I have resisted Roti Chai for several months now, it’s right opposite Selfridges, conveniently located, if you shop on Oxford Street often. I think the interior design does it no favours. The colourful theatre-land of over-sized repros of food brands (meant to evoke nostalgia I’m guessing) gives the impression that this a prototype for a upcoming franchise.

Then I had dinner with a few weeks earlier with the venerable former food blogger Helen WFG and her hubby the enigmatically blurry Garson Byer who both gushed about the fantastic happenings in the kitchens of Roti Chai. Fantastic and a little bombastic. Reviews and word of mouth suggest a thriving returning clientele because of its supposed authenticity and obvious quality cooking.

The restaurant is split into two discreet operations under the same roof: Upstairs aka The Street Kichen; a lighter, faster and presumably cheaper menu is available and open all day. Down in the basement dubbed The Dining Room, the interiors are somewhere in between a lounge bar and Bob Bob Ricard, with marble replaced by wooden floors. Less finger food, more elaborate sounding dishes from the regions and is only open for dinner. Two kitchens, two head chefs, two restaurants in one.

I visited for a Saturday lunch, and obviously ate upstairs. The missus opted for a virgin cocktail and I drank Mongoose lager for the very first time. Certainly extra smooth, but with more bite than a Cobra. For me, the setting is reminiscent of cafe-cum-eateries one would find in behemoth shopping malls across Asia. Looking up to the exposed gold painted ceilings reveals pipes, wooden panels, metal beams, air conditioning and industrial style aluminium encased lighting.

Interesting.

Every dish on the menu comes with subtitles – ain’t it nice?

Bhel Puri, £3.90

“Puffed rice with chopped onions and a tangy tamarind sauce”

Aka, Rice crispies with sweet chilli swauce! The crackle and pop was definitely a new experience for me, a fun way to start a meal. Delicious too.

Hakka Chilli Paneer, £5.20

“Fiery Indo-Chinese speciality from Kolkata”

I had no idea Chinese cuisine had seeped into Indian culture. According to Wikilegends, this association originates from the Chinese community (and by extension Chinese restaurants (and takeaways, presumably)) in Kolkata, most of whom are of Hakka descent. Dude. I’m half Hakka, but I guess my Granddad got on the boat which stopped at Borneo instead of India.

Paneer coated in corn starch and stir-flied with peppers, spring onion, coriander and hot hot chilli. It’s hot stuff, in fact almost too hot even for me. My dad would love the nasal clearing experience however. He still regularly indulges in this kind of torture once a month.

It could probably pass for nyonya, but it certainly is also very Chinese. Swap the paneer for egg tofu, and it’s exactly like my mum’s handywork. I liked.

Bun Kebab, £7.50

“Punjabi Tikki Wala Mini Burgers, spiced lamb kebab”

Aka – Indian lamb sliders, with pomegranate and green sauce.

…Mmm… a sharply seasoned minced lamb kebab serving as a patty, with a sweet and subtly tangy condiment, sandwiched in a toasty, soft and square bun with oiled insides. The patty was tremendously appetising, it fit in to my paws perfectly, increasingly greased as I finished it… this could be one of the top burger vintages of the year. Eating well now and for the next fifty years, requiring no cellaring. 95-99+ …

Hah. Crossing streams there. If you’ve been following my twitter feed, you’ll know that I’ve recently started my wine investment plans …and I’m surprised how one man’s opinion has such influence in wine prices. The million dollar nose now has a direct impact on the growth of my life savings. I’m speculating on Bordeauxs, in my cellar I have a 12-case of 2005 Lafites and a 6-case of 2009 Lynch Bages, a 1st growth and a 5th respectively, both from good years… Yup, that chinese stereotype flows in my veins after all. I suppose the name does make the difference.

Back in the real world – yes, fantastic Indian Lamb burger, the fairground fluffy toasted bun was brilliant, but the lamb kebab was better as a make-believe patty.

Macher Jhol, £8.50 with Aloo Gobi, £4.50 and a bread basket, £4.00.

“Road & Rail – Rustic dishes from the roadside “Dhabha’ cafes from bustling train stations of the sub-continent. Classic Bengali Fish curry with kasundi mustard and rice.”

Punjabi Dhabha (literally for restaurant owned by a person originating from Punjab) were initially roadside cafes for truckers to drop in for some warm grub. So… that’s like Punjabi style roadside diners yes? I don’t know, I’m no expert on Indian food here, so feel free to correct me.

For what it’s worth, I liked the curry, light, brothy (rather than creamy & rich) , it gave an impression of butter-free, yoghurt-free, lightly salted, lightly spiced home-cooked goodness. Delicious yes and rather subtle, but I felt it could do with just a few more cubes of fish.

The cauliflower & potatoes were also light in style. I thought the bread selection was fabulous valuea – naan, pratha and kulcha. No dosa or chapati however. Maybe it was because the breads went cold, but I thought they were a little dry & chewy. Could be moister and doughier.

Almond & Saffron Phirni, £5.50

“Ground rice & milk pudding.”

You know how I love a good rice pudding, the best recipes imho belong to the Norwegians.

The rice was so finely grounded, it was like a whippy mousse, smooth but with bits. Light, cool and the metallic flavour of saffron added an air of flair. Personally, I could do without the almond shavings, its inherent perfumed flavour does go hand in hand with the saffron, but I thought the rocky road got in the way of the smoothly blended rice. Still, it was a lovely pudding to finish the meal with.

In the end, I regret not ordering their dhal (as a bread dip) , the lollipop chicken and the house-made kulfi.

We paid £46.68 for two.

The meal was a refreshing change. It didn’t feel one dimensional (as opposed to multi dimensional..?? Hyperbole kicking in there) , the spices were obviously present, but everything tasted surprisingly lightweight.

Roti Chai is unique in the familiar world of Indian restaurants in the city. I don’t think it’s quite perfect, but the food is generally good, well priced and easy going. The missus went back with her mates a few days after this visit, but downstairs to the dining room instead. Her verdict : Not necessarily better than upstairs, but food generally came across as being prepared with more thought and effort.

Thumbs up from me.

The Gist of It

Roti Chai
Indian £30pp.
3 Portman Mews South W1H 6HS
Tel : 020 7408 0101
Tube : Bond Street

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The smell of mushrooms, sizzling hot noodles and steamy soup. The knocking klikity klak of randomised synchronisation of high heels and colliding porcelain to the tune of a muzak of an epic eighties love ballad by Jacky Cheung, but above all of that a near enough constant stream of murmuring chatter in the background. Invariably this includes big round tables of women, babies, the next generation eyeing the next generation of the neighbouring big round table with the processions led by the belly laughter of silvering Chinese men. That unmistakable harmonious bustle is the very signature of a Chinese restaurant and as far as my experiences have taken me, it is an ambiance that is near enough the same the world over.

My Taiwanese other half grew up referring to this particular type of Chinese cuisine as ‘yum cha’ , where you do drink tea, but really, the slang has more in common with Sunday lunch than afternoon tea. For me however, yum cha is dim sum (where she will say refers to pudding when I say tianping… on the same subject, when I say run – jo – she thinks I’m saying walk – pau) , and it is more of a tradition than a meal, a treat for soothing the heart and the only time of the week for the family and the closest friends to sit together on the same table to share a civil meal and speak of the changing world.

It was no coincidence that dim sum involved pressed shirts and blouses, and that it followed right after the morning Sunday mass. Of course, we’d like to think of ourselves as god-loving baptised atheists, but dressing up for Sunday lunch was something me and my brother always looked forward to, psychologically, it was when the the week felt like it finally arrived. And since we’d usually skip breakfast for Dim Sum, the empty stomach only made the anticipation more tempting.

“Guk-fa, ga tong.” That’s how we usually began our Sundays, that’s chysentemum with rock sugar. Looking out to the restaurant, which is big enough for banquet style weddings, you can raise your arm and wave in just about any direction, and have a familiar hand return the gesture. Being that we were naughty little critters, we’d rather cool off with a couple of tall glasses of ‘teh si ping’ – iced milk tea – than indulge in tongue burning tea. This was usually followed by two steamers each of shui mai, har gaw and two plates of char siu cheung fun.

I have such fond memories of growing up around large round tables in Chinese restaurants, it is a tradition I find myself fortunate enough to be continuing in London. I won’t disagree that Alan Yau’s legacy restaurants do the cuisine proud and it’s a wonderful thing there is so much choice for dim sum in this city that we can opine about the ones we prefer, but for me, dim sum is as much about seeing the joy of large tables of mulit-generational Chinese people related to one another as it is about the fluffy sweetness of a char siu bun.

On the topic of the fluffy buns, the dim sum at Princess Gardens was much more than adequate. All the traditional stuff was great as far as I could tell, the har gaw was full of shrimpy bounce, the rice flour used in the cheung fun was chewy and sticky just a tad thick but fresh tastin’ and as good as you could get in London. Personally, I thought the shiu mai was constellations above the London competition, managing to tamp sheerly decadent rims of pork fat with copious amonts of mushroom and crab. The ball of dumpling was so bouncy, it could double as a tennis ball – bounce in this type of dumpling is the best kind of attribute. The ‘thousand layer’ sponge cake, which is sometimes referred to as Malaysian sponge cake felt like I was laying my tongue over a thousand layers of fine Persian carpets – that’s simple pleasures at its finest matey.

Being Chinese, one can only appreciate the shellfish overkill for breakfast, and the scallop gai lan dumpling was the icing over a largely fine start to the weeping Sunday. As we near Fall, warm Sunday dim sum is a welcoming addition to my life’s dowdy schedule, as the days get shorter and as I count down the days till I have to turn the wick up on the heating.

We paid £38.40 for the first meal here for two, drinking guk-po (that’s po-li leaves and chrysanthemum). I left a more gregarious fella than when I entered the restaurant, and I liked the meal enough to return the following Sunday with a similar resultant mood. About the only thing I thought was below par were the egg tarts – too dry, unsweet and overcooked, aka, just abit shit really. Otherwise, the quality of the dim sum was exemplary. I was pleased to find sizzling wok-hei in their noodles too.

I’ve had some truly terrible dim sum – not this one obviously – in my lifetime, but I’ve almost always consumed it with a smile, I think of my dear mother, my cranky father, my pathfinder of a brother and I thank them for gifting me the ability to appreciate one of humanity’s greatest inventions : Hospitality.

So if you are at Princess Gardens next Sunday, and you spot a curious Chinese fella with a Leica around his neck, come say hello to me. Princess Gardens is currently serving my favourite dim sum in London, besting Pearl Liang. It carries the right kind of atmosphere and the quality of food is redolent of many fond things.

The Deets.

Princess Gardens
Dim Sum £25pp.
8-10 North Audley Street W1K 6ZD
Tel : 020 7493 3223
Tube : Bond Street

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… and for the photo lovers…

Shredded Mooli cakes, £2.90

Scallop Dumplings, £2.90

Monk’s beadcurd roll, £2.90

Crystal dumplings (I think) , £2.90

‘Thousand Layer’ sponge cake, £2.60

Shiu Mai (Pork & Crab), £2.90.

Eating giant pancakes, thinking about the christmas lights on Oxford street and surfing the london blogging community.

eating happenings here on London Eater

I’d like to think of this week as Obama week. Everywhere you turn, it’s just Obama Obama Obama, Obamamania has hit the world like a tidal wave. Of course, London Eater caught the Obamabug too, succumbing to a tea cake offering on the day of his election.

This week, I produced four posts, apologies for those awaiting part five of my quickie wine guide, it’s been yet another hectic week behind the scenes as I’ve been busy rethinking some of the concepts behind this blog:

• The first seventy five days I kicked off the week with by dissecting the last two months since London Eater went live. Once again, thank you for all your support and for visiting my site. Every time you visit my site, it gives me confidence and inspiration to continually strive to produce quality content. I’ve got some new ideas for this site and I hope you’ll enjoy it, so do keep coming back guys. I can’t promise greatness, but I can promise that I’ll do my very best.
• Heroic freshness at Sushi Hiro was one of the best sushi trips Ive ever been on. This place is tiny, but its super good. I shot the food with my brand new 50mm f/1.8 primer, which I’m absolutely in love with. I think it’s produced some great snaps, what do you think?
• A tribute to Obama and McCain They both fought to the bitter end and McCain was a worthy opponent indeed. But in the end, change had to come. Yes it did. So I decided to give them teacakes.
• Giant pancakes at My Old Dutch is one of my favorite spots for a nice chilled out sunday lunch and when I want something abit different on a shoestring. Do check this one out folks.

I’ve established myself on the blog networks app on facebook. So if you’re on facebook, then head over there now and join my blog network.

london happenings around the Smoke

November means two things to me, one: it gets dark by four, two: Jingle bells, jingle bells…

• The Oxford street christmas lights are coming online next wednesday. It’s become a pretty traditional event with all kinds of huge ornaments hanging from above the traffic. Apparently, the super diva Leona Lewis will be on hand this year to switch the lights on. Will take lots of pictures for the benefit of my readers from beyond the shores.
• The super 50 at Westfield Many will have visited the brand new super-mall in shepherd’s bush. I did pay a visit last weekend which was absolutely packed out. The atrium area features an open food hall with lots of vendors. For a moment while walking through the food hall, I felt as if I was in a mall in asia. Because there were so many people, there were huge queues so I didnt bother eating there. Expect me to do so in the coming days though. Oh yeah, and there were lots of shops and all too.
• Cinnamon Kitchen is opening on Nov 13 and it’s going to feature a tandoori bar & grill. Apparently the decor is marbles & pearls with an equally pretentious menu. Hmm, I suppose I need to pay a mandatory visit then?

reading.. London! happenings around the community

In this week’s edition, the spotlight shifts to London food blogs. Yes, these guys have been around much longer than me and all of these venerable names feature great content to which I can only aspire to.

• Food Snob argues that a ‘snob’ is not a sign of superiority, rather the proper definition suggests that a snob is one who admires greatness and thus in his own words, the food snob is one in search of great taste. He eats and writes his way through some of the more well-known michelin establishments such as Le Gavroche, do check him out if you’re searching for a special dinner.
• Londonelicious is the diary of an american girl who loves to eat but hates to cook and lives in London. Krista’s eaten most of London already and has put together a fine top 10 list. Have a look here.
• World Foodie Guide introduces you to the concept of traveleating, as this jet-setter tracks all her culinary conquests across the globe, from London to Hong Kong. She is not shackled by the confines of one city and is truly a world foodie guide. One of my favorites.
• An American in London is eating her way through the city (as we speak) with a slight focus obsession. She visits and re-visits some of her favourites and her reviews always have me salivating.
• Silverbrow on Food is Anthony Silverbrow’s ( its fabricated, but sounds so good! ) great blog which features his thoughts on food and the general industry in the UK. His writing is a breeze and makes for a great read. So pay him a visit.
• London review of breakfast is as advertised on the box and is one of the more unique blogs around. The writing is excellent as his description of the old eggs bacon and chips is the excellent way to work up an appetite in the mornings!
• Get stuffed in London Last but definitely not least, why not get stuffed in London? Helen enjoys getting stuffed and what better way to do it than in London! It’s set up as a personal guide to the best & the worst so you can make an informed decision. Have a look now.

London is so big that it’s nearly impossible for me to eat everything in my lifetime. But that’s the beauty of the blogosphere, there’s other dedicated foodies motivated by similar goals.This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s some more blogs for you to chew on this sunday, do enjoy.

Coming soon to an internet near you..

I’m going to put out part 5 of my quickie wine guide and I’ll also post my visit to Jason Atherton’s Maze. Have a great end to the week and see you back here in seven.

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