RESTAURANT FILE – Page 16

Brunch at The Ivy Market Grill, Covent Garden

Published on July 15, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

Around the same time as The Ivy was refurbished two siblings popped up; the Ivy Chelsea Garden on Kings Road (where it’s near impossible to get a table) and The Ivy Market Grill just by Covent Garden Market.

When Linus and Mirja were visiting at the end of May (where does the time go?!) we went here for Sunday brunch on their last day in town and it was such a nice send off.

The brunch menu is long and has plenty of egg dishes to choose from and everything we had was top notch. We ordered the sourdough for the table not realising it was a whole loaf, still warm. That’s several plus points just there!

Mirja had the vegetarian Full English breakfast consisting of halliumi, eggs, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, avocado and baked beans served in a mini copper pot. Really fresh and a nice breakfast dish!

Linus had the thick pancakes with bacon and maple syrup – that’s just up his street. And they were good. It’s so important that the simple dishes are cooked perfectly, and here they were.

I loved my scrambled eggs with truffle and toasted brioche. Although I make my own scrambled eggs a lot softer, these were still well-made and well seasoned, and the truffle on top was just a delicious pairing!

I will definitely go back here for brunch or breakfast; I like both the ambiance and the menu. Think of The Ivy Market Grill as a low-key alternative to The Wolseley.

The Ivy Market Grill, 1 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8PS

Dinner at Bibendum, Chelsea

Published on June 23, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Spring has been fairly busy (how is it almost July already?!) But it’s been a nice time; as I’ve had weekends away and friends visiting. At the latest visit we went to a real classic London restaurant in Chelsea that I have wanted to try for a while; Bibendum. I’m a big fan of Simon Hopkinson’s cooking style (he is one of the owners and used to be the head chef here).

The food is still very much of the same style; classic British and French dishes all cooked very well. Some dishes are simple and some are technically challenging but all the produce is top quality regardless. I like the mix of sophistication on the plate and smart casual laid-back ambiance in the restaurant.

We had a nice long meal and almost all three of us had three courses. To start Mirja and I were very happy with out choice of scallop and crab lasagne with beurre blanc and chives. Delicious!

Linus had the jamon iberico and cantaloupe and received a nice big portion. Amazing ham!

For her maincourse Mirja had the chicken supreme with creamed spinach and jus with fries on the side. It was (again) a very generous portion – and really nice!

Linus and I had the pork’s cheek (super tender) with jus, asparagus, broad beand and peas.

And creamy mash on the side. It was a great dish and all three of us needed a little breather before pudding.

Linus had the most chocolaty chocolate fondant (it was pure perfection) with chocolate sauce, caramel ice cream and honeycomb.

I couldn’t wait to try Queen of Puddings (my first time), here made with gooseberries and it was just as nice as I had expected. Mirja felt rather defeated after her chicken but shared our puddings.

We had a lovely evening here and thoroughly enjoyed everything that was put in front of us, from the olives and parmesan biscuits to bread, starter, main and pudding. And wine! I honestly can’t wait to go back!

Bibendum, Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RD

Taste of London 2015, Regents Park

Published on June 19, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

It’s time for my favourite festival again and I visited Taste of London last night after work with my fellow foodie Caroline. It was a lovely evening with sunshine (!) and lots of good food.

My favourite over-all restaurant was Club Gascon, they had some fun and different dishes executed to perfection. Plus the head chef was there handing out food and chatting away with the customers.

My favourite dish from Club Gascon was this sweetbread popcorn dish with iced Worchestershire sauce. The sweetbreads were delicious and the iced sauce cut through the richness perfectly.

Another fab dish was this tartine of foie gras and glazed strawberries. Fun and different, this combination worked really well as the strawberries weren’t too sweet.

Caroline tried their prawn burger primavera which was really nice too. It didn’t taste that much of prawns though, but was all in all a nice burger!

At Clove Club we couldn’t resist the buttermilk fried chicken with pine salt. Very tender and juicy chicken with perfect seasoning. Yum!

Roka had a nice selection of dishes and the one we both went for was this teriyaki eel sushi in a choux bun with avocado. Very nice!

We also went back to an old favourite; the SushiSamba sasa roll which I love. It’s just such a great combination of textures and flavours.

Chop Shop were also serving up some inspiring (and nicely presented) dishes.

I had the short rib with smoked cream corn and some crunchy corn bits and it was fantastic!

Caroline had their very tender hanger steak with dijon and parmesan sauce which was equally fantastic!

Caroline tried Modern Pantry’s crunchy prawns with pineapple ketchup but it wasn’t a dish that wowed us. But they won the gold medal for another dish called ‘mince & tatties’.

One of the trends seemed to be steamed buns because they were everywhere and I couldn’t resist one. The BBQ pork belly one with peanut soy sauce I had from Kurobuta was nice but not wow either, maybe the demand was too high for the kitchen to be at the top of their game.

We were very full after having eaten all of this and although I would have been happy to go back another day and eat some more, I only wished I had had room for one more dish and that was Duck & Waffle’s iconic ‘duck & waffle’ dish with waffle, duck leg and fried egg. Another time.

Taste of London 2015, Regents Park is on until Sunday 21st June.

Sharing menu at Chotto Matte, Soho

Published on June 16, 2015 by Hanna1 Comment

When my food blogger colleague Malin was in town with her friend Jenny we met up twice. Once on a Monday for some prosecco and nibbles and then on their last evening in town for dinner. We had a great time eating our way through Chotto Matte’s sharing menu and catching up.

Without much knowledge of Peruvian food I think Chotto Matte makes a good job of combining it with Japanese. Most dishes we had were really nice although there was a little room for improvement on some. The sharing menus are great way to try a few different dishes (including some of their signature dishes) and they’re great value for money too.

After deciding on the wine (very important!) we got to try the first dish; tostaditas with beef, smoked aji planka, shiitake and yuzu. Very yummy!

Soon after (the table was never empty) we received the seabass cheviche with sweet potato, Peruvian corn (they were more floury than usual), coriander and citrus sauce. Apart from the corn I really liked this dish; subtle flavours and nicely balanced. The seabass was delicious!

The gyozas with pork, prawns and cassava on a bed of sweet potato purée were a favourite amongst us all – delicious!

The spring rolls with shiitake and prawns and a ponzu salsa were nice too, but nothing special.

We really enjoyed the very tender miso chicken – it was just scrumptious! Nice barbecue flavour.

This octopus was very tender and nice but the purple potato purée didn’t add much to the dish, sadly.

And the maki rolls with tuna were nice, but I preferred the hot food.
For pudding we received a selection of sweets, and all very good! The small pots of lemon grass creme brulee and chocolate mousse with honeycomb were just the right size and the mochis fresh and light.

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and the buzzing atmosphere! I will certainly come back for the miso chicken!

Chotto Matte, 11 – 13 Frith Street, London W1D 4RB

Lunch at The Hand & Flowers, Marlow

Published on June 4, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Chefs are like rock stars these days with more exposure ever than before. I quite like that, and I think the chefs do too. The chefs I know personally always wanted praise for their creations and stood up tall and proud when customers wanted to thank the chef personally.

One of Britains rock star chefs is definitely Tom Kerridge, owner of the only pub with not one but two Michelin stars. Quite the accomplishment.

In May my friend Laura and I had a fabulous Sunday lunch at The Hand & Flowers in Marlow and the food was just as amazing as we had hoped. Luckily, since we made the reservation a whole year earlier. Yep, that’s how popular this place is. Get in there early if you want to book a specific date.

The pub was a lot smaller than I had pictured in my head, but just as cosy. The service was friendly and relaxed and our waitress helped us decide what to order, since we had some trouble narrowing it down (I wanted to eat everything!).

Laura literally studying the menu.

We started our meal with the bread basket and fried whitebait that appeared as soon as we had ordered. I love the newspaper cone for the fish!

Laura then had this fabulous glazed omelet with smoked haddock and parmesan and it was probably even more delicious than it looks. Light and fluffy yet full or flavour.

After careful consideration I chose the onion tarte with pork and smoked butter. Wow! It was absolutely fantastic. Flaky, subtle, not too rich and lots of flavour.

I then carried on with the nicest pork tenderloin I’ve ever eaten (so tender and juicy!), pork cheeks and garlic sausage, little potato balls and small onions. Utterly delicious!

Laura had the beer roasted chicken with caramelised cauliflower, garlic purée and mushroom crunch. She was as amazed with her main course as I was with mine. We probably sat in silence for a minute, all I can remember is the what I tasted in my mouth.

The food is, as you would expect from a pub, hearty and filling. But sadly we didn’t have room for pudding. I prefer savoury over sweet, and so does Laura, so we were very content leaving the restaurant and walking very slooowly to the train station.

It was such a great meal – I can’t wait to go back.

The Hand & Flowers, 126 West Street, Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 2BP

Kopapa, Covent Garden – revisited

Published on June 2, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

Almost every time I go to Kopapa I have one of their burgers. Either the regular beef one or the soft shell crab version. They’re both great so choosing between the two is hard enough, so I barely check the rest of the menu as that makes the decision process even more difficult.

But there is a first time for everything so when I had dinner here a few weeks ago I dared to go out of my menu comfort zone.

While my friend had the scallops with homemade sweet chilli sauce and creme fraiche (delicious!) I had the cream of Jerusalem artichoke and potato soup with wild garlic and truffle oil. It was nice but not sadly not amazing.

But luckily the main course made up for that. The Wagyu rump beef with smoked mash, mushrooms, jus and beetroot relish was so so SO yummy!

It did pay off to try more on their menu but I won’t be surprised if it will take me a while to be done with the beef – I definitely want to eat that again. And again.

Kopapa Café and Restaurant, 32-34 Monmouth Street, London WC2H 9HA

Fika at Slottsträdgårdens café, Malmö, Sweden

Published on May 19, 2015May 19, 2015 by Hanna2 Comments

Fika is one of my favourite Swedish words. It covers a whole range of foods that you can have with a cup of coffee or tea. Openfaced sandwiches. Cake. Biscuits. Cake and biscuits.

In my parents’ house we have a lot of fika . If you get up early you have fika in between breakfast and lunch, and for lunch, if you’re not having hot food, you can have fika again. Then you have afternoon fika and after-dinner fika.

Two weekends ago when I was in Malmö on the Sunday I had fika with my parents and we went to probably the cosiest café in town, Slottsträdgårdens café, located in the park near the castle (the museum). The grounds are wonderful right now with a tulip exhibition and flowering cherry trees.

You can either sit in a green house or outside; we did both as it was chilly when we got there but later when the sun came out it was nice to soak up some sun outside.

For the fika my mother and I both had the raspberry and rhubarb crumble with custard while my father had a cinnamon bun. We also had coffee and organic juices and iced tea. All very good!

Slottsträdgårdens kafé, Malmöhusvägen 8, 211 18 Malmö, Sweden

Brunch at Salt & Brygga, Malmö, Sweden

Published on May 18, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

The weekend before last I went home to Southern Sweden for a wedding. It was my childhood friend Tobias who got hitched and it was so much fun seeing him and his Malin say I do and dance the night away with old friends. To make the most of a weekend at home I had brunch with my parents, my bestie Emma and her husband Claes the next day in Malmö.

We went to a restaurant in the West Harbour called Salt & Brygga. They have new owners and have recently started doing brunch we thought we’d check it out. Instead of a buffet (that’s the usual way for brunch in Sweden) it was table service and instead of a big menu they had a set thing on the menu. First vanilla yoghurt with homemade granola then a plate with an array of brunch items (like a smorgasbord on a plate).

We had scramled eggs and bacon, roasted new potatoes, sauerkraut, prawns, mozzarella salad, sausages, brie, melon and parma ham. And nice baguette on the side.

I prefer this to the buffet setup as you don’t have to queue and deal with other people’s mess, yet you get to sample different foods. It felt nice and fresh and the food was well cooked.

Salt & Brygga, Sundspromenaden 7, 211 16 Malmö, Sweden

Lunch at The Orange, Pimlico

Published on May 15, 2015 by HannaLeave a comment

When Maria and Daniel were visiting a few weekends ago, we did what we always do; go shopping on the Kings Road. By lunch time we were near Sloane Sq and I thought it would be great to go to Daylesford Organic as they loved the Notting Hill branch. But it was no longer there. Luckily there are plenty of other nice places around and we went to The Orange instead.

It was a lovely sunny day so we all wanted something light for lunch, like a salad. And so we did. Maria had the hot-smoked salmon salad with broad beans and pomegranate which she really enjoyed while Daniel and I went the more traditional route and had a Caesar salad each. And it was perfect. Crispy salad, not too much and not too little dressing, crispy pancetta and just enough croutons. Also juicy chicken breast and soft-boiled eggs. My only complaint would be that the eggs were a bit too cold, but that’s a minor details. Great cooking on the whole!

There may have been another reason for having salad for lunch as well; we had our eye set on a stop at The Hummingbird Bakery in the afternoon. Daniel had a carrot cake cupcake while Maria and I agreed that salted caramel was the way to go! Super sweet but yummy!

The Orange, 37-39 Pimlico Road, London SW1W 8NE

The Hummingbird Bakery, 47 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3JP

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