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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jay Rayner

Desi Yew Tree, Wolverhampton: ‘Part of the brilliance of Desi pub culture’ – restaurant review

Matter of pride: owner Pete Banga in the dining room with chef Sanjok Gaire, who holds a medium sizzler platter.
Matter of pride: owner Pete Banga in the dining room with chef Sanjok Gaire, who holds a medium sizzler platter. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Observer

Desi Yew Tree, 44 Pool Street, Wolverhampton, WV2 4HN. Desiyewtree.com. No reservations. Starters £4.50 – £11; Sharing grill platters £12 – £22; Main dishes £8.50 – £13. Beer from £4 a pint

I am but a man; as easily suggestible as any rampant digestive system attached to an equally rampant mouth. Show me a picture of a steaming bowl of ramen, the burnished rings of chashu pork peeking shyly from the cloudy broth, and I will immediately know that this is the only thing I wish to eat. Forever. Or at least for lunch. The hanging Cantonese roasted ducks, pressing their red and gold breasts to the windows of Chinatown restaurants, aren’t just a serving suggestion to me. They are benign sirens, calling me irresistibly to the table. I know how sophisticated food photography has become. That doesn’t stop the baser animal part of me, the bit throbbing away in some rudely undeveloped fold of my brain, demanding that I find a way to get my mouth around whatever I’m looking at. I like to think of myself as discerning and sophisticated; in truth, I am merely an advertiser’s dream.

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