Eat Italian : Rosso Pomodoro, Leicester Square

I met up with my good old workmate Hutch the other day after my regular appointment at the docs. Is he a good mate? Well, when I was ill, he bought me a bunch of magazines and dutifully delivered them to the hospital, even though I had already informed him that I was no longer there! He still sent them to me so I guess the answer is yes, a good mate indeed.

Anyway, I digress. He works around the Strand, and as many of you may know, there is an abundance of chain restaurants to go and eat in the area. Lunchtime in the area is always busy and after an aborted visit to GBK (half term strikes again) we decided to head up to Rosso Pomodoro just round the corner from Stringfellows.

And for once, im thankful for the kids packing their faces with burger.

Rosso Pomodoro is an italian restaurant serving your standard italian fare. A large variety of pizzas and pastas all at about a tenner a piece although there are some decently priced lunch menus incorporating rotating dishes of the day. One of its "stand out points" is that it prides itself on the fact that you are meant to eat to eat your pizza with your hands and you are constantly reminded of this througout the restaurant with signs literally everywhere. I was here for the pizza so pizza I ordered.


Now, before I go onto the food, I have to add a small note. I have always thought that a person can judge a restaurant by its napkins. Cheap establishments often have cheap napkins. An essential part to any meal, its important to have a good one to fully appreciate what is set before you. At Rosso Pomodoro, the napkins speak for themselves. They are nicely patternated, strong with good "wipeability" factor. In fact, they wouldnt look out of place if you pulled it out of your pocket and wiped your brow at a posh dinner party. As Hutch said "there are plastic fibres running through this bad boy!".


So, could the pizza live upto the napkins? I am happy to say, I was quite pleased. The dough was light but firm enough to support the toppings, the crusts were crispy and tasty, the mozzarella was creamy and all in all, this was a highly accomplished pizza. Of the latest breed of wood fired oven pizzas, this was definitely up there. My only criticism was that the tomato sauce, although tangy and rich in tomato flavour, was slightly acidic in taste. A small price to pay for a great pizza. I will definitely pop in again if I am in the area.

See : The Taming of the Shrew @ The Novello Theatre

One of those things I enjoy doing but don’t do enough (like cooking, playing snooker, anything which involves any sort of effort etc...) is going to the theatre. This is for various reasons (including the fact that it involves effort on my behalf) but mainly due to costs. Going to the theatre and getting a decent seat involves money and often a lot of it. A seat in the stalls of a west end production is often in the region of £40 and upwards, making it pretty hard to justify for a night out. However, there are lots of good discount sites out there with limited offers and if you look hard enough, you can normally find a decent deal.

It is through one of these deals that I found myself in seat N12 at the Novello theatre about to watch the RSC's production of the Taming of the Shrew, slap bang in the middle of the stalls for a mere £20! If you haven’t signed up for lastminute.com emails, do it now. They often have some stonking deals as I found out.

The Taming of the Shrew is classed as one of Shakespeare’s comedy and centers around the marriages of the "shrew", Katherina, and her sister. The play is very much split into two with half centered around the marriage of Katherina to Petruchio and the subsequent "taming" of her and the second sub plot revolves around Bianca, the younger sister, and her suitors eventually leading to her marriage.

For a play which has been adapted many times in the modern day (such as "Kiss me Kate" and "10 Things I Hate About You"), it was always going to be interesting to see how the RSC was going to interpret Shakespeare’s words. In my eyes, this was a play of darkness and light. The light comes from the antics surrounding Bianca's suitors and the lengths they would go to gain her hand in marriage. This part was filled with great comedy moments, none more so than when the fake Lucentio introduces the fake Vincentio to his prospective father-in-law, Baptista Minola. Pure genius, you have to see it to believe it and had me in stitches.

The other part of the play is very much darkness to this light. This mainly revolves around the deconstruction of Katherina by Petruchio. I believe that this is where the phrase "killing with kindness" originates and we indeed see the transformation of a headstrong Kate into a whimpering and subservient Katherina. A star turn by Michelle Gomez of Green Wing fame makes it very hard to tear your eyes of her whenever she is on stage.

All in all, a really good production. I was engrossed for the entire 3 hour running time and it left me really thinking about what I had just seen and ultimately made me want to reread the play, just to revisit any of the nuances I may have missed in the play. It comes highly recommended and is only running till the 7th of March so catch it while you can.

Eat Japanese : Abeno, Holborn

Japanese food comes in many shapes and sizes. Over the years, I have tried various incarnations ranging from Sushi, to Teriyaki to Bento boxes to Tempura to Teppanyaki, the list goes on and on and on. However, one I had never tried was something I have only just come across and thats Okonomiyaki. Literally translated, it means "What you like"-"Grilled" and can be found at the Abeno chain of restaurants.

I decided to visit the Holborn branch as I had also intended on visiting the British Museum just round the corner. Very handy indeed.

I arrived for a late lunch and was pleasantly surprised to find the place pretty busy. Its not a big place but most of the tables were still busy and there was a pleasant smell of grilling. This was unfortunately a smell I was going to become very familiar with.

I sat down and a menu was placed before me. Having done my research, I was here for one thing and one thing only so quickly glanced at the rest of the menu purely out of curiousity. And my oh my, do they seem to have a lot of dishes! Anyway, Lunch Menu C was ordered (a fairly hefty £10.80 for lunch) although again, there is quite a large variety on offer.

Whilst waiting for the main event, I was brought a bowl of Miso (not a bad attempt) and some chicken wings. Whilst I dug into these, they prepared the Okonomiyaki, or japanese version of a pancake, in front of me. I went for their Shinshu Mix which comprised of chicken, asparagus and cheese. The waitress expertly ladled the mixture onto the hot plate and patiently cooked it in front of me. I was expecting a show a la Benihana's (well for the price, some theatrics wouldn't have gone amiss) but the cooking was fairly pedestrian. After a bit of flipping and a bit more grilling, it was ready. The final step appears to be covering it in as much crap as possible. A little bit of white stuff, some brown stuff, some dried seaweed, some fish flakes, some chilli sauce. Basically, enough stuff to make sure you couldnt actually taste the pancake itself. The brown stuff, as I was constantly reminded, was "Special" Okonomiyaki sauce. I tasted it. It tasted a bit like ketchup, but sweeter. Nothing special about it in the slightest.

As to the okonomiyaki itself, I couldnt help feeling that it needed a bit more cooking. It fealt a bit soft in the middle and I dont think it was cooked long enough on a hot enough hot plate. More like a lukewarm plate. It was so mushy in the middle, it felt like I was eating adult baby food.
As you can tell, I wasnt overly enamoured with my meal. It was alright, but thats all it was. For what it was, it was way too pricy and I would be reluctant to fork out so much again.

Oh, and back to the smell. I didnt notice it in the restaurant, but afterwards, it followed me everywhere I went. In fact, I can still smell it now. Not cool.

Just as an addendum, there are an awful lot of Asian shops in this area, which I found rather strange considering the vicinity to the British Museum. I saw this Korean Grocery store which made me laugh.

Incidentally, my attempt to visit the Babylon exhibition at the British Museum was in vain as it was sold out. I underestimated the power of half term. I never realised that so many teenagers were interested in ancient history. Oh well, will try again at a later date.

Eat Italian : Caravaggios, Camberwell

If you have ever been to Camberwell, you know that you are hardly pushed for somewhere to eat. There are a multitudes of cuisines covering much of the world. If you fancy something from the Far East, there are a multitude of Chinese takeaways, as well as your smattering of noodle houses (including the new and rather embarrassing "Noodel City") and the pretty decent Vietnamese on Coldharbour Lane (thats Eastern Tree if your wondering). If your looking for a taste of India or Africa, the many restaurants along Camberwell Church Street can more than fill your appetite. And if its gastropubs your looking for, look no further than the Castle, The Bear, The Dark Horse or even The Grove.

However, one common factor amongst these restaurants and eating outlets is that they rarely appear busy. In fact, if your name is Spice of Life, its attendance appears pitiful. The only places in Camberwell who appear to be doing a roaring trade are the KFC and Caravaggios.

Caravaggios is a little Italian cafe primarily doing simple pastas complemented by a few other italian staples (such as Bruschetta and Risotto as well as a few daily specials). On the whole, there isnt much to say about this establishment. The food is pretty average but cheap. When I went with my family, we ordered drinks, 2 starters and 4 mains and the bill came to just over £30. My Spaghetti Carbonara was creamy and so huge, it could have fed the queue waiting for their KFC down the road. A main costs around the five pound mark and in these days of the credit crunch, you cant really argue with that. It has a decent variety of food catering to most tastes and does a half decent coffee as you would expect from an Italian establishment. People vote with their feet and this place is always buzzing with people. I havent been here for lunch but I have been told that their selection of pannini's and jacket potatos are extensive and filling.

Why the ram?

Thats the year I was born in.

Who and Why

I am a chinaman. Well, thats a pretty uncomplicated label and at first glance, that may be exactly what you see. In earnest, what you see is certainly not what you get from me. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and learnt German and English in my youth. Both my parents are from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and are of Chinese descent (Hokkien to be precise). They have brought me up with the same values as they would have done in their own country.

I grew up with a passion for meat (the Germans eat a lot of meat) and all things oriental (my mum and dad are both great cooks) although I have a great interest in food in general. When I was 8, my family emigrated to the UK so that their kids would get a better education and I have spent the rest of my formative life here. Having a base in Surrey, studying in West Sussex, going to university in Central London and living in South London (Camberwell to be precise), you can imagine the amount of influences that this has had on me over the thirty or so years that I have been on this planet.

So that brings me to why. Well, I am under no illusions that people out there may not be interested in what I have to say or what I do. This blog is for me and for me to record some of the things that I get upto. You see, I have quite recently had a rather important operation. For the last 18 years, I have been suffering from kidney related problems and have had to be on dialysis for the last 7 or so years. Hopefully, those days are behind me for now as I recover from a kidney transplant. This operation has given me a new lease of life and I fully intend on making the most of the free time I now have as I no longer have my dialysis commitments.

Hopefully this blog will be filled with all the thrilling things I get upto and you enjoy my ramblings!

Freebie: Hotel Chocolat

A couple of weeks ago, those nice people from Hotel Chocolat sent me a few things to try. In the parcel were:

A Dozen Chocolate Quail Eggs

Seriously Dark Wrap - Handmade Easter Egg Sandwich

The egg "sandwich" was passed to a workmate (I was strongarmed into it) and the quails eggs were shared out among the rest of us. And very nice they were too.

Get more Easter themed goodies HERE

Birds Eye Rice Fusions

I am starting to become quite popular in the office. Every few weeks, somebody sends me something to try and more often than not, the fruits are shared amongst the office floor. This time around, a big box of Birdseye Rice Fusions arrived, a selection of four different flavours of microwaveable rice.

Being stuck in an office, any cheap and quick lunch options are always well received, so with a 3 and a half minute required in the microwave, we started to plow through each flavour one by one.

My personal favourite was the Country mushroom flavour, creamy and nice enough, although it needed a serious pinch of salt and pepper to liven it up. Each individual pouch was pretty small but would form a good side dish to a nice bit of protein. I liked it enough that I would definitely consider buying it. But mainly because I am incredibly lazy.

Sausages from Barbecoa

A few weeks ago, I was one of a group of bloggers who were sent a few sausages couriered straight over from Barbecoa HQ. Comprising of a variety of flavours, each blogger was given 6 different flavours to try and to enjoy over the Bank holiday weekend.

The varieties I received included names as intriguing and peculiar as "Fire of London" and "Scarborough Fayre", immediately instigating conversation amongst my desk buddies. As I was heading out that evening, I handed them out to my colleagues to enjoy and get their feedback.

On the whole, the feedback was very positive. The meat was unsurprisingly considered excellent quality although probably a little too meaty and firm. I guess a little extra fat wouldn't have gone astray to keep them moist. There was high praise for the jerk although the Scarborough Fayre being slightly on the overly herbal side (being packed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme).

The sausages were accompanied by a flyer to the Big Feastival, which looks pretty ace. I am pretty sure that there will be some sausages there.

Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden

It looks like 2011 is the year of the blogger. Well, when it comes to cook books anyway. As we head into the 6th month of the year, we have seen a slew of bloggers get book deals, and we are just beginning to see them drip into the market.

Rambo (or James if you prefer) is someone I have known for a while, and has a good pedigree in the kitchen. A regular on the "foodie" circuit and fresh from a stint at Ballymalloe, he has spent his years making a career out of food writing, and even started up his own supper club (known as the Secret Larder) to keep his culinary skills sharp culminating in Rambo gettting included by Quadrille under their "New voices in food", to write his own cook book comprising of some of his recipes.

I was lucky enough to be sent a copy by Quadrille, and packed in between those covers are a multitude of homely recipes. Rambo may be my friend, but it's an impressive array of recipes and well worth a look. Get a copy while you can!