We all know what going out for dinner usually involves. Usually a romantic couple, or some friends, or a family sit at a table in a restaurant, and even though the restaurant may be full of diners, your focus is on your immediate company paying no attention to other diners
Not on this occasion, at Caneat café in the Birmingham suburb of Stirchley. An ‘Asian Feast’ pop up by the extremely talented chef Lap-fai Lee has brought a room full of strangers together. The whole dining room is buzzing as dish after dish brings a bigger smile to all our faces and gives us a reason to turn to the stranger on the opposite table to proclaim our love for the latest dish. The social importance of food in Asia is obvious when you look at countries like Thailand where eating alone is thought to attract bad luck, China where people regularly treat others to meals to make new friends or enhance established relationships, or even Korea where the Korean word for ‘family’ means ‘those who eat together’. I really shouldn’t be surprised by the inclusive nature of this Asian Feast.
I have admired Lap’s food for a long time on Instagram, his cookery classes at Loaf that look amazing and his legendary pop up feasts, so I jumped at the chance to join him for his latest pop up and took the other member of the Breaking Bread team Carl with me. The dining room was made up of tables of four so if you came as a pair, like us, you were put with another couple which helped add to the communal feast spirit.
The first course we were treated to some of the plumpest oysters I’ve ever seen. Topped with homemade lap cheong which is a slightly sweet Chinese sausage that is delicious, and works excellently with the oysters and the double brewed soy sauce used to dress the dish, which brings the whole thing together perfectly.
Next up is crab so fresh it could have swum to the restaurant, juicy prawns, lychee, topped with fried vermicelli, with a tiny gem of XO chilli jam wrapped in a crispy lettuce leaf.
One of my highlights of the night was up next, ‘Satay Chicken Hearts’. Chicken hearts are something I’ve never tried before, but after eating them here I have no idea why I’ve never tried them before. The satay marinade and accompanying sauce were delicious, but it was the chicken hearts themselves that really stole the show. Chicken hearts taste how I always hope chicken to taste, before being let down by the bland reality that is chicken breast. Strong and meaty the hearts stand up brilliantly to the delicately spiced satay. If the feast was to end here, I would have left a happy man.
As it turns out just when I thought Lap had peaked, a tidal wave of amazing food was about to engulf our table. For the main course we discover why the pop up was called a feast. Strong meaty monkfish tails that resemble giant white cliffs shooting out of the sea of slightly sour Assam stew, some giant deeply smoked beef cheeks relaxing in a perfectly spiced indulgent massaman curry, some freshness coming from the squid and charred aubergine salad, pickled cucumbers finished with an egg that has been marinated in a sweet master stock and served with as much white and red jasmine rice as you can manage. This is comfort food on a whole new level. The dishes all served in huge serving bowls inviting the whole table to just get stuck in and pile it high, which we all do. None of the usual tepidness that’s usually involved with sharing with strangers, Lap’s incredible style of food has ensured a family like atmosphere on the warm dining room.
To finish this delightful feast is a Matcha baked cheesecake. The Matcha is subtle and the cheesecake surprisingly light, which is a relief after the amount of food I’ve eaten. This truly was a feast and I roll out of Caneat exultant but absolutely fit to burst. I really can’t begin to imagine the amount of work that goes in to cooking a meal as great as this, I can only congratulate the chef on creating a meal where every component of every dish on every course was outstanding and the whole atmosphere, he managed to create was superb. I think the pop up is bi-monthly but keep an eye on Lap’s social media (http://instagram.com/oishinboy http://twitter.com/oishinboy and be sure to go experience this for yourself.
Breaking Bread Podcast, the podcast all about food
With my stomach rumbling (what’s new) I decided to seek out the source of the aromatic spice smell that was lingering in the cool November air. My search brought me to the stall of hibiscus grove. Where a gentleman named Philip was freshly frying lamb samosas and chicken pakora.I took two of the pyramid shaped parcels of joy and proceeded in discovering if the taste was as good as the smell. 
