Chula Bar

Tonight I had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Hammersmith called Chula Bar.

First things first is it's bipolar bar or restaurant identity, but inside it has all the hallmarks of a proper restaurant so no idea why they decided to call it Chula Bar.
I wont dwell or go into the food too much as this is about something more important for mine.

I had vegetable samosa, pronounced sah-moo-sah apparently not sar-mar-sar as we with our harsh a's like to do. For main I had balti king prawns with rice and garlic naan.
The prawns were overcooked and had the rubbery consistency of badly done calamari but the balti sauce was quite good. The naan bread was near cold, which meant it had probably been cooked several hours before. That in itself isn't too bad as naan done properly is going to take a while to cook, but if you must pre-cook things at least make sure they're hot going out.

The big epiphany though was the entree. Yes that's right Americans entree, the dish the rest of the world accepts as the first. The word itself even means entrance or beginning, perhaps that's why the US is so overweight, they've already had a massive appetizer then another huge course and they've only just begun!

My entree was as I said vegetable samosas, again very ho hum, not much morethan a glorified curry puff rather than a proper samosa. However as I sat there eating them there was a good dose of heat. That's when it hit me; the real purpose of a starter is to start the meal. I had Indian because I was hankering for a good decent spicy curry, and this samosa was hitting my palate with chilli gettting it ready for what should've been the main attraction to come.

So always in the quest for a decent feed you can always learn something new, even out of a mediocre meal something good can come. Previously I always thought of an entree as another opportunity to show off culinary skill and perhaps should be somewhat tied to the rest of the meal, now I see it should be part of a greater symphony.

Wagamama Earls Court

For those not familiar with it Wagamama is a japanese style ramen bar. Think noodles, communal tables, Asahi beer and you'd be on the right track.
Last time I was in London I remember eating at Wagamama several times and loving their Chicken Katsu Curry. Shortly after I moved back to Australia I saw Wagamama had spawned there as well, so in order to recapture some of the memories I figured I'd head to the one in St.Kilda.
Sadly though it wasn't quite like I remembered it.

Seeing as I was back in London I decided Wagamama would be the site of tonight's dining experience, to see if it really was better or was I just romanticizing the memory.

After consulting the website, the nearest one to me was in Earl's Court which is just a short tube journey. You exit the underground onto Earls Court Road turn left and keep walking for about 5 minutes. On the way I passed something called Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Will definitely be checking that out.

First impression was just as I remember. Now I've never been to the Earl's Court one but that's what's good about the chain restaurants, the same thing people like to slag. You can go to any of them and be pretty confident of what you'll get.
So if they're all a chain and all much of a muchness why is the St.Kilda Wagamama not like the London ones? I believe there's a very good reason and bear with me on this one it could get a little tangential and philosophical.

What I've noticed since being back in London, after the proliferation of the EU, is the number of eastern europeans working in anything traditionally seen as a "menial" job. This confirms a long held belief of mine in order for a country to be successful and grow they need access to cheap labour.
The socialist do gooders would have us believe it's exploitation and everyone should be bank managers or brain surgeons, trouble is someone has to do the menial jobs. So if you're new to a country and looking to learn the language, waiting tables seems like a good place to meet a load of people and practice.
Also judging by the friendly smiling staff they didn't seem to think they were being opressed either. Or if they were they were doing a very good job at faking enjoyment, something a lot of overpaid plate carrying students in Oz would do well to learn.

This leads nicely to another long held belief, that is contrary to what a lot of the neuvo rockstar chefs would have you believe, and that's food is pretty simple and you have to be doing something seriosuly wrong it to fuck it up.
I once had cold leftover pizza, made me sick as a dog the whole flight from Sydney to LA. Thing is though I still remember it tasting very good.

So if food is hard to get wrong even when it makes you violently ill what's the difference between a good meal and a bad one? Well for mine a good meal is more than just the food. It's the whole service and a lot of time the state of mind as well. This I think fundamentally the problem with trying to transplant a successful business somewhere else, it doesn't always work.

Oh yeah and I did have the chicken katsu and yes it was as good as I remember, plus I had some exquisite duck gyoza as well. It was everything I remember Wagamama was, so not sure what the one in St.Kilda is doing wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's not the food.