10 Greek Street, Soho

Following Sohos recent growth from culinary wasteland (relative) to restaurant oasis sees the arrival of 10 Greek Street, another restaurant embracing the British bistro ethic, alongside other recent openings such as 10 Cases and Duck Soup. Unsurprisingly, the focus is on good cooking and good ingredients, and much of what is on the menu illustrates this. The daily menu is scribbled on the chalk boards around the small space, and merely lists a roll call of ingredients. No foams, reductions, jus or fancy language on show, what's on the board is essentially what you get.

Ping Pong, when an (invite) isn't quite an (invite)

As a devoted follower of all thing's Dim Sum, I am almost ashamed to admit that I have a penchant for Ping Pong, peddler of dumplings to most of London. Modelled around the concept of a 21st Century tea house, they have taken their concept and spread itself across London with great rapidity, calling no less than 12 establishments it's own.

I recently received an invite to go for a paid for meal and try out their Autumn menu, and jumped at the chance. I was meeting an old friend and it seemed a good opportunity to go for tea and dumplings alongside a portion of nattering. A few emails went to and fro and I thought all was set, somewhat prematurely it seems. I turned up only to cause utter confusion amongst the staff. Thankfully, Godefroy (the manager) at the Soho branch was very accommodating and soon set us up with a table, and we were away.



I made it my mission to try as many new dishes as possible. I am a creature of habit and always end up heading for the security of the things I know I enjoy. With Sichuan pork crackling (essentially spicy pork scratchings) assisting the decision making, we went down the menu and ticked more dishes than we probably should have. No sooner had we handed the waitress the menu, the dishes started arriving.



First was our tower of steamed goods. These were on the whole fairly appetising although none were really stand out. The Sichuan rabbit dumplings were moreish and lightly spiced whilst the char siu buns were actually one of the better examples I have tried recently, with light and fluffy pastry and a well balanced filling. Black prawn dumplings were an interesting combination with good garlic prawn filling, although the pastry was poor and fell apart far too easily.

With regards to the "other" side of the menu, I know I said I wouldn't order stuff I always order, but I had to go for the crispy prawn balls which are my personal favourites. They certainly didn't let me down as they were well fried, with a good prawn filling. I have always liked their spring roll selection although I feel its a mistake to have removed the Jasmine chicken spring rolls, easily the tastiest alternative. I tried the black pepper and chicken chefs special and I am sorry to say, was underwhelmed with lack of filling and one dimensional flavour (pepper).



Some of its dishes are seriously out of left field (the duck, orange and pineapple sticky rice is plain wrong) but on the whole, it is competently executed and well flavoured. The thing that annoys me the most about this chain is the cost. I realise that this is a modern take on a Chinese tea room, and you are paying for the ambience and setting as much as you are the food. But when I sit down for Dim Sum, I want a never ending pot of tea plonked down in front of me for little or no charge, not a glass with a fancy flowering tea for a couple of quid a go. I want to be able to order as much Dim Sum as I want without overtly worrying about whether the £20 in my wallet will be enough. I want a menu where I know I won't have to face pineapple on every 2nd line.

Ping Pong has it's place. The food, on the whole, is good and arrives steaming hot. What it certainly has going for it is convenience and with so many branches all over London, you are never too far away from your Dim Sum fix. A perfect place for an informal catch up, I can complain all I want with regards to it's failings but will no doubt be back soon.

Ping Pong (website) - 45 Great Marlborough Street, Soho W1F 7JL

Where's my Pork and Duck? - Hung's

(Kindly "borrowed" from Isriya)

Right, I have decided to make this official. I am going to try and discover the best place to eat Roast Duck and Crispy Pork with rice in Chinatown.

After a recent visit to HK Diner, "the Wild Boar" commented and posed the question, where is the best? There are a gazillion restaurants in Chinatown and over the years, I have eaten at many of them. Some were good, some were great but most were on the lower end of average. So at the moment my favourite duck is still from Four Seasons, and for my sins, the best siu youk still comes from Wong Kee's. Many will disagree, some may even agree, but I will make it my mission to try somewhere new every time until I can definitively declare it the best. Recommendations warmly received.

So on this trip, as you can see from the pic above, Hung's. Located on Wardour street, and flanked by Pizza Express (it astounds me that people are in Chinatown and want to eat pizza???), this is one of the most lauded of the meat merchants. I have been here many times, but have never quite seen what everyone is going on about. But everyone deserves a second chance, right?

Wrong. Hung's was very poor. Arriving for an early dinner (about 6.30pm), the minimum £8 spend immediately incensed me. I mean, what is the need? I just wanted a quick plate of rice and meat but was made to order extra bits just to make up the £8 minimum. The food arrived promptly but again, was really a bit of a let down. The duck was so flabby, we are talking beyond Homer Simpson proportions. I realise that fat is flavour, but the fat was so thick that it was actually thicker than the layer of meat. The siu youk was dry and the skin was insipid. Not a sign of crackle.

Very disappointing, not good, not going to order this from Hung's again.

Hungs - 27 Wardour Street, London W1D 6PR

Polpo, a little nibble of Venice

("Stolen" from the Polpo website)

Where the hype goes, discerning foodies often follow begrudgingly. Some don't want to miss the boat, some simply want to know what the fuss is about. Me? I just want a good feed.

Polpo is one of "those" places. A decent PR push saw the name get out there, and with a good concept and aggressive pricing, the place started to fill. Initially, lastminute reservations were hard to come by so I stayed away, preferring to fly by the seat of my pants and eat when hungry. However, the policy has changed to a first come first served policy and I made my way there tout de suite.

The concept certain appeals. Based on Venetian bacaro's (don't worry, I don't really know what one is either), Polpo serves small plates of Italian food, designed to be shared. I'm a big guy, but I don't mind sharing. In fact, to me, it's simply an invitation to over order.

With this said, we managed to nail the ordering, with us eating pretty much what we ordered. First up where plates of "cichetti", small mouth sized bites. The prosciutto and mozzarella was pleasant, as was the mortadella, walnut and gorgonzola. Tasty inoffensive food.

Next came a swathe of dishes, including an unctuous pumpkin risotto, a light and greaseless fritto misto and duck with peppercorns, amongst other things. The stand out dish for me was the pork belly with radicchio and hazelnuts, which was delicious and tender without feeling that "fatty" which the belly, mainly constituting of fat, can often be. The bitterness from the radicchio and the crunchy hazelnuts all added pleasing contrasts in flavours and textures. Rounded off with an Affogato al caffè, I was full, satisfied and rather happy.

As you can see from the inauspicious absence of photo's from this post, I struggled to take any pictures with clarity. Its dark, and I mean seriously dark. Had I been wielding my new Canon S90, I may have made a better attempt at it, but my poor Casio P&S just couldn't cope. Although crap for photography, the semi-darkness certainly lends itself to an intimate atmosphere, coupled with the proximity of your fellow diners. It is slightly cramped and very noisy because of it, but it gives the restaurant a really good atmosphere, something that many places would pay big bucks for.

Polpo is already doing a roaring trade, and seems to be bustling with business every night. It's early days for this venture but if our meal is anything to go by, it should do well. It's affordable, enjoyable, and now that they have dropped their reservation policy, convenient.

Polpo (Website) - 41 Beak Street, London W1F 9SB

Best of British - Hix Soho, Brewer Street

Mark Hix is a pioneer of truly British food, there is no two ways about it. I first came across him watching TV (surprise, surprise) where he was competing in the Great British Menu and he somehow managed to get two of his dishes through to the season finale banquet. I was stunned. Getting one dish through was hard but the country and judges had deemed his Stargazy pie (a pie crafted from crayfish and rabbit) and Perry jelly worthy to be a fair representation of truly British food.

Alongside the Oyster and Chop house in the heart of Farringdon and the Oyster and Fish house in Dorset, Hix Soho is the latest addition in the rise of the Hix empire. Sticking to his "signature British food", it serves a fresh daily menu using fresh British produce from his tried and trusted suppliers. Downstairs is the now infamous bar, with a relaxed feel and drinks provided by a team of excellent mixologists.



All did not start well. Not the restaurants fault, but my own. I was late, had a miserable journey and was grumpy. As soon as I turned up, however, all was good in the world again. My compadres had ordered some Blythburgh pork crackling with apple sauce, and had kindly saved me a few pieces. Nothing cheers me up more than a few pieces of well cooked pork skin and I was eternally grateful.



From kindness can come great cruelty. No sooner had I sat down and perused the menu, than my alleged friends begun to goad me into eating oysters with them. I steadfastly refused and instead opted for the roast partridge. In my eyes, this was an inspired decision. As they sat there cooing at their platter of sea snot, I quietly devoured my perfectly cooked partridge, very happy and looking forward to the next course.



Whilst others went for some fancy fish fingers, I opted for an extremely flavoursome and well cooked roe deer chop, moistened with a glistening light jus. Accompanied by my favourite puree of all (silky smooth celeriac), it also contained a liberal smattering of yellow berries. Apparently these were sea buckthorn berries, and although they provided a dash of colour to the dish, they tasted bitter, threatened to stain my jumper with their yellow juices and were wholly unenjoyable.



If you weren't sure what kind of food Hix sells, then the dessert menu rams it's ethos down your throat. Chester Pie and Yorkshire Parkin stood out as desserts with true British heritage, with home made ice-creams also proving popular. I opted for the insanely colourful Autumn raspberry cheesecake, which arrived like no other cheesecake I had ever had, but appetising nonetheless. In my eyes, all the desserts were overshadowed by the decadent chocolate sauce which accompanied the ice cream. The minute I was given carte blanche to try it, in the words of Greg Wallace, I took my shirt off and dove in. Rich and slightly bitter, this is as close to a perfect chocolate sauce as you will get.

Hix is good but at over £35 a head without drinks, it is easy to see the cost of the meal getting out of hand. I returned at a later date to give the bar downstairs a once over and I am pleased to report that it is stonking. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable, as are the furnishings, but the cocktails add an air of elegance to the whole place. Heavily influenced by gin and rum, most are served in an array of goblets, with the Criterion Milk punch my clear favourite. Go for food, go for drinks, but just go.

Hix Soho (Website) - 66-70 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9UP