We've been to the Bayee Village about 93 times, no really we have. When we used to run the Dog and Fox next door, we were on first names terms with all the blokes in the kitchen, or at least we would have been if any of them had the faintest idea what we were on about. Only a bloke called Chow could really speak English, but anyway we once invited them all to Christmas dinner with us and they came too. Lovely people they were (and no doubt still are). Even the little fella who set fire to his room once (they used to have a couple of rooms upstairs) can rest easy, I've forgiven him now. Many years ago I caught our pub dog at the time (Effie) running around with a live lobster in her mouth which she'd purloined from their as yet unpacked seafood delievery (I bunged it back in and said no more about it, OK I'm not proud of it but it was still alive for Gawds sake don't make me feel bad). I've got loads of stories, and it's fair to say our affinity with Marco and Peter is long standing, as it is with the restaurant which now sits on the old "Finch's" site.
Over the years little has changed with the Bayee. Yes these days there's a beardy man tinkling away on a Grand piano, you may even run into a dodgy Elvis impersonator from time to time (don't ask me why I've no idea), but as far as the food and the service is concerned, very little alters. Even the menu doesn't change much, and none of this is a criticism because nor should it. In short, the food is bloody good and you don't survive as long as these guys have if that isn't the case.
Last night we were a party of six which included Sarah's brother, the much vaunted (but completely anonymous in the UK) volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, as well as Kenny, one of the US team managers for the upcoming Olympics. These guys travel the World and eat in some pretty good places, but we were pretty confident that the Bayee wouldn't shame us or make us look clueless in the old nosebag department, so off we went.
For starters, we had all sorts of stuff. There was soft shell crab (which is flippin brilliant from here), some "short" ribs which my Dad claims to this day is the nicest thing he's ever eaten in his life, some pork dumplings, salt and pepper squid and all sorts of other stuff which I can't remember right now.
Then we had a "middle" course of the old duck with the pancakes and hoi sin sauce, the shredded cucumber and all that malarkey. To be honest, if I could only ever eat one thing from now on and this was it, naturally I'd be a bit gutted but for a couple of weeks I'd be well happy. You know the drill here, your supposed to nibble away but everyone dives in like loonies so that when the mains come you can barely eat any.
For mains we were doing that "here try some of this" routine which everyone seems to do in Chinese resataurants, and a combination of the many different flavours and probably one too many Chinese beers (chin sow, or something like that) means that I can't remember too much about it. It was great though, and I managed to spill a bit down the front of my best jumper I noticed this morning (always a good sign).
The service is always excellent, my only gripe being the "top the wine up" routine which does wind me up a fraction but never mind. They gave us a glass of bubbly on the old Mickey Mouse when we got there, as well as those bafflingly pointless fortune cookie things when we were leaving.
I'll be honest, we flippin loved it but then we always do. The Bayee may not be the coolest or the trendiest Chinese restaurant in London, but the food is as good as you're going to get. Pete who runs it is a great guy, and Marco who owns it is a lovely fella too. Go, I absolutely guarantee you'll enjoy it.
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