Chinatown: Golden Gate Dessert House

I'm quite backed up on entries and I should really do some of them first before this one, but... dessert house! A place dedicated to dessert! Writing about it straight away is a no-brainer for me.

Where?

Chinatown London, 110 Shaftsbury Avenue. Nearest tube station is Leicester Square.

What?

My friend Vicky was visiting from Germany, so we hit Chinatown this evening and had dinner at Longji (entry soon), and then came here for dessert. Cake. Heaven. Not just cake- Chinese desserts, bubble teas, snow ice, ice cream cakes...  it was so difficult to choose what to have.

So I chose two. (The third belonged to my friend Vicky.)

Good thing I hadn't eaten much for the rest of the day, beforehand.

Vicky (eventually) chose the white one, a yoghurt cake:

Whilst I (also eventually) settled for a pandan layer cake:

... And a little taro mousse cake:

Because purple food is awesome.

They were all delicious- the sponge was like eating sweet and fluffy clouds, the pandan jelly was delicately flavoured and not too sweet, and the taro mousse was gorgeous. It was mostly mousse, but had a thin layer of white sponge buried underneath.

After a bit of digging I put the camera away to enjoy the cake.

They also do a few savoury things, like toasts and sandwiches, in case you're in a group of people and not everyone fancies something sweet- but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who isn't at least a little bit tempted by Golden Gate's rainbow array of cake!

You can also buy large, beautifully decorated celebration cakes, which you can see displayed at the front window:

I think this place is affiliated with Golden Gate Cake Shop on 13 Macclesfield Street (also in Chinatown)- not just because of the shared name of Golden Gate, but also because they seem to sell the same celebration cakes. The Cake Shop's a good place to get buns, but that'll be another entry one day, no doubt.

I used to be a bit scared of visiting the Dessert House- I've known about it for some time, but there was a review a few years ago about the staff being so rude they were borderline mean, so I always bottled out of trying it. I'm pleased to say the ladies there were lovely.

So. If you, like me, love dessert, and happen to be around here, try the Golden Gate Dessert House- just be prepared to spend some time choosing which beautiful confection you want!

Vicky and I got a little bit hyper on sugar, read this entry on my other blog for a short story.

The Australiafiles: Part 6- Kangaroo BBQ

There's nothing quite like sound, smell and taste of lightly charred meats sizzling on a smoky grill

The sixth and final instalment of the Austaliafiles: an Ozzy barbie. With kangaroo. *Insert slight guilt here*

On the final evening of our stay, my Australia-living aunt and uncle put on a barbeque. Barbeques are almost ubiquitous in Oz, even found in parks for anyone to use if they manage to nab it for the day. There was beef steak, chicken wings, chicken satay, baby octopus and, intriguingly, kangaroo steaks and kangaroo sausages.

But why the guilt? Well you see, literally the day before I went to a wildlife park and was practically cuddling them ('You weren't really cuddling them, you were just sizing them up for later', joked one of my cousins). Fraternising with the food, and all that. I'm also an ex-vegetarian, and was veggie for a good eight years. To cut a long story short I wanted to be a vet at school, but felt like it was wrong to cure and eat cows at the same time, for example. When I discovered I'd be a pretty rubbish vet because I'd cry every time I had to put someone's pet to sleep, I started eating meat again. That, and because my hair was starting to fall out because of anaemia. Anyway, I've developed the logic that if you eat meat, you should know exactly where it comes from and the processes through which it ends up at your table- it's a harsh truth, but it makes you appreciate it more, and at least a little more respectful.

I quite liked kangaroo meat- the steak was just a lean, red meat with a juicy texture (and oddly a little similar to ostrich- although this doesn't help at all if you've never eaten ostrich), and the sausages had a soft, almost spongy texture. My cousin's weren't as keen on it- it does have a slightly different mouthfeel and taste to your regular beef steak- but we concluded that often it's just a matter of what you're used to.

That concludes the Australiafiles! One of the things I enjoy most during a holiday abroad is the food (not the only thing, I hasten to point out!), so you could say I had a pretty awesome time in that respect (many thanks to my aunt and uncle who took us to brilliant places whilst we were there). My next trip abroad will probably be to Malaysia, which is where another aunt and uncle live, along with my jia po- so expect to see a Malaysiafiles next year. Until then, I hope this food log has inspired people to go out and enjoy some new foods, and in the meantime I will continue with my food conquests here in old Blighty.

Happy eating!

~Fin~

Tha Australiafiles: Part 5- Baozi

Remember that I mentioned that it was nearly lunchtime in the previous post? This is where we went for lunch a little while after.

There was so much choice of buns and dumplings: chicken, beef, prawn and pork (the latter two I can't have, being Jewish and all- always awkward when you're half Chinese), but mum and I settled for vegetable buns and custard baozi. You order at the counter, and then you're given this strange gizmo here:

Apparently we have these here in the UK too, but I've never seen them.

You go sit down with your receipt and gizmo, and when they're ready for you to collect your food the gizmo goes bananas, red LEDs flashing and buzzing like an angered hornet. Pretty neat, huh? It saves you from hanging around like a lemon and blocking up the walkway.

Nice buns.

The buns came in two separate bamboo steamers, one on top of the other (and a lid on top, which I took of before photoing). On top were the veggie ones, and beneath the custard buns.

Three veggie, two custard

Lots of spring onion, egg, garlic and Chinese mushrooms

Chinese custard buns usually have a thicker custard than the West is used to

It was a bigger than average lunch for mum and I even sharing between us, but I think being on holiday makes everyone a little bit crazy when it comes to food. Was it worth it? Hell, yes.

The Australiafiles: Part 4- Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

A chocolate bar. A café for chocolate. What respectable glutton with a sweet tooth could stumble upon this place and not go in?

Situated in the Piazza area of Castle Towers shopping centre, this place is part café, part dessert bar and part chocolate shop: AKA my kind of place. My mum and I were pottering around the shops and it was nearly lunchtime- but I had to go in.

This guy Mr. Brenner clearly loves his chocolate. When I walked in there was a huge vat of melted chocolate churning away in a machine, and I was confronted by a cabinet of chocolate desserts and a counter of cakes, some of which were sliced as big as bricks. There was quite an extensive menu of more chocolatey things on the wall, including ice cream and waffle-based things, and a large variety of hot chocolates made with (of course) real chocolate.

'Ergh, calories', said mum, scrunching up her nose. It was my cousin's wedding in a couple of days' time and we wanted to look our best: but I didn't want to miss this opportunity, and I knew I probably wouldn't have time to go back to this place. So I compromised, avoiding the enormous cakes and large desserts, and settled for a little cupcake and a dark hot chocolate (and bribed mum's company with a cup of tea).

I loved how even my humble cupcake was dressed up with melted chocolate on the plate! The mug the chocolate came in was also quite cool (the 'hug mug', which you also have the option of buying in Max Brenner's gift shop- also situated on-site). I'll be brutally honest now, and say that the hot chocolate was disappointing- it was thin and weak compared to some of the better hot chocolates I've tried in other places here in London. It was alright- certainly miles better than hot chocolate made from powder- but not as good as I was expecting from a dedicated chocolate place. The cupcake was nice and fluffy and with good flavour though, so that (and the presentation) appeased me.

This is Smidgen by the way- I've had this little rainbow rabbit since I was a baby, and he's travelled everywhere I've travelled, from Scotland to Spain to Sydney. Every new country I go, Smidgen goes with me.

As well as actual chocolates, the gift shop also had a number of cool chocolate-related paraphernalia. I particularly like the fondue-for-one pot. They're a bit pricey, but if you have the money they'd make great gifts.

This time around I didn't really take advantage of the menu- if there's a next time, I'm going to make a point of having a 'dessert for lunch' day, and have one of the amazing-looking and enormous desserts that I saw other people ordering.

The Australiafiles: Part 3- Bubble Tea and Cendol

This section is to do with two drinks commonly found in Asia. I'll start with bubble tea.

I've mentioned bubble tea before in a previous post, and that my favourite flavour is taro milk tea (taro's a type of yam that happens to be purple). To recap: bubble tea is traditionally a sweet milky tea with sweet and chewy tapioca balls which looks like bubbles in the drink, but has evolved into any sort of drink with tapioca 'bubbles' in, from fruit juice to milkshakes. You can even get different toppings in addition to tapioca like nata de coco (sweet fermented coconut gel- it's a lot tastier than it sounds) and fruit salad.

Bubble tea is finally enjoying a developing craze here in the UK (late, as usual with a lot of food crazes like sushi, the cupcake and the whoopie pie), but it's old hat in Asia, including in Australia. I found that the two most popular and common bubble tea stalls were Easyway Tea and Chatime (the latter of which has just started up in the UK, yay!)

The first place I tried was Easyway Tea, and of course I had to see what my favourite flavour was like over there.

I chose a taro frappé with the traditional tapioca bubbles

 It was an awesome bubble tea- my issue with a lot of places that do bubble tea in the UK is that they water down the flavour a lot, almost as if they're scared people won't like it (particularly with taro flavour). Thankfully they didn't skimp on the flavour for this one. I liked the texture of the frappé for a change too (an ice-blended drink, sort of like a Starbucks frappuccino).

A few days later I came across a Chatime when I was doing touristy things around Sydney harbour. Perfect timing for an icy drink- it was about 40 degrees out. This time, however, I chose something other than taro. (Gasp!)

Mango milk smoothie with tapioca and nata de coco

Chatime had a little less choice in drinks than Easyway Tea, but only by a little bit (the only thing they didn't offer were frappés, but they had the normal iced-style drinks, smoothies, fruit juices, coffees and milkshakes- and also a huge range of toppings). They were also pretty generous with their toppings and this drink actually served well as lunch by itself! I hope that the UK incarnations of Chatime are as good with choice of flavours and generous toppings.

Now. What is cendol?

This is cendol:

Okay, I'll admit it looks a bit weird. However, the ingredients make it a gorgeous drink-dessert hybrid. The basic makeup of cendol is coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, plenty of shaved ice, and, of course, the cendol itself.

Cendol are the pasta-like green noodles flavoured with pandan, a green and sweetly aromatic plant

I freaking love cendol, and find it hard to come by in the UK- especially since the place I always used to buy it closed down years ago. When I saw it being sold in the food court in Singapore Changi airport during the stopover on the way home, I had to buy it. It might be a strange-looking thing, brown from the palm sugar with green worm-like rice noodles, but of course it was the weirdness that appealed to me in the first place.

Other things are often added to cendol to turn it into a more substantial dessert: sure enough, the one in Sydney Changi came with red beans (one day I'll do an entry on red bean ice drink and ice kacang- other desserts involving beans) and sweet palm seeds. Yes, it seems unusual to a lot of Western tastebuds, but I promise you it works, and it's delicious. I warn you though, it's pretty filling!

The Australiafiles: Part 2- Aeroplane Food

I wanted to blog about other more interesting things, but I really don't want to leave aeroplane food until last- so let's just get this over with, shall we?

Before I start, I'll admit that I was impressed with the quality of the food mains on the outgoing flight. Homecoming, not so much.

Outgoing meal 1: Red wine lamb stew with mash and veggies

Cons: It literally looked like a dog's dinner.

Pros: It actually tasted really good, the mash was done just right, as were the veggies- and the lamb was tender and lean. Go figure.

Came with: Standard bread roll and butter (untouched- too much stodge), salad starter, a bit of cheese and crackers and Singapore Sling flavour ice cream (we were flying with Singapore Airlines since we stopped over at Singapore Changi airport)

Outgoing meal 2: Pan-fried fish wish pesto velouté, potatoes and Mediterranean veggies

Cons: The veggies were disgusting- mushy and weirdly sour.

Pros: The fish was awesome and not overcooked, the potatoes were actually cooked through and, to my surprise, the velouté was actually a velouté and not some random sauce that they decided to call a velouté to make it sound fancier.

Came with: Standard bread roll and butter (again, untouched), potato salad starter, a bit of cheese and crackers and a Cornetto (I freaking love Cornettos so I was pretty happy).

Breakfast happened at some point when I was too exhausted to properly note (we travelled for 24 hours and I didn't sleep for one of them), and involved an omelette, chicken sausage, some fruit somewhere, a pot of yogurt and a banana muffin. And the standard bread roll and butter (again untouched), with a bit of jam to make it more breakfast-y. I may have used the jam on the muffin.

Homecoming meal 1: Beef and stirfried noodles.

Stirfried my arse. Sorry, no more pictures, I was shattered for the whole journey back and sat like a zombie for most of it. But I remember no pros with this meal. None at all. The noodles tasted like instant, the beef was tough and slimy, and that's all I can remember. So I just stuck with the pasta starter and standard cheese and crackers (again giving the roll a wide berth). Dessert was another Cornetto, so at least I was a happy zombie by the end of it.

Homecoming meal 2: Fish curry with rice

Cons: It was spicy enough to make my nose run- make everyone's noses run. Not pleasant when you're stuck in a crowded tin can several thousands of feet up in the air. It also looked a bit like pet food (again).

Pros: It was worth it- the fish was tempura-ed and the curry sauce was good, and the rice was neither soggy nor chewy.

Came with: Standard bread roll and butter (ignored), salad starter, cheese and crackers and chocolate mousse cake.

Homygosh the chocolate mousse cake. I really did want to photo it but it wasn't really presented well- sort of crammed into its container- but it was the kind with three thin layers of light chocolate sponge, with chocolate mousse in between, and glazed with a glossy chocolate ganache.

Breakfast was obligatory noodles. I would have chosen the omelette option after my previous noodle let-down, but it ran out way before the trolley got to me. The noodles were again awful. But the fruit salad was nice, as was the return of the banana muffin and jam. The bread roll and butter were, again, lonely and abandoned. There was also cereal, but I think I drank the milk, forgot about the actual cereal part, and went back into zombie state.

That's pretty much it.

The Australiafiles: Part 1- How a Chinese Family Eats

Family food time. <3

For the past two weeks I was in Sydney, Australia, having made the long journey from here in the UK for a cousin's wedding. I took the opportunity to document some cool food experiences, from aeroplane food to fancy restaurants. I think I'll start with the latter!

Quick background: My mum's side of the family is Chinese, and scattered over Malaysia (where her generation was born and raised), the UK, the US and Australia. The only place I haven't been to is the US, and all others I've either lived in or visited a number of times to see family (luckily this time around my relatives in the US made it to Oz for the wedding so I got to see them too). A high percentage of Australia's population is Chinese or otherwise East Asian, so that will probably reflect in the food I post about here.

Now, onto Chinese eats, and with a very traditional type of food: dim sum.

See that round thingy in the middle? It's called a Lazy Susan: the multiple dishes are placed on it and the diners at the table can spin it around to try a bit of everything on offer (which is quite a traditional Chinese way to eat, rather than Western-style where stuff is plated up for you). In the case of dim sum you order what you want off of trolleys of food that are pushed around, and it's added to a tab thingy that's added up at the end of your meal. You often also get a pot or two of green tea.

The gold sparkly thing in the middle was because we were celebrating my jia po's 80th birthday.

You can get all sorts in dim sum: jiaozi dumplings, baozi dumplings, egg tarts, choi sum, beef balls, noodles... and, of course, chicken feet.

One of two things I find too fiddly to eat: the second being cherries without a pitter.

I'm not grossed out by chicken feet (more poetically called 'phoenix claws' in Chinese), but I find them so damned difficult to eat. You're supposed to just pop them in your mouth and (look away if squeamish) suck the skin and sinew off the bones, spitting the bones out, but this is a way of eating I just haven't inherited from that side of my family. (Noodle slurping I can do, though.)

A beef ball: tender and flavoured subtly with things like ginger, garlic and spring onions

Mum and I, with me showing off my mad chopsticks skills.

Afterword: We went to a really nice restaurant for dim sum on this occasion, but dim sum isn't usually a formal thing. I've also noticed that a lot of Chinatown restaurants in London only do dim sum at lunchtime to 5pm (and it was indeed lunchtime when we went to this place)- so I guess it's more of a lunch/ brunch thing.

Chinatown: Open Air Stall

This wasn't actually 'my food', but my friend Min-Hwee's (as I was too full from jiaozi from the previous entry and I don't eat pork). Alas I don't read Chinese well enough to know the name of the stall if it has one, but it's one of about three hawker stalls in Chinatown at the moment that prepares fresh food in the open air.

Now that's one substantial crepe.

Where?

Soho, Chinatown, right at the end of Gerard and Lisle street where the pagoda is. The nearest tube station is Leicester Square.

What?

 A crepe filled with hot dog, youtiao (Chinese savoury doughnut stick), herbs, an egg, and chili and hoisin sauce. I tried a little bit of the crepe itself and it was very tasty.

This was quite a large amount of food, and only for £3. One of the several bonuses about the stalls (apart from the tasty food) is the value for money you get. I'll write a post about the baozi and egg waffles another time.

I loved watching the lady make it up! It started off like a regular French crepe, then the lady cracked and egg onto the surface and swished it around. She sprinkled some herbs on one side and flipped it over to paint hoisin sauce and chili sauce onto the other side, and then placed the hot dog and youtiao onto the crepe, folding it up and putting it into a paper bag to be eaten (I missed snapping the hot dog part because I was too busy laughing with another onlooker about how she was using a proper digital SLR camera to take awesome pictures, whereas I just had my little Samsung compact camera).

Visit these stalls if you want a substantial snack on the cheap: you won't be disappointed.

Chinatown: Jen Café

I'll say this right away: Jen Café is all about the jiaozi- the Beijing dumplings.

There's usually a lady at the front making fresh jiaozi (the lady under the window with yellow text)

Where?

Situated in Soho right at the beginning of Newport Place, Chinatown, the nearest tube station is Leicester Square. If you're around in Chinatown, look for the pagoda in the square at the end of Gerard Street or Lisle Street and you're there.

It felt a bit weird capturing this pic- usually there are loads of people sitting around it

What?

Like I said, you go here to eat dumplings. Reviews about this place are often pretty mixed when it comes to the service and the other food, but the view on Jen Café's freshly made pork and vegetarian dumplings (and their bubble tea) is unanimously positive. You can pick any other place in Chinatown to have decent noodles, rice and roasted meats, but if you want affordable, fresh and delicious dumplings boiled or fried, you go to Jen Café.

I had vegetarian fried dumplings. Eaten dipped in soy sauce and Chinese vinegar, these were beautifully crispy, pleasingly chewy and full of flavour

Concerning bubble tea, I always, always measure how good a café's bubble tea is by their taro bubble teas- it's my favourite bubble tea flavour. Taro is a type of purple yam, and since I like yams and I love unusually-coloured food, it's pretty much my perfect flavour. It was good but could have had a stronger flavour; I'd say the second-best taro bubble tea I've ever had. The first belongs to a place formerly known as Cafe de Hong Kong, now under the name of Longji, but I'll review that another time. It wasn't at all watery though, which is what I've found with the more disappointing bubble teas I've had.

Bubble tea: a tea, coffee, milky or fruity drink served hot or cold with sweet and chewy tapioca balls (which are the 'bubbles')

The menu isn't huge although it boasts a large range of drinks, but after all this is a café, not a restauraunt.

The service was alright- the ladies got our orders a bit confused but were pleasant enough, contrary to a review I've read where they described the staff as being 'contemptuous'. Not the slickest of systems, but one that works in the end- and certainly worth it for the bubble tea and jiaozi.