Soho's inconsistently full to the brim of almost anything. It's particularly hard to venture away from the beaten track without being either hugely underwhelmed or massively overcharged. Naturally, everybody has their own safe-haven and thanks to many a business lunch, the Thai Cottage is mine.
Broadway market is a curious stretch of shops and restaurants at the south end of Hackney. In very, very olden days this area marked last feeding ground of livestock as they were led through to Brick Lane and Smithfield. Drovers would stop in at the Cat and Mutton or the Flying Horse for a pint of best and rack of lamb.
Since then however, the street has been overrun by the surrounding urban estates and only recently resuscitated into the farmers-style market of today. Its a good place to go on a Saturday morning and be spoiled on overpriced organic fayre.
A sunny afternoon shows Broadway Market at its best as the gastro pubs spill out onto the streets and the local population hasn't started gathering outside the off license. Tonight we visited the Dove, a popular network of small candlelit annexes, famously serving a hundred or so varieties of Belgian Beer. The list is indeed long and not to be sniffed at (especially with £3 upwards price tag for 25cl). I'm a fan of golden ale so stuck on a delicious Delerium Tremens (9% - haha). 3 of those later and a delicious burger (Wild Boar please) and we were skipping home like happy Trappists.
The Dove
24 Broadway Market
E8 4QJ
+44 (20) 7275 7617
We've rarely the occasion to be near Gants Hill on the weekends, but being in the area for an east London hockey match was a great opportunity to visit a favorite place. Having just returned from a week in Hong Kong, Chinese food is barely top of the genre wish-list, however there's little excuse not to come to one of the finest dim-sum restaurants in London on the way through.
The Mandarin Palace is right on the corner of Gants Hill roundabout on the busy A12. Nothing special from the outside - but don't let that deceive you. Inside is a run of small rooms, stylish and calmly dressed with traditional Chinese items and artifacts. It has a comforting elegance without the typical brute-force oriental onslaught (think Canary Wharf's Royal China) or standard Chinatown wall-size paddy field frieze.
However, not here today to browse the exhibits. We and the mostly Asian contingent have come for dim-sum, and here is exactly the place I'm referring to after visiting Yauatcha. They've pretty much every dish going; har-gau, siu-mai, cha-siu-bao... all splendidly fresh and priced at around £2/dish. My taste for dim-sum is purely implicit, delicious is as close as we'll get.
Well worth the trip.
Mandarin Palace:
559-561 Cranbrook Rd,
Gants Hill, Ilford
Essex.
IG2 6JZ
Tel: 020 8550 7661
Lan Kwai Fong is a Hong Kong's few blocks of party paradise. Scaling the steep terrain of the island the path upwards is not a light walk after a couple cocktails in the humidity but of course there are a chain of escalators present to help out. By night Dragon-I is one of the city's most exclusive spots, filled with it's most glamorous celebrities I'm told (not that I'd recognize any).
On the weekend the club operates as a trendy dim-sum restaurant. Now I know its trendy, cheesy, western dim-sum but honestly, it was almost as good as Yuatcha. For anybody who's had enough of the real stuff to appreciate it's simplicity, Dragon-I offers a cheeky escape. All you can eat too!
Dragon-I
The Centrium 60 Wyndham Street
Hong Kong,
Telephone: + 852 3110 1222
www.dragon-i.com.hk
There aren't many places I'd rather be in the evening for a couple hours than by the water on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong harbour. Across the water, 3 misty miles of bright, colourful sky-scrapers smothered in advertising logos seem to radiate the success of mankind's prime. Its a breathtaking view for a city-lover like me. Coupled with a jaunt across the harbour on the legendary star ferry (second class, downstairs of course) and into the lanes street market around Shanghai Tang's pedder building and the harmony between ultra-modern and traditional is impressive and humbling.
Prince Edward is a more locals shopping zone. There's barely a sign in English, market stall owners screaming in Chinese (I assume slogans like "buy one get one free") and Chinese women fully inspecting every seam on a $50 (£3.50) jacket. As a result this is a far more authentic experience than the night market or TST can offer.