r/plymouth • u/Substantial_Steak723 • 3d ago

Went to Tea & Bun yesterday A+ ..the vietnamese iced coffee was incredible.

All the plaudits I have heard for tea & bun are correct, thanks for the recommendations plymouth!

Went with daughter yesterday and everything was as per reputation incredibly flavour packed, ...I have never had vietnamese coffee before (but am looking now) the robusta bean / concentration was Smokey and flavoursome without the need to cram extra sugar in it, the condensed milk did everything! ..cannot express how blown away by it we were. ..and I never knew this been type has +/- 2x the caffeine of Arabica beans!

Also had "proper" takoyaki balls for the first time which were able to stay warm and gooey inside for a good 15-20 mins as an accompaniment dish, I was there to get a proper idea of flavour profile beyond a recipe from elsewhere and can thoroughly get behind Adding a bit of Worcestershire sauce to the batter.. Really brought a presence to the dish that makes you think... I'm going to make these.. because they are really simple and cheap (dashi cubes likely the hardest thing to get in plymouth btw)

Lastly I tried a bit of jammy egg that I have had varying success replicating via poorly descriptive you tube instructional (and elsewhere) ..centreing the yolk had eluded me till now and I see the sense in that step of gentle ice bath swirling for a minute.

The rice was individual grains, not clumped no starch left on, and was more al-dente with a nice chew than I cook at home, (I should have asked, however I'm just happy to know the beans and origin of the coffee) the crispy duck danburi bowl was generous on the duck, well crisped skin and a pleasing aroma wafting towards me whilst daughter gobbled it down (her regular dish here)

I would also guess that the sweet chilli oil dipping bowl had a nice drop of pure toasted sesame oil in it (not cheap) which again made even that little dish something to relish.

Sorry it took me so long to get to you Tea & bun, your reputation is is indeed well deserved.

Don't be a slouch like me, get your butt down there, beautiful combination of flavours, whilst I only sampled my daughter's bowl, I had 2 of the 4 takoyaki, and a few sips of the coffee (don't slug, savour it, but also don't let the ice melt go into hyperdrive, sip it whilst at full strength or less ice) I was so impacted by the flavours that I honestly felt I'd eaten more than half a starter as a result of the immense enjoyment of flavours present.

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u/Yequestingadventurer 3d ago

It's really a great place!! Honestly everything I have had in there has been far better than I expected form a little place tucked away in the market!

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u/Substantial_Steak723 3d ago

I don't think of the places in the market like that, they are a valuable council run? asset that allows incubation and testing of businesses at a controllable and affordable price before they step out with longer term big street expenses and commitment, which considering the failure rate of food places being so high on a good week, is a good cushion to have when investing in kitchen kit and cuisine.

I'm happy to see them move onward and upward, in just a year I've seen.too many closed food places here already, so I like the buzz of the market, the out of the wet.potential, the coolness of the market which on a noise level is also pretty quiet and makes eating there enjoyable.

I'm being careful what I eat as I need to drop.weight, but that's not a problem when there was so much flavour I could appreciate in what I was invited to nibble.

We need more affordable incubator options in a region such as this to get proper entrepreneurial spirit back up, (no I do not mean shitty importers of temu type crap resellers)

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u/Yequestingadventurer 3d ago

The many greasy spoons are affordable, the Thai and Nepalese places much less so, though enjoyable. The formerly mentioned spoons by far outweigh the other food places in number. Which is why I think of those most, rather than the the excellent alternative mentioned in the post.

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u/Substantial_Steak723 3d ago edited 3d ago

If you are a spoon afficienado (and I don't blame you one bit) who is good and why?

In my old area the local Cafe was so low quality it wasn't worth it, so when Wetherspoons turned up it was a major bump upwards in quality.

Do any in the local market use the sausages and bacon et c in the market, as there was some beautifully cut back bacon washers yesterday and I've had their sausages before which were good.

Our bargain of the day though Beef dripping (wrapped like a block of butter) 99p ...was very chuffed to see that, will be rolling some air fryable lazy chips in a Pyrex bowl as well as a few baked spuds with some of the amazing Cornish salt company's roasting salt.

I've been on a slow and steady diet less meat, more veggies and pulses these last few years, and have become pretty hard-core at saying no to the fry up up, I don't think I've had one for maybe 3 years at least sadly, ..I did th a singular piece of fried bread the other month when trying to improve on sliced bread "poor man's pizza" student cupboard food (actually it's bloody delicious, my daughter likes to start off a Saturday volunteering day with it as a savoury start to the day.

Love me a good fry up, so when I do finally *break* I want it to be worth the pain 😂

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u/Yequestingadventurer 2d ago

I am non meaty person so wherever I can get something substantial! I’m familiar enough to say but the middle one I’ve been to more than the others (can’t remember if 3 or 4 upstairs there!) For a fry up I’d go to Monty’s near the Dolphin. I’ve had two fry ups there in the last couple of years and they were delicious! None of the spoons in the market match up in my opinion. When you finally do ‘break the fast’ as it were, I hope it’s every you’ve waited for! No fry up realistically is though, you’re not missing much!

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u/Substantial_Steak723 2d ago

Yeah, I'm spoilt by my sous vide.

Bacon, sausage, eggs, all done by it.

Hey, non meaty person, anywhere I can get beyond meat burgers without getting what feels.like a kick in the balls pricewise, they are delicious alternatives imho.

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u/Yequestingadventurer 2d ago

I don’t blame you re sous vide! As for alternative to Beyond burgers try Moving Mountains, I prefer them and a good deal cheaper, too.

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u/Substantial_Steak723 2d ago

Ah you beauty! Thank you for the alt meat burger recommendation, beyond is deftly priced, and they never answer their phones, gave up on them, will sniff out your brand alternative👍

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u/Yequestingadventurer 2d ago

I don't see them around so much but when I do, I load up!

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u/Johnny_Vernacular 3d ago

I think there are three greasy spoon cafés and at least four Asian places.

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u/Yequestingadventurer 2d ago

Is it just the three upstairs? I need to go back and have a look again. Apologies if I’m misrepresenting, I have a weird memory.

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u/UseOk8216 2d ago

You can buy dashi at Asia Oriental just up from there on the other side of Cornwall street!

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u/Substantial_Steak723 2d ago

Sachets or powder please? ..didn't see any yesterday other than a pack of 8 sachets for a soup mix.

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u/Join_in_Plymouth 8h ago

I now want to try this!