Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Rossi’s Italian Restaurant

We were out celebrating again, I’d overcome all odds and conquered hazards, Steve was gleeful his horrid module was over as he had handed in his final assignment, so London Road was our oyster. We could choose tonight’s eatery out of the few restaurants left. To be honest, we’ve defied the predetermined order of the clock so many times at this point it seems rather futile to even comment upon this. Anyway, ended up in Rossi’s, not officially on London Road but we’d always intended to dine there as we’d heard nothing but encouraging comments about it. It was a week night so no doorman greeted us, we had to let ourselves in! We left the icy, grey of Sheffield and entered into the temperate and dazzling room, which was more Grecian than Italian. The room had the appearance of a tasteful 1950s, continental brasserie which was unfortunately concealed underneath the ostentatious embellishments, had the room been stripped back the intended Italian homage would have been successful. We ordered our wine, house White, I’ve learnt my lesson, and perused the menu. I couldn’t decide upon a starter, nothing seemed appetising, so Steve chose for me, mountain and sea prawns, with mushrooms cooked in tomato with mozzarella cheese and garlic, in addition Steve chose for himself, ricotta cheese with fresh basil wrapped in parma ham. My starter was nicer, a little like a prawn and mushroom pizza without the base, the parma ham was good also. Our plates were cleared by the Frankenstein waiter, who grunted at us in heavily accented English, I found it impossible to understand any of his questions and looked to my companion to translate and answer. The mains course of Napolitana and Calzone were brought but I’d forgotten the cardinal rule of fish/pizza combo – ie. don’t frigging do it! As much as I love anchovies having them all dry and crusty on top of my pizza did them a disservice I will not be repeating, the calzone seemed to have every possible ingredient stuffed inside, slightly too many flavours and textures going on for my humble palate, though the doughy base was great to munch on. Too much wine had been drunk and I could not tell you how much the meal cost or whether it was good value. We began the necessary layering of outerwear to depart our cheeks already ruddy.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Pho 68

I’ve been craving dumplings; almost every night since dining at Jabu I have requested them for my dinner. Apparently they’re very easy, I think I should try and make them tonight. With this in mind you can tell my second venture into dumpling consumption has done nothing to put me off, in fact it has only encouraged me to seek them out all the more. Tonight we dined at Pho 68 a Vietnamese restaurant, I was content as long as the served dumplings, and of course they did. Bliss. Fried dumplings for starters begrudgingly shared with Steve and his aromatic crispy pork. Both starters were charming, the dumplings differed from those of Jabu, the frying made them darker and more like tiny Cornish pasties, the frying had given them a slightly charred flavour but ultimately did them no harm. Their contents tasted heavenly, exquisitely flavourful with the distinct taste of ginger and soy sauce. The pork was also nice, I usually refrain from eating anything with a noticeable amount of fat in it, the texture just creeps me out, but here the bite in the pork and the crispy crackling works well with the soft layer of fat, and the taste was great too. That was until I heaped on a molasses smelling dip that was on the table that had an unpleasant flavour of chilli infused tea leaves.
The next course was brought without much of a wait and we tucked into Vietnemese green curry, chicken with lemongrass and chilli and noodles. The chicken was delicious with subtle hints at warmth and sharpness, the curry was more powerful, and unfortunately overwhelmed the flavours of the other dish. The chicken itself was soft and slippery, the prawns in the curry had just the right amount of bite, although the flavours were great they both had a bizarre thickness to the sauce, with a glueyness one associates with gravy not curry. The meal was lovely, with plenty to spare for today’s lunch – and reheating did it no harm I can tell you.
Despite all of these gastronomic treats on show Steve still manages to out do our dining out experiences without fail in our hovel of a kitchen. His pork with actual gravy is better, his curries are even more tasty and he leaves out the gloop factor, if he can master dumplings I'll never have to eat out again, after we've concluded the clock of course.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Jabu

Until last night I had been scarcely able to glimpse inside the huge windows of Jabu, a house serving Beijing cuisine, largely due to their being consistently steamed up whenever I'm passing. The reason for this being that it was a fondue style restaurant where you cook the meal at the table, Steve had already eaten here but had found the whole experience fairly baffling as he’d been unsure what to order and what to do when the food had arrived.
The menu essentials were vaguely explained to us and we were able to make a respectable choice, when the waitress returned to take our order she ensured we had ordered the necessary broths and dipping sauces. We’d also ordered some chicken and spinach dumplings, there were far too few of these to share, which came in a portions of twelve, they were delicious little parcels of savoury delight. I could have eaten more of these, they were a revelation. I’d not had them before, perhaps I’d been put off by their appearance, wan and soggy, they’re not exactly appetising but apparently ‘good things come in small packages’ and ‘appearances are deceiving’ these were wonderful.
The second course was delivered, we’d chosen the fragrant thai and satay soup bases along with various meat, seafood, noodles and vegetables to submerge and cook in the broth. We cautiously placed the uncooked food into the simmering stock and eagerly waited, while plunging raw carrot into our accompanying dips, the delicious sweet chilli and brawny garlic. The beef balls, again not so inviting, once cooked were delectable, as were the scallops. The meal was miraculous; the aromatic soups infusing the raw ingredients, provided exquisite food as entertaining the diners, large groups and parties would enjoy this kind of fun interactive dining experience. We also found the place well priced, you could cherry pick which raw food you’d like so potentially you can make the meal as economical or expensive depending on your pocket. It seems my aversion to chinese food is fading, Jabu is now a London Road favourite, I would definitely return here, with a group of people, it is unquestionably an experience I want to share with friends.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Noodle Inn

Noodle in is one of the few places on London Road that I had previously ventured. The first time was one of those impulsive decisions one makes when in good company and spirits. We purchased a couple of bottles of wine and took them in we had a brief wait at the bar, where they served us our own wine, as they prepared our table. It was busy; the huge windows at the front were steamed up and we were treated like kings throughout the meal. I was incredibly satisfied with the food; it was simple but tasty and served in abundance with plenty left over at the end to take home, it was hastily boxed up and returned to us with complementary ice cream. All in all it was an excellent evening we returned home to finish off our wine and cause a substantial scene as we argued over a bloodthirsty game of Carcasonne.
This initial dining experience was great and I’m not going to befoul the place by abusing it here, it’s hard to expect every dining experience in the same place place to be equally good. Again the place was busy, so much so that we were seated at the end of a long table running the length of the restaurant, I wasn’t a massive fan of this as I could hear literally every word of the foursome we were placed next to, it felt rather intrusive and made me feel uncomfortable.
For starter we had ordered ½ a crispy aromatic duck to share and when she brought it to the table and started to shred it I thought that we’d been too greedy and over-ordered, but I suppose the amount was misleading as we managed to nosh down four or five pancakes each without any difficulty. After rather a long wait our mains were delivered, they were comparable to our past experiences, simple but tasty. I’d ordered sizzling satay prawns which arrived angrily on the table spitting and fussing, Steve’s meal was the triple roastie big plate, and it was big. As always we just shared the meals though I preferred my prawns. The sauce covering my meal was distinctly not satay but nonetheless enjoyable, more like thick gravy than anything else, the sauce on both meals and on previous excursions was identical. After the meal had finished, we waited and waited the plates were finally taken away without the offer of taking away the leftovers. No ice cream was brought and neither was our bill. In the end we were sick of waiting and paid at the bar.
This experience at Noodle Inn was inferior to the previous, but can be blamed upon our eating out so late on a Saturday night, the service was otherwise excellent, the food satisfying but it’s also the best value we’ve had on London Road so far.