By Neil Sowerby
THEREs a chef currently cooking up a sub-tropical storm on Exchange Square, serving street food from across South East Asia Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian, Filipino and Korean. Maybe not as tonsil-scorchingly hot as youd find in those, not every ingredient is authentic (its hard to source rice bread for the Vietnamese baguette Banh Mi) but as the latest manifestation of indie chain Tampopo, Tam Pop Up! is a winner.
So it doesnt really matter, does it, that chef Darrell Caulfield doesnt hail from Ho Chi Minh City or Vientiane? Oldhams as far east as it gets. When Tampopo locks horns with the Vietnamese team behind Viet Shack from the Arndale Market in the cheap eats category at this years Manchester Food and Drink Awards it should be a level paddy field!
Thats on the evidence of a recent sweep through the menu at the 35-cover pop-up not far from Tampopos cellar eaterie in the Corn Exchange, now mothballed while the entire complex is refashioned at a cost of £30m into a major food destination, home to 13 independent restaurants and a boutique hotel.
Caulfield and his team are working here before resuming in the revamped Exchange. As over the past 17 years of Tampopos existence co-owners Nick Jeffreys and David Fox have created a food offering based on their love for and knowledge of Asian food based on their backpacking experiences way back.
It looks the part, too. Wooden benches and long communal tables have made way for cute, kitsch table clothes of patterns favoured by street food cafes of South East Asia, with Vietnamese style plastic stools. Cleverly designed with a glass and steel roof, and retractable features, allows for light, bright, al fresco dining and drinking, while coping with the onset of winter.
The food also offers something new for Tampopo, with the arrival of their first small plates menu featuring pared down version of their usual offerings, enabling punters to share a variety of tastes. Theres also a serving hatch for a Grab and Go menu for that takeaway noodle yen.
The Bahn Mi is a first for Tampopo. the classic Vietnamese sandwich and 50p each sale be donated to Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Each one contains pickled carrot and mooli, coriander, cucumber, chilli and spring onion and some form of pork. For £3.95 to £4.50 it is streets ahead of the dull supermarket sandwiches.
Familiar mains, also available in tapas form, include Nasi Goreng and Singapore Noodles, but we were blown away by the fresh crunch of salads such as Vietnams Ga Xe Phay (griddled strips of chicken breast, Chinese leaf, mint, coriander, roasted peanuts and fresh lime) at £7.50 as a main, £3.95 as a small plate. All the salads are deceptibvely spicy and demand a chilled can of Lao beer.
Tam Pop Up! is now open from 12noon to 9pm (and a bit later at the weekends).
