The heartbeat quickens!

Tony Leung Chiu Wai (all together now: *SIGH*) is to reunite with director John Woo on the $70m production The Battle of the Red Cliff. It’s John Woo’s first Chinese language film since action cracker Hard Boiled (1996), which starred Tony (still lovely despite a flat top) and Chow Yun Fatt.

Eros’ Arrows go Awry

Three vignettes from three renowned directors: Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni. The premise, the arcing force of desire charted by directors who had already made powerful comments on the same (Wong in Happy Together and In The Mood for Love, Steven Soderbergh in Out of Sight and Antonioni in Blow Up) was faultlessly conceived. But as some things in life, the sum is very much less than the parts and the execution fails to deliver.

Ping Pong: ‘Would you like to try the extra sauce menu for another £1?’

Err… no. The basic chilli oil, chilli sauce and soy sauce will do just fine, thank you.

Yes the condiments offered were more exotic permutations of the above. But would they enhance what should by rights be steamed parcels of tasty perfection? Unlikely. And the extra £1 cost? Outrageous!

Dumplings of the Chinese variety have seemingly taken the West End by storm. Just a hop, skip and jump away from Yautcha, beside the Tudor exterior of the wonderful Liberty, is Ping Pong, another trendy establishment offering an all day dim sum dining experience.

Guerilla Cuisine

We came. He cooked. We ate.

Yesterday, in a small West London flat kitted out with all the necessary accoutrements (portable deep fryer, family-sized rice pot, halogen stove top, a mini blowtorch), a HackerKitchen took place.

Hare & Tortoise, Bloomsbury

Continuing my current theme of scrumptious better value alternatives to the foodie hell of Wagamama, I recently re-visited Hare & Tortoise, in the newly developed Brunswick centre. An old favourite haunt, after being introduced to it a couple of years ago by friends who used to live around the corner.

H&T’s close proximity to UCL ensures that it has a steady stream of customers in the form of students, international and local, eager for cheap, tasty meals. And its Bloomsbury location also makes it a magnet for the budget tourist.

Yautcha: “We don’t doggy bag here…”

Which led me to my next (silent) question:

What kind of damn Chinese restaurant are you, then?!

The young, sylph-like waitress with heavily kohl-rimmed eyes, shifted on her feet, bored, as I gave her the merest of sniffs.

“Fine,” was my eloquently returned riposte, “We’ll finish the food here in that case!”