Cats
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    Nobody seems to have discussed Cats recently.

    My brother is down from Scotland for a week in the Big Smoke and expressed a wish to go there. Is it still all right? Food OK? Should I still take a cushion?
  • Ian

    Order him volcano chicken. Great for the tourists but actually tastes fantastic.

  • bennyfromtheblok
    I really like it and much better than any of the other "thais" around. Last time I went there was a group of people singing folk songs in the back room that wasn't quite in keeping with the whole Thai feel, but was very nice.
    Seats are still hard as nails though....maybe ask if you can dine in the tuk tuk!
  • Colette

    Consistently poor. Curries much too sweet. Pad thai is rubbish. Don't bother, there are far better places on SGR.

  • bennyfromtheblok
    Agree on the Phad Thai comment - it's terrible!
    Can anyone suggest a really good place to eat Phad Thai though? My girlfriend loves it and tired of cooking it at home due to her not liking it anywhere else!
  • unaestheticunaesthetic
    i love the jungle curry, the starters are also ace - particularly the sweetcorn cakes, and the tofu tod
  • rainbow_carnage
    I think their pad thai is a bit hit and miss. A couple times it was very good, and then it wasn't. Had it last week. It was ok, but nothing to write home about.

    I've had the same experience at Indian Ocean. The first time I had their machli molee (sp?), the fish curry, it was amazing. The sauce was delicious and the fish melted in the mouth. Since then, I've had that same dish half a dozen times, and it hasn't been anywhere near as good. We've tried both takeaway and eat-in. I keep ordering it, hoping it'll improve.
  • injoke

    i like the beef massaman, other than that: meh

  • Ali
    Chicken Penang is nice
  • poxy
    Cats is ok. We used to go about once a month. Not been recently, not since we discovered Dotori. If we're in the mood for local spicy food Dotori wins hands down.
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    Can you eat anything at Dotori without lashings of rice, noodles, dumplings or raw fish?
  • poxy
    Well, you're likely to be faced with rice, noodles &/or dumplings at Cats, so what's the problem?

    I thought it was only ginger beer which was served in lashings.
  • bennyfromtheblok
    Other than the raw fish, I've never eaten any of the above. I think there is a section on the menu called Barbecue where what you get is a hot plate of sizzling beef or chicken - the beef is some pear/plum sauce. You eat it by making little parcels from fresh lettuce leaves with a little dollop of yellow bean paste - it's very, very good and a great plate to share. Also the tempura is fab and is huge!
    Speak to the owner who can give you some pointers but I'm sure your brother will like the food - make sure you book though as is rammed these days!
  • Ali
    I think the beef is marinated in Pear and Soya sauce and is stunning !
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    Is tempura the same thing as big pasta?
  • bennyfromtheblok
    I said that it's a great plate to share....it's also great to eat all to yourself!
  • bennyfromtheblok
    Tempura is the battered veggies, fish or prawns.... Very light, very crispy, very tasty!
  • Colette

    God that beef in pear and soy sauce is good...

  • becky
    Dotori has a nice fried spicy chicken dish on its Korean appetizer list. Good for people who don't like fish or rice and better than the starters you gets in Cats...
  • katiejane
    We heart RRC on Highgate Hill. Very nice, good value etc. It's a short walk up from the Whittington. Can't comment on. the pad thai as I didn't have it, but there food was very nice
  • Colette

    Katiejane!

  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    Disaster. I booked Dotori, but we won't be going after all.

    My brother took a look in Dotori this morning and didn't like the look of it one bit. "Anyway, I don't like Japanese food." So we're going to Cats after all.

    I've cancelled - if anyone wants a table for five at Dotori tonight, now's the time to book.

    I'm going by myself one lunchtime and sod the lot of them!
  • David

    Surely Katiejane didn't write that. I feel my liberal use of infinate is now acceptable.

  • unaestheticunaesthetic
    alcohol + keyboard = grammar < good
  • Ali
    Krappy

    Are we getting a review of your visit ?

    How does it compare to Scottish Thais ?
  • Mills
    Dotori beats the pants of Cats, IMHO.
  • Ian
    @Mills I think we have to have some kind of fair system here. Dotori is off the scale brilliant, better than any sushi restaurant I have been to for the quality & value for money. So I propose that to get some perspective our scale has to reflect this. We should have the following categories for restaurant ranking

    1) Dotori
    2) Really good restaurants that are not Dotori
    3) Places that are good but with some changes could be really good, whilst not Dotori
    4) Rubbish, not worthy of looking into on the way to Dotori and thinking "maybe we will go there one day instead of Dotori".
  • becky
    I think Cats is somewhere between 2) and 3). Quite a bit of the food is just bought from thai cash and carry and deep fried (i.e. most of the starters). I also find the mismatch between chair and table heights a little annoying (but it isn't a deal-breaker).
  • Ian
    Ocean soup makes it a 2).
  • rainbow_carnage
    I haven't tried the Japanese food at Dotori, but their Korean food wasn't very good. It's not at all veggie-friendly. And it's not like being a vegetarian is such a rare thing. When I asked the lovely man which dish he would recommend for a vegetarian, he suggested chicken. This may not seem like a big deal, but I haven't had chicken in 16 years. Eating some 'accidentally' would probably make me violently ill. After much explaining, ended up getting a beef dish without the beef. It was just a plate of rice, which isn't great value for money.

    The man was very nice, though. Might give it another go a some point just for that.

    I still prefer Hana. Whenever I order a veggie version of one of the dishes, they always double check if I want it vegan. Plus, they deliver.
  • Colette

    @Rainbow carnage - I remain baffled by your claims that Dotori is anti-veggie. My other half, a good veggie (no chicken, no fish), loves it there, and has never had any problems with unexpected bits of meat. There's a pretty good choice of veggie stuff too, which is rare, and the veggie sushi, is he claims, brilliant.

  • rainbow_carnage
    @Colette - You may be right. We haven't been there in a while. But that was definitely the impression I got when the nice man didn't seem to understand the concept of not eating meat. Will give it another go at some point.
  • David

    I'd say do r_b, I think you went quite early on and they've got their ship far more in order since. Gotta be worth a try at least.

  • rainbow_carnage
    After all that, I decided to get takeaway from Dotori tonight. I came in at 10:15. It was busy. Ordered some Japanese food (agedashi tofu and a selection of sushi and sashimi). The girl said it would be 30 minutes. Fine. I went home.

    Came back half and hour later. The place was empty, except for one table. The girl apologised and said it would be another 10 minutes. I decided to sit and wait.

    In the end, it took a whole hour. They were very polite about it, apologised and brought me tea while I waited. But an hour is still an hour. I'm not the most patient person at the best of times, much less when I'm hungry.

    The food was fine, but by no means exceptional. The tofu wasn't nearly as good as at Hana. Too dry. The sashimi was fresh, and the portion was quite generous. It was good, but not great. The maki was fine, as well. Good value for money.

    Maybe I just have bad luck with this place. Everyone else seems to like it. But an hour is too long of a wait for me. Hana usually delivers within 30 minutes, and is only slightly more expensive.
  • Ali
    I notice that Chapter One is serving Thai food.
    Has anyone
  • Ali
    tried it out ?
  • David

    Well, can't say you didn't try r_b.

  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    Will do soon, it's very close to me.
  • tosscat

    @ David, r_b?

  • David

    @tosscat - Christ, I'm getting worse (meant r_c. I must suffer from some kind of phonetic acronym disorder)

  • unaestheticunaesthetic
    although "rainbow barnage" sounds ace... like some kind of gay farm?
  • katiejane
    @ Colette - oh my god. How could i have posted that? Unaesthetic could well be write. There's nothing I like moor of an evening than sitting down to SG.org with a lovely glass of whine.

    @ krs - surely a deep fried battered mars bar would have been more to his taste?
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