Thursday, November 26, 2009

Our Big Fatty Greek Wedding at Parthenonas

Instead of just the usual mid-weekly clock last week saw our second outing down London Road as we were entertaining guests and were too hungover to do anything other than share our challenge with our visitors. Welcome Gilly & Rhea to infamous London Road Clock. As perfect hosts we let the interlopers decide where to dine so instead of stopping off somewhere on the ‘noodle corridor’ we bypassed the oriental mecca that is situated on London Road after Zeugmas and found ourselves seated inside the leafy Greek eating place Parthenonas. The atmosphere inside was that of a family owned restaurant, the décor typical apart from a wall of greenery covering the window onto London Road, blotting out reality and transporting you away to a Mediterranean veranda. For starters our guests ordered the meze for two, while Steve and I shared Parthenonas Feta and Spanakopita and I was filled with a murderous rage, barely able to control my anger when I was asked to hand over half eaten delightful feta baked in tomatoes sauce. All of us were left thoroughly satisfied and sated by the first course and were somewhat dreading the following. It arrived and was duly tackled, probably not enjoyed as much as it could have been had we not stuffed our faces/bellies with our starters. The Stifado I had chosen was lovely, though there was slightly too much cinnamon it was positively festive. The leftovers were hastily boxed up for us as we were ushered to the bar, for there was a wedding party awaiting our departure. As we paid we were offered and compelled to imbibe the lethal, traditional Greek tipple Ouzo, apparently it fights swine flu.

Zeugmas Mark II

The second Zeugmas on the clock is literally five minutes walk away from the first. The restaurants were similarly decked out, both no frills with an allusion to Mediterranean style, in the air hung the fragrant perfume of char grilled meat and spices. Again we were presented with bread and olives, again they were greedily consumed as we ordered our meal. Making a distinct point of choosing different meals from our previous venture I chose a chicken dish with a sauce that I can’t remember the name of. It was interesting and very enjoyable but I ended up swapping meals with my co-clocker as his dish was superb. Another chicken dish but this time with a yoghurty rice accompaniment which rocked my tiny little world. The collection of flavours worked perfectly together and despite ordering a starter, which I’d eaten all up, I was able to finish my meal and was indeed left wanting moor.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Thai Punna

The second Thai restaurant so far and we ordered the set menu, now experience should have taught us moderation, instead we ordered the generous three course meal for two at £19 a head. The starter platter was of a great standard, a varied selection of spring rolls, prawn toast, chicken skewers, along with plenty of dipping sauces, one to note was the sweet and sour plum. Next was my favourite Dtom Kaa Gai, the spicy chicken soup. This was okayand I’ve had better, but it’s not an easy dish to get wrong, even I’ve been known to be able to throw this satisfactorily together, with the necessary tantrums that occur when I enter the kitchen. To me this soup typifies and embodies Thai cuisine, an exciting and soothing broth infused with heat and zest which tantalises every part of the tongue, the Thai Punna soup was enjoyable but slightly too vapid to inspire more effusions of pleasure than that. The three main courses, were greeted with fewer still, both of us now looking upon the meal as a challenge to conquer rather than enjoy. My favourite was a very sweet red curry with duck, I’ve decided Thai curries need no meat they are so full of flavour and the meat absorbs the flavour so little it is not required. The other two dishes were rather disappointing, to me they were too greasy and lacked the usual Thai flair. I’m starting to believe that no restaurant will come close to the first in the clock, Baan Thai, I’ll always be disappointed when comparing the following meals to the first, Thai Punna has double the impediment in this regards as it is another Thai restaurant falling significantly shorter than it’s predecessor.