{Update Apr 13 - Cammasan has been replaced by Oriental Kitchen. The concept and the menu remains very similar, though i.e. Pan-Asian}
Christmas shopping is torture. Unfortunately, you have to do it and that's why I spent one Saturday wandering aimlessly around the Bentalls Centre and John Lewis in Kingston-upon-Thames. I wasn't making much progress on my shopping so I decided to have a pit-stop for a late lunch.
Like most British high streets, chain eateries dominate in Kingston so it's heartening to see indie places like Cammasan in the town centre. This noodle bar and restaurant is located in the Charter Quay development with a full service Chinese restaurant on the first floor and a more modest noodle bar on the ground floor.
I plumped for the ground floor noodle bar and was handed a couple of menus, one was in English listing a selection of pan-Asian greatest hits from China, Thailand and Malaysia – stuff like sweet & sour pork, tom yum soup and laksa. The other was a bilingual menu with Cantonese one-dish meals and side dishes that wouldn't look out of place in a Hong Kong café.
It was from this second menu that I ordered Cantonese braised beef lao mein (£4.50) and a side of pak choi with garlic (£3.50). The classic dish of braised beef brisket (ngau laam) served on top of boiled noodles was simply luscious. The brisket was coated in rich star anise infused gravy and it simply melted in the mouth. I could've eaten this all day and it was a shame there wasn't more gravy for the noodles to soak up. The pak choi was perfectly stir-fried - a great accompaniment to the noodles.
However, there was one thing that let this dish down and it was the noodles. This dish should be served with fresh noodles (san mein) like the ones you get in proper wonton noodles. Instead Cammasan use 'dried san mein' - I know this is a bit of an oxymoron but these dried fine noodles (example pictured below) are similar in texture to san mein when refreshed.
I don't want to be a total arse about this as I like it here but it's a bit of a shame that such excellent beef brisket was accompanied by slightly inferior noodles. For all that there's nothing actually wrong with the noodles they serve and I understand why they use them. Without being patronising to Cammasan, they probably don't sell enough san mein dishes and it makes more sense to use dried noodles rather than waste unsold fresh noodles.
Together with green tea and service, the damage came to £10 – not bad value at all. Service was efficient although the communal benches aren't very comfy when it gets busy.
Verdict: If you find yourself in this part of deepest darkest Zone 6 then I'd recommend Cammasan. Based on the quality of the beef brisket and the pak choi, the kitchen certainly knows how to knock out classic Cantonese staples.
Other Stuff: In summer, there's an outdoor seating area which is a better option than the arse-numbing communal benches.
