London Restaurants by category
I'd never really entertained the hope of these little pats of goodness arriving in London, much less in a recognisable format or as close to the warmly unctuous soft pocket perfection of the originals. As such I was only mildly interested when I first heard about the Yum Bun stall at Broadway Market on a Saturday. "Hackney copycats" quoth I dismissively, certain that they'd not live up to my memories of the original. Lucky for me they were serving their pork filled pockets at the Actor's Touring Company Gala and I was able to sample one or two (definitely no more than three, and only because I was given a spare..) after a spectacular evening at the Arcola watching The Golden Dragon.
They're almost as good. And that's enough for me. The joy of the originals is somewhat in their surroundings. I mean, if I'm eating them, then I'm in New York, and that makes me very happy in itself. These are lacking somewhat on the fat, the Blythburgh pork is damned tasty, but other than one bun they just lacked a bit of the sweetness that comes with a strip of properly melting fat. Other than that, I can't fault them at all.
And if you need another excuse (or two) to go to Broadway Market...
It's home to another of my favourite snacks, possibly the best banh mi in London, served (with enormous snaking queue) at the otherwise utterly delightful BahnMi'11. Marinaded and freshly cooked pork, beef and chicken (not to mention an amazingly piquant turmeric scented catfish) are prepared over authentic Vietnamese griddles and served in homemade rice flour baguettes with coriander, chilli and veggies. Food. Of. Champions.
If that hasn't done it for you, then stick around till the evening, and get involved with the Argentine grill at Buen Ayre (see here for a recent review). While not as well known as Borough or Spitalfields, for the food alone, I'll be making the trip up to tease the trendies again.
I find it difficult to hide my distain of the chain. Identikit restaurants and hotels generally turn me off. Put it down to a dislike of homogenisation, a desire to support individual, local endeavours or just call me a reactionary, elitist old snob. I've often tried to justify it, talking about a dilution of brand values, lack of management attention or a focus on satisfying the supply chain over the customer but fundamentally I'm like a 14 year old boy witnessing 'his' underground music heroes sell out into the mainstream or an anti-Facebook, I just don't like thousands of other people liking what I like.
That being said, maybe I'm growing up. I'm starting to care less and even on occasion encourage it. If for every disappointing Cay Tre Soho you were to get two places as clever as Hawksmoor Seven Dials and Goodman in the City it wouldn't be so bad. After all Byron started as a chain, and West Coast burger nirvana In-n-Out is a classic example of one that works. Of the examples given two things remain constantly at a high since the first joint, the quality of the food and the ethos of the serving staff. You can have one without the other, but it's rare. If you work somewhere that sells slop, you're not likely to be the happiest of souls and equally if the establishment consistently pumps out great food, it's more likely (though not guaranteed by any stretch) that the management will be looking out for the staff too.
Marina O'Loughlin said in the Metro, "I'll happily eat in the shonkiest East End kebab joint if the food is great and not dictated by the spreadsheet". Well I'll take this further. I'll happily eat in the chainiest of chains, if the food is north of acceptable and the staff act like they give a shit.
So what of it? Are there any truly 'acceptable' chains? Or are they all wonderful, with me and those like me just utter snobs? Are they any better in the UK or in other countries? And do you have a guilty pleasure, that you'd cross towns and countries to eat at? Answers on a postcard to the usual address...
