Despite London’s large Chinese population, finding good authentic Chinese food at a reasonable price is somewhat difficult - China Town is OK but generally expensive and the quality/hygiene questionable. However, when you scratch beneath the surface, there is the odd gem to be found and sometimes in the most unassuming of places. One such place can be found south of the Thames not far from where I’ve been working and over the past year has become a popular haunt for Friday lunch of almost mythical proportions. One of my colleagues has kindly written a review which I thought I might share (complete with my iPhone photos) -
An unassuming blue building at the Elephant end of Walworth Road - Indian Cafes, ropey B&Bs, the world famous Ivory Arch nightspot. Not necessarily where one would expect to find a restaurant of any true quality, but then life is full of unexpected pleasures. At the far end are a set of doors that would not look out of place along the Great Wall and behind them lie sublime culinary delights not of this world.
The Dragon Castle menu has all the regular Chinese restaurant favourites - sweet and sour chicken, crispy duck etc - and some unusual but tantalising specialities, but the real draw is the dim sum. The highlight is the scallop and coriander cheung fun - juicy scallops and fresh coriander wrapped in a sheet of glistening cheung fun. Other favourites include the Vietnamese spring rolls, beef balls, sesame prawn rolls - a far cry from the usual sesame prawn toasts. The dumplings are a real treat, steamed or fried, pork or prawn, or both for that matter - I am salivating just thinking about them.
The dim sum specials menu has just been updated with some truly delicious new ideas - mixed seafood dumplings and honeyed venison puffs are the star attractions.
You might think that all this is sounding a little pricey for lunch, but amazingly no matter how much you order the bill is never above £15 per head - perhaps this really is some magical realm!
So go, go now and try some of the joys that I have mentioned, and some that I have not, but make sure you get there by 5pm, because that’s when the dim sum chefs knock off.
Some hilarious news I came across tonight - Emma Clarke, the voice on the London Underground announcement system has been fired for recording and posting some spoofs on her own website. Although the site has been crippled by people trying to access it I found them elsewhere and here are a few I found particularly funny -
“We’d like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loud.”
“Passengers are reminded that a smile is actually a friendship signal, not a sign of weakness.”
“Passengers should note that the bearded gentleman’s rucksack contains the following items only: Some sandwiches, a library card and a picture of a bare ankle and is no cause for concern.”
“Would the gentlemen in the pinstripe suit and £1000 glasses who obviously works in the media, please take one step forward on to the track as the train arrives. Thank you.”
I think instead of firing her they should commission some more to be randomly played between stops - it would certainly make the hellish nightmare of tube travel a little more bearable!
I had a pretty busy, but very enjoyable, weekend spent mostly in the leafy suburbs on Surrey (just outside London). On Saturday afternoon I visited Richmond Park, the largest of the Royal Parks in London (2500 acres), which is home to over 650 free roaming red deer. My uncle had brought with us his Nikon D200 and 300mm lens so it was the perfect opportunity for a bit of wildlife photography Ray Mears style!
As they were in the middle of rutting season the male stags were in fighting mood so we made sure to keep down wind and a safe distance! Every so often when a stag strayed onto another’s territory they would bellow at each other but unfortunately we didn’t witness any antler clashing action! The 300mm was great for getting some nice close-ups but you certainly need a tripod to get a steady shot at that distance.
Unsurprisingly the female hinds seemed pretty oblivious to all this and were just wandering around having a nice time. More photos here.
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