Concubine

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The place is packed, so I go for a half-an-hour walk while I wait for a table to be freed up.

Being Chinese, coriander infestation isn't too bad, but I still have to dodge the really spicy dishes. The waitress aids me on this quest.

Slow braised beef cheek
6/10

With black bean and sugar snap peas.

The beef has a good meaty flavour, without being destroyed by slow-cooking. It's infused with soy sauce or oyster sauce, or similar. It has a good enough taste without any extra garnishes added to it.

The rest of the plate is the ubiquitous "crunchy vegetables", which are surprisingly spicy, given that I asked for something not spicy.

Fried banana
5/10

With coconut ice cream & palm sugar.

There's a cooked banana taste I'm rather fond of, but it's not present here. The bananas are closer to uncooked bananas. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's nothing special either.

The pastry would be a great place for some flavour or texture, but it's really thin and tasteless.