Little Lamb

The concept of 'Mongolian hot-pot' has dubious origins, with fanciful tales of Genghis Khan and his soldiers boiling broth in their warrior helmets before battle. Nevertheless, versions of this dip-and-eat cuisine have proved to be a hit across China and the US. Little Lamb - not to be confused with the better-known Little Sheep chain - has opened this first branch in the UK. The entire first page of the menu is dedicated to the thirteenth-century legend - but, sadly, that's about as Mongolian as it got. We had ordered the hot-pot set meal (£18 per person), which includes eight dishes of your choice. Apart from the obligatory sliced lamb meat (lamb is a key protein in Mongolian food culture), and 'Mongolian-style flat noodles' (wide, chewy, flat noodles made from mung bean) there wasn't much else on the menu that caught our attention; buuz (dumplings filled with minced mutton or yak meat) was conspicuous by its absence. We sampled both kinds of broth - one described as 'ma-la' (numbing and hot), and a lighter 'herbal tonic' version. Both had a distinctively medicinal aroma from the Chinese herbs that are infused in the broth, such as ginseng and red dates, but also had a surprisingly rich, meaty flavour that had us wanting more with each sip. But despite the copious amounts of chilli, the spicy broth failed to deliver completely - it wasn't so much numbing and hot as numbingly mild. Disappointingly, the most authentic thing on the menu - Mongolian-style milk tea, stewed from brick tea, with plenty of milk and a pinch of salt - was taken off the menu within days of the restaurant opening. People didn't like it, explained our waitress; after all, they have to serve things that customers actually like. But who are these people, anyway? Clearly, not Mongolians, or anyone who knows Mongolian cuisine. Little Lamb suffers from a malaise that seems to run rife through restaurants in Chinatown - the urge to dumb down flavours that lie outside of the norm (ie mild, Cantonese cooking), often at the cost of the cuisine's authenticity. While Little Lamb is a perfectly competent restaurant, with comfortable surroundings and friendly staff, it really shouldn't pretend that it serves Mongolian food.

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/12497.html