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Spicy beef noodle soup
One of the many quirky eateries competing for
business in buzzing Brixton Village, Mama Lan has a short, simple Chinese menu,
apparently harking from Beijing. You can sit at one of the handful of coarse
wooden tables in the covered market alley or you might be able to get a cosier
table inside. The hefty king prawn and Chinese water chestnut
dumplings (5 pieces for £6.50) are tasty enough, but the prawns are
overpowered by the water chestnut. Better is the spicy beef noodle soup
(£9). A real assault on the taste buds, this dish is strong, sensuous
and substantial with plenty of meat and carbs. The spicy chicken ban mien (£9),
on the other hand, is a little stodgy and doesn't win great reviews. With
the fiery food, you'll probably want a couple of bottles of Tsing Tao
beer (330ml for £3.50), but there are also large glasses of mediocre wine
for about a fiver and free tap water. You eat with chopsticks from large
china bowls on wooden tables. The service is a little gruff and the staff may
even ask you to move tables half way through your meal to accommodate other
diners. Still, Mama Lan is good value, if you choose your dishes
carefully. 7/10
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spicy chicken ban mien |
