Food and Drink - Restaurant Review - The Green Cottage in Finchley Road

Published: 24 February, 2011
by MATTHEW LEWIN

A phoenix rises from the ashes – welcome return of a favourite

A FEW years ago, the famous Green Cottage was closed for about 10 months after a fire swept through the place and left it dark and charred and smelling of wet charcoal when you walked past. We all feared it would never re-open, and were thus delighted when we saw builders and shop fitters scurrying all over the site late in the year.

I was therefore both delighted and astonished to walk though the re-opened doors, only to find that they had reinstated the old restaurant exactly as it had been before, with no modernisation at all. 

I suppose the thinking was: If it works, don’t fix it. And the Green Cottage certainly works.

So there is that same chopping station near the door, with the same hanging line of red Cantonese ducks (well, not the same ducks, but you know what I mean) waiting for the attention of the expert hatchet man. 

But the upstairs section of the restaurant, previously rather a desultory place, has been refurbished very nicely, and is now a nice place to sit.

The service, too, is the same – that unique blend of efficiency and curtness that we have almost grown to expect in Chinese restaurants, and sometimes when we go in there and it is full of Chinese people, we do feel a little as if we have gate-crashed a private party.

But the food is fresh, hot, and very very good, and that after all is why we go there. My Chief Culinary Adviser tells me that she sometimes has dreams about the Green Cottage’s steamed prawns with garlic – and that’s what she always orders when we go there.

The hot and sour soup is suitably, er…  hot and sour and full of flavour and is just perfect for clearing the head – being the Chinese culinary equivalent of drain cleaner that cleans out all the pipes and leaves your sinuses spotless and shining. 

I never miss it.

I also can’t resist the Green Cottage’s sesame prawn toasts, which is a whole prawn deep-fried with the toast, and their steamed fresh scallops, and the spicy spare ribs, and of course we always order much too much.

My adviser, as always, had her garlic prawns with plain rice, and chomped away happily at the wonderfully fresh, crisp prawns.

I sometimes order something from the chef’s specials on the menu, which offers all kinds of things such as baked veal in spicy salt and chilli, baked king prawns, baked crab and the like.

But on the last occasion I had one of the most simple dishes on the menu – the roast duck with rice. They take a portion of duck down from the rack, chop it up, and serve it on a mound of rice with an excellent sauce. Sublime.

Our last bill came to under £40, which included a glass of wine and a bottle of beer (but not service), and that’s excellent value for money.

SUMMARY

Very superior Chinese food, and one of the oldest restaurants in the area. Open every day for lunch and dinner. Expect to spend from around £18 per person for food. 

Rating: 3 Out Of 5 Stars

The Green Cottage
9 New College Parade
Finchley Road, NW3 
020 7722 5305