British – Page 4 – TheKua Does Food

Blubeckers: The Duck House

March 22, 2010 Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

Blubeckers is one of those chain restaurants that exist just on the out skirt belt of London. We ate at a similar chain with my work colleagues when we worked at Marlow – the ridiculously cheap Harvester chain. It seemed like the Weatherspoons of the restaurant world.

I don’t think Blubeckers is as big as the Harvester chain although ironically this one we ate at was just opposite the road from one. We went the Duck House version of Blubeckers, located at the end of the Metropolitan line, in Ruislip. Very initial impressions, it’s very well decorated on the inside – almost as if it had recently had a renovation of sorts. The decor is modern and being constructed out of a house, was full of character including the alternatively raised floors and little nook and crannies. The best part about something like this is the way that it was very full, but it felt like you weren’t eating in the open in front of all the tables, so you had a lot more privacy.

The reason we went to Blubeckers was to enjoy the ribs – something that they are apparently well known for (at least according to their website and their menu). Who was I really to judge that without testing it out for myself. They have three different serving sizes on the menu so we decided to try the normal size because we all had a starter and a main. I had the soup of the day, a lovely french onion soup that was both light and very tasty. Although tempted by a ridiculously rich American brownie sundae, I decided to stick with the ice cream treat as I figured it might be a lighter option.

Even the normal sized ribs ended up fairly large and by the end of the meal, I was well and truly stuffed. It was served with crunchy coleslaw and fries – a classic combination that was very well done. Even the fries were exactly how I like them – crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle without being too thin or too thick cut. The ribs were very tender, enough for me to eat my ribs with just knife and fork. Served with a rich and slightly tangy BBQ sauce, these ribs are best described as stewed rather than how I would have preferred them – grilled or BBQed. Fortunately they never took on the ugly pork flavour of reheated ribs.

It’s obvious from the number of people that The Duck House remains a popular choice for locals being fully booked and tables required to turn around every two hours. I can’t really say that it’s worth going all the way out to Ruislip to try them – after all I think we still spent £30 for a three course meal without drinks. However it’s a decent choice if you happen to find yourself out this far.

Name: The Duck House (Blubeckers Chain)
Found at: The Duck House High Street Ruislip Middlesex HA4 7AR
Website: http://www.blubeckers.co.uk/ruislip/

Konstam

March 12, 2010 Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

For the past five months, I would walk home from Kings Cross station as part of my daily routine returning from Cambridge. The walk home isn’t particular grand but at least you get some mild level of exercise into the day. I always noticed a few interesting restaurant around that area but it wasn’t until today that I finally got to try one of them, called Konstam.

I have no idea about what sort of food they are supposed to specialise in, but the interior is striking for the surrounding area – modern and hip interior that strikes a sharp contrast will the dull concrete buildings surrounding it. We ended up here after a Friday pub for a late dinner starting at about 9pm. Based on the lightness of the menu, I had the impression that it changes regularly – with three to four choices per course.

I started with Dartford purple sprouting broccoli, poached egg, hollandaise sauce & breadcrumbs concoction (£8) that proved to be a very light and lovely way to start the meal off. The breadcrumbs added another dimension of texture to an otherwise well executed classic.

Three of us at the table then went for the Charcoal-grilled rib-eye steak with braised January King, fried potatoes & horseradish sauce (£21.50). Unfortunately I neglected to take any pictures of this since it was so good. Mine was cooked perfectly rare, so pink and juicy and full of flavour. They served the steak in small strips atop all the other side dishes and was really easy to cut through without the need for a proper steak knife if you wanted to break it up ever further.

Everyone else had coffees but I thought I’d try their Spiced, toasted castle cake with plum jam & sloe gin cream (£7.25), apparently some version of a tea cake. When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised as it was light and deliciously most. The sloe gin was subtle but you can definitely taste the light berry flavour infused from the sloes.

Service was polite and when taking the food orders or plates, was fairly prompt. I think the only they thing they really could have improved on was keeping our water topped up throughout the night – I had to ask twice for a refill of our jug of water.

I’d definitely return here and with the service, we still paid £50 a head which I think is reasonable considering all the things that we ate and the two bottles of wine we drank throughout the night.

Name: Konstam at The Prince Albert (Closed)
Was found at: 2 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NA
Former website: http://www.konstam.co.uk/

The Modern Pantry

March 7, 2010 Patrick Asian, British, Restaurants, UK

I’ve eaten at Anna Hansen’s bisto for breakfast before so I was pretty happy to go here for my flatmate’s birthday dinner last weekend. What made it all the more exciting was having seen Anna at the Taste of Christmas last year and talk passionately about her cooking interests and the thought behind dishes such as her Sugar-cured New Caledonian prawn omelette, spring onion, coriander, smoked chilli sambal. Therefore when I sat it on their menu as a starter (£8.50), I couldn’t but help myself and order it.

Although it’s pricey for a starter, it was deliciously put together – perfectly cooked egg, slightly sweet prawns and and the homemade chilli sambal adding that depth of heat to the dish. I’d definitely get this one again.

For my main, I ordered the grilled miso marinated steak onglet, cassava chips, feta cheese and salad with green pepper relish (£16.50). The onglet is an interesting cut of meat, often called the butcher’s cut because there is only one of these per cow, and it’s flavour and taste and tenderness often mean butcher’s would rather keep it than sell it. There’s a good reason for it, since it was so tender and really nice. Interesting, the waiter asked if cooking it rare was okay – completely fine with me in a restaurant I trust who knows what to do with it.

I finished the meal off with a hokey-pokey affogato(£4), a combination of two rare items to find in London that I would definitely regret not ordering it the next day. Delicious hokey pokey ice cream (effectively crumble mixed through ice cream) and then served in small cup with an espresso shot tipped on top. I absolutely adore the contrast brought about by dishes mixing hot and cold sensations.

I can highly recommend this place for a great evening. Service was prompt, and not even noticeable at times, the perfect sort. Even though we were the last ones out and hanging around quite late, no one ever asked us to leave.

Name: The Modern Pantry
Found at: 48 Saint John’s Square, London EC1V 4JJ
Website: http://www.themodernpantry.co.uk/

Cambridge Chop House

March 1, 2010 Patrick British, Cambridge, Restaurants, UK

Cambridge houses two chop houses, run by the same group of people. We went to the one located in the heart of the ring road, The Cambridge Chop House (opposed to their other one, opposite my favourite Cambridge gastropub, The Punter). We tried this one because I was told the atmosphere was much nicer, and with a cellar dining room, did have a lot more of an intimate atmosphere.

Wanting some greens, I started with the Roasted fennel, orange and red onion herb salad – a light and refreshing way to start the meal. The portion size was decent and aniseed-flavoured fennel went well to contrast the sharp herb and slightly tangy orange segments.

They had a number of specials that had gone that day, and what was surprising about this “Chophouse” is lack of a “meat board” or anything like it. In fact, I only remember them having one or two types of steaks! Strange for a chophouse. I succumbed to their temptation of a Venison Wellington, Mash and Gravy that the menu noted (and the staff emphasised) the wait for an additional 20 minutes. Considering that we weren’t in any particular rush, I thought that would have been fine.

As you can see from the picture above, the wellington ended up quite a massive portion and it took me a while to even make a dent in it. I was worried that it wouldn’t come with greens either, so I’d ordered an additional bowl but it also came with some broccoli. It doesn’t hurt to have more greens does it?

Service was odd throughout the evening with waitresses being rather direct. It’s not like they were impolite, but there was definitely an oddity to it and I still can’t quite properly explain it. I’d definitely recommend this over a number of the chain restaurants in Cambridge.

Name: The Cambridge Chop House
Found at: 1 King’s Parade, Cambridge CB2 1SJ
Website: http://www.chophouses.co.uk/TheCambridgeChopHouse/

Cambridge’s Midsummer House

February 21, 2010 Patrick British, Cambridge, Michelin Starred, Restaurants, UK

To celebrate the end of our project, a number of us decided to take the plunge and book in a dinner at Midsummer House. Located in the middle of Midsummer Commons’ park and right next to the river, I can imagine that it would be particularly lovely eating al fresco in the outdoors. Fortunately in winter when it’s much colder and particularly damp, the bright indoor eating area does just fine. We were one of the first tables to be seated at 7pm, although I think we were also one of the last remaining tables at the end of the night, obviously enjoying the food and wine that was soon to come.

When we arrived, they took our coats and led us to our table – a plain white table clothed round table right next to their bay windows where we could see fairy lights dotting their outdoor garden. We had an apertif to start (a number of gin and tonics and champagne for the table) where we then got a look at the menu. Midsummer House does do a number of dishes for vegetarians but their tasting menu is predominantly mixtures of meats and seafood that probably wouldn’t be that appealing. We ended up with the tasting menu (a number of courses for £85). Here’s a picture of Midsummer House from the outside before dinner:

To begin with, we had a number of small amuse bouche. I don’t remember exactly what this dish was, but it was some sort of foam dish with a light fruit. It was a nice way to start the palatte as it had sharp citrus flavours that stimulated the taste buds.

Whilst we perused the menu, we were then offered a number of other canapes including a whitebait fritter (the fried things in the left side of the picture below), and a bread puff filled with a savoury mixture. I remember both were light crisp and almost too easy on the way down.

After deciding on the tasting menu, a small cart arrived by the tableside, where they prepared a palette cleanser. With small round bowls that looked like mini balloons, they dispensed a canister including yet another type of foam.

It was a pink grapefruit and champagne foam! Hurrah. The flavours of the grapefruit were particularly sublime although you could taste the fizz from the champagne and was a lovely way to cut through the savoury tone of our canapes. I’m a little bit over the whole foam thing, but at least it was guaranteed to be a light way of starting.

Our first real course on the tasting menu was a White Onion, Apple and Scallion bisque. The apple was cut into small chunks, providing the texture to, an otherwise, monotonic but creamy soup. It was served in an impressive pleated bowl.

After being warmed up slightly by the soup, we then moved onto a Beetroot cannelloni, filled with small bits of goats cheese served with a horseradish sorbet, and a celery side salad. The cannelloni was really light and wasn’t too overpowering with the beetroot flavour. Its crispness as you cut into a small chunk then led you to a perfect pairing of salty goats cheese, without being overwhelming. Adding in the heat of the horseradish and surprising cold from the sorbet, was an amazing mouthfeel to last. I was a huge fan of this particular dish that was also vegetarian friendly.

Our next dish was definitely less vegetarian friendly, being Sautéed scallops topped with iberico ham, some fresh sage, and then a creme fraiche topped with green olives. The scallops were delightfully cooked – browned on the outside yet soft and perfectly cooked flesh. The iberico ham wasn’t overpowering, being shaved extremely thin and it worked really well with the other elements. Interestingly they didn’t actually describe all the elements on the plate when they put the dish down although we had great guess as a group picking all the remaining ingredients.

The next course soon arrived, Sweetbreads, pistachio, maple syrup and mouli. I remember thinking how the maple syrup could have dominated the lighter flavours of sweetbread, but was pleasantly surprised when you had the strange sweetness but not in the concentrated burst I’d feared. The mouli provided a nice contrast to the dish as well.

The next dish was Langoustine and Cuttlefish Risotto. As you can probably tell from the picture below, the risotto wasn’t a true risotto – instead made up of a cuttlefish cut into perfectly small cubes resembling the white firmness one would expect from a well made risotto. The langoustine was perfectly cooked, super sweet and went down almost too fast.

Our next dish was a “Pousse Cafe” meant to be drunk as a single shot. I remember it being fairly warm, and made up of a number of different savoury soups of different textures. It was brilliant how they layered the different flavours that when it was tipped into your mouth, then turned into a wonderful experience, further warming the belly as it made its way down. Yum!

After this enjoyable experience, we had the Pigeon, sweet potato and cocoa nibs. As you can the pigeon was pistachio-crusted which I thought was going to overpower the pigeon but simply added an interesting texture dimension to the dish. Pigeon, being slightly more gamey was much more tougher than what I was expecting but we still managed to have no problems cutting into it with a butter knife.

The cheese cart arrives – hurrah! With a huge selection of many different types of cheeses. It is actually an additional course (£5 for the small plate, and £12 for the large). Interestingly, the small plate ended up with four cheeses, the large five cheeses although I wasn’t sure if you could pick many many more for the large plate. The sizes of the cuts weren’t noticeably different.

After the cheese course, our desserts started arriving, the first being a Lemon grass topped with lady grey mousse. I thought it was a very interesting concoction and cleverly put together – the citrus tones working well to complement each other. It was a nice, light creamy dessert that was actually a pretty significant size.

Our next dessert was Warm kumquats served with lemon thyme ice cream that did well to continue the citrus-based themes of desserts. The kumquats looked like they had been caramelised with some sugar, being very potent on their own. I felt the pressure to down this one as the warmth from the fruits started to turn the ice cream to cream and it was definitely great to have that hot and cold contrast again with complementary flavours.

Our final “dessert” of the evening was this spectacular Tiramisu that was a much more deconstructed version of any tiramisu you’d likely ever see. You have the marscapone element as a cold ice cream, a dark chocolate truffle sitting to the side, and a chocolate tube containing the coffee cream with amazing cotton candy sitting on top. They brought each to the table before pouring the shot of espresso right through the cotton candy and in the middle of the tube that then spilled on to the rest of the plate. This was definitely one of the many desserts you wanted to keep lasting.

We then had some coffees and tea with the petite fours (which I didn’t try because I was so full and chocolate was definitely too rich after that series of desserts).

Amazingly that wasn’t the last of it when they brought out the final dish, Freshly sugared Beignets (AKA Donuts) with a lemon marmalade and freshly made creme anglaise (i.e. custard). Despite being particularly full I couldn’t stop myself from trying this. The custard was absolutely divine and the donuts light and not sickeningly sweet. A great surprise at the end of the meal.

Service was very good throughout the evening – not even noticing when they took plates away. One thing they could improve on is if their sommelier talked about the various wines as we went through the evening with the dish – rather than simply pouring them and then walking away. The wine tasting menu looked like this:

Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, Francois Chidaine, Loire Valley, France, 2008
Vin de Pays d’Oc, One Block Muscat, Domain de Treloar, Roussillon, France, 2006
Chenin Blanc, Rudera, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2008
Albarino, Valminor, O Rosal, Rias Baixas, Spain, 2008
Shiraz, Oliver’s Taranga Vineyard, McLaren Vale, South Australia, 2003
Tokaji Aszu, 4 Puttonyos, Disnoko, Tokaji, Hungary, 2004
Pedro Ximenes Viejo, Noe, Gonzales Byass, Jerez, Spain, NV

The Punter in Cambridge

January 15, 2010 Patrick British, Cambridge, Restaurants, UK

Another great find by some work mates, The Punter is definitely a true gastropub. The relatively recently renovated interior is beautiful with exposed wooden beams (mind the head) and artful wallpaper and artwork for sale hanging from the different walls.

This place is definitely worth booking as it is is definitely popular with locals for good reason. They have a great selection of wines (over 90) and with an ever changing menu from light bites to big meals, it is a perfect spot for trying something new.

On the day that we went, I started the meal off with a stilton broccoli soup accompanied by plenty of well crisped croutons to give some more contrast to the dish. The flavours were deep and bold and was a perfect way to start a dinner on a cold evening in Cambridge.

I then went for the Hunter’s chicken pie which was a hearty, massive pie dish filled with a luscious pie filling. Rather than chunks of chicken, they’d opted for a deboned version with small strands of chicken floating around in a creamy sauce with vegetables. I had to order a side of their wonderfully crisp, fluffy chips as well which was perfect for dipping in this divine sauce. I was pretty full and probably shouldn’t have ordered dessert, but my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach that night…

So I still ordered the cardamom creme brulee for dessert. It was quite a nice brulee with that perfect set custard texture and a caramelised, but importantly not burnt sugar crust on top. Unfortunately it, too, was such a large serve that I couldn’t finish it that night.

We had a really great time at The Punter. It’s a great gastropub with lots of character and awesome food. Whilst service wasn’t as prompt as one could hope for, it was still very friendly and hospitable considering how busy it seemed that night.

Name: The Punter
Found at: 3 Pound Hill, Cambridge, CB3 0AE
Website: None but you can see a review here.
TheKua.com Rating: 8 out of 10

The Gun

January 10, 2010 Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

Located far out in near Canary Wharf, The Gun is a gastropub located directly opposite the O2 centre across the Thames. Brightly lit with large windows, the whole place is heaving for a Sunday late lunch at 2pm. Walking there from Canary Wharf was pretty confusing, with the best not not exactly the way that Google Maps directed us to. Fortunately they were okay with people being slightly late and they hadn’t given our table away.

It was such a nice day when we went that their outdoor patio, complete with dining chairs was full up. At least their interior seemed just as bright as their outdoors, warm and comfortable. Service started out reasonably but as the whole place filled up, it definitely slowed to a crawl with our water not being topped up, and us having to flag some people down to get them there.

I started with a pea soup, garnished with some blue cheese toast. The soup was definitely hearty although I found it a little bit overseasoned for my taste. The blue cheese was delicious and I think could have gone much better with the soup had it not already been overseasoned. All that additional sodium is really unnecessary.

For the main, I ordered the pork belly. I’ll admit the Sunday roast looked just as appetising but I think good pork belly is hard to find. I now know why. Unfortunately The Gun’s version was mediocre with the skin being really thick and not even well crisped. For me, the Smiths of Smithfields one still wins out as the best. It was obvious the belly hadn’t been cooked long enough as well since we really had to dig in with the butter knives that we had, instead of, what should have been, most more succulent flesh.

Unfortunately the chocolate tart was also a bit mediocre with the best part about it being the butterscotch ice cream that went with it. Like one of my dining companions, I probably should’ve ordered just the ice cream by itself.

I really wanted to like The Gun. After all, it’s very nice for its very odd location in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I’d maybe consider coming here more often if I happened to be stuck near the Isle of Dogs, or wanted somewhere with a bit more space on a summer’s day. Unfortunately there are much better gastropubs and restaurants serving much better food and much better prices. It’s a great location for something different but it’s the location that puts it over the top for me, seemingly inaccessible by any real public transport. Still, it was definitely a nice experience if you’re out that way.

Name: The Gun
Found at: 27 Coldharbour, London E14 9NS
Website: http://www.thegundocklands.com/
TheKua.com Rating: 6 out of 10

Rhodes 24

November 22, 2009 Patrick British, Michelin Starred, Restaurants, UK

I’d promised to take my sister to Rhodes 24 for her birthday in July. Unfortunately being in Copenhagen and commuting combined with typical London airport traffic meant that I got stuck somewhere I didn’t really want to be for about five hours. In the end we cancelled.

Rhodes 24 is a fairly popular restaurant, so it’s pretty hard to get bookings at this Michelin-starred restaurant. We finally got a date that worked for the both of us and one that happened to have a free table. You find Rhodes 24 located in the Tower 42 building, the tallest building in the city of London (yes, slightly taller than the gherkin). Rhodes is located on the 24th floor, hence the name. It also has an impressive exclusive elevator which is maybe why it’s quite expensive and so popular.

Walking in you’re greeted by the concierge where you walk through the bar, an outstanding view perfectly opposite the Gherkin. It makes me think that the interesting but expensive cocktails might be worth coming up there simply just to indulge. Being one of the earlier tables and only couple dining, we got one of the round tables seated against the inner core of the circular restaurant both facing out towards other tables and the rest of the city.

Service at the start of the evening without too many tables are very prompt, noticeably degrading as the evening went on. I played the game of how long would my tap water remain empty before being filled up with a few times towards the end of dinner and dessert empty for at least five minutes and me having to ask once that I remember.

Their bread basket was lovely although nothing particularly special including both brown and white rolls and a pat of butter. Light but not flavoursome. After ordering our starters and mains, we were presented shortly with the chef’s amuse bouche, a small cup of cauliflower soup served in a small upright mug and saucer. Very well seasoned and a great way to start the meal.

My started, a scallop soup with leeks and pork belly was divine. I thought that the pork belly might overpower the delicate flavour of the scallop, but they chose well with only a few strands of pork belly, crispy up as decoration and the scallop sitting on the lightly softened leeks and the soup poured at the table all round.

The main dish impressed me less being a monkfish dish served with a smoked bacon hash, white asparagus and green spinach. As deliciously smoky and crisp the hash tasted, I think it overpowered the monkfish even then. Everything was well cooked and complimentary but it’s a shame the dish wasn’t as balanced out as they could have made it.

Starting to feel slightly bloated, we thought we’d try going for the dessert and I’m glad that we did. I tried the trio of desserts that were the house special. On this night it was made up of a trio including bread and butter, a home made giant jaffa cake and a strawberry parfait served between two crisp crackers instead of the imagined cup. All three definitely pleased me although the jaffa cake definitely has to have special mention being light, delicate capturing the dark chocolate and tanginess and the bread and butter pudding definitely outlasting the three with a strongly vanilla scented custard and the bread and butter bruleed to add a caramelised dimension. I think the bread also seemed to be some sort of brioche, light without being cloyingly sweet.

I had a peppermint tea after dessert at which they also served the petite fours (or trios?) that included a white chocolate raspberry jam creation, pistachio chocolate block and a lightly scented orange butter cake.

Overall Rhodes 24 certainly made for a great evening out and we didn’t even realise we’d spent over three and a bit hours by the time that we’d walked out of there. Service was friendly though not as prompt as it could have been and although the main didn’t impress, the rest of the dishes definitely made up for it. I’d definitely return at least for the bar and the view on a clear evening night.

Name: Rhodes 24
Found at: Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1HQ
Website: http://www.rhodes24.co.uk/

Tasting menu at Restaurant Martin Wishart

November 18, 2009 Patrick British, Michelin Starred, Restaurants, UK

I recently spent a weekend in Edinburgh with some friends to enjoy some fine food and some fine whiskey. We didn’t end up going to The Kitchin, as originally planned but we did end up at another wonderful place, Restaurant Martin Wishart. Booked in for lunch, we went for the tasting menu, that covered five main courses. When we arrived, they also offered the truffle menu since the chef apparently sources some great truffles and wanted to create a whole experience around it. We decided to stick with our original one.

We sat down and some small snacks found their way to our table, courtesy of a waiter, including haggis bon bons and some fresh Spanish olives. Like all good Scottish traditions the haggis bon bons arrived lightly breaded, crisp on the outside with that hearty meat and oat mixture on the inside.

Soon after confirming what we wanted to eat, the waiters appeared with a plate of small appetisers. We started off with squid in, what looked like, black ink sauce. It sat next to a small piece of pork belly on a toothpick, covered in a rich dark sauce and lightly covered with crispy rice puffs. The pork belly seemed like just the fat without any of the meaty parts. I don’t mind having a bit of fat but it was a bit too much grease in the mouth that its sauce didn’t do anything to change. Next to it sat a lavishly rich chicken pate parfait sitting on the end of a wooden stick much like a lollipop. The chicken liver parfait was smooth but I think excessively overwhelming in size given all the other components. The other two parts, a bite of veal tongue with salad cream and a hake fishcake were my more favourite components, flavoursome without being overly rich.

We followed this with a presse of Foie Gras and Blaeberry Cured Orkney Beef accompanied by beetroot nad horseraidsh cannelloni. Complaints of richness definitely held back with the sweetness of the beetroot bringing a freshness and sweetness to the plate that cut through the piece of pate. The cannelloni, delicately crisp brought yet another texture to the plate although I didn’t even notice the accompanying bite I’d expect from a horseradish cream, however light it might have been. Nice little touch with the dehydrated beetroot specks that reminded me very much of the … pollen Noma served with one of their dishes.

This was a ceviche of Halibut, mango and passionfruit and a light meringue made with strong passionfruit or citrus note. Not too salty but meaty chunks of halibut cut through by the tropical flavours of passionfruit and mango. I loved the light passionfruit meringue perched atop the entire dish. Easily cut through, it tasted like yuzu and each slice really enhanced the ceviche. Definitely one of my favourites of the set.

Ravioli of Kilbannan Langoustine with winter cabbage and truffle sauce. The ravioli was definitely large and meaty, reminding me of a heart chinese dumpling but with a generous amount of filling. The pasta was delicate although the most impressive part was the truffle sauce that surrounded the entire dish, adding depth and flavour to it all. I almost wanted some more bread to soak it all up.

Roast orkney scallop and bellota ham served with pumpkin puree, parmesan veloute. The scallop was arrived in a small bowl, looking like an island floating amidst a sea of cream. The parmesan worried me that it would be overpowering but it didn’t prove to be.

Roast culzen partridge with creamed brussels sprouts, salsifi, confit potatoes and armagnac jus. The partridge finished off our main courses, and was a great way to finish off the meal. It was perfectly cooked – still juicy and firm, and the other components helped accentuate instead of overpower the natural flavours of the bird. The brussel sprouts were particularly impressive as well, firm and tasty without its usually strong flavours.

Cheese course. We had two plates giving us twelve different cheeses to try each, everything from strong goats cheese and blue cheese types, through to the softer cheeses that seemed closer to double cream than anything else. Served with some sweet balsamic and some truffle

Pink grapefruit terrine with passionfruit foam, charentais melon sorbet – A light and refreshing way to finish off the meal. The foam sat within a light shell that cracked and melted as you placed it on your tongue. The terrine was more like a jelly but firm and tasty. The melon sorbet hidden underneath the passionfruit foam brought sweetness to balance out the tartness of the passionfruit. Cleansed the palate indeed.

We then finished off the meal with petite fours including a small lemon tart, a chocolate ganache lollipop, chocolate truffle and a passionfruit marshmallow on a chocolate crisp. An amazing way to finish off the meal.

Name: Martin Wishart
Found at: 54 The Shore, Edinburgh, Scotland
Website: http://www.martin-wishart.co.uk/restaurant-martin-wishart/home.aspx

The Breakfast Club

October 31, 2009 Patrick American, British, Brunch, Restaurants, UK

A couple of weeks ago, I had to visit a client working near Old Bond Street. Figuring it’d be a nice way to spend the morning, I thought I’d seek out somewhere to have breakfast before work. I ended up the Soho Breakfast Club. I found it a pleasant surprise indeed.

The Breakfast Club is easily identifiable with an exterior painted brightly in yellow. According to their website they are located in two other parts of London including Shoreditch and Angel. Their interior is exactly how you’d imagine a casual cafe to look, with antiquated tables, slightly rickety chairs and wooden benches. The barista counter confronts you as you walk in but take a seat in order to place your order instead.

I remember it being surprisingly busy for a Thursday morning. Their customers included a wide variety of people, some business people obviously meeting over a coffee, a number of people simply reading their morning paper or reading their email over breakfast. Others, simply off for the morning to have a leisurely breakfast.

The menu offerings are simply and to the point. No larger surprises here including everything from pancakes, the classic english breakfast, cereals, and all other varieties of tea and coffee. I ordered the american style breakfast (basically english but with a small pancake on the side). I thought great value for only about £7 or £8. As it arrived, it definitely was great value as I walked out of there with maple syrup and hot breakfast happiness overwhelming me.

I’m tempted to go on weekends although I know how busy the whole area gets. I’ll definitely go back if I ever get a day in the office.

Name: The Breakfast Club
Location: 33 D’Arblay St, London, W1F 8EU
Website: http://www.thebreakfastclubsoho.com/