Nuclear approach to cold management or a visit to the Sichuan Kitchen

Dark, drizzly and generally grim – gosh, welcome to London in autumn!   And just to truly celebrate all this bounty – the sniffles, colds and man flu [very vicious this one] arrives.  So when my colleague and I realised that illness was on the horizon, we decided to take the nuclear approach to cold management – bring on the Szechuan!

Nestled just behind Spitalfields before you get to brick lane proper is Sichuan Folk Kitchen on Hanbury Street which serves some of the best south-western Chinese food in London.  Now it isn’t posh and the décor is definitely not going to challenge Nobu but [probably being horribly politically incorrect] I always think it is a good sign when most of the customers in a Chinese restaurant are Chinese – and this is definitely the case here.

Having removed our wet coast, we were seated at one of the long [sometimes communal] tables and began perusing the menu [click here for a look].   Sichuan food is not generally subtle as it uses chilli, garlic and that most glorious of peppers, the Sichuan pepper.  This pepper not only provides heat but an aromatic undertone to the meal which is quite additive.

As our tea arrived, we started reeling off dishes to the bemused but polite waiter.  Seaweed and egg soup to warm us up followed by stir fried Chinese leaf, fish flavoured aubergine, fish in Sichuan style and dry fried chicken and chili’s.  The waiter was at pains to ensure that we had eaten there before as ‘the food is quite spicy’ – yes, we smiled dreamily it is isn’t it just.

The Seaweed and egg soup arrived first and to use one of the foodie words I despite, it was simply so flavourful.  It is like the best chicken soup your jewish grandmother ever made but she went a bit mad and added seaweed.

The greens arrived [full of chili and the deep flavour of garlic] then the fish which was spicy and a little sweeter than my companion [the very glamorous blond to paraphrase A.A. Gill] liked but none the less it was good.  

Then IT arrived, the dry fried chicken in chilli.  I have likened this to crack – in a far less destructive to local communities but as addictive way.

O my giddy aunt, the chicken is essentially deep fried with the chilli and presented to you on a platter where you have to dig through the chili to find the chicken.  It is like all of KFC’s wet dreams in one.   Yes, I did say that – gosh that was so good.

The fish flavoured aubergine is made with chili bean paste, soy sauce, black vinegar, and Sichuan pepper so you know it’s going to taste good and the name refers to the method of cooking rather than the taste.  

And then we were done, sitting quietly in a replete state buzzing from the mixture of spices sipping tea.   All in all as we walked back to Liverpool street, we agreed that £61 was not much to pay for a trip to the orient, a skip in our steps and the death of any viruses within 200 yards.

Thanks

Lx

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Small and Perfectly Formed - A visit to Little Water

Now don’t get me wrong, I love wine!  Not in a horribly co-dependent way [or at least, I don’t think so] but a nice glass of red with dinner or a crisp chenin blanc is really rather lovely.  Sadly, a large glass of wine has 160 calories which is rather a lot – especially as I prefer to have more than one.

So spirits it is [48 calories per shot] which meant I was very excited when I heard of Little Water in Covent Garden.  Yes, this glorious establishment which pairs vodka with burgers and Scandinavian inspired starters – and even better, I had a Groupon voucher.

 Dragging my former boss as my bemused but tolerant guest, we arrived at Little Water to find that on a wet Wednesday night it wasn’t hugely busy [apparently Friday and Saturday are buzzing]. The décor is Nordic themed with clean lines but touches of comfort.

Sitting down, we perused the menu which was small but perfectly formed!  Yes, mushrooms on soda bread or Winter Salad [with the option to add chicken, cod or beef cheek].  The salad could also come with vegan feta cheese but I am not sure what type of crime against nature this is and I was certainly not sullying my vodka with this.

I chose Winter Salad with Cod [Basil Vodka] and she chose the plain Winter Salad [Finlandia] which arrived in a splash of colour.  The cod was a good sized piece and the salad was a carefully prepared mix of leaves, tomatoes, cucumber strips, radish, cashews and peppers topped with an Avocado dressing.  More than enough for a starter – verging on a main to be honest and very tasty.

The vodkas went well with the dishes and as we chatted about mutual friends and business contacts and life in general, we agreed that Basil vodka really was rather nice.  Burger, burger or burger was the mains choice – traditional, chicken, cod, vegan feta or beef cheek – with chips and a side salad.    

I opted for Beef cheek with celeriac puree which came with Kauffman Hard and made for a messy glorious burger.  Probably not first date food but for want of a better phrase ‘damn fine’.  The traditional cheese and bacon burger came with saffron vodka [another spirit revelation I would like to repeat again].

We skipped desert [remember those calories] but I did notice the sweet burger with chocolate which I will have to save until I’ve done more exercise, like swum the channel.  As we walked into the chilly night, we agreed that Little Water is a welcome innovation and revelation which is small and perfectly formed.

Well worth a visit

Lx

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