Foto Friday # 49

Strangely enough, this is going to me my lunch at work today

Heaven @ The River Cafe

Some people can always say where they were when they heard a particular piece of news, or when a major even happened. Well on March 31^st 2004, my life changed forever. There was no major international incident, no national disaster to contend with.

It was just a simple cooked meal with the finest ingredients that Italy could offer in a trendy restaurant by the river in Hammersmith.

Up until that point fine food had never passed my lips. Years of travelling had taught me where to get good nourishing and cheap food, but fine food never came into the equation. Food with Spice had ruled my palette, as my travels up to that point had really only taken me to India, South East Asia and Central America. Heat I was used to. Perfectly cooked food with subtle seasoning I was not. It was enlightening.

What I ate that night I cannot remember, but we did have a great night, and our food lives changed forever after that experience.

We’d been back to the River Café on many an occasion, but not for the last few years. Which is a shame as I have such fond memories of the place. But my wages still seem to remain the same, whilst the cost of living has risen a lot. Plus it is not the cheapest place to eat on the planet, so now it is left to special occasions.

I’ve noticed that once in a while, especially during a slow period they will have a lunch time special of 2 courses for £22 or £28 with dessert. For the prices they charge normally off the a la carte menu, this is a steal. Although we still managed to spend over £100 on this trip. Wine, coffees etc. It all adds up in the end.

There was a fire a year or so ago, and a total refurb ensued. The end result is a very slick cool looking restaurant. They still have kept the same design of the open kitchen, which works so well. I like seeing people cooking my food, although sitting down you can only see the top half of the chefs, but they look busy. Maybe it is all an illusion and the clean cut looking people are just for show. The real work is being done by little children in the basement.

Even for a Thursday lunchtime the place was packed to the rafters. This is a very good sign, maybe other restaurants could learn from this. Lunchtime specials fill your restaurant up. It pays the bills. Take note.

The menu hasn’t really changed that much since Theo was the main man there. It’s still very peasanty Italian food, but what they do so well is treating the food with respect. Everything was and always has been spot on.

Our Primi’s were a plate of Agnoli with Veal, Rabbit and Parmesan Cheese, and the Spaghetti with crab. Both were fantastic, although portion control could have been relaxed a little. A good sign of always wanting more.

The mixture of rabbit and veal worked a treat and the pasta was so delicate, I’m sure you could have read a newspaper through it.

The Secondi’s of Oven Roasted Monkfish, Chickpeas and my Seared Calves Liver and Lentils were both really good, although I preferred my Calf’s liver and the spicy lentils. So good, so yummy. I have a thing about offal and it wins hands down everytime. We were both tempted by the lamb, but it came with cannelloni beans and neither of us were in a bean mood that afternoon.

The Lemon tart was tart and creamy as it should be. I’m not sure if they were Amalfi lemons, but they probably were. It was a nice end to a great meal.

I’m not sure how many times they do this lunchtime special, but if you visit their website once in a while it will have the details. I think this was available for a couple of months. It’s well worth taking an afternoon off work to come here.

Until next year River Café.

Foto Friday # 48

It's a lonely job sometimes.

Sunday Roast @ The Rose and Crown

After moving into our new flat in the lushness of Stoke Newington. Home to the highest concentration of baby strollers in London. Well, maybe a slight over exaggeration, but not by much.

The Rose and Crown isn’t the closest pub to our new gaff, but it was at the time, before we discovered the Londesborough and the Shakespeare. Which have now become firm favourites for different reasons.

When we want a nice quiet pint and some good nosh then the Londesborough fits the bill. The Shakespeare on the other hand is a good time old boozer with the best selection of bar snax on the planet. Nice juke box as well.

This given Sunday we actually tried to eat at the Three Crowns, but they were jammin’ and with no reservation it was a no go. So after a short stroll back up Church Street, we ended up at the first pub we walked past earlier on.

The Rose and Crown I could see at once was a local favourite. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and we were made to feel very welcome by the staff and locals alike.

WE were enjoying the buzz of the pub, that we didn’t even mind waiting for a table to become free. So after a half pint wait we managed to get a table amongst a few lively tables, which always adds to the buzz of a place.

We were here for one thing and one thing only. Sunday Roast. Damn I was in need for one, as it had been a good while since my last one, and I couldn’t actually remember when my last one was. So we ordered a lamb and a beef between us. Both reasonable priced at less than a tenner each. Good value.

Both came piping hot and with the same veggies, roasties and yorkies. The green beans, carrots and broccoli were all cooked pretty damn well. Nicely seasoned, and still a tad al dente. Nice. The tatties were nice and crispy on the outside and floury on the inside. Always a good sign for a roast. The yorkies were as I was hoping they would be. Nicely risen with a good taste and texture. The gravy was well made with a nice a slightly thick consistency. Just how I like it.

The only let down was the roast beef. It really didn’t have as much flavour as I like, which was a shame as everything else was so damn good. The lamb was nice and fatty and had a great lamby flavour, that actually made we wish I had ordered it instead of the beef. Normally I do, but I wanted some roastie beef inside me.

I liked the vibe within the pub and it made up for any shortcomings of the beef, which was the only low point of a really good afternoon.

I now know what middle aged single female teachers do on a Sunday afternoon, when they have a batch of papers to mark. They sit in a pub with several glass of white wine and get their head down and tick, tick, tick. Although I wonder how well the marking was after the 3^rd glass of wine. Was she just ploughing through the final few with abandon or was she becoming more and more stricter. Something that most of the pub was wondering as well I am sure.

I enjoyed the afternoon here and I am sure that it will become a firm favourite as it is with a lot of local Stokies. 
Long live the local.

Abeno Too

I’ve tried to write a review of this place for ages now. But somehow I cannot get the words out.

So I will just say, Abeno Too is a nice place, has a good buzzy vibe, and sells ok savoury pancakes or Okonomiyaki, if you want to be picky.

The staff are friendly and good humoured and do a pretty good job of cooking your pancakes for you. Well it is not rocket science really.

But in the end for what you get it is pretty over priced, but we are in Soho/Covent Garden/China Town. Not to sure really on where to place it. So beggars cannot be choosers.

It’s good to go if you are with a group of mates wanting to try something different, and have never had Japanese savoury pancakes before. I had, and the novelty wore off pretty quick.

PS – The photo’s are from a Okonomiyaki I ate at once in Nara a few years ago.

Homemade Paella in Medellin

As we are experiencing a very early summer, it is getting me thinking of all the bar-b-q's we hopefully will be able to have if the sun continues for more than a few weeks.
But in the meantime my mind was taken aback to a lovely Sunday afternoon having paella cooked for me a year or so ago in Medellin.

Foto Friday # 47

A small shrine laden with goodies for the Gods at the Weekend Market in Bangkok

Lahore Kebab House

We’d been meaning to try the Lahore Kebab House for an age now, but somehow Tayyabs always got in the way. Damn those delicious lamb chops.

But today we somehow made it passed Tayyabs, even though she sensed us in the area, and was calling to us. But somehow we managed to resist the tractor beam and get us to the Lahore Kebab House.

I was a little surprised to see the dining room as it reminded me of many an Indian hotel restaurant. Except this one was packed, most of the ones I went into on that trip were empty.

The food coming out of the kitchen all looked and smelt fantastic so we wasted no time in ordering some food as we were starving.

First up was a Karahi Kebab. Lovely pieces of kebab meat served in a delicious tomato sauce. The kebab meat was tender and juicy, the sauce a little picante, not enough but good enough for my blasted taste buds.

Then the Butter Chicken, which was the low point of the meal. Way too oily and not enough flavour in the sauce. It really was a bit of a struggle to enjoy eating this dish.

The Sag Aloo was damn nice. Not enough tatties, but the flavour was really good. I could of just eaten this all night.

The Pilau Rice was your bog standard Indian restaurant rice dish. Nicely cooked, seasoned well and soaked up the sauce, as it should do. The Keema Naan, my all time favourite in any Indian restaurant, was some of the best I’ve tasted. Nicely cooked in the Tandoor, and the filling had some real good flavour to it. Yum yum.

All in all it was a pretty damn fine meal, and made especially good as India came back from a bad opening session to beat the Windies, and qualify for the knock out stages. All’s well that ends well. But next time I will let Tayyabs tempt me in through its doors again.

Cafe Rendezvous - A Good Ol' Cafe

You get what you pay for at the majority of Cafes in England. Some are good, some are bad, and others are mediocre. Rendezvous is an ok place that serves your traditional favourites plus a few daily specials that may be up on the wall week after week.

I opted for the set brekkie as always. Sausage, bacon, fried egg, fried slice and a mountain of mushrooms. The yolk was runny and the sausage was still juicy. The bacon was a tad tough, but there were 3 rashers, which is a bonus as you normally only get 2. The fried slices of bread was a blast from the past, haven’t had one of those (for good reasons) since the 90’s.

My partner in crime opted for the daily special of the Chicken Curry. Which she says and I would have to agree with her, reminded her of one my dad’s Thursday night currys. Straight from the jar curry sauce, and Uncle Ben’s boil in the bag rice. Do they still make that?

The Rendezvous is a nice place on Highbury Barn filled with locals, workers and some students from the LMU. Friendly staff who provide a cheery service in a nice reliable place. If you are outside and in need of some filling food, then it cannot be beaten.

An Event by the Hangzhou Tourism Board - Oh My Gawd

Disappointment is what I felt after the gala banquet hosted by the Hangzhou Tourism Board at the Marriot Hotel on Grosvenor Square last week. 

I was expecting some classic Hangzhou dishes like West Lake Sour Fish, Dongpo Pork, Beggar Chicken or Cat’s Ears.

What we actually got was some pretty poor European hotel food, which was all under seasoned and/or overcooked. At least the wine was free flowing so by the time I left I was a tad wobbly, the nicest way of saying I was pissed.

The timetable was all pretty well laid out, and was executed to the minute. Our hosts did not mess around.

4pm to 4.30pm – Welcome cocktails

4.30pm to 5.30pm – Speeches

5.30pm to 6pm – Networking

6pm to 8pm – Gala Banquet

The speeches were all really dull, as you would expect from an event like this. I did enjoy the speech by the Vice Mayor of Hangxhou who had been flown over especially. We were even graced by one of the senior members of the Chinese Embassy here in London. Although I missed exactly how senior he was. Obviously the buck had been passed down so far that he had no one else to pass it onto.

The banquet room could hold about 80 people, but it was half full. I’m sure they organisers were just calling anyone by the end to fill the place up, as a lot of people looked like general free loaders.

During the banquet we did have some classic Chinese music, which was pretty nice to listen to. That was about as close to being a Chinese banquet as it got.

The first course was a dull pork terrine with cold and floppy mini toasted bread, and a dollop of green mashed which the cooks had made into a phallic symbol. This was the highlight of the meal.

Next up was a cold tomato gazpacho soup, which tasted of anything but.

Then was an overcooked piece of cod on a bed of some nice, tasty and al dente lentils with cardboard ravioli on top. I’m really not joking either.

The pudding I did not try, but the lavender shortbread was quite nice.

Thankfully the wine was free flowing. This made up for my disappointment of the night. I never managed to do any networking, as no one else seemed to be in the tourism business, except for one girl who only did inbound business from China. Her boss had called in sick that day, and she was forced to go along. I think he knew how it was going to be.

The sad thing was, with the presentations and speeches about the delights of Hangzhou, I still prefer to send my clients to Suzhou.

Shame really, but as I am the bottom of the rung, I get shafted with all the crap events