THE last time we were up in the heady heights of the Yang Sing’s third floor, we were slapping balls around during the restaurant’s first ever Ping Pong Cha evening in such humid surroundings that one little white silicone table tennis ball actually began to melt on its way over the net, while the air was so thick that you could have slathered it on toast. Sesame prawn toast.
Luckily, this was a much cooler evening, both atmospherically and aesthetically.
Of the mains, the red beancurd chicken was the pick – succulent, salty-sweet and most importantly, plentiful - Had we not been on a table consisting only of women, we’d have finger picked the whole lot.
The guys were suited, the girls were gleaming and the food came steaming.
After the champagne reception the Chinese feast began to flood out of the kitchen like Hokusai’s Great Wave (that was Japanese? Bugger): To start a mango and vegetable salad, followed by shredded yam spring rolls and the Yang Sing’s notoriously delectable pork dim sum parcels of glee.
We’d crawl the entire 13,173 miles of the Great Wall of China for a bowl of Yang Sing’s pork, prawn and shiitake sui mai dumplings.
Auctioneer
The myriad of mains consisted of diced pork loin with green beans, sizzling beef with ginger and spring onion, red beancurd marinated roast chicken and white fish thins which, when scoffed synchronously with the voracious hunger of a T-Rex on Atkins, made us thankful that there was to be no dancing this evening. Lest the third floor quickly become the second.
Of the mains, the red beancurd chicken was the pick – succulent, salty-sweet and most importantly, plentiful - Had we not been on a table consisting only of women, we’d have finger picked the whole damn lot.
Courses were interspersed with moving testimonies of stroke survivors and volunteers, from children through to grandparents, either battling through the rehabilitation process or helping others do so.
Yang Sing Stroke Association Dinner
Sadly, unlike other charities, the Stroke Association doesn’t benefit from popular widespread public attention. We’d barely even heard of World Stroke Day, lest seen it advertised in the press. A simple Google search returns scarce results from the Times of India and the Kansas City Star.
Yet, an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke every year. One every five minutes. Regardless of the awareness, a legion of committed and often thankless volunteers slog away in the background, devoting their time to helping others make the most of theirs.
The fervour and commitment of the stroke troop is quite sobering actually. Until the third bottle of wine.
Find out more about the Stroke Association here and on twitter at @TheStrokeAssoc
Visit the Yang Sing here.
Thanks to Carl Sukonik at The Vain Photos for letting us nab a few snaps.
