restaurants
Dining in Shoreditch: Funky Asia
Located near the Spitalfields Market on Commercial Street, Funky Asia seems at first glance like a cross between a diner and a discotheque. Upon entering this vast, rustic space ridden with fluorescent lights, I didn’t know quite what to expect. I had heard that the place specialized in Pan-Asian cuisine, but nothing in the ‘vibe’ of this place seemed to communicate that. As well, the fact that all the waiters and waitresses were conspicuously Indian certainly didn’t elucidate things for me, and as I was ushered to my table amidst a hollow, empty space, I couldn’t help but feel confused.Interview with Rivington Grill Head Chef Simon Wadham
Born on the Isle of Wight, Simon attended Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire before joining the army aged 15, serving abroad for the next seven years. Upon leaving the army, he began working at the fashionable Joe’s Café in South Kensington. He then went to work for Oliver Peyton at the Atlantic Bar & Grill, spending the next ten years working for Peyton. In 2007, Simon joined Caprice Holdings as Head Chef at the Rivington Grill in ShoreditchDining in Shoreditch: High 'n Dry
So, in the heart of vibrant Shoreditch I found an oasis called Jamies [sic]. The first thing you see are the twin staircases spiralling up to a corridor resembling a New Orleans veranda or the front of a Mexican hacienda - only, somehow disappointingly, the pastel green doors did not open into the luxuriant beauty of a South American inner courtyard nor the warm interior of a Creole house, but to a selection of stylish, beautifully decorated, perfectly functional toilets. The staircases are, I imagine, an exercise in equilibrium on a Friday night. The only way you can survive the twisting and turning of those steps is by ordering just the right amount of food to go with your wine.