We asked Stan Graham to pay another visit to Assembly Underground to see how its resident eateries are doing, and of course to find out what’s new.Just before Christmas, I visited the newly opened Assembly Underground to sample the wares of Jah Jyot a Punjabi street food stall which had just walked away with the winner’s trophy at European Street Food Championships. Needless to say, it was excellent. I then sampled a libation or two from Vocation Bar with its range of fifty beer lines. Well, it would have been rude not to. It was time for another visit. Fortunately, I was with a friend, so we managed to taste the products of two more vendors. I was pleased to see that Jah Jyot is still there and seems to be prospering. I was also happy that Vocation was still pulling the pints as I was dying for a beer. They have added a place called The Staff Room which serves cocktails, so that means all bases are covered. On my first visit there were a few customers in the communal dining area but this time the place was just about full. It was knocking on for two o’clock, at which time some of the customers began to leave, presumably to put their last session in at work before the weekend, but more people stayed than I thought would be the case.  The two types of food we decided on were from Bread and Butter Churrasco Brazilian BBQ and Falafel Guys, who can also be seen plying their trade on the streets of the City Centre. From the former my companion chose the Nicota, strips of succulent chicken thighs marinaded in grandma’s secret recipe and served in Pāo Francês, a Brazilian bread with buttery herbal sauce and salad vinaigrette at £8.50, and we decided to share a portion of Cassava Fries at £4.25. The bread was very light and fluffy, toasted to perfection and the chicken succulent. I think that thigh meat is much tastier than breast and this did nothing to change my opinion. I only managed to pinch a couple of small pieces so did not have the full effect but I was confidently told that I would have liked it had I been given some more. We were not so enthusiastic about the fries I’m afraid as we both found them to be a little dry, even though they were covered in mayonnaise. Cassava is a tuber, similar to potato or yam, and is also the plant from which tapioca is made. I think that it was the texture which made it seem dry as it was much denser that potato. I spoke with the owner of the stall after we had eaten and she told me that they are developing a new range of sauces to make the fries more palatable to British taste.
 I went for a Triple Decker Salad Bowl from the Falafel Guys, which contained chicken, falafel and halloumi as well as two types of hummus – regular and beetroot – along with pickled chilli and various salad items, all topped off with chilli sauce. It looked and tasted spectacular and worth every penny of the £7. Needless to say, I was equally as generous as my companion had been when it came to sharing. We bought our drinks from the aforementioned Vocation Bar. After speaking to the ‘guys’ and watching one of them prepare a large batch of falafel mix using the biggest onions I have ever seen in my life, I was pleased to hear that they are finding the number of visitors to the premises is sufficient to make the enterprise worthwhile.
 I couldn’t leave without having a chat with the Jah Jyot people who I knew from my first visit, and they too were pleased with the way things were going. When we spoke last I was told that the vacant stall next to theirs was earmarked as one which would be occupied in rotation by temporary traders, but this plan has now been changed and a coffee shop will begin to serve their brews in the very near future – an opportunity for another visit, along with the two stalls which we haven’t yet sampled – Slap and Pickle Burger Bar and The Pizza Authority
|
|
Review: Sex & Death & Other Stories by Ivor Tymchak
19th October 2019
