Time To Say Goodbye

After exactly four years and three hundred blog posts, I'm calling time on Eat Noodles Love Noodles. Giving up blogging hasn't been an easy decision to make. After all, it's a hobby that's given me great joy, and one through which I've met some great friends, online and off, along the way. Big thanks to you all, especially to those of you who took the trouble to comment on the blog along the way. {Update July 2015 - I've made a kind of a comeback on my other blog - click here.}

Why now? The truth is I've been thinking about jacking it all in for the past year or so. The only reason why I continued was the proliferation of ramen shops in London and my travels abroad. But there's only so much I can blog about ramen, and my mad run of travel this year has come to a halt.

If there's one aspect of blogging I'll miss, it will be writing about food on my travels. I doubt I would ever have started blogging if I didn’t have the kick-start from a trip to China in 2009. And to the end, it's these posts that have given me most pleasure to write.

I won't miss writing about London restaurants so much, though. Despite all the new openings, I've not really blogged about too many places in the capital this year. It's not that I don't take an interest in all the big name chefs and restaurateurs. I do, and I even sometimes eat in their fancy gastrodomes. It's just that I feel the London restaurant scene is a bit like English Premier League football: an exciting and cosmopolitan spectacle, but one where the actuality does not match the hype.

Now I don't want to end my blog on a negative note (although I have been known to shake my fist at crap restaurants, awful food TV and incorrect food grammar), as I've always been passionate about promoting the food I love the most. So with that in mind, I thought I'd end my last post with my fantasy last supper. I've bent the rules a bit in that I've somehow ended up with a ten-course Asian seafood banquet.

My Last Supper
Sashimi selection
I love sashimi and it's the perfect start to my banquet. Of course it's going to be weapons-grade raw fish, with the only stipulation being the platter must include some of my favourite hamachi (yellowtail).

Steamed scallops topped with garlic & glass noodles
This classic epitomises all that is great about Cantonese cuisine: fresh ingredients, simply cooked. This is also the first appearance of noodles in the banquet.

'Chao Tom' - Grilled prawn paste on sugar cane
In this Vietnamese dish the sugar cane acts as a skewer and the prawn paste is eaten by wrapping it with herbs in lettuce and rice paper before dipping in nuoc cham.

Under the Typhoon Shelter pissing prawns
After a relatively healthy opening three courses, the banquet get dirty in the form of fried 'pissing prawns' aka mantis shrimp tossed in a violent mix of fried chilli and garlic. ('Under the Typhoon Shelter' is the poetic Chinese name of this Hong Kong dish more commonly cooked with crab.)

Singapore chilli crab with fried mantou
Things get dirtier still with this Singapore classic where the crab is almost an afterthought. I can foresee much dipping of fried mantou (Chinese buns) into the flavoursome eggy, tomatoey chilli sauce.

Clams in fish soup with rice vermicelli
Asian food is all about balance, which is why this course is a bit cleansing. Having said that, a big glug of rice wine should go into the soup. (Noodlewatch: noodles make a second appearance in the banquet.)

Shanghai-style river shrimp stir-fried with Longjing tea
The comedown continues with a delicate dish of river shrimp, coated with egg white and cornstarch, stir-fried with Dragon's Well aka longjing tea leaves.

'Pla Neung Ma Nao' - Steamed grouper with lime, chilli, garlic, lemongrass & fish sauce
I have to have a Thai dish in my top ten, and this whole steamed grouper (sea bass would do at a push) sat in an aromatic 'soup' is my choice.

Pak choi stir-fried with garlic
Although my last supper is being served banquet style, this simple vegetable dish will be brought out just after the fish. And for those carb lovers, now might be a good time to ask for some rice. Mind you, not too much though…

Lobster fried with ginger & spring onion on a bed of e-fu noodles
So this is it, the coup de grâce. Of course it was going to be Cantonese, of course it was going to have noodles, and of course it was going to be lobster cooked with ginger and spring onion! My apologies to dessert fans, there's no proper pudding but there will be slices of watermelon.

Now I know some of you may be surprised at my choices. For instance, neither dim sum nor Cantonese BBQ makes an appearance. But that's OK, as I had both at my penultimate meal at lunchtime. Being a critic of the concept of pan-Asian restaurants, some may be surprised the feast contains a mix of different cuisines. However, I don't think it's an issue, as all of the dishes are bona fide classics and they will be served 'banquet-style' rather than in a blurry family-style free-for-all. And being a bit of an obsessive, I've also given a lot of thought to the sequence in which the courses will be served.

So that's it. I am now a former blogger, although I will continue to post food photos on Instagram. Thanks again for reading.

PS: Thanks for the good wishes and messages on Twitter - I'm very touched. For clarification, I will be keeping the blog alive but there won't be any new posts. And I'll still be on Twitter.

Pork Ramen @ Wagamama

Younger readers might be surprised that there was a time when Wagamama was fashionable. Granted, this was when Oasis released Definitely Maybe, John Major was Prime Minister and the author of this blog had just moved to London. Yes, that long ago. In those days this noodle bar was considered a pioneer, as neither Japanese food nor communal casual dining was all that common.

Nowadays, Wagamama is one of the UK's best-known chain restaurants; it's even expanded overseas (I've seen branches in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Sydney). However, popularity doesn't always equate to quality, and it'd be fair to say that the noodlescenti can be a bit sniffy about this restaurant. That's why I wasn't that keen on going there the other Saturday. But it was late, I was pissed, it was raining and my mate's wife vetoed a trip to Nando's (I was a bit indignant - Nando's is great post-session grub). So that's why after over three years (and 265 blog posts) I am finally writing about Wagamama.

I'm not sure there ever was a 'Golden Age of Wagamama' but it'd be fair to say that the food was better when there was only one restaurant with a shorter menu. To be honest I found the menu bewildering. In addition to the Japanese dishes, there were some interlopers such as pad Thai as well as some weird pan-Asian dishes that could be (kindly) described as unique. Some branches, although not the one I visited, even offer sushi. Blinded by choice, I played it safe and went for a newly introduced dish: pork ramen (£8.50).

It's all too easy to be negative about Wagamama (and chains in general) so I would like to point out that the toppings of pea shoots, wakame, menma, spring onions and half a tea-stained egg were fresh and of good quality. There was also a fair bit of barbecued pork although I can't remember much about the taste of the meat or the accompanying Korean barbecue sauce. The ramen noodles could've been springier, but I guess I should be thankful they weren't mushy. At this point, you're probably wondering this isn't a bad bowl of noodles, and as my friend pointed out I did wolf it down pretty sharpish.

However, all this good work was letdown by a lukewarm and insipid broth. I like my soup noodles to come with a steaming broth, not one that is merely tepid. It was also underseasoned and lacked depth, and despite being advertised as a miso, ginger and chicken soup, I couldn't pick out any of those flavours.

I also had a taste of a stir-fried udon dish, which I found to be too sweet (although I do concede I did eat quite a bit of this dish). With hindsight, I wish I'd ordered what my mate had: chicken katsu curry, proper dirty post-pub grub. Sides of ebi katsu (prawns in breadcrumbs) and duck gyoza dumplings were also ordered. I can't remember much about these but being a bit pissed I'm sure they hit the spot at the time.

There are many better noodle options than Wagamama, but they tend to be in central London. So when out and about after a drunken night in Richmond, I guess this noodle chain scratches an itch. It's far from great, but I wouldn't say it's so bad that it is to noodles what Ping Pong is to dim sum. And for that I guess I ought to be thankful.



Wagamama, 3 Hill Street, Richmond TW9 1SX (Tel: 0208-948-2224)
Nearest station: Richmond
With branches nationwide

Dinner @ Banana Tree Soho

Banana Tree styles itself as an Indochina kitchen – offering dishes and specialities from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam amongst other countries in South East Asia. As long time readers of my blog will know, this kind of pan-Asian concept usually brings me out in hives.

Nevertheless, my curiosity was aroused when I was invited to review Banana Tree's new Soho branch. After all, it does no harm to challenge one's prejudices, especially when the first £60 of the bill is free. I know some of you are sceptical of freebie invite reviews, but in this instance I dined anonymously with two civilian mates, and only unmasked myself as a blogger when the bill arrived.

The Legendary Rendang

Like many casual joints, Banana Tree doesn't do starters and mains. Instead, they serve mains alongside a selection of smaller side dishes, and the food is brought out as and when it's ready. I don't usually mind this, but I was a little hacked off that everything, literally, came out at once, with no stagger whatsoever. This meant dishes got cold and table space was at a premium. Anyway, here's what we ordered:

The Legendary Rendang (£9.80) was probably the pick of the bunch, with its melt-in-the-mouth beef and rich coconutty sauce. It could've done with having more zing, but still, it was much better than the rendang I recently had at Tukdin, an ultra authentic Malaysian joint. It's just a shame there wasn't more of it. Sticking with Malaysian classics, the Kajang chicken satay (£8.50/6 pcs) was well marinated and had a nice char. Unfortunately, the chicken was a bit dry and overcooked, which was a shame as the peanut sauce was very good.

Braised Pork Belly

String-tied braised pork belly w/green coconut juice (£7.50) was the other highlight. The pork fell away in juicy tender strands, and the accompanying sauce picked up the flavour of the aromatics such as cinnamon and star anise. This Vietnamese style dish was better than a similar one I had at Viet Grill. But like the rendang, the portion size was a bit mean.

Phad Thai

Phad Thai w/prawns (£8.20) – for whatever reason, this iconic Thai noodle dish often disappoints in London. And this effort didn't buck that trend, as it was bland and unmemorable. As was the green papaya salad (£5.90) – this version of classic Thai som tum, was let down by the absence of chillies, which usually gives this dish a fiery kick.

Roast duck

Roasted duck breast with Pei Pa hoisin sauce (£11.50) is poor value when you consider a whole Cantonese roast duck from Chinatown doesn't cost much more. Cost aside, the meat was tender enough but the skin wasn't well lacquered. It also didn't help that the dish was doused in sauce, which would have been better served on the side. All in all, a bit underwhelming.

The atmosphere was buzzy and the service attentive. Together with some rice, a couple of rounds of beer and service, the bill came to £86 between three, which is roughly £29/head. Notwithstanding the fact that the first £60 of the bill was comped, this is quite expensive for what is a casual dining experience. That said, you can 'combo up' your main course, which makes it better value, although that does discourage sharing.

Despite my deep-rooted antipathy to pan-Asian eateries, Banana Tree wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Nothing was actively bad, and there were signs of promise in the beef rendang and the braised pork belly. Yet there was little va-va-voom (that's a new phrase for Food Blog Bingo) and to be honest, it isn't really my kind of place. Mind you, what I think is pretty much irrelevant, as this casual restaurant was never less than full in the hour or so that I was there.



Banana Tree, 103 Wardour Street, London W1F 0UQ (Tel: 020-7437-1351)
Nearest stations: Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road

Noodle Shorts 1

I don't suppose the good people of Preston could give a toss that Wok 2 Eat is 'Preston's First American Style Noodle Bar'. I on the other hand was quite excited, although I didn't try their noodles, as I'd already eaten. Looking at the pan-Asian menu, I'm not sure quite sure what gives this joint its American character. My only guess is that they use American-style take-out containers.

This new feature is a total rip-off of inspired by this series.

And Another Thing...

There are times when real life intrudes the blogosphere and if you're reading this, it means that I've been too busy to write-up a 'normal' post. That means I'm probably in a crappy mood so it's only appropriate that my 'stand-by' post (do other bloggers have these?) is one where I turn into Mr Grumpy and have a good old-fashioned moan.

Pan-Asian Restaurants
There's a group of bright young things out on the town looking for somewhere to eat. One of them wants Thai, one Chinese, whilst the cool kids are torn between Malaysian and Vietnamese. That's where the Pan-Asian eatery comes in, not all of them are shit but plenty are. You know the ones; they'll have banana leaf, mango, or lemongrass in their name. Otherwise, they'll be called something in an indeterminate Asian language that when translated means 'ha-ha, thanks for your hard-earnt'.

The menu will claim to represent the cuisine of a third of the world's population but there will be dishes that bear no resemblance to any Asian cuisine. Much of the food will be pre-prepared, inauthentic ingredients will be used, spicy dishes will be watered down and everything will be too bloody sweet.

Punters that regularly frequent these places should be disappointed but they won't be. That's because most of them don't really care (or realise) what they're eating is a piss poor rendition of some of the world's greatest cuisines.

Service Charge Inflation
I always try and tip at least 10% and don't mind putting more in for exceptional service. So when a restaurant has a 10% service charge, I don't mind too much as long as the service has been OK. I'm not sure when 12.5% service charge became de rigueur but if you're somewhere nice and the service is good then it's no big deal.

But a 15% service charge is just taking the piss. I mean that's nearly as much as the VAT. For that I expect complimentary shoeshine and suit pressing. American readers might think I'm a tight-arse but we don't have that tip equals double-the-tax bollocks in Britain. And whilst we're at it, what is it with Americans calling the main course, an entrée? Do the French call it that? No and it's their bloody language.

What really pisses me off about the 15% service charge is that the places that charge it tend to be posh and expensive anyway. They also know most diners won't kick up a fuss and in fairness, I've never been anywhere with 15% service charge where I've had cause to ask for it to be removed. That said I prefer the decision to leave a generous tip to be mine and not theirs.

I can't believe I've had a good rant and not mentioned how utterly shit some restaurant critics are when they're out of their 'white man food' comfort zone. Well I have now and yes I do mean you, Matthew Norman.

What gets on your nerves in the world of food? Leave a comment and we can all have a therapeutic bitch about it.

Soup Noodles in London - Part 2

Last year, I began my quest to track down London's best soup noodles and you can check out the results here. I tried to be even handed and went across Asia but I inexplicably missed out Korea. So it seemed only right that I rectified this omission by going to Koba to try their jjambong when I resumed my quest earlier this year.

This was an 'it's me not you' experience as I'm sure expat Koreans with a liking for spicy bean paste would've loved this bowl of noodles. However I'm not and I didn't although it's well worth coming here for Korean BBQ.

The noodles didn't get better on the next leg of my tour at Kiasu as the nonya laksa didn't pack the punch that I expect from this classic Malaysian dish. Whilst it was far from insipid, I thought it should've been spicier with more of a taste of the sea.

2010 was proving to be a poor year on the soup noodle front and it reached a low point at Cha Cha Moon. The wonton mian were amongst the worse I've ever had. You'd think it'd be impossible to balls this dish up but somehow they managed it. Noodles that weren't properly rinsed, insipid broth and meagre portions left me hungry and pissed off. It was a total rip-off too. Avoid.

Having been disappointed by Cha Cha Moon, I was expecting Pho to be even worse. However, their pho was a pleasant surprise although the slightly underpowered broth did need chilli and lime to pep it up. I should mention I was invited to Pho so I'm not sure how well they'd perform under proper match conditions.

It wasn't all bad news as I found good noodles in Chinatown at Wan Chai Corner. This old school Cantonese joint knocked up a fine bowl of sui gow mein. Tasty king prawn dumplings with properly cooked noodles in a clean tasting broth all for £4.20 – this was the pick of the soup noodles featured in this round-up.

This year has seen me rediscover the joys of Thai food and I really enjoyed the kuay tiew moo tom yum at Putney's Talad Thai. A varied bowl of noodles featuring mainly fishballs and minced pork is as good as it gets outside Zone 1 and at £4, a steal.

I love soup noodles and I will of course continue to sample and write about London's best. However, I do feel that I've been neglecting non-soup noodles like bun and lao mein. With that in mind, the next round-up will encompass all kinds of noodles. In the meantime, any suggestions on where to go for noodles in London will be most welcome.

PS: Yes I know I need to go to Koya. 

Lunch @ Monsieur M (Pan-Asian), London

One of the great pleasures of blogging is meeting up with other bloggers so I was delighted to have lunch with Londonelicious and An American in London. The venue was Shoreditch's Monsieur M, which Londonelicious chose as it reminded her of a similar place in Berlin, Monsieur Vuong. In fact, the whole concept was a bit of a rip-off homage with the trendy interior design and a similarly sparse menu offering just four choices of main, three choices of sides and a dessert. At lunchtime, you can combine these in a deal of a main, a side and a drink for £10.

I'm a big inverted snob and trendy places like these usually bring me out in hives. That said I'll give most places a try and it’s good to have one's prejudices challenged from time to time. As there were three of us, we decided to go for all three sides on offer, chicken toast, crispy wontons, and summer rolls. The deep fried snacks were OK in a trashy way although I preferred the summer rolls, which were perfectly adequate but nothing more.

Onto the mains and my fellow diners both went for a Thai beef green curry. To use the vernacular of the sports commentator, 'it didn’t pull up any trees' but it wasn't a total shocker. I remember they weren't overjoyed that their curry was mixed in with the rice.

Having adopted the moniker Mr Noodles, my main was a straight choice between two Vietnamese noodle dishes, pho gai (chicken pho soup noodles) or bun gai (stir fried chicken on rice vermicelli). I dismissed the pho as I had a feeling it'd be bad here, especially as it was served with garlic. Notwithstanding that it seems a weird addition to soup noodles, I don't think I've ever seen garlic in pho.

Mind you the bun gai was hardly a paragon of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. I knew something was amiss as they used the wrong noodle and God alone knows why they used thick spaghetti-like rice noodle. I wouldn’t mind but bun or rice vermicelli is hardly difficult to get your hands on. The noodles were also served warm rather than at room temperature, another faux pas.

Overall, this dish was very bland and not even the addition of extra nuoc cham could lift it. The overwhelming flavour was of peanut and I could also taste sesame oil, which is just plain wrong in bun dishes. On the plus side, the stir-fried chicken was tasty and tender but it lacked the charring that the grilled meats that come with this dish should have.

Service was OK although they were a bit slow in bringing glasses of tap water. That said; the management were happy to discuss Londonelicious’ query regarding the similarities to Monsieur Vuong and they also took my feedback on using the wrong kind of noodle with good grace.

Verdict: I doubt I’ll be returning here anytime soon as there are so many Vietnamese restaurants on the nearby Kingsland Rd serving authentic food of a higher quality.

Other Stuff: Monsieur M styles itself as an Indochinese restaurant but was Thailand ever considered part of Indochina?

Nonya Laksa @ Kiasu (Pan-Asian), London

{Update Jan 2011 - Kiasu has closed and has been replaced by a pan-Asian buffet joint. What a shame.}

Together with Sedap and Rasa Sayang, Kiasu is one of the most commonly cited places in London to try Straits cuisine. Although best known for its dishes from Malaysia and Singapore, the menu is also peppered with Indonesian, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese dishes as well as some traditional Chinese fare. To be honest, you'd have to be a bit of an idiot to order Vietnamese pho here but if there's one thing I've learnt living in London is that there are plenty of those in the capital.

I kicked off with some murtabak (£4.50) – this was lukewarm and instantly forgettable. Not even the tasty curry dip could rescue this refugee from Greggs The Baker. This was nothing like the flaky-eggy affairs I ate in Singapore but let's not dwell on my disappointment, as that's not what I came here to try.  

I came for the laksa, which to many people is the dish that epitomises Straits cuisine. I ordered the Nonya Laksa (£6.90), which consisted of prawns, fish cakes, rice noodles, and daun kesum in a healthy sized bowl of coconut 'gravy'. I'm sure there should have been fried tofu in the mix but otherwise it seemed pretty authentic but for ……

I know I'm going to sound contrary as I moaned that Koba's jjambong was too spicy but I thought the laksa here lacked a certain 'smack in the mouth' sensation. The thing that I remember about eating laksa in Singapore was that it was much more flavoursome with a powerful 'prawn-shell' aroma that hit your nostrils.

I did a bit of t’internet research and found that there are different kinds of laksa out there and that my nonya laksa or laksa lemak was meant to be 'coconuttier'. I don't eat enough laksa to be an expert and whilst far from insipid, I would've preferred it to be spicier and to taste more of the sea.

Service was very good and I liked the stylish interior. The damage was around £15 including drinks and service but £10 would cover it, if you ditched the rather crap murtabak.

Verdict: This was my first visit to Kiasu for a couple of years and there are many things I like about it. However, next time I think I'll try something other than the laksa and I'll definitely steer clear of the chicken pasty murtabak.

Other Stuff: Kiasu is part of a small group of Bayswater restaurants including Hung Tao (HK style caff) and Kam Tong (Cantonese dim sum restaurant), which also has a branch in Chinatown.

Shopping Pit-stop @ Cammasan (Pan-Asian), Kingston

{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.