Courtesan

For lunch today, I went to Courtesan Dim Sum Bar in Brixton. It's always amazing to see how many cool new restaurants are popping up in and around Brixton Village, so it was great to try one out. Courtesan has been open for about half a year, and from today has started serving at lunch time.

The décor seemed a little macabre to me, with the dim (no pun intended) lighting and slightly scary painting, but it gave a traditional feel to the atmosphere, which is probably good. I was pleased by the decent selection of pescetarian options on the menu. There were some interesting, original meat dishes too, including a jerk chicken parcel, which might attract carnivores - apparently you either love it or you hate it!

I was very impressed with their deep fried squid, which were cooked in a wonderfully light white batter and served with a mild chilli sauce.

I also really liked the steamed wasabi king prawn dumplings, with that delicate, slightly moist, steamed prawn flavour. Thankfully, the wasabi wasn't overpowering, although I would have preferred a little more of a 'kick'!

The vegetable cheung fun was good too: an interesting mix of textures, and the flavours were brought out nicely by the sweet soy sauce.

I wasn't so keen on the mushroom puffs - I felt there was too much pastry (which was a little undercooked as a result), making it taste dry and doughy. The mushroom filling, however, was full of great, earthy flavours so I'm sure the dish will improve.

For dessert, I had the mango pudding, which I quite liked. I'm not a big fan of condensed milk, but the mango jelly was delicious.

All in all, it was a pleasant meal, and the owner was very friendly and talkative, so I hope to return soon and try out some more Dim Sum!