Mekong,
7 Magazine Street,
Derry,
BT48 6HJ.
facebook.com/MekongSF
078 3533 0360
MIGHTY restaurants from little food trucks do grow. That's the saying, isn't it? Something along those lines, anyway.
In case you've no idea what I'm on about, it's Mekong, the Asian restaurant on Magazine Street, just inside Derry's walls.
When I first tried their dishes, it was from a food truck on a grimy cul-de-sac in an industrial estate, an incongruous location for a takeaway bao bun.
Mekong then moved to Magazine Street, occupying the Nerve Centre café. The food was better, but the place wasn't their own. It still looked and felt like the Nerve Centre café, like they had snuck in while no-one from the Nerve Centre was looking.
They're still in the same premises, but now, though, they've been able to put their own stamp on the place, with bright, vivid blocks of colour and bold designs. And that seems to have given them a lift, because the food hasn't just improved, it's gotten fantastic.
Make sure you book your table - don't just turn up expecting them to find you one. We booked well in advance, but, even then, only just managed to secure a table for the time we wanted.
When the four of us arrived, at six on a Saturday evening, the place was packed, loud, and lively, vibrant with music from the speakers and laughter from the tables. People don't have this good a time in a restaurant where the food is ordinary.
And ordinary it certainly isn't. We only wanted two courses, and hummed and hawed before finally veering from our usual choice of main course and pudding. As good as the desserts might be, this was definitely the right choice.
I normally make it a rule not to eat chicken wings in public, but this instantly became more of a guideline once they arrived and I persuaded my wife and brother that we should probably share the starters between us, to make things more sociable.
The wings were delicious, the tamarind giving a lingering sweet and tangy quality to the meat. The spring rolls were crisp and well-filled, accompanied by a light sauce that concealed a subtle heat. The delicate salmon melted on the tongue, but the best thing about this dish was the fantastic salad it came with - fresh, crunchy, deep and sweet.
The chicken curry was delicious, the meat moist and tender, perfectly cooked, and sitting in a nutty, mellow sauce that, once again, delivered a creeping heat.
My Phad Thai noodle dish was all I could have asked for. The noodles were cooked just right, soft but retaining a bite, and full of soft chicken and meaty prawns, with a lovely, tender chunk of pork belly, and plenty of peanuts, carrots and green beans.
But, my goodness, the stone bass... Wow. This was fantastic - a thick fillet of beautifully soft flakes of fish, perfectly complemented by the tamarind and zesty lemongrass sauce.
It would be wrong of me not to mention the consideration given to my four-year-old. We rang ahead to make sure it was okay for us to bring food from home for her, as the spicy dishes wouldn't suit.
Not only was that not a problem, our server offered to bring her a bowl of plain noodles and chicken, specially prepared, with a free bowl of ice cream to follow.
This was a special meal in an exciting and exuberant restaurant. Mekong is a fun place to eat, but the fun shouldn't hide the seriously good cooking that goes on here.
The chefs know how to balance flavours and combine ingredients, with verve, passion and understanding.
Oh, and our server, spotting my daughter's scarf, revealed herself to be an Everton fan also, so it's clearly not just the ingredients that are selected with an eye to quality.
THE BILL
Crispy chicken wings with soy, ginger, tamarind £5.00
Soy and ginger cured salmon, papaya salad £8.00
Fine bean spring rolls, dipping sauce £5.00
Butter poached chicken, panang curry, steamed jasmine rice £16.00
Pan-fried stone bass, caramelised sweetheart cabbage, tamarind and lemongrass sauce £18.00
Phad Thai noodles with chicken, king prawn, crispy pork belly £18.00
Child's noodles and chicken £5.00
Prawn crackers £3.00
Tenderstem broccoli and baby corn, garlic and chilli £3.50
Diet Coke - £2.50
McDaid's Football Special x 2 £6.00
Milk £1.00
Glass, Sauvignon Blanc £5.00
Total: £96.00
