Keslake Chronicles Chapter 1. In Search of the Orient innit?

After a big night on the beers and cigs, Eddy and Fiona have decided to quit the cigs once and for all. So to occupy some time today, we went on a little house excursion to Oriental City in Edgeware road, Colindale.





We set out with a sense of exhilaration and excitement, the lure of good quality Asian food and produce burning through our hangovers, even blocking out the realization that it was going to take an hour on a bus to get there, past CHAV central and a past a happy but slightly aggressive ginger fellow who's face was black with the marks of one too many beatings the previous night and who's teeth were sharpened to points. Just the type you want to bring home for Christmas/ba mitzvah


Once we arrived at the coveted said megacomplex - the sopping centre, it was push and shove and spit and push and snot all the way in,





past stores that were more like shrines to plastic kittens, apothecaries of herbal remedies promising penile reconfiguration through dried animal hair, and a sound and light show that would even dazzle Mardi gras ... well I made that bit up, but the place did smell authentically like a Singapore shopping mall, and the fluorescent lighting was wonderful on the complexion.

But lets face it, we weren't there to admire ourselves in the harsh light of the mall, we went to eat eat eat and eat we did. We didn't eat here though.

and I think it ends with you too...











Naturally the food was excellent and we ate too much, nothing new in this scenario. Fiona chose a lovely dish of Vietmanese chicken
P(h)o with deep fried spring rolls





Eddy enjoyed Curry Tom Yum with Prawns and seafood - EXCELLENT! Though I have to admit, I did have a little trouble finishing it, there was rather a lot of it. And then there was the manky prawn cracker. OH LORDI don't start me on the cracker.



Mr Whatto buried about a kilo of "samba chicken" - samba kind of generic chicken noodle dish..









And the verdict?

Delicious!!!











Then the msg hits, and the whole desirability of the outing starts to come into question. Why do they need to put MSG into Vietmanese cooking? Surely the beauty of this fine cuisine is in the simple flavours of lemongrass, coriander and chili, lime and stuff...

The results speak for themselves.....



But no outing to the Asian megaplex would be complete without a foray into the supermarket. A Tesco sized supermarket full of sauces, noodles... FUCK ! I just realised that I forgot to get wasabi peas. Might have been when I saw this little baby..




Just to give you a taste of the delights within, here is a selection of my favourite images, in a montage, composed especially for you.





Special note goes to this one. though. Hats off to anyone who would actually consider purchasing or even eating something that so closely resembles a turd...or a box of turds. Here's one for Rove's What Tha?






Not to be outdone by the Cock flavoured fish sauce. What needs to be said here? I don't know, usually I have a comment on everything. I'm choosing to hold my tongue.




And on the way home I found this! Can it get any better?






The day ended beautifully, still hungover, but now from MSG poisoning. Dinner of BBQ Asian pork, dumplings, choy sum and noodles... the Odyssey continues....



Keslake Meyates.