Food Review: Porters, London

Porters is supposedly one of the London institutions; situated smack in the middle of the West End, only a few paces from Coven Garden and Leicester Square, it promises "traditional English food at it's finest". Well, it only partly delivers.

One of the reasons I think you are better off with many pubs in the area is the selection of Real Ales. Although there are some interesting bottled ales, if you want draught you have the choice between Fuller's London Pride (which I actually like, although not my favourite) and... Fuller's London Pride! The menu looks reasonably appealing with a good choice of pies and some classics such as Lamb Shank, Fish & Chips, Steak & Kidney Pudding and traditional puddings (=desserts if you're from abroad) such as Spotted Dick (playfully dubbed as "not what you might think" on the menu) and Eton Mess.

When my Steak, Guinness and Mushroom Pie arrived I was impressed with the towering puff pastry covering the somewhat small bowl containing the dark brown stew. Appearances can of course be misleading and the pastry was big but not really all that special (the pastry covering my Steak & Ale pie I enjoyed at the pub right next to the Tilford Cricket Green the other day - the name escapes me right now - was much more delicate and "fluffy"). The stew was alright but not plentiful and with an overpowering almost mouldy undertone of old rosemary. My friend ordered the lamb shank which was massive and the meat pleasantly tender and nicely flavoured, but unfortunately the gravy was not unlike the thick Chocolate Custard that covered the Chocolate Pudding that my friend ordered to fill him up proper - in other words very rich and strangely sweet. The chips were average (even my local Chip Shop - The Big Fry in North Camp, Farnborough - can do better than that) and the veggies were plain and boring.

When we got there (8pm) the place was full and noisy (I would guess mostly pre-theatre guests if I had to wager a bet), then got rather empty and quiet only to get busy and noisy again around 9.30pm with what seemed to be predominantly Southern European tourist who made the best of the "kids eat for free" offer - I think there were more kids than adults in the group! Four of them actually shared a table between themselves and I was strangely haunted by images of "Lord of the Flies"... All kids only drank tap water, so you get the picture why I am saying that they made the most of the offer...

3/10 - You can do better than that in the West End, just pick almost any random restaurant in Chinatown...

Film Review: X-Men - First Class

After the somewhat disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this film is really showing the origin of the X-Men: after an introduction, that is practically identical to the first scenes of the first X-Men movie, we learn about how the friendship between the young men Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) begun. This film pretty much does what it says on the box: it "reboots" the X-Men franchise by introducing younger actors, new characters and therefore provides the opportunity for another few X-Men sequels. Most of the special effects are of the usual high quality, the story is engaging but not without some lengths, and the cast assembles a lot of talent from different generations: The youngest include the wonderful Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), the lovely Zoë Kravitz (Californication - and yes, she is Lenny Kravitz's and Lisa Bonet's daughter - and I predict she is someone who we will see rather frequently on the big screen), "veteran" actor Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, A Single Man) and the All-American butch Lucas Till. The 30-40 generation is represented by the leading men, Scotsman James McAvoy (Atonement, Wanted, The Last King of Scotland) and Londoner of German/Irish descent, Michael Fassbender (Band of Brothers, 300, Inglorious Basterds) as well as the voluptuous January Jones (Mad Men, Love Actually, The Boat that Rocked) and the great Rose Byrne (Damages, Knowing, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine). The 40+ generation finally is led by the brilliant Kevin Bacon and a great support cast including Oliver Platt, Rade Serbedzija, Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) and Michael Ironside. Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass) directed a typical American popcorn movie and, despite the partly British cast, unfortunately failed to re-create the brilliant mix of American production value and pop culture with a quirky English sense of humour that made Kick-Ass such an enjoyable film.

6/10 - Good summer popcorn movie, watch this if you enjoyed X-Men 1-3 or Heroes

Food Review: Shanghai Blues, London

Shanghai Blues comes highly recommended as a top-notch place for authentic Dim-Sum and fine Chinese dining in London. It's just a short walk from Holborn tube station and when it comes to the food certainly delivers the goods! I went on Sunday lunchtime for a Dim-Sum lunch and wasn't disappointed. If you are a constant reader of this blog (and judging by the feedback there are only three of those, the famous Trinity of Me, Myself and I) you can imagine that the next question has to be how Shanghai Blues compares to my benchmark Dim-Sum restaurant, Hakkasan.

The long and short of it that Hakkasan's position on the throne was never threatened! While the food at Shanghai Blues is very good, Hakkasan's is yet a little better. The biggest differences are found elsewhere though: Hakkasan is about perfection which they pretty much achieve. Hakkasan's ambience is classy, like a great film set; Shanghai Blues is a strange combination of different styles and while not unpleasant somehow "off". I normally start my lunch at Hakkasan's with a fine cocktail (great Martini variations); at Shanghai Blues, the cocktail menu was rather unappealing. One offers perfect service, the other just good service (one good example is that Hakkasan serves your Dim Sum in manageable rounds while Shanghai Blues just plunked all seven dishes on my table as they came out of the kitchen). Soy sauce was only served after I asked. No spoon. Paper napkins. I rest my case.

Back to the food: in addition to some of the classics (Cheung Fun, Ha Gau, Char Siu Bao) there are some less common dishes to be found, such as Salmon Dumplings with Gold flakes (the latter look good on the dumplings but are of course completely pointless offering no taste or nutritional value), Shanghai Shui Jiao in Exotic Chilli Sauce (nice spicy dish served with green leave veggies), Chicken Dumplings in Superior Spicy Soup (very good, very spicy and not recommended if you don't like hot chillies or garlic) and Tai Chi Dumplings, Ying/Yang patterned large steamed dumplings with a pleasant duck-based stuffing. There is a decent selection of teas, which is served in rather small tea pots and tiny tea cups, but constantly refilled with fresh hot water.

Usually I would tell you to go to Hakkasan and forget about this place. Here's why I would still recommend Shanghai Blues for two reasons:

1) If you're on a budget, use the special offer on Saturday lunch times and all day Sundays: 50% off the food bill!
2) If you are getting a bit bored with Hakkasan's fairly static Dim Sum menu, this makes a good change once in a while - and you will appreciate Hakkasan's aim for perfection even more!

6.5/10 - Before you risk a random Dim Sum experience in Chinatown, come here on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday and get very good food for about the same money.