Tuesday 27 January 2009

Restaurant Review: Yue Yang House




Yue Yang House
241 Wick Road, Homerton, London, E9 5AF
+44 (0) 20 8986 5811
Not exactly a restaurant per sé - it only does take outs - but it does have a bench for you to sit & wait for your order. The food is absolutely excellent though - and this reviewer cannot recommend it highly enough!
On the evening we had our meal - we were greeted with very friendly smiles and enquiries as to how we were - as if we were very regular patrons. There are menus on the counter for you to peruse - but we had already had a look at the framed menu in the window - so were pretty confident about what we wanted.
However - there were a couple of items we were unsure of what they were - and the staff were very helpful in explaining the ingredients, how they were cooked, and more or less what they tasted like.
Once we'd placed the order & paid (very reasonable) - we took a seat on the bench and had a choice of entertainment. There was a lovely aquarium with about 8 medium sized fish of different varieties right next to the bench. We could have also had a read of the complimentary day-or-two old newspapers - mainly tabloids - which - as tempting as they were - seemed a bit too old news for us.
Instead - we opted for the 3 choice of entertainment - the free screening of Eastenders. At the sound of the signature tune - a couple of the owners kids joined us on the couch to catch up with the current toings & froings from Albert Square.
All too soon our food order was ready - neatly packaged in separate foil boxes - with a complimentary bag of prawn crackers. The helpful staff then finally confirmed the contents of our carrier bag - and with another smile & and a cheery salutation - bid us good night - and asked us to come back again soon.
Back at home - the whole family loved all the food - with the Hong Kong Style Fried Chicken being the unanimous favourite! The Special Fried Rice was an excellent companion to the pineapple flavour.
The sauce of the Fried Beef with Mushrooms was divine and of just the right consistency. The Assorted Seafood in Black Bean Sauce was too die for!! They don't scrimp on the fish - or the black beans!
Our meal was accompanied by a family sized bottle of Pepsi-Cola - which - lets face it - is the perfect pallet cleanser for between bites.
Throughout the meal we crunched through the complimentary Prawn Crackers which were completely oil-free & actually tasted of prawns.
Our whole family agreed on a 4-star rating. The only reason we couldn't go for the extra star was because the newspapers were just too old. But it was awfully close!!
Yue Yang House also does home deliveries - so please call them up if you know what you want.

Monday 26 January 2009

Hackney Wick Controlled Parking Zone?


The pedestrian gates for the construction workers on the Olympic Site will open in White Post Lane in a few weeks.

This means that thousands of Olympic staff will be arriving at Hackney Wick Station daily (yes Sundays as well) and make their way to the entrance.

But it will also mean that some will come by car. Like it or not some people are petrolheads, and do not like travelling by public transport.

Hackney Council & Tower Hamlets Council are considering imposing a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) across the whole area - in order to dissuade people from bringing their cars into the Wick. Nothing is confirmed yet, and it may not even happen, but in the meantime, just to be prepared - what do you all think?

  • Do we need a CPZ?
  • Will there really be an increase of vehicles?
  • What will this mean for private estates & businesses who have parking spaces not controlled by a CPZ?
  • Will there be an increase in burger vans?
  • Where will all our visitors park?
  • What about the school run parents in Berkshire Road?
  • Will it cost us anything to get the permits?
  • What about all the church vehicles that park everywhere on Sundays?
  • Will the car junk yards be exempt for their cars waiting to be serviced?
  • Will clearer streets increase the speed of the Council Refuse trucks going to Chapman Road?
  • Will clearer streets increase the speed of the skip lorries from McGraths?
  • What do we do about children crossing the streets if more cars are 'permitted' to park along the streets?


Any more questions?


Sunday 25 January 2009

Chapman Brothers in Hackney Wick

Pic: Sam Christmas


There is no surer sign of an areas up&comingness than artists moving in to the larger premises. But when a large (in the famous sense) artist moves into an area - this is fantastic for the neighbourhood!!
According to the Evening Standard (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/es-magazine-fashion/article-23600332-details/Jake's+progress/article.do) - this is exactly what Jake Chapman has done.
I am sure that the whole of Hackney Wick will welcome the arrival of Jake into our streets, cafes, lives & community events!
Please Jake - if you have any influence over your friends & contemporaries - please suggest to them that they also make the short hop from Shoreditch to the Wick - we need as many movers & shakers as possible to start putting Hackney Wick on the map for the RIGHT reasons!!
Welcome!

Friday 23 January 2009

Hackney Council & ODA community meeting for Hackney Wick





I am sure that everyone who attended last nights meeting at the Hackney Wick Community Centre would agree that it was excellent!

There were many stalls to visit of which the Wick Curiosity Shop (http://www.wickcuriosityshop.net/) was way & ahead the best one there!!! Please go & give them a visit - there are stunning photos, stories about the Wick, fantastic history about right here in our surrounding streets, and brilliant anecdotes galore!!

We also saw the new plans for the St Marys church redevelopment. To be honest - when I first heard about the 2 towers that were going to be built on each side of the church - I couldn't imagine it fitting in. But seeing the plans, artists impression & model puts my mind well at ease!! The new towers will be very sympathetic to the main tower & still not be imposing over the green.

As for the ODA - well - it was a vast improvement on all the previous meetings!! There was more discussion around the tables, and they promised to answer the resulting questions - either by email to me - or by printing them in the next edition of 'ENGAGE'.

The most troubling concerns were still around jobs, trees, noise & dust data - and the CPZ (see: http://hackneywick.blogspot.com/2009/01/hackney-wick-controlled-parking-zone.html). As soon as I have more detailed answers on each subject - I will post a separate entry for each one.

But - this was definitely the best presentation we have had from them to-date. The star of the whole show was Alan Pigott (St Mary's Reverend) - who chaired the Q&A with amazing skill, fairness & humanity! Thank you Alan!!



Sunday 18 January 2009

What was this building?


This building is at the bottom end of White Post Lane. It's a two storey (Victorian) brick building with a black & white mosaic sign at the top.

The last 4 letters of the sign are ------LLES.

Anyone got any idea?



PS: Anonymous (below) added the following amazing links for us to read more about this intriguing building:

Friday 9 January 2009

Saint John of Hackney Wick



If you have ever had the incredible experience of actually buying a ticket from the ticket office at Hackney Wick Station - the you'll have met one of the nicest people on the planet!!

I can only be talking about St John of Hackney Wick!!

There is nothing too difficult for him to do for you, there is no amount of hard work he won't do on your behalf, there is no easier alternative journey he won't plan for you - and all this with such a friendly, professional & charming way about him!!

John - if you ever happen to come across this site - please know that all of Hackney Wick absolutely love you to pieces!! You make the whole experience of leaving or arriving in Hackney Wick so beautiful for thousands of people daily!!

Thank you!



See more fans of Saint John of Hackney Wick at:
http://davehill.typepad.com/claptonian/2007/06/a_reader_writes.html








Olympic Weekend Work on Arena Fields


We all know that we are very excited about the Olympics coming to Hackney Wick!! We are the closest residential neighbours to the Olympic site - and it is going to be fantastic to be able to simply walk across the new footbridge - straight onto the Olympic Park!!

But.......

...... there are a few more years to go yet! And they are going to be a little difficult for some of the residents!!

On the whole - Hackney Wick residents are balancing up the noise, dust, traffic & disruption - with all the amazing benefits to come with the legacy!

We feel that the new Hackney Council permission for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to do Saturday & Sunday earth & soil movement on Arena Fields - directly opposite thousands of its residential neighbours - is a step too far!!

There is quite substantial noise & dust during the weekdays already - and for Hackney Council to now permit the ODA to work on the weekends - is to completely ignore the wishes of it's very own tax-payers!

Please Hackney Council - take some responsibility for your residents - and represent them fairly & justly!! Is it too much to ask for a couple of days a week rest from the relentless noise & dust?

Thursday 1 January 2009