Cafe Opium

Cafe Opium
67-69 George Street
Oxford
OX1 2BQ
01865 248680

It is surprisingly difficult to get a decent Chinese meal in Oxford. Surprising, because the University itself boasts 745 students from China and Hong Kong (hey, since it was liberated from the foreign pig-dog oppressors, and rejoined the Motherland, HK is a part of China now, people!) plus the researchers, academics, academic groupies, general citizenry and hordes of tourists every year, there must be a sufficient body to warrant some authentic food.



Alas, most serve the default setting of meat and vegetables in unfathomable gravy, served with greasy rice and masquerading as Chinese. A few places, though, deserve an honourable mention, and Cafe Opium is one.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Opium Den was a slightly more expensive Chinese restaurant, on the end of George Street, that nobody went into. Some downturn in its fortunes had meant a vicious circle of declining clientele such that the place always looked empty, and possibly also haunted. Meanwhile, next door, the same owners had a small, dingy, run-down shack named Cafe Orient that sold noodles and one-bowl rice dishes, and the punters would queue for its cheap but tasty meals. Not somewhere to take a date, but extremely efficient and very tasty and filling for £6.

Ditching the loss leader, and regrouping as the new Cafe Opium was an interesting move. Cafe Orient was great, but because it only seated around 10 people at a time, could not keep up with demand. The new premises, complete with shiny decor and expanded menu, meant that there are more bums on seats, but lost some of its grubby student charm.

Although the menu had gone up-market, some of the one-bowl dishes remained. As well as boasting yum cha, there is a range of hand-pulled noodles, and also set meals for students and those who are on the go.

Late for the train, but too cold to put up with the nonsense that is a sandwich (honestly, the worst blow to culinary pleasure, ever), A and I, joined by KH, found ourselves in Cafe Opium for a quick and cheerful meal.



Being a sucker for any form of pasta in soup, I went for the 'lunch and pre-theatre menu'. I certainly can't imagine the pre-theatre crowd chowing down a big bowl of noodle soup in Britain, but the hot and sour noodle soup looked good to me.



Interestingly, they serve traditional Chinese slow-cooked soups. These are also touted as health tonics, and certainly have a warm and nourishing effect on a blustery winter's day. Is it any better than standard chicken soup? Hell yes. Is it going to make you run faster, jump higher, or avoid cancer? No.



A and I went for the hot and sour beef brisket and the crispy chicken noodle soups. The hot and sour was wonderful, with preserved mustard as the base for the tartness, and a little spice thrown in to balance the beefy broth. Chunks of brisket was joined by Chinese mushrooms (I won't say the s word) to crown the egg noodles in the this bowl of joy. The crispy chicken was also very nice, but lacked the interesting taste contrasts of the other bowl. The chicken was fried, and crispy for the first few mouthfuls, before it it was lost in the depth of the broth. Speaking of which, the broth was chicken infused, but I suspected that a box of Knorr was hiding somewhere.



KH had the Sichuan chili chicken on rice from the quick eats section of the main menu. The fluorescent orange of the dish instantly betrayed the lie that Sichuan was anywhere near the provenance of this dish. However, KH liked the chicken, and thought the spice gave it a good kick.



The meal deal came with a beer of your choice, which in my case was Asahi.

The damage: £6.80 each for a tasty, filling and casual meal plus a beer. Not bad.