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Address: 8-9 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2EW. Between Oxford Town Centre and Railway Station
Telephone number: 01865 202888
Website: N/A
Date of visit: 22 September, 2010
Approximate cost per head: For lunch, you can get away with less than £10. Maybe £20-£30 in the evening depending on what you ordered.
Comments on wine list/beer: Didn’t see a wine list but I assume it exist. Tiger is £3.40 a bottle
Summary:
I went there whilst I was in Oxford because of a great review by Giles Coren in The Times.
He mentioned that they had a great Shanghainese Chef and the owner used to own Opium Den on George Street.
Lets get a few non food issues out of the way:
- This place has done well out of the review, it is moving to bigger premises in George Street later this year. There are 2 copies of the review within the restaurant. One on the window facing the street and one on the way to the loo.
- According to Giles, the owner used to own the Opium Den. However, there were several promotional posters (in Chinese) in the restaurant promoting the Opium Den, so may be the links with Opium Den are still there.
- The dark wood furnishing is remarkably similar to the Opium Den.
Now, onto the food. The place advertises Shanghainese and Szechwan cooking as well as Mongolian Grill. The Mongolian Grill is a very large heated griddle. You go to a buffet table, take you selection of shreds of meat, vegetables and noodles. The chef then stir fries it on the griddle for you. The restaurant charges £5.50 for the first plateful and £4 for seconds.
The place was half full when I entered at 1.30. The clientele were mainly Chinese students.
I was offered two menus as I sat down. There was a lunch menu offering dim sum (from £3 a dish) and various rice and noodles for around £6 a dish or bowl. The main menu that promotes set meals, the Mongolian Grill as well as the a la carte dishes.
I have to say that menu was not particularly Shanghainese or Szechwan. In fact I am not aware of an autrhentic Shanghainese restaurant in the UK. Most of the dishes were Cantonese. I then looked at the dim sum menu and they were all standard items – 90% Cantonese. For example, onion cake or pancake is a must menu item in Shanghainese restaurants, another one is eels. They are not on offer here.
I had pork and vegetable dumplings, wok tip dumplings (pot stickers), beef brisket, vegetable spring roll, shanghai dumplings – shao loong pao.
The pork and vegetable dumplings (£3.50) were essentially pao dough pan fried with a mixed minced pork and Chinese cabbage filling. This was fine. The vegetarian spring rolls (£3.00) were as they should be and it was served with a sweet chilli dip.
The wok tip (£3.50) were ok but were covered in sesame seeds – a first for me world wide and I have eaten quite a few of them. The base of the pot stickers could have been crisper. The shao long pao (3.50) had exactly the same filling as the wok tip and no soup or stock inside the dumpling. It’s the soup that makes these dumplings famous. What was also disappointing was that the wok tip and shao loong pao were served with a black vinegar that had no ginger in it. Traditionally these items are served with a slightly sweet vinegar with shreds of ginger in it.
Next came the five spice beef brisket (£8.00). This was cubes of tender beef in a sauce. The dish was served hot. Traditionally this should be served cold in aspic, sliced up like brawn.
With 2 Tiger Beers and service, the bill came to £28.80. Not cheap but not pricy.
My conclusion is that the food is all right but it is not 100% authentic and certainly, the menu is dominated by Cantonese dishes not Shanghainese dishes.
I am off to New York in mid October. I shall certainly visit an authentic shanghainese restaurant.
Giles, may I suggest that you go to Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York or Vancouver and try out a proper Shanghainese restaurant. The food is very different from Sojo. There is a shanghainese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur but I do not recommend it. This is not an invitation, so, please don’t send me the bill.
E
PS. So Jo means burning wine, a type of hash spirit in China.
PPS I am sure that you all know that chop suey is an american invention. Did you know that crispy duck is a british bastardisation of the original dish. In China, it is a salty duck deep fried. No pancake, no hoisin sauce.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/sep/20/halal-meat-the-truth
For info.
E
Sept 2010
Most of there quotes are in praise of wine but unfortunately, there are too much rubbish on the market – compared with 20 years ago – and because of the demand, we are selling younger and younger wines all the time. There is nothing worse than drinking reds 1-2 years old – unless they are meant to be drunk young! Did you know that in 1970 (before we changed the currancy) Mouton Rothchild was less than £3 a bottle when Mateus Rose was 13s 6d a bottle.
E
Sept 2010
http://www.winefoodemiliaromagna.com/a Romagna
This is a real find. These guys were advertising on Bottles and Cooks.
E
Address: Terville, Oxon RG9 6QU
Telephone number: 01491 638283
Website: http://www.thebullandbutcher.com
Date of visit: 20 September 2010
Price Guide (2 courses): approx £20
Comments on wine and beer: short wine list with several bottles under £20.Brakspear is on tap but they also have Hooky Dark
Summary:
The village is in the Chiltern countryside. There are no shops – just this pub and several streets of old cottages. In fact, the village is a regular feature in TV dramas – The Vicar of Dibley, Midsomer Murders etc.
One immediate caveat is that this is not an easy place to get to. It’s in the middle of the countryside surrounded on the four sides by Watlington, M40, Marlow and Henley-on Thames. Whichever way you come from, you will have to go through winding single lane unlit country roads.
Being a 17 century building, it has the traditional two bars, but there is no distinction between the 2 bars anymore. Outside, there is a large garden with plenty of tables and chairs.
The first thing I noticed was that the dining tables have been scrubbed till the exposed wood is white.
I started out with a pint of hooky dark (£3) which soon became two.
The menu is old fashion traditional pub grub and is quite short. For example, you can have a ploughman with cheeses and a pork pie for £7.95. Most starters are priced at £6.95 and most main courses priced at £12.95. The most expensive item is the rib eye steak priced at over £23. There are blackboards with specials of the day on it.
I had the “husband” cod and chips (£12.95). The “wife” version is smaller (£9.95). I was served a huge piece of cod on a pile of chips with a tub of mushy peas and a tub of homemade tartar sauce. The dish was expertly cooked and the fish tasted very fresh despite the fact that it is Monday.
I noticed that the 3 dishes with the pub’s endorsement as special were: steak and kidney pudding, fish and chips and burger.
This is a place for walkers as one of the recommended Chiltern Walks passes within 10 yards of the pub. It’s also a good place for a Sunday Lunch.
The Bull and Butcher in in the Michelin as well as Sawday’s guides and I add my support.
E
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/8009390/German-wines-Meandering-Mosels-marvels.html
The nicest wine – in my view – is the troken (dry) Mosel which is next to impossible to get in this country.
Best best is to go to Winnigen wher a few of the winehaus are based.
See also my article on schnitzel (9th June) and the June Competition of Bottles and Cooks
E
Sept 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/sep/18/portugal-mealhada-suckling-pig-food
See also my article on hog roast on 26 August.
E
Sept 2010
Interesting but I am not convinced that Welsh Rabbit is forgotten. Woodcock perhaps.
Here are 3 recipies: welsh rabbit, kedgeree and brisket.
E
Sept 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/sep/14/consider-nutmeg
Very interesting. Certainly taught me a few things.
E
Sept 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/16/wild-mushroom-picking
Well, the mushroom season is upon us again.
I can recommend the course at Mike Robertson’s cookery school on identifying edible wild mushroom. I took the course 2 years ago.
http://www.gamecookeryschool.co.uk/
The best place to buy wild mushroom in London is Borough Market
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
You can also get wild mushrooms at Selfridges (Oxford Street), Harrods or Harvey Nichols (both at Knightsbridge)> however, they will be pricey.
Also try you local farmers market. For example the Reading Farmers Market (Great Knolley’s Street – every first and third Saturday of the month) and Henley-on-Thames (Market Place, every Thursday) will sell wild mushrooms from time to time.
Or, have a meal at Salle Pepe (http://www.pepesale.co.uk/) in Reading – the Maitre’D, Marco goes foraging every autumn and he then sells it cooked in the restaurant – it is fantastic as he seems to be able to find British Porcini mushrooms. Ring to check first – 0118 959 7700.
E
Sept 2010