SoJo - Mongolian Wok

SoJo
8-9 Hythe Bridge St
Oxford, OX1 2EW

Sojo is one of those places I love to hate. Every time I visit, I am served lackluster food by uninterested and sometimes outright rude staff. Yet every time I visit, some table of Chinese people chattering away about their new iPhone or new Bently is served totally authentic food by an overly attentive propriotor. Maybe I just don't give the rich vibe that gets me premium service?



The menu is mostly standard fare.



With a dim sum menu as well (from previous experience, this ranges from good to awful).



A lunch menu of 'specials'.



And some explanation of where they come from as a cuisine. If you ever see 'specialises, Shanghainese, Szechuanese and Dim Sum' all in the same sentence: run a mile. This is like a restaurant claiming speciality in Danish, Spanish and Indian cuisines.



But we came because we were bored, and felt like returning to that old Mongolian Wok thing. When I was a starving student, my friends and I had to construct cunning feats of engineering to fill a bowl as high as possible, to ensure a full stomach for the rest of the week. £5.90 for all the food you could fit into a bowl is a serious challenge for us. Alas, we may have been over enthusiastic and spoilt it for everybody, as they now have this sign denoting a maximum of a half bowl of meat.



Not to say the meat is of very high quality - it isn't. But wait, I hear you complain, why did you go if you are so down on this dump? Well, I guess it adds a little bit of interest to what might otherwise be a mundane lunch chomping on bread with [insert filling here].



A choice of chicken, pork, lamb and beef.



The fun part: the condiments. There are over a dozen spices, mixes and sauces to choose from to top your gargantuan creation.



Selections of veges, if you're feeling healthy. To be honest, if you eat this stuff to be healthy, you're going to be in for a big surprise.



Satay powder - a mix of curry powders I believe.









You can top your creation off with noodles, but it's also served with plain rice.



You hand your bowl to this tiny little wizened man who looks like he should be at home on the plateaus leading a yak.



Some suggestions on flavour combinations on the blackboard.



A healthy dollop of vegetable oil to get it all frying.



Left to heat through.



Et voila, instant cuisine.



All shoved artlessly on to a plate:



*sigh* Once upon a time, they'd take the care to form the rice into a ball, via a round bowl turned upside down. These days, it's barely warm, let alone nicely formed.



We also ordered a bowl of dan dan mian - spicy noodles. We were told that this is a very very small serving, but turned out to be ok as a large snack, or small lunch.



The broth was surprisingly good, very flavoursome and tasty - most likely chicken stock - with a spicy finish. Topped with spring onions, cashew nuts (tradition dictates peanuts on a sesame sauce), and served with shredded cucumber. Not terribly authentic, but a decent bowl of noodles.



The house chili sauce was one of the best I'd tasted, with chewy detritus of dried shrimp, chili seeds, and black beans, the oil was fragrant and spicy, as well as wonderfully savoury.

The damage: around £10 for a sizeable lunch. Not great food, but definitely value for money.