Xoco grill - closed for good - Memsaab now open...

[Louisa]

Seabag Wrote:

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> Louisa Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > The death of plates in restaurants as a result

> of

> > street food rubbish is one reason I don't like

> > eatin out much anymore. Garlic bread served on

> a

> > old wheel trim isn't my

> > Idea of appetising.

> >

> > Louisa.

>

> I think you're attributing street food with the

> wrong thing here my dear.

>

> The #WeWantPlates thing isn't about the lack of

> plates in street food, but the silliness that

> third rate Gastro pub giants have deemed

> nessasarry, to add 'novelty' into eating. By

> infantilising the eating experience, they've been

> able to hide a whole lot of crap ingredients and

> food.

>

> Whereas the street food revolution has been based

> on a stripping away of the ideals of 'fine dining'

> and basing the experience on quality ingredients,

> where they're from and how it's cooked. No frills,

> hub caps or cricket bats nessasarry.

>

> However, as with all good things, bandwagons are

> jumped on. Even pizza Express has a street food

> outlet now.

But isn't that part of the problem? Big chains will always start serving the food in new ways to hide the fact that the food tastes like shite. This is why I don't do big chains that sit comfortably in the middle of the market, serve up dross and charge for it too. I get the whole street food thing, but when it decides to leave that part of the market and go into a restaurant environment the costs start to stack up and this is why I don't agree with them. The sit down experience has been murdered by street food expanding into the sit down market. Ingredients great yes, but in house experience awful.

Louisa.

[Seabag]

OK, I kinda get you BUT the costs are bound to change, no?

Can you illustrate one of the 'those who murder the experience' offenders in the street to restaurant transition

It's done well for some, giving them a chance to grow.

But (Beard to Tail being one of the worst offenders) some have been awful.

Oh and, didn't Xoco try some kinda faux street food fusion model?

[ed_pete]

Lounge bound...

[JoeLeg]

So what you mean, Louisa, is that a concept exists, and some examples are good, some are bad, and some are somewhere in between. Sort of like everything else in the restaurant world?

And like a lot of things in the restaurant world, it's highly subjective. One persons authentic Nasi Goreng is another persons underwhelming pile of rice.

[NewWave]

Dishoom is a fabulous Indian resturant wish we could have a branch of that near us.

In fact even the Masala Zone chain is much better than a greasy bad curry house.

Anyone know WHY the original place closed and was raided btw???

[DovertheRoad]

Seabag. Xoco was not your classic white table cloth formulaic Bangaldeshi place. It was worse. If I say "slate" and "fine nozzled squirty sauce" that's all you need to know. But I know what you mean...casual dining style and clean tasting fresh food. Not too much to ask for really is it?

[Seabag]

DovertheRoad Wrote:

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> Seabag. Xoco was not your classic white table

> cloth formulaic Bangaldeshi place. It was worse.

> If I say "slate" and "fine nozzled squirty sauce"

> that's all you need to know. But I know what you

> mean...casual dining style and clean tasting fresh

> food. Not too much to ask for really is it?

Lucky we didn't do a dinner date there then

Ha ha!

[Seabag]

NewWave Wrote:

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> Dishoom is a fabulous Indian resturant wish we

> could have a branch of that near us.

> In fact even the Masala Zone chain is much better

> than a greasy bad curry house.

> Anyone know WHY the original place closed and was

> raided btw???

Ok, I know Dishoom has a near cult following and I've had lunch there once or twice, but it's not THAT great, or am I missing someting.

I know it also does some things that only once went on behind closed doors, like Bacon Naan butties (that is them right?)

But, did I miss something, other than the queue?

[JoeLeg]

Those bacon naan's are freaking great. My bosses have a habit of scheduling long morning 'work meetings' at Dishoom; I've been known to go through more than one bacon naan...No idea why they're so good, pretty simple idea (bacon sandwich basically), but the naan bread works really well with it.

Can't imagine they'd come to ED, but I'd be a regular. The black lentil daal is pretty mental too.

[KidKruger]

Presumably Dishroom isn't Bangladeshi-run then !

[DulwichFox]

The fundamental principal of Street Food is that it is cheap on the go Nosh.

The pretentious offerings on North Cross Rd. bears no resemblance to the food offered in other parts of the World.

Vietnam.. Malaysia..

This kind of thing..

http://blog.hihostels.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Chiang-Mai-streetfood-585x390.jpg

Foxy

[KidKruger]

No, not in my experience - at least not in foreign (South Asian / Far Eastern) countries as per your example photo.

From what I've seen, street food is most common in hot countries - which is why it's outside.

Usually the vendor has same plot/location, day in day out, so they become a fixture of the neighbourhood.

They live or die by the quality of their offering.

If there are too many of the same offering, that will dilute their sales.

They build a reputation based on how good their food is, not how cheap it is.

So I think the fundamental PRINCIPLE of street food is quality, consistency and desirability as a dish (in some cases that may mean filling a traditional slot in the local market, in others something slightly original).

[Sue]

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> The fundamental principal of Street Food is that

> it is cheap on the go Nosh.

>

> The pretentious offerings on North Cross Rd.

> bears no resemblance to the food offered in other

> parts of the World.

> Vietnam.. Malaysia..

>

What "pretentious offerings"?

The food I've had in North Cross Road has been delicious, and really good value for money.

What do you find "pretentious" about it?

[Abe_froeman]

The street food on offer in North Cross Road is in my mind the hog roast, the greek style grill, the cheese toastie stall, the hot dog stall etc. All fairly standard European street food.

[ed_pete]

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> The fundamental principal of Street Food is that

> it is cheap on the go Nosh.

>

> The pretentious offerings on North Cross Rd.

> bears no resemblance to the food offered in other

> parts of the World.

> Vietnam.. Malaysia..

>

> This kind of thing..

> http://blog.hihostels.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/

> 01/Chiang-Mai-streetfood-585x390.jpg

>

> Foxy

Surely no country has a monopoly on the definition of "street food". Besides the UK is very different to Vietnam and Malaysia so it's no wonder that it's more expensive.

[JoeLeg]

As Foxy says, it's the hot climates of Asia and to a lesser extent Central and South America that gave rise to 'street food' as many envisage it. People want something quick and refreshing, they don't want to sit in a restaurant, they want to eat and go. In its original form it's a reflection of culture as much as needs. The idea of it has been 're-booted' in the west, and it's debatable how good it's been.

I'd say the only defining characteristic is that it has to be good. In Asia they just don't tolerate bad food; if it isn't excellent it won't sell, as there's so much competition, and people know what it should tast like. That's partly why so many vendors specialise in just one or two things.

[ed_pete]

I don't know this for sure as I'm not well travelled but do Asia street food sellers have to comply with the Health and Safety and have Food Hygiene training ?

[JoeLeg]

ed_pete Wrote:

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> I don't know this for sure as I'm not well

> travelled but do Asia street food sellers have to

> comply with the Health and Safety and have Food

> Hygiene training ?

Not in years past, but more recently local authorities have been making them all move inside to malls or general community areas, for the purposes of inspection and prevention of disease. Before that they used to spread all over Hanoi, Penang, Bangkok or wherever they were.

I would imagine they're subject to about as much inspection as anyone is out there, which may be as much as they pay to avoid, frankly. The fact is that they tend to sell food so quickly that it doesn't have time to spoil. In fact - as much as I can be sure of this - I've never to my knowledge had food poisoning in Asia from street food, only restaurants; my wife told me not to have that crab, and she was right!

[KidKruger]

Same here, food poisoning from restaurants / sit-down-inside places, but never street stalls !

[Sue]

Abe_froeman Wrote:

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> The street food on offer in North Cross Road is in

> my mind the hog roast, the greek style grill, the

> cheese toastie stall, the hot dog stall etc. All

> fairly standard European street food.

I was thinking of the Viet Van and the stall that does really yummy wraps (amongst other things).

[JohnL]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> Same here, food poisoning from restaurants /

> sit-down-inside places, but never street stalls !

A work colleague had some dodgy Oysters he called street food the other day.

Can Oysters be street food ?

[Jeremy]

Sue Wrote:

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> I was thinking of the Viet Van and the stall that

> does really yummy wraps (amongst other things).

Yeah the viet van is pretty decent. Is the churros guy still around? They were good. Nothing pretentious about them at all. Not an enormous fan of the hog roast (he seems to mush up the meat instead of slicing it) but he seems popular, so must be doing something right.

[Siduhe]

There's Oyster Boy at Colombia Road market and elsewhere, so yes!

http://www.thesuntavern.co.uk/interview-oyster-boy/

[Earl Aelfheah]

The Burritos on NXroad are very good.

[Sue]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Not an enormous fan

> of the hog roast (he seems to mush up the meat

> instead of slicing it) but he seems popular, so

> must be doing something right.

Nor am I.

I've only had it once. I didn't like the rolls or whatever they are that they put the pork in.

But it's hardly "pretentious", in fact I'd say it was downmarket (ho ho) if anything.