LONDON-guide – Page 8

The Electric Cinema, Notting Hill

Published on May 12, 2015 by Hanna2 Comments

So this is a little embarrassing. Even before I moved to London (so approximately eight years ago) my friend Harry told me about this amazing cinema. He really sold it to me then and yet, it took me until now to finally go. Pathetic.

But better late than never as they say, and The Electric is still going strong. I love the leather arm chairs, foot stools and cashmere blankets. And the bar that also serves food. It’s just fabulous. Don’t make my mistake – just go!

And no, this post is not sponsored in any way. This is just a great cinema.

Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11 2ED

Dinner at The Shed, Notting Hill

Published on May 11, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

The Shed is one of those restaurants I wish I had on my doorstep. The ambiance is so laid back you just want to come back again and again. And the food? It’s wonderful!

When I was here with a friend a few weeks ago, we decided to share five dishes – the number of dishes recommended by the staff – and that was, as we say in Sweden, lagom (just right). The first dish was hake with mussels and yellow beets which was nice but not wow, and it could have done with some more seasoning. After that the dishes just got better and better.

The scallops with blood orange, fennel and shallots were lovely and the chopped onions with the blood orange juice made the whole dish – wow!

The veal cigars with slowcooked veal inside a crispy pastry shell served with mayonnaise flavoured with mustard, tarragon and if I’m not completely wrong; horseradish. A really lovely dish!

But the pork with broccoli, celeriac and leek ash was probably my favourite – it was absolutely divine!

But a close second was the lamb with malt potato, artichokes and lovage.

The Shed has actually opened up a restaurant in Chelsea called Rabbit, which is slightly closer to me than Notting Hill, but I do hope Fulham is next!

The Shed, 122 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RT

Brunch at Avenue, St James’s

Published on May 8, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Several Saturdays ago I met up with Sinead for a very lazy (and late) brunch at 2.30pm in the afternoon, a time that suits me perfectly when there’s unlimited prosecco.

Although brunch is almost a religion in the US and even more popular in my native Sweden than in the UK, London brunches are becoming increasingly popular. We went back to Avenue, where we had dinner a few weeks previously as we thought it would be a fun place for brunch, and it definitely was.

The other guests were in high spirits (maybe even literally due to that free-flowing prosecco) when we arrived and it was a mixture of smaller parties, hen dos and larger gatherings. It’s table service here (no buffets) and you can choose from the menu and then pay a set price for two or three dishes. We both started off with eggs (as it was at least my first meal of the day), I had eggs benedict and Sinead eggs florentine. Both really nice, although my slice, I mean slab, of ham was the biggest I’ve ever seen. After the savoury start we continued with amazing waffles with berries and yoghurt.

And then finishes off our brunch with something very sweet; an chocolate and vanilla icecream sundae. Really nice as well!

We really enjoyed our brunch here and the restaurant is perfect for that type of meal. But if I’m going to be picky (and I usually am) I would have liked some more fruit with the waffle and I still think they need to change the lights (or completely do up) the ladies room!

Avenue, 7-9 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1EE

The Jugged Hare, Barbican – revisited

Published on April 6, 2015March 31, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

The Jugged Hare is a very cosy pub and restaurant, that I wish was closer to the parts of town where I roam the most. I was invited to their opening a few years ago and I am just as positive now after my recent visit.

The interior is nice with a clear pub/bar area and a specific restaurant area. After our nice meal here we went across the street to the Barbican cinema and watched the fab film The Theory of Everything.

My friend Tom had a lovely terrine as a starter (above) and then a main course whereas I chose two starters instead.

The first one was a lovely dish with croquetas, mushrooms and slowcooked egg.

And the second was snails with bone marrow. The snails and the sauce were lovely but the bone marrow was breaded and deep-fried which was a little too rich for my liking. Still yummy, though!

Tom’s classic bangers and mash was fabulous. Creamy, herb-y mash, first class sausages and nice gravy!

I promise to be back. Soon.

The Jugged Hare, 49 Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4SA

Dinner at Avenue, St James’s

Published on March 31, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

In my company we don’t have the tradition to go to the pub every Friday, so I tend to grab my after work drinks with friends rather than colleagues. A few weeks ago Sinead and I met up for a glass of vino at one of the pubs near her job. Although lots of the popular pubs are far from cosy it’s still really nice to grab a drink there with lots of other people celebrating the weekend. I love that atmosphere. But we soon left to have dinner at a restaurant nearby, Avenue in St James’s.

This place has been around for a while but for some reason we hadn’t been until now and we liked what we saw. The interior was very swanky and actually nicer than we had imagined. We were seated straight away and after having ordered a glass of bubbly we had a look at the menu. We ended up with the a’la carte put the very reasonably prised prix fixe menu looked good too.

I had a warming clam chowder to start. It was very thick and smooth with bits of potato and whole clams. Very satisfying!

Sinead had the crispy chicken tacos that were delicious too!

Our maincourses arrived the second our starter plates were cleared away. A bit too soon if you ask me; we were really struggling with our main courses because we didn’t get a breather. Sinead’s cod with chorizo crumbs and cannellini beans was delicious and a substantial portion.

As were my barbecued lamb racks with cucumber and herb yoghurt. Delicious though, great charred flavour and cooked perfectly as I wanted them (rare).

Avenue is part of D&D London, Sir Terence Conran’s restaurant empire, and although we were two very satisfied customers, there was room for improvement on some areas. The service was friendly and nice, but the fact that we didn’t even get five minutes to digest our first course means bad communication between the kitchen and service. And when we were served our main courses we thought they had forgotten one of our sides and were not told it was delayed until we waved down a waiter and asked. It may sound petty but I worked as a waitress when I was at university and it is not that difficult to get it right!

And then the loos. With such a nice and fancy interior in the restaurant you expect the same vibe in the ladies room. But no. It was just a corridor with white walls, cubicles on one side and basins on the other. With bad lighting and no hand cream. Even a regular pub has hand creams nowadays.

Avenue, 7-9 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1EE

Lunch at Petersham Nurseries, Richmond

Published on March 27, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

The weekend before last my foodie friend Anna was in London and we had a lovely long wine-fuelled lunch at quaint Petersham Nurseries in Richmond on the Saturday.

It was my first time there but I love the greenhouses made into a restaurant and tea room with plats, and nice furnishings every wear. So rustic and so lovely!

We started our meal with a delicious rhubarb bellini and had a scallop each; marinated in olive oil, rosemary, lemon and chilli.

Anna then had a very springlike salad of rabbit, radicchio, polenta cubes, prosciutto and violets as her starter. It was wonderful and pretty as a picture.

I had the nettle soup which was lovely too. Just look at that colour! It was served with a dollop of thick tangy creme fraiche which was the only sidekick needed.

Four our mains we both chose the same whole lemon sole stuffed with creamy spinach, spiced butter and brown shrimps. The flavours worked really well together and we thoroughly enjoyed it – and the side of purple sprouting broccoli.

After a little wine break (much needed after all the food) we were ready for some cheese and tried these three (one was a Cornish Yarg but I’ve forgotten the others), all delicious and a perfect end to our meal.

Petersham Nurseries, Church Lane, Off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AB

Dinner at Rex & Mariano, Soho

Published on March 20, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

It’s a few weeks ago now, that Daisy, Rowena and I had a lovely dinner at the fairly new addition to the Soho restaurant scene; Rex and Mariano.

This is a seafood restaurant with great produce but very reasonable prices. And they still have oysters, tartares, ceviche, prawns, mussels and plenty of fish.

The interior goes with the less is more price-setting. It’s simple and scaled back but still nice.

After being seated at our table, we’re told we order everything on the table’s iPad. The software is very easy to use and you can order one or a few things at the time. The waiters’ job is from here on in just to bring the food to the table and answer any questions from the diners. Very efficient!

Just like in many other restaurants, Rex & Mariano encourages sharing the dishes, which I also enjoy as it’s the best way to avoid food envy. Our first dish was burrata with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. It was nice but not the creamiest burrata I’ve ever had.

We then had an oyster each, and they were really big and juicy. And delicious!

After that we shared this seabass ceviche with coriander, yuzu and red onions.

The grilled red prawns with lemon, olive oil and sea salt were amazing! So simple but great produce.

Also the tuna tartare with avocado, chilli and lime was very nice.

But my favourite that evening was the mussles. We had them as a main with fries and tenderstem broccoli, and what I liked about this dish apart from the mussels being top quality (they were big, sweet and juicy), I loved the sauce. It wasn’t the usually creamy Mariniere type sauce, instead it was a light buttery emulsion.

After all of this I was quite happily full, but the girls fancied a pudding and enjoyed a lovely chocolate mousse with pistachios. The pudding menu wasn’t large and they all seemed to be prepared ahead of time, but they were still very nice. But you can tell the focus here is on the fish and seafood.

Because of the efficient ordering process on the iPad the service charge is as little as five or six percent, which also contributes to the value for money track this restaurant is already on.

Rex & Mariano, 2 St Anne’s Court, London W1F 0AZ

Burger delivery with Chosen Bun, London

Published on March 19, 2015March 18, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

It was thanks to a flyer through the letterbox that I found about about a company that specialise in delivering burgers in London. So one day when I really wanted a burger but was too tired to make my own, I ordered one on my mobile on my way home from the tube. It was really easy, but I wish I could have paid with PayPal instead of putting in all my credit card details.

Approximately 20 minutes after ordering there was a knock on the door and my burger was delivered. Great stuff! Chosen Bun gets plus points for the very thought-out packaging (with air holes to let your burger breathe and not become soggy in transit) and for the imprint of their logo on the bun. I like the little touches.

I had The Patty burger with caramelised red onion chutney, lettuce, ketchup, mayo and pickle and my own addition of cheddar.

I thought the patty itself needed more seasoning, especially salt, and the chutney was too sweet and overpowering for my liking. The bun was great though and I liked the texture and how the patty was cooked and the pickles were delicious. The chunky chips with rosemary were enormous, crispy and very nice!

All in all a nice burger, but next time I will omit the, for me, too dominant chutney. The idea of getting a burger delivered in sensible packaging is genius though, keep up the good work!

Chosen Bun, 647 Fulham road, London, SW6 5PU

Tasting menu at Harwood Arms, Fulham

Published on March 9, 2015March 6, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

I celebrated Valentine’s day with my fellow foodie friend Caroline at Harwood Arms, amongst a few couples but we enjoyed the food too much to notice it much. I’ve only had their a ‘la carte before and was a little worried that the tasting menu portions would be huge as the portions here are very generous, but it was just the right amount.

Shortly after having received water, bread and wine at the table the first course arrived; beetroot poached salmon with yellow beets and smoked sourcream. It was a very fresh dis and the smoked sourcream was a fun twist.

Next we had a rabbit terrine with almond praline, turnip, endive and yoghurt. Also really nice!

Thereafter turbot with smoked bone marrow and parsley root. Another nice dish with a fun twist. It was the first time I’ve had bone marrow paired with fish!

The best dish was without a doubt the last savoury one; perfectly cooked fillet of veal with velvety garlic potato purée with jus and toasted garlic. A-ma-zing!

After that high, the puddings were quite a blur. I prefer savoury over sweet any day and was really content after the first four courses. It was nice to have something sweet to finish off the meal but I’m afraid, to me, the puddings weren’t that memorable.

But they were just the right size to round off the meal nicely, and especially the mousse-topped shortbread with ice cream was really nice, even though it didn’t top the veal.

Harwood Arms, Walham Grove, London SW6 1QP

Barrafina Adeleide Street – revisited

Published on March 5, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Since Barrafina opened its second restaurant a two minute walk from where I work I’ve been there for lunch a few times. Last time I went with two colleagues and we had a lot of lovely food. So much that it was rather laborious to walk back to the office after lunch.

We started off with Jamon bellota and pan con tomato; actually one of the best pan con tomato I’ve had both in and outside of Spain. Perfect amount of garlic and the bread resists the wetness just enough.

Then we had these lovely crab croquetas.

And the tortilla with caramelized onions. So yum!

And extremely crispy smoked cod fritters with tartar sauce.

The fried artichokes was another favourite; so crispy and served with a lovely mayonnaise.

I can never resist the goat’s cheese stuffed courgette flowers with honey. Mmm…

And these ribs were delicious!! Good combination of salty and sweet in the sauce and the meat just fell off the bones. We also shared a pork belly with crackling and white beans with morcilla that I forgot to photograph, it was nice but the ribs were just amazing!

Although we were extremely full we couldn’t resist to share a plate of churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce. The perfect ending to a fabulous lunch!

Barrafina, 10 Adelaide St, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4HZ