Courtesan Dim Sum Bar

Ahead of Valentine's Day this year, Brixton Blog ran a competition to win a meal for two at Courtesan. Being familiar with the delicious dim sum served here I of course had to enter the competition, and crossed my fingers for the win. Regrettably, I wasn't the lucky one. However, I was delighted to receive the 'consolation prize' of a 20% off coupon to be used at the restaurant.

I went today with a couple of friends - which really is an ideal size group because many of the dim sum are served in portions of three. Knowing that we had a whopping great discount to play with we ordered a rather large spread of food:

Stormy Seaweed

Deep Fried Squid

Wagyu & Ribeye Slider

A selection of dim sum on my plate, clockwise from top: King Prawn & Wasabi (steamed); Char Siu Bun; Prawn & Crab (steamed)

A couple of the dishes I'd tried before: King Prawn & Wasabi is one of my favourites - it includes whole prawn and a sharp burst of wasabi. I love the contrast of textures between the very meaty prawn and the delicate, gelatinous casing of the dim sum. The Char Siu I'd also eaten before - I find the sweetness of the bun and its sticky texture just irresistible.

The Prawn & Crab dim sum were very nice, although I struggled to detect much crab as the prawn flavour was quite overpowering. I had been very excited to try the Wagyu & Ribeye slider, a new addition to the menu. It's an innovative use of the dough used in a Char Siu Bun: here it is used to encase a mini burger. We ordered two plates of these (four sliders in total) and were very impressed with the size - I'd expected them to be much smaller. They were delicious - the tender, juicy meat providing a savoury centre for the two sweet buns. In all honesty, this could possibly be just as good with 100% ribeye, which is one of my favourite cuts of beef anyway - I'm not sure how much difference the wagyu made when mixed and cooked with another cut of beef. I would be interested to know what proportion of the meat was in fact wagyu. Regardless, I love the innovative approach that Courtesan take in dishes such as this.

The sides were also delicious - I love that rubbery texture that seaweed has when served fresh, and its delicate taste of the sea. The fried calamari with spicy dip was also perfectly decent.

I think one of my favourite things about Courtesan is that not only are the flavours most of the time absolutely spot on (and often a little bit adventurous), but the textures of the dishes are almost a feature in and of themselves. I know that in China the 'mouth feel' of dishes is really important - but I've not often experienced this delight in textures within Chinese food in England apart from at this restaurant.

Courtesan is definitely a favourite of mine - not only is the food great, but the atmosphere is very relaxed, and the decor although quite striking, is not distracting. And if I needed any more reasons to love this place, I've been told that the owner grew up on the road I live on, which is a nice little connection.

I will no doubt be returning soon. As Courtesan have quite a large selection of wheat-free dishes on the menu I think this may be the restaurant of choice on Mother's Day for my wheat-intolerant Mama!

The meal for three with soft drinks came to around £43, inclusive of 20% discount and service charge.

Courtesan

69-73 Atlantic Road

Brixton

London

SW9 8PU

Tel: 0208 127 8677