Saturday special: Steamed buns from Dorothy's Kitchen

These chinese steamed buns, with a pork or chicken filling, are available at Dorothy's Kitchen only on Saturdays, and usually sold out early in the afternoon.


These are probably the best steamed buns in Suva (comments welcome). I have a distinct preference for the pork ones (pictured above) ... but if pork isn't on your menu, the chicken buns are quite good.

If you've got a hankering for steamed buns during the week, Hot & Spicy Kitchen sells an edible chicken-filled bun.

Joji's Noodle Bar at MHCC

After years of operating quietly from his hole in the wall under the Civic Centre on the Suva foreshore Joji finally decided it was time to expand the empire.

First, there was a tentative foray into new territory during Fiji Showcase. Judging by the lines, the hungry masses approved.

Joji pondered this validation of his culinary authority, and then went to see a man about an empty space in the MHCC food court.

And now Joji's Noodle Bar has a stall at the top of the escalators on the 2nd floor of MHCC. Judging by the lines during lunch hour, the hungry masses still approve.

As the name indicates, this place is all about noodles. Dalo is available with some dishes, but there is no rice available here.

Where there's noodle, there's soup. Combination long and short, Asian beef stew, chicken noodle, fish balls.

This is the combination long and short soup: chicken, beef, fish balls, wantons, your choice of noodles, in an peppery broth. There is no pork in the soup (or on the menu). They've also swapped out the usual Chinese cabbage with lettuce. This doesn't bother me, but Kania Tiko considers it to be an unforgivable deviation from the norm.

Takeaway soups are well packed.

Almost everything on the menu is cooked to order. The staple chow mein and chilli chicken dishes (with noodles of course) are cooked in bulk, but never more than is needed to keep the line moving.

New to the menu is the 'Hot, Sweet and Sour Noodles'. The proprietor describes it as being 'like a noodle salad.'

A brilliant combination of noodles and vegetables with a hot, tangy sauce holding it all together! This dish then evolved a little, and offered a choice of chicken or beef in the dish. It has since been removed from the display menu, but I am assured that they will prepare it on request.

The menu is priced a little higher than the original Joji's. This, in addition to the lack of rice and the introduction of soup, means they're not competing with their original shop. To that end, the MHCC outlet has also dropped the small serve.

Not content with the move to MHCC, they've also opened a bakery in the food court that serves up a variety of cakes, pastries and breads under the banner of Joji's Temptation ... but that is for another review.

For adding soup to the usual Joji's options, and a hot, sweet & sour noodle salad that rises above the usual takeaway offerings, a thumbs-up.

In Summary

Joji's Noodle Bar

MHCC Food Court, Level 2, MH City Centre, sandwiched between Thompson St, Renwick Rd, and Nabukalou Creek.

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sun: 9:00am - 9:00pm

Spend:

$6 - $7 per person

Rating:

Thumbs-up

Joji's at Fiji Showcase

The annual abomination that is Fiji Showcase has rolled around again. The entry fee to the exhibition has gone up ($3.50 this year), the clown hasn't changed, and the same old exhibitors are touting their wares from the floor.

The "food" offerings aren't particularly inspiring this year either, though I do note and applaud the general effort to keep the number of BBQ stalls in check.

But ... Joji's was there! Yes, that Joji's. The Showcase Joji's is a special chicken-only version of the original from under the Civic Centre. $5 for the 'medium' serve, $6 for the large: in all the usual chicken combinations: chop suey, chowmein, chilli, fried rice and blackbean.

On that note, here's our first Lunch in Suva video special: 'Son of Joji' showing us how they make Chilli Chicken in 2 minutes 40 seconds flat.



Truly, the force is strong with this one: fire, wok and chicken do his bidding.

There are a couple of other stalls that bear mention:

There is a new entrant in the hot-dog category offering a "German frankfurter with sauerkraut". The frankfurter didn't look, taste or speak German (in fact it looked and tasted remarkably like the Foods Pacific 'dog being sold a few stalls down), but the sauerkraut was definitely sauerkraut. At $3.50, this is probably not a valid justification for a trip to Showcase ... but it may help redeem the visit if you were there for other reasons.

Also, worth a mention is the FRIEND's Fiji stall: I'm a fan of their excellent tamarind chutney, and supply of the big bottles is a little irregular in the supermarkets; so get yourself a stash straight from the source.

Most of the other food stalls can be ignored: Wish Bone, Curry House, KFC, et al can be got from their usual locations without paying the $3.50 Showcase tax.

Oh! And someone is selling cans of V for $2.50 each ... that's the cheapest I've seen it in a while.

Noodles King

Located in the old Fiji Times building on Gordon Street, Noodles King has dared to try something new: noodles! This latest addition to the asian dining scene (if you could call it that) sits opposite 2 other eateries that have challenged the status quo -- Singh's Curry House & Roma's Hook and Chook -- and so is in good company as it sets about provoking Suva's stagnant notions of what Chinese food should be.



There seems too have been some doubt about the name: the large light-box outside the shop seems, at first glance, to proclaim "Noodle King". Closer inspection reveals the addition of a small 's', reassuring us that this place deals exclusively in the plural (and more generous) style of noodle serve. Noodles King it is!

The menu is simple, the prices are cheap.

$6.80 will buy the house special, King Noodles (from Noodles King: clever, no?) (below) is a large bowl of thick home-made noodles in a bland broth topped with a bed of cabbage, chicken, pork, fish balls, a battered prawn, some raw carrots julienne and garnished with dhania/cilantro/corriander leaves.



The broth seems intended for personal customisation: bowls of chilli oil, soy sauce and salt are provided for this purpose (pictured below). The noodles are accompanied by a small side salad of shredded, vinegared vegetables: various combinations of radish, bean sprouts, carrot and slivers of raw onion have been sighted.



$7.00 gets you to the top of the pyramid: Prawn Noodles. Unless you've got a particular hankering for prawns, drop down to the King Noodles; they're far more interesting.

Noodles with gravy is the cheapest option at $3.80. The curiously named Fry sauce noodles (below) tops $4.20 worth of noodles with fried egg, soy sauce, sesame, and shallots. Other options are Beef, Chicken, Pork, Fish balls, and Egg (sunny-side-up). Takeaway or eat-in.



Suva's sad culinary bottom-feeders are also provided for in the form of chips with the usual chicken or sausage decoration, and a token smattering of the usual pseudo-chinese food-warmer offerings ... why anyone would want to eat this trash when coooked-to-order noodley goodness is available for the same price is beyond me. Coke and Pepsi fridges provide the usual drinks range.

This eatery seems a little haphazard in it's decor: yellow-green walls, blue and pink feature lights on the wall, silver ceiling fans. The eclectic ambience ranged from Eurodance to Chinese folk music to classical symphony: obviously from the well-shuffled MP3 collection of a rapacious download hero. The one redeeming touch was the food pictures on the walls: these were probably not taken in the shop, were not labelled and had "Noodle King" (rather than Noodles King) emblazoned across the bottom ... but to their great credit, all depicted food that could be ordered from the menu.



Kania Tiko held forth at some length on the shortcomings of the orange plastic seats: ill-considered ergonomics, a conspiracy to tip him onto the floor, and the unbucketly alignment of what looked like a bucket seat. Given that this is the worst criticism he could come up with -- and that it was not aimed at the food -- we should probably take this as a wholehearted endorsement of the product.

Places were set with a serviette and a little packet of 'Cool Air' breath mints, a nice touch.

Thumbs-up for trying something different and breaking the usual 'chop suey, chowmein, soup' menu rut that Suva's Chinese restaurants have become stuck in.

In Summary

Noodles King

Old Fiji Times Building, Gordon Street, Suva

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: 9:00am - 6:00pm

Spend:

$3.80 - $7 per person

Rating:

Thumbs-up

Hop Hing Cafe

Hop Hing sits opposite the beer factory in Walu bay. It plies a regular trade with the brewery, warehouse, oil, and wharf workers in the area. They serve up your typical pseudo-chinese food, plus the usual morning tea items (cake, buns, tinned meat etc.)

We tried two fairly representative items on the menu, first the combination short soup.
Kania Tiko is somewhat of a connoisseur of the Combination Short Soup. It has diced chicken, roast pork and red pork (but no beef strangely enough). The broth is superior to that of Mrs. Yangs, and doesn't need chillying up (but I chilly it up anyway out of force of habit). My main objection is the paucity of vegetables, all we have a couple of carrots and small handful of cabbage. Its the lack of veges and vege-variety that prevent this from challenging Hot & Spicy's position at the top of the totem pole of Suva's Combination Short Soups. At $9 its only 50 cents cheaper than Hot & Spicy, so it can't really compete on the price-performance curve either.

This is chicken chow-mein. Its stir-fried chicken, cabbage, carrots, and onions with noodles. You've all eaten this before so there is no point in me crapping on about it. It is hot and freshly cooked and costs $6.

This is the menu. If you can read it, then I congratulate you. If you can't go to Walu bay and read the real one.

The following video has absolutely nothing to do this review. I just think it would be cool to have a robot bartender in ones house, and also I want to send a big "Fuck You" to the Associated Press, for this display of stupidity.

In Summary

Hop Hing

Foster Rd, Walu Bay, Suva

Opening Hours:

Monday - Saturday: 7am - 5pm

Spend

$4.00 - $9.00 per person

Yang's Restaurant

Yang's Restaurant is on Pratt St., opposite Suva Central and next to the Hare Krishna. Prominent local media harlot Culden Kamea notes "that it's easy to spot because they hang their roast duck, chicken and pork in the front window". He also observes that their Combination Long and Short Soup is "world famous", and that is where this review starts:
The soup is both short (it has won tons) and it is long (it has noodles). The combination bit must come from the roast chicken, beef and roast pork. The lady (we'll call her Mrs. Yang) spoons out the broth, noodles, and won tons from three big pots. The meat and veges are cut with a pair of scissors and placed in the bowl - as far as I know no other short order cook in Suva that cooks with scissors.

We won't comment as to whether the soup is "world famous" but it is certainly Mrs. Yang's most popular order, and at $6.80 its great the value for money. If there is a negative point it is that the broth is rather bland, so chilli it up first.

Other highlights include the Red Pork, which comes with rice, cabbage, some sort of wierd black sauce, and a bowl of that same broth as the soup. With no tasty fillings to break the monotony the full blandness of the broth hits you, but you can probably use it as a dipping sauce. This is also $6.80. A simple dish done well.

If you are short of cash you can get fish/sausage and chips for $3.

There are seven tables, and the establishment can get quite warm, with only a lone oscillating fan struggling bravely against small room full of large sweaty island folk. In the back of the room there is a 'bar' that has long since ceased to serve alcohol and now serves as the washing up station.

In Summary

Yang's Restaurant

Pratt St, Suva
Opposite Suva Central

Opening Hours:

Monday - Saturday: 9am - 8pm

Spend

$3 - $6.80 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up

Chinese fast food at the Handicraft Centre

How in the name of all that is tasty does one review an eatery with no name?

Casting around for inspiration, I wandered off to This Is Why You're Fat, a website dedicated to photographically documenting strange American foods that are hard to name, and even harder to explain.

While staring at The Sandwich of Knowledge it became clear to me that inspiration would not strike; so here I am again, reviewing a Chinese fast food hole-in-the-wall located behind the stairs, under the carpark, at the Suva Handicraft Centre.


The Lunch in Suva crew usually just refer to it as "The Handicraft Centre".

"Steak and Eggs at the Handicraft Centre?" someone will ask; and given that there's only one place at the Handicraft Centre selling food, everyone knows what he's talking about.

And now you do too.


The aforementioned steak and eggs is the signature dish. Several slabs of dalo and a good serving of thinly-sliced, marinated steak make up the base. Add to that the better part of a whole onion (fried up in the same soy sauce marinade as the steak) and top the whole plate off with 2 sunny-side-up eggs ... and a lettuce leaf.

This steak will not win awards; but at $7, it is generous, tasty, and hits the spot if you're hungry.


The chop suey is usually served quite hot in large amounts. The chicken (pictured above) and beef versions are par for the course. Unless you're running close to broke, you will want to steer clear of the sausage chop suey ... and likewise the combination (beef, chicken and sausage).

The soup must be mentioned: I haven't tried it -- and therefore can't recommend it -- but a large number of patrons seem to give it their full attention.


Service is prompt. Pay at your table when the food is delivered. The place is a little on the rough side, but busy enough. I usually eat at the concrete tables outside the establishment (the space inside is small and stuffy). Takeaway is a popular option, particularly if the weather is bad.

In Summary

'Hole in the Wall' at the Suva Handicraft Centre

Stinson Parade

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: Lunch

Spend:

$5 - $7 per person

Henry's Kitchen at the Suva Bowling Club

Henry is a tall heavyset man with ridiculous hair, plying his artery clogging and arse expanding trade at the Suva Bowling Club, after spending many years doing the same at the Lawn Tennis Club.

Henry's speciality is the massive serve, and large rear ends and protruding stomachs of the clientèle indicate that he knows what his punters want, and that he serves it up to them by the plateful.

The menu is entirely composed of meals that are usually described by cliché ridden writers (like us) as "hearty". If by "hearty" we mean "likely to cause heart disease" then this is entirely accurate.

In fairness to Henry, the meals are not in themselves particularly unhealthy, one just expects that the effects of a Morgan Spurlock type experiment (one where every plate must be finished clean) could be quite dire.

This Wednesday menu is fairly typical and includes:

• Roast Pork with Dalo
• Whole Pan Fried Sabutu with Spicy Sauce - The "Shock and Awe" dish of the menu, a huge ugly bastard that fills your plate, packs your stomach, impresses your friends, and empties your wallet ($15)
• Fish and Chips - an old classic done well, always hot and fresh
• Various Chinese type meals: Beef Black Bean, Pork Chowmein, Chilli Chicken, Spicy Pork Fried Rice.

If you want something not on the menu, it usually pays to ask. If they have the ingredients and know how to do it, they will make it.

We went for the most popular item on the menu: Meaty Bones with Dalo and Cabbage, and decided to try something chinesey as well - the Chicken with Mushroom.

The venerable Sui is full of artery coating goodness, big hunks of meaty bones in a fatty broth, three slabs of heavy carbs, some cabbage just so that the colour green is represented, with chilli and lemon. Wash that down with some of the cheapest draught beer in town and it will make you happy that millions of years of evolution have given you a digestive system. It may also guarantee a very unproductive afternoon when you get back to office.

Minus point: There is no good reason to skimp on the lemon, a bigger slice (or maybe two slices) would be good. You can always ask for an extra slice, but I never remember and then it gets too hard to find the waitress again (especially if its busy). Just give more lemon dammit, not like it would cost them much.

The Chicken Mushroom was chosen as the representative of the pseudo-chinese part of the menu. The vegetables are plenty and fresh (except for the mushrooms and bamboo shoots which obviously come from a can), and the chicken is obviously a fine specimen of battery farmed frozen Gallus gallus domesticus.

Certainly tasty enough, and a suitably large serve but nothing special. A more serious objection is that they seem to have poured far too much of the brine from the bamboo shoot can into the pot, and this taste is overpowering and offputting.

These are what bones look like after they are done. They say Pirahnas can do a better job of stripping a cow to its bones, but I put it to you that their table manners are poorer, and good luck getting blog posts out of them afterwards.

If you come on a Saturday you get to see what that green bit out there in the sun is actually for. It's like billiards (targeting balls at other balls, copious beer drinking) but the table is bigger and they don't throw you out for getting on it.

They have parking, this is good. But no toothpicks, this is bad.

In Summary

Henry's Kitchen

Suva Bowling Club,
Cnr of Victoria Parade and Grahame St,
Suva

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: Lunch and Dinner

Spend:

$7 - $15 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

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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Jewel of Asia

Yet another food court find: this time from 'The Boulevard'. Jewel of Asia stands out for large serves ... good food and lashings of it.

My favourite is Steak and Dalo (with an optional fried egg on top). $7.50 will buy you enough dalo to feed a small family and slabs and slabs of tender, well marinated meat (picture below). A bit of salad on the side rounds out this substantial, and very tasty meal.

A warning: it takes real effort to finish. I attempted this item several times before I figured out how to build up the appetite to get all the way through. And if you can come at a full dinner after having this for lunch, you either work in construction, or have a weight problem.

Other good value for money items are roast chicken with dalo, the chicken and cashew, and the chicken chowmein (below). All the meat dishes come with a lovely gravy that has just the right amount of chilli in it.

Eating in is recommended: you'll need the walk back to the office afterwards, but they do takeaways as well.

In Summary

Jewel of Asia

Foodcourt 2, FNPF Plaza, Ellery St

Opening Hours:

8am - 5pm, Monday to Saturday

Spend:

$4 - $8 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up

Hot & Spicy Kitchen

Food courts are generally depressing places to eat, but Hot & Spicy Kitchen makes the Dolphin's Food Court worth visiting. I often wonder why they are stuck in the food court: they deserve a restaurant of their own.

If you're in a rush, or the sort of person that likes--God forbid--to order pre-cooked food from the warmer, then go elsewhere. This little Chinese food outlet comes into its own when you order from the menu ... and it has a menu that rivals most of the established restaurants in town for variety.

Soups start at $3.50 a serve (a good sized serve too). Besides the usual Chicken & Sweet Corn Soup, they have several others, including my favourite flu medication: Szechuan Hot & Sour Chicken Soup. They also make a very decent Combination Short Soup (and the usual variations on the theme).

The rest of the menu is divided roughly into:

• Chicken
• Beef
• Pork
• Vegetarian/Tofu

with separate sections for the Fu-Yung (omelettes) and Fried Rice. Each section is extensive and goes well beyond the usual chowmein and chopsuey options. There is also a board with seasonal or special items.

I'm a fan of the Szechuan Chicken and Ma-po Tofu (chicken or pork). The Lemon Chicken is also worth a try. Something called "Chicken, Mushroom, Veg" on the menu (pictured above) is probably my pick for the healthiest lunch in town. If you're absolutely rolling in cash and have a yearning for seafood, the Chilli Prawn Inferno lives up to it's billing.

I've always been impressed by the size of Hot & Spicy serves. Your order gets a takeaway container to itself and the rice gets a separate little bag. This accomplishes two things: it keeps food with a good sauce/gravy from soaking into the rice and becoming a sticky mess, and, it means you get to apportion the starch as you see fit.

Hot & Spicy is the only Chinese take-away place in Suva that does not have a 'half-serve', however, they more than make up for this by honouring special cooking requests: an acquaintance who is allergic to pork regularly orders combination fried rice--without the pork (pictured below); and they will happily vary the spiciness of dishes if you ask.

Dolphin's is a crowded place at lunch time so it's worth your while to pick up a menu from them next time you swing past, and keep it on your desk. They'll accept phone orders, which means you can call your choice in ahead and avoid the lines and the wait.

Hot & Spicy stays open 'til 9pm, so it's a favourite when I'm late leaving the office and don't feel like cooking.

You can either eat in the food court, or ask for take-way.

In Summary

Hot & Spicy Kitchen

Dolphin's Foodcourt, FNPF Place, Loftus St

Opening Hours:

8am - 9pm, 7 days a week

Spend:

$3.50 - $14 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up

Joji's AKA Hole-in-the-wall

Joji's was once a cocky young upstart, but now is a grand old man of the of the Suva lunch scene. It is insanely popular amongst the office crowd and students.

Without an official name for most of its history but called amongst other things "Civic centre", "Jackie Chan", "Hole-in-the-wall", Joji's has finally made it official by adopting their most popular moniker. Its now proudly displayed on top of their new menu board.

While the new menu board must of cost the proprietors a bit, it was almost certainly a complete waste of money. I have never seen anyone look at it. Ever. In taking the snapshot I am now believed to be the first non-Mormon to actually read a single word on the menuboard in the 21st Century.

The food is a series of greasy stir fries, your meal is ordered by selecting from the following parameters:

• Meat: Chicken, Beef, Pork, Red (Char Siu) Pork, Fish, Vegetarian, Combination (Chicken, Beef, Red Pork)
  
• Style: Chop Suey, Fried, Fried Rice, Black Bean, Long Soup, Chilli, Oyster Sauce, Omlette, Cashew Nut, Curry
  
• Carb: Rice, Noodles, Cassava
• Size: Half serve or full serve
  

Thus a typical order is Chicken Chop Suey with Rice (Chicken fried up with chinese cabbage, onions, and frozen mixed vegetables on hot rice) or Fried Beef with Noodles (Beef stir fried with onions and mixed veg on noodles). The main difference between Chop Suey and "Fried" seems to be that fried has no cabbage and a bit more meat, and the only difference between "Fried" and "Chilli" is that chilli has, well, chilli in it. And so on and so forth with "Black Bean" and "Oyster Sauce".

Joji's main gimmick is the open kitchen thing. You order something and the guy cooks it. Thus the food is hot and fresh and you know the guy isn't throwing rats and/or meat dust into your food.

However they cheat a bit, and some of the more popular orders are cooked ahead for the lunch rush so they can be dished out faster. These are usually the chicken chop suey, the red pork chop suey, the combination chop suey, and the fried chicken. The smart thing to do is to wait to see whats just been cooked and order that, your food will be fast and hot. Avoid anything that you didn't see it come out of the wok.

I don't recommend anything in particular, but I can point out the configurations that I don't like:

• Meat: Beef (tough and tasteless), Fish (25% of being dodgy smelling)
• Styles:
  • Fried, Oyster Sauce, Black Bean, Chilli - we all need to be good children and eat our greens
  • Curry and Cashew nut - never seen anyone order it, so it must be crap
  • long soup - soup needs to boil for a while, and they are not using pre-made stock, just water, so what you get is a watery mess
• Size: Full (its just to much for me to eat)

There is a small eat-in area but most choose to take away. Your takeaway gets packed in your garden variety polyurethane packaging, usually to be consumed at office or seawall (an extra $0.10 for a plastic spoon).

I particularly recommend the food before and after a night of drinking (alchohol or kava). It has the right amount of grease to coat your stomach, and sufficiently heavy to give that base that you need. These properties are also very useful on the day after this sort of debauchery.

In Summary

Joji's

Civic Centre, Suva

Opening Hours:

Buggered if I know, but alway open for lunch on Mondays through Saturdays. Not sure about public holidays.

Spend

$4 - $6 per person

Verdict

Thumbs-up (don't eat it too often though, can get tiresome)