China in your hand
Make no bones about it, if I could eat one cuisine every day and never get bored I would probably pick Chinese food. Take away nights at Chez Bites invariably involve something and egg fried rice, dim sum lunches are a dream and a night out to a Chinese restaurant for crispy duck is a rare treat. I love the stuff, so an invite to sample the "authentic" taste of China quickly piqued my interest.
Stepping into .CN (the website makes for hard reading due to the layout) from a very wet and wintery City Road we found a simply decorated restaurant - white walls, red accent lighting and some large and brightly coloured prints. The atmosphere was already bustling as the restaurant was full to bursting with Chinese students enjoying the steaming hot pots and a taste of home. We were shown to our table and quickly perused the huge menu.
We started simply with soups, Hot and Sour (£2) for me and Seafood Tofu (£2.30) for my partner.
It's hard to describe Hot and Sour soup without stating the obvious so I won't try to avoid it. It was packed with a chilli kick, which was certainly welcome after the temperature drop outside, and the sharp tang was a lovely balance. The little bowl was also packed with char sui, shrimp, mushrooms and a little floating egg. My only complaint would be that if you put cooked shrimp into a hot broth it will continue to cook and the result was a little rubbery.
A similar complaint afflicted the Seafood Tofu soup. Whilst the stock had a pleasant flavour, my partner complained that it overpowered the delicate fish and tofu, both of which continued to cook in the broth.
We quickly moved onto mains. Whilst there were some recognisable dishes on the menu (Kung Po Chicken, Crispy Spare Ribs), the majority consisted of ingredients you wouldn't normally find on your average take-away menu - chicken gizzard, pig intestines and beef tripe all feature. As fans of nose-to-tail eating we knew there was only one thing for it. It's often been commented that my blog has a tongue-in-cheek style but tonight we decided to leave the cheek at home and settled for two plates of tongue - Salt and Pepper Duck Tongue (£8) and Hot and Spicy Beef Tongue (£7.50) to be precise. To accompany this we ordered a Stuffed Steamed Bun (£1.20), Guotie (Pan-fried dumplings at £5.50 for 10) and two portions of Egg Fried Rice (£2 per person).
The Guotie arrived first and I have to admit it wasn't what I was expecting at all! As someone more used to Japanese gyoza and individual Dim Sum dumplings the sight of this half dumpling/half pancake dish reduced me to childish giggles - where the heck were we supposed to start? We attacked it with chop sticks and dipped the individual dumplings into the accompanying vinegar dip - delicious.
Packed with meat, the pancake was very tasty and if it wasn't for the fact that we'd ordered so much more I'd have happily demolished the lot.
Next up was the first of the tongues - duck. Our host for the evening presented them and explained that there was a small piece of gristle inside the tongue so to be careful when eating.
If you can get over what you're eating (and I for one can) these were light, juicy and melted in the mouth. The batter was light and they were perfectly seasoned with salt, pepper and dried chillis. The gristle might put some people off but I urge more adventurous eaters to try them.
Time for tongue number two and this was probably the hit of the night.
This time the meat was thinly sliced and with the rich taste of liver and a slight chewy texture. The chilli sauce was warming rather than burning but those who liked it hotter could happily munch the dried chillis in the dish and get the kick they were after. Against the fluffy egg fried rice this was pretty heavenly.
Finishing up we tucked into the steamed bun. I've never been that impressed by steamed dim sum as I find the texture too slimy. This was nothing of the sort - using a dough to encase the pork and ginger filling. It was light, fluffy and the ginger acted as a palate cleanser for the rich offal we'd just eaten. We'd mistakenly ordered too much in our efforts to try everything but the staff quickly boxed this up as a take-away for us.
If you like your Chinese food to come with a luminous sweet and sour sauce and chips then .CN probably isn't for you. However fans of offal or those willing to push the boundaries in search of a more authentic meal won't be disappointed. Next time I'll be joining the students and ordering a hot pot (and maybe some more dumplings!).
Stepping into .CN (the website makes for hard reading due to the layout) from a very wet and wintery City Road we found a simply decorated restaurant - white walls, red accent lighting and some large and brightly coloured prints. The atmosphere was already bustling as the restaurant was full to bursting with Chinese students enjoying the steaming hot pots and a taste of home. We were shown to our table and quickly perused the huge menu.
We started simply with soups, Hot and Sour (£2) for me and Seafood Tofu (£2.30) for my partner.
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| Hot & Sour Soup [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
A similar complaint afflicted the Seafood Tofu soup. Whilst the stock had a pleasant flavour, my partner complained that it overpowered the delicate fish and tofu, both of which continued to cook in the broth.
We quickly moved onto mains. Whilst there were some recognisable dishes on the menu (Kung Po Chicken, Crispy Spare Ribs), the majority consisted of ingredients you wouldn't normally find on your average take-away menu - chicken gizzard, pig intestines and beef tripe all feature. As fans of nose-to-tail eating we knew there was only one thing for it. It's often been commented that my blog has a tongue-in-cheek style but tonight we decided to leave the cheek at home and settled for two plates of tongue - Salt and Pepper Duck Tongue (£8) and Hot and Spicy Beef Tongue (£7.50) to be precise. To accompany this we ordered a Stuffed Steamed Bun (£1.20), Guotie (Pan-fried dumplings at £5.50 for 10) and two portions of Egg Fried Rice (£2 per person).
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| Is it a pancake? Is it a dumpling? [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
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| A liberated guotie [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
Packed with meat, the pancake was very tasty and if it wasn't for the fact that we'd ordered so much more I'd have happily demolished the lot.
Next up was the first of the tongues - duck. Our host for the evening presented them and explained that there was a small piece of gristle inside the tongue so to be careful when eating.
 |
| A quacking dish: Salt & Pepper Duck Tongues [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
Time for tongue number two and this was probably the hit of the night.
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| Hot and Spicy Beef Tongue [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
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| Not actual size [Photo: Cardiff Bites] |
If you like your Chinese food to come with a luminous sweet and sour sauce and chips then .CN probably isn't for you. However fans of offal or those willing to push the boundaries in search of a more authentic meal won't be disappointed. Next time I'll be joining the students and ordering a hot pot (and maybe some more dumplings!).
Comments
When I was there, students were coming down from Newport, Trefforest and Swansea to eat there.