Banme @ BoxPark
Believe it or not, someone actually reads this fledging and not especially great food blog – and left a comment suggesting a couple of restaurants to try if I get bored of BoxPark.
Well, here’s another review of somewhere in BoxPark for you – Banme.
Also we are here to celebrate the renovation of the road near BoxPark.
And here to celebrate Mayor Perry’s election win. Maybe. Well, he did win. I guess now the local/mayoral elections are over, that’s the end of the improvements to the area.
Having A To-Do List
It’s probably also time to have a to-do list, so I created a new page. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments. I might get around to them, I might not.
Most of the times I eat out in Croydon, I’m doing so by myself, so it needs to have solo dining vibes – my self-conscience is a bit too aware for solo dining in busy restaurants. Hence why there’s another review of BoxPark.
Plus I had to get home to watch the football, I couldn’t be bothered to cook, and I had like 40 minutes to get from East Croydon station, get food, and get home. Which is why BoxPark works for me. And why you’ll probably get more reviews from there.
Inside BoxPark seemed a bit emptier of food traders than normal – I’m not regular enough to know who’s gone, I think Coqfighter and the Argentinian steak place were no more. There were quite a few empty units.
That said, looking at their website, there are quite a few new places opening – including a(nother) fried chicken place, a burger place and a taco place. Ooozing with originality. Though also there is a cheese toastie place coming soon called Oooze Toasties. I can see myself there.
And Rogi (Polish street food) has me curious.
OK I love fried chicken too. And the taco place does French tacos…wtf…but I’ve just talked myself into trying them.
What Is Banme
I’d never had a Bahn Mi before, so this is what I first considered at Banme – apparently the word means “bread” in Vietnamese, and the French introduced baguettes to Vietnam when they were doing a kind, cultural exchange in the 19th Century, as all western countries did (possibly some sarcasm in there).
They also offer rice boxes and noodle salads, along with some side dishes – the prawn dumplings with chimichurri caught my eye also.
I ordered the pork one (Charsiu) for £10.65.
So the baguette itself was crispy, assume toasted in the oven or similar.
Some cucumber added some freshness, the pickled carrot (and possible something else pickled) added a tartness to it, along with the aroma of fresh coriander.
But the pork was the star of the show – showing as a vivid purple, alas not coming across in any of my photographs, but assumedly coloured so because of the name “charsiu” which apparently would be red fermented bean curd traditionally, or more likely…food colouring.
I cannot know which was used, but appealingly purple it was, along with being really tender and along the Chinese Five Spice kind of flavour.
Whether this was representative or not, I guess I’ll need to wait until I’ve actually been to Vietnam, which should happen in the next few years.
Oh there was some paste thing in there too, I think a chilli sauce though very light on the chili – more for flavour than kick.
I quite enjoyed this. I still think Afghan Caravan is my favoured place in BoxPark for my tastes.
Maybe I’d rate it around a 7.0 out of 10.
I do actually have a visit to an Indian restaurant to write up.
2 Comments
Kake
Hello from another reader 😀 I’m very pleased to see a new(ish) Croydon-specific food blog.
The “something else pickled” in your banh mi was almost certainly daikon.
A few recommendations for you:
Bao Bao in Boxpark (try the chive and chicken dumplings with chilli oil and the braised pork rice)
Nuvola in Boxpark (pretty much any of their pizzas, though personally I find the caramelised onions are way too sweet; also, their dough used to be rather too salty for me but they seem to have fixed this now)
Choja Sushi at Tokia Square (if you’ve never had eel/unagi nigiri before, this is a good place to try it)
Szechuan Inn at Tokia Square (if you’re on your own then among the “thing with rice” sets I’d suggest the braised pork belly, red braised beef flank, or mapo tofu)
Outside Boxpark and Tokia Square, how about some of the places on London Road near West Croydon Station (listed here from south to north):
Brixton (not actually in Brixton) (I particularly like their brown stew chicken)
Joyce’s Palace (really delicious tomato stew — you can get it with rice or fried plantain and your choice of protein) (if you’re not familiar with West African food, note that it can be pretty spicy and also note that “mixed meat” generally includes tripe and cow foot, all of which is a good thing in my book but I know some people find it a bit of a surprise)
Mazi (get the lamb yogurt shish for a substantial meal or the lahmacun (meat-topped thin flatbread) with salad for a snack — their side salad is really really good for some reason I have never managed to figure out, just really delicious)
Taste of Kerala (this one is further up than the other three — just past the bit where the buses all get stuck at the traffic lights for ages) (get one of the thalis or “express meals” if you can, so you can try a few different things — if they offer you a choice of Keralan rice (aka matta rice or red rice) or basmati rice, I suggest getting the basmati on your first visit since the red rice can be a bit of an acquired taste)
OK I’ll stop now 😀
Kake
I just realised I said Choja Sushi was at Tokia Square — it isn’t! It’s in the Wing Yip Centre on Purley Way, which is perhaps a little less convenient but still worth a trip.