RESTAURANT FILE – Page 14

Bo Drake, Soho

Published on February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 by HannaLeave a comment

Before Christmas the girls and I managed to fit in a dinner in Soho and we decided we wanted to try Bo Drake, a Korean restaurant in Soho. When we arrived, thinking we had booked a table but it was for another evening, the staff luckily managed to seat us at the communal table.

After some prosecco we decided to order a few different dishes to share, some from the special’s board and some from the a’la carte menu.

First up were the specials: wagyu beef sliders with truffle mayo (yum!), cheddar and red onion jelly in brioche buns (above) and lobster baos with squid ink. Both were utterly amazing!

We also had some sweet potato fries with kimchi island (a spin on Thousand Island that really worked), and the fries were really good. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Which isn’t that easy to do with sweet potatoes.

We also had aubergine in miso which was soft, sweet and sticky. I just love aubergine in Asian cooking!

We also shared a bo ssäm; pulled pork with a bit of heat served with lettuce leaves, kimchi and dips. It’s messy but fun to make the little parcels and the flavours of the meat were really nice.

The last dish of the evening was the smoked bobo chicken with a sticky glaze, sesame seeds, spring onions and spicy mayo. Also very nice!

The food at Bo Drake was great and I would happily go back. Initially the service was good but as the restaurant got busier it became quite slow, leaving a little room for improvement but I otherwise like this cosy place a lot.

Bo Drake, 6 Greek St, London W1D 4DE

New Year’s Eve luncheon

Published on January 22, 2016 by HannaLeave a comment

I know a lot of people think NYE is a real anti-climax, but I really enjoy celebrating it. Any excuse to dress up and drink champagne works for me!

Growing up, my parents and their friends made it special, always making it an occasion. Us children got to play with each others new toys (one NYE turned into Super Mario tournament), but also celebrate with the grown-ups, cheering with alcohol free cider instead of champagne, watching the fire works through the windows (to this day I still don’t like to go outside in the cold on the stroke of midnight), and watch the speech and the countdown on Swedish Television. It felt magical and that’s the feeling I carry with me now on New Year’s Eves with friends.

Nowadays the food make it special, and we really enjoy the Kalix roe, lobster and fillet of beef, but we have also realised that it’s really nice to do something on the day. So we prep as much as we can the day (or days, depending on the ambition) before NYE, so that we have the day free to hang out together until it’s time to get ready and cook dinner.

This year, we thought a lunch in Malmö would be ideal. We went to Copenhagen last year for lunch and although lovely it felt a little rushed. But, it turned out, no restaurants in Malmö were open for lunch on New Year’s Eve. Maybe it’s un-Swedish to go out for lunch before a big evening celebration, who knows?! Luckily, after a lot of googling, we did find ONE restaurant open for lunch so we quickly booked a table and enjoyed a nice French lunch.

La Bonne Vie is a cosy French restaurant in the middle of town, just on Davidshalls Torg, and when we arrived for a late-ish lunch the restaurant was full up. And, just like us, most guests were drinking bubbly.

The lunch menu was classic French with a few Swedish touches and very affordable. Emma and I both had the Toast Skagen with a very generous portion of prawns with mayonnaise and dill on butter-fried bread. Delicious!

Claes had the moules frites and also received a very generous portion of mussels, nice crispy fries and rouille.

We had a lovely lunch and will certainly be back this year too. Thank you for staying open!

La Bonne Vie, Davidshallstorg 7, Malmö, Sweden

Burgers at Patty & Bun

Published on January 19, 2016 by HannaLeave a comment

There are plenty of burger places (joints sounds so American!) in London, it seems we just can’t get enough of it. And although I have a few favourites I never want to miss out on a good burger.

My friend Ro took me to Patty & Bun by Liverpool Street station one Sunday and although this place is a chain (albeit a small one), the burgers are really good.

The few times I’ve eaten here I’ve always had the same burger, Ari Gold, served with cheese and an amazing chilli mayo. The burgers are seriously messy to eat but very good. The bun is a brioche-style bun, that I prefer, and the fries are skin-on, also a plus in my book!

Patty & Bun, 22/23 Liverpool Street, London EC2M 7PD

Revisiting Kurobuta, Chelsea

Published on January 14, 2016 by HannaLeave a comment

A Saturday a looong time ago now, Caroline and I met up for dinner in Chelsea. We hadn’t booked anywhere but wanted Japanese and when we tried Kurobuta they luckily had space for us at the communal table.

I’d only been to Kurobuta once before this, when it was still a pop-up at a different location on the Kings Road, but the permanent space is so much better. The ambiance feels more restaurant-y and the food is just as good – if not even better!

A group at our communal table were eating the tempura prawns when we arrived, they looked really good so it was the first thing we ordered. They were nice and crispy on the outside but the prawn within was still nice and juicy and the onions and chilli worked well with the prawns and the delicious mayo. The fried white shreds underneath the prawns were not that nice, but at least it looked nice!

Our next dish was these a-ma-zing wagyu beef sliders with steamed buns, crispy onion, pickled cucumber and umami mayo. Sooo good and my favourite dish this evening!

The wellowtail sashimi was nice but a little too wet for my liking as it was resting in a pool of yuzu and soy.

Also the maki roll with spicy tuna was a bit of a let down. It was lacking a bit in flavour and all the spice came from the sauce on top, not from the roll itself..

But we absolutely loved the grilled miso chicken! Nice charred flavour from the grill and it was perfectly cooked.

Despite not finding all the dishes perfect, I do really enjoy coming here. The food is always good and some dishes are excellent. And compared tp many other restaurants offering Japanese small dishes or Asian fusion this is one of the better! Just promise me you try the Wagyu slider, and you’ll see what I mean!

Kurobuta, 312 Kings Road, London SW3 5UH

Japanese lunch at Roka, Aldwych

Published on December 7, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

At Taste of London this year Caroline and I got a voucher for 25% off food at Roka Aldwych, which we used shortly after. In August I believe. Where does the time go?!?

Anyway, it was a lovely sunny day and we had time for a long lunch. Those were the days…

The first thing on the menu that caught my eye was the scallop sashimi, and I remembered the fab version I had at Berns in Stockholm, and just had to order it here too. Sadly it was nowhere near as nice as the one in Stockholm, it was fresh but not as nice tasting. The yellow tail tartar was also a little plain, but from here on the lunch only got better and better.

The softshell crab and kimchi maki roll was really nice, and I like the fact the sauce was served on the side instead of all on top of the sushi.

The beef gyozas were also nice, not wow but nice. The filling was OK but the pastry was perfect.

This sticky deliciousness that is grilled aubergine was just amazing! I would come back just to have that. Yum…

And these beef and shosito pepper skewers were top notch too!

The level of the cooking was a bit up and down but the dishes got (seriously) better towards the end of the meal, so maybe they’re best at the cooked dishes here.

Roka Aldwych, 71 Aldwych, London WC2B 4HN

Onthebab, Covent Garden

Published on November 23, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

My friend Gaby introduced me to Onthebab one evening when we wanted to catch over a cheap and cheerful meal one evening. I’ve been there once more since, for lunch, and more or less ordered the same food as I really enjoyed what I had the first time.

Onthebab is not a fancy place, but it’s great if you want a quick bite. The prices are friendly too, which helps. The food is of Korean street food type and they’ve made it very accessible here (gyozas, bibimbab, filled buns) and really nice.

I had the gyozas (chicken and prawn respectively) which were really nice (much nicer than say Wagamama’s and other chains), and the buns with spicy pork which were delicious too. They were also very helpful, serving mine without cabbage, and the table’s are stocked with several dipping sauces, including gochujang.

Onthebab, 36 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7BD

Tom’s Kitchen, Chelsea – revisited

Published on November 19, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Tom’s Kitchen is one of those homely restaurants, almost with a pub feel, serving nice food you can count on. It’s basically where I want to go when I don’t want to go to a fancy restaurant. And it was exactly where my parents and I wanted to go on their last evening in town in September, when we after a long day of exploring London just wanted to sit down to a really nice meal but without the fuss.

It was fairly quiet at the restaurant that Sunday evening, but the staff was getting ready to pack the restaurant in boxes for refurbishment.

We started with a lovely dressed crab and toasted bread to start. We all love seafood and one each. Such a treat!

Mum and I continued the seafood theme and had fried lemon sole with seaweed butter, with potato mash and spinach on the side. I forgot to take a picture, but the fish was truly lovely. I was just a bit annoyed as we had to wait about 10 minutes for the sides, and had to remind the staff. But once it had all arrived on the table we had a lovely meal.

Dad had the burger, which is really really nice, and enjoyed it immensely! The service could have been a bit more focused this evening, but the food was great!

Tom’s Kitchen, 27 Cale St, London SW3 3QP

Lunch at Mishkin’s, Covent Garden

Published on November 17, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

One of my trusted London restaurants is Opera Tavern on Catherine Street. I’ve been there lots of times and every time I have thought to myself that I need to visit the place next door soon, because it just looks so nice.

Soon seems to be a relative term for me; it took me a few years to actually go but a while back I finally went to Mishkin’s! I had lunch here with my friend Marie-Louise who also works in the area and it was just as nice as I had hoped it would be (company included).

Although part of the Italian restaurant empire Polpo, this is a kind of Jewish deli (at least that’s what it says on their website), so expect things like Reuben sandwiches and salt beef. The whole menu looked great but most irresistible was the mac ‘n cheese with salt beef and mustard, so we ordered one small each and some other nibbles to share. The mac ‘n cheese was really nice with a cheesy layer on top and soft macaroni underneath.

The sliders with lamb, white bean hummus and feta were also great, and perfect in size.

We also shared the cod cheek popcorn which were nice, although a little bland without the tartar sauce.

Now that I’ve finally been here, I will definitely take turns between Mishkin’s and Opera Tavern. Might see you around!

Mishkin’s, 25 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5JS

Another lunch in Rome

Published on November 16, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

My last day (of two) in Rome started with hardcore sightseeing of The Colosseum and Foro Romano, and I also had time to visit Crypta Balbi before my lunch reservation at Ditirambo near Campo de Fiori.

I don’t know how I heard about the restaurant, but it seemed like one of the better restaurants in the area I knew I’d be in for lunch, so I booked a table. And I’m glad I did; it was just as full for lunch as Armando al Pantheon (even though the restaurant had twice the amount of tables).

I chose a trio of starters as I couldn’t make my mind up on what to have, but two of the dishes were rather disappointing. The ricotta filled deep-fried courgette flower was rather soggy and didn’t taste of much and the steak tartar with truffle was also under-seasoned. The slices of smoked duck with melon and nuts was wonderful though. I wished I got a larger plate of that.

I inly had the starter and a pasta as I’d had so much (too much!) to eat the previous day. I actually asked for a half portion of cacio e pepe, a wonderful Roman pasta dish with pecorino and black pepper. And it was absolutely gorgeous! A glass of wine with my meal and an espresso afterwards and I was ready to take on my last afternoon in Rome.

Ditirambo, Piazza della Cancelleria, 74-75, 00186 Roma, Italy

Fine dining in Trastevere, Rome

Published on November 12, 2015November 12, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

I’m not the type of person who counts Michelin stars but I do think the Michelin guide is a good guide to use and I often check out restaurants mentioned in it when I’m going travelling, especially when I want to go to a more up-scale restaurant. I did my research before Rome as well and the Michelin star restaurant I was most excited to try, Glass, was fully booked the one night I had in the city. Luckily my next choice, Antico Arco in Trastevere had availability.

Despite having dinner here on my own on a Saturday night, I had a fabulous meal and really enjoyed the food, the ambiance and the service. I actually think I got the most attention from the staff, checking I was enjoying myself as often as they could.

My lovely meal started with an amuse bouche (pictured above) of crispy mackerel, courgette and a very light orange sauce. So delicious!

My choice of starter was a porcini mushroom mousse with yoghurt, poached egg yolk and blac truffle. So very good!

Next up was a pasta dish; ravioli with sea bass with a seafood bisque. The pasta itself was amazingly thin and delicious, the bisque nice and pungent and the seabass nice and soft, but it wasn’t really what I had expected texture wise.

For my maincourse I was choosing between three meat dishes and since one of the waiters recommended the steak tartare I went for that. It was the most decadent steak tartare I’ve ever seen; a ginormous portion of perfectly seasoned raw steak, topped with raw porcini mushrooms, black truffle and generous shavings of foie gras. It was delicious and very rich, and having had two courses already there was no way I would get close to even finish it.

I was so full after my lovely meal I declined pudding (no room) but the waiters still brough me a mini dessert of decaf tiramisu. It was heavenly but I couldn’t even finish that tiny portion. Instead I had a tea and a breather, and looking around the fellow guests I was wondering how they manage to finish their portions. I mean, to me, Roman portions were American sized.

Turns out they order differently to me. A couple near me had several mini plates of soup and pasta before having a main course each. I guess I’m too polite to even consider asking for tasting portions in a nice restaurant, but the next day I did so at lunch. And it turns out even a half portion of pasta is large, but at least I could finish it!

Antico Arco, Piazzale Aurelio, 7, 00152 Roma, Italy