Fine Dining Indian at Rasoi

Patrick Indian, Michelin Starred, Restaurants, UK

Last year we managed to nab a 50% discount off a tasting course at the Michelin-starred Rasoi. It’s tucked down a small alleyway, a few streets away from Sloane Square tube. From the outside, it looks more like someone’s home than a restaurant and it feels similar when you step in where they take your coat and welcome you to the restaurant. Only a small, almost unnoticeable sign hangs in the distant and I’d recommend you map it out before you get there, otherwise you miss it.

We’re shown to our table, fortunately by the window in what really should be someone’s front room. The down lights are dimmed to an almost ridiculously low level and I apologise in advance for any blurry images in the post below. I’m glad I brought the bigger camera, as the poor iPhone really wouldn’t have been able to cope. Even as it were, I was shooting at maximum (1600) ISO and had to try to keep the camera really steady.

They presented us with the two tasting menu options. Being an Indian restaurant, vegetarians are very well catered for and we could have opted for that. Not tonight. Whilst we waited on the first course, we had some fried paneer, poppadoms and chutney. They had topped the paneer with a lovely spicy dollop of something, and the typical coriander sauce and chutney were welcome additions to the crisply fried thins.

Our first course soon arrived. Apparently fried rice cakes served with sambar. This dish seemed inspired by the idli dish that I remember so well from Bangalore. The “fried” factor was pretty much zero as there was no crispiness, instead each rice cake surrounded by chilli spice. The sambar was a lentil soup, had deep flavours and a good background heat to it. A good start to the course.

We then had lamb two ways, the first being minced lamb and lentils. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the texture, almost reminding me of an excessively minced meat – an almost liver-like texture. The lamb kebab however was wonderfully flavoured. Plenty of smoke and chilli with deep flavours.

The next dish really surprised, a tomato “makhni” ice cream sitting atop a wild mushroom and truffle oil laced khichdi. This dish reminded me of an Italian mushroom risotto, although obviously influenced by Indian flavours. What was amazing was the contrasts here. Ice cold ice cream stayed perfectly formed for the entire dish, separated from the hot bed by a rice cracker. Spiciness kicking in only to be contrasted by the umami-rich truffle and mushroom tones. Definitely a winning dish.

We then had the gunpowder sea bass, curry leaf potatoes, beetroot moilee sauce and a coconut chutney. Although this dish was very beautifully presented and very flavoursome, it seemed a tad confused and overwhelming. Too many contrasting components that would have been fine.

A cleanser round of a melon and black pepper sorbet. Interesting combo as both flavours were quite strong.

By this stage, we were both pretty full and had expected our dessert round. How wrong we were when they presented this beautiful dish topped with a dome full of smoke. They removed the dome to uncover a chicken tikka, aubergine caviar, dal sauce and potatoes. I’m a big fan of aubergine and my only criticism of this was that the “caviar” texture didn’t really come through, so they really might as well have called it mash. The chicken tikka was amazingly tender, moist and full of flavour and a great combination of textures and flavours that really balanced out.

Normally Indian desserts are excessively sweet, so was a bit hesitant about the final course. Fortunately there’s a reason they have a star rating from the Michelin guide. We had a “Chocomosa” – a samosa filled with almond, white and dark chocolate and a fresh rose-petal vanilla bean ice cream. This was the perfect way to finish the meal as the samosa wasn’t as heavy as it could have been and the ice cream very refreshing.

Service was great – they topped up our tap water constantly and there was no pushing of other drinks (we did have a mango lassi with dinner as well).

Name: Rasoi
Found at: 10 Lincoln Street, London, SW3 2DT
Website at: http://www.rasoi-uk.com/

Prinz Myshkin Vegetarian Haven in Munich

Patrick Munich, Restaurants, Vegetarian

A haven from all the other restaurants in Munich that serve heavier, meatier cuisines, Prinz Myshkin is a welcome find suggested to me by a former colleague, Gregor Hohpe, who I caught up with at dinner. He happens to be German, and vegetarian and so I was happy to go with his first recommendation of this place.

It’s a surprisingly large restaurant made up of two great rooms easily catering to probably about one hundred people. On a Monday night it was reasonably busy though nowhere near full capacity yet. Impressive. On first impressions it wouldn’t be what you’d imagine as a vegetarian restaurant with a long bar stretching almost the entire length of the dining room, showcasing a decadent array of desserts and cakes at one end.

My dining companion was running a little late so I had plenty of time to peruse the menu. Firstly there’s an overwhelming amount of options that span quite a number of cuisines. Everything from Italian, to German adaptations with mock meat and fleeting visits to the far east. These wide variety of options in a normal restaurant concern me as they did here. Normally doing such a wide variety of tastes means that nothing is very spectacular and everything very average. Fortunately I turned out to be wrong for in this case.

We started with a tomato mozzarella sharing plate. A generous serving which I forgot to take a picture of. I ended up ordering the truffle gratin. Strong flavours and a hearty dish to counteract the heavy cold lightly dotted with snow.

To lighten the dish, it came along with a very nicely dressed side salad that had some sort of nut dressing, adding another dimension to the otherwise already umami-rich truffle gratin. A good complement and really tasty.

When we hit desserts, we had a look at the menu and once again, the wide breadth of options made me a bit concerned. Apparently there’s a saying that the you’re not in a true Bavarian restaurant unless their dessert offerings is at least half the size of the main course. From the number of cakes, puddings and desserts, I guess this definitely qualified. I couldn’t really make up my mind. My friend ordered this asian inspired tiramisu, using bright red berries, yuzu cream and layered in a foo-foo glass tier.

Since I was in the heart of Bavaria, I thought I would go with the more classic option of an appel streusel with vanilla ice cream.

Thank goodness the ice cream was proper and none of this weird, pretend vegan stuff. It was a very hearty portion as well, that I ended up leaving a significant amount after having my fill of it. The apple was well cooked, but still firm, studded with lots of spicy and with the appropriate layers of pastry folded as is the way for a streusel from this area (it’s isn’t any apple crumble style here!).

Service was great – not rushed, polite and away from the typical haughty German service infamous in many other restaurants. The waiters did a good job of entertaining my attempts of German and kindly answered only in German. A great find and one I’ll be returning to next time I’m in Munich.

Name: Prinz Myshkin
Website: http://www.prinzmyshkin.com/en
Found at: Hackenstraße 2, 80331 München, Germany

Pork Knuckle at Haxnbauer

Patrick German, Munich, Restaurants

German food is well known for being meat heavy, and if you’re in Bavaria this becomes even more of the truth. One of the places recommended by my work colleagues was a place very well known for its pork knuckle, a large hunk of meat including a very crispy pork skin, almost as if it’s been deep fried. I try not to think of it, preferring that they have lovingly roasted it with their special spit roast (visible in the window) until its been perfectly cooked.

Haxnbauer is a place well known for its pork knuckle, where the service is German-brusque. They got my order wrong, bringing me first veal instead of the pork, and where the waiter literally threw it down in front of me. My very helpful German colleagues helped clear up the situation and eventually I was brought another dish, although the waiter continued to give our group the very rough service.

Fortunately the pork was really good. Crisp, meaty and served with some great sauerkraut and lots of mustard to help cut through the greasiness of the dish. We were all a bit full from that to order a full dessert but ordered a few to share amongst the table.

Name: Haxnbauer
Website: http://www.kuffler.de/en/muenchen/haxnbauer/index.php
Found at: Haxnbauer im Scholastikahaus, Sparkassenstraße, 80331 München

Launceston Place

Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

One of the places I’ve been meaning to go to for a long time is Launceston Place. Though never been awarded a michelin star, this place is one of those ones foodies rave about and can’t believe has missed out on any awards. Located in the a very neighbourhood-ly part of the city just a short walk away from High Street Kensington you walk into a lobby and are immediately greeted by staff who take your coats.

They do a really great value three course lunch for £22, but even the tasting menu of six courses at £60 is very reasonably priced when you look at what other people are charging these days. We opted for the latter, having a bit more time on a Saturday for a leisurely lunch.

At the table they presented some home made crisps that had been delicately dusted with a spicy mix and tied together with some of their own ribboning. Wonderful presentation and something very nice to snack on while deciding on what to eat.

The picture of the dining room. Dark wood panels, lots of bright light and high ceilings makes the place feel very spacious. The tables aren’t crammed right next to each other and a very comfortable distance apart.

Homemade sourdough bread – super crispy on the outside with that chewy interior and served with some wonderfully creamy butter lightly salted. It also came (slightly hidden in the picture) with some picked onions but wasn’t a big fan of them. They didn’t have a problem replacing the bread the first time, leaving it there throughout the meal and even asking if we wanted it replaced a third time (but really I had nibbled on far too much bread already!)

An amuse bouche to clean the palette walnut mousse, apple sorbet. A great combination with the mousse adding a richness to the dish as the sorbet works to prepare your mouth and start the appetite.

The dish was smoked pigeon served atop some onions and oats mixed with some whisky. The pigeon was surprisingly soft and very well cooked and the whisky flavour not too strong in the oats.

A beautifully seared scallop with some sauce and fresh herbs. Whatever it was, it didn’t really last long. The scallop was meaty, perfectly cooked and seriously big. Mmmm. I would have liked another one of these.

My favourite dish of the day. Here we ahve a truffled poached egg with a toasted sourdough and a trail of mushroom sauce. So. Full. Of. Umami… More bread but the crispness of the sourdough worked well to add texture to a dish made of otherwise soft ingredients.

This was the fish dish that I found slightly overseasoned (tends to be a European kitchen thing) but the fish was a very generous portion and perfectly cooked, full of moisture and flavour. A great variety of greens as well.

This was a dish made up crispy pork and pork loin. Unfortunately I found the “crispy” element a bit lacking and found a rather chewy, fatty piece of skin that I didn’t really start or finish. The pork meat underneath the skin was very well cooked and appropriately served with some stewed apples. The pork loin was just as well perfectly cooked. Pink but still juicy.

Our dessert course actually started with another cleanser, in the form of a lemon posset cream. Super thick, yet very creamy and amazingly strong lemon flavour. Yum.

Strangely enough I’ve never had a souffle let alone a chocolate one before. I can’t really judge whether or not this was a good quality one. It certainly remained high and fresh and had a very light, chocolatey texture. It tasted a lot more eggy than I imagined it would, probably because I’m more familiar with a chiffon style cake than a souffle but a surprisingly great first one. In the background you can see there a jar of whisky (Lamphroaig) that was amazingly smoky and peaty. It worked well with the chocolate.

As if that wasn’t enough, to finish off with our tea and coffee, little madeleines and vanilla cream.

Service overall was very good, although we noticed our waiters slightly nervous, coming across as slightly under confident in presenting their dishes. I’m not really sure why because they all stood out with quality ingredients, great composition and in general, amazing flavours. I’ll definitely be coming back here sometime.

Name: Launceston Place
Website: http://www.launcestonplace-restaurant.co.uk/
Found at: 1A Launceston Place, W8 5RL, London

Michelin Dining in Munich at Acquarello

Patrick Italian, Michelin Starred, Munich, Restaurants

Not having been to Munich before, I did my usually scouring around for restaurants. The diversity of the scene wasn’t as big as that on offer in Berlin, with many places offering much more traditional Bavarian-style foods involving lots and lots of meat. Sunday and Monday tend to be very quiet nights but I managed to find one restaurant open, recommended by the Michelin guide to try. It was an Italian restaurant found on the east side of the city, and I think five or six U-Bahn rides away.

The dining room was bright and airy compared to the darkness outside. I only had my iphone camera with me, so the photos turned out a little grainy, but it gives you a good idea about the place. The hosts greeted me in German and entertained my wish to speak and practice only in German. They presented each dish and all ingredients in German though I can’t really remember what they all are.

Each table already came set with a bread basket, but then they placed some salts. I had a guess at what they were. One was noticeably truffle salt and the other ordinary salt (Fleur de Sel to be exact) but the other red-tinged salt I couldn’t make out. I asked the waiters the ingredients in German, guessing at the ones I knew. The other one, strangely enough was a strawberry salt. Not my favourite but something a little bit different.

The breads also came with three different choices of olive oils (different maturities I guess) to let the salt stick to something.

An amuse bouche suddenly appeared as well. This one a tiny beef tartare topped with crispy noodles and based with a yogurt dressing. A good thing to get the appetite warmed up.

The next dish was a prawn ravioli covered in a deliciously rich lobster bisque foam that was surprisingly thick. The pasta was delicate and obviously freshly made, and generously filled with sweet prawn meat. A dish that disappeared a little too quickly.

Although the next dish, on first appearances looked like a crazily decorated garden, what we had was an Italian take on a sashimi dish. Fresh fish, thinly graced the plate, decorated with a variety of Italian ingredients such as lemon, pesto, pine nuts and olives. You think it would be strange but I whole heartedly approve of this interpretation.

A very nice palette cleanser in the shape of a mango sorbet atop some lightly flavoured jelly.

The main course soon made its way to the plate. It had a lot of meat including a venison sausage (the thing speared with the rosemary) and a roulade wrapping some very succulently cooked meat that I was guessing cooked sous vide and then caramelised in a pan. It sat atop rabbit risotto and then was decorated with lots of crunchy fresh vegetables.

Above is the instagram version after I’d eaten into it. It’s amazing what that thing can do.

Before we finally moved onto a dessert. A lovely pineapple jelly surrounding a light coconut mouse and some almond milk shavings. Delicate, refreshing and a perfect way to finish.

I did order some team, but they also presented some petite fours – candied orange slices as well as white chocolate mint leaves. Service was great throughout the evening – polite, friendly and not too in your face. They even offered another round of dessert at the end – a slice of chocolate tart at the end of meal literally bringing around the fully devilish dish into view. I declined as I was pretty full at this stage. It was even a very funny, if not, very formal farewell when I left with almost all of the waiters and waitresses lining up to say, “Auf weidersehen” at the same time. Total cost for the evening tasting course, an aperitif, a glass of wine and water and service €110.

Name: Acquarello – Cucina del Sole
Found at: Mühlbauerstr. 36, München, Germany
Website: www.acquarello.com

Alberto K

Patrick Copenhagen, Michelin Starred, Restaurants

When I was in Malmo last year for Øredev last year, we stopped into Copenhagen to have a meal at the michelin starred Alberto K. I’d totally forgotten to write this up, so getting around to it just now. When booking it, I had also forgotten that I’d eaten here once for breakfast before – it has a spectacular view of all of the city being located on the top floor of the Radisson Blu hotel.

Upon being seated, we were given some lovely amuse bouches. The one with the green is a crispy fish skin with some flaked fish. I can’t really remember the one in front of it now.

Behind it sat some fresh sea prawns, served raw with a dollop of mayonaise.

Next up was a fish wrapped in some local shrubbery and then roasted, absorbing some of the flavours. I do remember this fish being particularly succulent and very engaging for us, as diners, as we cut into the delicately wrapped piece of fish.

This is what the unwrapped fish looked like.

Of course, they had some very nice breads. Dark and heavy like the Danish prefer although with a very lightly whipped butter that was very easy to smooth over the bread.

I’m going to be missing some of the details in this, as we ate through so many courses but I forgot what they all are.

Really dig the plating.

This dish was really lovely. I think it was a chicken dish, with very clever components. The outside of the egg yolk cooked and served by itself, so that it would burst and combine with all the ingredients. A delicious thick foam served inside the empty shell, and then crisp chicken skin providing salty contrast.

This would be a licorice infused stock that would form a component for the next dish.

Made up of pork and very earthy flavours and divine local mushrooms.

We then had some pigeon, served with beet room and some local herbs before making our way onto the dessert rounds.

For showmanship, the next course, they made a fresh ice at the table, using the ever spectacular liquid nitrogen.

Before spooning it delicately over some picked pear with walnuts and another scoop of fresh creme fraiche ice cream. Refreshingly light and not too sweet. The iced granita was made out of sorrel.

Before finishing off the tasting menu with a caramelised plum and an intricately detailed plate including roasted “bread” (made with malt) and an almond milk to mix in with the malt.

What I really enjoyed about Alberto K was that they used very fresh ingredients and prepared them in a way that was neither too heavy, nor too rich. It was all extremely contemporary and a very clever composition that lead you to a wonderful finale.

Name: Alberto K
Found at: Hammerichsgade 1 (in the Raddison Blu Hotel), Copenhagen, Denmark
Website: http://www.alberto-k.dk/

Aburiya Kinnosuke

Patrick Asian, Japanese, New York, Restaurants

My friend Mike always talked about this wonderful Japanese place whenever he visited New York. I had a picture of a very traditional Japanese restaurant with rice paper walls, and still have the memory of Mike’s wonderful tale where him and another mate accidentally tore through one, or was it two of those walls. Hehe. Anyway, when we were catching up with some other relatives who were in town just to visit us, I thought we should try it out. We booked in advance (telephone only) and for a 1:30pm booking, we turned up just before 1pm and were seated immediately.

I’m sure their lunch menu is different from their dinner menu, but even the lunch menu was an overwhelming choice of a large number of things. I went for the recommend aburiya lunch selection showcasing so many things off the menu including the BBQ washu beef, and the miso cod fish. It also comes with miso soup, salad and a small bite-sized dessert.

Love the chopsticks obviously made from bamboo in this picture. A small but delightful detail.

The massive set of sashmi, rice, soup. Note that the wasabi here was real wasabi (so rare!). You can tell because you can see the wasabi root fibers as it’s been grated up, instead of a papery reconstituted green mound most restaurants serve. It also has less of a uppercut to the nose on contact because it’s pure wasabi, instead of the fusion of horseradish and wasabi powder normally used.

The wushu beef was sitting atop a griddle alight with a small flame to keep it hot. All the elements were really fresh, and have to say I was really impressed by the cod – perfectly done with a light miso sauce, grilled to perfection. So tasty.

Upon the recommendation of the waitress, we upgraded our dessert to a larger size because apparently the one that came with the set was only a biteful. Green tea tiramisu.

Service was amazing. Ok, so it’s proper Japanese. Still our waitress was very attentive, spent a lot of time with us (in contrast to other Manhattan joints that are ready to run away to serve the next patron) and we even got a few small bonus dishes (like edamame). It’s definitely one me over and thanks to Mike for the recommendation.

Name: Aburiya Kinnosuke
Found at: 213 East 45th St New York, New York
Website: http://www.aburiyakinnosuke.com/

Clinton Street Baking Company

Patrick American, Brunch, New York, Restaurants

With all of our big meals in New York, I only ever really ate twice a day. Rather than doing a lunch, we decided to go early to get a table at the Clinton Street Baking Company where I met a couple of friends for a weekend brunch last year. We didn’t have to worry about coming before they opened because it wasn’t the weekend this time, although we still hit it shortly after they opened and we didn’t have to wait. Good thing too because a line did shortly form about 5 minutes after we arrived.

I remember the huge cups they serve their coffee in. And the local sourcing they do. Good stuff!

And rather than go for something with their famous buttermilk biscuits (they were really good!), I decided to go for their pancakes for which they are also very well known for. They come in three varieties (chocolate chunk, blueberry and banana walnut) but I went for the latter after a recommendation by our waitress. The huge stack of fluffy, American style pancakes came with accompanying maple butter (I didn’t really want to know how much went into them).

The pancakes were great. Super light, and went well with the side of bacon that we got (crispy american style). My only worry was really how big they were and I didn’t even try to finish it this time.

Name: Clinton Street Baking Company
Found at: 4 Clinton Street (btw. East Houston & Stanton), New York, NY 10002
Website: http://www.clintonstreetbaking.com/

Dinner at The Garrison

Patrick British, Gastropub, Restaurants, UK

Before heading over to the Tower of London for the Ceremony of the Keys, we headed over to The Garrison in Bermondsey to enjoy a meal. I’d never been to this area and was surprised at how many up and coming restaurants and interesting bars and pubs littered the area.

It definitely pays to reserve a table in advance at this particular gastropub. A number of times we saw a party of two being turned away when arriving, only being told that the entire restaurant was booked out for the night. The tiny space is made the most of, although thankfully the tables are arranged in such a way you’re still sitting closer to your dining companions than those at the table next to you.

I started with the scrambled eggs and mushrooms although it wasn’t as tasty as I thought it would be. The soft egg was really well done but the “toasted” sourdough really should have more crispy to offset the soft flavours.

On a vegetarian day, I went for the mushroom stroganoff that was piled on a huge amount of mash. The “stroganoff” could have done with a bit more mushroom and more sauce but it was still very flavoursome.

It didn’t come with any sides, so went for the pear, rocket and hazelnut salad to have some greens.

I finished off the meal with a very nice lime cheesecake that was perfectly offset with the swirls of raspberries floating around.

Not a cheap meal, but overall a great atmosphere and pretty good food.

Name: The Garrison
Found at: 99 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3XB
Website: http://www.thegarrison.co.uk/

Berlin Ying Yang (Veggie Chinese Gourmet and The Bird)

Patrick American, Asian, Berlin, Restaurants

In going over my photos during the holiday break, I realised I didn’t write about a couple of pretty great places in Berlin to try and they really couldn’t be more far apart. The first, is the most aptly named restaurant, Veggie Chinese Gourmet that I found via the wonderful Happy Cow website. It’s located right across town in Charlottenburg (the west) and does purely vegetarian Chinese meals although they do a number of mock-meat substitutes. The food portions are enormous and we ended up taking some of them to go. The eggplant dish one over my dining partner who doesn’t really like the stuff.

On the other side of the coin, for my farewell meal with my work colleagues, we had dinner at Berlin’s infamous The Bird. In true American style, they do everything to excess and the burgers are massive, just as the steaks are (starting at 300g and going up in increments of 100g!)

They don’t really do their burgers very well done – believing that it ruins the flavour, and I have to admit the burger was pretty good (except for the fact they used an english muffin for their burger bun!) I’d highly recommend a taste of the extra hot sauce if you’re looking for a chilli challenge. Don’t get the wings drenched in the stuff though as a small teaspoon is enough to burn your mouth pretty well for a while. Bookings are recommended in advance here, as they two sittings a night and seem to be constantly full.