Seeing the sights at Skylon

In 1951, London welcomed the Festival of Britain, and much of the Southbank was developed as the principal exhibition site for this momentous event. Where once were warehouses, sprang buildings designed by the leading British architects of that day. Amongst others, this included the Royal Festival Hall (the only remaining building from that exhibition) and the Skylon, a steel and aluminium shaped cigar suspended by wires. What better a way to celebrate Britishness than by erecting a giant pointless metal structure which was dismantled just a year later.

Where am I going with this? Well, its all about Skylon, innit! Located on the 3rd floor of the Royal Festival Hall, it has both a main restaurant, serving “haute” cuisine, and a grill serving lighter more regular fare, a popular trend amongst upper end restaurants these days. In addition, it contains a pretty spectacular view. Although the blinds were quite low as the sun was out, the view from Skylon spans much of the Thames and its highlights. You know what they say, if you eat with your eyes, I had already eaten the equivalent of a starter before even sitting down.



The night contained the many wonders that is Beardyman, so a quick and filling meal was the order of the day. The main restaurants going to have to wait, Grill it was. Bread down (which incidentally was chewy, but worth every ounce of effort), we perused the menu and ordered.

So, to start a Chicken and Ham Hock salad:



This was the business, where do I start? Shreds of chicken that actually taste of chicken, none of that battery farmed, pumped full of water chicken here. The ham hock was reassuringly salty and tender. The sugar snap peas were crisp and so fresh that it lit up my palate. To bulk it up, alfalfa and baby spinach, accompanied by a grain of sorts (quinoa?). All smothered in a velvety mustard dressing, this really was the highlight of the meal and probably one of the more enjoyable dishes I have had this year.

FP went for Confit Duck and Puy Lentils



I snaffled some. I would say that the duck was above average but nothing outstanding. Crispy little nuggets of skin are always the highlight for me, and this had a few. Puy lentils had lots of flavour, presumably cooked in stock. Bit hard though, could have done with a few more minutes.

My main, Slow roast middle white pork, spring greens, pommes Alsace



It's not the prettiest thing to look at, is it? But it was oh so good. The meat just fell apart and was lubricated by a delicate gravy with serious apple undertones, a nice alternative to lumping a load of apple sauce all over the meat (which I invariably do if apple sauce is to hand). The requisite crackling passed the test. Firm without breaking the old gnashers. The greens were ok but the potatoes were a bit rubbish. I mean, what is pommes Alsace anyway? If this is how they do potatoes in Alsace, I don't really want to eat there. The pommes frites we ordered on the side were much better. Probably not of the triple cooked variety, but crisp and seriously moreish.

On the whole, thumbs up. Each main cost just over a tenner so it's really not going to break the bank. The food here is clearly cooked by an accomplished kitchen and I would love to return to try out what's on offer in the main kitchen. As I left, it seemed strange to me that a restaurant run by a Finn cooking predominantly French food is located in the remnants of what represented Britain in the 50's. There is talk of another Skylon being erected on the Southbank. For the time being, I'm quite satisfied with this one.

Skylon Grill (Website), Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX

We finally did it

Remember the date, the 20th July 2009.

Shortly after midday, Graeme Swann pulled another corker out of his bag of tricks and secured an unlikely victory against the old enemy at the home of cricket. This feat had not been achieved in 75 years and I was privileged enough to be there to witness it.



Freddie was fantastic, Punter fairly amusing and humble and even the sun smiled on us for short spells.

I love cricket, I love Lords and most importantly, I love beating the Aussies.

Four Seasons Chinese, welcome to the neighbourhood.

When you ask a Chinese person where they like to go eat in London, the Four Seasons is often not far from the tip of their tongue. Renowned for their roast duck and their good value, home cooked style dishes, it has always been a popular destination for the Chinese community. Based in the secondary Chinatown which is Bayswater/Queensway, it’s taken them a little while to expand and they opened their second restaurant in the heart of Gerrard Street.

Accompanied by the Big German, this was really just a flying visit before we took on the Leicester Square locals in a poker tournament. The menu looked pretty much the same as Queensway, if a little on the pricier side (does my memory deceive me?). We ordered snappily, we were men in a hurry. Some spring rolls as our amuse bouche and then Roast Duck and Crispy Pork to fill us up.



Spring rolls were so-so, and at the risk of being entirely defamatory, probably shop bought. However, they did their job. The main event was pretty average. The duck was as tasty as ever (if a little on the fatty side, this duck had not been working out!) and we both had opted for no bones, so arrived boneless. This is one of the only places I know which provides this as an option. After all, less bones means more meat, right? The crispy pork was only ok, but nowhere near as good as Wong Kei down the road. Gravy was a bit on the thin side although contained quite a decent flavour.



On the whole, pretty alright although I am sure the food didn’t appeal as much as the Queensway branch (for whatever nonsensical reason that may be). A decent option if you’re in Chinatown and looking for a quick, cheap (our meal came to under a tenner a head, all in), no frills refuelling stop.

Four Seasons Chinese, 12 Gerrard Street, W1D 5PR

Food Lovers Meetup: Yum Cha

After a brief chat over Twitter, a few food lovers and I decided to arrange a tweat up to taste the reportedly rather excellent dim sum at Yum Cha in Chalk Farm. Our twappening was born.

This will be happening on the 28th July, probably around the 7:30 mark. All are welcome, please let me know, you can see all the details and register:

HERE

I will attempt to book once I know numbers.

Looking forward to meeting a few familiar "twitter" faces.

Faux Thai at Suchard, London Bridge

Before I start, this place is not to be mistaken for the restaurant up the road. This was the pub and I dont really want to paint the two with the same brush. Onwards.

I'm sure many of you have been in the same situation. You're out at the pub and you are desperately hungry, spurred on by the beer munchies. I was meeting up with some of my old uni friends in a pub near London Bridge and discovered that the pub we were in served "Thai" food.

Now, I never intended on turning into a food snob, but sometimes you have just got to question what's really going on. First up, I ordered what was advertised as fried squid with a chilli sauce:



As you can see, what I got was a nightmare from Iceland. Battered calimari rings with bottled sweet chilli sauce. Damage to me, £4.50, damage to them, I would be surprised if it cost them more than 20p to put this "dish" together.

Now, I ordered some noodles advertised with holy basil, chicken and chilli amongst other things. I was so underwhelmed by this food, I didnt even bother taking down what it was meant to be.



If I was being nice, I would say that the noodles had a nice texture. If I was being honest, I would say that it felt like a bunch of leftovers thrown together with far too much chilli and a cloying amount of holy basil withough any evidence of holy basil actually being in the dish. Adding insult to injury, I paid £7.50 for this. Really poor.

Totally disappointed with this place. A very poor Thai restaurant and even the pub part was disappointing. The beer was off and so was I, never to return again.

Suchard Free House, 2 Crucifix Lane, SE1 3JW

A bright idea at Brindisa, Borough Market

Personally, I love going food shopping. I could happily spend hours traipsing through the aisles, checking out whats on offer, what new products there are and find the experience wholly relaxing (especially at 11pm when the supermarket is eerily calm and quiet). However, there is a train of thought that one should always eat before going shopping so that your eyes do not grow larger than your stomach and go "wild in the aisles"!

This tactic is almost essential when you head to Borough market. Although there are lots of stalls selling plenty of scrummy food, I find that the whole place is targeted to tourists and is grossly overpriced. Even so, I love the atmosphere and the buzz and always enjoy picking up a few bits and bobs here. Therefore, before my latest excursion, I needed to fill myself up to try and ensure I didn't go crazy, my wallet would never forgive me.

I thought I would treat myself and try out Brindisa on the corner of Borough Market. Tapas has never been one of my favourite types of cuisine but a recent visit to Barrafina had really got my tastebuds going. On arrival, it was Saturday lunchtime and probably not the best time to try and get a table, it was absolutely packed inside and out. But like a miracle, a table for one appeared and I was sat down almost immediately.



The menu included all the Spanish tapas favourites (croquettes, spanish tortilla and meats & hams) and I was struggling to choose. Eating on your own isn't really conducive to tapas (I mean, the whole idea is to share, right?) and was slightly disappointed not to be able to give the jamon Iberico a go. However, I settled on a fairly good mix and eagerly anticipated my food.

First up, the Potato, Chorizo and Pepper omelette with allioli:



Smooth as you like, this was still soft in the middle and was light and fluffy. Quite different from the one served at Barrafina (here its served as a slice as opposed to an individial omelette), I actually felt that this one was packed with far more flavour. The chorizo added the savoury notes with the red pepper adding the sweet, a classic combination. The potatoes bulked it out and the sharp garlic hit from the allioli just added an extra dimension. Really lovely.

Next up, Crispy Pork Belly with Quince sauce:



A fairly decent bit of pork belly although it didn't blow me away. It was slightly over done, so arrived a bit tough and the crackling was erring on the side of chewy rather than crispy. The flavours were good although the highlight was the quince sauce. I know that in England, pork is more commonly partnered with apple, but the quince was a great substitute. Sweet but tart, it went well with the rich pork.

Alongside this, I ordered the Sauteed green peas with smoked bacon and Iberian ham:



What better than some fresh peas with nuggets of bacon? Arriving in a mini creuset dish, it ensured that all the moisture was retained from the peas and mingled together nicely with the juices from the bacon. Although initially a little dry on the top, mixed in with the juices collected at the bottom of the dish, it went well with the pork belly.

I wanted to order so much more, but held back and left that for another day for when I can return with some friends. The service was good and efficient, whilst the bill came to just over £20. Hunger sated, I headed off into the melee that is Borough Market on a Saturday, hoping that my bright idea would work.

(p.s. It did! Only essential ingredients bought for the week ahead)

Tapas Brindisa (website), 18-20 Southwark St, SE1 1TJ

A bit of something else: Beardyman and Comedy at the Castle

Just for a change, I thought I would jot down a quick post about something else other than what I have been stuffing my face with.

This week, I arranged a bit of an assault on my oratory senses. First a big cow containing a beat boxing madman (and friends) and then some seriously off the wall comedy at my local.



E4 are running a series of shows at the "Udderbelly" on the Southbank, in preparation for their move up north for the Edinburgh Festival. A popular venue up in Edinburgh, the "Underbelly" is normally based in the cavernous area under the George IV bridge. Instead here in London, we get a big purple upside down cow!



"Beardyman's complete and udder shambles" was a collaboration between the man himself and a few of his contemporaries, each with their own abilities (almost akin to superheroes). There was the scratcher, the instrumentalist, the other beat boxer, the electric guitarist, the MC and even his brother with his own comedic songs.

If you have never heard of or seen Beardyman, he is a sound to behold. His vocal/beat boxing ability really blew me away. Although he was supported by some very talented people, none of them could even come close to this genius. Check out some of his stuff here.



After that assault on my eardrums, I decided to indulge in a bit more EdFest related tomfoolery, this time, a couple of Festival warm up gigs down at my local boozer, The Castle. £3 on the door, a ridiculously paltry sum, we all bundled to the room upstairs and sat back to enjoy the show. Two hours later, we emerged from a sweltering room, satisfied if a little hot under the collar. The best on the night was John Gordillo and his show “F*ckonomics”. A really affable fella with some good material. If your heading up to the festival this year, check out his show.

I arrived home to find my flat slightly damp after the unholy deluge that London endured earlier that day. One of the follies of living in a basement flat with inadequate drainage. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all.

Eat Brazilian: Preto, Victoria

A lot has been said in the blogosphere about some people’s motivations, about why people blog and what benefits can be gained from it. Personally, I blog for fun. I started doing it to keep my mind active during a challenging time for me and carry it on today for my family globally to keep an eye on what I am up to. And because I love to eat. I love food and pretty much everything about it. About ingredients, about where they come from (the people, the countries) and most of all, the sensations you get from tasting it (mostly good, but sometimes bad). I blog for my friends, for my family, for myself and not forgetting, for any other random who may come across this and want to spend the time to read my thoughts. So if you read this, I hope you enjoy my ramblings. And if you do, please come back, you are more than welcome.

Now to bring it down a level, copious amounts of beverages followed by a meat feast!

It’s the end of the financial year and things haven’t gone too badly (sort of). Everyone has worked hard and generally, our customers appreciate us. So what better way to celebrate than a few beers down our local and then off to an unlimited Brazilian buffet!

I know many of you know I moan about how few good options there are for food in Victoria. Lunchtimes are either spent getting something from M&S or heading out with the rest of the team to one of the many chain restaurants around here. Options are few and far between, but on Wilton Road, there are a few semi-decent options. After debating the dodgy Mexican, a rather good Turkish (Kazan, which I need to visit in the very near future), another chain fake dim sum place (not even going to mention their real name) and a Brazilian buffet, the choice was simple and Preto it was.

Lubricated from post work drinks at the local boozer, we arrived in good spirits and ploughed in. To get us warmed up (and probably an attempt at reducing the intake of the pricier meat), they introduced us to the “salad” bar. I have “salad” in inverted commas, as there was actually very little salad on show, but was heavy on carb based goods. However, they did have my personal favourite pão de queijo (cheese balls, although don’t quote me on that) amongst other strange things I wouldn’t expect (potato gratin, onion rings and lasagne anyone?).

After a while, the churrascaria got fired up and a rather grumpy man started coming round with various bits of meat on a large metal skewer. These included beef, things wrapped in bacon, pork loin, lamb and chicken. All that was missing from the meat groups were duck and venison, probably a little too dear for an all you can eat. The meat was of a pretty decent quality and was cooked well, retaining its juices, with the pork loin definitely the highlight for me, whilst the beef ribs were fatty and unappetising. Shame they were also so tight, apportioning a meagre one slice per person at a time.

He kept it coming for a little while but started avoiding our table after half an hour. It could have been due to the impromptu karaoke we decided to have, but some members of our party wanted more meat and frankly, the grumpy man was being far from accommodating. After a few words with management, the grumpy man chose to brave our table and no further problems were encountered.

A fairly enjoyable if hazy evening. I believe its £20 a head, which isn’t too bad; just make sure you bring a decent appetite to get your money’s worth and try to avoid the grumpy man.

Preto, 72 Wilton Rd, Pimlico, SW1V 1DE

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

Birthday fallout

Birthday Spoons, originally uploaded by tehbus.

Just a quick note to say I had a great time last Friday. Great company, with great drinks in a great bar meant big headaches all round on Saturday morning.

Special thanks to the Yak and the Bowrings for their fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday, complete with dance moves courtesy of the Bowrings and some birthday spoon'age from the Yak perched precariously on a stool.

Good times!