Recently a Chinese waitress in County Cork remarked on how odd it was to see our family using chopsticks: she herself had never felt the need to learn. Chinese food in the country in Ireland is always fairly tragic and it's scary to think that there are a generation of Chinese young people growing up with even less of an idea of their national cuisine than even we have.
Thankfully Irish cities are different. Belfast was for a long time the leader when it came to echt Chinese food. Edmund Lau's Sun Kee, Macau, the Forever Chinese bakery, and, especially Oliver Tong’s Tong Dynasty, where lucky Lagonsiders feasted on eel hotpot, stir-fried tripe, beef and turnip stew and other unidentifiable not-for-the-nervous queer gear, all centred around the authentic ingredients readily provided by Belfast's wonderful Asia Supermarket (still there, still wonderful).
Meanwhile in Dublin, M&L is regarded as a place where you can get the real deal. "When you step through our doors, you are stepping into a true taste of China" is their website promise. Even still, we made a point of contacting Angie and Graeme beforehand to reassure them we didn’t want the normal seductive Irish-customer fare, however deliciously they serve it – please take us out of our comfort zone! was our only menu request.
With this request in mind they gave us: soft shell crab, deep fried in an egg yolk batter, still with its crunchy edible shell. Wow So Scrumptious! I can’t believe how many I managed to eat. Peking Duck on the bone. (And they bone poultry quite different in Chinese cooking, they seem to want to make absolutely sure that you have a bone).
French beans, stir fried with whole dried chillies. That’s not whole pieces of dried chilli, that’s whole dried chillies. A really unusual effect, slightly crunchy, as well as hot, but not too hot. The beans tasted like they had been deep fried in a nutty oil. It was yummy.
Sliced whelk with scallions – my guest Ernie Whalley's declared favourite, and for good reason. So delicate. I have loved whelk ever since I found a couple stuck to some lobsters bought straight from the trawler here in West Cork. I almost preferred the whelks to the lobster. Chewy texture, but pleasantly so. They were shaved thin in M&L. Subtle and clean tasting in a light soy dressing.
Sea bass, served hedgehog style. An admirable technique. Not one to try at home.
And, two surprise dishes, surprising because they were served cold. Apparently these are dishes that Chinese people prefer when eating food with wine or beer (we were). Cold poached chicken, elegantly stacked on the plate with a mild chilli sauce, and a salad of crisp raw vegetables with very finely sliced semi-circles of cold “stomach” - pork belly in our kitchen lingo. This dish showcased the finesse of this kitchen, a dainty dish, perfectly conceived and presented.
Great cooking, together with a natural, delightful welcome from Angie and her smiling staff makes M&L an absolute favourite destination, for a happy, genuine, experience of Chinese hospitality.
Sally McKenna
