25 Newport Court
London, England 
Baozi is the Chinese word(s) for any steamed filled-bread, that's round in shape. Generally the size of a potato, they can be sweet or savoury, filled with any combination of meat of vegetarian fillings, and vary from a small new-potato in size (xiao long bao, for instance), to mammoth baseballs, filled with meat and vegetables.
Communist placards on the doorway sets the tone for little themed shack.
Propoganda poster reproductions from the 60s.
A sample of the menu.
(New) old copies of the People's Daily, from the 60s. These are actually reproductions printed on newsprint to look authentic. And indeed, they looked just like a back issue would.
Photo of Zhou En Lai, first premier of the new China (in the loo!).
Look at the size of my corn!
A young hero of the People's Liberation Army.
Propoganda posters of a young Mao, sitting with the people. Farmers, workers, all the right sort are represented.
The menu. In Chinese, it actually heralds the place as a commune, rather than the slightly blank name of 'Baozi Inn'.
The menu is actually incredibly varied, and lists only three types of baozi - pork, chicken, or vegetable.
Most of the menu consists of noodles, wonton dishes, and small 'snacks' that are found all the way from Beijing to Shanghai, where ever a street vendor can set down a bucket and a few stools. All utterly delicious, and all impossible to find elsewhere in the tourist-heavy streets of Chinatown.
The place is licensed and serves a very small range of beers by the bottle, for a fairly reasonable £2.50.
Hurray for the Chairman!
I think this was a mungbean-starch noodle dish served cold with a firey broth, with bits of peanut, coriander, spring onion to add flavour and texture.
Mmm, bowel-stoppingly firey.
Dan dan mian: the dish actually comes in (at least) two completely different variations. We had the spicy version with fried minced pork. It can also mean a cold noodle dish served with a peanut sauce, go figure. Dan dan is usually taken to mean the bamboo pole that streent vendors use to carry two big buckets, in moving their wares around.
A traditional breakfast item, this is a savoury serving of unpressed doufu smothered in a savoury sauce that traditionally would be pork, lilly buds, wood ear mushrooms, and herbs. The unpressed bean-curd has a silky and light texture, similar to very very soft egg-white, but with a faint taste of calcium from the coagulant. Most of the flavour comes from the rich, thickened stock/sauce, while the lilly buds and mushrooms add a toothsome crunch.
The waiting staff are efficient and friendly, the prices are good, and the food is glorious. Almost nowhere else in London can you get such authentic Chinese food, especially dishes from the firey regions, such as Sichuan and Beijing. The noodles are filling and delicious, and tingle the tastebuds so much more than the bland offerings normally found in 'Chinese' restaurants.
The damage: two main dishes and a main-ish dish to share for £18.50. A steal!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment