Tang is neatly hidden just north of Oxford Circus tube and provides hearty, wholesome food with an authentic south Asian twang [Ed:…or should we say ‘tang’?]. Our Tim (a man you could call ‘familiar’ with the foods of South Asia) investigates…
Rating:
Cuisine:
South Asian Soul Food
Appeals To:
Weary shoppers who need a lift after braving the horrors of Oxford Street; people wanting quick, tasty food; anyone with dietary requirements.
In a Word:
Tang-fastic!
Tim Vs. Noodle Soup
You know when you’ve been shopping in Oxford Street and you’ve had enough of elbowing your way past tourists and aggressive shoppers, all so that you can buy something that you could have just as well as bought online? Well, having fought your way heroically through the throngs you deserve to treat yourself to something delicious to restore your expended energy. The only trouble is that having just been shopping, you need something that is ‘wallet-friendly’ too. Now where could you go?
Step forward, Tang. A recent opening on Great Russell Street (just north of Oxford Circus), Tang is nestled, somewhat-hidden, between the YMCA and VQ bar; almost as if it is trying not to be found.
The Feel:
It has a rather unassuming entrance, that I guess is supposed to recreate the feeling of going into a south Asian canteen. Once you walk in, you are greeted by a nice, open, brightly lit space with some incredibly interesting decorations adorning the walls; including authentic looking black-and-white photos of Asian cooking, families and scenes, also with some ropes hung down from the ceiling (that looked a little too much like nooses for my liking!) and some very trendy lightbulbs with jazzy elements.
At the far end of the restaurant is the open kitchen, from which the friendly staff, led by Head Chef Chen Ng, keep an eye on proceedings whilst crafting their culinary wares. There is a large central table, where people are encouraged to sit communally, as well as small two- and four-person high tables around the edge for small groups.
The Food:
Chef Chen’s focus was to create food from her native Singapore, in particular she wanted to develop the “least offensive menu ever”. As a result, there are plenty of vegetarian- and vegan-friendly dishes, additionally a number of the dishes are also gluten-free and the meat is halal; a pretty inclusive menu!
The menu is divided into the following sections: Small-ish dishes, Buns, Bigg-ish dishes and Something Sweet; we worked our way through a selection that gave us a pretty good feel for their offerings.
Small-ish dishes
To start we went for some of their signature dishes, which they were evidently very proud of. They recommended that we try their Fried Chicken which was marinated in black bean soy milk and then battered before being fried until nice and crispy. This was all served with their homemade hot sauce. We were warned that they weren’t messing around when they said that it was hot – fortunately I’m a man who likes his sauces hot so I was up for the challenge!
I wasn’t disappointed, the sauce had a lovely acidity to it, as well as just a hint of smokiness. The heat came through very quickly, but it was balanced out by the other flavours and gave a very pleasant taste, as well as a nice heat. We also tried out their “Black and White” dish which featured crispy homemade black soy bean tofu (we are much more accustomed to being served yellow bean tofu, which has a much grainier texture) and served with their white miso sauce, garnished with spring onions and sesame seeds.
This was another absolute winner of a dish; I would be the first to say that I wasn’t exactly leaping at the opportunity to try tofu, but the texture was very nice and the crispiness of the batter around it really made it a tasty little morsel with a dang-tasty sauce to accompany it. Yum!
Hey sweet buns…
It was time to try out some of the buns. We went for their braised beef bun, which featured cucumber slices and garnished with a coriander and black vinegar reduction. The beef itself was delicious as would be expected, clearly slow cooked in order to give it a “melt-in-the-mouth” texture, it also had a stickiness from the reduction. We were told, again proudly, that the bun was the only gluten-free bun around; I must say that here when I tasted it I thought that it didn’t quite deliver.
Compared to buns at, say, Flesh and Buns, the texture of these buns didn’t really work for me.
Noodle time!
It was time for noodles (when isn’t it time for noodles??), we decided to try and be clever and opted for one hot noodle bowl and one cold. For the hot we went for the Chicken Tang which featured poached chicken, bean sprouts, bok choi, a six minute egg, spring onion, crushed garlic chips, ginger sauce and sesame oil served under a roast chicken broth. This was a really attractive looking plate and was hearty and warming. All of the constituent parts were well cooked and made for a very tasty combination.
I think I won on the ordering front though as I opted for the Cold Noodle Salad served with tiger prawns, glass noodles, Asian pear, cucumber, pickled bok choi, goji berry, fried shallots, six minute egg and sesame seeds and all served with a white miso sauce. Once more, the dish looked excellent and really inviting. I loved the combination of flavours, with the goji berries, in particular, adding interesting dimensions. I also enjoyed the contrast of different textures within the dish.
Overall the dish had a lovely acidic Tang to it, that really made this a pleasant plate – in summer this will be particularly good.
Something Sweet
We finished with a couple of balls of sugarcane shiso sorbet, which was spot on. It was sweet from the sugarcane, but had a nice crisp acidity to it from the shiso leaves. Most sorbets are meant as a palate cleanser and this was ideal following the meal.
What about the booze?
Tang features some excellent beer from the London Beer Factory, including the rather excellent Paxton IPA which had a nice hoppiness to it, whilst not going in too heavy. We also tried their Bohemian Lager which is more in a Czech Pilsner-style so slightly darker and a little heavier. Both were excellent and really matched the food well. They also feature a rather unusual opening mechanism, which I am pleased to report that I got the hang of by the end of the meal!
They do have wine too, either “red” or “white”. I did try a glass of their white, an Italian Pinot Grigio, that I must say that I did not particularly get along with. They mentioned that they are looking to expand and develop their wine list, which I would certainly welcome…
The Verdict:
I thought that this was a thoroughly pleasant meal and very much enjoyed the hearty food, flavours and service. Given its location, I am certain that I will be returning to visit this canteen, particularly to get stuck into some more of those fiery fried chicken bites!!
The Details:
Tang London, 111 Great Russell St, London, WC1B 3NQ
http://www.tanglondon.co.uk
020 7300 3324