Restaurants – Page 23 – TheKua Does Food

Where’s the good coffee? Fleet River Bakery

February 19, 2009 Patrick Restaurants

fleetriverbakery Newly opened and just around the corner from Holborn tube, this new bakery/cafe/coffee store is in a little bit of a hidden part of the very busy area. Good because that means not really lining up for their deliciously made coffee! A bargain at only £1.60 for a takeaway latte, and made with the wonderfully roasted Monmouth coffee beans. Unfortunately they didn’t have decaf when I went along but the normal one was superbly made.

I’m not quite sure what the rest of their offerings are. I saw a number of different breads and pastries and, what looked like, some organic cider (or simply fancy juice?) in their refrigerator. If I happened to be working this area, I’d definitely come back for a morning or lunchtime brew, and check out what else they have to offer.

Name: Fleet River Bakery
Located at: 71 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3JF
Website: http://www.fleetriverbakery.com/

Where’s the good coffee? Lantana

February 10, 2009 Patrick Brunch, Coffee, Restaurants, UK, Where's the good coffee?

I heard about this small cafe from one of Time Out’s suggestions. It’s tucked away in a small pedestrian alleyway just behind where Roka is. My main reason for visiting this cafe was the coffee, although after hitting a big session at the gym, I thought I’d also test out their brunch menu, particularly since there’s not really enough places around that do it well.

In terms of coffee, they offer all the typical offerings although I went for the Flat White since it was on offer, a perfectly dark colour, creamy enough to tantalise the palette without overwhelming the taste buds. Bonus points to them for also automatically serving up a glass of tap water with it – something many other cafes and brunch places fail to do.

For my brunch, I went for something I wouldn’t normally get: Corn Fritters with a poached egg, oven roasted tomatoes, rocket and lime aioli (£8.50). Plenty of other dishes really appealed to me and I’d definitely think about returning although I think it might be a bit nicer in the spring or summer where you can dine at their al fresco tables just not practical in the wintery winds. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the corn fritters although I did enjoy it all. The lime aioli brought a welcome sharpness of the peppery rocket, though the combination of the poached egg and over roasted tomatoes seemed to turn the dish slightly too soggy for my liking.

Name: Lantana
Found at: 13 Charlotte Place Fitzrovia London W1T 1SN
Website: http://scramblingeggs.blogspot.com/
The Good: Thumbs up to awesome coffee, friendly service and an appetising variety of pastries and takeaway foods. Go there!
The Bad: They don’t really have that many tables to sit at. I can’t wait to return in spring though I’m sure I’ll drop in way before then!

The Electric Brasserie

January 24, 2009 Patrick Brunch, Restaurants, UK

I’ve had the Electric Brasserie on my list of places to go for a while, so when I went to catch up with Gerrod and Kristy, I thought it’d be the perfect place to have brunch on a Sunday.

I booked ahead since I knew that it was pretty infamous for long queues, and a very busy front of house. It certainly paid off because we had a comfy table in the back dining room, away from the hustle and bustle of the front counters, and away from all the people gawking at your meal while they wait near the bar.

We sat in one of the corner seats, so we all got a chance to lounge back on the comfy leather sofa whilst we perused the menu. I ordered some coffee while everyone else ordered some orange juice. Service was prompt, definitely not the, in your face you might have suspected. We had a couple of hiccups during the meal, with the first being two coffees and one orange juice arriving instead of the other way around. The other hiccup was that they charged us for the additional coffee, so it’s a good thing we checked the bill.

We ordered our food, with Gerrod getting the eggs benedict (pictured first), Kristy, the pancakes (just above), and myself, the French Toast with a side of bacon (pictured below). The food didn’t take too long to arrive and we were soon tucking in. I think I remember Gerrod raving about the benedict, and Kristy enjoyed the pancakes. Both of their dishes looked really good.

I thought that the toast looked a little bit on the small side, considering my favourite 202 up the road serves it with two large slices. Fortunately combined with the excessively rich maple pecan butter smeared on top, it was plenty to fill me up until dinner time. I didn’t finish the side of bacon, because even “crispy” wasn’t quite as cooked as much as I would have liked.

Name: The Electric Brasserie
Found at : 191 Portobello Road, London, W11 2ED
Website: http://www.electrichouse.com/#/brasserie/electric_brasserie/about_electric_brasserie
The Good: Comfy, enjoyable atmosphere out back away from the heaving crowds waiting out front. Decent food and reasonably priced considering its popularity and location.
The Not So Good: Service was a bit of downer on our particular trip and quite disappointed with the bacon.

The KFC Phenomenon – Bon Chon Chicken

January 21, 2009 Patrick Korean, New York, Restaurants

KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), not the southern Kentucky kind, is taking over the streets of New York, or at least according to the NY Times. Perhaps it’s the twice cooked, Chinese style frying technique that renders the skin super thin and crispy that makes it so appealing. Or perhaps it’s the care and the diligence that they have about only preparing the chicken fresh so everyone can enjoy the hot and aromatic smells.

Since I didn’t get to go to any Korean Fried Chicken joints on my previous trips to New York, I made some effort to have at least a lunch at one of them, and ended up in the Flushings location of Bon Chon Chicken, conveniently located very near to where I was staying with some relatives. Apparently the chicken is more popular at evening time, when people clock off from work and want a few beers which might explain how we were the only people eating here at lunch time. A few people did ring ahead for their takeaway orders since they have the refreshingly strict, only cook to order policy.

A waiter greeted us promptly when we entered, asking us if we’d been here before and gave us some time to peruse the menu. We thought we’d start with a small selection of wings, and pig out on the fries and popcorn shrimp as I’d read about how they seasoned the fries instead of simply pouring salt on them.

Strangely, he delivered the fries and popcorn shrimp first, as if it was an appetiser, although considering how large the serve was, it would have been plenty for lunch for the both of us. Sprinkled liberally with garlic and rosemary, the shrimp and fries were amazingly crisp and super tasty. Combined with three types of dipping sauces (sweet chilli, hot chilli and a tomato ketchup), we cycled through the different sensations as we finished off the large bowl.

Korean Fried Chicken Wings And Drumsticks at Bon Chon Chicken

It wasn’t too shortly after than he brought out the chicken wings and drumsticks, I think a combination of four pieces of each type. They offer a choice of sauces, and in order to trial both of them, ended up having half and half, the first, a sweet garlic soy, and the other, a hot chilli sauce.

I have to admit that the Korean fried chicken impressed me. The skin stayed super crisp for the entire time, with the insides succulent and juice. What sauce they had didn’t overpower the flavour of the chicken, instead adding a different dimension. They also make it so that the sauce isn’t like what you’d have on buffalo chicken wings – a messy covering that ends up everywhere including your hands and your face. Instead, it seemed like a thin-glaze that somehow stayed on the chicken itself to continually make the chicken stand out.

I have to admit I had a hard time trying to decide which one was my favourite flavours out of the two. The garlic soy was slightly sweet, and the perfect balance, neither being too sweet, nor excessively garlicky. The hot sauce, on the other hand, lived true to its name, even to the point it started to make me sweat. The sauce also wasn’t just hot, it had some nice flavours and I appreciated the fact that the sauce brought on a continual heat, rather than the mustard or wasabi inspired instantaneous hit you might expect.

After our meal, a very reasonable price as well, I can understand why it’s becoming more and more popular. KFC is not a fast food to be taken lightly. It’s a different spin on something very classic and manages to deliver in surprising ways.

Name: Bon Chon Chicken
Found at: 157-18 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354
Website: http://www.bonchon.com/
The Good: Crisp, amazingly fresh flavours and a unique twist on the classic fried chicken. This location is also a nice place to hang out, having been renovated recently and looking pretty stylish.
The Not So Good: Don’t be fooled by their website describing their chicken as healthy. It may not have as much coating to soak oil up, but fried chicken is still fried chicken.

Tapas at Alta

January 18, 2009 Patrick New York, Restaurants, Tapas

alta On my yearly catch up with Mike in New York, he arranged for us to visit an updated tapas place in the village called Alta. When you walk in, many people chose to eat the bar even though there are tables at the back. Since Mike booked, we were lucky to have one of the tables upstairs, and with an open view of the floor below us, was a really great place to perch for dinner.

The interesting thing about their menu is that it’s not classic moorish food, instead drawing upon a large variety of flavours. We ended up picking three to four dishes each to share, and got to enjoy a mouthful of each dish. Some of my more favourite dishes included the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Grilled Chorizo Wrapped Gulf Shrimp, Pulled Pork Empanadas, and the Squid Ink Paella. Best of all they also had some amazing desserts including a trio of donuts each filled with a different flavour (chocolate hazelnut ganache, apricot lavender jam, and cardamom cream).

Between the five of us I think we ended up paying US$50 (including tax and tip) though we only had a bottle of sparkling water and two cocktails.

Name: Alta
Location: 64W 10th Street, NYC, 10011
Website: http://altarestaurant.com
The Good: Interesting variety of tapas. Nice spacing around the tables. They even offer a deal where you can order everything on the menu, though you’d want a larger group!
The Bad: Too many dishes to choose from

Manhattan’s Max Brenner

January 17, 2009 Patrick Dessert, New York, Restaurants

With some additional time to kill and some chocolate cravings, we decided to head to Union Square to try out Max Brenner’s. I’d heard about them in Sydney, and saw the store last time I was in Manhattan but couldn’t quite justify having a meal there. It’s location near Union Square is fairly large and definitely popular and even at 4pm seemed to be heaving with people having late lunches or just there for dessert.

Looking around, one of their most popular dishes seemed to be the fondue that included a flaming pot to allow you to “roast” marshmallows and other items that arrive with the hot chocolate pot. The two of us tried half a chocolate pizza (pictured above), though a quarter of it (for both of us) would have been enough. Imagine a light pizza base, smothered with chocolate sauce and then topped with hot chocolate marshmallows. Indulgent? Absolutely, and it was far too sweet for me.

They have some funky mugs like the hug me, and for iced drinks, the bizarrely shaped Alice mug with the words “drink me” on them. They also do other foods that you can follow up with the chocolate menus but given the desserts, they’re probably rich enough by themselves.

Name: Max Brenner
Location: 141 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
Website: http://www.maxbrenner.com/
The Good: Lots of interesting flavour combinations involving tons of chocolate. A nicely decorated store, airy with plenty of tables. Our waitress was excellent, even informing us that our pizza was still taking some time. Even have some cafe tables for those just wanting a dreamy hot chocolate.
The Not So Good: The round shapes of the room make for some very awkwardly positioned tables. Many of them crammed in right next to each other where you have to shift the table to the left or right unless you’re stick thin (which you definitely won’t be at the end of the meal)

Excess Serendipity

January 16, 2009 Patrick Dessert, New York, Restaurants

I’ve never had a chance to go to Serendipity 3 though it seems to be one of those places people want to go. They’re in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s most expensive dessert (something we didn’t try).

We arrived fairly late in the day and therefore missed the lunchtime rush crowd that apparently results in a long queue, indicative of that it’s one of the current “trends” in New York. The two of us even got to sit at a four person table, almost simply needed to peruse the larger-than-chest-size menu of offerings. Of course, you could have lunch here with plenty of sandwiches, salads and things to share. Well we were here to have dessert in the form of their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Had I known how big it was, we would have shared a single one instead of both getting one although we would have had to get something to meet the $8 minimum order each. Topped with cream (which we both forgot to ask not to have), it was huge, as you can see for yourself in the picture above. How was it? Pretty good although I had to fight one of those ice cream headaches at more than one point, eager to taste it. You can tell that they use a hot chocolate powder, since it has that slightly gritty texture to it. Plentiful, sweet and definitely tasty, was it worth it the $8.50. Just this once.

Name: Serendipity3
Location: 225 E60th Street, NYC, 10022
Website: http://www.serendipity3.com
The Good: Kitsch decore make it an interesting place to sit. Frozen hot chocolate huge!
Not So Good: Waiters could have told us about the serving size. Can be busy at times

King of Katsu (Katsuhama)

January 14, 2009 Patrick Japanese, New York, Restaurants

Katsuhama is a hidden gem just off the main tourist drag not to mention busy-as business strip, Fifth Avenue. It’s a Japanese restaurant that focuses on the golden panko-crumbed portions of food.

They have a small take away section also with but the best part is inside either near the sushi bar or at the many small tables. The menu is simple with different set menus or classic variations including katsu curry and katsu don(buri).

Our waiter, not Japanese, took our order without even writing down so we were sceptical about whether or not he would get it right. Almost immediately we were served a bowl of miso soup, I think, that was complimentary. Strangely I got a second bowl without even asking, I think because a waiter thought I wanted some more.

Soon after we were done with the soup they soon brought out our meals, mine being the assorted katsu including a huge prawn, pork, chicken and a crab meat croquette. All of the fried items sat atop a small wire rack, alongside a large heap of cabbage that you dress with the sesame dressing that sits at the table. Complete with a small bowl of lovely Japanese white rice and the dark katsu sauce provides for a very filling meal.

Service was prompt with fresh green tea for free arriving immediately when we sat down. They also seemed to have plenty of excess salad with a waiter serving up a whole bunch more as soon as I had the last remnants in my mouth. I couldn’t even say no as he was too quick at plating it.

If you’re craving katsu, this is a great place and although slightly disappointed with the pork that was a little too dry, both the prawn and chicken kutlets were simply stunning!

Name: Katsu-hama
Location: 11 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017
Website: http://www.katsuhama.com/
The Good: Katsu perfection! What it does, it does well.
The Not So Good: Can be particularly crowded or crammed in.

Sushi Samba in the Village

January 11, 2009 Patrick Japanese, New York, Restaurants

My cousin told us about Sushi Samba last time, a restaurant serving food inspired by Brazilian-Japanese fusions. Apparently we have something like this in London, though I’d never heard of it before and apparently the combination of flavours isn’t particularly common since many Japanese people moved to Brazil. We went along to the one located in Greenwich Village, a brightly lit room with a sushi bar located in the centre, radiating out to the tables lined up against the wall.

We sat at a table almost right next to the bar, a good vantage point for looking out at the rest of the restaurant. It wasn’t particularly busy for a weekday, and apparently they have a rooftop open in the summer, something that’s both ideal and no doubt completely packed out on warm summer weekends.

I started with two appetisers, unable to resist the temptation of the tempura rock shrimp. My last memory of rock shrimp was at Nobu, and at Morimoto, both served tempura-style, then covered in a sweet, slightly tangy and slightly spicy chilli sauce and since rock shrimp seem to only be farmed off the coast of Maine, so I thought that while I was in the states, I should enjoy it while I can. When it arrived, presentation was superb, and although the tempura batter more of a light flouring than it was a light batter, it still let the rock shrimp texture and flavour come through.

I also tried the lobster ceviche at the waitress’ recommendation and because I know that the market price for lobster is particularly reasonable at the moment with decreased demand and the normal farming levels. When it arrived, it almost looked like a whole lobster, with plenty of meat and fairly well dissected already that meant extracting all the flesh with chopsticks wasn’t too difficult. The sauce covering was light and spicy, giving enough heat and tanginess to highlight the sweet sublime flesh. Both dishes were pretty decent serves, particularly considering these were only appetisers, and I almost regretted ordering the two sushi rolls for the entree.

Fortunately I didn’t regret ordering the sushi rolls, the first a Samba 7 roll (crispy lobster, scallion, cucumber, celery, jalapeño with wasabi-chimichurri dipping sauce) and then the daily special roll (kobe beef plus several other ingredients). Both rolls provided some interesting contrast with a bite of the Samba 7 bringing texture, crunch and undertones of heat through the wasabi-chimichurri dipping sauce, with the daily special roll bringing some smokiness and delicately strong flavours from the kobe beef.

Out of the many more fancy restaurants I’d visited on this trip to New York, I think that Sushi Samba definitely served the best food, delighting in flavour, presentation and general value. It’s got great atmosphere and the service was fairly good throughout the night. The restrooms are a little bit confusing, almost maze-like downstairs, and yes, unfortunately, they also had a person helping you out with soap and towels.

Name: Sushi Samba
Located at: Various location. We went to 87 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014
Website: http://www.sushisamba.com/
The Good: Interesting flavour combinations, quality presentation and great tasting food.
The Not So Good: A small reception might leave some of your party waiting in the cold. Confusing restrooms.

New York’s Buddha Bar

January 9, 2009 Patrick Asian, New York, Restaurants

Sometimes reading other people’s reviews don’t really help, case in point with those yelp reviews for Manhattan’s Buddha Bar. It’s located in the now trendy meat packing district, and even though it’s entrance is non-descript, with only glass doors marked with a simple name, the doorman and the parking zone outside gives itself away.

Inside, a further set of doors welcomes the visitor and we see the semblance of the queues that we’d read about. Fortunately we had a earlier booking that let us enjoy the food without too much of the fuss. I’m definitely not one of those people impressed by having to queue for my dinner. Beyond the next set of doors you a rounded corridor with a set of smaller Buddha statues leading you to the reception beyond which, the dining room opens up. The dining room itself is dark and cavernous with low lowlighting, and a small light behind the almost ceiling tall Buddha shadowing the back wall. To the reception’s left is the bar when trendy Manhattanites preen and a sushi bar located all the way to the right, complete with slowly drifting jellyfish lit up just as dimly as the rest of the room.

We sat down at our table, noting how spacious it all seemed since we weren’t crammed right next to the table beside us. It helps that this building is a converted warehouse so their extra high ceilings help keep it airy. It also means we aren’t subjected to the conversations of the tables around us, instead turning into simply background noise. As we made our way to the table we noted a huge number of staff simply standing around. This meant that completed dishes were whisked away quickly, new settings laid and their expensive (US$8!) bottled Voss water continually got topped up.

It wasn’t long before our waiter arrived asking if we would like drinks though we’d hardly had a chance to look at the menu. The menu looked fairly reasonable with, what is best called pan Asian rather than fusion. I started with the smoked ribs, asking about whether the smoky chipotle ribs on the main menu were better. He recommended starting with the ribs and trying their rib eye, a small piece considering this is both the US and the price. The ribs, definitely with some spicy kick weren’t the softest that I’d had though I still managed to clean them off with my knife and fork. The steak, on the other hand, was soft and slightly overcooked (medium well instead of the medium rare I’d asked for), served on a particularly sweet bed of some sort of onion relish tasting dish, and some other vegetables. I finished off with a small chocolate cake, though apparently the thai panna cotta was particularly good.

We noted that as time progressed, even on a Saturday night, the whole place didn’t yet seem to be heaving with plenty of empty tables around us. We did note, however, that the music continued to increase in intensity and we were glad to leave before it got too deafening.

It wasn’t a particularly cheap evening out, adding in the cost of bottled water, slightly overpriced food (mandated by the atmosphere), coat check-in and the towel person you need to tip in the restrooms. On the upside, we had a great waiter, friendly without being over the top and in your face, and the food was much better than I had expected (though nothing particularly memorable).

Name: Buddha Bar NYC
Found at : 25 Little West Street, New York, NY, 10014
Website: http://www.buddhabarnyc.com
The Good: One of the “trendy” places to be in New York attracts a wide assortment of characters. It’s large and spacious for a Manhattan bar/restaurant and definitely has a great atosphere.
The not so good: Food and drink overpriced for what you get.