“Yellow River…it’s the place I love”
To celebrate a friend’s birthday, I went to The Oracle’s Yellow River Cafe, a pan-Asian restaurant, for a Saturday night meal (before hitting the town’s bars for drinks). The five of us (myself, birthday boy Matt, Steve, Mike and his partner Natalie) arrived at 7.30pm to find the restaurant buzzing. The place had real energy.
The Yellow River Cafe had also been revamped. Whereas before the design was quite sharp, now the interior had a softer and lighter look. It reminded me of the room in Carlsberg TV commercial “The Chinese Takeaway”.
The menu looked exciting. I have to stress at this point that I love oriental food. The dishes I had in Malaysia and Thailand on holiday in 2002 were really extraordinary: spectacularly hot and with awesome flavours. Sadly, however, the Far Eastern food you generally find in the UK is pathetic (especially in takeaways and all-you-can-eat buffets).
The Yellow River Cafe is an exception. Glancing at the menu I saw that the restaurant offered the famous Nasi Goreng, a simple but effective Malay/Indonesian dish, Hokkien Mee, Mee Goreng and Laksa. Also available were the usual favourites - Tom Yum, Thai Fish Cakes and Thai Green Chicken Curry.
I decided to go for a fish dish. The Vietnamese Chilli Fish (”crispy fried, topped with basic and ‘three flavoured’ chill sauce”) was an attractive option, but I had tried this already on a previous Yellow River outing (it was very nice). So I chose Poached Monkfish, served with fresh mango and chilli salsa (GB£ 8.95).
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the waiter serving us was my friend Phu. The last time I saw him, he was working at La Tasca.
Phu told me that the Poached Monkfish was no longer available. I asked him to make a recommendation and, after a slight hesitation, he suggested I try the Lamk Shank Massaman Curry (”southern Thailand style with potatoes and peanuts”, priced at GB£ 9.50). I also ordered a Steamed Fragrant Jasmine Rice. (GB£ 2.25).
To drink we had Thai beer Singha, pronounced “Singh” said Matt, who holidayed in Thailand this summer. It was a hoppy beer, strong at 6%. Matt said that it tasted sweeter in Thailand.
My dish looked interesting. The lamb sat in a creamy sauce. Peanuts lay on the bottom of the bowl.
It was a difficult dish to eat with chopsticks. I managed with two forks! The lamb was very tasty, but the sauce was quite mild. I was hoping for something spicier.
Unfortunately, while I was eating, Mike was still waiting for his Lemongrass Chicken Fillet (”lightly crumbed, served with a sweet and tangy lemon sauce”, GB£ 6.95). After a frustrating wait, he stopped the manager, who promptly returned to the table with the dish.
Each of us was satisfied with the meal. Service was, on the whole, quick and efficient, and I am looking forward to my next visit. There are few Oriental restaurants that I like locally, but this is one of them.
Click here - and see the menu for yourself!