Bang Bang!
Aug. 9th, 2017 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motodraconisOf more interest to local chums...
Oriental City is back, or at least, a mini version of it. When I first moved into this area Oriental City had been shut down by the council who flogged the land off to developers and threw out all the trades bods. The developers went bust, and the old building sat empty and rotting for 5 years before being eventually demolished and replaced by flats and a Morrisons. (The Morrisons right next to an enormous Asda, and usually deserted. Why? Why build 2 supermarkets next to each other?) I was pretty pissed off to lose Oriental City, even though it had been shut down before I moved into the area. My local area is ranked one of the worst retail destinations in the UK, though when Oriental City was still around people would travel for miles to visit and it was popular and famous. Mind you, I think they're being overly harsh on my stomping ground. I grew up in South London, in a posh but decidedly bleak London dormitory suburb. Burnt Oak may be grotty, and granted, it does seem to have a ridiculous (and slightly depressing) number of pawn brokers, but if you like food, it's a mecca! Four fishmongers, proper butchers (halal and non-halal) loads of grocers, delicious cakes. I stuck up for Burnt Oak on my local area facebook page, and got a fair few people sneering at my enthusiasm. I have to say, there was more than a touch of racism in the sneering, since what is good about Burnt Oak is the fabulous food shops run by immigrants, both European and Non-European. Seriously, if you're wailing that it's a shit-hole because there's no McDonalds go down the fucking road, there's a drive thru, but if you like proper, real food, Burnt Oak is fantastic.
I digress, Bang Bang opened about a month ago, and last week I was finally able to take a peep inside. It was at an odd hour, so the place was fairly quiet.
It's sort of like the food halls I went to in Singapore. You can turn up with a bunch of chums, find yourself a table, buy a beer at the bar (or a bubble tea or fresh juice at the stalls) then everyone can fan out and choose something they fancy. There's Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai, take your pick! They give you an electronic blipper, so you can go back to your table and the blipper will let you know when your food is ready to collect.
On my first visit, I was by myself, so I got a laksa to take home (as the food hall is dangerously close to my house.) But I went back with Vargr last Friday.
I had Japanese Eel.
Vargr couldn't choose, and ended up buying Chinese street food from Uncle Chilli (it said chillies!) Chicken on the left, and a whole quail on the right.
Which was not exactly a balanced meal! So we went back and got extra stuffed buns. Two pork and 2 veggie mushroom.
I'm being quite strict on my food choices, as I intend to eat my way through every single stall in sequence, if anyone wants to help me in my quest, let me know! My house is very close and can serve as a good place to meet (or park.)
Guardian review of Bang Bang here. I hope the place stays popular and I'm happy for it to be packed out in the hope it does well and draws in more goodness. There are still a few spaces for more vendors.
YAY!
ALSO - Just found this fab picture post of the decaying old Oriental City infested with zombies.
Oriental City is back, or at least, a mini version of it. When I first moved into this area Oriental City had been shut down by the council who flogged the land off to developers and threw out all the trades bods. The developers went bust, and the old building sat empty and rotting for 5 years before being eventually demolished and replaced by flats and a Morrisons. (The Morrisons right next to an enormous Asda, and usually deserted. Why? Why build 2 supermarkets next to each other?) I was pretty pissed off to lose Oriental City, even though it had been shut down before I moved into the area. My local area is ranked one of the worst retail destinations in the UK, though when Oriental City was still around people would travel for miles to visit and it was popular and famous. Mind you, I think they're being overly harsh on my stomping ground. I grew up in South London, in a posh but decidedly bleak London dormitory suburb. Burnt Oak may be grotty, and granted, it does seem to have a ridiculous (and slightly depressing) number of pawn brokers, but if you like food, it's a mecca! Four fishmongers, proper butchers (halal and non-halal) loads of grocers, delicious cakes. I stuck up for Burnt Oak on my local area facebook page, and got a fair few people sneering at my enthusiasm. I have to say, there was more than a touch of racism in the sneering, since what is good about Burnt Oak is the fabulous food shops run by immigrants, both European and Non-European. Seriously, if you're wailing that it's a shit-hole because there's no McDonalds go down the fucking road, there's a drive thru, but if you like proper, real food, Burnt Oak is fantastic.
I digress, Bang Bang opened about a month ago, and last week I was finally able to take a peep inside. It was at an odd hour, so the place was fairly quiet.
It's sort of like the food halls I went to in Singapore. You can turn up with a bunch of chums, find yourself a table, buy a beer at the bar (or a bubble tea or fresh juice at the stalls) then everyone can fan out and choose something they fancy. There's Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai, take your pick! They give you an electronic blipper, so you can go back to your table and the blipper will let you know when your food is ready to collect.
On my first visit, I was by myself, so I got a laksa to take home (as the food hall is dangerously close to my house.) But I went back with Vargr last Friday.
I had Japanese Eel.
Vargr couldn't choose, and ended up buying Chinese street food from Uncle Chilli (it said chillies!) Chicken on the left, and a whole quail on the right.
Which was not exactly a balanced meal! So we went back and got extra stuffed buns. Two pork and 2 veggie mushroom.
I'm being quite strict on my food choices, as I intend to eat my way through every single stall in sequence, if anyone wants to help me in my quest, let me know! My house is very close and can serve as a good place to meet (or park.)
Guardian review of Bang Bang here. I hope the place stays popular and I'm happy for it to be packed out in the hope it does well and draws in more goodness. There are still a few spaces for more vendors.
YAY!
ALSO - Just found this fab picture post of the decaying old Oriental City infested with zombies.
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Date: 2017-08-09 11:42 am (UTC)We don't get things like that in my neck of the woods :(
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Date: 2017-08-09 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2017-08-09 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-10 09:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-10 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-12 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-10 11:56 am (UTC)But the food hall, yes! Mentioned it to Rob last night, we definately plan to pop there at some point this weekend. Can do either day or time if you fancy returning!
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Date: 2017-08-10 04:08 pm (UTC)AAARGH!
Alas, I'm in Bumcrack this weekend, so you'll have to recce the food hall without me. But I'm sure you'll be back!
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Date: 2017-08-10 02:20 pm (UTC)anywhere that does good laksa I am interested , although looking on the map not very local for me :(
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Date: 2017-08-10 04:10 pm (UTC)