Roma's Hook and Chook

Closed seems like the old owners have sold out and there is a new establishment at the City location on the corner of Gordon St and Joske St which we will investigate soon enough.

We've been forced to reopen the books on where to get good fish and chips in Suva, and barring any new discoveries, Roma's Hook and Chook is currently filling that gap in our lives.

The first shop in Samabula was the basis for this review, but Hook & Chook has just opened shop number 2 in the centre of Suva, on Gordon Street, right next door to a certain curry house.

The Samabula shop offers an express lane for pre-cooked, kept-in-the-warmer chicken, chips and anonymous fish ... and the 'Student pack'

All else is pick & point: cooked on demand; starting from $5.50 for the fish cakes, and climbing up through the various fillets to Ulavi, somewhere around the $10 mark. The choice of regular or spicy batter is a nice touch in our chilli-mad nation.


I was excited when I first saw scallops on ice, but my enthusiasm has been somewhat dampened. Scallops should not be dipped in batter and deep fried. They should be seared ... or if you really must fry them, then roll them in breadcrumbs.

That aside, the other bitsy seafood packages live up to their calling: calamari, mussels, and the cheap anonymous seafood equivalent of sausage: 'seafood sticks'

The "chook" part of this eatery's name deserves but a brief mention: there is little anyone can do to make chicken and chips sexy ... and Roma's doesn't try. And in any case, if chicken and chips is your thing, then you need a serious injection of culinary verve.

Also on offer: salads. These appear to come from an MH deli (convenient, okay, but sometimes on the trailing edge of fresh).

Extra tomato and tartare sauce sachets are available if the included condiments don't meet your requirements.

In addition to the standard range of soft drinks, there is an espresso menu.

Both shops are small and rather cramped with seating at a premium - plan to eat takeaway.

It heartens me greatly that the serving staff were able to tell me how fresh the different fish options were ... even more heartening was that most of it had come in that morning.

For good fish & chips, and a choice of venues, Lunch in Suva gives Roma's Hook & Chook a thumbs-up.

In Summary

Roma's Hook and Chook

Waimanu Road, Samabula

Gordon Street, Suva

Opening Hours:

?

Spend:

$5.50 - $12 per person

Dorothy's Kitchen

Pizza! Quite possibly the best pizza in Suva ... and from the most unlikely place.

For years I thought the sign at the front of Dorothy's little shop was either a joke or a reminder of past glory: the place doesn't look like they sell pizza. There's no pizza menu visible when you walk in. It just looks like any other run-of-the-mill Chinese takeout: the small food warmer, the glass case with pre-cooked sausage rolls, the Coke fridge, and the faded, fake brick paint job on the small glass shop front

But Dorothy's is anything but normal. The secret is to ask ... and then you receive!

"So, do you really sell pizza?" I asked on my first tentative foray.

A laminated menu was produced from beneath the counter, boasting a pizza range equal to any of the dedicated pizza shops in town (and with a full Chinese menu on the reverse) ... and the discovery began.

Several trips later, I can happily recommend the Dorothy Special (pictured below), the Sweet Vegetarian and anything with chicken on it. These are good pizza: a good crust (not too thin, but not overwhelmingly thick either), fresh toppings, and held together by real cheese ... cheese that stretches when you try and pull a piece off.


Dorothy's also does a respectable meat pie; and on Saturday's only, sells Chinese steamed buns (chicken or red pork) that are worth a special trip up to Tamavua.


Service is usually fast and efficient, but you may want to phone in your pizza orders. Takeaways are the order of the day: there are only 3 eat-in seats (yes, seats, not tables).

For excellent pizza, friendly service, and a very respectable "made-to-order" menu, Lunch in Suva gives Dorothy's Kitchen a thumbs-up.

In Summary

Dorothy's Kitchen

MH Superfresh Shopping Centre, Tamavua

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 2:00pm, 4:30pm - 8:00pm

Sat: 10:00am - 8:00pm

Spend:

$1.80 - $7 per person

Phone:

3385427

Verdict:

Thumbs-up

Photos by dsheehy

The Daily Catch AKA Cakaudrove Fish & Chips redux

New review of The Daily Catch is now up. Head on over and give us your feedback.

Cakaudrove Fish has opened again, at their original location, but under new management, and with a new name. Whilst the concept seem to have survived, the fish and chip business is but a poor reflection of what it used to be.

Prices have gone up; the fish: soggy and oily; the batter is wanting. The chips are passable, but certainly not special enough to make up for the disappointing fish.

Their fry-on-demand approach keeps them a cut above the vast majority of brown-bag chip shops, but the original Cakaudrove Fish & Chippie has moved on, and so have we.

We'll give the new owners a few months to get their groove on, but until then, they get the thumbs down.

Soup Works

Soup Works does not fit neatly into any of the usual categories of lunching establishments: it does not have it's own premises; it does not reside in a food court; it does not offer eat-in service.

Soup Works exists behind a counter in MH Superfresh, Tamavua. It is inside the supermarket, squeezed in between the cheese fridge and the delicatessen.


The place is clean, neat, simple, and has a substantial menu ... consisting exclusively of soups (over 40 at last count). There is a significant bias toward the Asian soups, but these are widely sourced: Laksa from Malaysia, Tom Yum from Thailand, and all the favourites from China; alongside a selection of European cream-of-vegetable and minestrone variations.

My favourite is the Tom yum Seafood, pictured below.


The general idea with Soup Works is that you place your order, and then spend the waiting time (between 10 to 15 minutes) wandering the aisles of MH, collecting the various necessaries listed on the shopping list which you have kept handily in your pocket for just such a a moment as this.

All soups are cooked on the spot and to order, so you have the opportunity to specify variations to the house recipe.

Your soup comes handily packaged for the road. A warning however: the soup is hot! If you're planning on driving away with it, it's best to have a side-kick along to keep the soup containers upright while you navigate the potholes.

For excellent soup -- and a simple, well-executed catering concept -- Lunch In Suva give Soup Works a big thumbs up.

In Summary

Soup Works

MH Superfresh Shopping Centre, Tamavua

Phone:

3623 362, 9290 088, 9355 679

Opening Hours:

Mon - Thu: 9:00am - 8:00pm

Fri - Sat: 9:00am - 9:00pm

Sun: 9:00am - 2:00pm

Spend:

$5.50 - $9.00 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up

Photos by abuke_2004

Singh's Curry House

It was a subject of some debate amongst the Lunch in Suva group as to whether this article needed to be written at all. Singh's Curry House is famous enough without any help from us. However in the interest of full coverage of the Suva lunch scene, we've decided to write this completely unnecessary post.


The first thing one notices about this place is that it is popular. If you want to sit in for lunch you need get there before 1230. Turn up after 1245 and takeaway is probably your only option. Luckily the takeaway is well packed.


I do recommend that you make the effort to turn up early and get a seat as you get a bowl of good dhal soup (and a rather boring salad) with the sit-in meal.


We have the standard meat curries (chicken, goat, duck, lamb) and typical vegetable curries (bhindi, aloo baigan, kattar). Often prawn, fish, and kai are available as well. As vegetables go in and out of season Singh's does a good job of adjusting their menu accordingly (as the excellent Duruka curry that we ate attests).


The lamb curry is uneven, sometimes quite tasty, other times way too salty. Heartburn is almost guaranteed with the lamb curry. The other meat curries are all arse burningly excellent. The vegetable curries are probably too spicy, vegetables generally do not absorb chilli as well as meat does, but Mr. Singh insists on adding the same amount of the red stuff nonetheless.


The ambience and décor is quite bizarre. The music seems to consist of Bollywood ring tones on continuous loop. The décor is one third nautical (lighthouses, lifesavers, boats), one third Chinese, and one third 1930s art deco. The doorman is forced to wear a silly uniform with a ridiculous hat.

Note from Picky Eater: (1st May, 2008)
Kania Tiko's coverage of the lamb curry warrants further coverage. So, after yet another trip to Singh's (yes, citizen journalism requires a strong stomach), we present you with the following evidence:


Quite nice, even a little curry leaf putting in an appearance. And now, we present the leftovers:


Perhaps a larger than normal dose of cholesterol ... we still recommend Singh's, just not the lamb curry.

In Summary

Singh's Curry House

Cnr of Gordon Street and Victoria Parade

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: 9:30am - 9:00pm

Sun: 10:30am - 8:30pm

Spend:

$4.50 - $10 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up (avoid the lamb though)

Central Cuisine

Having been told marvellous things about Central Cuisine by the gang at the water cooler, Kania Tiko and I felt moved to verify some of the claims of excellence being thrown about.

Central Cuisine certainly is central, so central there is usually a substantial line trying to reach the counter, comprising lunchers from every office building in a one-block radius (read 'half of down town Suva')

The overhead menu board boasts a range superior to anything we have seen on an overhead board anywhere else in Suva ... which is quite a feat when you realise that every single dish on the board is laid out in one of the many food warmers lining the counter.

Your order is handled efficiently: "Rice or noodles?" ... "Which dish?" ... "A drink?" ... and you are handed your tray and shuttled toward the cashier to hand over money within 30 seconds of having hit the counter.

Being desirous of trying as much of the range as possible, we both ordered combo-deals, which involve a quartered tray, a serving of starch, 2 selections from the menu and a bowl of soup.

Chicken in black-bean, fried red pork, noodles.

Braised beef, chilli chicken, rice, chicken sweet corn soup.

Whilst there is much to be admired in the logistics applied by Central Cuisine in getting everything on their menu into a warmer, this McDonald's style approach to lunchtime fast-food does not translate into a good meal.

The dishes tasted mass-produced: the difference between meat dishes of the same type being nearly impossible to distinguish. We suspect the chilli chicken and the chicken-in-blackbean may have started off in the same wok before being finished with different sauces.

The starch was a little on the cold side, and the noodles were oily and slightly singed.

The soup was enjoyable, but certainly nothing to write home about.

Now if fast service is the stick by which you measure your meals, by all means give Central Cuisine your custom.

The fact that Central Cuisine has recently expanded and taken over the operation of the busy Southern Cross cafeteria in USP and dishes out more of the same (and cheaper) to the student population, does their logistics much credit. However, it also confirms that they have become the McDonald's of Chinese in Suva: homogeneous, and predictable.

Too much has been lost in the mass-produced approach; and that earns Central Cuisine's lunch menu a thumbs down from Lunch in Suva.

Note: Central Cuisine has opened a lunch buffet. We have not had the opportunity to try it yet, so please let us know if you have.

In Summary

Central Cuisine

Suva Central

Opening Hours:

?

Spend:

$5.50 - $8.80 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-down

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Foccacia Cafeteria Limited at Vanua Arcade

This place is operated by a bunch of Korean folk. And its in Vanua Arcade on Victoria Parade. And it makes sandwiches and stuff like all day breakfasts, pies etc. This is also one of the few places in Suva where you can land a serve of kimbab or kimchi.

The only thing I've eaten there more than once are the focaccia. These are not normal focaccia, we call them Weird Korean Fusion Focaccia. The Deluxe Foccacia has bacon, chicken, tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, cabbage, and cheese.

Unfortunately my cell phone camera is crap, which is why the above photo is also crap.

There is an intriguing tangy and spicy tone to the whole thing that is obviously of Korean origin. The Focaccia bread is appropriately crunchy. The staff seem generally confused but they are competent enough.

In Summary

Vanua Arcade Sandwich Bar

Vanua Arcade, Victoria Parade

Opening Hours:

8am - 5pm, Monday to Saturday

Spend:

$6 - $8 per person (depending on Drink)

Verdict:

Thumbs-up