Category: LONDON-guide

Broadway Market

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London has more food markets than Borough Market. I like the one in Chelsea although it is small. .

A bigger one, but still a lot smaller than Borough is Broadway Market in Hackney, which I visited for the first time last Saturday, with Nick. Nick is my East London friend, who tries to broaden my horizons, and he did a good job taking me on this little outing.

We didn’t stay very long at the market, because the skies openend and I forgot to bring my umbrella. We rushed into a coffee shop where we had lunch and stalled for as long as possible, before we gave up and left. At least I had time to take some photos before the shower started.

It was a nice market, but I had expected it to be bigger actually, hearing it was better than Borough Market etc. It wasn’t better, but indeed smaller and with less fresh produce. In my book Borough Market will still be the best, but it was really nice to escape the tourists for a day.

 

Friday update and a weekly menu, sort of

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I skipped the Friday update last week because of the sad news of the riots in this lovely city.

But things are back to normal now, and regular people have claimed back the city. It almost feels like a bad dream what was happening here 2 weeks ago.

This week I have been extremely tired, after a shock to the system of being back to work for a full week. But I had time for meet up with my friend Jenny for a fro-yo at Snog one day after work. I tried a green tea version which was nice, but didn’t taste that much of tea. Jenny chose passionfruit which tasted more and was really nice. Apart from that it has mostly been early nights, but at least I have a busier weekend. I will spend the day tomorrow with my friend Nick, we will go to a few (food) markets and have a nice dinner. He’s basically showing me some of what East London has to offer. On Sunday we’re going to Ian and Anna’s new flat for lunch and a much needed catch up.

The autumn is nearly here and it feels like people are getting organised for weekday life again after the summer holidays. Most blogs show this by posting a weekly menu, which is great for mid-week dinner inspiration.

I plan our meals too, most weeks, but I usually decide what to eat but not when to eat it. And I prefer to start my week on the Friday because that is when I get the weekly shopping. I like to have a well-stocked fridge for the weekend and indulge a little extra then.

The following week, starting today, will look like this in our household:

Friday: sirloin steak, celeriac gratin and port and porcini sauce

Sunday: out for lunch, so paninis with salami in the evening

To post a weekly menu is more for my own sake, but hopefully you will find inspiration from it too. It is just so difficult to think of what to have for dinner some days, don’t you think?

Have a nice weekend!

More birthday celebrations: Nopi

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The Friday after my biryhday I got to celebrate becoming a year older together with my London based friends. We met up in the bar The Living Room after work and enjoyed a few drinks, and then we crossed Regent St and went for dinner at Nopi, a new restaurant from the team behind Ottolenghi.

Our table was a large communal one in the basement just outside the kitchen. On the ground floor is was a different atmosphere with small tables of two and four and busier than downstairs. We enjoyed being left alone a bit and to enjoy each other’s company.

To start with we were served homemade nice bread and the most amazing carrot dip. It was all orange (of course) and we could taste lemon and cumin in it. A great start to the meal, and a dip I definitely want the recipe for!

We were a group of eight, and therefore had a group menu, consisting of eight dishes all in all. We started off with two vegetarian dishes, both absolutely fantastic. The first one was a tomato salad with wasabi mascarpone. It sounds simple and it was, but the flavours were lovely. The tomatoes were great produce and the mascarpone dressing had just a hint of wasabi, enough to flavour it but not enough to make it spicy.

We also had an aubergine tart on crisp thin pastry with the mildest and creamiest goat’s cheese I have ever tasted. Fabulous dish, especially for aubergine lovers like me!

The first of the hot dishes to arrive was grilled mackerel with lentils. My sensitive stomach can’t really do lentils, but I had a forkful anyway and it was really nice. A very fresh and summery dish.

The nicest dish (I think we all agreed on that) was one of the simplest ones; broccolini and a most amazing mash. I have never had such a good mash in my life time, and yet my own versions are quite good. 🙂

Next was the meat dishes, like this smoked duck breast with nectarines, beetroot and a sweet sauce. The meat itself was perfect and had a lovely smoked flavour, but I didn’t tink the necatines and beetroot was a great match, not for each other and not with the duck.

We then had twice cooked (barbecued) chicken, which was really nice, but it is still just chicken. I prefer to eat more unusual things in restaurant, things I can’t cook myself…

For dessert we had white chocolate icecream (lovely but didn’t taste that much of white chocolate) with berries and financiers with coffee and pecans, with a maple cream.

I am not that keen on coffee, but this was just a hint and it worked really well with the pecans. The maple cream was superb and after a while we came up with the ultimate way of eating this dessert (i.e. getting as much cream onto the financiers) by dipping the whole little cake into the sauce bowl. Yum!

We were full in a nice way when leaving the restaurant just before midnight, and I definitely want to go back. The food feels quite healthy and I love the Middle Eastern spices.

Nopi
21-22 Warwick Street
London W1B 5NE

Bubble tea at Bubbleology

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In Soho, a stone’s throw away from China town, a few bubble tea vendors have popped up recently.

Last week, Jenny and I, went to Bubbleology to try it out. We expected a cold tea with bubbles bursting of flavour, and were actually slightly disappointed.

There were two types of tea to choose from; milky or fruity, with lot’s of different flavours like mango, strawberry, caramel, chocolate… The same type of bubbles were added to the teas if one didn’t request any of the special ones at the counter. We tried the regular thing, one mango and one passionfruit and were sorry to discover that the tapioca bubbles (more like a chewy ball actually) were quite slimy and didn’t taste much.

I loved the big straws though, which easily carried the bubbles (boba, I’ve been told they’re called) to your mouth. But after having enjoyed half the tea, we were a bit bored of the bubbles. Not even the tea on it’s own was that nice, it tasted more like squash with a bitter tea-after taste.

However, it was fun to try, and checking out all the Asians drinking the milky versions, we felt that maybe we could give it another go.

To learn more on bubble teas, have a look here.

Friday update

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National Gallery on Trafalgar Square

This week has been filled with food, more so than usual. On Saturday we went to Trinity, on Sunday Jess & Chris had us over for dinner and treated us to lovely chicken with homemade barbecue sauce and salads and lovely baked peaches with meringue nests, whipped cream and butterscotch sauce.

On Monday I had both lunch and dinner in restaurants. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon for lunch and St John for dinner. I also received lots of birthday wishes and nice gifts. Yay for birthdays!

On Wednesday, Jenny and I tried the bubble teas you can find all over Soho, and even in Harvey Nicks (review to come).

Tonight I will celebrate my birthday again, this time with my London bound friends. We’re first having drinks at The Living Room and then dinner at Nopi, which I am really looking forward to.

Have a great weekend guys!

My birthday part II: St John

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My birthday was a real foodie day, with lunch at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon with Caroline and dinner at St John in Smithfield with Christopher.

Smithfield is an area close to Farringdon tube, well know for its meat market and John Torode has his empire Smith’s of Smithfield here. It is also in this area where you find Fergus Henderson’s restaurant St John.

The restaurant is located in what looks like an old factory or storage area. It is painted white, both inside and outside and as soon as you step inside you see the bar and a few tables, and to the right you have the dining room.

I don’t know how to describe the place other than very rustic, perhaps a bit rough, but that is part of the concept. A good concept it seems as the restaurant is full up this monday evening, and the clientele vary in age and ethnicity.

As soon as we sat down the bread and butter appeared on the table, and a minute later the bottle of sparkling water I had ordered appeared as well; Hildon water rebottled with the St John logo. The service continued to be this efficient all evening, and I was actually impressed how good the waiters were. Quick, efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. This together with the excellent food made you like the place instantly.

I started off with the famous bone marrow with parsley salad. The plate also held two large slices of brown toast and sea salt and all you needed for a tremendous food experience.

Christopher opted for duck hearts with radishes which were very nice and tender, but the bone marrow was even nicer.

My main was wood pigeon with courgettes and I got two large pieces of tender, still slightly bloody meat. Gorgeous. And the mushy courgettes were all you needed to go with it.

Christopher chose the lamb sweetbreads as his maincourse and they came with bacon and turnip. What a dish! I have tried sweetbreads before in restaurants but it was never this good. These were melt in the mouth smooth exploding of flavour. The smoked bacon was a perfect match as well.

Quite full at this stage we welcomed the 15 minutes wait (announced on the menu) it took for our dessert to arrive on the tables. We shared half a dozen freshly baked madeleines that were gorgeous! Buttery and soft. Total bliss! Till efterrätt delade vi på ett halvt dussin madeleiner, som vi båda älskar.

This is another place I highly recommend, especially for fellow foodies. But even if you’re feeling less adventurous there is plenty of fish etc.  on the menu.

St. JOHN Bar and Restaurant
26 St. John Street
London
EC1M 4AY

My birthday part I: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

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It was my birthday yesterday and I got spoilt absolutely rotten. At lunch time, my dear colleague Caroline took me to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (just next to the Ivy in Covent Garden) and we had a fabulous lunch. The restaurant offer a prix fixe menu, regular a’la carte and also small plates a’la carte, which we went for.

First of all we recieved an amuse bouche from the kitchen; heavenly foie gras with a foamy top.

There after the small plates arrived two by two. First up was this lovely egg in cocotte with a wild mushroom foam. Absolutely delicious!

We also had the crab waffles with tarragon. The display was wonderful and the red and black theme comes through the whole restaurant. The waffles were absolutely lovely; crisp on the outside and soft on the inside wit the crab meat.

Next up was the langoustine fritter with pistou. Simple but very nice.

We also had the arctic char with squid and squid ink. The fish was perfectly cooked and just fell apart. It was also nice to find char in a London restaurant, in Sweden it is a common fish, but not here.

The last dish was pig’s trotters on toast with pancetta and slivers of parmesan. Absolutely fantastic!

I highly recommend a visit, and I know for sure I will be back. Thanks Caroline!

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street,
London
WC2H 9NE

Tasting menu at Trinity

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The birthday girl to the left and her housemate to the right

It is my dear friend Gaby’s birthday on Wednesday and to celebrate it she invited a few friends to Trinity to enjoy a splendid tasting menu on Saturday.

A fabulous idea we thought, not missing an opportunity to go back, and it is safe to say we were not disappointed.

We sat at the chef’s table just by the kitchen and were so spoilt. The menu started off with a chilled pea and mint soup with croûtons, homemade ricotta and lemon purée. I am not a fan of chilled soups in general, and although this was very nice, I still think a soup is lacking a little when served chilled, but that is just my personal opinion. Christopher for example, loved it.The flavours were all there, and the velvety smooth soup had the perfect balance of contrast from the mint and the lemon.

Next course was seared yellow fin tuna with pak choi and sesame and soy dressing, which was probably the dish I was least fond of. The tuna was perfectly cooked, but didn’t have that much flavour to it. It also felt like a generic combination of flavours and less interesting than the other dishes.

The scallop that followed on the other hand was superb! The large perfectly cooked scallop with white gazpacho, pickled grapes and almonds were a heavenly combination. I could never (sadly) recreate the gazpacho which was more like a cream than a soup and it married so well with the grapes.

Next up was slowcooked duckbreast, spinach, pickled girolles, potato gratin and a lovely confit of duck leg pastry parcel, which took this dish to another level together with the raisin reduction.

The palate cleanser was green tea yoghurt, which on the menu sounded nice, but quite ordinary. But there was nothing ordinary about the taste. Thick green tea yoghurt on the bottom of a glass, then a small strip of jelly, and on top this lovely creamy foam.

Instead of the dessert on the menu we recieved a whole spread of desserts; warm chocolate pots, chocolate chip icecream, little apple pies, cheese, a huge and lovely cherry soufflé, strawberries, shortbread and vanilla mousse, chocolate mousse with peanut crumble… It was so much it was difficult to take it all in, but it was all lovely. I can safely say that the birthday girl was thrilled to bits!

Trinity
4 The Polygon
Clapham Old Town
London SW4 0JG


It is actually my birthday today, and I will continue with the gluttany by going out for both lunch and dinner. Reviews to come of course.

Da Polpo

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I told you briefly that I had been to the faily newly opened Italian Da Polpo in Covent Garden. With me was my colleague Caroline, who just like me appreciates good food.

We ordered the special of the day; a mackerell tartare with horseradish sauce and flatbread. I really enjoyed the tartar but the horseradish was a bit strong. We also had the chilli and garlic prawns and grilled foccacia, which both were good and just what we expected really. The foccacia was less spongy than most but still really nice. The prawns had a nice spice coating as well as the spicy oil. After we’d enjoyed the prawns we realised that the rocket left in the oil was almost as good.

We had to try one of the meatballs and opted for the spicy pork and fennel ones. They were lovely in consistency, just the right amount of heat and you could really taste the fennel seeds. We also tried the asparagus with melted tallegio and ham, which basically was a tomato free pizza. Absolutely lovely.

Both of us enjoyed all the dishes but the favourites were the meatballs and the asparagus and taleggio pizza. We also came up with the brilliant idea to eat our way through the menu. Not in one go though, but we will definitely be back. Soon.

The restaurant has a nice rustic interior and the menu is your placemat. The service was quite good, but maybe a bit slow considering the restaurant wasn’t full up. But the reason why I like this place is the good value for money. The food was very good, and plenty of it, and still the bill only came to £30 for both of us.

Da Polpo
6 Maiden Lane
Covent Garden

Paul A. Young fine chocolates in Soho

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Last Friday when Jenny and I were out and about in Soho, we stumbled upon the new Paul A. Young shop, just a few days after I had read about the chocolaterie in Time Out. The shop was gorgeous with a large round table in the middle of the room showing the different kinds of truffles. There were certainly interesting flavours like the Marmite truffle, that we were told a food writer from the Times challenged them to create. I suspect we were speaking with Paul himself even, and he told us what a difficult process it was to find the right combination of flavour and chocolate. Other interesting flavours were tarragon, tomato and basil etc.

I bought a few truffles to try, but I stuck the more traditional ones such as champagne truffle, and the flavours I know I like; the combination of salty and sweet like the sea salt caramel truffle. One wild card though, a dark chocolate truffle with tahini.

My verdict reflects more upon me than the chocolate; I really enjoyed the champagne truffle and the salted caramel which was divine and I prefer those flavours to the more intersting ones. The salty nut cluster was nice, but a bit too bitter in the aftertaste, and the tahini truffle did taste of tahini, it was just not a combination i enjoyed very much.

You can still tell how skillful the people making these truffles are though, these are the most pretty chocolates I have ever seen, and although it might not be for everyone, it is fun to try new combinations of flavours, and it makes a great gift.