italian gelato?
Well, what else can I say? It's obvious that I enjoyed my food in Canteen and will be definitely be back with a vengeance if I'm in the vicinity. I just hope they keep up the quality of their offerings and hope they won't get diluted once they start branching out. Please Canteen promise me you won't be another Wagamama ...
Canteen
2 Crispin Place
Spitalfields
London E1 6DW
Tel. No.: 0845 686 1122
Maki's new food blogging event caught my eye the last time I visited the IMBB portal. She asked us to blog about restaurants, shops, markets, or anything foodie or cooking related in our locale that we can recommend to visitors. Thank goodness she extended the deadline because I was caught up with work, moving and all that jazz and didn't have time to do a write up.
I really don't want to blog about places in central London because as expected with popular tourist places, you just have to search in the internet to get reviews even to the most obscure hole-in-the-wall places. There are so many books and magazines with exhaustive listings of the best foodie places. So I thought of sharing with you a place a just a little bit outside in the north of central London that me and my family love to visit once in a while (because it's quite far from our place).
Although I occasionally like fancy shmaltzy restaurants, you know the type where there are so many cutleries and glasses on the table you wouldn't know where to begin, I can confidently say that I am a more of a 'rough and ready' type of eater. Probably more bistro than haute cuisine. Besides the obvious savings in money, I like the informality and unpretentiousness of these simple no-nonsense eateries where the most essential thing - the food - is the core of the experience. Therefore, it's no wonder that I'm quite fond of Oriental City.
I first found it when 2 months after arriving here in UK from Hong Kong, we were missing our usual dose of hot satisfying Asian food. That time there was a dearth of authentic oriental restaurants in our area. In fact, there was none. All of the Chinese restos then were catering to the Western palate. You know, the sweet-and-sour-springroll-chow-mein type of food. I trawled our yellow pages (internet then were at its infancy) and saw this Oriental mecca in north London.
Yaohan Plaza was the name in its first incarnation, touting the phrase "All of Japan in One Roof". Then the Japanese parent company got broke so now the new owners named it Oriental City which I think is quite apt since under its roof it is a meld of all kinds of shops and restaurants from the Orient.
Besides the waft of barbecue (in summer) and the distinctive smell of durian just outside the main door from the car park, you first sense the busy sights, sounds and atmosphere of the food court where there are an abundance (by London standards) of different kinds of oriental cuisines - Chinese, Japanese (love the bentos), Indian (nice thali), Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, Korean. Thankfully here our family don't have the usual problem when eating in just one resto since we all have different tastes and idea on what to eat. The only thing I am lamenting is the absence of a Filipino stall there. *sigh* 
Just to give you a sampling of what we had last time ... [left] paper wrapped Thai chicken with rice and iced lemon tea; [right] Malaysian-style noodles which I am currently addicted to. It's basically the same as the curry flavoured Singapore-style fried noodles but with flat rice noodles. 
[left] Noodle soup for my husband (I can't remember if it's Chinese or Japanese ramen); [right] They also got your favourite conveyor belt Japanese sushis.
All these at very reasonable prices and often very good quality. The place also have cake shops and a Japanese bakery which made me almost jump for joy when I saw it since I've always been a fan of Japanese breads and cakes when I discovered it in Hong Kong.
There are several shops that sells Japanese ceramics and other kitchen and bathroom knick-knacks, a jewelry shop, Japanese bookshop, video arcade, 2 other Chinese restaurants, 1 expensive Japanese restaurant, an aquarium and fish shop, and a central hall where events are regularly held.
Oriental City
399 Edgware Road
London NW9 0JJ
*nearest tube station: Colindale (Northern Line)
Tel. No.: +44 (0)20 8200 0009
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10am-9pm (food court and supermarket)
Sun 10am-8pm (food court)
Sun 12nn-6pm (supermarket)
Update [01 Aug 2014]: This beloved centre closed its door for the last time on 1st June 2008. There are still no replacement food centre dedicated to Oriental cuisine in the London area as of this time.
Last week, I had the great privilege of meeting a Filipina food blogger based in the US. Purplegirl was on a flying to visit to London on her way to the Middleast for a holiday. We grabbed the chance to meet up, chat, and of course eat! What else would food bloggers do? ;) She was so kind and generous to give me a Jalapeno bread which she recently raved about in her blog so naturally I was very curious. I opened it first thing when I got home and the great aroma that hit me was that buttery-cheesy smell spiked with the spiciness of jalapeno chunks dotting each slice. Me and my husband had a great time eating it with our soup. We toasted it and mmmmmm! it was even more aromatic and tasty. Love that bread - I gotta hunt down a copycat recipe in the hope that maybe I could recreate even a fraction of it.
Getting back to my meeting with Purplegirl, we walked a few yards from Victoria station to a traditional Thai restaurant recommended by Lady Charlie, called Mango Tree. Now, I'm not a restaurant reviewer so I'll just try the best way I can to describe the experience.
The place looks smart, neat and well appointed, good high ceilings with recessed lightings, modern furnishings all in the earthy color scheme of different shades of brown. I liked it immediately since I prefer an uncluttered, neat and airy ambiance in a restaurant. Loved the little Thai touches like the big dried chilli tucked in the napkin holder, small mango trees in pots, etc.
We ordered largely from the lunch set menu since it has what we wanted. I had Fish Cakes for starters while Purplegirl had the Papaya Salad. Mine was good although I find it had a tad bit more flour (making it more chewy) than I wanted. All I can hear from Purplegirl was 'Mmmm, mmmm' with her head nodding positively approving of her Papaya salad.
For mains I had Green Curry Chicken and she had the Prawn Curry. They served it with plain boiled rice and a side salad. I don't know which one we liked better - the side salad or the mains. LOL! The salad was your usual mix of greens but their dressing was so nice. The taste had a very mild taste of patis, lime, and sugar. It was mild and sort of 'unobtrusive' that I feel like it's teasing me to eat more. Maybe next time I'll have a full order of the salad instead of just on the side. About my green curry - it was great with the sauce suitably thick and mildly spiced. Not too spicy not too bland - just right. Purplegirl noted that her Prawn Curry was nicely balanced as well, spiced enough and not too salty unlike what she often gets in other restaurants.
Desserts were served with Purplegirl having the Strawberry Pandan Cheesecake(?) and me with Cheesecake Malakor. The latter had papaya and passion fruit mixed in it on a peanut crumble base. It was good although I find it a bit too sour for me. I prefer sweet creamy cheesecake that's why I'm not too keen on most American cheesecakes. As for hers, she said it was good as well albeit the taste of the pandan was not so forthcoming. She was expecting a stronger taste and so was I.
As a whole, we thoroughly enjoyed our meals and at least I myself would come back to explore more of their menu. We were fortunate to be there just before 12 noon so we practically had the place to ourselves and able to order before the kitchen got busy. Believe me the place was packed by the time we left at past 1 PM. That's no great wonder with the kind of service and good food on offer.
Thanks Purplegirl for the delish loaf of Jalapeno bread and that great lunch we had. :) 'Hope to see you again so we can raid another restaurant!
Mango Tree
46 Grosvenor Place
London SW1X 7EQ
Tel. No.: 020 7823 1888
Last weekend we went to central London to drop off Dennis on his way home to the Midlands. No venture of ours to that area will be complete without having a meal in Chinatown.
A real favourite haunt to fill our craving for anything of Hong Kong chinese cuisine. We usually go to a dimsum house to have yum cha where waitresses wheel carts around laden with yummy morsels of food. This time everyone wants noodle soup (probably the wintry weather has something to do with this). We didn't have to go far, our target restaurant is right beside the Chinese arches.
China China has been in that corner of Gerrard St. for the longest time. It had several incarnations with the latest minimalist decor making it look more neat and tidy. Noodle soups are good here, we ordered beef and duck. The steamed choi sum with oyster sauce is not far behind together with the egg fried rice. But the only thing I care about here is their Crispy Baby Squid with Chilli and Garlic. A standard fare in most Chinese resto and takeaways, it usually comes as squid slices. Here it's whole small squids crispy fried with equally crispy garlic slices and chilli. They are great! Yum!
After lunch we waddled around to help our digestion. I noticed a cake/pastry shop just across where all manner of cakes, snacks, and delicacies are of the typical HK style. Prices though are London style meaning - expensive! But I just have to admire the cakes (also of HK variety). Icings are fresh whipped cream on sponge cakes and decorated with fresh fruits. Isn't it lovely?
