Meeting up with S, we’re off to Champor Champor, hidden away round
the back of London Bridge station and Guy’s Hospital. It’s actually not that
difficult to find, but it’s not a very attractive area. Once inside you’re overwhelmed by the décor,
but unfortunately we were shown to a threesome table rammed up against a wall
with little view of the room. Annoying, as although busy the place wasn’t
completely full. As well as attractive wall decorations, curtains and plenty of
artefacts, apparently there is a wooden booth on a mezzanine level with a
romantic table for two.
They don’t claim to be for purists, but the menu is a
wide-ranging set of Thai and Malaysian dishes. The wine list is a mainly combination of
Spanish and French with a few Italian and some NZ thrown in at the top end. We
choose the Lagarde Viognier from Argentina at £28.50.
There’s some confusion over delivering the starters we ordered
– there were two duck options and I think they brought the wrong one initially.
The duck was S’s choice – three parcels of shredded roast duck with hoisin
sauce rolled up in roti. This was remarkably large for a starter, so it got
shared around – and very good it was too. B inevitably went for the soft shell crab,
which was a good example of its kind, with crispy batter, some spiciness and
yet some flavour of crab as well. My three scallops with pancetta, and apple
salad with spiced lime juice was also really good. The scallops were a good
size and very succulent; the pancetta crispy and plentiful; and the apple salad
was stand-out excellent – crispy, sharp, spicy.
Main courses carried on at the same high level. B had the king prawn green curry: plenty of
prawns, a strong sauce, oddly served
with discs of butternut squash. S had the
sizzling sirloin with sliced onion and wild ginger: neat strips of tender beef,
with a subtle tang. But my beef rendang took the prizes. It came in a huge porcelain
pot, and was so delicious and rich – super. As well as rice and roti, we perhaps
unnecessarily ordered stir fried halloumi cheese with chilli and spring onion –
a dish in itself – and stir fired aubergine.
Clearly we were defeated and asked for a doggy bag – and I had an
excellent lunch the following day.
Nonetheless the ladies insisted on
ordering desserts. Chocolate and chilli cheese cake was as yummy and decadent
as it sounds. Steam taro and black rice pudding was comfort food but the
accompanying mango ice cream really stood out.
It’s S’s treat (thanks, really
good of you) and she had a Taste of London card which meant the cheapest of
each course was free, a saving of £30 before service. We just had the one bottle of wine, which
meant that the total was a little over £131.
Certainly excellent value for the food – it’s a lovely room, so if you
go make sure you get a better table than we did.
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