Opium
If ever a cuisine were in need of a makeover it must surely be the one which passes for "Chinese" in this country.
Although I have never been to Sichuan, which is where most of what we think of as Chinese food comes from, I have been to other parts of China and although the food can appear somewhat alien to British sensibilities (fried grasshoppers, pickled snakes etc), it is at least interesting. The same cannot be said for the bland, sweet and dull array of MSG-rich dishes which you can get on almost every high-street. Sweet and Sour Pork, Crispy Duck with Plum Sauce, Chicken in Black Bean Sauce - every Chinese restaurant seems to be exactly the same. The Chinese of course were pioneers in the UK restaurant trade and were no doubt obliged to tone down their food to cater to the uneducated British palate of the 1950's. But while we have grown more adventurous, little has changed in their kitchens.
I had high hopes of Opium, runner up in the Nottingham Restaurant Awards for Best Non-European Restaurant. It's a decidedly stylish venue in what looks to have been an old bank or office building in the Lace Market though very little like an "Old Shanghai Opium Parlour" as their website would have you believe.
Unfortunately style was not matched with substance and the food was the same old uninspiring gloop familiar from every other Chinese restaurant in Nottingham. To be fair, the mixed platters were a bit more zesty than usual and there were some unusual sounding possibilities on the menu (cloud ears - monk style). But the main dishes were the tired old staples - soggy bits of meat and fish in gooey, cloying sauces. Pricy too, with the fish of the day (sea-bass) weighing in at £17.
We had to send back a bottle of wine which had gone spectacularly bad - it was gracelessly removed by the waiter who did not offer to replace the 3 half-glasses that he had polluted with it. All in all, a major disappointment.
Although I have never been to Sichuan, which is where most of what we think of as Chinese food comes from, I have been to other parts of China and although the food can appear somewhat alien to British sensibilities (fried grasshoppers, pickled snakes etc), it is at least interesting. The same cannot be said for the bland, sweet and dull array of MSG-rich dishes which you can get on almost every high-street. Sweet and Sour Pork, Crispy Duck with Plum Sauce, Chicken in Black Bean Sauce - every Chinese restaurant seems to be exactly the same. The Chinese of course were pioneers in the UK restaurant trade and were no doubt obliged to tone down their food to cater to the uneducated British palate of the 1950's. But while we have grown more adventurous, little has changed in their kitchens.
I had high hopes of Opium, runner up in the Nottingham Restaurant Awards for Best Non-European Restaurant. It's a decidedly stylish venue in what looks to have been an old bank or office building in the Lace Market though very little like an "Old Shanghai Opium Parlour" as their website would have you believe.
Unfortunately style was not matched with substance and the food was the same old uninspiring gloop familiar from every other Chinese restaurant in Nottingham. To be fair, the mixed platters were a bit more zesty than usual and there were some unusual sounding possibilities on the menu (cloud ears - monk style). But the main dishes were the tired old staples - soggy bits of meat and fish in gooey, cloying sauces. Pricy too, with the fish of the day (sea-bass) weighing in at £17.
We had to send back a bottle of wine which had gone spectacularly bad - it was gracelessly removed by the waiter who did not offer to replace the 3 half-glasses that he had polluted with it. All in all, a major disappointment.