A Golden Day in London

Patrick Asian, Restaurants, UK

There seems to be an explosion of Northern Chinese cuisine popping up all over London. One of the newest replaces Shaftsbury Avenue’s Chinese Experience with a new one called Golden Day. Like many of the new northern Chinese restaurants, their menu is a comprehensive photographic journey through the feasts on offer. It’s a good thing too because many of them are unusual sounding and strange dishes. Like any good restaurant, based on the sampling of dishes that we ordered, they also did a great job keeping them as close to the pictures.

The picture above contains Chicken with Chillis and Wood ear mushrooms. Unlike one of my most favourite Northern Chinese dish, the chicken with sichuan peppers, this one was cooked in a spicy, saucy broth, slowly reducing over the a live flame at the table. The wood ear mushrooms, one of the least spicy dishes on the menu provided a nice cool complement to the meal.

The other star of the meal was the Aubergine dish. Surrounded by bok choi, this well presented dish covered a salty, slightly spiced aubergine that was unimaginably delicious. We weren’t even rushed out of the restaurant like many other Chinese restaurants and tea promptly filled at regular intervals.

Name: Golden Day
Found at: 118-120 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5EP
Website: (none found)

Where’s the good coffee? The Table Cafe

Patrick Aussie, Brunch, Coffee, Restaurants, UK, Where's the good coffee?

Although I didn’t come here specifically for the coffee, I do have to rate it fairly highly for using Monmouth beans and for well trained baristas who know how to make a mean flat white. I first tried this place out for breakfast one morning, noting that it was open from 7:30am for breakfast during the week (convenient since my client is almost opposite the building). A wonderful place to keep in mind is that it’s also open on weekends from 8:30am for brunch!

Timeout listed this as a great cheap eat and I’d definitely have to second that motion for providing fantastic food in a buzzing atmosphere. Their interior is designed for a number of communal benches and an order-at-the-front style although the modern dining and large glass walls help keep the place feeling modern and comfortable. I liked the fact that it seemed like a trust based system – a customer buys a bowl of porridge and they go over to a separate place to help themselves to the porridge and appropriate toppings. Very inviting indeed.

Thinking I was taking my team out for breakfast one morning, I thought I’d test it out that day. Considering that, at the time of this writing, their eggs benedict (for 2!) was only £6.85, I really started asking myself what was wrong with that.

As you can see above, not very much, although this variant was done with bacon more so than ham (something I definitely prefer anyway). The toasted muffin was light and crisp and eggs perfectly poached with plenty of runny yolk. Fantastic value and something that, I’m happy to report, several of my team members also enjoyed when we returned here the following week. They also do a mean lunch for pretty decent value but it’s bustling all the time so I’d recommend going early.

Name: The Table Cafe
Found at: 83 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0HX
Website: http://www.thetablecafe.com/
Twitter: @thetablecafe

This first visit was the 8 April, 2010

American Diner Breakfasts in London

Patrick American, Brunch, Restaurants, UK

Sunday is a great time to do brunch although I had a challenge on my hand when the friends I met said, let’s do it at 10:30am. If it were any city in Australia, this wouldn’t be a problem but for some reason London tends to be rather sleepy on a Sunday morning. In fact, I spoke to someone who’d yet to see any Sunday mornings for the last two months. In an endeavour to go down my list of places-for-brunch, I found that Automat opened early enough (according to their website, 10am).

I arrived slightly before 10:30am, and besides one other small table, the whole place was pretty empty. Having booked ahead, they mentioned there would be a two hour turn around although I’m assuming this was a standard warning since it wasn’t particularly busy when we left, nor did we feel rushed.

Their interior is loosely split into three areas, the front reception area made up of small cafe-style tables, a middle section filled with leather bound booth style seating (which we sat in) and a sky-light lit dining area made up of more cafe-style tables. As much as an American diner as it felt, it certainly oozed a lot more charm than one you’d expect to enter if you were in the States. It was particularly fitting considering the area it sat in.

Their brunch menu did all the classic American diner breakfasts (waffles, pancakes, french toast) and merged in with more of their interesting American style lunch foods including Mac and Cheese, Smoked Brisket Rolls and “Po Boy” Sandwiches. I decided to go with the Canadian stack, or rather a made up version by ordering the Buttermilk Pancakes with maple syrup and blueberries (£10) with a side of bacon (£4)

Their pancake stack contained three fluffy and very filling pancakes and their bacon was cooked perfectly crisp but still had plenty of flavour. Plenty of maple syrup decorated the plate without making it excessively sickly sweet. The coffee (latte) was reasonable though nothing to call home about (too milky) although bonus points for the freshly squeezed orange juice (you get what you pay for (I think it was £4).

Service was polite although not particularly attentive when we finally wanted the bill at the end. I’d return for a breakfast although with their menu, I’d be more interested in sampling something different on their lunch or dinner menu.

Name: Automat
Found at: 33 Dover Street, London W1S 4NF
Website: http://www.automat-london.com/

This visit was on Sunday 11 April

Saf Restaurant

Patrick Restaurants, UK, Vegetarian

I’ve heard great things about Saf and based on our dining experience there on Tuesday, lives up to its reputation. I know that they recently opened another branch elsewhere in London although hoping this won’t reduce the attention to detail on what they offer. Saf does vegetarian and raw food although doesn’t do anything near bland or ordinary flavours.

I sat at the bar with a friend whilst waiting for the rest of our companions to join us for dinner. The drinks menu includes a whole range of interesting cocktail recipes, made with their home made flavour infusions all focused on in season ingredients and focused on organic foods. The drinks were not only strong but just like the food, packed full of flavour. Their wine menu is interesting and I’m happy to report many a vegan or vegetarian person doesn’t need to think twice about drinking any of them.

The weather was still fairly nice from the glorious sunny weekend and so we sat outside with a number of other diners in their courtyard. Whilst deciding on what to have, we started with some chilli edamame (pictured below) and some cooked mushrooms, both amazingly packed with flavour. I’m not normally a fan of edamame (who needs more salt in their diet!) but these chilli coated ones had enough punch to give you a slight tingle without an overpowering fire taking away from the bean. Definitely very more-ish.

We all decided on having an appetiser and all the vegetarians at the table exclaimed at how much choice there was – explaining that in other restaurants, there’s normally one or two things to choose from. Of course it wasn’t surprising how long it took for us to decide on what to have. I ended up with their Saf Tacos (Chipotle, Guacamole, Tomato & Pineapples Salsas) for £8.25. Their tacos were a trio, filled with a various of differently flavoured salsas and packed plenty of flavour. I suspect the chipotle actually went into the tacos shells, giving it that slightly heated smokey flavour.

I think four of us picked the Aromatic Thai curry (aubergine, snake beans, okra and brown rice) for £13.75. The curry arrived separately from the rice and it seemed much more like a soup than a curry with plenty of liquid floating around. We weren’t sure if this was a normal state because they didn’t even bring us a spoon until towards the end of our meal. Nevertheless, the curry was packed full of flavour and even the “fishing” for vegetables with our fork seemed to be highly entertaining in a bowl that constantly threatened to spill over its lower edge.

Unfortunately I think we hit Saf in between seasons, or just on a bad night because when it came to dessert, out of the six items on offer, we could only really choose from two of them. Everyone else when for the chocolate tart, where I went for the lighter sorbets (scoop of mango and another of passionfruit). I was surprised at how large the scoops were when the arrived and helped to finish off a wonderful meal.

At the end of the meal, we all commented on how full we felt from something you wouldn’t expect to keep you full and also a round of appreciations went around for the complex flavour profiles. Eating at Saf you will end up paying just as much as any other meal, but I do think you’ll feel better for it.

Name: Saf Restaurant & Bar
Found at: 152-154 Curtain Road – Shoreditch London EC2A 3AT
Website: http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/
Twitter: @safrestaurant

Gil’s Diner

Patrick Aussie, Melbourne, Restaurants

I love Melbourne for all the little alleyways hiding amazing locations. All it takes to find them is a little exploring or knowing someone who knows where to go. A friend took me to Gil’s Diner, a little place located just off a side street off Collins Street. I’d walked past there during the day, discounting it as a little cafe without much going on at night. Boy was I wrong. Instead, it was quite the opposite with tables filling up quickly until the whole restaurant was full.

Their menu changes daily I assume because its written up on a chalk board. Unfortunately we were sitting on a side wall where it was very difficult to see the menu. Our waiter recited a very impressive specials list including almost all ingredients that went into each of the dishes. After doing some reading, it looks like these guys are champions of local produce and good on them for that. This not only means in season ingredients with low travel but the food is going to taste all the better for it.

picture of RobustProter

They have a decent selection of wine and beer including many beers from local breweries. This one was a Robust Porter, a dark, chocolatey beer. Delicious!

We started with a little bit of bruschetta – not that it was any particular type. This was no ordinary one including some mushrooms, parmesan and roasted zucchini served on a sour dough bread.

The main course, I went the cassoulet, a white bean stew including three types of meat – a home made Toulouse sausage, a pork belly dish, and some other meat that I don’t remember. The pork belly was a little bit tougher than it really should have been although the soft texture of the sausage really made up for that.

Almost full, I still decided to go for their dessert – figuring I won’t be back here for a while. I’m really glad that I did as well. I went for the steamed orange pudding with yogurt ice cream. The perfect tart coldness provided that stark contrast to the sweet, steaming cake moist with orange flavours. It was just the right size as well.

Service was great throughout the evening. Some of the tables were communal but they don’t try to pack you right next to each other. We had a huge lamp providing us with plenty of privacy for our conversations. Their semi-open kitchen was also great to look at. This place also seemed to have no problems seating solo diners as I noticed when we first go there and when we left.

Name: Gil’s Diner
Found at: Gills Al (Off Little Collins St) (rear of 360 Little Collins St), Melbourne 3000 VIC, Australia
Website: (none that I could find)

Degraves Espresso

Patrick Aussie, Coffee, Melbourne, Restaurants

Degraves Espresso, just like its namesake can be found on Degraves Street, a bustling side alley way that seems to be a main thoroughfare for those going through Flinders Street Station. The mornings I walked through this street, it always seemed one of the busier ones.

Degraves Espresso

Order at the counter for a takeaway coffee, or if you’re lucky to nab one of the tables inside the store, where someone comes along to take your order from their daily chalkboard menu. For those inclined to dine or drink coffee al fresco, they’ve also got plenty of outdoor seating to enjoy at your leisure. Both areas seemed to be constantly busy all the time.

Bench View

I’m often made conscious, sitting at tables with larger capacity than needed when dining on my own but they surprised me by not even blinking when I took a four seater rather than the rather cramped-looking solo bench (pictured above). I ordered the fruit toast that came along with Marscapone Cream and some honey (although I’m not quite sure it really needed the honey with the fruit adding plenty of sweetness). Perhaps the idea was to cut through the tartness of the cream but then I though the toast was fine.

I have to admit I think this fruit toast was most disappointing. It seemed to be very good quality – the denseness of the toast and the plumpness of the fruit. It reminded me of the fruit loaf I’ve bought from St Johns before. Unfortunately type of toast takes a long time to toast properly, not really suited for their fast burning grill where the outside sugars caramelise too quickly without the heat getting inside. The result? Toast charred on the edges and barely warmed throughout without any of the crispness one would expect from toast.

Flat White at Degraves Espresso

Fortunately the coffee helped save the breakfast from going wrong. Look at this latte art for instance. Nice crema and the perfectly formed milk leaf in the top. Care and pride. All up though I think it was a pretty expensive combination for a coffee and fruit toast (AU$10). Given all the other places in Melbourne, I wasn’t tempted to try it again.

Name: Degraves Coffee
Found at: 23 Degraves Street, Melbourne, Australia
Website: (none that I could find)

Gunshop Cafe

Patrick Brisbane, Brunch, Restaurants

Brisbane does the Sunday breakfast/brunches much better than London does. Perhaps it has something to do with the lovely weather and the fact that Brisbane is an early morning town. One of my favourites (and there are many in Brisbane) is the Gunshop Cafe. On weekends, it’s one of those places that almost always has a line and since they don’t take bookings, it’s worth coming early if you are coming with a big group. Since I was meeting 7 other people (kids included), we decided to go as early as possible, when they open up at 7am… on a Saturday. Fortunately I was staying really centrally but even I haven’t been used to getting up as early as this any more.

Although West End was very quiet, a number of the cafes were already dotted with people and the Gunshop Cafe was starting to fill up. There are many reasons this place was recently voted Australia’s best cafe. For one thing, they really don’t rush you – it was lovely to take a while to catch up with everyone who turned up (Hamish, Kate & Amaya, Paul, Michelle & Ethan, and Matt) and they didn’t even try to get us off the table. The food is always excellent with at least three items off the menu I couldn’t decide between.

I’m glad to see that the place is continuing to provide great service and fantastic food to the people of Brisbane. It’s a great example of a wonderful cafe lifting the standards in the area and it really shows with some great looking cafes surrounding it. I will miss the opportunity to go back on weekends but I know it’ll be there the next time I come back.

Name: The Gunshop Cafe
Website: http://www.thegunshopcafe.com/
Found at: 53 Mollison St, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia

Brisbane’s Cloudland

Patrick Aussie, Brisbane, Restaurants

Cloudland is the oasis that sits in the ever changing Fortitude Valley, providing a distinctly different bar and dining experience to those venues sitting around it. During the day, their exterior shows rows of rings, each growing their very own potplant that I will imagine add to the jungle-scaped interior.

As you can see from the photo above, the interior is intricately detailed, with a set of booths upstairs for the casual drinkers and the tables and booths downstairs for the people watching diners. They have an extensive cocktail list (with accompanying prices) although their menu also looks really great combining Australian produce definitely influenced by asian spices and flavours.

The dish above is the Humpty Doo Barramundi. According to their website, it was served with spring onions poached in
red chili butter, Mooloolaba spanner crab & ginger fritter, five spice and wakame spinach, carrot & daikon pickle (AU$34.90).

I ordered a couple of Australian oysters shucked yet served with their entire shell and served fresh with lovely zesty lemon juice. They tasted exactly as they should, fresh and of the ocean without any strange after tastes. The citrus notes cutting through, adding yet another dimension to some fresh seafood flavours.

Looking back at the photos, I thought the above dish was a beef fillet, but then I remembered it must have been the Moya Valley Chicken, “Free range ‘Moya Valley’ chicken roulade, Bowral tunnel mushrooms, Ajo Blanco, flat parsley gremoulata, tarragon jus, confit of shallots, garlic & smoked pork belly” at AU$28.90.

I had the Reef and Beef option, that included a perfectly cooked steak and a huge lobster ravioli. To be honest, I definitely had some trouble finishing this meal and we couldn’t finish the accompanying side of cooked greens that we shared between us all. I can’t even remember the price but I’m guessing it would have been around AU$40. The food was very well seasonsed, all elements very well balanced and I remember leaving Cloudland a very happy person.

I’m glad to see venues like this crop up in Brisbane. Though I question how sustainable they will be, it’s nice to see a few more interesting dining and bar options open up.

Name: Cloudland
Website: http://www.cloudland.tv
Found at: 641 Ann St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006, Australia

Regatta Boatshed

Patrick Aussie, Brisbane, Restaurants, Steak

The Regatta is a bit of a Brisbane institute – it used to literally be an old boat shed until it got turned into a pub and became a regular scene for the UQ crowd of students. When I lived in Brisbane, it underwent a renovation and turned the outdoor boatshed into a more upmarket steakhouse with the rest of the venue a bit more of a nicer pub. I caught up with some new and old workmates working in Brisbane where we had a couple of drinks before settling in for dinner.

What’s really nice about the place is that the CityCat (think Brisbane river public transport) now drops you off literally right in front of it. This is definitely the best way of getting to the Regatta from the city if you’re not in a rush.

The menu actually provides a lot of choice but I think their best dishes are the fish or the steak. Despite having steak for lunch that day (another post to come) I couldn’t resist ordering one of their nice Australian grass-fed steaks. The picture above (click it for a larger picture) is the 300g eye fillet ($39.50) that also includes a number of sides (mine with salad, steak fries and bernaise sauce).

Service was a little on the slow side although they did well we turned up with 18 hungry mouths without a booking and they still managed to seat us (barely) and serve us drinks. The steak (cooked medium rare) was wonderfully juicy with that delicious char on the outside. The bernaise sauce, a little bit on the thicker side than I’d like but served with the super fresh crisp salad and perfectly cooked steak fries went down a treat.

As you can see we didn’t have any problems with the venue, although I was surprised by how quiet it was for a Thursday night around this area. You can see us being one of the last ones to leave (photo taken sometime around midnight) – they turn down the lights and start rolling up the boatshed doors.

Name: The Boatshed @ Regatta Hotel
Website: http://www.regattahotel.com.au/
Address: 543 Coronation Drive Toowong QLD 4064, Australia

Dinner at Suan Lum Night Markets

Patrick Asian, Bangkok, Restaurants, Thai

On the very first night I got to Bangkok, I knew that I had to stay up as late as possible to beat the jetlag you get from travelling eastward. Fortunately Bangkok has plenty of things to do at night time, including their famous Suan Lum Night Market. I was staying very close to the Asoke BTS and it was ridiculously easy to get the night markets, catching an underground metro where you get off at Lumphini where the markets sit pretty much right outside.

Unlike many other outdoor markets, these ones tend to centre around a number of buildings that don’t move, instead roller doors opening to reveal most of the contents of each of the market stalls. On one side of the market (I discovered much later) they have an open seating food court-like dining plaza where you “buy” food currency and exchange them for the food items with the ability of refunding any food currency you don’t use. It’s a practical way of ensuring the money is collected centrally and you still get some variety.

Ending up much hungrier, I ended up at a food stall that was on the other side of the market – the cafe was also open air and noticed a mix of tourists and locals eating here. I don’t actually remember catching the name of the place but it’s directly opposite the restaurant hosting the puppet theatre show. They did have menus in English although I already knew what I wanted – the famous Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodle). The waiter asked me if it’s okay hot, and I instantly replied – of course.

I also ordered a large Chang beer because it seemed to be the local beer of choice and it was ridiculously hot and steamy I thought would make a good accompaniment for the noodle dish. I also got to choose the type of noodle (flat rice noodle vs egg noodle) and the type of meat. It wasn’t long before the dish arrived. As you can see above it was full of fresh Thai basil, loads of chilli and fresh peppercorns. It also definitely packed a lot of heat with the first mouthful turning on an instant fire. Deliciously spicy but not uncomfortably so.

The best part about it was that I spent about THB140 for the entire meal – not even GBP3.