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Afternoon Tea at Dean Street Townhouse

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published on Foodepedia on 31st July 2010:

69 – 71 Dean Street, London W1D 3SE www.deanstreettownhouse.com

At Dean Street Townhouse, you will find the afternoon crowd lunching alfresco, slowly displaced by more mature guests inside the restaurant as evening approaches; all well heeled of course. It’s an easy walk from Tottenham Court Road tube station, but just out of the way enough to create a sanctuary from the hustle of Soho. Inside, the décor is traditional but subtly stylish, transporting guests back to a bygone era. It may also be the only place where the French waiters are polite.

Aside from the impressive menu in the all day restaurant, the Townhouse also upholds the quintessentially British tradition of Afternoon Tea. Served between 3pm and 5.30pm everyday, the menu consists of a selection of scones, cakes, pastries and finger sandwiches, of which I selected the Townhouse Tea.

As with traditional Afternoon Tea, the bottom tier of edibles was finger sandwiches, perfectly cut and without crusts. Given the popularity of triangular sandwiches, it’s rather surprising to find rectangular ones on the plate. At first, they seemed a little odd; the ham sandwiches were especially out of place next to the smoked salmon and egg and cress. In hindsight, the savoury selection probably helped to balance the sugar rush from the top plate.

As pleasing to the eyes as they are sweet on the tooth, the prime location of the top tier is occupied by a selection of mini cakes and pastries. Classics like the strawberry tart take the pride of place but there was also a fine array of cakes and pastries to accompany, like the Battenberg or the chocolate éclair.

I, for one, found the custard tart to be achingly good and full of surprises. Tapping open the caramelised crust, as you might on a crème brûlée, will reveal a deliciously smooth custard and at the centre of it, a raspberry filling skilfully hidden away until the last moment. It’s disappointing how quickly the custard tart disappears but then there’s the mini black forest gateaux to temporarily satiate your sweet tooth.

What really took my fancy was the residents on the middle tier. Perfectly placed at eye level were four fruit scones, toasted, warm and crumbly, served with clotted cream and a selection of jams. It would have been enough to drive anyone into gluttony.

A word of warning to those calorie counting, this menu is designed with every indulgence in mind. The rich, creamy luxury is certainly not for the faint hearted but if you are lactose intolerant, arrangements can certainly be made to accommodate your needs. As an alternative, Dean Street Townhouse also offers a High Tea menu which serves a selection of savouries, including a disturbingly good chicken liver on toast.

Incidentally, those who take pleasure in taking Afternoon Tea will agree that it is as much about the edibles as it’s about the tea and conversation. Loose tea leaves are allowed to infuse in generous tea pots and then served with a strainer and matching china cups. When you serve tea in pots, you are always in danger of the tea becoming too strong by the second cup. In this case, even the fourth cup was as refreshing as the first and you can certainly taste the quality of the leaves.

My guest found the number of staff walking around rather disconcerting, although one supposes this contributes towards the efficiency. Despite this, the laid back anonymity in the atmosphere certainly helped liberal conversation. Of course if you do suddenly discover that you’ve spent far longer at tea than you had intended, you could always stay for dinner.

Goldfish, Gresham Street

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published on Foodepedia on 20th July 2010:

46, Gresham Street, London EC2V 7AY

Given the mix of ramens and bentos with the dim sums and noodles, you could be forgiven for thinking that Goldfish, City, was just another pan-Asian restaurant. In some respects, it is. But it promises to serve modern Chinese cuisine and dim sum on their menu, a curious combination you might think. So just how “modern” is the latest offering from the Goldfish family?

Well, all the usual Chinese restaurant classics seemed to be present and correct but there was also a European twist about them.

Being particular about my Chinese, it wasn’t hard to whittle down the menu to a select few dishes. Not that the menu doesn’t offer a decent selection though, especially if you’re just popping in for lunch. The set menus were turned down for being too standard restaurant Chinese as I wanted to try anything that looked, well, different.

First up was the “Chew Yim” calamari. This bit of Cantonese meant nothing to me until a quick google told me that it’s the done thing for hip Asian restaurants these days. It turned out to be squid fried in super light batter tossed with a mix of chillies and spring onion. That’s right, they’ve put an Asian twist on the calamari by making it spicy and it was clearly done very well. Each piece invited me to eat another, savouring its subtle flavour cooked to tender perfection.

The calamari was polished off pretty quickly so it’s just as well that the dim sum platter came in a timely manner. I have to say that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting and I felt a little duped. The selection offered three dim sum choices, all prawn based. The anticipation for Char Siu Bao in the dim sum platter got me excited but I was disappointed to discover the lack of variety. The calamari was a hard act to follow and the dim sum platter just didn’t do it for me.

Can mocha ribs, stir fry chicken, green fry rice with eggs and yuzu juice, or seasonal greens turn it around?

Well the green fry rice with eggs was just your bog standard egg fried rice with spring onion and coriander. There’s really nothing alien about the green bit although it does take the egg fried rice to the next level. The seasonal greens worked well as a side and the stir fry chicken was a little on the salty side.

The mocha ribs are what I really want to talk about. Red meat with chocolate sauce I know and love, coffee sauces match desserts splendidly, but mocha ribs? This was something new and it certainly brought intrigue to the table. Despite having eaten plenty of ribs before, sampling these felt like an initiation – I was entirely unsure of what to expect.

At first bite they tasted just like standard ribs: meaty, juicy, delicious. But hang on, where was the mocha? I felt cheated. Is this yet another ploy by those cunning marketeers?

I tried another just to make sure there was no “mo” or “cha”. There wasn’t.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the lemonade. Just then I got a little something, a hint of bitterness or just something unexpected, something that’s not quite the same. This warranted another examination of the sauce. Yes, there was definitely something, but is it mocha? Soon I had made my way through half a plate of ribs with the sole purpose of finding that elusive flavour on my taste buds. As it turns out, those were rather addictive in their own right. So what does it matter anyway?

All in all, Goldfish has done well. The modernity is perhaps only demonstrated through the westernised menu but the flavours aren’t bad at all. And if it’s good enough for the vicars of the local cathedral sitting behind me… One thing to note, if you’re considering lunch in an hour then expect to be asking for the bill before you finish the starters.

Too big to fail?

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published on Don’t Panic on 5th July 2010:

Andrew Ross Sorkin, author of the critically acclaimed Too Big to Fail, spoke last Wednesday at LSE’s New Academic Building. The focus of his lecture was on the financial crisis, its aftermath and the future. The audience was a mix of two part professionals to one part student; the majority of whom were big, big fans.

His lecture was well rehearsed, punctuated with timely anecdotes that were richly rewarded with laughter from an eager audience. Unsurprising given the number of times he’s delivered it. Much of the lecture’s content came from the book and his journey to its creation, a quick look at the introduction and acknowledgement will tell you as much. The book itself has been addressed as the story behind the institutions and the people in it who thought they were invincible, woven to the web of the 2004 film Crash.

For me, the interesting parts in the discussion weren’t so much about the contents of the book, the outcome of which we are living. Rather it was Sorkin’s commentary on what happened next. Something which he touched on time and time again was regulation, or rather, the lack of it since the financial crisis. He emphasised that despite living in these cycles of booms and busts, there has been little change to remedy the underlying issues or to prevent them from happening again in the future.

The regulators failed in the first instance to prevent such a crisis. Although much needed change is now promised, is it too little too late? And what of the auditors who allowed for all these empty financial instruments to be traded at grossly inflated values, creating vast empty bubbles? Just because it’s a valid accounting technique, doesn’t mean it’s financially sound. Maybe it should be down to the shareholders to push for change, after all, they hold the real power in the boardroom. But while it may be in everyone’s best interest to do so in the long run, in the short term, this doesn’t seem so profitable an option.

The term ‘too big to fail’ is generally taken to refer to an institution which if failed, the consequences would be too disastrous to consider. At the same time, who says it can’t be an organisation so vast and expansive that everyone has a stake in its success, rather like Reginald F. Johnston’s ‘nei wu fu’? [Editor’s note: The ultra-bureaucratic Imperial Household Department that ran the Forbidden City before the Chinese revolution of 1911, as depicted in the film The Last Emperor.]

All this corrupt bureaucracy suggests that the lack of regulation and being too big to fail are closely related. Sure, a few giants have fallen here and there sending shock waves across the world since the crisis began in September 2008; but few have been brought forward to justice, whether it be the junior who acted irresponsibly or the senior manager who turned a blind eye. Like Sorkin, I can grant the complexity of the case but I can’t help but wonder, in this industry that’s kept ticking by vested interest, how easy is it to find the culprit or a cure?

Black Dynamite

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Publish on Don’t Panic on 5th July 2010:

Black Dynamite is the melting pot for liberal sprinklings of disco ‘fros with predictable clichés and a few surprising guest appearances; where nigga-calling among ‘brothas’ (read intra-cultural racism) is more than acceptable.

In this sorry attempt at blaxploitation spoofing, Michael Jai White dons a Shaft costume to play an ex-CIA commando, Black Dynamite. Is he one cool gun-toting, nunchuck-wielding cat with slick kung-fu moves and an appetite for the ladies who’s as hard as, well, his six pack? Or is he just one of those brothas who thinks he can get by with a wink and a smile, minus the smile?

Whatever he’s aiming for, he has missed it by miles while avenging his brother, ridding the streets of dope and pimp slapping the First Lady into the china cabinet.

Expect plenty of action but be warned, between the sketchy storyline, unconvincing street talk and questionable facial hair, you could lose track of the fine line separating spoof and plain bad filmmaking. Its sole redeeming feature may be the unashamedly retro décor and costuming, which is so in now, if you can sit through the tedious tour of Homer, Hesiod and Ovid that is.

Spoof or not, in an already tired genre, one has to wonder if it’s just a little overworked.

Future Stars

by Qin Xie | Leave a comment

Published on Don’t Panic on 7th June 2010:

The London College of Fashion presented its latest generation of fashion prodigies at The Dairy, London last week. As usual, the college’s graduates offered an eclectic mix of innovative design in texture, shape and colour with support from the well-heeled crowd, including everyone from singer Diana Vickers to entrepreneur Harold Tillman. The fashion pack crowded in, the models strutted to non-stop tunes and captivated the audience, before giving way to awards and a champagne reception.

The big winner of the night was Nattaphon Sampataphakdee, whose Collection of the Year Award was presented by NME’s Krissi Murison. The Thai fashion student’s collection, inspired by the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, can only be described as gentlemen-in-bed with a cross between smart suits and pyjamas. His surprising ensembles never stopped playing with established definitions of masculinity in a breathtaking experience.

Other notable designers of the night:

Yelena Loguiiko

The Design and Technology winner took the audience to another time and place. Throwing together mohair and Mongolian wool with a dash of Picasso’s Portrait of a Woman after Cranach the Younger, the collection speaks 50s Russian glamour and luxury. No woman can be disappointed by the tailoring that says both power and sensuality.

Wei Ting Hu

Blink and you might miss the fact that this highly wearable collection was inspired by traditional Taiwanese buildings. Oranges and reds highlight the well-defined tailoring, while each form-fitting piece spins between fun and serious.

Xiao Li

This playful collection wouldn’t go amiss at Missoni. Knits, bobbles, beads and more all come together to create something that just works.

Kai Yeung Yau

When the first of Yau’s collection appeared on the catwalk, the universal reaction must have been one of shock. As the pieces went by, it was clear that their bold colours cut just so made a decidedly self-assured statement. Who knew colanders could be so chic?