450. The Wilderness Christmas Party.

  Who could resist what was promoted as The Wilderness Christmas party? Not me, obviously. My dining companion and I dined at the beginning of service and so a party atmosphere had not really bubbled up by then. But then again, I was there for the food and every gourmand knows that the best dishes come out of the kitchen at the start of service. And the presence of Sonal Clare invariably brings a party atmosphere all by himself. 

  So, six courses, the Wilderness music throbbing in the background, the chefs busying themselves with their meticulous work, steam and smoke, what better way to party in the run up to Nöel? And rather good food it was, much of it, admittedly variants on familiar themes but at the centre a fine beef dish ‘aged sirloin’ (tender as butter to use a cliche and immaculately tasty, accompanied by fine roast potatoes, a remarkable carrot and the ‘trimmings’, or the Alex Claridge version of them, at least. 

  Before the beef, there was a lustily flavoured red prawn ‘tostada’ with a pleasing cap of Oscietra caviar though it may be argued that the punch from the prawn negated any other flavour present in the dish, This was no calm, gently embracing drawing into the meal but a powerful and forceful dragging one into the meal to come and the forcefulness of it was not unwelcome. Next there was the calm after the storm - the familiar Cornish blue fin tuna with a pleasingly pungent slice of olive and a razzamatazz jalapeño sorbet. Then, a hopelessly immaculate edition of The Wilderness’ iconic Big Mac, say no more.

  I derived least pleasure from the rather nice flatbread served with celeriac shawarma. This, I’m sure, was less to do with the work of the chef than my less than tepid admiration for celeriac. Well, you can’t please all the people all the time as any chef would quite reasonably tell you.

  After the sirloin, there was the deceptivel named mince pie - Claridge’s brilliant white chocolate banana with flavours of Christmas (Claridge’s banana antedated Tom Shepherd's version by two or three years). And to wind up the party there was Claridge’s again familiar (in a pleasing way) version of sticky toffee pudding with a soothing ice cream. 

  Not a bad start to Christmas.

Rating:- 🌞🌞.

  Following allegations of unacceptable behaviour being made about one of the presenters of the BBC’s Masterchef programmes, the frequently irritating Gregg Wallace, after his withdrawal from appearing on the programme, it was announced on 18 December 2024 that the restaurant critic of The Guardian, the not-one-to-hold-back Grace Dent, will take over the co-hosting role with John Torode. This will see her first appearance in the next series of Celebrity Masterchef which is often quite ghastly but is certainly ripe with potential with its new hostess. I shall certainly watch to see what happens.

440. Soi 1268

 

  Originally from Thailand, Sai Deethwa, began commercial cooking in 2011 and presented her products as Thai street food, using recipes inherited from her mother, and established Buddha Belly, attending various venues such as Digbeth Dining Club and Herbert’s Yard in Longbridge.

   Deethwa had met her partner James Fitzgibbons in 2004 and following his suggestion she took part in the 2012 BBC Masterchef series in which she successfully reached the final 24 contestants stage. Eventually Deethwa and Fitzgibbons opened Soi 1268 at 1268 Pershore Road in Stirchley and soon afterwards Aktar Islam, Executive Chef and owner of the two Michelin-starred Opheem, identified Soi 1268 as one of his favourite restaurants at which to eat.

    So it was clearly time for another expedition to the aggressively hipster paradise of Stirchley to dine at Soi 1268. I generally enjoy Thai food apart from Thai green curry which is ruined, it seems, because I have a gene, as does 20% of the population, which makes coriander taste like soap but I find Thai food wearisome. There’s not much range in it and when you’ve been to upwards of fifty, or however many, Thai restaurants - usually rustic in presentation and not all that cheap - it’s hard to imagine anything new and exciting is going to light up your gastronomic life. More of the same. So was Soi 1268 just that and did it float my boat?

    In the early evening drizzley darkness of the latter part of autumn, the black painted exterior is not so very inviting (why do restaurants in hipster areas feel they should  look like funeral parlours?) but once inside the interior is more reassuring - warm and cosily ramshackle though, as with so many of these Stirchley restaurants, the seating is fairly close together and not notably comfortable though the crowd of Stirchley denizens who have already taken their places seem oblivious to any problem such as discomfort and are tucking into their dinners, presumably happy with the suburban, middle class rusticity of it all.

My dining companion and I were presented with the shortish, somewhat disheveled, menus and he opted for what turned out to be highly delicious, splendidly textured King prawns toast zinging with ginger, garlic and spring onion and accompanied by a tiny pot of sweet dipping sauce. The toast looked magnificent and indeed it was.

  The menu was one mainly of the now ubiquitous ‘small plates’ and my companion also chose the impressive-looking Thai fried chicken which was nicely moist and encased in fine, crispy coatings. We both chose the small plate of immaculately crispy enoki in a tempura batter, the texture of  crunch serving as a good companion to the earthiness of the mushrooms.

  I had the enoki as a starter and had a larger plate as the main which was beef massaman curry (which I have loved to eat for decades). This was very well done. The black pepper brought adequate heat to the proceedings which was centred on succulent and unctuous meat, slow cooked to the point where it had almost melted away. Apparently Aktar Islam’s wife also loved this dish when served it at this restaurant. She clearly knows a good dish when she tastes one; the accompanying jasmine rice was very edible

  All the dishes were generously portioned but I had room for the only dessert on offer - the delightful mochi ice cream (pounded rice dumplings filled with my chosen flavour of vanilla ice cream) which I had not previously eaten and which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the chewiness of the dumpling and the flavour of the good vanilla ice cream that lurked inside the dumpling waiting to be liberated.

  Soi 1268 is a very pleasing neighbourhood restaurant though, because it is clearly popular, and because of the large numbers of diners in a relatively small space, not an entirely relaxing spot to while away a couple of hours. The rustic Thai food is enjoyable and filling and has a fine degree of authenticity about it though the menu seems to step out of its brief a little to visit dishes from other Asian cuisines. It serves street food in an environment that is more comfortable and much warmer than the sort of places Buddha Belly visited in the past but whether or not it might be nice to see the chef aiming to serve her food in a style with more finesse and in a more upmarket setting I shall leave to the reader. And it did ‘float my boat’ like one those little water vessels which serve as floating markets on the canals near Bangkok.

Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛.