The Lazy Posts of 2012: Part 1 - The Pricy Ones

There seems to be a trend of “lost posts” going on at the moment, posts which got lost in the draft sections of their blog archive. This post is not a lost posts writeup, but a lazy posts write up. This has nothing to do with being lost, these have been sitting penned in ink upon my notepad next to me, staring at me whenever I sit down to type anything at my computer.

So here they are, the lazy posts, written up lazily, but hopefully with enough to help make you decide whether it could be your cup of tea, or just another herbal teabag destined to be languishing at the back of your store cupboard. Part one (oh yes, there will be at least THREE parts) will be about the places on the slightly dearer end of the scale.


The Classic Posh One: The Square, Mayfair



Now, I really should have written something about this earlier, because the food was very very well executed, and as good an example of classic French techniques as you will find anywhere in London, I would imagine. I was there for a little blogger dinner for the launch of Phil Howards new cookbook, an anthology of savoury recipes. Apparently, this had been many years in the making and I can see why. It’s a beautiful and bountiful cookbook containing recipes for beginners up to the pros.



In summary, a flawless masterclass of classic cooking.

Check out the book HERE, and more photos of the food HERE.

The Square - 6-10 Bruton Street, London W1J 6PU







The Next Big Thing: Upstairs at the Ten Bells, Shoreditch




In a stark comparison to the Square, the food I ate at the Ten Bells with the Young Turks in residence was about as cutting edge as you can find in London at the moment. Formed by a few guys who have come from some of the best restaurants in the world, expect pine flavoured fried chicken, mackerel with pickled melon and olives, and one of the best dishes I had in 2012, a pork, sweetcorn and peach dish which inspired me to cook something similar at home. Suffice to say, it wasn’t as good.





I love what these guys are doing, and their residency at the Ten Bells is now permanent with some of their chefs still working in the kitchen (led by Giorgio Ravelli). The Young Turks will be opening up their own restaurant in Shoreditch Town Hall soon. Destined to be a success so keep your eyes open for this one.



For more pics, please click HERE

Upstairs at the Ten Bells - 84 Commercial Street, London E1 6LY







The One Where The Scary Chinese Owner Gets Me Into A Headlock: Hunan, Pimlico



Hunan had been on my to do list for as long as I have been writing this blog and is quite an institution down in Pimlico. The principle is old school Cantonese banquet, a never ending sequence of dishes which only stops when your stomach yields and waves the white flag. Getting a group together is not essential, but it is quite an experience best shared with others.



Over the course of the evening, we covered a whole selection of food groups, from the humble green bean to every meat known to man. Half the time I had no idea what I was eating, but that mostly didn’t matter, it was all pretty decent. There is no heavy seasoning or use of MSG, with the aim of letting the main flavours come through central to its ethos, although slightly unfortunate in some instances where lack of seasoning was definitely an issue. On the whole though, loved Hunan, it’s conveyor belt of mostly excellent food and a hat tip to the chef who having smacked me round the head and got me in a headlock, was great entertainment (for my friends mostly).

Click HERE for more pictures of the meal.

Hunan - 51 Pimlico Road, London SW1W 8NE

The first of 2013: The two faces of Bubbledogs

First up this year, and one of last years successes for me, a bit of both at Bubbledogs &. And when I mean both, I mean opposite sides of the foodie spectrum. Out the front, you will find a queue snaking out the front all the way down Charlotte Street, waiting for their turn to tuck into a selection of hot dogs (pork, beef and veggie) covered in all sorts of delicious accompaniments. To drink, a selection of grower champagnes selected carefully by wine buff Sandia Chang, or a decent selection cocktails made and shaken to order by people who actually know what they are doing.

The dogs taste great and come with that essential snap of the skin, releasing all the meaty juices held within. For me, a hot dog with no snap is like a sad bowl of soggy Rice Krispies, mushy and undesirable. Toppings are inspired from all over the world, with kimchi, chilli, truffle and even red cabbage adorning the dogs. Personal favourites are the BLT, which is a dog wrapped in bacon, and topped with caramelized lettuce and truffle mayo, and the Small Eye (in the pic above), a combination of pickled veg and sriracha, akin to a hot dog stuffed banh mi.

I'm not massively into bubbly or queueing, but I do love cocktails and hot dogs. Book a table for 6 in advance, gather a few friends together and go and eat the menu, you won't be disappointed. If you're a sadist and want to torture yourself, get there at half seven and wait in the queue. Not advised as these get kind of crazy long, so basically either book or start queueing early. Oh, and don't forget sides of tater tots, the best sweet potato fries I have ever had, dipped in bowls of cheese wizz (artificial cheesy artery glue). Dirty but satisfying.

Step through the curtains at the back and you enter the realm of the "&". In front of you is the most beautiful open plan kitchen, with a horseshoe shaped bar seating surrounding the hot plates and prep areas. This section is very much the domain of James Knappett, husband to Sandia, and orchestrator in chief behind that curtain. Every week, James plans his menus around the produce that his suppliers choose to send him. Only the best in season will hit your plates and you will never get the same menu twice.

James has had experience in so many top kitchens, it wouldn't be outlandish to say that his CV reads like a list of ther worlds best. Per Se, The French Laundry, Noma, The Ledbury, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, a pretty impressive bunch. All this experience has finally culminated in his own place serving his own food. I've bumped into James a few times wandering around Maltby Street Market; jovial, friendly, buying ingredients to cook and eat with. At the Kitchen Table, his attention was devoted to the food, meticulous with each dish and orchestrating his chefs with ease and calm.

There is no a la carte, with just two tasting menus differing in length as your options (I forget how long they are but I went with the 12 course menu, the longer one). Each listed menu item was simply summarised in one word, not giving away what each dish had in store. I'm not sure the menu helped all that much anyway, as each dish was a surprise and a delight.

Take "Cod, for example. What arrived was a delightfully light cod roe based taramasalata, served with curls of pork crackling to dip and scrape. I'm not a massive fan of taramasalata, it's fishy pungency and salty fishy tang embodies much of what put me off fish in the first place when I was a kid. This, however, was something different altogether. That salty fishy tang was still present, but was whipped smooth and creamy, without being overly pungent. The crunchy puffed pig skin wasn't heavily salted and the combination of crunch, salt, fish and a few other ingredients just left me wanting more. Lick the bowl clean good, the best dish of the lot for me (I may or may not have done any licking).

I'm not going to go through every dish, but each one came prepared in unconventional ways or came paired with with ingredients that I had never tried together before. A whimsical take on a lobster mac and cheese (in the pic above), a classic seaside combination of mackerel and oysters, venison rack with a side of venison pie, a superb Meyer Lemon sponge, straight from California. Each dish carefully presented, each dish plated with precision in front of you, a unique experience I don't think you can find anywhere else in London.

The Bubbledogs package is something quite unique for London and in this ever expanding city of restaurants, it's always pleasing to see something so unique take off. Struggle with the crowds out the front for a chance to scoff down some hotdogs and champagne or sneak behind the curtain for one of the best tasting menus in town.

[For more photos, please click here]

Bubbledogs& - 70 Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QG

Tastes from my Travels - L'Ecrivain (Dublin)

I've been to Dublin a few times in the past. Once on a weekend break about 7 years ago and once on a massive piss-up disguised as a "company offsite". When I heard my cousin, who I hadn't seen for about 7 years, was heading across the pond from Seattle, I decided to give him an experience other than London and booked a mini-break over to Dublin.

I was fairly clueless as to what to see, do and, most importantly, eat and was rescued by Twitter once again. I didn't even put the word out, I just mentioned I was off and the flood of recommendations came in. Best take this opportunity to thank @kehoeser, @thedailyspud, @icanhascook, @euzie, @eatlikeagirl and all the Irishmen in my office for supplying far too many places to pack into my short 3 day trip.

I really wanted to sample the best of Dublin and the name L'Ecrivain kept coming up. A little bit of research showed that Dublin has 5 Michelin starred restaurants, L'Ecrivain (meaning "the author) coveting one of these stars so it went to the top of my hit list.

A late arrival into Dublin (due to a "clerical" error with Ryanair) meant we had time to dump our bags and freshen up before we headed to the restaurant. A short stroll along the canal, our first pint of Guinness and we were there.



Located in a small courtyard, hidden away from mainstream Dublin life, it took us away from the traffic gently bubbling along Baggott street and led us into the homely and ultimately welcoming interior. Its pretty hard to describe what this restaurant is like. It immediately oozes charm, with a small bar area and grand piano towards the back of the ground floor facing you as you enter, bordered by their private dining room. Most of the action takes place upstairs where there are various levels, although we were seated in the lofty main dining room. There is even a canopied outside balcony for additional seating, if the impulse for al fresco dining ever takes you.

In the evening, they do have a rather hefty a la carte menu, but we were very much settled on the 7 course dinner menu, reasonably priced at 65 Euro. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I was eager and hungry, an excellent combination in preparation for the impending feast!

(I'm going to apologise for the slightly dodgy pics to follow. It was dark. Not too dark, just too dark for my standard point and click)

Amuse Bouche - Carrot veloute, coconut foam



A sensational little opener. The slightly sweet velvety carrot soup slid down a treat, the coconut foam adding an extra dimension, almost transforming this into a subtle Asian curry. As it went down, I felt a slight heat tickling the back of my throat. A touch of cumin and curry powder perhaps? Did exactly what it said on the tin, lit up my taste buds in anticipation for the starter.

Starter - Goats Cheese beignet, caramelised walnuts, fine herb risotto and broccoli puree



Salty, salty deep fried goats cheese. May not be everybody's favourite cheese, but I'm a big fan. This little chunk was topped with a sweet relish adding balance (not forgetting the caramelised walnuts too, sweet and crunchy. Balance and texture!). Honestly, didn't think the risotto added a whole lot to the overall dish, felt a bit like padding. However, the deep green broccoli puree certainly delivered with a clean hit of broccoli, complementing the richness of the cheese with an aspect of freshness.

Palate Cleanser - Pink grapefruit granita with cranberry jelly



After the strong flavours of the last dish, we really needed something to give us that lift so we could move onto the main and boy did this deliver. The pink grapefruit granita was a sensation. It felt a bit strange to be having a sweet in between our savoury courses. But this was so fresh and zingy, every little mouthful just cleansed all the salty richness of the goats cheese right out of our mouths, yet kept those taste buds firing. The cranberry jelly was a little sloppy and felt totally lost in this dish, I couldn't even taste it. I didn't really care though, I just wanted more of that granita.

Main - Challans duck breast, confit leg crumble, beetroot and celeriac puree, Savoy cabbage, garlic foam



There were lots of constituent parts to this dish and started by trying each bit individually. The duck (both ways) was sensational, packed full with that slightly gamey flavour that duck has. The confit crumble just fell apart and packed in the essence of duck, I really wish there had been a tiny bit more. The beetroot puree tasted of the earth and its natural sweetness was a nice accompaniment to the duck, a nice contrast to ducks normal fruity bedfellows. Celeriac is one vegetable I don't tend to eat very often, but after tasting the puree, I want to go and buy some just in the vain hope that I may be able to replicate the sensational flavours. The garlic foam on its own was bitter and not very nice at all, but packing a little bit of everything onto the fork, it added that hint of garlic to the back of your throat, finishing off the mouthful. Phew! A lot to get through, but so worth it. Seriously good cooking.

Pre Dessert - Banoffee Pie Sundae



I often sit and wonder what in the world could be better than a banoffee pie (I really do). The answer I now know is simple, banoffee pie in a glass! A simple execution but why mess with perfection? One thing I did notice were the two different types of toffee. The one on top was much lighter and more of a caramel, a nice touch.

Dessert - Chocolate Pave with Pistachio Ice cream



OOF! The final course. Stuffed on the verge of bursting, I looked at my cousin and we said we would have to try and cross the finishing line. After all, we had already come this far. The last course was pretty straightforward in execution and relied on great ingredients to produce that wow factor. The chocolate was excellent, thick and glossy. Each mouthful coated every single taste bud on your tongue. Pistachio ice cream is by far and away my favourite flavour and was excellent, not an ice crystal in sight. This was accompanied by some pistachio praline, an interesting take on a traditional praline. I looked over at my cousin and he had hoovered his up. "I thought you were full", I said. He looked over at me guiltily and shrugged, "Couldn't help it, it was so good."



And he was right, the whole damn meal had been amazing. No dishes were particularly mind blowing, but the sequences of the dishes, the quality of the cooking and more importantly, the ingredients, the combination of flavours and textures, it all just worked.

As we sipped our coffee and stared at the petit fours (these would later be wrapped up and taken home. No more food was to pass our lips), we turned to each other and enthusiastically discussed what had just taken place. We talked about what we liked best, what we didn't like as much and what really surprised us. Two normal guys talking about exemplary cooking. Simply, that's what good food does, it makes people talk. If you're ever in Dublin, L'Ecrivain is definitely worth the visit. Get down there and prepare for a great experience, and hopefully, great memories.

L'Ecrivain (Website) - 109 a Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2

Eat Modern European: Maze, Mayfair

Its Monday, its my birthday and I have the day off. What a better a way to spend it than having lunch with my dad. Today's destination, Maze in Mayfair.

One of my favourite shows on TV is the Great British Menu, a competition putting two chefs from the same region against one another in the vain hope that at the end of it all, one of their dishes makes it to the end of series "banquet". Before this show, I hadn't really heard of Jason Atherton, but he managed to get two of his dishes through to the banquet and I vowed to give his restaurant a visit.

After a relatively painless bus ride and a short trek past the American embassy, we were there. As soon as we entered the front door, we were treated extremely well. Drinks orders taken, menu's brought to us and explained and bread fresh out the oven in the blink of an eye. Excellent service which was maintained throughout the whole lunchtime.

Order of the day was the Set Lunch menu. Maze works on a "many small dishes " basis. From the main menu, the waiter suggested you go for 4 dishes per person. As we were opting for the set lunch we had choices from a selection of 9 savoury and 4 sweet courses. Between me and my dad, we managed to cover all but one of the savoury courses and had 1 sweet each. It was a lot to take in, here's how it went:

Marinated Beetroot, Sairass Cheese, Pine Nuts

First up and pretty disappointing. Although well presented, the cheese overpowered the whole dish and I was struggling to pick up the beetroot. Didn't think the pine nuts added anything.

‘Prawn cocktail’, tomato fondue, lettuce ice, cocktail sauce

This was an excellent dish. Arriving in a cocktail glass, the lettuce ice was sprinkled on separately and added a lovely refreshing twist to a classic dish. The cocktail sauce was in puree form and together with the tomato fondue and the prawns, formed a great contrast in textures and flavours. One of our days favourites.

Smoked Cornish mackerel, mackerel tartar, olive jelly

Owing to my aversion for really strong tasting fish, I stayed well clear of this. My dad thought it was ok.

Braised shin of veal, pea and broad bean risotto, aged parmesan

A soft and flavoursome piece of meat. The accompanying pea and broad bean risotto was fresh as a summers day and the smooth fresh flavours were a fantastic contrast to the deep and meaty veal.

Red mullet bouillabaisse, saffron aioli, croutons

Again, my fish aversion meant I avoided this. Tried the bouillabaisse, which tasted pretty good.

‘Warm Scottish breakfast’ London cured salmon, smoked haddock risotto, egg and bacon

This was the star of the show for me. I'm very wary of "re-inventions" but this dish really worked. First we were presented with the salmon (twice cooked, cured then grilled on one side) which had a deep Portobello mushroom puree along side. Accompanying this was the smoked haddock risotto, containing one quails egg yolk and a sliver of bacon. I normally hate salmon (the fish thing again) but even I couldn't resist this. The flavours of the mushroom subtle alongside the slightly salty cured salmon. Although the risotto was almost a secondary dish, the yolk reinforced the richness of the risotto and was absolutely delicious. A winner.

Confit shoulder of lamb, pea purée

Now, I have eaten a lot of lamb recently. Tayyabs lamb chops (nigh on unbeatable) and loads of lamb at Taste of London (from Tamarind, Benares & Toms Kitchen). All slightly different and all lovely in their own way. This was succulent and melt in your mouth as you would expect, but nothing really that memorable. I'm beginning to think once you've tried one, you've tried them all. I'm still waiting for that lamb dish to blow me away like those lamb chops...

Roasted Barbary duck, parsley root, English cherries

Our last savoury dish and pretty disappointing. The "cherry" gravy didn't taste of cherries and the duck, well, it just tasted of duck. Boring.

Chilled cherry and mint soup, toasted marshmallow, cherry sorbet

More cherry and this time slightly more successful. The cherry and mint soup was sweet, whilst the sorbet a nice tart contrast. It could have done with being more chilled.

Rice pudding, raspberry jam, pecan ice cream, maple syrup

A pecan pie in rice pudding format. Sweet, unctuous and delicious. The pecans added the contrast in textures and added another dimension to an already great dish. Hitting the raspberry jam at the bottom was like unearthing a hidden treasure. A great way to end the meal.

Phew, a lot to get through. A nice concept and a good way to try out what the kitchen is capable of. It was good, but was it great? Hmm, not really. Although the service was impeccable throughout, the food never quite lived up to it. I'm still waiting to be blown away, and one day, I will find that meal that fulfils that criteria on every level.

Maze (website), 10-13 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6JP

Eat European: Terroirs, Covent Garden

Last Saturday saw the first official meeting of “The Unspecified Day of the Week, Maybe Once or Twice a Month Club" for those who like to eat a lot (I realise the name needs a bit of work). It was tasked to me to find a suitable location for our inaugural meeting, and after generating a lot of good press in the food blogging world, Terroirs was the location of choice. Accompanying me were the two co-founders, the cannon and the irrepressible (and for once, not late) sis no 2.


Terroirs is about food and wine, where its all about "the purity of the product". Along with the one sheet food menu came their many page wine encyclopaedia. Impressive if you fancy a glug, but we were here to eat and stuck to the water. The food menu is succinct, straightforward and comprises mainly of rustic style dishes. We took an executive decision between the three of us to order as much as we could physically manage.

First to arrive was some bread and butter alongside a portion of duck scratching. The duck scratching were basically fried bits of duck skin and nuggets of meat. These were really delicious, and unbelievably moreish. The sourdough bread, although hard work owing to its chewiness was well worth the extra work, and smothered with the unsalted butter complemented the salty morsels of duck wonderfully. These vanished almost as soon as it hit the table and next time, I'm making sure I order a portion to myself.


Duck Rillettes - Bit of a duck overload here. After the scratching came the rillettes, unctuous and rich. These were also really good, with deep duck flavours bound together with the natural duck fat. Accompanying along side were a mini bowl of cornichons, which frankly, were just not sharp enough to compete with the creamy richness of the rillettes. I know a piccalilli of sorts would have gone down very well.


Globe Artichoke with Anchoiade - This is a dish with an aspect of sentimentality for me. One of the dishes my mother used to cook for us when we were kids was a simply cooked artichoke doused in a garlic and herb based vinaigrette. Fresh and lovely on so many levels. The Terroirs version comprised of said artichoke (with the spiky bits of the heart removed, result!) accompanied by an anchovy based dip. I baulk at the thought of anchovies so stayed well clear of the dip, but the cannon dove straight in. Then stopped abruptly. Although a fan of anchovies, this was too much for her delicate taste buds, declaring it too strong and overpowering, could definitely benefit from being milder.


Piperade Basquaise with Chorizo - In my eyes, the star of the show. The slow roasted, stewed peppers had a really smooth and slightly gooey consistency. It sang of caramelised sweetness. This was nicely contrasted with the savoury smokiness of the paprika rich chorizo. I felt that this was a really well balanced dish and although strictly not mine, I snaffled tasters here and there and when its owner gave up the fight, I happily assisted in clearing the pan clean.


Pot Roasted Quail, Italian Artichokes, Pancetta and Gremolata - This arrived in a mini creuset and its unveiling felt like we were opening a present. We huddled round as I lifted off the lid and sounds of "oooh" could be heard echoing around the dining room. It was very pretty but with the tasting came disappointment. I thought that the quail was actually quite bland and the meat tough. The jus was tasty but very heavy with rosemary and muted the rest of the flavours in the dish. I'm afraid I don't think the Gremolata added anything.


Whole Dorset Crab - Sis no 2 opted for the crab. Although on the small plates menu, I don't think anybody could confuse this as one, its a whole crab for heavens sake! Owing to my particular aversion to this particular crustacean (most crustaceans actually), I abstained from the tasting but was told that it was very nice. And for £12, cant really complain, that's pretty good value for a whole cooked animal!


Alphonso Mango Rice Conde - This was essentially a rice pudding with bits of mango through it. My family are all mango fans and my sisters is a big rice pudding fan so she was very happy with this. Personally, I thought it could have done with being a bit sweeter, a strange request for the naturally sweet alphonso mangoes. Are these mangoes in season yet?


Panna Cotta and Raspberries - A simple dish well executed. The cannon hits another home run with her choice yet again. Sweet vanilla panna cotta with sharp tangy raspberries.


Crepe and Griottine Cherries - A nice dish with aspects of heaven and hell. The crepes were filled with a luscious custard which escaped and oozed all over the plate once the crepe was broken. On the minus side, the cherries and sauce were extremely kirsch heavy. Alcohol is often used to complement the dish by giving a warm sensation on the back of the throat. This felt like someone was trying to burn it down. It overpowered the taste of the cherries.

Terroirs, in a nutshell, is a great addition to the London dining seen. It had its highs and lows, but when the highs are so memorable, then the lows pale into comparison. The food was flavoursome, the service pleasant (although one of the waiters did manage to spill water all over our table) and a great ambience. The best surprise? The bill. Coming to just under £25 a head for a packed 3 course meal inclusive of service is fantastic value.

I know our little "club" is looking forward to its next feed. Let hope its as memorable and enjoyable as this one. Salut!

Terroirs (Website) 5 William IV Street, WC2N 4DW