BACK LIST
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dumplings, spring rolls or shui mai are the most common - but there are really only two restaurants where you can get dim sum in the true sense of the word; The Loon Fung and The Bamboo Garden.
The Bamboo Garden has a special menu — not a written one. Request dim sum menu (around £1 .50 per portion) and wait. Intrigue sets in. Little bowls arrive with appetising aromatic morsels — from dainty vegetable spring rolls to shui mai to ribs in a very garlicky black bean sauce and Phoenix claws in black beans. Next is Fun Kor which is the most delicious seafood and meat wrapped in a kind of pastry, then Sin Jok Roll. fish with ginger and scallions and served in an eggy batter. Then an army of bamboo baskets are set before you. steaming with dumplings — dumplings with lotus bean paste (sweet) or stuffed with the ubiquitous red pork or chicken. Wafer paper prawns make a dainty finish. but after nine ofthese mini courses you know you‘ve eaten!
A good time to sample this fare. in true Chinese style. is to visit Bamboo Garden on a Sunday afternoon between noon and three o‘clock. Chinese restaurateurs and families flock to the restaurant. Before opening their own business for the day. lunching on dim sum is the social event ofthe week for the Chinese. Owner Henry Tse is proud ofthe ‘Hong Kong‘ atmosphere he has created.
Dim sum is a specialist form of cuisine and is therefore seldom eaten at home. But dim sum. DIY-style. is really quite easy and relatively inexpensive. Pat Chung Ying in Leith Walk. a large. efficiently run Chinese supermarket. has all you need. Their ‘delicatessen‘ stocks cod
fish fingers. rice cakes and dumplings wrapped in lotus leaf. fish and meat balls. char sui buns. lotus paste buns;,_chicken buns. packets of salted jellyfish and dried squid. fresh vermicelli noodles. herbal tortoise jelly and pickled radish. A festive range ofsauces in bottles offers tempting ideas for lashing your dim sum — soy. boishin. chilli, garlic and sate. Amongst these exotic jars and tins. huge tins ofSpam. large jars of sal cream and tomato ketchup incongruously punctuate the shelves. The Chinese have a hardy palate for the most Western of Western tastes. but fortunately these foreign bodies are outshone by the fresh Chinese vegetables. stem ginger. Chinese parsley. hot peppery cabbage. bundles oflemon grass (this year‘s buzz herb). shallots. spinach and sacks full of fresh bcansprouts.
At the Loon Fung supermarket the freezers are full of little bags ofdim sum — 2—3 king prawn dumplings. beefdumplings or pork shui mai — for around 55p per bag. They also sell fresh chicken buns and other savouries. For those of you who enjoy the Loon Fung‘s celebrated Lemon Chicken. the supermarket stocks the sauce. bottled for £1.50. It‘s pretty hot too with spare ribs. Jars ofclear chhee honey (among the best on the market) or the llb bags ofspare ribs for 80p. Don‘t be put off by the weird contents and labelling— most are delicious if prepared in the right way. and staff are always on hand to give sound advice. A word ofwarning though. I picked up what I thought was a bag ofwild rice and at the counter the girls were giggling — it was the special ingredient with which to make rice wine. But that's another story.
REVIEW OF THE WEEK
Chadi’s 158a Bath Street, Glasgow, 041 331 2257. Mon—Sat 9.3oam—11pm. Breakfast 9-11am; Lunch 11am—2.30pm; Dinner 5304 1 pm. Plans to open on Sundays in June. Chadi's is not a typical Glasgow bar. It is spacious without being inhospitable, carefully decorated without clutter and encourages familiarity without contempt.
Set within the lower ground floor of a townhouse on one of the city's busiest streets it appears to be insulated from the frenetic activity outside.
The long, narrow space is divided into a sequence of spaces from informal lounge area as you enter— magnificent urn reminiscent of the Warwick vase is juxtaposed with a table in one corner while a formal bar shields the secluded restaurant beyond. The materials used — pale warm timber, glass display cases and subtle brocades — hint at unassertive prosperity rather than flash with cash and create a pleasant spot for a swift spritzer or an entire evening out.
The restaurant boasts a fine menu for lunch, which can be eaten either in the lounge or in the restaurant itself, with a set menu augmented by daily specials. At dinner the a la carte menu is a deliberate and artful combination of the familiar and the unknown. The wine list offers a good selection both for variety and price. Breakfast is available in the mornings as well as the usual coffee all day.
All in all Chadi's is a very individual place. Let‘s hope that time and popularity errode none of its qualities. (Sally Stewart)
LE CAFE de L’INSTITUT
‘The cafe aims to provide the sort of simple, flavourful French lunch you would hope to find In any French town’ Conrad Wilson
‘LA CUISINE D’ODILE’ at the French Institute. A different menu every day. From Monday to Friday 12am—2pm at a reasonable price.
Snacks from Monday—Thursday 5.00-7.00pm Closed J uIy Re-opening beginning ofA ugust
13 Randolph Crescent EDINBURGH EH3 7TT Tel: 031 225 5366
BOOKING ADVISABLE
HENRI FUNCK.
SCOTS
WOULDN‘T
GIVE A Fwer
FOR ANY
OTHER LAOER.
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WINES FROM PARIS
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AMSTERDAM IN GLASGOW 116 — 122 BYRES ROAD GLASGOW 041 — 334 2666
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The List 16— 29June 198‘) 71