Chinese take aways

krappyrubsnif

Can anyone please recommend a decent Chinese take away nearby on Deliveroo or JustEat etc?

Just consumed a takeaway from Asia Star on Crouch Hill. Came quickly. Very average: two stars.

AtomGallery

Panda, next door to the gallery on green lanes, a little pricey but good, just had one delivered to N4.

LukeG

Xi'An is easily the best.

krappyrubsnif

Thanks LukeG - new to me. I just read up on Xi'An. Personally I think it looks great and an interesting adventure, but sadly I think something described by the restaurant reviewer as 'lipstick red and writhing with biang biang noodles' is guaranteed to make my partner throw up before we even open the Deliveroo app. Some people are just conservative eaters. What I really need is something recognisable, like barbecue spare ribs, chicken in oyster sauce and prawn crackers, but done well. Sigh.

I think I'll stick with May Mei Wok, haha. I'll try Xi'An when I get a night on my own in front of the telly.....

Scruffy

Before all this covid malarkey, I had eaten a couple of times at Round Square in Seven Sisters Road. They were very good, but I’ve never ordered takeaway from them.

https://www.roundsquareuk.com/

AtomGallery

Round square was easily the worst Chinese my parter and I have ever eaten in..a few years ago now it has to be said.

HolbornFox

@krappyrubsnif definitely don't take your better half to Chilli Cool in Kings Cross then.

Personal favourites in there include Spicy Ox Tendon, Homemade Pigs Intestine (no idea) and Chilli Pork Anus.

I read a fantastic blog post a few years ago about someone who ate the pigs anus and described the full on spicy yet bacony ass flavour as they were chowing down on it.

I quite like it in there, particularly as that street is where Black Books was filmed, but SWMBO won't have it.

krappyrubsnif

Thank you HF. My own SWMBO can't tolerate fried rice or spicy noodles let alone tapioca pudding or tripe so I think Chilli Pork Anus is going to be well beyond the pale.....might try it myself though.

Arkady

There are always exceptions to this. But my usual rules are:
1) don't order from takeaway-only places (key exception - Salims on Turnpike Lane)
2) don't order from places that do multiple cuisines (e.g. Asia Star 'Chinese and Thai cuisine'). Specialism usually = care and quality.

Having said that I do rate Paya (nearest one is Highgate) who break both rules. Sometimes I want chicken satay before my beefy black beans.

HolbornFox

I totally agree with that sentiment however Wok Box on Holloway Road does very good Thai, Singapore and Malaysian food, all cooked in an open kitchen, ran by a very nice lady as well, she's from Hong Kong from memory.

LukeG

Hehe

@krappyrubsnif they do indeed have some more niche bits, but the ginger chicken (cold) and sweet n sour pork are more mainstream.

The other stuff is indeed a bit more niche

krappyrubsnif

Apparently pigs' arseholes are a big export from eg Linconshire to China.

HolbornFox

You should probably start deleting that Web history a bit pronto.

therattle

I suppose there's only so much room for them in Parliament.

ericksoe

@AtomGallery Disappointed to hear Round Square is that awful. We were thinking of ordering from there when they reopen in May. Having looked into Panda, it might fit the bill as we were looking for a place that has dim sum options in addition to the usual fare so thank you!

Scruffy

Could be worse: Chilli pork anus = Sour phallic ink

(All right, I'll stop!)

AtomGallery

@ericksoe I hope their dim sum is good, never tried it, Round square was so bad we left one dish virtually untouched, I thought when the waiter asks if everything ok I will say, politely, actually no, that was nasty......he didn't say a word, just collected the plates.

slats

Zing Zing is pricey but good quality..

cmo

Pigs anus related news, this podcast has a whole story on it being labeled 'Artificial Calamari' and exported all over the world. Very funny...

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/484/doppelgangers

krappyrubsnif

Totally unlistenable rubbish. I heard the first ten minutes of total self referential crap and switched it off, thinking 'this is why proper professionals get trained and paid to make radio programmes and podcasts, instead of wanky free stuff on the Internet that I just wasted ten minutes of my life not enjoying.' Just saying.

Arkady

It totally forgot about Xi'an Impression in Highbury - that's by far my favourite locally. Get the beef flat noodle dish!

cmo

@krappyrubsnif I think they've won a pulitzer and two peabodys, but each to their own I suppose...

krappyrubsnif

What on earth for, self promotion? Ah well.

krappyrubsnif

@cmo I believe I owe you an apology. I persisted and after I got through the opening ten minutes to the ... er .... meat of the story I found it was thoroughly entertaining, interesting, definitely awards material and had me laughing my pants off. So I withdraw complaint. Food, eh? Ripe for funny business. Years ago I was told cheap monkfish was being passed off as scampi (but who eats scampi now?) and I once wrote a story for the Grauniad about fake Chinese honey (gloriously headlined by some inspired sub 'Honey Laundering')......

I still stand by my grumpy comment about ten minutes of twaddle. The trouble with (some) podcasts is I suspect that the makers don't have to hold to a precise time frame like old fashioned broadcasts (30 minute or 45 minutes) offering a golden opportunity for pointless waffle - stupid chit chat, drivelly guff, humourless back-slapping and in-jokes at the start of this episode did absolutely nothing for me. I had to wait for the thing to start. Podcasts need more discipline thanks.

cmo

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Arkady

I listen to quite a few podcasts, and I think part of the appeal of at least some of them is that they are partly personality-led and you get to feel like you know the presenters. The twaddle bit at the start is part of the 'you're here with us' thing, unlike In Our Time. That's true even of the ones that are always, say 30 minute long.

Mandolinman

I think the premise of the question is wrong, since we should be supporting businesses that do NOT need Deliveroo/ Just Eat etc. Not only do those companies rip off the restaurant on commissions (upwards of 30%) but more sinisterly, their business model involves harvesting the data about what people order and then producing it from their own "dark" kitchens in industrial estates. So by getting takeaways from those portals, you are actually undermining the diverse and interesting local restaurants that we have on our doorstep. Xian (opposite the Arsenal stadium on Hornsey Road) is very good and interesting serious Chinese food. For a more mundane/ standard issue Chinese take aways, there is nothing wrong with Garden House on Stroud Green Road.

fwiw

Well said. In any case, a short walk to collect from a nearby takeaway can be quicker than waiting for delivery, since many places will serve you immediately rather than queue up the order.

krappyrubsnif

Coincidentally I heard about 'dark' kitchens for the first time only yesterday in another (real time) conversation. I'd be interested to know more. Do you think any of our typical representative SGR restaurants would do this kind of thing, and for eat in or take away food? Or is it a Deliveroo racket? And in any case, being devil's advocate, what's really so bad about it if (big if I suppose) the food matches the food cooked locally - apart from it being made a few miles away and having to he reheated? I've always imagined many restaurants, even big name ones, might do this kind of thing to cut corners and keep down costs. The food business is a massive racket. I recall one famous chef getting in the papers after some eagle eyed neighbour saw a truck delivering frozen chips to his Michelin Five Star West End eaterie, so what's new?

But by the way, if it's not actually raining, I'd always walk round the corner to get a takeaway. I've only ever used Deliveroo once.

therattle

Hi krappy. As I understand it a lot of dark kitchens are in shipping containers or similar on industrial sites, and the working conditions are pretty horrible. Isolated, freezing in winter, boiling in summer, badly ventilated and insulated, etc.

HolbornFox

Yes I've seen one in Luton, it was literally a shack that was falling apart on a grim industrial estate.

It was also run by one head honcho with the other people working cash, so long hours with no rights whatsoever, you would be mental to order anything coming via there.

I thought it was the method of cutting out the middle man / restaurants.

As per restaurant tricks, Brick Lane and Green Lanes have had communal kitchens for years on the strips.