a rather unusual chinaman

Number 67: Yet another South East London gem

2010-07-28T10:30:00.001+01:00

If you, like me, are ruled by your belly, I don't think there has been a better time to live in the south east of London. There have been so many new restaurants and revamps that eating out around here has become an utter joy. I always try to look out for new places opening near me, and when I heard that there was a new cafe (from none other than the Camberwell Blog) opening next to the South London Gallery a short stroll from my house, I had to go and check it out.

The cafe itself is integrated with the South London Gallery, taking up various rooms and areas inside and out. I was slightly confused with the layout, but it is just meant to be a cafe, so I headed out towards the back and got a small table outside. The menu itself is quite an interesting beast. It's definitely on the slightly pricy side, with its "Full Spanglish" hitting the dizzy heights of £8 for breakfast. Definitely not Peckham prices! Then again, the selection on the menu had my mouth watering and I opted for a few smaller plates to see what this place was all about.

Saturday is brunch day and I wasn't letting the fact that it was nearly 2pm stop me from getting some sort of eggs and pig. The jamon and scrambled egg won that contest easily and arrived perched on a massive slice of toasted sourdough. I had to stop myself from scoffing this all immediately and making an unholy mess out of myself. The velvety scrambled eggs and what I think was Serrano ham was a modern twist on the more traditional ham and eggs. With the eggs slightly underseasoned, but coming together with perfect balance once the ham was added to the mouthful, I quietly devoured this all.

On the side, I ordered a portion of their pork rillettes, a personal favourite dish. When it arrived, I was seriously worried that I had over ordered but as soon as I took one mouthful of that silky pork, the food stood absolutely no chance. The pork arrived in a huge mound with some cornichons on the side to provide a vinegary contrast to the smooth and rich meat. More slices of sourdough were doused with an intensely grassy olive oil, bringing together an excellent contrast in flavours and textures.

Suffice to say I really enjoyed No 67. It has been a long time since I found somewhere which actually made me smile, and having it so close to my front door is just an added bonus. Open for lunch during the week and brunch at the weekends, you even get to take in the delights of the gallery next door. Another great addition to an already fabulous area.

Number 67 - 67 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH

Ice Cream Season: Gelupo and Chin Chin Laboratorists

2010-07-25T23:04:00.000+01:00

(Llandudno Beach, Cape Town. Not London)

It is a God given fact that the Sun and London do not go together. Hardly a summer passes by where we don't hear at least one complaint of how rubbish it all was. Imagine my chagrin as I sat on a sunny South African beach, revelling in the fact that this year I didn't need to cope with London's highly changeable weather, only to find out that my home had been bathed in sunlight for days on end. However, as much as I was enjoying my trip, the thought of a sunny London just made going home a lot easier.

(A very respectable pistachio ice cream from Oddono's)

Nothing complements the sunny weather better than an ice cold ice cream to cool you down. Ice cream has been proven to contain medicinal qualities (this may be made up) and can be prescribed as a cure for heat stroke or melancholy (this is a fact). As the sun appears to have crept up on London, so have a handful of ice cream parlours. With Scoop initially leading the way with their branch in Covent Garden and now one in Soho, we have seen various other ice cream parlours or "gelateria" (for the softer and creamier Italian versions) pop up.

One that has received a flurry of good reviews has been Gelupo on Archer Street. Little sister to Bocca di Lupo (a "regional Italian restaurant") across the road, the premises are dedicated to "gelati, sorbets and granita" with a shop selling a smattering of Italian comestibles. With the waitress thrusting tasters upon me (it would have been rude to decline), I had a taste of the pistachio (nutty and sweet) and the slightly less standard Bonet (essentially a combination of rum, amaretti, coffee, chocolate).

Soon enough, a choice had to be made so I opted for another firm favourite flavour in hazelnut and something a bit different with the ricotta, coffee and honey flavour. The hazelnut was all I could hope for. I am a big fan of nut based ice creams, and this had all the nutty characteristics you would expect, alongside the sweet creaminess that only a good gelato can deliver. The ricotta, coffee and honey was a stunning combination of flavours, with the coffee and honey being two quite unexpected but entirely complementary bedfellows.

My compatriots opted for a variety of the sorbets and granitas, and although they commented that their offerings may have been erring on the sweet side, I was incredibly satisfied with their creamier offerings. At £3 for a medium cup, it's not totally extortionate and the perfect remedy for a hot stroll around Soho.

A few days later, it was time for another (totally different) adventure, this time in the badlands of Camden. After strolling past the hordes of tourists perusing shops offering piercing, tattoos and leather goods (an interesting assortment of London souvenirs, I’m sure you will agree), we approached the iconic Camden Lock. Here you will find the Chin Chin Laboratorists, apparently Londons first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour.

My ultra scientific explanation is that liquid nitrogen is seriously cold. Mixing it together with cream whilst it is being whisked around makes ice cream in mere minutes, with the liquid nitrogen turning into gas and evaporating off. Trust me, go and listen to the explanation given by Ahrash, one half of the duo behind this venture, it will make a tonne more sense. As he studiously prepares the ice cream, he chats to you and answers any questions that you may have. This just added to the charm of the place.

The choice isn't vast but with two standard flavours (vanilla and choc I think) and one guest flavour every day (with other flavours in development) it should get your whistle well and truly whetted. And besides, once the show with the liquid nitrogen is over, you get to chat with Nyisha, co-owner and partner, who will jazz up your ice cream with whatever you desire from the toppings that are available. I opted for salted caramel sauce and some nibbed hazelnuts.

I can't say that the ice cream taste any different than what I would expect from a premium ice cream, but it was still an excellent rendition of vanilla ice cream and the toppings were a wonderful addition. At £4, this is a bit more expensive than other ice cream parlours, but then again, do you get theatre and education there? As well was chatting to the two lovely people behind the counter? I thought not.

There are tonnes more ice cream places in London and I will endeavour to check a few out before the summer is out and we are back in our thick warm winter coats (so probably some time in September). If you have any personal favourites, please let me know!

Gelupo - 7 Archer Street, London W1D 7AU

Chin Chin Laboratorists - 49-50 Camden Lock Place

NomNomNom 2010: Yup, I entered a cooking competition and it didn't end well

2010-07-19T17:21:00.010+01:00

All that was running through my head was "What am I doing here?". After two and a half hours slaving away, chopping, slicing, freezing, boiling, mixing and other things ending with "-ing", I surveyed a sloppy custard tart in front of me and could have cried.

So how did it come to this exactly? Actually, it all started approximately 12 months ago. Back in the day when I was a blogging newcomer, a fair few of my new found friends entered a competition called "NomNomNom". A competition with that many "Nom's" in its name has got to be worth entering, right? With tales of madcap dashing around in the markets, burning things and general tales of drunken antics, I told myself that this would be the stage to prove that I could cook, to prove that I wasn't a total buffoon in the kitchen, to prove that I was capable of more than just writing about restaurants.

Courtesy of Tikichris

Twelve months later and the trumpet sounded. "All who would dare compete for the prize of most illustrious NomNomNommer, please apply here". Finding a partner was easy. I have already cooked with Carla from Bribedwithfood a few times, and although often considered no more than her "bitch", we entered together under the moniker of "The Cultural Hotpot", two people with more cultural ambiguity than a Benetton ad.

The prep did not start well. During the four weeks between entering and the actual day of reckoning, I spent 3 of them traipsing around South Africa, leaving me woefully underprepared. Thankfully, Carla had put in a few trial runs of the starter and the main, with the rather ambitous Strawberry Custard tart with Pimms sorbet in my hands. Two and half hours to make pastry, a set custard and a sorbet? In hindsight, this was a pretty insane proposition as I was soon to find out.

Arriving early at The Cookery School on Little Portland Street on a Sunday morning, we gathered our shopping bags, outlined our stock ingredients and set off for the market at a feverish pace. Marylebone farmers market can be found hidden away behind Waitrose every Sunday (10am to 2pm) and we managed to purchase some delicious (if pricy) vegetables and fruits before heading to the Ginger Pig for some pork to be used in the main and Waitrose for the last few ingredients we could not locate.

A swift return and a health and safety briefing later, it was time to show the world what a culinary genius I was. That was the moment everything started to go wrong. After calmly telling Carla that it didn't matter if we won, my insanely competetive instinct took over but I could not avoid the juggernaut of relative failure. First there was too much sugar in the sorbet, then I had run out of yolks for the custard and had to borrow one, then the cornstarch wasn't getting cooked. Error after error presented themselves to me, all of which could have been avoided with a simple trial run or two. Carla calmly went about her business and presented two excellent plates of food, whilst I surveyed my sad sloppy tart. I was a broken man, staring down at my custardy mess as others around me presented plates upon plates of highly "nommable" plates of food.

We didn't win, but we certainly had put our heart and soul into our food. I was severely disappointed with what I had done, but I always learn from my mistakes and next time I can guarantee that my strawberry custard tart will be error free (or at the very least, served in smaller pastry cases, and maybe a seperate glass for the Pimms "granita"). We proceeded to stuff our faces with everyone elses food and sat around a huge dinner table, chatting and drinking. After an agonising wait, the winners were announced and the rather hefty prizes were dished out, with a triumphant Food Urchin and Rachel McCormack taking first prize.

This is not where the story ends. The competition had many kind and generous contributors for prizes and the ultimate aim is to raise some cash for Action Against Hunger, a very worthy charity. If you want to do your bit, and maybe win a selection of amazing prizes, click right here which will take you through to an excellent raffle where you can win an array of food, kitchen utensils and...well....more food!

Thanks to Mex and all at the Cookery school (especially Ros and Claudine) for giving up their free time. Oh, and we can't forget all the lovely people who donated prizes and lovely things to put into our heaving goodie bags (a full list can be found here). Next year, I will be better prepared and will (maybe) win. Be warned ;)

p.s. If you want to see any more of my photos, you can find them here. Recipes to follow.

Taste of London 2010

2010-07-13T10:30:00.001+01:00

Last year, I was lucky enough to attend the Taste of London food festival in Regents Park by rather sinister and shady means. My sisters friend had won two VIP tickets after entering a competition run by a well know purveyor of orange juice. She couldn't go so my sister and I were the lucky owners of two VIP passes and £50 worth of crowns. During a day where I watched a very hung-over Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall screw up almost everything he attempted, met Jun Tanaka and ate tonnes of great food, I vowed I would go back.

Roll on 2010 and this time, not only was I a punter (having been lucky enough to be invited back, this time bestowed with a press pass) but I also offered to put in a shift at Beas of Bloomsbury, purveyor of cupcakes and stonking Lychee martinis. Here are a few highlights of a fab few days.

Launceston Place

I was hanging around with the delectable MiMi for much of the day and as she is "bezzer" mates with Tristan Welch, we headed on over to say hi and try out what turned out to be one of the biggest sellers of the festival, spit roast old spot suckling pig and black summer truffles, served like a pork roll. Inviting us to come round the back and check out the hive of activity, we surveyed the rotating pig and headed back out the front to sample the produce. I can say with no favouritism what so ever that this was my favourite dish of the festival. So good, I had to come back the next day when I was working and have another. Crisp skin, succulent pork and earthy truffles and truffle mayonnaise. Heavenly.

Odette's

I am a big fan of the Great British Menu (regular readers probably know this already), and it was through watching this programme devotedly every day for weeks that I came across Bryn Williams. When I had heard that he had taken over the kitchen at Odette's, I vowed that I would go and sample some of his food. As with so many other restaurants, I haven't made it that far yet but jumped at the chance to sample some of his food at the festival. Whilst chatting to the laid back and affable Bryn, we sampled some excellent lamb and I tip off my hat to his version of beetroot and goats cheese. The addition of Regents Park honey was excellent and the subtle sweet honey really brought out the flavour of the dish.

Le Pont de la Tour

I spied a few people walking around with some very appetising looking beef and after a few enquiries and a break of will, I wandered over to Le Pont de la Tour to sample their steak au poivre and frites. With a deep char and a beautifully pink and tender centre, this was perfectly cooked. How they can replicate this for all the punters that they would receive throughout the day, I do not know. Excellent, grease free and crunchy frites, the overall dish was only slightly let down by a watery peppercorn sauce.

Bea's of Bloomsbury

When Bea put the call out for help on her stall, I thought I would throw my hat into the ring and help out. After all, how hard could it be, right? Oh, how wrong I was. My temperamental feet wilted under the pressure as I tried to knock up as many lychee and raspberry martinis as I possibly could. At the other end of the operation, the team worked tirelessly, selling cupcakes as quickly as they could. A very tiring day but a great experience. And those martinis were bloody good and all.

So those were my highlights. Obviously a tonne of other things went on too, and I managed to miss a few things I really regret (like Adam Byatt of Trinity's pigs trotters!), and if you are that way inclined, I have some more photos up on my flickr site. The only real downside for me is that it can become quite an expensive day. I was lucky enough to be comped entry, but even then, most dishes are between £4 and £5, and sampling them becomes quite addictive. Roll on Taste 2011!

Cafe Luc: Overpriced "blah" in Marylebone

2010-07-09T14:33:00.007+01:00

The hardest thing I find about writing blog posts are those first few paragraphs. You know the ones, setting the scene, adding a bit of back-story of they whys and why nots and a maybe a throw a little snippet about me into the mix. Sitting here trying to come up with those few paragraphs about Cafe Luc has been hard. I simply heard about a new place opening up in Marylebone on the grapevine and then my good friend Charmaine asked me if I wanted to go with her for work. Underwhelming stuff, and unfortunately, this is probably the most exciting thing you will read from this point in.

Located just round the corner from Harley Street, Cafe Luc (an offshoot from the Le Pain Quotidien) is a brasserie charging Harley street prices. With the interior as sterile as the medical facilities the next road along, we perused the menu and chose our starters. Averaging around a tenner each, I ordered a simple goat’s cheese starter on croutons, a snip for a mere £8.90. Pleasant, but not £8.90 pleasant. Charz's crab tian was alright, and for someone who dislikes the crustacean as much as I was palatable. The centimetre thick layer of crème fraiche, however, was an unnecessary and cloying addition.

My main course of chicken supreme was tender and combined with the sweet champagne sauce made for a very average main. The mushrooms were advertised as black trompettes but look suspiciously like chestnut mushrooms. We perused them quizzically and If I had known what they were meant to look like, I would have kicked up a fuss for sure. Oh and a mysterious looking hair was dismissed by the maitre'd as a hair from the mushroom. Do mushrooms even have hair? The addition of a lemony pappardelle on the side was the highlight of an otherwise droll main, freshly made and with good bite, this was excellent pasta.

Desserts were another disappointment. Crème Caramel was sloppy with air bubbles throughout, watery caramel and probably the most alcoholic grapes I have ever had the misfortune in trying. It should have come with a warning to keep away from open flames. "Pineapple" was just that, a hunk of pineapple with a pineapple mohican and some coconut sorbet. The advertised pistachio was absent, but by this time, I don't think either of us could give a monkeys.

So there it is, a boring if expensive meal. I'm not sure as to the final bill as C paid, but I anticipate it was about £40 a head without alcohol. Over priced, underwhelming and unsatisfying. Dull.

Cafe Luc - 50 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 5HN

Eating in Durban, South Africa

2010-07-07T17:22:00.005+01:00

It’s been nearly a year since I was given carte blanche to travel again and boy have I taken advantage of it. In the last 12 months, I have visited countries from 5 different continents, visiting New York (North America), Dublin (my token Europe visit), Sydney and Melbourne (Australasia) and Bali and Malaysia (Asia). Adding South Africa to my bow, that makes 5. I was excited. Even when I was able to fly and jetting abroad at each possible opportunity, I had never made it as far as Africa. A whole new continent unexplored by my palate.

Durban was my first stop on my World cup road trip and a great place to start my journey. With an interesting mix of cultures (including the largest Indian population in any city outside India) and a quite stunning stretch of beach, I happily spent the first four days of my trip taxiing around (as walking in city centres is ill advised in South Africa) discovering things on my own.

As I was here for the football, I headed down to the beach where the fan park was located to start getting into the swing of things. With music blaring out before kick off to get the fans in the party mood, I headed down to the rather large food section to get my first fill. The stalls stretched out as far as the eye can see. Comprising of predominantly Indian foods (with bunny chow’s, a half loaf filled with curry, and samoosa’s being particularly prevalent), I decided to opt for the other local favourite, the boerwors, a heavily spiced sausage which can be made from venison, pork, beef, mutton or a combination of the above. It’s not to everyone’s taste but smothered with the local condiments of neon yellow mustard (less sharp and more piquant) and ketchup goes down rather well with a local pint of Castle. Alternatives include a kaasegriller, which is a hot dog made with cheese IN IT and of course the regular versions. Basically, a lot of sausages.

Most of the places I saw to eat were predominantly restricted to outlets of popular local franchises such as Spur, Steers, Nandos and most commonly of all, Wimpy. I put the word out on Twitter and was sent to 9th Avenue bistro in the Morningside district of Durban. Located in a forecourt of a local shopping centre, I wasn’t expecting much. It appeared extremely simple from the outside and barring one other table enjoying their meal, I was the only other person eating. I needn’t have worried as all the food was actually very good. My starter of calamari was excellently fried. Greaseless and with a crisp batter, the squid was fresh and tender, with a perfectly balanced chilli aioli to accompany it. The steak came with a watery pepper sauce but was a pink medium hunk of meat sitting on a stack of crispy chips. Grilled with a sweet but peppery baste, I made my way through my meal, enjoying every bite until I could eat no more and called it a day. With a bill of just under £20, this felt expensive by Durban standards but you would struggle to find a meal as enjoyable in London for cheaper.

After a few days completing tourist duties and generally sunning myself on the beach (even in winter, it can reach up to 30 degrees in the midday sun), my friends arrived, one of whom is an Indian Durbanite. Other than eating some excellent meals at his parents and family, including chilli bites made from pea flour and probably the best mutton curry I have ever eaten, we were taken to Sunrise Chip n Ranch, or Jonnies as it is known to the locals. Selling a myriad of interesting local Durban delights 24 hours a day, it is renowned for its filled rotis and often has queues down the street waiting for theirs. Sent in blind, I wisely left my non Durban English partner in crime to order first. With no menu bar a few specials scrawled over the wall, I went for a base of chicken curry (the curries appear to be much drier and packed with spices, no coconut milk in sight) and triple cheese (nearly everything in South Africa appears to be served with cheese) and was shortly presented a wrapped roti as long as my arm. Carting it back to the car, I sat on the pavement and slowly peeled the wrapper away and took a big bite. All I can say is that the combination of slabs of cheese with curry is genius and the abnormally large roti was absolutely delicious. I ravenously tore into it but I was soon stuffed with a third of the roti still staring up at me. I looked up at my friend who was eating his off the car bonnet and he had admitted defeat at halfway. With a drink, mine came to around £4, an absolute steal.

After all this uncultured gluttony, we opted to go for something a bit more civilised on one of our days away from football and headed to the botanical gardens. Whilst home to some stunning flora, it also houses Charles and Mabel James Tea house, a little tea hut run by elderly volunteers serving famous home baked scones and “crumpets”. The local versions vary quite significantly from its British counterparts. The scones are light and airy whilst the crumpets are more like small pancakes. All arrived smothered in home whipped cream and the scones were served with local preserve (apricot jam, I think) with the crumpets drizzled with maple syrup. A good place to see the local birds (as they try to scavenge any errant crumbs) and relax with a comforting mug of tea.

Durban had been an interesting place to visit and with three matches at the quite stunning Moses Mahbida stadium under our belt, it was time to hit the road and explore outside Durban. Next stop Port Elizabeth and then onwards to Cape Town.

"Jonnies" Sunrise Chip n Ranch - Sparks Road, Overport

9th Avenue Bistro - 9th Avenue, 2 Avonmore Centre

Charles and Mabel James Tea house - Durban Botanical Gardens

If you fancy taking a look at a few more Durban pictures, they can be found on my Flickr page.

A hiatus

2010-06-19T12:24:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to say that this blog may well be stagnant for a while as online connectivity will be limited at best for the next few weeks. I am off to South Africa to take in the World Cup and the last time I did something like this, I looked like this:

Hope you all have a fab few weeks and will update you all when I get back!

Not really feeling the love: Koya, Frith Street

2010-06-18T10:30:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, a place comes along that I really wanted to love. There are always those places which seemed to be overwhelmed by its own hype (Bar Boulud, I’m looking at you), but there are other places which have a less heralded entry onto the London culinary map. Koya, a small restaurant specialising in udon, a thick Japanese wheat flour noodle, opened with minimal fuss but was soon attracting the attention of the local food lovers. Udon lovers rejoiced at the light and springy noodles, handmade and kneaded by feet every day in the basement. I wanted to love it...but...

There’s always a but. On my first visit, I was excited and the cold noodle, cold dipping sauce combination caught my eye. Served with a mixed prawn and vegetable tempura, I was salivating just at the thought of it. First, I was instructed that I had to try the onsen tomago. Named after the hot springs that the eggs are normally cooked in, what you get is an egg which has been cooked at a low temperature for a long time, giving the white a silky texture, whilst still cooked, with the yolk runny and rich. Served in dashi, a light fish stock, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was meant to do with this (shush those who thought “eat it”), but I gulped it down and was pleased with the interesting textures and flavour.

The udon was another interesting texture. Chewing on one cold was how I imagine chewing on an earthworm would feel like, with an entirely nondescript taste. The dipping sauce was light but very wet and just helped make something rather slimy into something really slippery. In all honesty, it wasn’t terrible; I just found it hard to understand how one person was expected to devour a plateful of these rubbery beasties. I hoped that the accompanying tempura would lighten my rather one dimensional meal, and although the change in texture (with a great crunch from an excellent and light tempura) was very welcome, the wholly intact poo chute of my prawn was not. The minute I lay my eyes on it, I just couldn’t face any more.

I put my poor meal down to my eternal nemesis, the bad menu choice, and was determined to get it right. The next time I returned, I was accompanied by my udon aficionado and decided that a choice of hot noodles and hot soup would change my mind about the place. The pork and miso (buta miso) combination incorporated the udon noodles in a steaming hot broth and generous portions of minced pork and miso paste, muddying the broth but intensifying the flavour. I was much happier with this, with the chewy udon noodles softening in the warm broth, but couldn’t help thinking that this was just a nice bowl of noodles.

I despair when I can’t quite see what everyone else does. But I guess that’s the beauty of being an individual, we all like and dislike different things. There is nothing wrong or offensive about Koya, just nothing that exciting. With mains around the £10 mark, it’s not going to break the bank, but go for the hot stuff, that’s definitely where it’s at.

Koya - 49 Frith Street, London W1D 4SG

More Clerkenwell: Cafe VN

2010-06-15T10:00:00.001+01:00

Hot on the heels of one Clerkenwell post, I thought I would roll out another whilst it is fresh in my mind, strike whilst the iron is hot and all that. Another of my regular lunch companions throughout this period of unemployment is Catty. I talk about the pint sized Aussie a lot but she is cool and deserves the coverage. And she tolerates me which is always a good sign.

Anyway, lunch was at Cafe VN, a little Vietnamese place just off Clerkenwell road housing a small but adequate menu. Serving mainly pho (noodle soup) and bun (cold noodle salad), it was getting a bit of bashing on twitter so I wasn't sure what to expect. I kept my options open and my stomach hungry, braced the Summer showers and headed for Clerkenwell once again.

A simple lunch, Cat went for the pork bun and I went for the beef special pho, really needing something warming after having walked through the pouring rain, not something I expected to say in the first week of June. You know what, I was pretty happy with this. The broth wasn't as intensely flavoured as the pho I recently had at Cafe East but was better than the disappointing Song Que and had a good slow chilli burn. The three types of beef included meatballs (ok), brisket (ok) and strips of sirloin (better than ok) which bulked out the dish and throw in some decent noodles and vegetation in the form of spring onions, what you get is a decent bowl of pho.

I can't say I was blown away by Cafe VN but definitely enjoyed it and it certainly didn't deserve some of the derision dished out on twitter (well, a few tweets anyway). Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and everybody has different tastes, but I enjoyed my meal and if I was ever in the area again needing a cheap and quick meal, I would be more than happy to pull up a chair at Cafe VN.

Cafe VN - 144 Clerkenwell Road London,London EC1R 5DP

View Where I have eaten, when and with whom in a larger map

Clerkenwells finest: The Eagle

2010-06-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

Before 2010, I could have counted the number of times I have eaten in Clerkenwell on one hand. And on one of those occasions, KFC was involved, enough said really. I never really had any impulse to go and visit it, nor had any reason. If someone came up to me and said that Clerkenwell was the heartland of some great food, I would have guffawed in their face.

And then I started going there, and the diversity of amazing places to eat left my mouth open wide and my tummy rumbling. First came the markets, with Exmouth, Leather Lane and Whitecross street all brimming with excellent spots to feed your appetite. Then there are fantastic pubs such as the Coach & Horses and The Gunmakers and another Clerkenwell favourite in the Clerkenwell Kitchen. Oh, and Moro, can't forget Moro...

But in my eyes, one establishment rises above all others, The Eagle. Revered by many as the original gastropub, and part of the group which runs the Anchor and Hope down in Waterloo and Great Queen Street in Holborn, it changes it's menu every day depending on what produce they can get, as well as a few staples that are on the big chalkboard daily such as their steak sandwich.

I've visited on multiple occasions now and every time I go, something draws me away from that elusive steak sandwich. The menu chalked up behind the bar and over stoves features about seven or eight choices, all as mouthwatering as the next whilst having a small selection of "tapas" which are essentially small sharing plates. I remember the simply cooked chorizo in wine fondly and always look out for it if it's on the menu.

On my last visit, the steak sandwich was once again overlooked as myself and Naomi from the Ginger Gourmand opted for salmon, mackerel and pork. The little smoked salmon "tapas" was a generous portion of excellent smoked salmon with a dollop of creme fraiche and a squeeze of lemon. No airs and graces, just great food. Served with a little basket of bread and olive oil, the preparation got a bit messy as we doused the bits of bread in oil. Messy but worthwhile.

For mains, I had opted for a basque inspired stew using clams and pork. The stew arrived wafting it's deep aroma of paprika and pork in a light red stew. Each chunk of slow cooked pork broke apart with a touch from the fork, and combined with the gelatinous clams which had escaped it's shells, formed a delicious mouthful, full of different flavours and textures. Naomi opted for the mackerel with rhubarb and chill jam. Served whole, the meat had to be carefully prised away from the bones, but the freshness evident as soon as you put it into your mouth. The jam was an interesting addition, but the tartness from the rhubarb and the subtle burn from the chilli complemented the fish well.

The Eagle is a great restaurant. It serves excellent fresh food and it is unsurprising that it is so popular. Inside, it still maintains an aspect of rusticity with mismatched wooden tables and chairs, trying hard to maintain a semblance of being a pub. Although it is an enjoyable place for a drink, there is no real doubt that this is a place to eat, and a very good place at that. One day I will get round to getting my chops round that steak sandwich!

The Eagle - 159 Farringdon Road, London

Taste of Malaysia: A tour of three Malaysian restaurants

2010-06-08T23:53:00.007+01:00

Last year, I was lucky enough to get a few tickets to go to the Taste of London festival through my sister who works in marketing. Not only did I get to watch a very hungover Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall totally mess up baking a cheesecake, but got to meet a few well know chefs and most importantly of all, got to eat loads of great food. It was a really enjoyable day and as soon as I had left, was already looking forward to the 2010 version.

One of this years sponsors is "Malaysia Kitchen 2010", a year long programme associated with promoting Malaysian food in Britain. As part of their sponsorship, they have created the Taste of Malaysia area, educating the public about Malaysian cuisine whilst providing food from Awana, Satay House and Tukdin, three popular Malaysian restaurants in London. In order to kickstart Taste of Malaysia, I was invited along with a few others on a Malaysian food "crawl" taking in food from these three restaurants. I could hardly turn down an invite involving food from my homeland and happily signed up.

First step on our culinary tour was Awana. Located in the heart of Kensington, this is very much high end Malaysian food. On entrance to the attractive dining room, awash with leather and teak, we were introduced to Hailong Wang who plied us with some of the house speciality cocktails. Adequately lubricated, we were shown to a dedicated area where they grill their satay and fling their dough until they make a bread called "roti canai". It was pretty interesting to watch how thin they get the dough before folding to get a similar multi-layered effect, a bit like in filo, to get a light crispy texture. Soon our food was ready and we were shown to a table to sample it.

Out came a variety of food. As well as the plain roti (served with curry and dal) and some gently charred and quite delicious chicken satay, we were served some beef rendang filled bread (murtabak), pomegranate salad and a little pastry case stuffed with an assortment of tasty little titbits, the name of which eludes me. I have eaten at Awana on a fair few occasions and whilst the food is always quite good, the prices reflect the neighbourhood and it can all add up.

After finishing our food and thanking our host, we were soon whisked away onto our next destination, Satay House in Paddington. A smaller restaurant catering to the masses, this was already full to the brim with smiling customers when we arrived. Meandering inbetween customers chairs and tables, we made our way to their downstairs dining room, got our drinks and soon the procession of food started.

The "control" of chicken and beef satay were first to land. Slightly thinner and a little chewier with a sweeter baste. These were still appetising and came with traditional accompaniments of rice cakes, cucumber and onion. Other dishes included prawns, plain fried vegetarian noodles and the best dish by far, their beef rendang. A rendang is essentially a slow cooked dry curry, deeply flavoured with spices and chilli and cooked in a coconut base. This version had a wonderful chilli kick which had a slow burn and did not detract from the highly spiced and fairly tender meat. And just as we finished, deep fried wings with chilli, garlic and soy were brought, almost as if they hadn't stuffed us enough. On the contrary, we (well, definitely I) were struggling under the sheer weight of their hospitality. With one stop to go, I took one, enjoyed it immensely and ignored the rest sitting in front of me until it was time to leave for our last destination.

By this stage, I was on the verge of throwing the towel in, but under the impression that the third stop meant dessert, I gee'ed myself up and entered our carriage rather full and happy. The final stop was Tukdin just "tucked in" around the corner from Lancaster gate tube station. What we encountered when we arrived was not the promise of desserts, but more food. The owner was intent on showcasing his menu to us so who were we to complain.

Malaysia is split into three main ethnicities (Indian, Chinese and of course the Malays) and whereas the first two restaurants felt more swayed towards the Chinese, this was definitely a Malay restaurant. As the Malay's are predominantly Muslim, no alcohol or pork is to be found on the menu, and all the meat is Halal. As the food rolled out, the satay was once again first to arrive. This time served off the skewer, the chicken had an even sweeter baste with a deeper combination of ginger and other spices. Not bad at all. More food kept coming and at one stage, we had to request smaller portions as most of were on our last legs and we didn't want to insult the restaurants hospitality by leaving piles of food behind. Nevertheless, we sampled everything we were given, including chilli mussels, plain fried mee (egg noodles), a chicken rendang, sweet and sour sea bass and my favourite of all, a light variation on a stir fried beef yellow curry.

So, just over three hours, three restaurants and about 15 different dishes later, we were done. It had been an excellent experience and it was great to get a little taster of what will be on at the Taste of Malaysia next week. Out of all the three satay we had tried (our "control" dish, if you may), I enjoyed Awanas offering the most. More subtle flavours and a better char won me over, although opinion was vastly divided amongst the group. Horses for courses some might say. I would have liked to have seen more traditional Malaysian dishes such as rojak and nasi lemak, but really just a minor niggle. Overall, excellent food, great company and big thanks to Sauce Comms for organising. Make your way to Taste of London next week (17th to 21st June) and experience a taste of Malaysia for yourself!

Please have a look here if you fancy checking out a few more of the photos.

Awana - 85 Sloane Avenue, London SW3 3DX

Satay House - 13 Sale Place, London W2 1PX

Tukdin - 41 Craven Road, London W2 3BX

Farewell to Sydney, dining with old friends: Mamak and Icebergs

2010-06-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

One of the things often said about Sydney is that it is a smaller version of London with more sun, more beaches and definitely more rain. With such astute observations, it isn't hard to imagine why so many Londoners flock to the other side of the world. I yearn for sun just like the next person, but on days like today where the weather is quite stunning with the London roads drenched in sun and nothing else (correct at time of press), I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Unfortunately that isn't the opinion shared by all. Take my mate Dave as an example. Lured to Sydney by bigger bucks and a better job, he jacked in his life in London to live the dream. Having worked together for the better part of two years, I was sad to hear he was jacking it all in and heading down under, another good friend lost. A meetup on my trip was a must.

Same old Dave, I met him at his office overlooking Hyde Park on Liverpool street (seriously) and he was late. Very late. Plans to visit the Opera bar at the Royal Opera House were dashed, sunset had come and gone, so when he had finally got his arse in gear, we headed down to one of the places on my list, Mamak, a popular Malaysian restaurant.

Mamak is pretty damn popular. In a city with a huge Asian population, it was no surprise to find an authentic Malaysian restaurant selling rendang, curries, noodles and roti to be doing well. We waited a little while for our table but we admired the chefs in the window tossing up the roti in the air, and crafting a light and airy roti. By the time we took our seats, we were ravenous.

Dave opted for the chicken curry which was pretty decent, and formed a perfect accompaniment to the light and crisp roti. I really couldn't resist the maggi mee goreng, a simple dish of fried maggi noodles with lots of bits and pieces thrown in, basically anything you can get your hands on in the kitchen. This is a real favourite of mine in my own kitchen and I can knock up a pretty decent rendition. This version was packed with all the bits you could ask for (such as fishcake, prawns, egg, beansprouts, bits of meat etc...) and was good but lacked the crunch I like to add to mine from the fried noodles.

Mamak was decent and for Sydney, was very cheap. I can't remember the cost but was more than happy with it. It was great to catch up with an old friend and comes highly recommended if you are in the area. Good authentic Malaysian food and it's open till 2am at the weekend for a post pub feed.

It had been great to catch up with Dave, but I had to get out of the city and see the wonderful beaches that Sydney have to offer. A hop on the blue Bondi explorer led to a tour of the East Sydney beaches and some stunning views of the city. The end destination, Bondi of course.

Mocked for being the mecca for all English people who head to Sydney, you can hardly blame them. I arrived and what lay ahead of me was a stunning stretch of white sand and blue sea. I stood and surveyed in awe before it dawned on me that I wasn't here solely to gawp at the beautiful beach and sea, but to meet Anna and Zac (or AnZac as they are affectionately known), brother and sister in law of one of my oldest and closest friends. It was great to see them, and I am sure that Zac was glad to see me on home turf (the last time we met saw me mercilessly torturing him as the English won back the Ashes).

Bondi has plenty of places to eat, but we headed towards the Icebergs, a "club" with a bar selling food. An ironic name as I am pretty sure that Bondi has never seen an ice berg let alone know what an iceberg is! The food here was very average but offered stunning views. My chicken schnitzel was decent enough for a piece of fried chicken but not much can rival sitting and chatting with friends in the sun overlooking the deep blue sea. A perfect end to a fantastic jaunt.

Sydney had been amazing. Old friends, new friends, family, it had it all. And with each of these encounters came fabulous food, I really couldn't have been happier. Next stop Melbourne, where more of the above were awaiting me. Stay tuned!

Mamak - 15 Goulburn St, Haymarket, Sydney

Icebergs - 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach NSW 2026, Australia

WMPD: Café de Hong Kong, Chinatown

2010-06-01T15:57:00.008+01:00

It's been a while since I had the motivation to blog. Since I left my job in the beginning of March, I have led a charmed life. After a trip to the other side of the world and an extended rest, it's time to get back to the grindstone and find a job. It's been a while since I was in this position and I really wasn't prepared for how intensive and how much hard work job seeking was. Essentially, looking for a job is a full time job. Thankfully, I hope I'm nearing some sort of resolution so my mini hiatus is ending. Expect more blog posts soon.

In the meantime, I thought I might as well add another contender to my eternal search for that great roast duck and crispy pork. This time, Cafe de Hong Kong, an interesting little restaurant on the edge of Chinatown. Having arranged to meet Charmaine before one of my aforementioned interviews, we arrived at our destination just before 12 to find it devoid of people and looking rather closed. Disappointed, we headed next door to Cafe de Hong Kong and took our seats in a rather crowded dining room.

Already brimming full of Asian students, Cafe de Hong Kong serves simple noodle and rice based dishes, with a few other interesting bits and pieces including items in "spaghetti sauce" and French fries. Of course, for me there was only one choice, roast duck and crispy pork and rice.

The first thing I went for was a bite of the duck. With slightly crisp skin and a thick layer of juicy fat, my mouth burst with the unmistakeable flavour of the delicious fowl. First bite good, second one, not so much. The flavour of the roast duck was seriously good but bite after bite, the greasy fat began to get quite claggy and my mouth started to feel like an oil slick. The crispy pork had none of the prescribed crisp and came in tiny thin slivers with little to no flavour. The final constituent part, the rice, was soaked through with sweet gravy, whilst being reasonable, acted like a glue to the rice and ensured that large sticky lumps were formed.

The food had been pretty disappointing. Even if the duck had really great flavour, it was very greasy and the "crispy" pork was anything but. Even though the place was rammed full of young Chinese, at £6 a plate there are cheaper and better places across Chinatown. The quest goes on...

Cafe de Hong Kong - 47 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0AN

The importance of the local: The Florence, Herne Hill

2010-05-19T19:43:00.005+01:00

The "local" is a British institution. A place to have a quiet drink, a place to hang out with friends, a place to eat, a place to throw some darts or play pool. Back when I was younger, I look back on my "local" fondly. The Running Mare in Cobham was a mecca for the teenage Tehbus. Somewhere to get away from the parents and a haven for other young people. It is where I learnt to play fruit machines (thanks Michael) and make an idiot of myself in front of girls. More importantly, it was where I grew up.

After I graduated, I made my first foray south and moved to East Dulwich. Yes, it had the East Dulwich Tavern, which was technically closer to my home, but it was a bit too trendy and a bit too expensive for me. Further down the road was the Foresters Arms. Proper locals propped up the bar, the kind of people who had their own stools and would shout abuse at any passing strangers. It was smelly and had sticky carpets, but it showed the football and had a pool table. We went there a lot in the year we lived in East Dulwich.

When we moved to a rather cushy pad in Camberwell, we hunted for a pub we could call our local. Between the George Canning (good food, expensive pints but on way home from the station) and the Wishing Well Inn (full of the aforementioned old people on their own stools), we just couldn't decide. Both had their own charm but often polarised opinion. My female housemate wanted nice, my male housemates wanted pork scratchings and footie on the telly. We ended up compromising and heading down to the Castle down the road.

Essentially, no matter what I did with my life, or where I moved, there would always be one constant, that search for the "local". I still live in Camberwell, but my friends have moved away or got married and had kids, rendering their desire for the pub high, but the chances of them actually coming rather low. I now live with my sister who doesn't drink. I thought all hope had been lost.

On the odd occasion that those friends who had consulted their diaries (girlfriends/wives) and found that they were free for a few hours, we would catch up like old times. One of our favoured destinations had been the Florence in Herne Hill. Close to where some of my closest friends lived and with a stunning array of beers, we often spent many a happy hour there. Alas, they moved away/had children and I was on my own again.

It took a fabled burger from the Meatwagon to make me return, and I am glad I did. The pub was still the same. Wide array of beers, friendly staff and loads of comfy chairs. I was surrounded by some of the new friends I had made through this blog, and we ate and drank and were very merry. I indulged in a game of table football, drank shots and the pub dog tried to eat me. I even made friends with the pub manager. I never wanted to leave.

A few days later, I was asked back with @ibzo and his girlfriend to try (yep, invited, it was free for full disclosure) their food and I couldn't resist. To drink, I sampled a pint of their "Bonobo" ale. Home brewed in their very own micro brewery, the fruity and malty ale got my taste buds tingling. We were given a basket of buttermilk fried chicken, served with a tangy coleslaw dip. The chicken strips had a crunchy batter around it that I can only compare to the best crunchy bits from a KFC bucket (that's a good thing). Light and nigh on grease free, the batter had a deep smokiness and the chicken was astonishingly tender. This was great chicken.

Next, we were served the house burger. Made from filet steak and served with home made burger sauce, this double patty leviathan was a most delicious burger. I separated the patties and crafted a single cheeseburger with pickles (served separately but sliced to accommodate pickle haters) and a dash of their home made (on trial) chilli sauce. It wasn't as good as the burger I was eating here a few days ago (nothing in England can compare to that) but it was highly enjoyable.

Stuffed to the gills, they still brought us dessert of a mixed chocolate pot and some strawberries with yoghurt. No idea how we did it, but most was devoured. Suffice to say, I had enjoyed the food, but equally enjoyed the chat. We were chatting with the assistant manager (about his love of panto's) so much, that at one stage, we completely forgot to eat, unheard of.

I love the Florence. It's a fab pub and ticks almost all the criteria I search for in a decent "local". Through this blog, I have now been reacquainted with a pub I had thought I had lost, and having made friends with many of those involved with the place, I wouldn't feel ashamed to grab my own stool, and settle in for a few pints on my own.

The Florence - 131-133 Dulwich Road, London SE24 0NG

Brothers in arms: Zucca and Maltings Cafe

2010-05-17T22:05:00.003+01:00

When Zucca opened not so long ago, a fanfare followed. Bloggers and reviewers alike were won over with its straightforward Italian cooking, showcasing great ingredients and simple & delicious flavour combinations. It had made a heralded entrance onto the restaurant circuit, and being located in the wasteland that is Bermondsey, this was no mean feat. People were willing to travel south, a sure-fire sign that something was up.

Arriving for lunch, I was stunned with the simplicity of it all. An airy dining room with an open kitchen, white tables and white chairs. I liked it. We sat down and immediately were treated to an array of bread and some olive oil. It's not often I make the effort to talk about the bread but the 3 slices of focaccia were superb, slightly oily and crunchy on the outside and bouncy on the inside. Matched with the grassy olive oil, I snaffled the last piece without even asking. I don't like being rude, but it was that good.

(pic courtesy of mokka chokka latte)

With a mere 3 choices under each heading (fish, meat, starters, pasta, dessert), the menu is tight. We opted for starters and mains, not wanting to go too crazy. Soon enough, my pigeon crostini and speck arrived. Pretty decent, but very boring. On the other side of the table was a starter portion of pappardelle with a ragu. The smells wafting across the table were drawing me in, sirens in the form of pasta. I think my dining partner saw my pitiful eyes and asked me if I wanted a bite. I almost bit her hand off. Soft yet perfectly al dente homemade pasta intermingled with delicious ragu, packed with flavour from all sorts of morsels of meat. God it was good, I looked down at my plate and almost cried.

It appears that I am not blessed with making the best choices at the dinner table. Starters done, our mains were on the way. I was blinded by the words "pork" and "belly" and ordered it without thinking. This was going to be a winner, pork belly never fails to excite me. It was placed in front of me and it looked great, so far so good. First taste was decent, the beautifully rolled slice of pork belly mingling well with the salsa verde. It was sat on a bed of lentils which are nigh on the most pointless of vegetables (after most beans) and added nothing but annoyance. Nice, no crackling, but still rather enjoyable.

When I had taken time to look up, I saw the most joyous slab of meat sat opposite me. A huge veal chop perched on some steamed greens. It was simple yet it was so beautiful, I shed a small tear. Again, my dining companion took pity on me and offered me a bite. So soft and tender, each chew was heavenly. The light taste of the veal which had a slight char, and a small rivulet of fat on the outside, each chew was better than the next. I looked down at my pork, it had been ousted from my heart, I only had love for the veal chop. I made my puppy dog eyes, but this was a battle I was not going to win. No more veal chop for me.

Too full for desserts, we opted for a quick stroll to nearby Borough market for some coffee. Zucca had been an enjoyable experience. The service was highly personable and friendly without being imposing, ushering in a very nice and comfortable vibe. The food, well, pretty decent and the verdict on the cost, very affordable with mains at around the £12 mark. On reflection, my dishes were still of a good standard but I was blown away by the food sat across from me on the other side of the table. And the bread, how can I forget THAT bread?

A few weeks later, I was lucky enough to accompany my friend down to Maltings Cafe, effectively where it all started and a mere stones throw from Zucca on Tower Bridge road. The smaller but older brother of Zucca, it focuses more on "Mediterranean" cuisine, although the influences still seemed to be firmly based in Italy. It was tiny inside and packed to the brim by 1pm. Disappointed punters were ushered towards the takeout counter, which appeared to be doing a brisk trade.

I chewed on some familiarly moreish bread (no focaccia this time) and perused the menu written neatly on a chalkboard. This was even more streamlined than Zucca, with one side, one fish, one meat and one pasta option. They were spoiling us with desserts as there were two on the menu. We felt a little embarrassed but decided that ordering everything was the order of the day. The waitress smiled and said "Don't worry, it's quite common".

I am glad to say that I was very pleased with my choice this time. The char grilled steak was absolutely heavenly. Sat on a salad of warm vegetables, I thought that the dish could have done with a tad more moisture to bind it all together, until I discovered the broad bean and pea (I think) puree that the whole dish was sat on. I had no aspirations in trying my companions pan fried squid with squid ink risotto and it was my turn to hand over some of the goods for her to try.

The accompanying polenta had no aspirations in rocking my world, but then again, it never had a chance. I have no real love for the yellow gloop, creamed or baked. Our other "side" was an interesting pasta dish which we shared. I had never heard of "mafaline" before, but it turns out it’s a fat tagliatelle with a crimped edge. Cooked with roast broccoli, and topped with a spicy breadcrumb topping known as a pangratatto, I revelled in its simplicity. Really enjoyable and was an excellent accompaniment to my slices of steak.

Maltings cafe is not designed to serve hearty portions, but each serving is just right. Even eating everything on the menu between two, the bill came to less than £30, excellent grub at affordable prices. It's amazing what you can achieve by just using a few key ingredients and cooking them well. I love the fancy restaurants where they do everything 15 ways with sploshes and swirls culminating in a piece of art that you feel guilty eating, but sometimes you just need to kick back, savour the simplicity and enjoy your food. I will be back, and next time, I am getting the veal.

Zucca - 184 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TQ

Maltings Cafe - 169 Tower Bridge Road London SE1 3NA

New friends: Hurricanes Grill and the Chinese Noodle Restaurant, Sydney

2010-05-15T23:44:00.004+01:00

Darling Harbour

Before I flew out to Sydney, I thought it would be prudent to look up some of the Sydney based food lovers I have met (virtually) through blogging. After all, these are the people who would be in the know and it's always fun to meet people you don't know what they look like or how they sound.

First up was Kate, aka @katejferguson. After a few tweets, we realised that we were mutual friends with the one and only Catty and Kate was instructed to take me out to eat ribs for fear of death. Hurricanes Grill was our destination and is a bit of an institution in Sydney. With two branches (one in Bondi and the one I went to in Darling Harbour) it is very much like our beloved Bodeans in London, serving steaks and more importantly, succulent ribs.

When I met up with Kate, she recognised me instantly. Not only had we scoped each other out on Facebook, but I was the guy very much looking like a tourist drinking on my own. It's always nice when you instantly like somebody and we nattered away quite comfortably until the time for ribs was upon us. Once arrived at Hurricanes, we met up with another of Catty's old entourage, a lovely guy named Geoff. Overlooking the harbour, we asked if we could get moved from our allotted table inside to one outside. Although it was rammed, the staff accommodated us with little hassle and we were soon sat enjoying the view and the lovely late summer breeze.

The menu covers many of the meat groups and advertises itself as a steakhouse but the night was all about the ribs. The ordering could not have been simpler, 3 full racks of pork ribs please, thankyouverymuch. It didn't take too long before they had arrived and the nice touch of adult bibs were tied around our necks by the delightful waitress. The rack was huge but I was hungry. I tucked in rib after rib, savouring every smoky and tangy mouthful. Soon, the gigantic rack was reduced to a pile of bones, sucked dry. I felt like I was in an episode of Man v Food and this time, Man definitely won.

Kate and Geoff were lovely and I actually felt quite sad to be leaving them. Really nice people and perfect eating companions. The next day I had scheduled a lunch with yet another mysterious lady, Denea aka The Gourmet Rabbit. Running a hybrid blog/magazine and hot on the pulse of the Australian food scene, I've been following her adventures with great interest from the other side of the world and I was excited to meet her in real life.

What she had in store for me was quite a treat. The destination was her favourite noodle house, simply called the Chinese Noodle Restaurant located in the heart of Chinatown. The tiny little place had quite a queue forming, but owing to the astounding pace in which they seemed to be able to turn tables, we got a table fairly quickly.

Staring through the open window into the kitchen, I saw the team working at a feverish pace, preparing dumplings and hand pulling the noodles to order. One of those batches of noodles was for us, as well as a mountain of dumplings and some aubergines drenched in a sticky sweet soy sauce. I was stunned. Such a tiny unassuming place was rolling out fresh, springy and extremely tasty noodles, with stunning dumplings to match. I guess I shouldn't really have been that surprised, after all, queues speak for themselves.

Denea and I chatted for a while but it wasn't long before we were shooed away, more hungry punters were waiting for their fix of noodles and dumplings and were demanding to be fed. We settled the bill and at less than £20 for both of us, I laughed a little chuckle to myself at how cheap it was.

She had one last secret up her sleeve as she took me to sample a famous Sydney mango pancake. At this stage, I was full to the point of delirium but I wrapped mine in a little paper bag and saved it for later. It was a little while before I could muster the strength to try it but I am so glad I did. A thin pancake holding a luxuriously creamy egg custard "block" sat on top of the most divine chunks of sweet mango. I was in heaven and devoured mine in under 30 seconds flat.

It was great to meet fellow lovers of food and was a privilege to be shown to some of their favourite places in Sydney. A fitting end to a simply fat (and rather excellent) time in Sydney.

Hurricanes Bar and Grill - Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Chinese Noodle Restaurant - Shop 7, 8 Quay St, Haymarket, 2000 Sydney

A breath of fresh air in Victoria, Pimlico Fresh

2010-05-12T15:09:00.005+01:00

During my two and a half year tenure in a big glass box in Victoria, you would often find me grumbling about the food options. Limited to a stroll around M&S or notching your way towards that elusive free whole chicken at Nandos, you could say I was looking for a bit more. In my search for a decent feed, I have been to Kazan, Giraffe and Cyprus Mangal, all decent eateries in their own right but not really ideal for a quick light lunch. I let out a long sigh and resigned myself to my regular trips to M&S where I would always spend way too much on stuff I didn't really need.

Enter Pimlico Fresh, stage right. A mere couple of months after I left the big glass box, never to return, what do I stumble upon but exactly what I was previously looking for. Located on Wilton Road, a mere stroll from the aforementioned big glass box, Pimlico Fresh is a new(ish) cafe selling good quality fresh food, all simply prepared, letting the ingredients speak for themselves. I walked in and was directed to choose from the menu scrawled (well, written in rather neat handwriting) along the entirety of one of the walls.

I plumped for a coffee (flat white naturallement) and an avocado toast with extra bacon. I sat down and started to read snippets from the newspapers strewn across the tables and a short while later, food arrived. What I got was slices of avocado and tomato salsa on a toasted sourdough base, with a few rashers of delicious bacon thrown on top for good measure. Simple food, but delicious and affordable.

So Pimlico Fresh, a mecca away from the grease merchants and various fast food establishments that seem to have infested Victoria and the surrounding areas. I really wish this had been open during my tenure in the big glass box. There is so much that makes me happy about it. It is uncomplicated, but simple and decent grub. The staff are casual but attentive and the communal tables force the more unsociable amongst us to smile at strangers where we previously may not have. Still not enough to make me move back to Victoria, but a nice distraction when I am in the area.

Pimlico Fresh - 86 Wilton Road, Pimlico SW1V 1DE

A new burger enters the ring at Bar Boulud, Knightsbridge

2010-05-10T21:19:00.006+01:00

Another day in London, and another new opening. It's been open a mere 4 days and already quite a buzz lingers around Bar Boulud in Knightsbridge. Located in the Mandarin Oriental, it is the latest restaurant from none other than Daniel Boulud. Fear not if you haven't heard about him yet, but you most certainly will in the near future. Bar Boulud is his first foray into the British market, but he is one of the most established chefs across the Atlantic in the US. This year, Daniel NYC, the flagship of the Boulud empire and owner of 3 Michelin stars, was named as the 8th best restaurant in the world at the San Pellegrino 50 Best restaurants awards, a rising star, having jumped a massive 33 places. Basically, it's a bit good.

So what’s this place all about then? Well, I was meeting the delightful @gourmetraveller and she had kindly sent me the menu in advance. This was a bad move, well, for my laptop anyway. French food with American influences, I was drooling quite heavily at his charcuterie, sausages and burgers, all things that the Boulud empire was famous for. Unfortunately in my unemployed state, I couldn't go crazy and give the menu the workout I desperately wanted, but the £20 prix fixe is pretty astounding value.

I started with a "Salade glace de petit pois" or a chilled pea soup. I was looking for something light to prep my stomach for the impending burger feast, and this certainly fulfilled that criteria. The first few mouthfuls were flooded with fresh flavours of pea and mint, with hints of rosemary from the dots of cream. As I delved deeper, I chewed on a crisp and delicious croutons and started to scoop the billed "spring fricasse" from the bottom. I'm not sure if my brain was playing tricks on me but the soup garnered a deeper, meatier flavour as I neared the bottom of the bowl, although I sense the "fricasse" had something to do with it.

So, the burger. The chosen burger was the "Frenchie", a burger comprising of a brioche bun, topped with confit pork belly, Morbier cheese and rocket, all sat atop a tomato and onion confit. I say chosen, the choice was thrust upon me. I did ask whether we could swap the "Frenchie" for another burger on their menu but I was shot down after a rather prolonged visit to the kitchen. Pretty disappointing seeing as the Frenchie is actually the most expensive burger on the menu. The poor waiter mumbled something along the lines that the kitchen was unable to accommodate me, a blip on an otherwise excellent service. The burger itself vexed me. I poked around and the advertised "confit pork belly" appeared to be two small bits of what looked suspiciously like bacon. I took a bite and the juices of the beautiful beef patty, perfectly cooked medium pink, flooded my mouth, only to be barged out of the way and invaded by the rather strong tomato and onion confit. As I continued eating, pockets of mustard were so strong that they started to burn the sides of my mouth. The beef is excellent but all the other flavours were so strong that they struggled to represent themselves, ending up in a bit of a mess. A little bit like the current election.

There were other good things about the burger than just the quality of the beef. The peppered brioche bun was just about as perfect a vehicle for a burger as you will find. It was light and slightly sweet, with a substantial amount of give, although keeping its shape and not falling apart. And I even liked the Morbier cheese used, which I really thought may overpower the burger, but in relation to the other battling flavours, was subdued and complemented the beef. Chips were ok, and had transformed from chunky chips earlier in the week, to thin and crispy (if slightly over salted) ones.

Unfortunately, things didn't get a whole lot better with my choice of the Gateau Basque. Advertised as a custard cake with cherries, the flavours from the cake again had my brow furrowed. The pastry was immense, as it was light and tasty, breaking away with a swift crack of the spoon, but the custard had a very odd flavour. Predominantly orange with a background metallic twang, I really wasn't sure if it was meant to taste like this but I wasn't particularly enjoying it. A tiny puddle of vanilla custard (no flavour) and a pile of cherries (redundant and probably an afterthought) sat alongside, looking at each other, outcasts wondering if they had been invited to the wrong party.

The Gateau Chocolat-Framboise was much more highly accomplished, a classic combination of flavours well executed in an extremely rich dark chocolate cake. Extra flairs of raspberries filled with raspberry coulis, an excellent sorbet and even a decorative raspberry chocolate stick were all touches so drastically missing from my dessert.

I know that I may have been quite critical but there were glaring faults in my dishes that left me rather disappointed. Daniel Boulud has a fearsome reputation and those burgers should be the burgers of my dreams. Instead, it felt like a burger that was just trying too hard to impress. And frankly, on reflection, I thought the dessert was a bit of a car crash. I still can't get that metallic flavour out of my mouth and that's even after a few mini martinis straight after. I really do like the room, a fairly open clean space, and the service was for the most part excellent, if a little too over attentive at times.

I realise that I only ate off the lunch menu, and I really do want to give it another go once I get on the payroll again, but it was a disappointing meal. However, it is still early days, and I spotted Daniel Boulud himself walking the room and chatting to none other than Lloyd Grossman who was dining behind me. I overheard that he is here for 2 weeks to ensure that the ship is sailing at an even keel and I do realise that we are only 4 days in. I am sure things will only get better.

Bar Boulud - Mandarin Oriental, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA

p.s. You should definitely check out his website. It has the funkiest music of any website I have ever heard.

Surprises in the South East. Bella Vista, Blackheath

2010-05-06T00:42:00.004+01:00

I speak rather highly of my home in the South East of London, but if I am being totally honest, I realise it's not all I paint it to be. Don't get me wrong, the immediate vicinity to where I live is great and I feel totally safe (most of the time). But this trust has been earned over many years of living here and I would be an idiot if I didn’t realise that some of the associated prejudices of the South East are probably true. Only last week, a 15 year old school kid was stabbed on his way to school (thankfully, he lived).

When I was invited for a meetup of some South East London based Tweeters in Blackheath, I immediately had the preconception that it wouldn’t be very nice. I saw dark alleys, broken lamps and burning cars. How wrong I was. Blackheath is actually bloody lovely. And not only is it lovely, but it has a rather good Italian restaurant called Bella Vista which was the destination for our little meetup.

Bella Vista has been in Blackheath for quite some time, but it has only been since January that Alex Tyndall took over as the head chef. He has some pretty decent pedigree (having worked for Michelin starred Chapter One in Kent) and had kindly prepared for us a special menu to show off some of his repertoire of dishes. As well as a gaggle of tweeters, Ben from Enotria UK came along for the ride and kindly prepared a matching wine flight to complement the meal.

I’m not going to go into the wine, as I am a total wine cretin and have literally zero idea of what I am talking about, but head on over HERE and you will find my photos of the night with the pics of the wines in all their beauty. The food, on the other hand, I am more at ease with. The first dish of stuffed squid, for example, was excellent. Tangy tomato sauce, an earthy bitterness from the monks beard (a vegetable I had never come across before) and the squid itself stuffed with its own tentacles and perfectly cooked to a soft bite.

With a meaty interlude of bresaolo, the next dish was a real challenge for me. A filleted mackerel stuffed with capers and anchovies were sat on top of a bulghur wheat “salsa”. Mackerel AND anchovies?? I puffed my chest out and took a bite. And another. And another. Eventually, the whole thing was gone. It was absolutely delicious and it was quite surprising how well this went down. The anchovy element was not overpowering and the fish must have been extremely fresh as it had no trace of that "fishy" taste I normally associate with oily fish such as this. A very pleasant surprise.

The fish was followed by a well executed pasta dish comprising of a few oversized penne (aka paccheri) sitting in a sweet and tangy tomato sauce, smothered in tonnes of stinky pecorino. The meat course of lamb, tomato and marjoram was sadly the lowlight of the meal for me. The lamb was exceptionally cooked and returned good flavour but was woefully underseasoned. The white bean puree that it sat on didn't help with the dish and just made everything taste even more bland. It was disappointing, although the dessert that followed certainly did not. Date and mascarpone tart was light and not overly sweet. The frangelico and hazelnut syrup added moisture and a change in texture. We were so full by this stage but our plates returned to the kitchen scraped clean.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am a bit rubbish with wine, but even I enjoyed the wine matched to the courses and I can genuinely say I learnt a little and enjoyed wine a tiny bit more. The food was excellent and as good an excuse as any to travel into the depths of South East London. I met a few more people from the #SEmassive as well as having a good laugh with a few of the ones I had already met. Great night, great food and great people. Thanks to Rob Macintosh, big daddy of the SE Massive for organising and long live South East London!

Bella Vista - 3-5 Montpelier Vale, London SE3 0TA

A few more supper clubs, The Secret Larder and Comida Divertida

2010-05-04T18:18:00.007+01:00

One of the best things about starting this blog is the amount of people you meet. I have been lucky enough to meet chefs, journalists and PR's, but most importantly of all, I have met many many people who just love food. Two of these people are James and Charlie.

Both of these guys love their food, but have taken their passions one step further than just cooking and writing about it. James, or Rambo to his mates (pecs of steel), spent a few months out in the wilds of Ireland at the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School and now spends his days writing about and cooking food. Charlie, or simply Nels, is a chef who has spent time peeling veg in the kitchens of the Fat Duck and huddled over the stoves at Hibiscus, and now spends his living designing stuff for a food related magazine. Both their lives are entrenched in food and now you get a chance to try some of it.

I was a late sub at Rambo's Secret Larder. Some poor unfortunate souls were struck down with some sort of lurgy or another and two spaces made themselves available. Me being gainfully unemployed and my little sister being a student studying for her finals are grateful for any sort of distraction and were more than happy to make up the numbers. Seating 20 split onto 3 separate tables, we all started nattering to each other. It is inevitable that a few groups come together but I was seated with a lovely bunch of old Edinburgh uni students and had a great time. Asparagus, pigs cheek and mackerel were all on the menu and all extremely enjoyable.

Charlie, on the other hand, opted for a menu based firmly in Mexico. Being his first supper club, it was a night for experimenting. Having a margherita thrust upon you as you enter the flat is not the worst way to start an evening and with homemade nachos on the go, we began to mingle with the rest of the crowd. We were then led upstairs where we were introduced to the main dining area. Again, there were about 20 of us and this time split onto 2 tables. Various delights rolled out of the kitchen and the supper club soon descended into a full on party.

Supper clubs are popping up ten to the penny at the moment, but there is good reason for this. There is a dearth of great chefs out there looking for an outlet, and like any other “business”, if they aren’t any good, they will struggle to survive. I enjoyed myself thoroughly at both of these and would happily go again, and with a donation of £25 suggested, it’s not likely to break the bank. Personally, I say long live the supper club and long live to dining with new friends!

The Secret Larder – Somewhere in Holloway.

Comida Divertida – Somewhere in Shoreditch.

More pics this way...

A Hint of the East out in the East, Viajante

2010-05-01T15:32:00.008+01:00

There’s something about the East end of London and I. We simply don’t get along. I’m not sure where this deep seeded hatred originated from but I sense it could be down to two things. Reason number one probably has something to do with the fact that I lived out East during my second year at university. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, but the fact that it was so far away from the action got on my nerves somewhat. Now that I live in Camberwell, it seems that the East has got a lot trendier and a fair few of my friends have decided to relocate in this vicinity. The second problem for me is another one of transport; south to east just doesn’t exist.

Until now, that is. All hail the new East London overground! Back with a slightly new name, some new signs and fancy new trains, this is essentially the old East London line but revamped and extended. At time of going to press, it is running a limited service but I managed to hop on to take me to my lunch date, a meal at Viajante with 5 other food lovers.

Viajante has been in the pipeline for quite some time. Nuno Mendes (head chef) has been testing out his style of cuisine on paying guests at the Loft Project for quite some time, but for those like me who were unable to make it, Viajante was my first chance to try out some of his much lauded food. Bringing in Iberian influences from his home and family, and combining it with his love of Asian ingredients, the end result was quite an experience.

Unfortunately, the first experience I had was not good. I ordered a Skye Julep on arrival, and although it sounded rather appealing on the menu, what I received was a cocktail which tasted of dettol. Dettol is a disinfectant. Disinfectant (or the flavour there of) does not belong in a drink.

Thankfully I was distracted from the horror of my beverage by a bevy of nibbles. Opting for the three course menu at a very affordable £25, we were not told what the dishes would be so we had no idea when the first course actually started amongst the flood of "amuse". First we were brought an "Iberian" crisp bread (not sure what its real name was, but it was covered in lovely things like olives, garlic dust and dots of romesco). Next up was a "jelly" of aubergine, although this was by far the most disappointing dish, tasting of nothing. Finally, my favourite of the trio, a mini sandwich of chicken and quails egg called a "Thai explosion". I popped it into my mouth and began to understand the nature of its name, wonderful flavours of lemongrass, coriander and Thai basil flooding your tastebuds.

With bread consumed and with my mouth now fully woken up, we moved onto our first course in earnest, a squid ceviche with a squid ink granita. Bloody hell this was nice. Beautifully presented but the power definitely lay in the flavours and texture. The squid was beautifully tender and dressed in a light dill oil, the granita adding a different depth in flavour and a nice contrast in temperature. This was a cold starter, but there were different levels of cold. The squid itself was sliced into a perfect checkerboard, high levels of attention to detail were evident in its presentation.

The main course was a variation of surf and turf. A few prawns and slices of tender fatty pork neck sat alongside strands of savoy cabbage on an anchovy puree. Now, I have a major angst when it comes to anchovies, but took a dab of the puree into my mouth and was pleased to find it creamy and not at all overpowering. It wasn't the largest portion I have ever seen, but all the "bites" presented to us earlier certainly add up and was just about enough.

Having worked our way through the myriad of savouries, we were presented with a palate cleanser, a green sorbet of Thai basil and lime. All 6 of us on the table took a mouthful almost simultaneously and pretty much exclaimed "Wow" in unison. The lime packed a punch but it was the Thai basil that really jumped out. The flavours from the sorbet were dancing about, having their own little party in my mouth. Each flavour was so clean and crisp; every mouthful was just as good as the next. I even started reducing the size of my spoonfuls to extend the longevity of this experience. But all good things come to an end, and looked at my empty glass longingly as it was whisked away.

The dessert proper was a very well executed chocolate fondant (especially considering its size) with hazelnut ice cream and a seriously tart blackcurrant sauce. I have omitted the silly chocolate dots as although this dish was erring on the side of "very naughty", the design of the plate is just silly. I mean, it's a big plate, but all the food is huddled into the corner, away from the dots. Stupid design, great flavours.

The journey didn't end there as we were presented with a crème Catalan (or orange cream) and some great if a little crazy petit fours (white chocolate and mushroom truffle anyone?). I was quite sad when I had eaten my lemon jelly. I knew it was the last morsel I was going to be devouring and that made me sad. To say I enjoyed Viajante is an understatement. Many places have such hype surrounding them, but few ever live up to it and I am glad to say that I believe Viajante really does.

Not only is the food excellent (if you ignore the ghastly aubergine abomination), but barring one incident involving lack of cutlery and missing plates, the staff were attentive and eager to tell you about the food. Nuno is highly visible and attentive in the open kitchen and uses the space more like you would have expected at his supper club at the loft. Even when the food is ready, he comes out and brings the dishes with his serving staff. At the end of the meal, we collared him and asked him a few questions about himself and Viajante. The ingredients of south eastern Asia were highly prominent in his food and when asked where this influence came from, I could see him almost start to gush with enthusiasm as he spoke of his love for the area and its ingredients. Viajante means "traveller" and not only was the meal the fruits of Nuno Mendes' travels, it certainly took me on my own journey. One that I would happily experience again and again.

Viajante - Patriot Square, Bethnal Green, London E2 9NF

For a few more pics, please click here.

Meat with more meat, Churrasco (Sydney part 2)

2010-04-29T10:30:00.000+01:00

After a good few days with my young cousins and my family in the hills of Sydney, I thought it was time I braved the big city. After a rather delightful afternoon wandering around probably my favourite place in the world (I am one big kid), I went to meet the first person I ever worked with in an office. His name is Justin X.

I have known Justin for nearly 10 years, and in those 10 years, only two of those were based in England. Having worked together for a mere 2 weeks, we have been MSN messenger buddies for a long time and I was rather excited that we would finally be able to catch up face to face. So after a few beers and chats about how our lives really weren't where we were hoping right now, we headed off for dinner.

The options in Sydney are pretty endless. It is definitely one of the most multi-cultural cities I have ever been to, with strong representation from many different ethnicity's. Justin himself is from Italian stock but he knew where to take me. He had read the blog, we were going to eat meat, we were going to a Brazilian churrascaria. Our first choice was disappointingly closing early. Disappointing as it was meant to be excellent with a huge variety (check out Braza if you are ever in Sydney) but settled for Churrasco instead.

So, what can I say. Shortly after our arrival, the meat onslaught began. First, we were presented with the traffic light system, green for go and red for "I've had enough and am on the verge of making an embarrassment of myself if I eat any more". With that established, they started to ease us into it. First came chorizo and mini chicken sausages, and served alongside we were brought some creamy warm potato salad and some added stodge of rice and beans. Served with a smile, these were delicious and got me salivating.

From that point onwards saw a steady stream of meat in various guises. From memory we were given various porky delights in the form of sausages and gammon. Next came beef in various cuts. I was most impressed, the sirloin was tender and beautifully pink with a lovely smoky char. The food just kept on coming, and almost exclusively meat. I was informed that prawns and other seafood is served at Braza, but this didn't worry me too much, he wasn't to know that fishy stuff isn't my thing.

It wasn't too long before I was patting my stomach in defeat and turning over my personal traffic light to the red position. This didn't really stop the waitresses from trying to ply me with more meat, but I just couldn't fit any more in. Justin, on the other hand, had other ideas. I mean, the guy is half my size but he just kept putting it away. Impressive.

We sat back, sipped the remnants of our caipirinhas and soon enough, it was time to leave. It had been great to catch up and Churrasco was a great setting. Informal but pleasant, the room is open and spacious, and best of all, the food was delicious. I walked past the giant grill on the way out and stared in wonder. When I buy my place, I am installing one of those.

Churrasco - 3/60-70 William St, Woolloomooloo, Sydney

It's the big one, The Fat Duck (Bray)

2010-04-27T10:30:00.003+01:00

It's a beautiful day. It's warm, the sun is flying high and the clouds are lightly sprinkled across the sky. I am, however, in Maidenhead. Now, this may anger a few people, but Maidenhead is hardly a cultural mecca. I am not here to visit one of its many huge warehouse stores, or to drive around on it's seemingly endless system of roundabouts and roads. No, for me, Maidenhead is a means to an ends. It is the doorway to fulfillment and trust me, I am not hanging around for long. I am in a taxi and I am going to the Fat Duck.

Now, for those of you who may not have heard of the Fat Duck, you definitely will have heard of Heston Blumenthal. You know the one, the bald guy off the telly who last week created a giant edible iceberg which burst into flames. The same guy who is smirking over London Bridge next to Delia. Yeah, that's the guy. And when he isn't being a TV celebrity, he is the brains behind a rather well respected restaurant, the aforementioned Fat Duck.

Now, for the uninitiated, this restaurant is what is known in the industry as "a bit good". It has held three coveted Michelin stars since 2004 and has even reached the pinnacle of its trade by being crowned the best restaurant in the world in 2005. It is the mecca for all discernible food lovers, and best of all, it's in England. I have been wanting to come here for a very long time, and now I can happily say I have.

So Maidenhead isn't great, but the Fat Duck can be found about 10 minutes away in an idyllic little village called Bray. Home to not one, but two three Michelin star restaurants (Michel Roux's Waterside Inn is also located here). The entrance to the restaurant is very discreet, a simple wooden door on the high street. Inside is pretty small, with only 42 covers in the restaurant, but we were immediately made to feel welcome by the excellent staff.

We were ten minutes early but were made to wait a tortuously long time for any sort of food. It was over 40 minutes before our first course in earnest turned up, with a small bowl of olives presented to keep us going, but once the food starting hitting the table, the meal moved forward like clockwork.

LIME GROVE

Nitro Poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse

The first course was a simple palate cleanser but was all about the theatre. Where some restaurants would wheel out a shot glass of some sort of granita, here the ice is replaced with a bucket of liquid nitrogen. Small balls of mousse are squeezed out of a canister and then dunked into the freezing nitrogen to form a shell. These are then popped into your mouth for the mousse to slowly melt in your mouth, whilst desperately trying to ignore the waiter who is spritzing lime essence around you. Odd, but nice and a mere taster for what was to follow.

RED CABBAGE GAZPACHO

Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream

Soon after the nitro man had vacated his position at my shoulder, he was replaced by one offering me bread. And rather nice bread it was too, although I believe that this is bought and not actually made on site. Served with slightly salted unpasteurised butter from Jersey, I had to restrain myself from devouring it all. Soon enough, the next course arrived.

It was a small quenelle of ice cream for such a large bowl, and looked rather lonely as it was carefully placed in front of me. However, it was soon joined by a sprinkling of red cabbage gazpacho. The mustard certainly started the taste buds tingling and the combination of mustard, cabbage and the little cubes cucumber at the bottom of the bowl was a most refreshing dish. I was just getting started. I wanted more.

JELLY OF QUAIL, CRAYFISH CREAM

Chicken Liver Parfait, Oak Moss and Truffle Toast

If there was any dish that was designed to assault all your senses at once, this would be it. A few moments after our dishes were whisked away (where I was caught desperately scraping the remnants of the gazpacho out of the massive bowl), a slab of turf was placed before us, with 4 small plastic containers symmetrically placed on top. We were instructed to place the small strip concealed within the containers on our tongues. After I wrestled my strip out, almost losing it completely in the process, I placed it on my tongue and the flavours of the forest burst out. Oak, sap, moss, mist, it was all there.

As this was going on, a liquid was poured onto the bed of turf and a "forest mist" rolled off, flowing off the table, intertwining itself around our glasses and cutlery. Instructed to eat our truffle toasts, the deep earthy flavour of the truffle and the slight bitterness of the radish rolled all over my tongue as the mist continued to roll off the table.

After that bit of theatre, came the more substantial part of the course, a highly savoury combination of a green puree (broad bean?) topped with a salty quail jelly and a crayfish cream. A small quenelle of sweet chicken liver parfait on top helped to balance the dish, with all the flavours being highly savoury (I hate using the word umami). A fair dish, but one that divided opinion. I enjoyed it but there was better to come...

SNAIL PORRIDGE

Jabugo Ham, Shaved Fennel

One of Mr Blumenthals signature dishes and I can see why. This was one dish which really had the wow factor. It wasn't really the snails that were the focus of the dish, but the risotto/porridge that it sat on. Herby and smooth, we all had fun trying to identify what it was made of but I don't think there were any winners. The smooth risotto was punctuated with intense slivers of air dried ham which just flooded your mouth with porky saltiness. The soft snails and pickled fennel sat on top, finishing a supreme dish. This is what coming to the Fat Duck is all about.

ROAST FOIE GRAS

Rhubarb, Braised Konbu and Crab Biscuit

From pure crazy invention to simple good ingredients cooked well. The foie gras was well cooked and combined with an intense rhubarb jam. Deceivingly simple, but highly flavoured and satisfying.

MOCK TURTLE SOUP (c.1850)

"Mad Hatter Tea"

Taken straight from his last TV series, this dish combines both the story of Alice in Wonderland and a dish which was consumed over a century ago. Without going into too great a detail about the history of a dish, we were presented with a scene from the Lewis Carroll classic.

A "watch" was then presented to us, as we were slowly regaled the story of how the watch was dropped into a teacup in the story by our keen waiter. The watch is then "dropped" into the tea cup, where we were instructed to stir and the watch soon materialised into a gold specked broth, heady with the aroma of beef stock and Madeira.

The finished article didn't really live up to the show in it's construction, although I did still enjoy the soup as a whole. I think one of my fellow diners described it as "spam and tofu in a broth", which wasn't actually too far off the truth. Who says you need to be all fancy with words, eh?

"SOUND OF THE SEA"

Another old Fat Duck favourite, although I believe that it has been refined over the years, and after talking with other people, uses the fish which is freshest on the day. Now, I am pretty scared of fish, and raw fish, well, that's a whole different challenge. But the minute I put the earphones in, all those issues went away. Because all I could think was "I hope those bloody seagulls don't crap on my head".

Once I got over that little "issue", I tried to tackle the dish in front of me. Raw slices of yellowtail, halibut and mackerel atop a bed of "sand" (made from tapioca and ground eels) and assorted sea vegetables. I took a mouthful of foam (made from dashi) and it did, strangely, taste of the sea. Not a good memory, as all I could think of being hit full force in the face by a wave as a child and emerging with a mouthful of saltwater for my troubles. This may be where my deep issues with the taste of the sea and all that resides within it comes from.

I think testament to it's execution, I polished it all off. The "sand" was delicious, and I actually enjoyed the yellowtail and mackerel slices, whilst the halibut was one fish too far for me. Fish haters, do not be afraid.

SALMON POACHED IN LIQUORICE

Artichokes, Vanilla Mayonnaise, Golden Trout Roe and Manni Olive Oil

For me, this dish was my favourite of the day. Having conquered my fear of fish in the last dish, the combinations in this just blew me away. The salmon was subtly poached in the licorice, forming a delicate coating. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the subtle flavours of licorice and vanilla were delicately balanced. The trout roe added little salty explosions on your tongue, where the pink grapefruit was beautifully sweet and tangy.

No gimmicks, just excellent cooking, flavour combinations and produce.

POWDERED ANJOU PIGEON (c.1720)

Blood Pudding and Confit of Umbles

The only dud in the whole meal for me. Offal is something I am coming to terms with but a sauce made from blood was just too much for me. I did try it, but couldn't manage more than a taste. Instead, I ate the quavers (they were quavers, right?) and the pigeon (don't mean to sound like a broken record, but perfectly cooked, once again), but left the rest.

HOT AND ICED TEA

A palate cleanser and a seemingly innocuous glass of tea. Inside was something quite mind boggling, one half, warm lemon tea, whilst the other was ice cold. Literally split straight down the middle. We all had a bit of fun with this, none more so than holding it in your mouth with one half warm, and the other cold. A strange but lovely experience.

TAFFETY TART (c.1660)

Caramelized Apple, Fennel, Rose and Candied Lemon

We were now into the desserts and the most beautiful plate of food was placed in front of me. I really didn't want to eat it and admired it for a little while (whilst also papping the hell out of it). Hard to describe all the flavours going on here, but it had all the flavours of a great apple pie. Again, lots of contrasting flavours and textures.

The "BFG"

Kirsch Ice Cream and the smell of the Black Forest

The final proper course and probably the best for me. Kang had enthusiastically brought his copy of "In Search of Perfection", hoping to be signed by the big man himself. The highlight of the book was the BFG. Meticulous planning, various processes, layer upon layer of things which were very bad for you. This was the business. A dessert like no other, with such careful attention to every single detail. Not only was there a whiff of kirsch sprayed into the air as we consumed this heavenly dessert, but the stalk is an edible fine dried vanilla pod. Perfection indeed.

WHISK(E)Y WINE GUMS

So now we hit the wind-down. A pleasant if whimsical course finds us peeling whisky gums off a map of Scotland, with the home of Jack Daniels thrown in for good measure. Each slightly different, packed with the unique flavours of each individual whisky.

"LIKE A KID IN A SWEET SHOP"

The petit fours were presented in a paper bag, with a menu card instructing me to smell it. So I did. It was scented with licorice, pear drops, gumballs, all the smells of a sweet shop. I closed my eyes and took in another breath, bringing back memories of cycling down to the sweet shop with my sisters and sneaking away with a bag of kola cubes. I ate the chocolate playing card and the delicious aerated mandarin chocolate and took home the apple caramel (with edible wrapper) and the coconut baccy to share just a smidgen of the experience with someone else.

So there you go. The magical mystery tour was over, and I loved it. It is true, it did not "blow me away", but being blown away is over rated. What I experienced was an extremely well thought out menu, with some crazy touches which elevated the whole experience over your average meal. Great produce, intense flavours and flawless execution.

And the service was immaculate. Although it took a while for the whole show to kick off, from the minute we were given our first dish, the team worked together seamlessly like cogs in a well oiled machine. Led by Daniel, the gracious Maitre'D, he made sure that the show kept moving forward. Little touches like folding the napkins, pushing the chair in when you sit down, cutlery mysteriously appearing as if it were set by an invisible dwarf hiding under the table. This is what 3 Michelin star service is and I want it everywhere I eat from now on.

There were a few issues. I really didn't like the fact that there was only one male toilet. I realise that there are only 42 covers but in the four and a half hours I was there, I went to the toilet twice, only to find one person already in the toilet and to my annoyance, another waiting already. We also shared a bottle of wine for the table and our first bottle we requested was unavailable. When we requested an alternative, we were pushed towards a much more expensive alternative. A pushy sommelier is definitely another black mark. Finally, the cost. At £185 all in, it wasn't the eye wateringly high cost it could have been had we taken the accompanying wine flight, but was still far and away the most expensive meal I have ever had.

So there it is. An amazing experience and even taking into account a few minor black marks, I would highly recommend this experience to anyone. There is good reason why this restaurant has been firmly lodged in the top three restaurants in the world for such a long time, and I heartily suggest you find out for yourself.

The Fat Duck - High Street, Bray, Berkshire SL6 2AQ

Asians abroad - Eating with my uncle (Sydney part 1)

2010-04-21T11:30:00.005+01:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't been too productive on the blog front recently. Unfortunately, quitting my job and escaping to the other side of the world for three weeks has taken precedence, although I am now blessed with a wealth of new experiences from down under that I will be sharing with you over the next few blog posts.

So, after my brief stopover in Bangkok where all sorts of crazy things happened that could only possibly happen in Bangkok, I made my way to Sydney where I prepared myself to over indulge and catch up with friends and family. I thought long and hard how to do this, but I think a suitable barrage of mini posts will be appropriate.

One of the benefits of being Malaysian is that *controversial statement alert* not many Malaysians seem to want to stay in Malaysia. I have family spread far and wide, including a cousin in New York, auntie in Seattle, cousins in Melbourne and Singapore, and last but not least, my uncle in Sydney. I remember my last trip in 2001 where he was still a bachelor and zooming around in his convertible Z3. Ten years on, he is now married with two young kids, and I can honestly say that this trip was no less enjoyable, meeting my two young cousins for the first time. Gone has the bachelor pad in Pyrmont, now replaced by a rather beautiful residence in the hills of Kellyville, deep in the suburbs.

Being located so close to Asia, Australia seems to have a high percentage of Chinese migrants and this is reflected in the quality of Chinese food available on the streets. Instead of the small Chinatowns you find in many of the larger cities across the world, you find whole Chinese neighbourhoods where most of the shop signs are in Chinese and the wealth of South East Asian food available is quite overwhelming. Hilltop Pheonix in Castle Towers is a perfect example. A small suburb, a fair distance away from downtown Sydney, and you can find a high quality dim sum restaurant located on the top floor of a shopping center. A strange location for a restaurant, but it is buzzing and the turnover of tables is something to behold.

Within 4 hours of landing, I was feasting on seaweed and roast pork. The seaweed was so green that I suspected some chemical trickery was involved but the roast pork (siu yoke) had a great crunch and an (un)healthy band of tasty fat.

Most dishes are of a decent standard, and the trolleys are a welcome novelty. Trolleys seem to have slowly been phased out in London but makes ordering far easier and I for one, am quite sad to see their demise. Having said that, although I enjoyed the food here, I can't help thinking that there is something lacking. I enjoyed the dumpling selection, with roasted meats and veggies freely available, but there was no prawn cheung fun (a staple dim sum dish) and the yam croquettes (normally my favourite dish) were cold and bland. A nice place, and mostly good but not great.

In my short stay with my uncle, we also managed to visit one of these Chinese neighbourhoods. I forget which one but I do remember that nearly every single shop had Chinese on their hoardings, with pictures as visual aids for those not able to understand Mandarin or Cantonese. There were a variety of Asian delights on offer (of the gastronomic variety), but I was there for one thing and one thing only. Roasted meat. The Chinese really know how to cook the pig and with hunks of char siu (bbq) and siu yoke (crispy belly) hanging in the windows, how could I resist? As you can see in my rather reflective picture, there are a multitude of other roasted meats, ranging from duck to chicken and even squid, although the Chinese were pioneers of the "nose to tail" eating philosophy, with no part of the animal discarded. Intestines, liver, kidneys are all on offer.

So there starts my Sydney adventure. Stay tuned for more shortly...

Hilltop Pheonix - Shop U7, Castle Towers, Castle Hill NSW 2154

A tale of three cafes (Camberwell)

2010-04-19T11:30:00.001+01:00

I often get a lot of stick for living in South London. I know this may come as quite a surprise, but there are a lot of haters out there (crazy, I know!). No variety, nowhere decent to go eat and drink, too many muggings, too ethnic, the criticisms continue unabated. I, however, am proud of living in South London and am here to champion it's cause.

My particular neighbourhood is Camberwell. Most of my regular readers already know this, I bang on about how great it is often enough and today, I am going to bang on about it a little more. You see, in the last week, whilst I have been...erm...freelancing from home, I have found the need to look for more local establishments to satisfy my lunchtime hunger pangs as well as providing me with my daily caffeine fix. Thankfully, I have discovered that I am rather spoilt for choice.

Love Walk Cafe

Located on the site of the unfortunate O Galo (a Portuguese restaurant which was only remarkable for the fact that it was always empty), Love Walk cafe was absolutely bustling when I walked in. I know it was lunch time, and that there are precious other alternatives in the area for the staff from the local hospital to get sustenance, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice change to see this place busy.

Inside is adorned with global trinkets and feels warm and cosy. As for the food, expect your standard cafe fare, sandwiches with coffee, smoothies and a limited range of hot foods. I fancied a heartier meal so opted for their full breakfast, which was average at best, but filled me up. So there you go, better than what was there before, but not stellar.

Love Walk Cafe - 81 Denmark Hill, Camberwell SE5 8RS

Cafe Bay

Located a few doors down from Love Walk cafe is Cafe Bay. It appears that the banh mi revolution has even reached Camberwell as these Vietnamese baguettes make up most of the menu here. Of course there are Western fillings, but seriously, why would you order a ham and cheese sandwich when you can get one filled with pate, caramelised pork, pickled vegetables and herbs.

I went for the Bay special with a Vietnamese iced coffee alongside. Filled with two types of pork, as well as that essential smattering of pate, I really enjoyed my banh mi. I am still seeking that elusive soft rice flour baguette (apparently banh mi 11 in Broadway market is where to go) but this was as good an example as I have tried. The iced coffee was thick and sweet, and the coffee sat on top of the condensed milk ready to be mixed together.

Cafe Bay does things simply but does them well. Their banh mi is delicious and the cafe is functional as opposed to beautiful. A nice place to have lunch and a benefit to the area.

Cafe Bay - 75 Denmark Hill, SE5 8RS

House Gallery and Cafe

The last of my happy trio of Camberwell cafes is House. So what makes this any different from the other two? Well, a few things actually. Firstly, it has a small gallery downstairs, something that the other two definitely don't have. If my memory serves me right, it was always a gallery and then they converted the downstairs space, whilst turning upstairs into a cafe.

The second point, and definitely the more pertinent for me, is that it has free wifi. Well, only before 12 and after 2, which is sensible as it dissuades the campers from taking up prime real estate during their lunch period. As there is no "kitchen" bar a sandwich toaster, the offerings are fairly limited but the sandwiches are all freshly prepared and actually look pretty stunning. Personally, I go there for a cup of coffee, somewhere to chill out and it has been one of my impromptu offices during the last week. It's a very welcoming place and perfect to wile away a few afternoon hours. Definitely check out their orange juice, freshly squeezed and delicious.

House - 70 Camberwell Church Street, London, SE5 8QZ