This Chinese Roast Is An Ingenious Twist On The English Classic

Chinese roast dinner, The Prince ★★★★☆

Will Noble
By Will Noble Last edited 78 months ago

Last Updated 21 May 2018

This Chinese Roast Is An Ingenious Twist On The English Classic Chinese roast dinner, The Prince 4

For anyone who went berserk over Jamie Oliver's Empire roast chicken, you may well want to hot-foot it to Wood Green, where another take on the classic English roast is shaking up the Sunday scene.

Mei Mei's Street Cart has taken up a long-term residency at The Prince, and every weekend the pub's contemporary-art-filled rooms become fogged up with the thick, treacly scent of soy and sesame.

It's more than just a cheap fusion gimmick: a sweetish Yorkshire pud comes scattered with spring onions; crisp pak choi makes a welcome substitution to soggy sticks of broccoli; while sharp, homemade beer pickles cut through the gooeyness of the soy-soaked rice and the saltiness of the small-cut potatoes. The chicken itself is a sticky soy joy, which will have you tearing off every last bit of crispened lacquered skin, before gnawing at the bones.

With so many half-arsed roasts being plated up in London's pubs, here is one we'd make a point of returning for. The only thing putting the brakes on a full five stars is the absence of the pork on today's menu — half the reason for us coming. It's been swapped out for a braised organic sirloin, which has apparently had all the moisture sucked out of it with a Dyson, to the point it's powdery.

If the pork's off when you visit, plump for the chicken, or otherwise the aubergine with crispy tofu. Otherwise you'll end up having to dunk your beef in the (delicious) pub-brewed witbier.

Chinese roast dinner at The Prince, 1 Finsbury Road, Wood Green, N22 8PA, every Sunday