Saigon, England by Bureaucrat

Living in London I've pretty much given up the hope of finding cheap, tasty Asian food. What I took for granted in Melbourne, I certainly miss now.

To date, most of my Asian dining here has been pretty dismal - most places are tourist traps.

So with much surprise and delight when Ms G took me to one of her regular haunts in Greenwich.

Saigon is a Chinese/Thai/Vietmanese/Japanese restaurant. For a little while it held a special place in my list of favourties - it was the only place where you could have a dine-in meal for less than 5 pounds (4.80 pounds for most dishes).

Recently, due to GFC, the crappy UK economy and increasing VAT, prices at Saigon has reached the dizzying heights for 5.60 pounds per main dish...outrageous!

Here are some photos of the dishes that we order regularly.


Salt and pepper squid for entrees. Crispy, big serving and always the oil hasn't been re-used too many times. The batter is thin and light. Needless to say, we always order this one. I've also ordered the s&p eggplant. That's also very morish but you can't beat the squid.


Spring rolls. They're average in quality. Vermicelli, pork, cabbage and carrot inside. It's served with a slightly dodgy looking bowl of nuoc cham, which I avoided.


Beef ho fun. A big pile of slippery rice noodles. Lots of thin slices of beef, scrambled egg and beanshoots. Love it! Not too greasy, considering how greasy this dish could be.


Beef pho. Not 100% authentic. The soup base is slightly MSG-ed. But good enough to sate an appetite (...Ha Long Bay in Richmond, how I miss you!). It was served with a small plate of the usual beanshoots, mint, basil, lemon and chilli. I've also had the wonton noodle soup which I prefer. The wontons taste homemade and pretty generous in numbers, too.


For drinks, I tend to order the freshly squeezed juices. There's a limited range of Asian beers and sweet drinks. The Lawyer once ordered the red bean drink. That was below average. Red beans in a somewhat watered down coconut base.


And being greedy pigs, we ordered the Singaporean fried noodles for takeaway. A generous serving of rice noodles, mixed meats (cha siu, roast duck, chicken), eggs and veg. Delish.

Overall
Saigon is the closest I'm going to get to cheap, generous serves of above average quality Asian food in London. They don't skimp on ingredients. Having said that, it does certain dishes better than others.

Saigon is clean and comfortable. Unlike most good-value Asian places, the tables aren't squished up against each other. Service is overall pretty good, although some of the staff are more friendly than others.

May it live long and prosper!

Address
Saigon
16 Nelson Road
Greenwich SE10 9JB

Telephone: 020 8853 8288

Kingswood Arms, England by Bureaucrat

On a cold, drizzling Saturday morning, I travelled to Surrey to watch Ms G and Ms C partake in a 10km run. Ms C's partner thought I'd be partaking in the run...I told him I'm not that crazy.

After the completion of the mud-splattered race, Ms C took us to one of her local pub for some much-needed hot food.


The Kingswood Arms is a quintessential English pub. Wooden beams, fireplaces, nooks and crannies to sit and sip some (warm) beer. Also, it's apparently a place to spot some well known English footballers and their wags.


Kingswood Arms also has a fairly decent restaurant that's pitched at a semi gastro pub level with a dash of family friendly atmosphere.


Ms C ordered the roast - half a chook with Yorkshire pud, stuffing, roast veg, salad and gravy. A tasty offering and I had a bit of food envy.


Ms G ordered the salmon en croute. I loved the colour of the pastry - wonderful golden brown.


I ordered the salmon fish cakes. These were nice - chunks of fish and creamy mash potatoes, but nothing exceptional. Salad was a bit limp.

Overall
A nice, cosy pub to spend a cold English afternoon. A friendly, welcoming vibe inside. Definitely like the ones you'd see on the telly. Food was generous servings and decent but nothing to rave about. I'd imagine the beer garden would be popular during summer.

Address
Kingswood Arms
Waterhouse Lane
Kingswood
Surrey KT20 6EB
Telephone: 01737 354 053

Old Tree, England by Bureaucrat

A few weeks ago, I went rambling around north London to find the house that my dad used to live in. In doing so, we made a pit stop at Old Tree bakery. OT reminded me of the many Asian cafes, bakeries and restaurants back home.


This one is a Taiwanese shop that provided a warm haven from the wind and rain. Decorated in sensible, comfortable brown furniture and with gentle piano music in the background, you get a feeling that you've walked into someone's home. The light-filled shop has a range of Asian baked goodies - similar to those you'd find in Bread Top and Maxine's.

As we've already had lunch, we opted for some baked goods rather than the meals from the kitchen. To go with our tea and coffee, we had:


Spring onion bun. I love these buns! Plenty of spring onion and just a hint of mayo. It's been such a long time since I've had one of these.


The Lawyer had the coconut bun, which he said was delicious.


For cakes, the Lawyer had the chocolate cake, which was also deemed as delicious.


I had the orange mousse cake. The name for this cake is somewhat misleading. Smothered in between the cake layers wasn't mousse - it was butter cream. It was too much butter cream for too little cake! I scraped most of the cream off. Otherwise, it was delicious.

Overall
Next time I'd definitely would like to try the hot meals. There is a limited menu, but from what I've seen from other diners, the food looks yummy, filling and very home-style...think braised soy pork belly served with rice and tea-stained egg...yum!

Address
Old Tree
105 Golders Green Road
Barnet, NW11 8

Telephone: (020) 8458 4112

Ribe, Paris by Bureaucrat

After an exhausting time of lining up to buy tickets to the Eiffel Tower, then lining up to go into the Tower, lining up to go into the elevator, shuffling around inside with other tourists inside the Tower, lining up for the elevator to exit the Tower, it was most certainly time for a late lunch.


Ribe is a upmarket cafe near the Tower. With the French windows, tables on the sidewalk, French ladies having a coffee and a cigarette, we definitely got the French experience.


As I already had a crepe beforehand, I ordered an entree. It was a rather generous serving of tomato, buffalo mozzerella w basil olive oil. Simple but filling, and very fresh flavours.


The Lawyer ordered the steak tartare, which was served w an egg yolk, chips and lots of crusty baguette. Although he wolfed the whole thing down, the Lawyer said he liked it but wouldn't necessarily ordered it again. I had a tiny taste. It didn't taste like, nor had the texture of, raw meat.

Overall
Ribe was a nice place to have a late lunch. Certainly had a relaxed feel to it. Service was attentive and friendly. I felt we made a good choice, as there were a few other cafes on the same road.

Address
Ribe
15, Avenue de Suffren
75007 Paris

Original Gino's East, North America by Kit Kat

On our third and final day in Chicago my sister and I packed in as much as we could to the point of utter exhaustion. We were taken on a tour of this architecturally marvellous city and had worked up a monstrous appetite. Before we embarked on our journey across the States, a work colleague of mine told me that I must try Chicago’s original deep dish pizzas. And so we did.




While we were waiting for this legendary Gino’s East deep dish pizza we were given some garlic bread sticks and some tomato dipping sauce. This was beautiful and it took the edge off my insatiable hunger. Did I mention that these work-of-art pizzas take 45 minutes to cook to perfection?


We took this time to reminisce over our trip which was more than half over already; we had previously travelled to LA, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco presently in Chicago and were looking forward to our imminent travel destinations being Toronto and New York. Before too long, our waiter Jimmy arrived with our deep dish pizza, cut up a slice, held the slice up and posed for my camera. We ordered a small pizza which was half Gino’s East Supreme and half “Cheese and our famous sausage” (this sausage is locally made). It’s been a month since my sister and I sat down in this urban gem enjoying every bite and the very thought of this pizza right now makes my mouth water, pining for that experience again. It was the perfect combination of two of my favourite culinary delights; pizza and pie. It was definitely well worth the wait.

If you’re not inclined towards deep dish pizza, Gino’s East does serve up thin crust pizzas which looked and smelled just as appetizing as the deep dish pizza as well as a variety of pastas.

Overall
In summary, if you’re in Chicago, don’t pass up the opportunity to try Gino’s East of Chicago pizza.

Verdict
Ambience – 9
Food – 9.5
Service – 9.5
Price – 8

Address
162 E Superior St
Chicago, IL 60611
Tel: (312) 266-3337

Blue Corn, St Kilda by Big Fil

I've never been to Mexico so can't comment about true Mexican food. For all I know it could be the healthiest, tastiest, most interesting food in the world. I know it is really popular, particularly in the United States, but I just can't get excited about it here. Whether that's because of the style of food itself or just the way it's done in Melbourne I'm not sure. On the other hand, after recent visits to the US Ms Counting her Calories is a big fan so she invited Snooze (who turned out to be sick on the day) and myself for dinner at Bluecorn. I know that Bluecorn has a good reputation and had high hopes that I could be about to become a convert.


First impressions were good. It's much more café than restaurant in style, with bottles behind the bar, specials on the wall, tables quite close together and the front open to the street. I quite liked it, nothing terribly original but appropriately casual and comfortable for St Kilda.


First dish we ordered to share was the bluecorn and cornbread dips. The dips were spicy chickpea, mushroom and blackbean, pipian rojo (which I had to look up on the Internet. Apparently rojo means red and pipian is a type of mole made from ground pumpkin seeds), guacamole and tomato salsa. For an appetiser the size of the dish was huge. The purple/blue corn chips looked interesting and most of the dips were good (especially the chickpea and the guacamole). Star of the dish though was the cornbread. Not something you see very often in Melbourne, but with a coarser than usual texture and earthier flavour than most restaurant breads. Even though the amount served with the dish was generous, I wanted more!


I went for the chill beef and bean enchilada for mains. Given the size of the appetiser I shouldn't have been surprised by the size of the enchilada. I have a friend who says you should never try to eat anything bigger than your head. Well, I don't think this was but it was getting close. Given that it was heavy and extremely filling, I would have been satisfied with a smaller (and cheaper) enchilada. It was quite tasty though, moderately spicy with rich mince and bean flavours.


Ms C went for the grilled fish tacos. After she confirmed that they were soft shell tacos I was a little surprised at the well toasted taco shells. Somewhere between soft and hard shell tacos, almost crispy. The best part of the taco was the fish, which was moist and soft. The rest of the dish didn't make that much of an impression though. Again, a surprisingly heavy and filling dish. Both of us can put away quite a lot of food but we struggled to finish the three dishes. Two might have been better.


Overall
Maybe we were a bit too unadventurous in our ordering but excluding the cornbread none of the food had the flavours that I was hoping for. Yes it was tasty, but with its heaviness and the size of the serves I could imagine ending up looking the Michelin Man if I ate here too often. Some of the dishes on the specials board looked interesting, but were quite pricey. Bluecorn is the sort of place I'm happy to have tried and would go again if someone wanted to return for a birthday dinner or similar, but wouldn't rush back to of my own accord.

Verdict
Food - 7
Ambience - 7
Service - 6.5
Price 6.5

Address:
205 Barkly St
St Kilda, 3182
Tel: (03) 9534 5996

Uzu, Malvern East by Big Fil

If you are in an area you don't know very well it can be a lucky dip to find a cheap, filling and acceptable quality meal. One of the best ways near universities is to follow the conga line of students at lunchtimes and after 5. It sometimes feels like students have a 6th sense for finding value for money places, although it's really a mix of little cash and great networking. There are a few student type eating places near Caulfield train station. Uzu sits on the corner of Derby Road, a few seats in a cosy but cramped café with 4 or so tables outside next to the road.


One of Uzu's specialities is the takoyaki, fried octopus balls with a sweet sauce and mayonnaise. While not saying that much, as it's not something I've had very often, those at Uzu are the best I have tried. They might have been a little mushy but they were still big and flavoursome. I was a bit greedy with these though, managing to burn my mouth on a couple that were cool enough to eat on the outside but a bit too hot still in the middle. I think the moral of that story is if unsure, test by nibbling the edges first rather than taking big bites.


The other two appetisers I tried were also good. The gyoza were nicely fried, properly crispy on one side and not too soft on the other. One of the things I like about gyoza is the way the flavours of all the ingredients balance giving it some complexity. The filling in these was good, meaty but not dominatingly so.


The agedashi tofu, fried tofu in a bowl of lightly flavoured sauce, was my favourite of the entrees though. The best part of the dish was the three different textures. Slightly crispy on the outside contrasting with softness of the tofu in the middle, which again varied depending on whether it had been sitting in or above the sauce.


I am a fan of unagi don and the one at Uzu is of generous proportions. In fact I had to break it into smaller pieces because I found it hard to manage with the chopsticks (I am still on my P plates). The eel was tasty, not being drowned in the accompanying sauce, and the vegetables on the side broke up the strong flavour that eel normally has.


Katsu don is another general favourite. Generous with the chicken, it was a bit overwhelmed with egg and sauce though giving it a softer and less chicken like flavour and texture. It also made it look like a bit of a mess. While not a bad dish I have had better.


Wanting to try one of the noodle soups I went with the beef udon. Consistent with the other mains, it was a generous serve with nice noodles and soup but nothing outstanding. That was the consistent theme at Uzu. Everything acceptable to good, nothing either poor or outstanding. Exactly what you'd expect in a popular student eating place.


Overall
Except for the fact that on each visit I had to sit outside by the road I quite enjoyed my visits to Uzu. While the inside is cramped but cosy the outside seats are a bad spot to eat, close to a busy road with lots of passing foot traffic, and when the sun is going down the glare is very bad.

Verdict
Food - 7.5
Service - 7.0
Ambience 5 (Inside 6 and outside 4)
Price 7.5

Address
2 Derby Rd
Malvern East VIC 3145
Tel: (03) 9571 6792

Le Relais Gascon, Paris by Bureaucrat

Paris! The city where I willingly broke my no-wheat diet for the to-die-for wheat-based goodies. And it was worth it!


Gorgeous pastries for breakfast each day, baguettes for a mid-morning snack, sweet and savoury crepes for the afternoon slump. Yum, yum, YUM!


Le Relais Gascon is a cafe/restaurant near the Moulin Rouge area.


For starters, the Lawyer ordered the escargot. The Lawyer had tried escargot earlier this year. He didn't mind it, but I was surprised that he ordered it again. When asked, the Lawyer said he liked the creamy butter, garlicky sauce and the mushroomy texture of the meat. Personally, eew!


I had the onion soup. This was my first authentic onion soup. I've this soup before, but always from a packet mix or some dodgy work canteen fare. This was full of flavour, caramel colour and the cheesy croutons made it morish. The Lawyer tried to steal too many spoonfuls from my bowl.

The entrees were both cooked really well, but the mains were just average.


I had the duck confit. While big on serving size, it was on the fried greasy side of things. The duck was a bit over cooked and didn't come with any sauce.


The Lawyer had the beef bourginon. Once again, while big in size, the flavour was lacking. This was just beef with carrots. I had expected it to be a lush, slow-cooked, deep and mellowed flavour stew. Hardly any seasoning and it was missing alot of ingredients, eg bacon, onions, etc.


While the mains were disappointing, dessert was as good as the entrees. We shared a creme brulee. Lovely thin, crisp sugar crust. Smooth, velvety custard that was just the right sweetness.

Overall
A mixed result. I'd say go to LRG for a light meal or for desserts as they seem to do this well.

Address
Le Relais Gascon
6, rue des Abbesses
75018 Paris
Telephone: 0142 585 822

Pu's Brasserie, England by Bureaucrat

Pu's Brasserie is a 2-in-1 deal. On one side, it's a proper Thai restaurant - menus, tables, waiters. On the other side, it's a delightful hole-in-the-wall take away joint.


I've only had food from the hole-in-the-wall side because such places hardly exist in London. There are six dishes on offer: red curry, yellow curry, massaman curry, black bean pork, noodle stir fry and vegetarian curry.

The noodle stir fry (using vermicelli) is my favourite, although they sometimes make it with Hokkien noodles. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it.


But I do have some pics of the curries. This is the red curry. Generous chunks of chicken, bamboo shoots and a few chunks of eggplant. A nice hint of fish sauce and basil in the curry and not overly spicy. With so much chicken pieces, it could benefit with some extra veggies in the mix.


Usually I'm not a fan of Massaman curry, but this is nice. A slightly sweeter curry with root vegs. Like the red curry, it could do with some other vegs.

Overall
Probably the only place in the city where you can get Thai food and for less than 5 pounds. Bravo! The only difficulty is that as it's takeaway there aren't any public places to sit to eat it (which is one of the many things I don't like about London... but I digress).

Address
It could be a bit hard to find - like a true hole-in-the-wall it's located in a twisted back street that's right behind Holborn tube station.

Pu's Brasserie
10 Gate Street
Holborn WC2A 3HP
Telephone: 020 7404 2126