Category: LONDON-guide

Zucca, Bermondsey – wow!

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We had time for another restaurant visit when my friends Malin and Tobbe were here last weekend. They wanted to go to an Italian restaurant and I gave them a short list with a few names on, and from that list they chose Zucca, which I was super excited about since it has been on my to-eat list for quite a while ago.

They are very popular, so book well in advance. I was really happy that they could find us a table and although we arrived a few minutes early our table was ready for us.

We had a seat in the dining room decorated with plush carpet and modern white glossy furniture. On one wall you have the open kitchen so regardless of where you are sitting you will have a view of the kitchen.

We started with the suggested aperitif; prosecco with pomegranate. I can never resist bubbly and this drink was refreshing and nice. After the waitress had taken our order everything was very efficient in a definitely non-stressful way. The waiting staff just did their job really well and knew when we were ready for the next step.

The bread basket consisted of three types of bread, that were all delicious but the foccacia really stood out. It was soft in the middle, nice and oily but crusty on the outside.

Next was our amuse bouche; frittata. Also very nice.

Then our starters. Malin chose the olive crostini with charkuterie and was very please with her decision.

My popo al pomodoro with burrata was pure indulgence and I savoured every bite. The ‘soup’ was full of flavour and the burrata was creamy and salty. Pure joy on a plate!

Tobbe ordered the Zucca fritti and received a smaller mountain of freshly pan-fried goodies in a light airy batter. Malin and I helped him out too and really enjoyed it.

Malin chose rigatoni with cauliflower, tomatoes and sultanas and it looked very scrumptious, don’t you agree?!

My tagliatelle with duck ragu was perfection. I enjoyed every bite.

Tobbe’s seared tuna was perfectly dark red in the middle. It was served with a picante sauce and marinated shavings of fennel and courgettes.

After all of that we still had room for dessert. Tobbe chose this scoop of pistachio icecream and it was absolutely delicious.

I couldn’t resist the pannacotta with rhubarb which felt very light although fillinf. I had to give up after half.

Malin was happy with coffee instead and while that arrived we also got these little treats, which was the only thing I wasn’t ove the moon about. The short bread was a tad too sweet and the brittle was a bit too dark and therefore tasted too much of burnt sugar. But I won’t let my opinion of these little freebies taint my view of the evening, which all in all was perfect.

I think you can see how wonderful the food was. THe wine list was also impressive with only Italian wines.

The staff was very efficient and professional and so pro active they would open the door to the restrooms for you when they saw you were on your way there. That’s service! Also the ambiance was lovely – people really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Good food is always good food, but sometimes the price helps to make your mind up about something. In this case I would have paid a lot for the food, but the fact that it is rather cheap (including a bottle of wine for £33 we paid about just under £50 each for all of the above) just makes me love this place even more.

I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of our evening here and I will so be back. Pretty soon too, I hope!

Zucca
184 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3TQ

Nopi – almost a year later

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When my friends Tobbe and Malin came to visit last week, we had some really nice dining experiences. First up was Nopi, where I went for my birthday last year.

Back then we were a larger group so we sat at a big table on the lower ground floor, whereas this time we sat up on the ground floor.

The food served at Nopi is fresh small plates with unusual flavour combinations. The main menu has three sections; vegetables, fish and meat and there is also a dessert menu. Nopi recommends three small dishes per person, so that’s what we did. We got nine different ones to share.

To start we were served lovely bread to dip in a very grassy olive oil. Really nice but I did miss the dip we got last time.

Roasted aubergine with black garlic, harissa and pine nuts. This dish was nice enough but not spectacular in any way.

The heritage carrot salad with black olives, endive and orange vinaigrette was nice and fresh with nice flavours.

The courgette and manouri fritters with lime yoghurt were nice too, but none of the vegetable dishes we tried said ‘wow’ this time around. Last time those were the best.

But then this came out and blew me away: organic prawns with fennel, feta and Pernod. The prawns were wuite hot and it was really nice with the flecks of salt feta to take the edge off the heat. Also the sauce at the bottom of the pan was delicious. One of my two favourites of the evening.

Scallops with pig’s ear and a sauce made form black beans and ginger was also really nice, although the flavours could have been a little bit stronger. And you can see yourselves that the scallops were perfectly fried. Yu-um.

Malin ate this lovely fried seabass with smoked labneh and pickled lemon when Tobbe and I had the seafood.

She also had this twice-cooked chicken with myrtle salt and chilli sauce that I had last time too. I think this is a staple on the menu and so for a reason.

Tobbe’s choice of sirloin with baby leeks and pickled ginger with coriander and chilli salsa. Nice flavours!

The second of my two favourties was this incredibly tender and flavoursome ox cheek with horseradish cream and sour cherries. Amazing!

Although we didn’t over order we were still incredibly full at the end of our meal and struggled with the last few forkfuls, so there was no way we could have dessert. Instead we went to a nice bar and cocktails – less filling that way.

Nopi
21-22 Warwick Street
London W1B 5NE

The Bull & Last, Kentish Town

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This past weekend was absolutely glorious with the sun shining both days so to go for a for a nice long walk followed by a pub lunch was the perfect Sunday activity.

With sunglasses on I met Laura at Belsize Park around lunch time, where she showed me around her new neighbourhood. We then walked across Hampstead Heath and onto The Bull & Last for our 2.30 reservation.

We liked the pub immediately. The decor is traditionally pubby with some nice touches, like double doors to the loos, stuffed animals and hunting trophies.

The groundfloor was really busy and quite loud when we walked in, perfect for chatting with friends, but it was nicer to eat upstairs in the more quiet dining room, like we did.

Last year the pub won an Observer award for best Sunday lunch and as we walked through the pub we could see just how popular the roast beef with yorkshire pudding was. It looked delicious but after a walk in the sunshine we were up for something a bit lighter. All the maincourses were quite heavy so we had two starters each instead. Well I did anyway. 🙂

I chose a salad with beetroot, horseradish, smoked eel and cod’s cheeks and it was an absolute delight. It had different textures (smooth eel, crunchy beetroot crisps, creamy horseradish) and lots of nice flavours. Laura had some of it and we also had a side of triple cooked chips. I mean, how could we resist?

They were lovely and crisp on the outside and soft in the middle and served with homemade mayonnaise. Need I say more?!

Instead of the maincourses we chose a board each; fish for Laura and meat for me. They were huge and it would have been perfect to share one for two people as a starter. As a maincourse it was definitely enough and we were pretty full by the end of it.

The fish board consisted of a haddock croquette, sprats, mackerel paté, potted shrimps and beautiful gravadlax (with beetroot for the colour I presume) and soft soda bread.

My meat board was equally packed with goodies; the chicken liver parfait was velvety smooth and probably my favourite as well as celeriac slaw, thin slices of duck breast, duck rillette and a lovely ham hock terrine. The pig’s head was shredded pieces of meat in a croquette and the bread was toasted and brioche-like. I enjoyed it all, although some things could have done with a tad more seasoning.

As I said, the boards were quite filling, but not having icecream on a sunny day is almost a crime, so we had a scoop each after a little breather.

Laura’s prune and armagnac is above and my mint chocolate chip is pictured below.

We spent around two and a half hours in here and enjoyed every moment. The service was good and relaxed and you definitely didn’t feel rushed. And since we were part of the late lunch service they probably didn’t need our table until dinner service a bit later anyway.

As soon as we stood up it hit me how full I actually was, so we decided to walk some more to digest the food. After a stroll to Highgate and over the Heath we were back at Belsize Park and it was time to go home.

We had a lovely Sunday and to go for a nice long walk combined with nice food is just great. We will definitely be back to eat our way through the menu, which might prove a challange as we were told it changes every few days…

The Bull and Last
168 Highgate Road
London NW5 1QS 
020 726 73641

My city: lovely London

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Yesterday I went to Tate Modern with my friend Maria and her colleague Hannan. The exhibition was Boetti and Kusama. In general I don’t really like modern art (probably because I don’t get it most of the time) but I really enjoyed Kusama’s work.

Since it was a beautiful evening I decided to walk across the Thames from my office and wander down the Southbank. I love that stretch of the river bank and the view is lovely. You see Westminster and Big Ben looking left, near you you have the London Eye and to your right you have St Paul’s Cathedral and The City.

On days like this, when I have time to really experience my London, I get an instant reminder of why I chose to live here and why I’m still here four years on. I just love my city! That is of course why I wanted to share these pictures with you.

The pictures are taken with my old iPhone, but they turned out pretty good this time.

Pierre Victoire, Soho

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I seem to hang out a lot in Soho at the moment, and on Saturday I found myself there once again. This time I met up with Laura for an early supper at the French bistro, Pierre Victorie, on Dean Street.

This is a restaurant that I kind of liked, but it could be so much better if just the waiting staff were nicer. The food is hearty and well cooked and the prices are very reasonable (read cheap) and yet as a costumer you are not exactly blown away. And the reason for that is merely the staff. We were asked if we were ready to order by 4 different staff members in less than 4 minutes. That’s just stressy.

After enough interruptions we were ready to order and the food arrived efficiently.

Both of us went for soup as a starter, above is Laura’s French onion soup that was really good. Below is my potato and leek soup. It was nice and rustic and almost tasted homemade.

I went for a simple steak frites with garlic and herb butter and although it wasn’t very expensive, the steak was good quality and perfectly cooked. The fries on the other hand were a bit too pale and therefore less crunchy. A shame since it is so easily fixed with a few minutes more in the fryer.

Laura’s seabass with potatoes, fennel and gremolata looked beautiful and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

So there was defintiely noting wrong with the food (apart from the pale fries), but once we finished eating and wanted to sit for a few more minutes the staff resumed to being rude and it felt like they were kicking us out only so they could relay the table and make more money. But that is not the way a costumer wants to be treated, regardless of the quality of the food. A real shame.

Pierre Victoire
5 Dean Street
London
W1D 3RQ

The opening of The Jugged Hare pub

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On Thursday I was slightly out of my comfort zone, braving a pub opening all by myself. It wasn’t by choice as my friend Laura was suppost to come with me, but was ill and couldn’t make it. But since I wanted to go, I thought I can go on my own, hang out for a bit and leave early. Great plan.

But I didn’t stick to it. After my name was crossed off the guest list and I entered the pub I realised it was huge. After a tour around the room with my champagne glass in hand, two girls started talking to me, and suddenly I met lots of nice people. So nice in fact that we stayed really late, but we had so much fun I didn’t want to go home.

The Jugged Hare, was a much larger pub than I first anticipated, but it was still cosy inside. The bar counter was close to the entrance door, further in you had the kitchen to your left and an empty space where I expect the restaurant tables to be, and even further in at the back there were a few booths to sit in.The kitchen looked amazing with lots of copperware and Le Creuset dishes and a rotisserie cabinet with a suckling big being roasted. Later when it was served I luckily got the last bun and the last crackling. Delicious!

Apart from a few tables with drinks and the canapées that came out of the kitchen most of the action was on the lower ground floor where there you could taste different wines and cheeses. There wasn’t much information about the different cheeses and the man working there was really busy as everyone would flock around him and demand cheese. We definitely tried some lovely cheeses, but unfortunately I don’t know what they’re called.

The canapées I managed to get my hands on were all from the regular menu, but made bite sized. The wild garlic, turnip and leek broth was lovely and totally in season with the wild garlic. The little crab and crab mayo canapé on toast was also really nice and to my surprise I enjoyed the black pudding croquettes too.

Apsrt form the food and wine I really enjoyed meeting fellow foodies. The girl who talked to me studies at the Cordon Bleu, which I am mighty jealous of, and I also bumped into the well-known blogger The London Foodie which was a pleasure.

Although most people left around 10pm our group stayed on and the tweed clad waiters were happy to serve us more wine. When we actually decided to leave the pub was emptying quite quickly and on the way out we got a goody bag each. It was a nice touch since it contained both the menu, a recipe for Jugged Hare, the dish the pub is named after, a Jugged Hare beer and a apple chutney for pork.

The whole event seemed very professional and thought through, and I hope the service will be just as good once the pub is opening its doors properly today.

Barrafina, Soho

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I feel incredibly lucky working where I do. The company is great but this time I was actually refering to where the offices are located; just by the embankment. That means I can wander into Soho, Covent Garden and even Mayfair on my lunch breaks. Not bad, huh?

I am also lucky in the sense that I work with a fellow foodie, Caroline. Once in a while we go out for a proper lunch together, we have a long list of eateries we want to go through.

Last week we went to Barrafina, Caroline’s choice, but I loved it too. It is a small tapas bar (with emphasis on bar) consisting of one curved bar with 23 seats. When we got there at half past twelve they were all taken to our disappointment, but the waiter asked if we wanted to sit outside where they had a few tables on the side walk. Of course we wanted to sit in the glorious sun and enjoy our meal. And as  there were heaters all along the wall we were definitely not cold.

We got a menu in the form of a placemat on the table as well as a small black board with the specials. We chose (with difficulty as everything seemed delicious) a few dishes from each menu. We also settled for sparkling water and we probably had a bottle each, it just kept on coming and our waiter really looked after us.

We received the cured ham we ordered, Lomo, first of all, and shortly afterwards the lovely Pan con Tomate arrived; toasted sourdough with tomato pulp.

Next to arrive was the razor clams with olive oil, garlic and parsley. Lovely!

After that the pancetta wrapped cuttle fish with ink arrived and it was absolutely beautiful. I think this was both our favourite.

Next was the Morcilla Iberica, a blood sausage served with piquillo peppers and fried quail’s egs. The sausage was nice enough on its own, but paired with the egg it was really good.

One of the items from the special’s board was this kale with garlic, chilli and olive oil. Wonderful although so very simple.

We enjoyed the whole meal but a few dishes (the cuttle fish and the kale) were better than others. Everything was really fresh and well cooked. I will definitely come here again, and please stop by if you happen to be near here.

Barrafina
54 Frith Street,
London,
W1D 4SL

Manicomio and Partridges, Chelsea

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One part of London I have always loved is Chelsea. It is so nice to walk along Kings road looking in shops, stopping for a coffee somewhere and just wander around.

I met Gaby here on Saturday for a late lunch. We walked straight to Manicomio, where I have been several times before. It is an Italian café with great produce, simple but well executed dishes and you can sit outside on the Duke of York square people watching. A perfect Saturday past time in my opinion.

Gaby had a simple but beautiful tuna salad with plenty of the perfectly cooked tuna, lettuce leaves and a oil based dressing.

I was so hungry that a salad wouldn’t cut it and went for a warm ciabatta with Italian salami and taleggio. It was simple but good produce and I loved every bite.

We then had a little wander around the food market on the square that is open every Saturday. We saw everything from fudge to Peruvian food and sushi.

It is the food shop Partridges who organises this market and we went inside the shop to have a look around as well. We have both been here serveral times before but because we went together, two complete food geeks, we could really take our time this once and we stayed in there for quite a while, looking at everything.

Among other things I was very surprised to see some Swedish products, both the thin biscuits above, from the same company that makes the best ginger thins, Annas as well as cookies from Gille (which I can easily live without though) and proper nice crispbread from Wasa.

I tried the chocolate and vanilla biscuits and they were really nice. Funnily enough the whole package disappeared down my tummy in just a few days.

Other things I had to buy was some proper tagliatelle, French yoghurts (citron and vanilla), some champagne truffels as a gift and truffle oil for myself.

What I need to go back for are the absolutely adorable Easter eggs from Charbonnel & Walker. They had some chocolate animals too that I don’t thing I can resist. Are they cute or what?!