Category: RESTAURANT FILE

A wonderful day – spa, Busaba and cake

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I had the afternoon off yesterday to go to a spa with Jenny. We had some time before our appointment, so we started with the sauna and the pool. After an hour or so we had our hot sugar scrub that after having showered the sticky mixture off, left the skin feeling sooo soft. The next treatment was a full body massage which was wonderful, and after this we were feeling very relaxed. After a nice hot shower we felt reborn and went up to the hotel bar to have a wonderful fruit smoothie and a fruit platter, all included in the package, and that truly hit the spot.

By this point it was early evening and we were hungry, so we went to Busaba Eathai for dinner. I really like this place, founded by the man behind Wagamama and Hakkasan, it is cheap, really nice food in nice surroundings. Compared to Wagamama this feels more luxurious because of the dark wood decor and burning incense, but the idea is the same; you sit at communal tables and you can not book in advance.

We started with something to drink, of course, and I tried coconut water for the first time. It came with ice and fresh muddled raspberries and it was amazing. Why have I not tried this sooner?! I am definitely hooked now. Jenny tried an equally amazing mango lassi. It was silky smooth and tasted lovely.

We ordered quite a lot of food, vegetarian spring rolls with the best sweet chilli dip I have ever had, Pat King Talay was my choice (stir fry with squid, scallops, prawns and woodear mushrooms), Jenny opted for the Pla Sam Rod (talapia fillets with a gorgeous pomegranate sauce) and perfect coconut rice and Morning Glory as a side; water spinach with garlic and chilli – absolutely fantastic and Jenny said it tasted exactly the same as in Thailand.

A happy and content Jenny!

We were very pleased with our cheap eat, the bill only came to around £40, so very good value for money. It is definitely worth going, and it is best to come around or before 6pm to avoid the queue, but it would be worth queueing for a little while as well.

On our way to the restaurant we had noticed a few bakeries on the same street (Wardour Street) and we felt we had to have something sweet to finish off the meal. We noticed a new (for us at least) branch of the Hummingbird Bakery but they did not have much left to choose from this late in the day. Instead we went to the place next door; L’Eto who had plenty of good-looking cakes in the window. After a few minutes to decide we went for the lemon meringue pie and the mille feuille with strawberry and plum. The lemon filling in the pie was nice and creamy, and the meringue on top was the almost unbaked one which was lovely. The mille feuille has obscene amounts of cream in it, which we happily scoffed down. Delicious! This place seems to be great for lunch as well with fresh looking salads, chicken patties, baked salmon etc.

Opera Tavern

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Thanks to a great tip from Hanna aka Swedish Meatball Eats London, I ate a fabulous dinner at this establishment in the West End on Thursday, together with my Swedish friends Malin and Martin who were visiting.

The dinner was a quick affair because we had tickets to We Will Rock You an hour and a half later, but they are used to this in theatre land.

If I had not heard about this place, I would never have walked in, as both the name and exterior suggests it is a tourist trap. Inside however, it is nice in an understated way, the service is efficient and friendly and the food is amazing.

The menu offers tapas, both charkuterie, cheeses and the usual suspects like croquetas and calamari, but also a few more interesting dishes like the favourite miniburger with pork and foie gras.

Prosciutto och chroizoWe started off with some olives, bread, thinly sliced chorizo, prosciutto and a creamy goat’s cheese. All wonderful produce, and at room temperature to maximize the flavour.

After this we had scallops with pea purée and crispy parma ham; the fab burger mentioned above with a brioche type bun, caramelized red onions and a lovely mayo and the most succulent meat as well as juicy chargrilled chicken with chorizo. Nothing disappointed!

We finished off the session with more bread and aioli, chilli salami and gorgonzola. The meat was again very thinly sliced and nice and spicy. The gorgonzola was slightly cold, but came with amazing caramelized walnuts and rosemary flatbread.

We had all this and a bottle of wine between the three of us, and the bill only came to around £70 including service charge. Great value for money and a lovely hidden gem, so far at least – this a place that is up and coming. Book now because they will be full up soon…

Bodean’s

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A few Friday’s ago we celebrated our friend David’s birthday in one of his favourite restaurants – Bodean’s. Think proper American grub. They are known for their chicken wings and pulled pork.

We went to the Soho branch, and when I walked inside, escaping the pouring rain, I though the place looked a bit like a diner where you just have a quick bite to eat, not like a restaurant diner. But we were sat on the lower ground floor which was decorated with leather sofas, wooden tables and booths. Much cosier than on the ground floor!

To celebrate the birthday boy we started off with shots for everyone and cocktails or beer to follow.

Carribean daiquiri
Sierra Nevada porter

For some reason we felt greedy and ordered both starter and mains, which we normally do, but this was not the general place. This was an American diner, which meant huuuuge portions.

Chris started off with half a dozen hot chicken wings. And boy were they hot! Funny thing was that next to him David sat with the even hotter diavolo wings with a side of diavolo sauce!

I had the pulled pork quesadilla as a starter and it was massive. Very nice though, and not far off my at-home-version of pulled pork.

Although I didn’t finish it all, I was still incredibly full, so full I only managed a few bites from my lovely burger, sob.

I totally killed it with chilli cheese fries as well, that was a dish in itself, but very good!

I highly recommend Bodean’s, especially while hangover. Just stay well clear of the mac ‘n cheese, it tasted like it came out of a packet. The rest was very good, but sent you in food coma straight away. 🙂

Sorry about the blurry photos but it was dark and I used my iPhone.

Maze on a Monday or when I met Gordon Ramsay

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I was suppose to post nice recipes from the weekend, but after the Monday night I had, I just have to tell you about it! Because I met Gordon Ramsay!

One of his restaurants in Mayfair, Maze, has an offer on at the moment (Maze on a Monday) to make people fill up the restaurant on the otherwise quiet Monday evenings. Their offer is three courses for £25 and a tour of the kitchen. Who could possibly resist?!

Yesterday we tried out the offer together with our dear friends Chris and Jess. The interior of the restaurant is laid-back modern and the ambiance is quite relaxed for a Michelin star restaurant (it has 1 star) and the cuisine has been described as innovative.

Although it was a limited menu, it sounded impressive and very in season. There were wild garlic, rhubarb and radishe on the menu for example.

For their starter, the boys chose the same. Confit chicken with caesarsallad garnish. They really liked it and thought the anchovies and chicken really worked together.

Jess had the marinated beetroot with goat’s cheese curd and pine nuts, which looked fab!

I chose the wild garlic soup with maple glazed chicken oysters and lemon emulsion. On my plate was just the chicken, emulsion and wild garlic flower and it looked rather sad, but when all of us had the starter on the table they poured the soup onto the plate. I love when the waiters get involved like that and it turned out all the three courses I chose had the element of pouring liquid onto my plate. 🙂 It was a great dish, the soup tasted very mildly of wild garlic and the lemon emulsions where like little island floating in the soup. Only thing I can complain about was the temperature of the soup. It was eaither not heated up properly or sitting on the hot plate for too long.

For the maincourse the each couple chose the same dish. Chris and Jess had the Loch Duart salmon with brown shrimps and fondue of leek. It looked lovely and Jess thought this was the best dish she had.

Chris and I chose the Szechuan spicy pork with crackling, edamame beans and thinly sliced black radish. It was really nice and tender, cooked to perfection, but less spicy than it seemed on the menu.

And so the desserts. The boys chose the same once again, this time ‘The summer crumble’; elderflower mousse with berry sorbet and granola.

I had the rhubarb soup with ginger pannacotta, icecream and coriander. It was quite a light dessert; not too sweet, not too creamy. And summery. 🙂

Jess had the pistachio parfair with cherry sorbet and griotte cherries. It looked wonderful and if I had liked cherry in any other form than just fresh, I would have chosen this.

All in all it was a wonderful meal wih two bottles of wine and lots of laughter, and although the portions were small we felt full. The food was nice and well executed, but I still think Gordon Ramsay at Claridges was slightly better on the starters and mains, but not on the desserts.

At the end of our meal, Christopher spotted Gordon Ramsay himself in the restaurant chatting to a table a few meters away. Of course we all turned and looked, and a few minutes later he was standing in between Jess and Chris and looking right at me! He was all smiles and pleasant, and we chatted for a little while until he moved onto the next table.

It was quite late by the time we got to see the kitchen, we were busy having a good time, but we were shown around and got to see the large kitchen with all the different sections and the massive hot plate.

Sushi – oh how I love thee

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I have a great friend. Her name is Gaby, and she is the one who introduced me to Trinity (thank you!!) and Tsunami – my favourite sushi place. Both within walking distance from home. We met up for some sushi at Tsunami on Thursday and the whole day I had been craving it.

We had a few starters before though. I tried the yellowfin tuna tartare with a quail’s egg yolk on top. It was lovely presented in a coneshaped glass put in a bowl of ice.

Gaby had the marinated tuna, and we also shared the salt and chilli squid. With some squirted lime and the wasabi mayonnaise they were amazing.

It was all lovely, but the sushi is even better!

The shrimp tempura roll - am-a-zing!

We had the shrimp tempura roll, which is totally fantastic; the spicy tuna roll which also is wonderful and the dragon roll, which is similar to a shrimp tempura but with eel and avocado as well.

Spicy tuna roll - yu-um
The dragon roll - doesn't it look fantastic?!

I also had the scallop nigiri and Gaby chose the Japanese omelette nigiri. It was a lovely meal which we enjoyed a lot, and the sushi was just as amazing as I remembered it from last time. If you want a more thorough description of the flavours, have a look here. This time I got better pictures at least. Still used my iPhone, but daylight makes all the difference.

If you’re visiting London and want to try the best sushi ever, you don’t have to venture to where I live, because there is a Tsunami more central, on Charlotte St.

Trinity once again

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On my dad’s birthday we took mum and dad to Trinity for their first time. We settled for starters and mains as we were going back to ours for coffee and a cake I prepared in the morning.

The weather was amazing and the glass doors were all open so it feels like you’re both indoors and outside at the same time.

Mum chose a terrine of confit of chicken, ham and leek with a prune sauce for her starter.

Dad went for a crab soup with crab ravioli and loved it.

Christopher and I both chose the pig’s trotters with crackling, capers and fried quail’s eggs. Delicious!For her maincouse mother chose skate wing with new potatoes and asparagus. Mum said it was the best seasoned fish she’s ever had.

Dad was a bit disappointed with his wood pigeon as it was rather dry and. Typical on his birthday and everything, but he enjoyed the rest of the meal.

I was very pleased with my choice: slowcooked bavette with triple-cooked chips, bone marrow and bearnaisesauce. I do love my meat. 🙂

Christopher chose the lamb which was similar to the lamb salad I had last time we went. But he got more meat, and unfortunately less wild garlic mayo (which is heaven). The meat was lovely and tender though and he certainly enjoyed it.

England: Buckinghamshire

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Buckinghamshire id the country where my boyfriend grew up and we stopped by there on the countryside tour, so my parents could meet his mother Eileen.

We stopped by Eton and Windsor, which you can walk between. Eton is where the famous boy’s school is and it is quite fun to see the pupils walking around the village in their school uniform, tails. It was Easter when we were there though, so no pupils in sight.

Windsor is known mainly for the castle, but we didn’t have time to go in. The town itself is quite cosy to walk around in though.

In the evening we went to the old nice pub Royal Standard (which I have written about before) for dinner. We had forgotten how big portions they serve so after a starter and main each there were just no way we could eat dessert.

All three Swedes chose the garlic prawns, which were messy but yummy.

Christopher tried the French onion soup with beef and bacon stock which was delicious.

Eileen had the goat’s cheese salad as a starter, and I had the same, but a larger version, for my maincourse.

We were there on a Sunday so everyone else had the Sunday roast. Either pork or lamb, but they had the option of chicken and beef too. It was a large portion with all the traditional trimmings.

England: Chapel Down

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The English vineyard Chapel Down is situated among rapeseed fields in the southwest corner of England – Kent. At the vineyard they sell their wines as well as other local products, i.e. cider, preserves and crackers.

They also provided maps of the grounds so we could go for a walk around the vines and the herb garden before we left to find our b&b, get changed and come back again for supper at their restaurant: Richard Phillips at Chapel Down.

The restaurant is on the first floor (above the shop) with its own entrance. It had a cosy feel to it and a band played music all through the evening. You could choose between the simpler music menu or the a’la carte. We chose the latter since the music menu seemed a bit dull in comparison.

Christopher chose their amazing platter as a starter with charcuteries, baked brie (have to try this at home), chutneys and pickles.

Mum and dad both tried the crab and crayfish tian with deepfried cauliflower and enjoyed it very much.

I chose mixed mushrooms on toasted brioche with a fried duck’s egg, and apart from the seasoning it was very nice. I desperately needed salt and it tasted a lot better when I adjusted the seasoning.

Dad opted for the beef with blue cheese dauphinoise potatoes which was lovely. Christopher went for the rabbit which was nice but a little dry while mother and I chose fish; seabass with herb gnocchi and asparagus.

It was nice but didn’t feel like a dish, it was more different things that didn’t really come together. And we needed sauce. Fish needs sauce.

Edit: My friend Gaby commented: What about the wine? And rightly so. Christopher had the red Trinity which was really nice and complemented his rabbit. Mother and I went for the white Bacchus Reserve and found it a bit unusual. It seemed like it was slightly sparkling in itself I still haven’t made up my mind if I liked it or not. We bought a bottle of the Bacchus (not Bacchus Reserve) and when we have opened it, I will let you know how that is in comparison.

Apsleys

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By Hyde Park Corner on Knightsbridge you find a hotel called the Lanesborough, which always fascinated me when I come past there because it seems so elegant. Outside are men in bowler hats and there is at least one Bentley parked outside at all times.

And in this fabulous hotel, which feels more lika someone’s mansion, there is a restaurant called Apsleys that Christopher and I have been dying to go it. It holds one Michelin star and is a Heinz Beck restaurant, which has a three-starred restaurant in Rome. The cuisine is light Italian and absolutely lovely.

We found a great offer on TopTable we just couldn’t resist, three courses, a glass of wine and coffee for £35.

The restaurant is smaller than I expected and has a very chic art deco design to it, and the china service fits in with the theme. Thin white bone china with slightly assymetric circles in gold on the brim.

At first we had a very nice olive oil (extra virgin from Tuscany) pured into a little owl on our sideplate and then we were served warm lovely bread straight from the oven. I had the focaccia which was lovely and light.

The amuse bouche consisted of a little salmon tartar, a rice ball with a black crust and a tomato salsa. It was plated very pretty and was nice, but nothing spectacular. But it only got better!

I had ordered seafood salad as my starter and it was lovely. Melt-in-the-mouth seafood with mango, papaya, different salads leaves and something tomato-y. Christopher chose the pasta which was ravioli made out of gnocchi dough, filled with spinach and ricotta and served with a lobster and tomato sauce. Delicious!

We ordered the same maincourse and dessert, as we have pretty similar taste, and we were thrilled about our chicken for maincouse. Normally I would not order chicken in a restaurant because I want something a bit more exciting and something further from what I cook myself. But this chicken dish blew us away and I have never been able to recreate something even remotely close to this dish. The chicken fillet which was nice and moist was wrapped in pastry with a green paste on the inside. Served with creamy polenta, wild garlic purée, mushrooms and mange tout.

I had not intended to take any photographs of the food because it did not feel like the place to do it. But when a group of girls came in and took photos of each other and we saw the amazing main course I just had to get my mobile out discreetly!

Our dessert was fantastic too! We chose the ‘surprise’ which consisted of a chocolate cake in three layers. At the bottom something crunchy resembling a digestive base, then a caramel layer and dark chocolate truffle on top. Served with sea salt icecream. OMG, this was amazing! And the little glass on the side had a creamy sweet foam which was nice and light and delicious.

Next up was petit fours, five of them nicely presented on a rectangular platter. They were (from left) a chewy almond cake, dark chocolate wih coffee, raspberry, pastry with lemoncurd and dark chocolate truffle.

After all this we had a tea (me) and a coffee (Christopher) before we left happy and full.

The Natural Kitchen, Marylebone

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You may have noticed by now, that I really like Marylebone, and that is not at all because it is the Swedish quarters in London (honestly), it is just a cosy area. When Emma and Claes came to visit in March spring was on its way and we had sunny nice days. Of course we wanted to seize the moment and be outside as much as possible, so we had a wander in Marylebone and a long walk by the Thames.

At 1pm on a sunny Saturday it was quite difficult to find a table for lunch in Marylebone, but after 15 minutes of waiting we could grab a table at the Natural Kitchen. Neither of us had been here before, but it looks like a nice place. Downstairs they have a shop/delicatessen with lovely produce and the shop reminds me of Daylesford Organics which I adore. But we were quite disappointed I must admit. All of us actually.

Emma, Claes and I ordered the Croque Monsieur which was all doughey and gooey (in a bad way). I mean, I really like a creamy croque monsieur with bechamel on top, but instead of that they had spread something on the top of the nice crusty bread to make it all soggy, and then placed the ham and cheese on top.  Otherwise the portion size was generous, but they had placed two sandwiches with melted cheese on top of each other, so the cheese from the bottom one stuck to the top sandwich…

Christopher’s Eggs Benedict looked alright and apparently tasted ok, thank God, but they were nothing special. I ordered the homemade sparkling lemonade and Chris ordered the still one, but both looked and tasted exactly the same, although the receipt said sparkling on one and still on one.

The "sparkling" lemonade

Apart from all this the service was incredibly slow and we received our drinks at the same time as the food. The kitchen were quick though, they had a full restaurant and we got our food within 15 minutes, but 15 minutes without the drinks we had ordered is just bad.

All in all we were very disappointed, and next time we will certainly queue somewhere else instead. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they managed to destroy a croque monsieur.