Ming Hai

The man goes in to the back room, through the coloured ribbon curtain, to make the chips. I wonder what elaborate fantastical machine he has out there for making the chips. The dividing wall has the look of a screen – it is sky blue, decorated with delicate bounding dolphins. It looks flimsy and gold tinged.

The menu goes beyond fish and chips. Also rice, spring rolls, rice and curry sauce. I think how there’s a tidiness to that: fish & chips + Indian influence = chips & curry sauce + Chinese influence = rice + curry sauce = back to (kind of) rice & curry.