Ask any Taiwanese what their number one to-eat dish is and the answer is likely to be Niu Rou Mian. Originally a Northern Chinese recipe, it eventually made it’s way to Taiwan when millions of Nationalist Mainlanders fled the Middle country to escape Communism (source : Travel in Taiwan). It’s a relatively simple recipe, but that’s also why so many adore it. Niu Rou (beef) Mian (noodles) are slow cooked beef slices (Either sirloin or stewing (braising) beef is used) ; spicy soya sauce (or lighter clear broth ; some vegetables and the all important mian. Today Niu Rou Mian’s popularity is so wide spread and deeply rooted in Taiwan’s gastroculture that there is an annual Beef Noodle Festival with the intent to rubber stamp Taipei as the bona-fide capital of Beef noodles. Speaking of Taipei, the city is like a really large open-air food hall. There is just too much to eat. On almost every other street corner, you’ll likely find mobile kitchen units. These movable street vendors are usually manned by single individuals, selling a savory or sweet snack and with nothing but the loudness of their voice as their main form of advertisement. If there is something you crave, chances are you’ll likely run into a street seller just by walking down the street. With such a wide selection, the problem isn’t finding something ‘authentic’ in the city, it’s about finding where the real gems are hidden. Of course, like many things in the world of food, the way to find out about the best in town is through word of mouth. Fortunately for me, I have my entire extended family in Taipei to help me put this hit-list together. On this occasion, we went to three of the most established names in the Taipei Beef Noodle scene, namely Lao Chang, Lin Dong Fang and an unnamed shop in Taoyuan Street. This isn’t the stuffy world top 50 awards folks; This is old fashion, word of mouth street food opinion. Let’s get slurping.

Contestant Number One : Lao Chang Niu Rou Mian

Lao Chang is one of the most respected families in the business. It’s a brand respected and celebrated by the local residents and as far as I know, their noodles are so dependable that it’s usually a representative destination for tourists looking to sample Taiwan’s national treasure. Therefore, it seems fitting for us to start our Beef Noodle adventure with Lao Chang.

One of the unique features of beef noodle houses are their selection of ‘Xiao Chai’ or small dishes. Usually pre-cooked and prepared on a counter as a kind of self-service sort of thing, while there are some staple dishes such as bean curd, tofu and pickled bitter gourd, each restaurant has their own family recipes unique to them alone. I suppose you can treat them as side-dishes, it’s a little more inventive than say garlic spinach and chips. At Lao Chang, we opted for their shredded beancurd, some greens (unfortunately I forgot what they were) and one of their signature small dishes – steamed spare ribs with rice flour. I liked the sort of chilli spiked oatmeal packed with the wholesome spare ribs – we have imitations of this in London, particularly at Leong’s Legends, but when compared, it is like a photocopy of a photograph.

OK, onto the mainshow, Lao Chang’s Niu Rou Mian.

Their signature rendition is a spicy braised soup, reddish in colour and equally potent in taste. The stock is decidedly beefy, and almost carries hints of marmite and also flavours of soya beans. The soup is hearty and the balance of spicy punch against the bovine is just right, with just a light layer of oil – nothing in London compares. Their beef noodles also come in a lighter, clearer broth, free of oil and devoid of spiciness, but still rich in beefiness, we ordered both and also with tendons and beef – half and half as they say. The slow stewed beef exhibited hallmark rip-away-tenderness and with the broth completely soaked into the meat, carried with it a soggy richness – this is textbook good. Though sadly, I thought the noodles were just textbook good. Full of bounce but not dense enough. It easily slipped away from my chopsticks and they tasted a little too rigid, with little inherent flavour, most of all, it didn’t have that oxygen releasing wow factor that I associate with great noodles.

In the end, I thought Lao Chang was pretty good, but not outstanding – the worst of this lot. Everything was textbook, still it beats everything we have in London. Interestingly enough, there is another reputed Niu Rou Mian house situated next door to Lao Chang called Yung Kang which some argue is the better half. But both noodle houses have their set of fans and are split down the middle. My extended family so happened to favour Lao Chang to Yung Kang. Maybe next trip I guess.

Details

Lao Chang Niu Rou Mian, £3
105 Ai-Guo East Road near Yong Kang Street.
Tel: (02) 2396-0927
Links : Taiwan Embassy; A hungry girl’s guide to Taipei

Contestant Number Two : Lin Dong Fang Niu Rou Mian

When we arrived at high noon, it had a queue. A pretty long one, which gave me a good quarter of an hour to photograph the surroundings. This place is proper old school and is actually spread over three separate old shop houses. The owner had chosen to maintain the traditional setting – something which I appreciated as I think Taipei’s old shop houses are now attaining a kind of vintage ambiance with time. What can I say? I’m always hopelessly in the mood for romance.

Right then, let’s start with their small dishes. Beancurd, Dragon whiskers with ginger and Bamboo shoots.

The small dishes here are modest, nothing to shout about, oh and the Dragon whiskers is really just a fancy name. It’s blanched vegetables.

Ok here we go, presenting Lin Dong Fang’s Niu Rou Mian.

Alright, this particular recipe is slightly different. The soup is something special – it is supposedly made with a medley of secret herbs, giving it a Chinese medicinal, herbal style taste with just a faint beef flavour, but that’s not the only thing that makes it something special. The soup is relatively mild in terms of flavour, instead, the real USP is the home-made beef butter concoction. Supposedly derived from beef stock, beef fat, oil and chillies giving way to a kind of grainy chilli beef butter which would actually make for a good sandwich spread. That stuff is amazing, it’s elemental in that it’s buttery, spicy and beefy. When the butter hits the soup, it melts and turns the soup into an oily and spicy red soup – basically the customer has the opportunity to control the degree of spiciness with this garnish. It’s like a sort of secret ingredient, when added to the relatively light herbal broth, really turns it into an eye-opening mouthful. Chilli herbs, woah. I also asked for mine to be half tendon and half beef slices – the tendons were similar to Lao Chang, springy marrow-like flavours. Naturally, the beef slices were also melt-them-polar-ice-caps fantastic though the superstar of this dish were the noodles. In a word : awesome. The noodles were dense and had amazing soaking ability. This meant that as the beef butter melted into the soup; the noodles start absorbing more flavour. They tasted better and denser the longer it stayed in the soup. Oh and yes, out of these three places, Lin Dong Fangs’ noodles were the ones that had that oxygen releasing liveliness of great hand-pulled noodles. This was brilliant, the more I ate it, the better it tasted. I just couldn’t get enough, I ate half of my partner’s portions too. This is the reason why I’m 80 kgs now.

This isn’t the average Niu Rou Mian, the soup is herbal, it has beef butter (that’s my term, and also sold separately in jars..) and the noodles are out of this world lively. What do we say, al dente? Hell yeah.

Details

Lin Dong Fang Niu Rou Mian (林東芳牛肉麵) £3
274 Bade Road, Sec 2 (八德路二段274號（中央日報旁)
Tel : 02 2752 2556

Contestant Number Three : Tao Yuan Street Niu Rou Mian

Finally we go to Ximending to visit one of the most well regarded beef noodle houses in Taipei. This one is quirky – it has no name and so people simply refer to it as the ‘One at Tao Yuan Street’. Firstly, abit of culture, Ximending is home to Taipei’s oldest theatre – The Red House, now a tourist landmark of sorts – and was once the busiest Theatre street in town, sort of analogous to the West End I suppose. Incidentally ‘Ximen’ means West Gate. Anyway, today, it’s otherwise nicknamed the ‘Hirajuku’ of Taipei, home to independent fashion shops, Japanese stationery and book shops and otherwise funky youth culture outlets. Cinemas, lights, pretty girls and massive billboards – sinner’s paradise.

Tao Yuan Street’s nameless shop is nonsensical, lit with garish white fluorescence painting a sobering ambiance, as if it was some sort of interrogation room. Service was terse, disciplined and serious, it kind of gave me the impression of a sort of prison mess, ala Wentworth Miller’s screwdriver. Anyway, customers slurp their noodles with a military-like demeanor; the room was mostly quiet, anti-chatter so deafening, pins dare not drop. I spotted a signage inside the shop which loosely translated to ‘The only shop, genuine article, no branches, no exceptions’. It doesn’t even announce itself as a Beef noodle house. Packed to the brim when we visited, and we had to share a large table with strangers.

OK here it is – Tao Yuan Street’s finest.

Woah. This is another style of Beef noodles completely unique and different to the two other noodle houses. The soup is greasy and has a deep beefiness about it. The no-nonsense philosophy is carried into it’s food – no tendons here, just beef, lots of it. I love the beef here. Deep spiciness matched with rich beefiness. It’s salty and the beef are thick cut with wonderful fatty bits that manages the now familiar disintegrate-upon-chewing tenderness. I didn’t like the noodles here though, for some reason, it didn’t quite match up to the quality of the beef. Perhaps there was just a tad too much oil, making the noodles heavy instead of lively.

Still, it was an awesome bowl of beef noodle soup, albeit an intense experience – second to Lin Dong Fang I’m afraid.

Details

Tao Yuan Street Niu Rou Mian, £3.
15 Tao Yuan Street
MRT : Ximending Station
Links : Tripadvisor

And the winner is…

On this particular trip, it has got to be Lin Dong Fang. The noodles really did it for me, it was lively and springy, the herbal soup was an interesting twist and that beef butter just rounded off an excellent beef noodle experience. Honestly though, I am comparing the local favorites in the city – all three noodle houses have their loyal customer base, and choice is a matter of taste, so to speak. I don’t think one can really go too far wrong with beef noodle soup in Taipei, the standard is just so high that I somehow think it’s impossible to have a bad bowl of niu rou mian… well I say impossible. Regardless, the benchmark is way, way higher than in London and there are tens, if not hundreds more noodle houses in Taipei which I’ve not been to. There is another called Liao Jia which I wrote about here that I visited in 2009. The noodles were exceptional, if not better than Lin Dong Fangs’ and they specialise in a clear broth made with ox tail and in the absence of soya sauce, as opposed to popular red braised one with lots of soya.

Well, my niu rou mian education was enlightening if not fattening. I hope you found this resource useful, my Taipei conquests doesn’t end here; Next Tuesday is going to be Authentic Taiwanese Cuisine – six restaurants, six perspectives into Taipei’s finest, all in one piece.

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I have vivid childhood memories of tagging along to the supermarket with my mum and her methods of judging if a piece of meat was fresh or whether it had gone off, she would always sniff the meat – if it smells good, it can’t be bad. Growing up in Brunei, everybody has a passion for beef, so much so that the government owns a cattle farm in Northern Australia, over 2000 square miles and just a shy larger the country itself – completely dedicated satisfying the appetite of a nation. Ironically enough, quantity doesnt equate quality as the produce is of largely forgettable quality; so bad that I would say it’s some of the worst beef I’ve ever eaten. Local supermarkets would use red tinted fluorescents to light the glass counters so as to make the beef look more appealing. My mum would always hold it up against white light, and she almost always opts for the tenderloin and nothing else because that was the only cut of beef tender enough not to turn into a rubber tyre after searing. This meant that all beef had to be tenderised before cooking. My mum started out with powdered tenderisers, though it soften the meat, it gave it a horrible plastic taste. Later on, she switched to a more ‘direct’ approach to tenderising with a studded steel hammer designed to pound the life out of the meat. Her speciality were seared black pepper tenderloin steak sandwiches. I liked mine with white bread and just a dash of Heinz… those were the days. Beef import choices weren’t always limited to the government owned ranch and back in the colonial days (Eighties), supermarkets stocked air flown Prime USDA beef, and even scotch beef, but that was a long time ago. In the ensuing years, my family’s quest for the bovine would be supplemented by regular trips around the globe and unsurprisingly, we would seek out the best grills in town to satiate our ever growing appetite.

Today I still carry the torch to continue my dad’s legacy of searching out for the best beefy things around. Cattle of one form or another has been consumed since the stone age and several methods of cooking has evolved over the centuries ranging from just eating it raw to slow stewing. I count myself fortunate to have tried many variations including recently conquering a fine piece of Biltong which my colleague brought back from his trip home to Jo’burg. Some recipes I’d like to try out include a carpetbag steak – an interesting one – which is basically a steak stuffed with fresh oysters. Something which doesn’t sound as appealing, but equally intriguing is a restructured steak: basically, an inexpensive steak formed by binding together small chunks of low-quality meat to create something which taste more expensive … artificial.

A discussion about beef has to include abit of blurb about the major breeds. Various sources suggest that there are anywhere between 250 to 800 recognised breeds across the globe which largely fall into two categories. Bos indicus are adapted to hot weather; Bos taurus for cooler climates. The cattle site is an excellent resource which describes the different known beef breeds in further detail, in addition to in depth and albeit scientific articles regarding the cutting edge of cattle breeding. Among the more popular breeds in today’s kitchens are the Black Angus and the Wagyu breed which in recent decades has gained in significant popularity due to it’s signature marbling and natural flavour.

One area of beef which I continue to find fascination with are the cuts. As I understand it, the entire carcass is first divided into the primal cuts, before being diced into derivative bits. Depending on which country it is, primal cuts vary slightly but let’s use this butcher’s chart prepared by the American Angus Association as a go by:

• Chuck – Is the meat cut from the upper chest of the animal. Otherwise sold as braising steak in the UK, it is usually used for in stews or slow cooking.
• Brisket – This is cut from the lower breast of the animal, immediately below the chuck. It is usually a tougher cut and so is often used in slow cooked recipes. Brisket is also used to make salt beef.
• Shank – The beef shank is lean and tough, it is after all what the animal exercises most. It is rarely sold due to its size and difficulty in cooking it. Though if you find one, it is usually one of the cheapest cuts and the bones would make great stocks.
• Short Plate and Flank – This belly bit of the animal produces the Bavette – a relatively tough cut of meat, and is usually roasted and cooked to rare or medium rare. When a kitchen can get the tenderness right, this cut of meat has great flavour.
• Rib – This particular part of the animal is probably the most prized. Situated at the top of animal, it is the least exercised part of the animal, and is also where the supposed prince of steaks – the rib eye is cut from. Rib eyes are prized for their marbling which produces a wonderful balance of tenderness and flavour. This is personally my favourite cut of meat, particular a bone-in ribeye – the bones and fat are where all the flavour lies…
• Short Loin – This section produces the most tender cut of beef : The tenderloin. However it’s tenderness comes from the fact that it is the least exercised muscle, however it is a relatively lean meat, and so is usually quite bland in comparison to say the ribeye. There are two other famous steaks which are cut from this section too : The porterhouse and the t-bone. Both steaks basically have two distinct cuts of steak held together with a bone in the centre. Both steaks have one side made up with the sirloin, and the other side with a fillet. The Porterhouse is differentiated by the relatively larger cut of tenderloin when compared to the T-bone.
• Sirloin – This cut is easily recognised by it’s layer of fat across the outside of the meat. Sometimes known as the New York Strip, it is one of the most popular steak choices, since it has a good balance of flavour and tenderness. Some prefer it to the ribeye because it is a leaner meat, with the top layer of fat providing the flavour… but not me.
• Round – Finally the cow’s bottom, is where you will find the round or rump steak. Tougher than the more expensive loin or rib cuts, but when prepared correctly can be extremely satisfying for its great flavour. If memory serves me right, the rump is particularly popular in Germany.

Oh there is one more cut that is gaining much popularity these days and that is the hanger steak. It is located in the flank area and is close to the kidneys. This gives way to an interesting string-like toughness but most of all, it imparts wonderfully rich and liver-like flavours. It’s wildly different to any of the conventional cuts and is sometimes known as the onglet or the butcher’s fillet – as the legend goes that butchers would not sell these and traditionally save this cut back from themselves. Must be had rare to medium rare due to its relatively toughness.

Which brings me to talk about the degree of cooking which ranges from raw, blue, rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well to burnt like toast. Personally, I like my steaks still bloody and prefer medium rare because it preserves juices, flavour and maintains the natural tenderness of the meat… with just enough of the inherent fat melted into the meat to ooze flavour… ooh… in terms of figuring out how cooked a steak is, the rule of thumb is pretty accurate by simply comparing it to the tender bits on your face : chin – rare ; tip of nose – medium ; forehead – overcooked.

So far, I have had tried most of the popular breeds from their respective countries. This includes Prime USDA, French Charolais, Scotch Angus, English Casterbridge, Welsh Black and Australian Wagyu. Everything in that list, apart from the American classification was eaten in their native country. To me, a perfect steak is a combination of an expert griller and also a high quality of meat. I place more importance to the latter than the former. I look for wonderful marbling which usually translates to flavour and tenderness. If we use the ribeye as a point of reference, then the most tender steaks I have tried thus far are Prime USDA ribeyes. They just have a buttery texture that simply disintegrates in the mouth. French Charolais, in opinion are tougher than their international counterparts and are best eaten very pink. In terms of flavour, I like Scotch Angus ribeyes which some say is due to the grass they are fed on in Scotland. But the best steaks I have ever eaten surely have be the wagyus in Sydney. 450g of pure bovine bliss, I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but I do remember that it overlooked Bondi beach. There is just a wonderful balance of rich flavour and chunky tenderness.

One particular type of breed that continues to elude my voracious appetitie are what I believe to be the true King of steaks : Kobe beef. Bred in Kobe, Japan, this was the original location of the vaunted Wagyu cattle, before breeding began in elsewhere in America and Australia. The ‘new world’ pretenders does not seem to replicate the original Kobe steaks in terms of truly ridiculous marbling. Unusually high in unsaturasted fat, as a point of reference, while the most expensive cut of prime USDA is graded at 6 on a marbling scale of 1-12, Kobe beef tends to be graded at 12 (Source: Wisegeek) , giving way to sensations incomparable with any other beef (including wagyu breeds but raised elsewhere). Of course, nobody really knows how or what the Japanese feed their wagyu cattle on, some say their coats are brushed with sake, others claim they make the cows listen to classical music, while most will claim that the cows are simply drunk all the time from excessive beer bingeing. A Kobe steak is distinctive in the way it looks; it is more white with red speckles of muscle instead of the other way around. Take a look at a picture of the meat here.

Of course just when I thought I had my eye on the real target, I stumble across another variant of the Wagyu known as the Matsusaka. Sometimes affectionately referred to as ‘Art of Meat’, the cattle are raised in Matsusaka in Japan and are rumoured to be even richer in marbling and flavour and supposedly better than the best of Kobe beef. There is alot of mystery behind the cutting edge of Japanese cattle breeding, exactly how they do it, nobody really knows. There is a concise history which you can reference here if you’d like to know more. Anyway, the most prized Matsusaka cows have apparently sold at auction houses for six figure sums. Take a look at a picture of raw matsusaka.. look at the marbling on that badboy! Anyway, as far as I know, Kobe or Matsusaka beef can only be eaten in Japan. Japan is on my vacation list this year, so I will report back to you know once I come back.

Steaks are a personal journey for me, from a childhood of watching my mum pound fillet steaks to a pulp to sampling beautifully aged porterhouse cuts, my mum is still sometimes amazed that there are some steaks which need no tenderising. Anyway, after this love-letter to steaks, I will need to recharge the protein batteries. If you’d like to do the same and you live in London then there are only four names you need to know : Goodman, Hawksmoor, Jack O Shea and The Ginger Pig.

PS : I would love to hear your stories about your favourite steaks and some tips and recommendations too, so feel free to leave your mark in the comments section folks.

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Let me start by saying John is alot better looking in person than on masterchef. Here’s me, reporting on the relevant action which took place at the Toast Festival – Australia Day.

“Its that bloke from Masterchef….check it out.”

As you can probably tell, I am completely a fan. I handed my super swish, hulk of a NEW camera (yes I am now a D700 owner now) to my better half for some keepers.

Yes, please make that out to ‘Kang’. He’s signing a copy of his beefcyclopedia entitled ‘BEEF’. I wrote a review on it several moons ago here, and really thought his book was great. I love beef, and one can really tell that it was written by a beeflover too. It was all too appropriate to find Mr Torode grilling meat on a ‘hot’ Sunday afternoon in a park in Saarf London.

Don’t be shy John, get some grease on yer book, come on.

Yup, I got it, a very cool autograph, made with a waterproof marker, also courtesy of the special one. So John wrote: ‘Kang, Enjoy Bij La, John’. Am I reading it wrong? What the heck is ‘Bij La’ ? Anybody?

Naturally, I ate from SOS; this is John’s Dog. £5. The bread was the highlight, very soft, almost marshmallow like. As for the dog itself, I thought it needed just a tad more oommph, but John cooked in on the barbie and putting my fan-hat on; it tasted great.

All in all, a pleasant afternoon. There were mainly stalls which did food & wine, and lots of chairs and tables about for people laze around, which for a Sunday afternoon, was rather perfect. I managed a shot of the concert area too, it wasn’t overpacked, which was a good thing for myself, and about the only thing I missed out on – because of the massive queues – was this free wine tasting event they had on in a few of the tents.

Just want to send shouts to Rebecca for the free tickets, and also to you guys who went, I didn’t bump into anyone but I hope you had a good time there as well.

And here are some more pictures from the event:

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John Torode’s ‘BEEF’ £ 20
John Torode
Published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd

Quadrille kindly sent me a copy of John Torode’s BEEF to review/buzz/promote. I read through it and wrote up my first cookbook review, ever (yay). I was also kindly given permission to reproduce one of the recipes from the book; I chose the Carpet Bag Steak, which is an Australian classic of a fillet steak stuffed with fresh oysters. Very yummy indeed, I’ve included the recipe at the end of this review, so do keep reading to find it. John is truly a beeflover! Hope you enjoy this one folks.

Review.

We’ve all seen the man taste food on Masterchef, and a few of us have even dined at his four storey glory that is Smiths of Smithfield and in BEEF, John lays out one of his greatest passions: Beef. I can almost hear John’s voice guiding me through the recipes as I read this book, he writes mostly in a conversational tone and…

this unpretentious approach is refreshing and really highlights his true passion for the red stuff. Naturally, I flipped to the steak section as I opened the book. He dedicates a full two page spread on how to cook a great steak and suggests pan frying more delicate cuts (fillet)  and grilling the chunkier ones (rib), keeping in mind that if you see yellow flames over the charcoal, then the fat has caught fire. His prime advice when it comes to steak is to just ‘relax and enjoy cooking it!’ – great advice indeed. John doesn’t just start and stop with the steaks, he covers alot of the ‘other stuff’ and provides recipes for soup and gravy, preserving beef, salads, pasta, make a great burger, a huge section on veal and even includes a recipe for the jam roly poly to finish.

You can tell that John has a real passion for beef as this book has really set out to cover the whole rainbow of ways to cook this great ingredient. He provides excellent commentary about the different cuts & breeds in the introductory section, and has also included details to butchers dotted around the country. And if that’s not enough, the dust cover also folds out to a diagramatic representation of the different cuts of beef, in A1 size, making it a comprehensive handbook to beef.

If you love your red meat, and are looking for an ultimate cookbook for it, John Torode’s BEEF fits the bill. If you’re after a cookbook with recipes written by someone who’s totally down to earth and most importantly a beef lover, then I can think of no better one than John’s celebration of the bovine, in print.

John Torode’s ‘BEEF’ £ 20
John Torode
Published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd

John’s Carpet Bag Steak Recipe

Ingredients

4 fillet steaks, about 175g each
8 oysters in the shell
4 large strips streaky bacon
vegetable oil
salt and pepper
200g butter

This is an Australian classic – steak stuffed with fresh oysters, then wrapped in strips of streaky bacon and fried. It is important not to drain the oysters of too much of their liquid (you need to reserve this for later) as its saltiness tenderizes and flavours the meat and keeps the oysters lovely and moist. When the steak is cooked to your liking, take it out of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and add drained oyster juice, then scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pan and pour the resulting liquid over the steak.

Take each fillet and slice a sharp knife into the side to make a pocket – not all the way through or that won’t be a pocket.

Shuck (that is, open) the oysters and release them from their shells, draining off and keeping the juice. Put four oysters back in their shells to serve on the side of the steaks. Take the other oysters and put one inside the pocket of each steak. Pour in some of the juice – the salty water acts as a seasoning and keeps the oyster and the beef moist. We love things moist!

Wrap each fillet with the bacon and stick a toothpick in to hold it all together. Put a solid, heavy-based pan on the heat and get it super-hot. Open the window as there is about to be a good amount of smoke. Rub the steaks all over with oil and season with salt and a little pepper.

Put the steaks in the pan and cook for a good 3 minutes each side, then turn the heat down and cook for 2 more minutes each side. Add the butter and any leftover oyster juice. If you want to cook the fillets well done then they need to go into a not-too-hot over for about 5 minutes to finish.

Serve your steaks with chips (page 134) or a big tomato salad… come on, you know how to make a tomato salad.

John Torode’s ‘BEEF’ £ 20
John Torode
Published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd

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Fast-food is slowly being redressed as proper food. Take burger joints for example. They have been ‘gourmet-ised’ and have been springing up all over the capital. Smollensky’s burger shack is one of them. I get peckish when I’m out and about, so I decided to drop a visit.

Burgering up

One of the many blogs I read is a hamburger today. I’m telling you, the number of ways burgers can be eaten today is startling. In this post, we have the one pound chateau louise burger which is an absolute beast.

People tend to give burgers alot of stick, yeah sure, sure its not healthy and all that, but think about it, let’s throw away the crappy mince and use some premium protein boosting meat. Really fresh tomatoes and leaves. Top up with fresh tomato chutney and some nicely toasted buns and sesame seeds… is it just me or does that sound like ingredients of a balanced diet all rolled into one?

Step inside the shack

Where all the magic happens. There are 2 branches, the flagship one is in leicester square.  I went to the other one on charing cross road, which is about a 10 minute walk from totenham court road tube station. I really want to talk about the decor because its all dark woods and brick walls, with lots of retro photographs of stars from the 30′s. It’s a relaxing space to sit down and just chill, read the paper, oh and eat some great burgers.

Grill me, lick me, eat me

If the burgers don’t work, burger shack doesn’t work. Thankfully its great. There’s alot of different varieties, you can get chicken, lamb, and all kinds of toppings in addition the classic beef. I went for the no-nonsense £5.50 classic beef burger. Affordable. All the basics are spot-on, the toasted bun is especially nice being flour-y enough to absorb all the juices. The highlight though is the grilled beef itself. It’s nicely chargrilled with lots of smokiness and the meat is just very juicy. Appetising, my only qualm is that the portion is a tad bit small… especially compared to places like gourmet burger kitchen. 

What say kang the London Eater?

Hey the taste of the beef is awesome. I like it and it’s cheap. Definitely worth a visit if you are hunting for a good burger. I think there’s great debate over the best burger joint in London. I would say for taste, definitely go for burger shack. But for sheer novelty, value for money then do gourmet burger kitchen. 

Both are great, which do you prefer? 

1. Zha zhiang mein

The secret to good noodles are… well, good noodles. Good noodles are fresh, bouncy and ‘egg-y’. The noodles in this dish are otheriwise known as ‘La-Mein‘ which translates roughly to noodles that are hand-pulled. Freshly ‘hand-pulled’ noodles tastes great because its just freshly made before it’s cooked, think fresh pasta just made before it’s boiled. Its essentially the same thing.

Anyway, zha zhiang mein is a pretty famous noodle dish in China and the ingredients are simple. Chopped greens, carrots, bean sprouts and of course, a superior ‘chinese ragu‘.

It is one of my favorite noodle dishes of all time. I’ve waited six years for a decent bowl of it to arrive in London…. and it finally has at Bao Zi Inn. Lip smackingly good.

2. Boiled beef slices

You might think boiled beef means tasteless beef. Oh not here. The beef is moist and tender, and it’s marinated in some sort of savoury soya mixture. It tastes really good and pretty authentic too.

3. Soya bean drink (cold)

You need to check that you are not allergic to soya beans. If you’re not, then drink this. It basically tastes like sweet milk, a little creamier and alittle tannic, but its chock full of healthy vitamins (well, that’s what my mum always tells me) that’s good for your skin. I like it cold, but some people prefer it warm. Your choice really.

Well there you go, a pretty short review, but that’s all you need to know the next time you go to Baozi Inn.