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Ameet Chana with Ah So master chef Charlie Bueno |
Square meal for ex-EastEnder
Former soap star Ameet Chana is working on a Bollywood film being made in north London. But when it comes to food, he turns to the Orient, writes Simon Wroe
WHERE better to meet former EastEnders actor and star of Bend It Like Beckham, Ameet Chana, than a restaurant where theatre is a part of the dining experience?
The Ah-So Japanese restaurant in Upper Street, Islington, cooks in the traditional “teppanyaki” style, and its chefs are famous for their dizzying displays of culinary prowess.
“Me and the wife are both huge fans of Oriental food,” says Ameet. “We come here regularly for the food, but also for the performance side of it which is great fun.”
The 31-year-old is best known for his role as Adi Ferreira in EastEnders, the market trader middle brother of an Indian family in Albert Square.
“People would come up to me in the street and offer to send the boys round to sort out my father, who beat my character on the show,” he laughs. “You become public property – you are the character.”
Ameet got his first professional job for the BBC at 15 while still at school, then did 12 years of theatre until Bend It Like Beckham propelled him into the limelight, followed shortly after by his stint on EastEnders.
He has recently finished a project with Yash Raj films – the biggest Bollywood production company – all shot in Finsbury Park.
Ameet says: “London is now the second biggest place in the world for Bollywood shoots, especially now because it’s monsoon season in India, so they shoot all the exteriors over here.”
His latest project is a modern reworking of a classic fairytale, again for the BBC. Starring Denise Van Outen, The Empress’s New Clothes sees Ameet playing one of the shyster tailors who sells the monarch their birthday suit.
Ameet is striving to keep to a “health regime” and our early choices of dishes reflect that.
We share vegetarian sushi (£4.95) and huge, delicious tempura prawns (£7.50), with green tea to start. But for the main neither he nor I could turn down the combination offer of steak, lobster, tiger prawn, salmon, pork and duck (£19.95 per head for any three choices, excluding the lobster), all cooked to perfection and served with rice, miso soup and grilled vegetables.
Teppanyaki, meaning “grill cooking”, is a communal eating experience, with diners assembled round central grills. While our master chef Charlie Bueno entertains us in a blur of fire and steel, owner Naresh Kapoor explains the philosophy behind his restaurant.
“A lot of Japanese places have quite a formal attitude – this is a much more relaxed setting.” he says. “Here you see your food being cooked in front of you – you can tell the chef exactly how much salt you want, how much garlic etc.”
He adds: “Our chefs do a lot of dancing, singing and customer participation.”
Naresh and Ameet have been friends for years, and the conversation soon turns to the actor’s lavish five-part wedding last year. He and his bride, an actress and barrister who once co-starred alongside him as his sister, got engaged in Delhi, married at the Lake Palace in Rajasthan, holidayed in the Maldives, then had a civil marriage and a final party in London.
They now live in Friern Barnet, though Ameet has a soft spot for Islington from his days on EastEnders.
He says: “I used to come out to Upper Street all the time when I was working on the show. It does get a bit mad here, but I am trying very hard to grow out of that.”
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