Is it cool to be hot?

Chilli Cool, 15 Leigh St, Bloomsbury, WC1H 9EW

Meal for two with a few beers: £45 ish

It was Mr Noodles's review of Red 'N' Hot that finally made me visit Chilli Cool. I had read enough positive reviews to formulate a vague notion to visit for myself. But it was the possibility that it might out-cook Red 'N' Hot that made me call Mr Fork and inform him, in no uncertain terms, that we were dining out in Bloomsbury that night.

Chilli Cool was busy. Even quite late on a week night, they were pretty much full and a steady flow of people trickled into the restaurant well into the night.  As a result, the service was a little erratic. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, mad service often adds to a restaurant's charm. However, on our visit, the service was perhaps a little too crazy and there was a palpable sense that staff were slightly panic-stricken as if they had lost control of that evening's service.  I felt sorry for the people who ordered the green beans that were abandoned next to the cutlery tray and languished there for the duration of our meal (if we hadn't ordered the same thing, we probably would have re-housed them to our table).

The fried pork ribs with chilli were outstanding. It was reminiscent of Chongqing chicken, only better because in place of chicken were juicy, crispy pieces of pork complete with bones for gnawing on.  The green beans with minced pork were good, the beans had a pleasantly charred taste which complemented the salty savoury sauce. So far so good.  

Unfortunately, the sliced beef Sichuan style lavishly topped with chilli and Sichuan pepper was disappointing.  Not much heat and only a hint of that unique head-rush pepper taste, as if the peppercorns had been hanging around in a cupboard a bit too long (I know this taste because my own spice cupboard stock control is poor).  It wasn't awful, the beef was nicely tender but the lack of heat and a heavy hand with the oil marred our enjoyment of it. 

So did it topple Red N Hot from its cherished position in the Fork household?  No, not quite. It was close and the pork ribs almost had us, even with the disappointing beef. But it just couldn't beat Red N Hot's dark, steamy mystique.  Yes, it does have a bizarre system of categorising guests according to preconceived ideas of spice tolerance but the chilli-loving Forks have never had a problem with this, we just ask them to make it hot (though hopefully not in a vindaloo-swilling way).  But maybe it's been too long for me to be sure.  I had better go back and check.  

I heart the Regency

The Regency Cafe, 17-19 Regency Street, Westminster

Breakfast for two: £12

Returning to the Regency is like stepping back to a bygone age of cooking.  It evokes rosy feelings of an earlier time when people drank tea and ate dripping on their toast - even if that time pre-dates your own birth by a good 30 years.  There's no dripping on offer now but they will make you a liver sandwich.

Even if you have never been, you would recognise the Regency.  The white and black exterior and the plastic tables sitting under half-curtained windows have featured in advertisements and a film (Layer Cake, if you are interested). Indeed, the tea at the Regency is actually made in the same type of oversized metal pot that features in the scene.  Its famous history neither adds to nor detracts from the Regency's charm.  It has its own character and appeal that make it possibly the finest cafe in London. 

Food is ordered from the counter, which is usually manned by a formidable lady with an impressive vocal range who shouts the orders as they come out.  Beware if she appends "going cold" at the end of your order, it is a sign that you have been too slow to collect your food, marking you out as a newcomer to the Regency.  The familiarity of the staff with many of the customers suggests that there are plenty of regular visitors. On the morning of our last trip, we spotted taxi drivers, office workers from nearby Government Departments, local builders and a handful of tourists.

We were there for breakfast - a rather large affair that involved black pudding and bubble alongside the standard fare.  It was good.  The eggs were soft, the sausages herby and meaty (not those fairly meatless pink things that turn a uniform shade of brown when cooked) and the whole thing swam with baked beans. It was not the best cooked breakfast either of us had ever eaten (the jury is still out on that one, although Medcalf on Exmouth Market is a current favourite) but it was enormous, tasty and pretty cheap.  In short, everything you could want from a proper greasy spoon.

The only downside is that it keeps slightly inconvenient opening times: it closes at seven in the evening during the week, at noon on Saturday and does not open on Sundays. So, unless you happen to live or work in the area, it seems like a lot of effort just for a cafe.  That said, I think it is probably worth it. To experience a small part of London's culinary history, if nothing else.