UK – Page 13 – TheKua Does Food

Azzi

April 11, 2009 Patrick Asian, Korean, Restaurants, UK

After coming back from Japan and having had some Korean food, I was particularly craving some more of it, particularly their hot stone bowl dish, dol bibimbap. I headed out for a Sunday lunch but it seemed like all the Korean restaurants in central London were shut so I kept walking around until I stumbled across Azzi, a fusion Japanese and Korean restaurant.

Its entrance makes it appear quite small restaurant with only four tables visible. A bunch of Korean ladies catching up occupied one of them while another group of Swedish tourists took another, apparently umming and ahhing over what to order. They had a couple of small tables by the main counter so I took one of them. They do have some tables out back as I saw plenty of people head out back but I have no idea how many. Their menu was interesting, less fusion that advertised and more just serving both Japanese and Korean dishes. It didn’t really matter to me since they had what I wanted, the dol bibimbap.

I ordered the dol bibimbap and a lemonade that, with the 12.5% service came to just over £10. I thought it was fairly reasonable since the dish came with miso soup and a side of kim chi, something that many other Korean restaurants charge extra for. The hot stone bowl soon arrived accompanied by the distinctive sound of sizzling rice and vegetables. It certainly looked impressive with a semi fried egg on top soon to be mixed in to the rest of the ingredients with chilli sauce.

Overall I was pretty impressed by it. Tasty, crispy rice and plenty of flavour throughout it. Although the service was friendly, I don’t think it was super prompt as I had to wait for the bill and not really worth the 12.5%. I’d still probably return though and try a few other dishes.

Name: Azzi
Address: 47 Poland Street, London, W1F 7NB
Website: None that I could find
The good: Reasonably priced dol bibimbap with soup and kim chi included in the price
The not so good: 12.5% service? Hmmm…

Patara

April 8, 2009 Patrick Asian, Restaurants, UK

Patara is a series of several Thai restaurants around London. Apparently they are very popular as we could only get a very early 6:30pm that had to be back for 8pm at their Soho branch. It looks like any sort of modern Thai restaurant you’d imagine that does very well in South Kensington – moody lighting, nice decorations and plenty of tables with minimal space in between. Nevertheless they also have a very nice cocktail list and plenty of different things on offer on their menu.

We ended up ordering the Slow braised beef in aromatic coconut reduction with fresh lime,lemongrass and chilli, as well as Veal osso buco braised in massaman curry with lotus seeds accompanied by cucumber salsa and pita bread, with a side of Thai long aubergine sautéed in spicy yellow bean sauce with sweet basil. Admittedly all of the dishes were fantastic. Beautifully presented, complex flavours and all the dishes full of flavour. I really enjoyed the aubergine although I wouldn’t really say it was a very spicy yellow bean sauce – perhaps a bit more on the sweet side than anything.

I had the coconut ice cream for dessert (although the rice pudding is pictured above). Both were just as tasty as all the main dishes and certainly would have been happy with any of the other dishes as well.

I enjoyed the dinner at Patara, although considering what we had, the price added up very quickly. It’s not a place you’d want to go to every night, but every once in a while it’d be quite reasonable.

Name: Patara
Address: Different locations. We went to the one in Soho (15 Greek St., London W1D 4DP)
Website: http://www.pataralondon.com/
The good: Continuous top ups of tap water. Fairly unique Thai fusion with classic flavours
The not so good: Fairly pricey and tables crammed pretty close together.

Little Lamb

April 5, 2009 Patrick Asian, Restaurants, UK

It’s nice to see that some parts of Chinatown are stepping out a bit and not just simply being replaced by cheap, nasty, buffets. Little Lamb is therefore a welcome addition to the other restaurants in London’s chinatown offering the unique hot pot dining experience. Also a popular dish with the Japanese (called shabu shabu), hot pot dining is definitely not like your normal Chinese fair.

Ordering hot pot is easy. Choose what sort of soup base you would like, and then order a wide variety of dishes to cook. They even have a £20 deal where you can order a soup base and five different plates of ingredients for each person dining which really equates to a large number over all. We didn’t intend of getting the deal but the waiter suggested we may as well being only £1 away and able to order three more plates. We decided to go with the three flavoured stock pot, not actually realising it would be an urn separated into three different parts, each complete with a different flavour. The induction cooker in the middle of the table also gave us very good control over the soup, without actually turning the table into a danger zone.

As you can see from the picture above, one of the three soups was a spicy, peppery soup, that was definitely one of my favourites. The other two were clear broths, both very flavoursome in their own different ways. The ingredients come on plates and I’m glad that there was just the two of us because those plates soon filled the table. We ordered a huge variety of different items, with at least one dish from the separate sections such as mushrooms, tofu, seafood, meat, noodles and vegetables. I’m particularly surprised at the size and number of the seafood dishes as we’d ordered crab and prawns and they were definitely generous serves considering the price.

If you do plan on having a meal at Little Lamb, make sure that you leave plenty of time with the ten plates taking us almost two hours to consume. Part of the fun is cooking it in small stages and then scooping hot the freshly cooked ingredients, dipping it into the sauce or just enjoying the whole experience. Eating the crab was definitely most challenging with the combination of tiny bowls and just chopsticks leaving us with little choice but to use our hands.

If you find yourself running low on soup, it’s easy enough for them to fill it with additional hot water. Also make sure you leave some space to enjoy the soup broth that becomes infused with all the flavours from the freshly cooked ingredients.

Name: Little Lamb
Address: 72 Shaftesbury Avenue, Chinatown, W1D 6NA
Phone: 020 7287 8078
Website: None that I could find

Where’s the good coffee: Wild & Wood

April 1, 2009 Patrick Coffee, UK, Where's the good coffee?

In my last post, I eluded to visiting another good coffee store. I was fortunate enough to work out of our main office instead of client site for a day. I had stumbled across Wild & Wood on a Sunday and noticing how new it was and a big sign that says “We serve Monmouth Coffee!) Colleagues in the office confirmed rumours that Monmouth had put up their prices, so that made it easy for me to think about trying somewhere new. I mean, fresh organic Jersey milk and the same Monmouth beans had to have some potential right?

The cafe is best described as wide but shallow. A table by the window tempts you with some wicked looking cakes, biscuits and pastries while a whole pile of sandwiches and baguettes called out to be bought. I was a little surprised when I entered because they don’t have the counter that most places have, and so it feels like you’re confronted by the two attendants there. Of course, they were helpful and friendly so it wasn’t really a big deal. Just a bit surprising instead.

Like most serious coffee stores these days, Wild and Wood serve a decent flat white, though they only charge a measly £1.90 for it. I feel a little bit traitorous to Monmouth because I would definitely go back if I had another day near the office. It was really that good.

Name: Wild & Wood
Address: 1 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1BA
Website: None that I could find

Where’s the good coffee: Dose Espresso

March 29, 2009 Patrick Coffee, UK, Where's the good coffee?

The last couple of weeks have been exciting as I’ve finally managed to visit two more coffee stores both serving fantastic coffee. Since I commute a long distance for my current client, I’ve only had the weekend to check out the newest coffee store closest to me, Dose Espresso (recommended by Bea). It’s location is a huge bonus, and only if I didn’t have to leave so early for work would it make it my daily choice for a cup o’ joe.

Dose Espresso is literally located right opposite Smithfields Market closest to the Barbican Centre. It’s not huge inside, though they’ve done plenty to maximise the space with sitting benches right along the walls and small coffee tables that make the place comforting without seeming cluttered. They’re the only coffee store that I know that uses butcher’s paper at the back as a scrolling wall of the specials for the day, and a magnetised wall complete with bright magnetic letters for their normal menu.

With cakes made by Bea and a decent variety of sandwiches and ciabatta’s, Dose is also a great place to stop by to grab lunch on the run. Being anti-podean run also means that they serve flat white coffees, and they confirmed they also can do coffee with soy milk for those with lactose intolerance. Most importantly the coffee is strong, great tasting and definitely worth visiting if you happen to be in the area.

Name: Dose Espresso
Located at: 69 Long Lane, London, EC1A 9EJ
Website: http://www.dose-espresso.com/

Urban Turban

February 24, 2009 Patrick Indian, Restaurants, Tapas, UK

This weekend I finally ended up having dinner at Urban Turban on Westbourne Grove. I can’t remember how it got on my list of places to go, perhaps it was the Time Out Top 50, or some random website. When we arrived for dinner (just after seven), I thought that the dining room seemed pretty empty for a Saturday night. It doesn’t help that it’s split into two by the bar, with only a few tables visible from the outside.

We were shown to our table, conveniently located by the window, where numerous passer-bys could see what the fuss was all about. After all, its very classic Eastern dark colours, high ceilings and mood lighting certainly catches the eye. We were presented with menus, including their wine list also listing a whole set of cocktails on offer. Their food menu is split into three main parts, the first section focusing on “tapas-style”, with the second part being more classic dishes, and a small section that included two set menus, one including a “hot rock” grill where you finish the food off at your table with a rock that keeps its temperature for some time.

We decide to start with two tapas dishes, unsure about the portion sizes since each “tapas” dish was £7.50. The pictures above are the “Gun Powder” prawns, and the Crab and Corn Cake. Both dishes were served with a slightly spicy sauce and whilst quite shareable, weren’t worth the price of each dish. The Gun Powder prawns didn’t really have the peppery pizazz one might expect from the name, and the crab and corn cake were delicious and tasty, wasn’t particularly memorable.

We moved on to the main meal, where we’d ordered the lamb biryani (£12), saali chicken curry (£10), and an aubergine curry (£6) as well as two naan (£3 each). As you can see from the picture above, their naans are huge, since most of them are stuffed with some sort of filling. They had a lot more a unique assortment of them including the chilli garlic naan (that tasted a lot like this sauce, simply spread on top).

Out of the dishes that we picked, the aubergine curry and the lamb biryani were definitely my favourites. The aubergine was hearty and extremely flavoursome, while the lamb biryani reminded me of the few that I remember seeing in India where they were sealed and cooked with a pastry topping (Urban Turban uses a richer, flaky puff pastry and recommend you mix it in, though I remember it was only supposed to be used as a cooking mechanism). They also served it with yogurt mixed with fenugreek that left a distinctive taste, not something that my sister enjoyed but I did.

Urban Turban serves delicious food. I just don’t think it’s worth the price you pay (at least not out of my own pocket). For a dinner for two costing £65 without any alcoholic drinks (1 mango lassi for £3.30, and a nutella colada for £5.50) the food just didn’t really warrant the price. Service was reasonable though I also still question whether or not they can charge 12.5%.

Name: Urban Turban
Location: 98 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5RU
Website: http://www.urbanturban.uk.com/
The good: Modern decore, friendly service and some interesting dishes
Not so good: Well over priced tapas dishes or just in general.

Where’s the good coffee? Fernandez and Wells

February 18, 2009 Patrick Coffee, UK, Where's the good coffee?

I stumbled across this little cafe on the way to Oxford Circus and noted that it looked like a great place to stop in. Actually, I stumbled across their Food and Wine bar on Lexington Street and was drawn in with their legs of cured meats hanging in the window. What a weird place to find something like this, yet I couldn’t help but be drawn in like a fly to see what it was all about.

I asked if they did coffee and mentioned that they did around the corner at their other shop on Beak Street. I had time to drop in, so thought, why not? As I stood there, waiting for a takeaway latte (notably more expensive than Monmouth at £2.50) I heard other Australians and New Zealand accents around me. I’ll admit it took them a while to make one so I had a little bit of time to look at their very tempting ciabattas and paninis. When I did finally get the coffee, it was delicious and perfect for that weekend coffee. Definitely highly recommended although it’s a shame all the good coffee stores seem to be packaged around the same area, and not spread out more around London!

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!

Georgetown

January 28, 2009 Patrick Asian, UK

I ended up at Georgetown on a Sunday night via one of the 50% off TopTable deals. Rather than a la carte, they had a smaller, simpler menu with limited choice for starters, main and desserts. Fortunately they had enough of a selection that we could all have something different and share. Well, that is, at least what we had been planning. When the dishes arrived, they seemed to be focused more on complete individual meals, rather than a more proper asian style of sharing different dishes with people.

I ended up with the chicken curry, chunks of chicken breast in a light curry sauce but tasty nevertheless. What impressed me at this restaurant was that they served each dish with a couple of different types of vegetables such as my dish that came with some sort of beetroot salad, as well as braised vegetables, yet another dish being served with a stewed red cabbage mixture instead. It’s easy for restaurants to have a single “side” pot that they keep scooping from and I appreciated this isn’t what Georgetown had.

The food was pretty decent, though I’m not sure I would have paid full price (£13) for the dishes that we did have. All of it was flavourful but I do think that their their decore and environment left it feeling rather void and empty. “Colonial” style made it feel old-fashioned, and I guess the fact that it was completely empty up until the time we left didn’t leave any good impressions.

Name: Georgetown (closed)
Former location: 10 London Bridge Street, SE1 9SG
The good: Reasonably tasty Malaysian food
The not so good: “Empty” atmosphere and questionable value for money.

Where’s the good coffee? Taylor St Baristas

January 26, 2009 Patrick Coffee, UK, Where's the good coffee?

Things are certainly looking positive for the London coffee scene, with the Taylor St Baristas store near outside Liverpool Street a worthy addition. It almost makes me want to work on a project for a bank. Almost.

They have two locations in London (as well as one in Brighton that I’ll definitely visit when I head down there) though their Richmond site is not particularly convenient for me. Currently commuting out of London for work, I was interested to see if any of them were open on the weekend. I checked their website but couldn’t find any details about opening hours (though they either corrected it now or I just didn’t see it). Instead, I sent them an email and got a very pleasant and prompt response about their locations (map locations included) and their times.

Their more convenient location (for me at least) is their tiny store found on New Street just off Bishopsgate. This Sunday, it was pretty empty. My guess is that I went there for a pretty late time (2pm) and the constant drizzle forced people to move away. That’s fine with me since it meant I got to sit at one of their chairs, and ended up chatting to the lovely Irish barista about the store and how long it’d been there for. Kudos to the store for hiring someone so passionate about her coffee and profession. It sure beats the pale kids they hire at said-chain who don’t know to operate a real espresso machine.

Anyway, on to the coffee. I ordered a flat white. It’s slightly more expensive than the one they serve at Monmouth (my benchmark) at £2.20. That’s fair enough for having a sit-down coffee as well. The ratio of milk to espresso was perfect, and the espresso strong but not burnt. They even went to effort of pouring latte art on top (okay, well it was a slow day). Very nice all up. If I was working in the area, I’d definitely make an effort to go there for my daily dose. The sandwich (£3.90) was pretty good too. Thick crusty seeded bread with a hearty slab of ham and cheese. Heated up, it was the perfect lunch.

If you’re in the Liverpool Street area, I’d highly recommend people head here. It’s slightly hidden from view but they do fantastic cups of coffee.

Name: Taylor St Baristas
Found at: 1A New Street, London, EC2M 4TP
Website: http://www.taylor-st.com/
The Good: Great coffee, nice little cafe. They even sell Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Cherry Ripes and Freddo Frogs!
The Bad: There wouldn’t be much space for people to all sit down for lunch, but I’m betting their take away coffee is still fine.