Some long overdue photos.

The weather here has been somewhat crazy. Terribly hot and muggy and then suddenly, we are plagued (it’s a good thing really I just think that for others, many do not welcome the rain) with days of unceasing relentless rain. Doing the laundry gets a little tricky for most. I’ve seen lots of women queueing at the laundromat for the dryers with bright blue baskets of washing. My sisters have been complaining that the air is getting more chilly and the nights are nippy. By my standard, I really do not feel it. It just feels a little less oppressive and I hope the air stays that way. I don’t mind the rain (other than it annoys my hair a little) as long as our neighbourhood doesn’t flood. Because now that, is a whole different predicament altogether.

When I was in Kyoto in June, it was raining quite a bit as well. Hence, it just sprung into mind that I should upload some of the shots taken there. A little warm it was, a little rainy some of the days in Kyoto. Honestly, the weather then is exactly the same as what we’re experiencing now. Funnily enough, the weather makes me crave for soba ~ cold soba, hot soba whatever. It’s a need. So I dug up these pictures of handmade soba I had in Arashiyama. It was really lush, and fresh, soft but firm and well-made. The dipping sauce for mine and the broth for my pal’s was really delish. Oh how I wish I were there now again, slurping soba on the top floor of a tiny crooked shop with a (somewhat blocked but chilled out) view of the river.

The shop has a lovely, quaint, shadowy upper floor with just a few tables. The ones that are by the window facing the river are quite sought after since you can see the Togetsu Bridge on the left stretching over the river. We were lucky to get 2 spaces next to some salarymen who were quite so busy slurping their soba they didn’t even notice us arriving and noisily shoving ourselves into our seats. It took my friend Mr. Patience (yes that’s his real name) quite some time and effort to fold his lanky long BFG body into the little cranny of a space, obviously designed and built to comfortably seat the Japanese male/female physique.

A lovely rest stop. Fantastic handmade soba, good view, wonderful service, not to mention lovely ceramic cups/bowls/etc. that are also for sale just under the stairs next to the till.

It might seem a little hard to find but look out for its brown exteriors on the right footpath if you’re walking towards the river. You’ll notice a little zen stone garden once past the doors. You’re there.

Yoshimura
2 Togetsukyo Kitazumenishi
Arashiyama, Ukyo-ku

http://www.arashiyama-yoshimura.com

11am-5pm Daily

*ps. Around this area, you might spot geisha…or rather, women who pay to dress up like geisha. I was tempted. Truly. Which girl doesn’t like to get all decked up in shiny silk stuff and have their faces painted!

I know I’m not putting up posts for my Kyoto Snaps series fast enough and hope that isn’t disappointing or frustrating anyone too much. Too many things to do too little time running around like a busy White Rabbit with a stopwatch running to and fro back and forth on unending run-on sentences. YIKES. In the meantime, here’s a post I’ve wanted to share for some time too even before I flew off to Kyoto. Talk about taking backward steps.

I was invited to brunch at Brasserie Wolf which had newly opened a weekend brunch menu since a change in their head chef. I’d never been but from the pictures of its interiors, I was going ‘yes yes yes!’ in my head. Almost baroque, decadent with plush interiors and soft lighting, dark woods brought to life with white tablecloths, glistening table setting and pneumatic powdery peach-coloured leather seats – this looked and smelt every bit of Frenchness. A splattering of casualness amidst a canvas of elegance, even the waiting staff were long-limbed and modelesque, serving food with measured steps and gestures and definitely not without an extension of some friendly banter. You were just completely swallowed into their seemingly pretentious interiors but welcomed with warm smiles and attentiveness. I really loved the leather seats, especially these that extended far larger than your body. It makes me feel like royalty. And you sorta do a little in Brasserie Wolf. Even the al fresco seats are quite lush with cushions with an almost Moroccan feel to it, facing the river and such.

On to the food, I was quite impressed. The servings were just right for ladies although if you were hungrier, you might’ve had to order more. These dishes also came after a coffee that was very flavourful. I was very pleased to have sweetened it with a brown sugar cube. You know I have a thing for sugar cubes. They are just so much more quaint!

What came first was the Croque Monsieur. I sometimes have the cheap renditions of this French deliciousness from local bakeries – yellow with heavy fat which can sometimes make me feel just a bit sick to the stomach. Or back in my college days, I never went a week without a grilled cheese sandwich made glorious in a dirty (doubt this was cleaned in years) banged up toastie-maker. So of course, the French know how to make the simplest of things the most royal and give it funky names like Croque Monsiuer oh that’s just precious! This was light, savoury, crispy and almost disappeared on your tongue, disintegrating into a melted mass of ham, emmental cheese and buttery fried bread. It went so quick, I could’ve easily swallowed another. Whole.

A croque monsieur with a fried or poached egg on the top, by the way, is quirkily known as a Croque Madame. I wonder if that had anything to do with the fertility of females. Nonetheless, Brasserie Wolf serves them too and here, they look quite pretty don’t they?

There is not a brunch that goes without Eggs Benedict or some variation, at least for me. I say eggs benedict, we eat benedict. Here, we have Eggs Royale for a change. And I do love the names of these dishes. It just makes me think of similar sounding phrases like Battle Royale and Blood Royale. I mean, that’s just cool. Right? Delicious this was, with a fantastic hollandaise garnished with shaved black truffle. Casual.

On the sweet end of things, we spooned up some Bircher Muesli into our mouths. It never seems quite worth it to order bircher muesli for brunch when you can make this stuff (sometimes tasting even better and fresher) than that you get from bistros and cafés. But something in me just needs to taste the bircher of others, kinda like a self-induced competition I’ve got going on. I quite liked Brasserie Wolf’s bircher muesli although it was a tad too sweet for my liking. Nonetheless, it was impressive and generous with their ingredients!

We also had the Brioche Toast which was lovely, thick and sweet. Although I didn’t get a photograph of the Charcuterie Platter, it is well worth a mention. I was quite addicted to it as there was lamb prosciutto, air-dried beef, chorizo (lovely!), bayonne ham and saucisson on there. Lots of flavour and so moreish and nicely alternated with salad leaves, olives and sundried tomatoes.

This was probably one of the more stylish brunches I’ve had. Although it was still a very casual weekend setting, there was just something about the food, the decor and the service that upped this a tiny bit. Kinda like a touch of gold and that will be yet another story to tell in a few posts to come.

Brasserie Wolf
80 Mohamed Sultan Road
The Pier at Robertson #01-13
Singapore 239013
Tel: 6835 7818
brasserie@esmirada.com

I think I have completely mastered the art of indulgence. It involves zero baking of my own, merely getting up at a fairly late hour mid-morning, throwing some roomy clothes on, slapping on a decent amount of concealer and makeup, a taxi ride and voila. It is the Life of Brunching. Maybe it’s the change of lifestyle ever since I moved which is a little more hectic and fast-paced now, but such indulgences (trust me they don’t happen that often) feel utterly well-deserved and I’d equate the relaxing qualities of good brunches and quality time spent with girlfriends to that of a holiday. The works. Enough said.

Just last weekend, I discovered something so glorious it had to be shared. Or rather, everyone had to have a mug each because it was ironically too good to share. Graze mocha – refer to photo above. Thick, creamy and rich; more chocolatey than most, this was so decadently good an opening to brunch. It was hard to stop after 3 gulps and put this mug down. I know I shall be craving mugs of these on cold rainy nights.

As soon as conversation started flowing (no doubt lubricated by mocha), the dishes started arriving. I loved that they all looked so simple, honest and homemade, exactly how breakfast food should be! Clean, fresh and sort of understated on medium-sized white plates.

Spanish Omelette

This was by far my favourite dish of the day. The Spanish omelette was delicious with bits of chorizo and mushrooms, topped with fresh rocket and seasoned new potatoes that gave a little sweet citrusy tinge to it all. Those little spuds really made my day, whatever they were seasoned with!

Signature Cast Iron Pan – two scrambled free-range eggs, hash browns, bacon, chipolata, baked beans, roast vine tomatoes and mushrooms

A beautiful dish to behold with that rustic feel to it. I think we girls were a sucker for the cast iron dish anyhow, considering one of us had a little cocotte (imported from France) in her handbag. I hate to admit that this resembled dirty fry-ups with my housemates on Sunday morn. It wouldn’t be fair (to Graze) to do a comparison because I mean the latter had a real variety of ingredients, better execution of the dish, baked beans that did not come out of a can and it tasted delicious. But there were similarities for sure – the whole concept of a fry-up. Graze had just upped their game, polished their shoes you know.

Eggs Benedict – two poached eggs served on brioche toast with hollandaise and two slices of mortadella

This probably wasn’t as good as the eggs I had in a recent brunch trip. The eggs were slightly over-poached and it lacked that impressive oozing waterfall of molten yolk when attacked with a knife though the mortadella was quite scrummy. It didn’t have that swollen body poached eggs tend to have, a slight wobbliness and inability to contain its insides not unlike a huge badass blister under your skin, angrily threatening to explode (wow that’s a gross analogy but you get the idea right that sort of precarious balance between a whole egg and a poached egg come undone). I wasn’t sure why the hollandaise had been browned on the top as though it had been set under a grill for a few seconds.

Scottish Smoked Salmon Bagel with Cream Cheese, Dill and Rocket

Toasted seeded bagel – now that’s something hard to find in Singapore. This was lovely and the smoked salmon has to be mentioned. WONDERFUL! Very flavourful and not at all bland like some smoked salmon can be.

Savoury aside, we come to what we saved our tastebuds for.

Old Fashioned Pancakes Stack – with berries, honeycomb ice cream and maple syrup

The pancakes were as expected, fluffy and delicious although a little thinner than we’d hoped for. But they were delightful and well paired with berries and maple syrup (hard to go wrong with such a classic combination). What we really liked was that fat ball of melting honeycomb ice cream. If we didn’t have quite so many girls around the table and I was mindful of etiquette, I’d have grabbed that soup spoon of ice cream and dunked it into my mug of Graze mocha. Bet that would’ve tasted sublime.

Orange and Vanilla Waffles – with chocolate sauce and cut strawberries

Mmmm. Need I say more? And ahm, REALLY GOOD vanillla ice cream. My heart melted just a little at the sight of those specks of vanilla seeds. The ice cream was so rich I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d snuck some clotted cream into the mix.

And to end it all on a rosey-hued note, a glass of Libalis Rose Maetierra wine which was of a lovely shade I wanted it as a nail polish colour. Happy smiles all around, food bellies nicely concealed under roomy dresses or blouses and a slight reluctance to leave this beautifully light restaurant. As we stepped out into the street and hailed more taxis to take us to our next destination (yea a crew of fat ladies who lunch), I couldn’t help noticing this slightly lethargic but warm feeling in my belly. I realised that that was the sensation of peaceful contentment and a stomach goblin finally satiated.

Graze
No. 38 Martin Road
Singapore

http://www.graze.com.sg

Vampires like cool, dark sun-forsaken places. So do I. But dark shadowy areas can sometimes be such a bore (without the right props); this one isn’t. KHA, tucked away in Martin Road No. 38, is a very cleverly lit space. It’s sheltered from the scorching sun, with a basement feel about it. Its shadowy interiors and dark wooden furniture are brought to life, contrasted with beautiful conversation pieces and enamel vases. The only windows in this restaurant provides a view of bamboo plants and nothing else, locking out the rest of the world and leaving you only a tranquility and quiet restfulness. Something about the textures of Kha’s interior makes you feel like you’ve been instantly transported to a fancy schmanshy restaurant of a private resort and yet as welcome and at home as you would be in the living room of a close friend. I really appreciated the menus which were printed as an archived Thai newspaper on browned paper. The design, typography and uniqueness of such an idea surely wasn’t lost on me.

And of course, neither was the food – which was beautiful, immaculate, an exotic explosion of colours and flavours, a real spectacular display of Thai cuisine. It helped that the inviting interiors of Kha were cloaked in a seductive shadow creating a romantic candlelight ambience whilst the plates on your table were slyly shone a spotlight from the snazzy lights above. The food took centrestage really, and everything else appeared but an effortless afterthought. It was a thoroughly delicious and satisfying meal, which left me a little breathless but dessert picked me right up and obviously hit the g-spot well and good. Instantly, I had favourites. The tom yum soup was just gorgeous and extremely comforting for me (I wasn’t feeling that up to scratch in fact I felt as though I was on the verge of destruction with only myself to blame); the prawn & crab cakes were light, refreshing, citrusy and had a lovely crunch against the melting softness of its insides; the desserts were to-die-for and prettily presented (and flavoured – I mean there were FLOWERS in the red ruby). Even the regular mineral still water was delicately flavoured with lemongrass. That’s beaute, dedication and everything which makes a real foodist’s heart flutter!

But lemme really talk about the food (with pictures to show for it).

I was sipping a watermelon juice quite happily waiting for the real queen of drinks to turn up – the pomegranate mocktail – known quite glamorously by the name Ruby Starlet (now you mustn’t mind that it has a real burlesque dancer feel to it). This is Kha’s maroony red signature mocktail with pomegranate, fresh mint leaves, lychee juice and fresh lime juice. It’s a little on the sweet side, but if you’ve a sweet tooth then you’re sorted. Thoroughly refreshing.

Then came the appetizers, hefty, delicious and a force to be reckoned with.

Appetizers

Papa Adun’s Phad Tow Hu – a crispy fried tofu with crispy basil and three flavoured sauce. Light and creamy tofu encased in a paper thin crispy crust which had a sweet savoury flavour quite similar to that of Indonesian fried chicken.

Tod Man Poo – Thai Crab & Prawn Cakes served with green mango salad, yoghurt and sweet chili. This was a real favourite of mine since crab cakes are something I really adore and it was interesting to taste a Thai rendition of this classic. The sweet chili went really well with the smooth sweet taste of crab and prawn. Nice touch on the yoghurt as I’m not a fan of mayonnaise which restaurants so love to pair with crab cakes.

Yam Nua Wagyu – grilled red curry rubbed wagyu beef with papaya salad, yoghurt & chili jam. Like red curry? You’ll love this which goes terribly well with the richness of the wagyu. So tender the whole thing just melts in your mouth once you bite into it. They’re extremely generous with the yoghurt and chili jam here but it isn’t too spicy. The jam would go so well in a salad or just on a cracker.

Crispy Whole Green Chili stuffed with Pork & Herbs with Malibu Chili Soy, Tom Yum, Honey Mustard dipping sauces – In all honesty, I was a real pussy with this one. My reaction when the plate was placed before us, ‘Oh, I don’t eat chilis really and definitely not whole green ones.’ My fear was for naught. The chili seeds have been removed and replaced with a fragrant herbed pork. The chefs obviously do a little surgery thingy on the chilis, seal ‘em back up and then deep fry them in a deliciously flavoured batter. Light like tempura. The three dipping sauces were quite something and so very creative. I liked the tom yum dip. The Malibu chili soy had a real impact in every sense of the word. Careful, it’s bleedin’ hot, like a lady in a red dress.

Tom Yum Goong – soup is always comforting but even within the world of soups there is a hierarchy with my mumma’s herbal soups being at the top, carrot coriander and anything with churned butternut coming way close at second, homemade miso varieties at third, kimchi jjigae kinda tied actually, fish steamboat soups or hotpots coming close after…I mean there’s lots. And of course Vietnamese pho broth. And then I forget that somewhere out there, a tom yum soup is demanding to be acknowledged. I acknowledged, and bowed down. This is one humbling experience. A cacophony of flavours all captured within a bowl – sweet, savoury, citrusy, spicy, sour, taste of the sea, zing of lemongrass. There’s so much going on in here with different bits shrieking for attention, shouting and pulling at your tastebuds but at the same time the warmth and spice of the soup tugs at my heartstrings and breathes life (or fire) into the hearth of my chest. It wouldn’t go away even after I was done with this soup, like a clingy girlfriend or a burning tattoo freshly inked onto tender skin. Yea. It was soooo sick I wanted more.

Main Courses

Gaem Sam Yang – 3 Signature Curries: Penang Beef Curry, Green Chicken Curry, Red Vegetable Curry – The penang beef curry was quite chicly presented. Red vegetable curry very rich and creamy but maybe not so much my kind of thing. The Thai Green Curry? Winner. Enough said.

Red Vegetable Curry

Green Thai Chicken

Penang Beef Curry

Pha Yang Bai Tong – Chargrilled Seabass with Lemongrass in Banana Leaf and Dill Chili Sauce This was a real stunning dish. Maybe it’s cause my poppa loves fish and I am a pescetarian myself but this was really good and had the soft flake-away melt-in-your-mouth texture as steamed fish dishes normally do (and this wasn’t even steamed!). The lemongrass marinade on the fish skin was a nice touch although I couldn’t quite grab any banana leaf fragrance from this. Nonetheless, the dill chili dip was amazing in a violent way. Think wasabi. Wasabi’s perfect with raw fish. Dill is perfect with fish, whichever way. So really…this is >> Genius, fiery and so unexpected. (If you’re thinking of a steamed seabass with Thai flavours quite similar to this, Westlake Restaurant does a pretty snazzy one too)

Pad Thai Noodles – Delicious of course (tasted similar to mee goreng noodles) but not quite what I was expecting. This was a little too sweet for my liking not that it was bad at all but not the pad thai I have usually eaten at other restaurants. But to be fair, I’ve never had pad thai in Singapore so this was fun.

Desserts

Thap Thim Krwap aka Red Ruby – red rubies, coconut jasmine syrup, shaved ice and real jasmine flowers to boot (don’t eat them though!). A childhood favourite of mine because I used to think I was eating real rubies but they’re red coloured starch-covered bits of water chestnuts.

Khao Neaw Ma Muang – Mango with Sticky Rice and Pandan Coconut Cream A Thai favourite and classic, jazzed up with a minty green coloured pandan flavoured coconut cream. Love that coconut cream has a vanilla-y, almost savoury flavour and gives this dish real depth. Hmm, rephrase? Yea, coconut cream can expand your horizons people. Take that.

Sang Kha Ya Pug Thong – Pumpkin Custard with Coconut Ice Cream, shredded apples & strawberries and mango purée Blew.me.away. Really. I wasn’t expecting this pumpkin funny-looking thing to taste so good and rich like a cake, yet pretty light and wobbly in the mouth. Press a bite of it gently between tongue and roof of your mouth and all sorts of wonderful begin. The coconut ice cream impressed my dining partner. It was true to its taste, kinda like a real coconut bashed up into an ice cream maker with lots of coconut milk, a bit of sugar and nothing else. Nice. Simple, raw, uncomplicated food. In a sense. I really liked what I saw (and ate) on this plate.

So, after all that I was nearly reaching a state of food coma. Had to have tea to wash it all down and soothe a rapidly expanding stomach. This helped: Lemongrass Tea from Gryphon Teas. Fragrant and soothing, and it certainly helped bring on a wave of sleepiness.

Meal concluded. I was such a satisfied fat cat. All I wanted to do was lie down to die.

Anyway, remember I was banging on about the ambience and light in Kha? Well that’s not the only clever thing about Kha (and its food), its space is inspired by the industrial warehouse lofts in the big NYC and the big smoke (London) and it kinda does feel like that judging from my repertoire of warehouse partays (Shhh.A lot more civilised, sophisticated and less grunge and grimey of course). What’s more awesome, however, is that Kha is just a humble child of boisterous triplets – No. 38 Martin Road is where a 3-in-1 dining concept has been born. Here, you’ll find Kha, Provisions (all decked out with royal blue Smeg fridges and gourmet food for takeaway) and Graze which is apparently the shiz for brunches housed in the same block. Kha’s siblings interestingly are well-lit and decked out in lots of white walls and furniture. Bright, cheerful yet cheekily rustic. I’ll be visiting soon – the two chirpy siblings and the black sheep of the lot.

Curious? And curioser? Go check it out yourself.

Kha
No. 38 Martin Road
Singapore 239059
Tel. 6476 9000
Web. http://www.kha.sg

Grey sky, boring day, long wait to next tutorial class, half-drunk cappuccino. C’est ennui! Who says you can’t dream about sweets in the early afternoon…I’m thinking about Oriole.

Short post and so I’m outta here. Have a good day folks.

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

No matter how busy anyone is, there’s always time to eat. My number one rule in the book, never forget to eat. I mean, it’s physically impossible for me anyway when I’m thinking, planning and dreaming about food 24/7/365… Yea I truly am that disgusting and ridiculous. If I got thrown out of a plane, shipwrecked on some desert island, etc. I’d probably start Ray Mears-style finding ways to recreate a cheesy omelette on hot volcanic rock I can find, grill wild boar satays, etc. all by a shoddily set-up campfire (the question of actually being successful in setting one up of course is very controversial). Despite being one not to eat out often, I can never say no to a lunch or a dinner out and with some of my favourite ladies, even more reason to ditch the work and run, arms-stretched out, squealing to Byron.

Catty had told me so much about it. Suyin had raved about how good their burgers were. I, on the other hand, was clueless. I was going in blind. Can you imagine my anticipation.

10 minutes early. Tick tock tick tock. Sat there all by my lonely self, licking my lips and nursing a lone Diet Coke, with a massive grin on my face. Yes, I was well chipper. And all for burger and chips.

Basically, there’s not much of a story to tell this time round. The results were good, let’s just say that. A really good patty and I loved that the patty came very pink in the middle. Anyone who likes red meat well done is missing out on quite a lot, let’s put it that way. I had a really good lunch. They serve great chips, made from spuds or courgettes – both very scrummy. End of story. Yum yum yummyinmytummy so that’sitthankyoubye.

Byron
At the Intrepid Fox
97-99 Wardour Street
London
W1F 0UD

http://www.byronhamburgers.com

Last weekend, I was in Shrewsbury visiting a friend and by the end of my visit, it had me purring like a cat (I’ll get to why I was purring later). When it comes to visiting friends I’ve not seen for a while or going countryside, there’s only two words on my mind. And that is: pub food. Somehow my brain immediately identifies the country with – not just the calming and beautiful landscape – pub grub. It doesn’t help that I probably think about food more than sex or shoes or clothes in the day. My whole nom nom obsession is simply exacerbated.

On the Saturday, we visited the first iron made structure ever constructed – the Ironbridge. The weather wasn’t too bad in the day but by the time we’d got there after a thorough walkabout through the Victorian town Blists Hill, the sky was just miserable. It was grey, it was freezing cold, the winds were so strong it was a real challenge to walk in a straight line and the rain was all pissy and furry – the type that was so thin and fine it soaked right through to your bones I bet. You couldn’t escape this sort of rain or you could die trying, really. Thankfully we had a bit of relief from the rain when we stopped at this lovely, comforting pub for lunch. It was one that appeared most welcoming to us (also because our car was parked very conveniently in their driveway) and called The Malthouse, beckoning us with these luscious, seductive interiors.

If you’ve seen the first picture, you’ve probably already gotten a general idea of what this was like and why I say it provided us our much sought-after escape from the outside icky weather. Think lush interiors, like really lush, bordering on decadent. Velvety surroundings and a boudoir-ish ambience, Victorian style furniture with animal print or flocked upholstery and lots of red candles and carpeting. Sounds tacky and a bit cheap? On a sunny day when I’m happy, dry and well-fed I might think just that. When I’m a sodding drowned rat, shoulders aching from hunching against the wind and ankles so cold they’d literally failed the rest of my body and stiffened into ice blocks, I think this was like coming home to a warm hearth and a plate of hot food after a long trek in the woods. The Malthouse was seriously like the light at the end of the tunnel for us. And I was nearly moved to tears when they sat us down at our table, all friendly and smiley and attentive to their windswept customers who’d arrived before the dinner crowd.

Like a cat, perfectly comfy in her skin, and luxuriously stretching its limbs, I did a nice big stretch after chucking aside my wet brolly and removing my coat still icy from the wind. Then, I took another look around and I think my face just lit up and glowed from being warm and dry and sat down. I was utterly comforted by the fact that we were about to be fed. And I simply couldn’t help being appreciative of the quirky bits in this pub house like, the day’s menu written on long panels of chalkboard, pictures of hearts framed and stuck on the walls and oh, this bit I thought was so cool – black chandeliers with opaque black beads dangling very sexily from the bulbs. I know I know…that’s not to everyone taste and it’s so flashy contemporary it kind of hurts your eyeballs. But I could have just thrown myself into the interiors, sinking into it like a waterbed with a sort of post-erh-hum satisfaction, so sue me.

Smoked Salmon Baguette

If I’ve made you quite jealous of our experience, then I’ve been quite successful. If I haven’t, don’t worry I won’t try again. Instead, I’ll change my tactic and move on to Plan B. The food.

Chicken & Onion Rings Stacked Burger & Chips

S’s mum had a nice smoked salmon baguette and the rest of us ordered some hot food – dramatic pause here – some hot proper pub food. It was real nice to see the menu being separated out into starters, pub food, mains, soups, salads, desserts (I think that was how it was for the last 3). What I’m trying to stress is the separate category the humble pub fare was given and that really brought a smile to us. I think we all privately reminisced the cheap student pub food from our undergrad years (which ended only just last year) and anyway, I think everyone has a special place in their heart and stomach for the simple yet very much loved pub grub. We’ve all had good pub food, and bad pub food. Even if at that point of time it was a real torture to swallow that plate of pure grease and cheap butter, I can only say that general entity known as ‘pub food’ is always quite fondly thought of. Of course there wasn’t much to worry about here because the food was excellent!

Bangers and Mash

My food was the last to arrive. Although the last, it was definitely not the least by miles! The picture of it might explain why. It was huge! The portion of chips was generous and the battered fish about the length of my forearm. My lunch partners were a little worried and all ready to ask for doggy bag to take home the leftovers.

Fish and Chips

I think my reaction to that was a big ‘errr…there’s no need’. I ate it all. It didn’t defeat me.

Am I disgusting or just a real trooper with a bottomless pit for a stomach? The fish was fab and so fresh. And thankfully it wasn’t just all made up of batter. The chips were nicely seasoned and real yum with a good bite to it. I quite dislike mushy peas. I think the look of it and the texture just puts me off completely so I never ask for it. If it’s on my plate, I push it away as far from my chips and fish as possible (and I really ain’t that kind of fussy eater. Just mushy peas, paté and black pudding I can’t stand). I don’t know if it was the red candle induced happiness or boudoir ambience that had gone to my head, I ate mushy peas.

Yes I really did. And I liked it. I normally don’t. But this one was good. And it had whole peas in it too. Maybe that’s what made it worked. I didn’t have it all, thank goodness. But I had some. And that’s progress. The Malthouse was a real success and I take the mushy peas as proof of that.

Even though the rain had let up and we were getting sleepy from being so well-fed, we were sad to leave and drive away from Ironbridge. Good times though. Great weekend.

The Malthouse
The Wharfage
Ironbridge
Shropshire
TF8 7NH
Bar-Lounge-Rooms-Live Music
Tel.: 01952 433712

The Sugar Bar is my baby and the cellulite of my life. I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard I try. Can’t stop loving or working at it either. I’d feel completely lost without it. Blogging’s become such second nature, it’s almost impossible to recall what I used to do to past the time before I started foodblogging in 2005. And that was just one of the things us Tea Ladies, Mowie from Mowielicious and Su-Yin from Bread et Butter, discussed at our Ottolenghi lunch last Sunday.

We spent a sleepy morning queueing for a table at the Islington branch and whilst it was rather a long wait, we were given sustenance to make the wait less torturous in the form of cheesey breadsticks. Why torturous? Torturous because Ottolenghi’s yummy fare was within ridiculously close range. Torturous because you couldn’t just sneak a bit of bread (even if you were the best fingersmith of East London) when we standing next to it. Torturous because we were starving and no one (not a single one of them satisfied customers bums stuck firmly to their chairs) was getting up to leave…just yet. (Word of advice: be prepared to queue. It just kept going from 12 all til 3ish pm)

However, that all went and we were ushered to a table. I really like Ottolenghi’s service. Of course, they’ve got some stone-faced matron types but their staff’s generally really friendly and amicable. And they aren’t afraid to chat to you and take part in a bit of banter. Always a plus to any café/restaurant. A fair amount of time passed in complete silence – the food voyeurs were weighing up the menu. And we thought it good. I haven’t got any pictures for you of our lunch but let’s say we were thoroughly impressed with the simplicity but complexity of flavours in every salad choice and every main course choice.

You’ve got to go check it out for yourself and then you’ll understand the magic of Ottolenghi.

Our lunch went too quickly for our happy stomachs but oh, within seconds after sitting down you could tell us Tea Ladies were completely hooked. If Ottolenghi wasn’t going to reel us in, we’d go to it. Got us completely dancing to their mesmerising tune. Mowie was an Ottolenghi virgin but oh no more. And to discover the joys of dessert take-away! Faced with such an array of beauties, it’s always a real problem trying to choose what to get and when to stop. I managed to stop at two, but only because I was quite satiated from a Bailey’s Chocolate Cake post-lunch. Didn’t manage to get a picture of that either but it was a beaute! A super beaute in fact, coming in close second to my all-time love Lemon, Pistachio & Polenta cake. On my next trip, I will make sure I get a picture of it for you lot! A must-try.

It was a sweet Sunday and other than the little bits of sugar gold I had in a bleached white paperbag, I had a couple of pictures of my beautiful Tea Ladies furiously snapping their cameras away outside Ottolenghi. Absolutely love it! There’s no other human species quite like us foodbloggers. We’re a curious kind. Food voyeurs. Our regressive animalistic behaviour is incurable. And if we had the option of being permanently attached to our cameras (tourist-y camera strap or no), I’m sure we would. Our friends think we’re incorrigible and our inherent need to photograph food or talk about it 24/7 sometimes frustrating. But seriously, I bet they envy us. Look at us, anywhere we are, people stop and stare. Yea. Wanna know what they’re thinking? Probably something like, ‘Oh yea, check em out them cool kids. They’ve so got it.’ And don’t forget that some of us have some monstrous bling-bling big-bang type cameras. Now that’s gotta be totally sexy, no?

•••

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cheesecake Tart – I love tarts and part of that is to because I love the tart crust best. If the filling doesn’t interest me enough, I eat the crust on its own. If the fillings too delicious to ignore, I save the crust for last. Ottolenghi, as usual, gets it right with their desserts. The crust was delicious and not overly sweet. It was sensationally buttery. Right amount of crust, right amount of filling and I ate them both at the same time (of course I saved a little chunk of crust to savour at the very last moment). The white chocolate cheesecake in the middle was stupendously good. Unlike most cheesecakes, it didn’t leave me feeling a little too queasy, only just a little because I breathed the thing down my throat in about 10 seconds. That gives me reason to feel a little woozy. But it was  generally very light and the cranberry coulis on top was fab, cutting through the cheese and making me feel a little bit of Christmas (even though that’s just gone and done now sadly). A thumbs up to the crushed pistachio and dusting of icing sugar – definitely very Christmassy for those slightly post-holiday depressed. A great pick-me-up. Small, compared to other Ottolenghi treats, but power-packed.

Raspberry & Strawberry Financier - I thought this was very similar to the Lemon Blueberry & Almond Cake I tried some time ago. The texture is very similar and the taste of lemon really stands out. But of course, raspberry goes really well with lemon so I couldn’t fault how delicious this pairing was. Absolutely loved how the raspberries and lemon wasn’t too tart – the sugar glaze on top of the financier was beautiful to look at and definitely helped balance out the flavour. The dollop of whipped double cream on the top was quite perfect as well. Part of me wondered if they could’ve infused the cream with vanilla seeds but I finally decided it didn’t need that extra bit. It was simple and gorgeous at it was. A smooth, dense and flavoursome cake. Ottolenghi sure knows what they’re good at and they’re especially great with their lemony treats. This isn’t excluded, not at all.

Now all we’ve got left is to send Mowie on a mission to steal the recipes.

Jokes.

I am joking. Don’t panic, alright.