Tony Blair seems to like it here

Phoenix Palace is a large and  well known Chinese restaurant situated in the environs of Baker street. If you're going by car and you happen to find a parking space then your fortune cookie really will have  paid off otherwise the place is a stone's throw from the tube station. One thing sure to catch your eye as you make your way in is the slightly naff but at the same time fascinating collage of celebrity photos but a word of warning: if Tony Blair is not your cup of jasmine tea then look away as he seems to feature very frequently as do many other names and faces in this stir fry of  mayors and politicians and to keep things interesting, a splash of Jackie Chan.

The place itself is a hive of activity. I have been here many times and it seems impervious to  the  credit crunch. On a previous visit it was so packed that we found ourselves seated in the overflow  area towards the front of house. I much prefer to sit in the main restaurant ,which is much more pleasant.

This is no  place to  expect the personal touch from the army of waiters as you would in your local Chinese nor the Hakassan's of London with their  overly smooth servicing. The waiters are far too busy for that here and it can be sometimes hard to grab their attention. But go for the food, with a little people watching thrown in and you will leave contented. It's popular with oriental and western families, young and old couples and those of the suit and tie persuasion this is a place that suits everyone.

The menu is intriguing. Chinese cuisine as I undertand it can be classifed into 4 distinct  styles. The warming stews from the colder North, the hot & spicy Szechwan (West), the delicate and fish loving Shanghai cuisine of the East and the more well known  Cantonese from the South. Phoenix Palace seems to have a bit of everything on the menu.

You can find a soup that costs you a fiver or sadly the shark's fins soup at just under 20 pounds a pop. Some of the dishes are eye watering expensive, many  coming in at over £30. But don't let that put you off. Firstly, the portions are generous. Secondly the quality of the cooking here is excellent. And if a dish does cost £30, then there is a good reason why; either the ingredients are rare or the dish needs expert preparation.

There are many many dishes more reasonably priced and every bit as good. I have often had take out from here promptly delivered to my door  and always leaving me well satisfied and reasonably priced.

The vegetarian section is strong. Vegetarian dumplings and vegetarian  spring rolls in the starter sections are  excellent. The rainbow soup is a winter warmer as is the asparagus and sweetcorn soup.


The selection tofu on offer is great. I have many times asked for a dish to be prepared that is not on the menu.  Black pepper beancurd, spicy beancurd, beancurd blackbean sauce ..the list goes on.....are all amazingly good.








Rice is typically good though I never get the same feeling of wowness eating egg fried  rice as I do say eating Indian or Persian rice dishes. Well worth ordering a portion of vegetarian Singapore noodles here. For those who want to sample a bit of everything then there is a generous vegetarian set menu. Drinks are definitely on the pricey side. Personally speaking the food is so good I'd rather go with chinese tea and have extra dishes for the price of a few drinks.

All in all Phoenix Palace is a busy place and bordering on the noisy but it's good. Very good. It's about the only thing Tony and I would agree on I think.

Phoenix Palace
5-9 Glentworth Street
London NW1 5PG
tel: 0207 486 3515

Vibe *** Food ****  Service *** Price £££

Pizza in Hackney's Broadway market

I have been a regular visitor to Hackney since the 1990's. But never for the food. There were always rumblings that some of the best Turkish or Vietnamese food was to be had in Hackney and though I had dined couple of times down Church Street in Stoke Newington years ago, before the invasion of media-migrants, the vibe around the rest of the borough had never enticed me enough to try out the local restaurants. Hackney was not a night out destination...back then it was very much strictly locals.
What a difference now. The ever expanding overspill of young working trendies keeps seeping deeper and deeper into the peripheral boroughs of the city and it comes as little surprise that now people will frequent such areas as Dalston or Mare Street for the plethora of restaurants.

And so it was that I found myself in the Broadway Market end having pizza, Italian style..who would have thought it all those years ago. The winos are still here though...the only thing that has changed are the trendy locals....some of whom make such an effort to dress down, that I sometimes could not differentiate the winos from the trendies. Still I was able to work out that the tramp intent on hugging  horrified young ladies sitting on the outside tables was not in fact a bearded creative from one of the latest start up firm in Hoxton trying his luck.

So Bellavita was the destination of choice for an supposedly authentic Italian experience. Despite the cliched 'Italian' paraphernalia adorning the walls, there's nothing too authentically Italian about the decor in this place......pizzerias in Italy don't do decor...in my experience, they have always tended to be basic places that just serve flipping good pizza....but who cares, in any case this is London 2012...in fact it's Hackney 2012, so think more Greenwhich village or Little Italy than Napoli.

Young trendy locals filtered in and out and I certainly had to speak a little louder so maybe that equates  a good vibe.

The one thing that did strike an Italian pizzerian note was the huge choice on the menu. I have often sat in pizzerias in Italy working my way through the vast lists of pizzas to choose from...literally easily over fifty ...and all it takes is someone to distract you and you have to start again as you forget where you were and so too it was at Bellavita. The choice here is good, ranging from numerous classic and  pasta and gnocchi dishes to pizza.

Pizza came promptly which is always pleasing on a busy Saturday night in a busy place. The pizzas were generouly sized so thumbs up there. So far so good. But the proof is in the eating and that first bite was disappointingly under seasoned. My main gripe did not end there. No good having such an amazing long list to choose from if the final result is not matched by use of the topnotch quality ingredients. The olives and artichoke were straight out of the tin, nothing wrong with that some might say but the brine was so strong that the olives tasted nothing like they could and  so it was no surprise that the  toppings were lacking in flavour.

Our sparkling water was not cold and though we were given ice I could not understand why it was not from the fridge...and as for desserts I'd give them a swerve. The menu looked very similar to a dessert menu that you'd find in a local Chinese restaurant.

Coffee was good. Side note... when is a single a double and a double a quadruple? When an espresso is served in London. A single here would class as a double in Italy. A double espresso would count as coffee for 4 in Italia.

Service I must say was proper good. Saturday night was buzzingly busy yet the young friendly staff were on point from beginning to end. Impressively good.

We were in 6 and the bill came in at the £75 mark so factor in about £15 per head for a dish and a drink. So all in all, as a newbie to the new Hackney, it was a good place to sample a little  piece of Broadway market's atmosphere....but I would only visit Bella Vita  again for a pizza  if I was in that neck of the woods and those Vietnamese restaurants were full.

BELLA VITA
53-55 Broadway Market
London E8 4PH

TEL: 0207 249 4772

Vibe ****
Food ***
Price ££
Service *****