Ly Bar, Balham - Disappoints

I went to the Ly Bar in Balham a couple of weeks ago. A friend and I had been meaning to try it for a while and finally got round to it on a dark and windy Wednesday night. I've been living in Balham for two years, and was looking to try some good Chinese food. Alas I should have cooked in my own kitchen...

The decor was pretty enough. Dark, laquered screens and clean. From outside, it looks quite small, but it opens out at the back and the was plenty of space. About a third of the tables were occupied, which I took to be a good sign for early Wednesday evening. There was also an office party going on at the front, though I wasn't really there for the booze. I always prefer my chinese meals with green tea.

For starters, we ordered some spring rolls (£5.00). These were fairly standard fair. Crunchy and deep fried. The most notable point was that we got 7 rolls. Most places only give you 3. But I guess the Ly Bar did charge us a fiver for them!

For mains we had monk fish in honey and black pepper sauce (£8.20), beef and brocolli (£6.90) and spiced aubergines in Szechaun Sauce (£4.90).

The aubergines were a delight. They tasted fresh and were sliced evenly to give an even texture.

Alas the other two dishes were a disappointment.

The monk fish was limp and uninspiring. What I like about monkfish is the bouncy texture of large chunks. However, these were served in small limp pieces. I have a feeling it had been sitting around for a while, which suggests that the chef wasn't proud of his work!

The beef and brocolli dish had nice crisp brocolli. But the beef was grey, soggy and lacking in flavour. This is something that has happened to me many times lately (especially at Wong Kei's in China Town). In the future I shall have to cut down on my meat consumption in restaurants.

While I only sampled a small selection of the menu, the only dish that I liked was the aubergine. Maybe I should become vegetarian? Either that, or I should try a different restaurant next time.