Sharmila on Food

Local Friends (Hunanese), Golders Green

I had the good fortune to travel to Hunan in China for work earlier this year.  Amidst travelling on bumpy roads in a mini-van, and trying to talk to people in villages who had never seen a non-Chinese person before, I managed to fit in the eating of a lot of incredibly delicious food (http://tinyurl.com/ydn6cvs). I was struck by the intense chilli heat of Hunanese food, but also surprised at how much it differed from my beloved Sichuan.  The heat was a lot more slap-in-the-face hot, with dishes being a lot drier and utilising fresh and pickled chillies rather than dried.  It was a great experience, and one that has been hard to re-create back in London, due to the lack of restaurants offering Hunan cuisine.

A recent browse on Chowhound turned up a potential gem though.  Apparently, the ex-chef of the Hunanese restaurant in Oriental City could now be found in Golders Green, turning out Hunanese specialities.  I had been planning a little eating adventure with my friend that week anyway, and a quick email resulted in us trooping to Golders Green instead of Turnpike Lane for Mauritian food, one rainy Dececember night.

That respective post on Chowhound had mentioned that you have to ask for the Hunanese menu, with the waiters proffering the Cantonese menu as standard.  My heart had sank a bit as I envisaged bracing myself for a bit of pleading and coercion as I tried to show that, yes, we really did want the good stuff and not sweet and sour chicken.  However, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  As soon as we walked in, we asked for the Hunanese menu and were given it immediately.  This set the tone for a great night made even greater by unfailingly friendly and informative service.

We asked for some recommendations, and the lovely waitress pointed us in the direction of the belly pork with chillies.  Alongside, we also ordered the cold chicken dressed in chilli oil, the aubergines with green beans and Turkish cabbage.  This was obviously far too much food for two people.  However, my eyes then spied a dish that I just had to order.  One of the best things I ate in Hunan (and actually, ever), was a dish of dried preserved vegetables with wind dried bacon. It was gorgeous - earthy and smokey, with some awesome textures going on.  When I saw it on the menu at Local Friends, we had to get it, even if this verged on gluttony.  What are doggy bags for anyway?

Out of the dishes we ordered, only the cold dressed chicken was a dud.  Whilst this didn’t taste bad, it didn’t have any chilli intensity, which rendered it a bit bland.  However, everything else was just great.

The stir fried pork with chillies really delivered in the tasty stakes.  Whilst those chillies might look a bit big and harmless, they were definitely spicy.  As I am addicted to chilli, this was most definitely a good thing.

The aubergine and green beans were a revelation.  Whilst it looked a bit plain, it tasted wonderful.  The aubergines were beautifully soft, but still held their shape.  They married perfectly with the crunch of the fine green beans.  I’m not sure what was in the sauce (crack, maybe), but I couldn’t stop eating this.

As with the aubergine, the Turkish cabbage was also brilliant.  I’m not sure what rendered this Turkish, but the combination of perfectly booked cabbage, dried chilli and soy was a simple but brilliant one.  The cabbage had that imprint of wok char that really lifted it.

The dried pork with preserved radish was also wonderful.  It instantly transported me back to that amazing meal in Yueyang.  It’s hard to describe the textures here - you have a slight rubbery crunch of the preserved radish, and then a wonderful smokey sweetness from the bacon.  The waitress asked us at the end what was our favourite pork dish, and we both plumped for this.  She was surprised, as a lot of people don’t like the earthy taste and textures (the fools).  She filled us in on how they have to import the the bacon from Hunan, as the stuff you get from Chinese suppliers in the UK, or from other regions of China, is just not the same.  I have to say, it was brilliant stuff.  Apparently, they have a Cantonese chef, specialist dim sum chef and two Hunanese chefs in the kitchen, all at their own stations, producing specific food.  This seemed a bit bizarre, but I can definitely vouch for the quality of the Hunanese dishes.  We left happy and sated, with a doggy bag each, full of food.

If you’re looking to experience some food from a different part of China, give Local Friends a go.  You’ll be in for a treat.

Details:

Local Friends

28 North End Road (it’s on the parade directly opposite Golders Green tube)

London

NW11 7PT

0208 455 9258

Nearest transport: Golders Green tube (Northern Line)

Average price: we paid £20 each, excl. service, but we ordered enough food for about four or five people.