Back in January, I first visited the divey-but-certain-dishes-are-delicious Gourmet San, and so I was thrilled to learn that Gourmet San has a sister restaurant near Spitalfields Market called My Old Place (now that I work near Spitalfields, I’d like to find a nearby Chinese restaurant that’s good for lunch). So two weeks ago, four friends and I gave My Old Place a try.
On the plus side, the restaurant’s decor is slightly nicer than that of Gourmet San, and the portions are enormous and cheap (i.e., most dishes on the menu cost £7-8, and the one or two “pricey” dishes – like crab – cost only £12).
On the down side, the dishes ranged from mediocre to very good, and the service is chaotic (e.g., even after our main dishes arrived, we waited almost twenty minutes for our server to bring us white rice – her explanation was that the kitchen had run out of white rice, which I’m sure was true – but query WHY a Chinese restaurant ran out of white rice at the beginning of a Friday lunch rush?).
Just like at Gourmet San, the cumin-dusted Xinjiang lamb skewers were loved by everyone at our table. Juicy and fatty “in a good way,” as one friend said. They’re definitely the star of the show at My Old Place.
The ginger-scallion crab was great value for £12 except that we had to crack the shell ourselves with no tools except our hands and chopsticks. Even though the crab meat was sweet and firm, it took a lot of very messy effort to get at it, and the slippery over-corn-starched sauce was an especially challenging obstacle standing between me and the crab meat. I’d be willing to pay a few more pounds if someone at the restaurant would do some pre-cracking for us. Or at least: give us better napkins and more of them.
I liked the fried tofu dish despite the generic brown sauce, but I confess I have a soft spot for the texture of fried tofu. I can see why one friend thought the fried tofu had the texture of “old socks,” but personally I love that slightly juicy, spongy interior. All the better to soak up delicious sauces with.
Twice-fried pork belly was too salty and dry, and I’d also hoped that the pork fat would be soft and silky, but instead it was chewy. I wouldn’t order it again even though a few members of our group enjoyed it and I generally love pork belly.
We rounded out our meal with a fifth dish: some dry-fried French beans, which were fine.
Ordering five dishes for five people was way too much, and we rolled out of there stuffed beyond belief. It was a sh*t load of food for just £10 each, including service.
Would I recommend making a special trip to eat at My Old Place? Not unless all you want to eat are the Xinjiang lamb skewers. Rather, it’s a cheap-and-cheerful lunch spot if you’re already in the area, and if you order carefully, My Old Place can offer a very good meal for very little money. (Like Gourmet San, My Old Place has its flashes of brilliance). But you can also order very poorly (the kung pao chicken at another table looked horrendously bad), so caveat emptor and prepare for some trial and error.
My Old Place, 88 Middlesex Street, E1 7EZ; 0207 247 2200; closest tube station: Liverpool Street
A friend and I were just talking about this place the other day! Definitely going to go for the lamb skewers – quite frightened of the other dishes now…
A good spot – it’s nice to see more Mainland Chinese style places opening up. And thanks for identifying the not so good dishes so we don’t have to ! I think I’m going to add ‘My Old Place’ to my ever growing list as its a little bit different !
Funny – when I first read the title of this post I thought that you were reviewing a meal you had cooked at a previous apartment! Sounds good though and great name.
So better to go to Gourmet San then? I had My Old Place on my list for a while, but I don’t want to make the journey just for Xinjiang skewers (I’ve had my fill of those in Beijing’s Xinjiang restaurant area!)
Su-Lin and Mr. Noodle – I’ll look forward to hearing what you think of the place. I’d suggest eating with at least a party of four as the dishes are large and your odds of hitting a good dish go up when you can order more. Lol.
Gourmet chick – Good point on the name . 🙂
World Foodie Guide – The food at both Gourmet San and My Old Place are similar in terms of choice and varying quality. The service at My Old Place was laughably bad so perhaps I’d give an edge to Gourmet San in that sense. As for the lb skewers, I know what you mean about having had bettr in se foreign locale but I’d imagine the next time you’re craving lb skewers, you can’t necessarily hop over to Beijing (or if you can, then I’d like a plane ticket, too!).
Have you tried Red Bar on Bethnal Green Road – It’s my favourite of the lot and they’ve just started doing skewers.
http://www.red-bar.co.uk/
Funthyme
Funthyme – I just took a look at Red Bar’s website, and it appears to be a KTV bar that happens to serve food. I must admit I’m skeptical – what do you like about the place?
I’ve only ever used it as a restaurant. Occasionally you see some groups of people disappearing out the back for karaoke but I’ve never got involved.
I used to be a Gourmet San regular and have never been back since my first Red Bar experience earlier this year.
I’d describe it as a cleaner and more refined version of Gourmet San but without skimping on authenticity and of course, the numbing heat.
Funnely enough I just had a delivery from them as a friend of mine was just today made redundant and needed to be cheered up..
We had dry fried green beans with chilli and minced pork, Yu-Shiang Shredded Pork (Sautéed with Spicy Garlic Sauce), king prawns with chilli (they came in their shells and were so crispy you could eat them head to tail – divine) and some vermicelli.
They also do great lamb skewers, some interesting offaly starters and hot pots.
As you can see I’m obsessed with the place and recommend you give it a try. Oh and if you do try the sizzling sea bass.
here’s the menu
http://www.red-bar.co.uk/menu_specification.html
FT
Funthyme – you make a compelling case! I’ll check it out. : ) And thanks for the tip.
Hm… as far as I’m aware, Gourmet San and Lao Di Fong (My Old Place) are both run by the Pakistani/Chinese couple
I remember when Lao Di Fong just took over the lease from “Thai Thai” restaurant, the chefs hadn’t quite got the hang of cooking Dongbei cuisine instead of Thai, lol
I’m still leery of some of the dishes, but the chinese peeps i’m with just devour the stuff
Andy, Gourmet San and My Old Place do, indeed, share owners. I agree with you that the quality of dishes on the menu varies enormously. Part of the problem is that the menu is (too) huge.
[…] too salty and over-marinated, so I’ll stick with the cumin-dusted, smoky ones served at My Old Place and Gourmet […]
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