Who knew that I’d actually come back here to put up a post. I’d sort of decided to drop the blog (for a while or forever I was not too sure) because work was too hectic for me to have much of a virtual life beyond Facebook and Twitter. I haven’t even had time to sort through photographs from Kyoto and post up all those lovely desserts I so wanted to share with all of you. Lots of the snacks I brought home have been gobbled up without a photograph being taken which means a valuable post lost but more sleep time for me. I’ve been so overworked my Friday nights are highly treasured, weekends are magical (well really I don’t have much of it since there’s work to take home as well), sleep is never 100% recovery time and people tell me I’ve lost weight.

Anyway, today’s my Mama Diva’s birthday and luckily enough, I have a day off! On a day off, the irony, however, is that I’m still as busy as ever running around searching for flowers, arranging them into a nice vase, buying groceries, taking my lil sister to lunch, preparing the ingredients etc. for the dinner menu I’ve planned tonight. Well you can definitely say I’m keeping busy.

And, my ol’ Canon Powershot is still sitting on my shelf covered in soddingly thick layer of dust. Shame on me. Let me just update you on my resolution for 2012 though. I intend to purchase a d-slr. A cheap one. FINALLY. Right, talk about dear ol’ Dave (me) finally going ahead to invest in something worthwhile. For now, this busy bee is resorting to lazy but well-trusted methods via the BLACKBERRY BOLD camera. All photos in this post have been taken on my little mobile. And I’m impressed.

I’m also very impressed with this recipe. It doesn’t look like much and almost seems to pale in comparison to the moroccan couscous which I so adore (and those recipes always look a heck lot more complicated). A spoonful of this, however, shocked me. It is full-flavoured. A little savoury from the chicken stock, a little sweet from the apricot but warm and soothing altogether. I used red onions as well instead of white to get a caramelized taste and give it a little more colour. I’m glad I did. This is what I wanted to share with you really – just a really good and simple quick recipe from the most-loved Ottolenghi.

Enjoy.

Ottolenghi’s Couscous with Dried Apricots and Butternut Squash
Ingredients

1 large (red) onion, thinly sliced
6 tbs olive oil
50g dried apricots
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2 cm dice
250g couscous
400ml chicken or vegetable stock
a pinch of saffron strands
3 tbs roughly chopped tarragon
3 tbs roughly chopped mint
3 tbs roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
grated zest of 1 lemon
coarse sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180d Celsius.

Place onion in a large frying pan with 2 tbs oil and a pinch of salt. Sauté over high heat, stirring constantly for about 10 mins (I used less time), until golden brown. Set aside.

Pour hot water from the tap over the apricots just to cover them. Soak for 5 mins then drain and cut them into 5mm dice.

Mix the diced squash in 1 tbs olive oil and spread out on a baking tray to roast. Place in oven for 25 mins, until lightly coloured and quite soft.

While waiting for the butternut squash to cook, cook the couscous. Bring the stock to the boil with the saffron. Place the couscous in a large heatproof bowl and pour the boiling stock over it, plus the remaining olive oil (3 tbs). Cover with clingfilm and leave for about 10 mins for all of the liquid to be absorbed. When done, fluff with up with a fork. Then add the onions, squash, apricots, herbs, cinnamon and lemon zest. Mix well with hands, trying not to mash the squash to bits.

Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Serve warmish of cold.

I met up with Alessio and Hilda at William Curley a while back. When I first moved to London, William Curley was one of the first few cafes/chocolatiers/patisseries I heard about but somehow never found time to head that way for a little look-see. It’s a bit out of the way considering I lived in the East but when I stopped by, I was enchanted. It’s a charming area speckled with beautiful furniture and chandelier light shops. I would’ve stopped to take some photographs of these shops but it was raining a little too persistently for me to fuss around in my bag for the camera. The rain, the grey and the puddles; maybe it was because I was leaving but talk about sympathetic background!

Bursting into William Curley a little late and windswept, shaking off the rain and putting the brolly away, the humble shop draws you into its comforting embrace. Warm yellow lights, a welcoming interior, ice cream and little sweet treats to delight. Not to mention Hilda’s little papoose. I seriously think she might be the cutest toddler I’ve ever met!

A chocolate ‘statue’. What an artwork! It was intense. Made all of chocolate, gold-painted and garnished with gold foil. I stuck my nose in real close to have a good look because I’m curious like a cat. This might have made the lady behind the counter terribly nervous. She warned me it was all chocolate and to be careful for it was very fragile (which I knew of course). But pardon moi, the hungry crazy eager look in my eyes must have triggered a few warning bells in her head.

Cheese Soufflé Tart • チイズ　スフレ　タルト

Tropical Entremet

Matcha & Kinako ice cream

I love eating ice cream in the summer. But love it especially when it rains, or snows. Strangely, the inclination to have ice cream when the weather is a little colder becomes so much more of an itch I just must scratch, or die. May have been a wee bit of a shameful affair to say that my first order at Curley was ice cream when there were so many exquisite little gâteaux available. I wasn’t let down anyhow. Kinako is gorgeous. I didn’t quite realize that kinako in ice cream would be quite so velvety and luscious.

William Curley was just about the last café stop in London which was a neat way to round it all up. But big love also to Hurwundeki which stole a few bits of my heart and robbed me a little bit of my soul.

•••

In Cambridge Heath, under the railway arches, hides not a nightmare or a monstrous troll…

The chugging of trains past and used vintage furniture shivers with the routine passing of people with places to go, people to meet. “Train terminates at this stop. All change please.”

And so I move in back with the parents. Home sweet home.

(**last 2 shots were taken on 120mm film on my Diana F+)

The last couple of days in London I spent café hopping. Absolutely love the cosy ambience of cafés, the smell of brewing coffee, the tins of imported tea leaves, the displays of fresh cakes and breads; and strangely, even folded paper napkins, sugar cubes and little milk jugs are a comforting sight to behold. But that’s just the outer layer of the lure of cafés. It’s the fact that time stands still. That everything beyond its walls (if it’s got any) ceases to encroach upon your space and your mind for a while. When you step into the dim interiors of one, with that soft lounge or jazz music playing, you shed the dusty coats of worry at the door. You enter a time capsule where you can be perfectly still or perfectly alone. With a book, with a hot cuppa, with something to eat, you are at ease and calm. I like that. Or maybe I’m just lazy and overly indulgent.

Bea’s of Bloomsbury
It was early morning. I had egg cravings. This was beaute. Buttery & creamy. Also, there’s a shelf of books, magazines, newspapers and flyers by the stairs. A cookbook on rustic fruit puddings kept me busy during my wait for food.

a smooth cappuccino and a curried egg & celery toasted muffin

Stopping by to admire Ladurée
The Burlington Arcade is quite a magical place. Placing Ladurée at its entrance is like icing on a cake. Stunning to look at and so enchanting, like a unicorn, you can almost not believe that it’s there. If everything were so pretty and gold-embossed!

Tapped & Packed
Dropped in to meet (finally) the groovy Supercharz. She was funny and so friendly, I almost forgot how good my coffee tasted.

love having all my stuff go ‘plonk’ on café tables

a final refresher – mint tea

Just before I left, a bespectacled dude joined me at my table. He flipped out a shiny macbook and ordered a cappuccino. Eyes trained on his laptop screen the whole time, he proceeded to dunk 5 heaping teaspoons of brown sugar into his little cuppa coffee. Stirring done, lick foamed milk off spoon, sip. Eyes still on laptop screen. I wasn’t sure if that was an artful and coordinated demonstration of a coffee-trained hand vs. attention distracted by laptop or a scene which made me feel a little too sickly sweet in my mouth.

I was a birthday girl last Saturday. (big cheshire cat grin)

Knowing it was going to be my last week in London before I move back in with the -rents, and after reading Catty’s amazing post on Vintage Patisserie’s vintage tea service, this Madhatter-loving girl just had to throw one party like she meant it. Go out with a bang.

Don’t know what this Vintage Patisserie is all about? Hit up the link to find out more about Angel and her wonderful team who let you step back into the 20s. This includes gorgeous vintage teaware which she’s been collecting since forever, champagne teas, a wicked dress-up trunk, a personalized afternoon tea and decor to send your senses tingling and toes curling. Angel (whom you might’ve seen on Dragon’s Den), in all her sweet glorious fiery head of hair and personality to match, knows how to host and prep a party good. Leave it in her fairy godmother hands to spin you up a magical time; and she doesn’t even need a lame-ass magic wand to do that.

I was truly embarrassed to see my face on cupcakes and my name on little cubes of milky white chocolate. But every girl should be showered with attention and treated like a bit of royalty on her birthday, no? However, having me mates eat my face was a tad bit unsettling at times. The champagne spiked tea did help settle my nerves. The girls (and boys) had a jolly good time trying on stuff from the dress-up trunk. And so did I. It was so much fun and a good excuse to smear on more layers of red rouge than necessary. Win.

My recent addiction to Mad Men (now that I’ve found time to get back on track with television) has caused my longtime obsession with menswear, tuxedos and those funky accessories for the male gentry to go absolutely off the charts! This meant I was eyeing the tophats for forever. The red ones were pretty yum. If I could have gotten away with a size L tophat on my tiny head, I would’ve.

Was very pleased that Catty, Suyin, Sasa, Mowie and Bruce could join in the fun. Thank you for coming, my special foodies. Didn’t manage to get a good shot of them gorgeous ones but one thing I can say for sure….I’ve never been surrounded by so many beautiful people ever. Fact.

Time seems to have just melted by. A year has literally flown by. New friends made and memories treasured; loves been and gone; mistakes made and remembered. Now…a year wiser and a step into another chapter of my life.

•••

Ps. In the last few days of coffee/lunch/dinner dates with pals, and of course that dreaded packing and repacking of suitcases, here’s what I’ve been doing: admiring these beaute Pierre Hermé macarons Mowie and Bruce gave me! Muchos loveage! Honestly, I think I’m dying and going to heaven.

I’m big on café culture. Aside from serving good coffee (and food), cafés need to be spaces for relaxation and quiet thinking, a shelter from noise and city annoyances, a temporary rest stop to catch one’s breath and replenish body and mind. Hurwundeki ticks all these prerequisites.

Its counter that greets you is straightforward and honest. Neatly set and labelled with nothing out of place and not a stray crumb in sight. The smell of roasting coffee goes choo choo and away.

I love that what greets you first is the neat display of the café’s selection of savoury foods and pastries, although this makes choosing what to have just so much harder. Everything looks so good.

Here’s the entrance to more seating – into an area where everything, from your table to your chair to the wall of knick knacks and vintage finds are all for sale.

the food

I love this bit of wall here. Something about the weathering of the bricks was very enchanting. I took quite a few photos of it.

Parma ham, mozzarella and lettuce in ciabatta

Carrot cake slice

the rawness, the crudeness, the random equations of this space for creative discovery

Something about café spaces, with the customers that come and go, with the endless permutations of customer orders and for Hurwundeki, the ever-changing make up of their café space (since every bit of furniture and decoration is for sale), can make the observer feel quite so small and humble. A tiny flaneur in a big bad world. A big world with much to look at where every minute and mundane detail is worth one’s study and contemplation.

I rewind, reset, recharge my tired brain. With the empty cappuccino cup I’ve set back down, my insides come alive. The sound of the trains directly above (the café’s roof is the railway arch) at regular intervals reminds me of time passing whilst the old beaten furniture around me tells of time passed.

A quirky cafe with a haunted house/a-paedo-lives-here exterior (and that’s not a bad thing at all!) gives me flashbacks of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining the same time it makes me fall in love with it completely. I give you…Hurwundeki, the master of a boutique, hair salon and café.

[For more pictures of this wicked cafe, check out their website. It does it far more justice than I can ever try to capture.]

Hurwundeki cafe
299 Railway Arches
Cambridge Heath Road
London
E2 9HA

The English weather can be described here in one word, or rather one sound – a big fat SIGH.

My Monday blues can be summed up in one word, or also one sound – a big fat SIGH.

But both can be resolved with a brunch date, with a gorgeous friend of mine (and fellow Ferragamo fiend) to boot? Sorted.

So here we shared a lovely pot of coffee, sweetening it with shiny crystals of brown sugar straight from a recycled black treacle tin, stirring then sipping them nice and slow despite the gathering grey clouds. What I love about Albion Cafe, Bakery and Food Store is definitely the fact that you can sit outside on the tables and red chairs lining the street. It faces some quaint little shops on the peaceful and rather dignified Boundary Street. During the summer, it is simply wonderful to sit out in the sun on their glossy red coffee shop chairs next to wooden crates of fresh cauliflower, cabbages, etc. A great spot to leisurely have brunch whilst people-watching fellow East Londoners drifting through from Shoreditch High Street or Brick Lane. And remember my post on Fried Eggs & Sage? Yep, you’ll find Albion just turning the corner from the infamous Leila’s Shop.

Portobello Mushrooms on Toast

Mushroom Omelette

My lunch mate and I both ordered mushrooms. I admit it isn’t in the least bit exciting especially when the menu offers so much more, like great British caff food and even some pub classics (crackling & apple sauce, duck eggs on toast, bangers & mash, etc). It was very tempting I’ll tell you that though. Their drinks menu is extensive and impressive, especially the elderflower cooler which is a must-try IMHO. Anyhow, P and I are mushroom fanatics. And we strangely have similar cravings at the same time. Can’t understand that? Me neither. We’re as similar as night…and later that night (quoted from Monica of Friends, guilty as charged). We both have unhealthy obsessions with Ferragamos, long brown hair of nearly the same shade, even ugly spots in the exact same places on our faces come that funny time of the month, share a passionate love for red Chanel lipsticks and full-fat salted butter. And we both love to brunch! A friendship made to last.

Our gorgeous and friendly hunk of a waiter came with hot coffee pronto. Lunch followed fairly swiftly. My portobello mushrooms were very flavourful and juicy on brown toast, generously drizzled with olive oil and garnished with chopped parsley. P’s omelette was at least an inch thick and uber creamy, which she ate with brown toast and oodles of butter. Albion boasts quality ingredients and straightforward food. It is exactly that and more – soul-warming food, the type that makes you forget your daily worries, the wintry chills of autumn and the impending ugly of rain clouds.

It started raining in a bit. Grey, wet, nippy and generally miserable with a capital M. Felt a bit like wet dogs getting rained on en route to Brick Lane where P lives. But shortly before that, we had had some awesome food action. And so we were still happy and pretty mushroom-smug, no doubt about that. When you’ve got good food in your belly, it’s nearly impossible to be grumpy. Don’t you agree?

Albion Cafe, Bakery and Food Store
2-4 Boundary Street
Shoreditch
London
E2 7DD
• http://www.albioncaff.co.uk •

Pâte à Choux

If there’s one movie that has made my year, it was Johnny Depp’s Alice in Wonderland. And if there’s one fairytale that has made my life, (apart from Little Mermaid), it was Alice in Wonderland. My childhood copy was well-thumbed, with ugly scribbles on some pages and dirty fingermarks on illustrations of the White Rabbit. Go onto my Facebook profile page (actually maybe don’t), and my little blurb mentions the White Rabbit. I love my rabbits. I love ‘em white. I’m in search of my White Rabbit, my Easter Bunny, my white fluffa-monster.

And I have a crush on me Madhatter (Johnny or no). It has even been said that I sometimes resemble him, of course only when I have my mad teashades on! When my Mama first read me the story of Alice, the tea party was my favourite bit. And then came the broom-dog and magic mushroom-eating bit later. Eyes wide with wonder, I desperately wanted to sit with the Madhatter and have tea with talking animals. I wanted a bow in my hair, to wear Alice’s pretty blue dress, to touch and admire the tea sets, teapots, sugar cubes and everything to do with afternoon tea! Something about teapots, teacups and saucers that from a childhood adoration has developed into pure obsession. I am not the only obsessed one here. The most obvious tea-manic being Lady Gaga. You gotta love her for that I suppose.

Cupcakes were so It (and still are). Then was the advent of the Macaron craze. I hear on the grapevine that whoopie pies are next. But that’s that. Different story ya know? Afternoon tea is big. The whole shebang is a wicked affair. The culture of afternoon tea-ing is so decadently fashionable, madly delicious, lustriously insane – I want to frolick in clotted cream and expensive bubbly all day. And bloody good I’ve finally met other tea-obsessed folks. Convincing them to come out and splash some cash on that is easy peasy business.

Charlotte – this looked a bit different from the last time I had it. The green matcha mousse layer was missing..not too sure about that actually?!

Sketch has certainly got to be my favourite afternoon tea spot in London. This would be the third time I’m blogging about it actually but good things have to be shared and talked about! And that is what I did. This time round, I brought two Sketch-virgins with me for a tea date and I’m glad to say they thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, one of them is just leaving London for good to return home to Canada. Nevertheless, she was glad to spend one of her last days in London in the eclectically gorgeous Sketch (and erm…to have pee-ed in those dinosaur egg toilets).

Sketch is an affordable luxury for those of you slightly conscious of the price tag. But really, what sets Sketch apart for me is its art funky decor and awesome staff who never shy away from a bit of banter. It’s the epitome of a Madhatter tea party amidst random bits of pop art, gothic or Victorian furniture and vintage cutlery, with menus slipped into old hardcover books. This place oozes creativity and a randomness that’ll send your head spinning…in a good way. If you want to frolick in sugar high, kinda like being at a carnival and sitting in spinning tea cups til you’re woozy but elegant dignity in tact, this is the place for YOU.

A Pink Paradise

Careful though, this place will make you want to start collecting vintage silverware and Royal Dalton tea sets!

The afternoon tea craze taking over the world! Or my world at least.

my heart twist at the sight of these earrings

cute hanging teapot lights at Liberty’s

The past month I’ve not only been busy but I’ve been considering the future of this blog. Should I give it a major facelift, should I redesign and reconceptualize everything seeing as this was really a brainchild of a teenager, should I scrap it completely or should I leave it to age in a corner with only some good photographs to keep for memory’s sake? I’m not sure yet where that’ll take me but once the decision is out, I’d be sure to post back here and let you all know. I’m at the crossroads.

One half of the hungry crew

Anyhows, last weekend Mowie organised a dinner for us hungry ghosts, including Suyin, Panu and Bruce, at Catty’s recommendation. I’d been told the ordering here was high-tech, you could play with your tables (literally) and the food was impressive. I mean, this is heaven’s playground for food geeks! The food was lush, the music being played in the restaurant groovy and chic, and the ambiance completely otherworldly. And as a first-timer to Inamo, you could be sure that I was reduced to a wide-eyed child, going back to basics to my 5 senses to explore the wonders of the world – Inamo’s world. I was utterly and completely in awe of anything that moved, on my table, that is.

The world is your oyster. The table is your iPad, or menu. Ie. You touch your table. There’s a little circular touchpad on the bottom right for you to maneuver through the menu of starters, main dishes, side dishes and dessert, drinks menu or other fun things like a map of the surrounding area, games, spy camera that stalks the chefs in the kitchen. Be careful not to get carried away with changing the ‘ambiance’ or settings of your table, or desktop (now I’m getting confused with restaurant dining or computer speak). Yes I kid you not, you can change the background of your table: send it to outerspace, to the rocky deserts or lotus gardens. Mad! Can’t decide? Your table’s got the ‘random shuffle’ function too. Some of the images are a bit neon or psychedelic but I suppose having your face lit up a ghostly cyan can be pretty fun whilst you chomp down on a Thai Green Curry or sumfin. Some people are into that.

It’s trippy and really fun. Only problem is that you might get way too engrossed with the damn table and forget you’re actually dining with others. You can play Battleship with your dining mate across the table, however. So that’s got my thumbs up. Although I’m shit at Battleship and got called a coward by Bruce for backing out in less than a second.

You know menus without pictures really put people off? And then there are those menus with ridiculous out-of-this-world very deceptive pictures that look nothing like the real deal when it gets dished out from the kitchen? Inamo shows you the image of your meal, when you hover over the option via your touchpad, and screens it onto the round plate-looking placemat set in front of you. So, it looks real, it looks like its there. It’s virtual menu. It’s virtual dining. OMG it makes me want to eat the table.

Well enough said. Here’s some of the food we ate. The dessert’s the pretty part and very impressive from what I tasted!

Truffle Marbled Beef

Black Cod with Spicy Miso

Berkshire Pork Neck with Apple Confit & Chocolate Sauce

Pandan Macaron, Yuzu White Chocolate Mousse with Lemongrass & Coconut Sorbet & Milk Chocolate Sauce

Vanilla Crème Brûlée

I would have taken more pics but the table’s a straight rectangle so getting across to the other side isn’t quite that easy. And with all the distractions offered from my table, why on earth would I be hanging on to the camera?! The meal was truly enjoyable and this futuristic way of dining a great experience. I would definitely go back here again and ban myself from the ‘games’ section.

Oh. And one more thing, if you’re a compulsive online shopper who loves sending truckloads of goodies into your online shopping basket with one click, practice restraint at Inamo. It’s easy to get carried away and click ‘ORDER’.

inamo restaurant
134-136 Wardour Street
Soho
London W1F 8ZP
Tel. for reservations: 020 7851 7051

But sometimes a meatfest is just what you need. And with a particular friend I know and adore, meatfests are compulsory affairs. So when she decided to come riding down the mountain, trotting over from York with little more than an unending appetite, I remembered when Catty first introduced Goodman to me and how I impressed I was with it. Lunch at Goodman’s was truly necessary and just perfect for meatfest friend. In fact, not going would’ve been criminal.

I wanted a burger so there wasn’t much hmm-haaing over the menu. My friend V went for the set lunch menu which is very affordable and probably one of the most affordable ones I’ve come across. I’m going to let the pictures (courtesy of V and her wicked camera) do the talking.

V’s fish soup starter

So maybe Goodman’s not just for those red meat carnivores. This was extremely delicious served with flat croutons and garlic-will-blow-your-mind aioli.

Roast lamb with creamed spinach and potatoes

And of course…the Goodman burger.

There are many great (and more comprehensive) reviews of Goodman on the webosphere so I won’t really go into it. The pictures speak for themselves and all I’ve to say is, people go here to be fed properly. And I mean properly. You can simply judge by the generous servings that are nothing but quality quality quality. The burger patty is crazy good that it doesn’t even need the slightest drop of condiment. Good meat, good food and oh yes, that fish soup starter? Fucking amazing (excuse my French, I couldn’t think of any other modifier).

And so that’s how today’s story ends. Although it’s simply the beginning to more trips to Mayfair just for Goodman I reckon. Happy days.

Goodman Restaurant
26 Maddox Street
London
W1S 1QH

http://www.goodmanrestaurants.com

Once again, just a short and sweet post about yet another scrummy place. I love my eggs. I never used to as a kid, they made me feel ill – like nauseous I’m-gonna-be-sick type of ill. But now, it’s a completely different story. I love it. LOVE. And when I need an egg-fix, if I’m lazy to fix myself breakfast, I normally head to The Breakfast Club which is only like a 5 minute walk from me.

Maybe it’s the sun, or maybe it’s the need to sit outside facing the roads like cafés in Paris, which drew me to this quaint little café in Shoreditch. Not a big menu, not much variety. And served by a lanky freakishly tall dude who looks about twelve. Nice, huh. But the eggs were delicious. The toast, on the other hand, I’m a bit hesitant about. It was certainly good bread but over-toasted and it threatened to rip my mouth apart or break my teeth. Fail.

Nevertheless, lemme stress this again. Eggs = good.

The combination of eggs fried in truckloads of good olive oil, generously seasoned with cracked sea salt and lots of black pepper plus crisp sage leaves on each yolk eager to be dampened by creamy yolk when you break the membrane? Heaven.

Enough said.

Leila’s Shop
17 Calvert Avenue
Shoreditch
London
E2 7JP