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.

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.