The Electric Brasserie

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.

Eggs Benedict at the Electric Brasserie

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.

Pancakes at the Electric Brasserie

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.

French Toast

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.

Nineteen Ten Mexican Kitchen

Patrick Fast Food, Mexican, UK

Nineteen Ten is a welcome addition to one of the food courts found at Shepherd’s Bush Westfield shopping centre. Unlike many of the other “chain” presents, Nineteen Ten is independently owned and run, serving a mean selection of tacos, burritos and fajitas very much in the californian-mexican trend that has been hitting London. It’s bright yellow sign attracts people to the sign and they even have little menus to take with you if you want to simply think about what you want as you shop.

Nineteen Ten Burrito

Ordering is simple. You walk up, wait in the queue, and ask for burrito/taco/fajita with one of the many meats. They were out of the barbacoa meat (anything that’s been cooked for a long time is my sort of ideal dish) so I ended up with a steak fajita. Unlike many of the other burrito joints around town, they actually use a flavoured rice (I think lime), and a little bit more of a variety of choice when it comes to fillings including two types of beans. I didn’t have the guacamole but my sister did and she said it was wonderful.

Serving size wise, it seemed about the same size as what I’d get at Freebird, or Daddy Donkey although at Westfield you end up with a plate as well as foil, so at least you won’t end up dripping it on yourself. Priced at £5.50, my burrito was pretty good value, and was very tasty.

I’d definitely recommend this place if you want something different and you happen to be in this area of town. I can’t say that I’d go out of my way just to get here (although I did for this particular visit) but I would definitely return again.

Name: Nineteen Ten Mexican Kitchen
Location: Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherd’s Bush/White City
The Good: Tasty, fresh and reasonably sized burrito. Guacamole was apparently quite tasty. A wider variety of filings to choose from.
The Not So Good: Asking for extra hot wasn’t particularly hot, and like with pretty much the rest of the food court, you almost have to fight for a place at lunchtime.

Babylon Rooftop Gardens

Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

After the big thanksgiving feast, I met my sister for a Sunday lunch at the Kensington Rooftop Gardens restaurant, Babylon. Definitely full of chic, this rooftop restaurant perched on the seventh floor definitely has some pretty astounding views. It’s just such a shame many of it was cloud over with plenty of rain accompanying it.

The location is fabulous and service was reasonable with a very happy waiter although attentiveness dropped as it became busier and busier.

Sundays they do a reasonable three course meal for £25. I started with the warm duck salad, looking for something a bit lighter than a creamy soup or the other dishes. The mains were slightly less inspiring with a veal roast of the day, sea bream and a number of other reasonable but unexciting dishes.

I ended up ordering the fish and chips, figuring I felt a little seedy from the bight before. Admittedly it was a very good fish, covered with a light crisp batter and fairly crunchy. My only problems with the dish was that a certain section hadn’t been de boned very well and I found the dish over salted. Nevertheless it wad tasty.

Rounding off the meal with something hopefully a bit lighter, I ordered the coconut mousse, serve with a refreshingly tart passionfruit sorbet. My sister ordered the cardamom creme brûlée. I had a small taste of it, and whilst definitely flavourful I’m afraid it would have been overpowering for the entire dish considering the size of the brûlée.

It took a while for the bill to arrive, and that gave us some time to relax in the now, very busy atmosphere. After lunch we headed on down to the next floor down to look at the decadent gardens, complete with pink flamingoes preening themselves. The birds, quite seemingly used to people about, didn’t seem to have any problems with us getting too close.

I’m intrigued to see what sort of people come to a place like this, with outdoor heaters no doubt luring the chelsea-ites out from their homes. For a Sunday meal, the Babylon Rooftop Gardens is reasonable value but realise that even for a drink, you’ll be paying for the location and exclusivity more than anything else.

Name: The Roof Gardens
Found at: 99 Kensington High Street, Kensington, W8 5SA
Website: http://www.roofgardens.virgin.com/
TheKua.com Rating: 8 out of 10

Benito’s Hat – Mexican Kitchen

Patrick Fast Food, Mexican, UK

benitoshatWhat’s better than some hot Mexican food to warm you up when it’s cold outside? At least that’s what I thought when I dropped past Goodge Street to grab a quick bite to eat at Benito’s Hat before heading out for the evening. Unfortunately my glasses didn’t quite agree with me and fogged up so bad that I had to wait five minutes before I could properly see the menu board upon walking in. I, therefore, have to give bonus points to the attendant there who gave me a takeaway menu so that I could read it while my glasses defogged.

Benito’s Hat is one of the many burrito places cropping up around town. Much like Mexicali, they give you a small handful of corn chips with your burrito but for me, the real test, is whether or not the burrito tastes great. The menu is simple, and although they offer seating, it’s an order-pay-sit affair with no real table service. At least they offer some beer and margarita to wash down your drink. I had a steak burrito competitively priced against all other burrito places for £5.50 and although I asked for it to be extra hot and some additional chillis, it didn’t quite hit the same level I get at Daddy Donkey.

burritoName: Benito’s Hat – Mexican Kitchen
Details: http://www.benitos-hat.com/
Found at: 6 Goodge St, Greater London, W1T 4
The Good: Many tables to eat your burritos, and some alcoholic beverages to turn a simple take away into a little bit more of a dinner out. Plenty of options and it’s warm inside when it’s cold out.
The Not So Good: The steak was a little on the tough side, and didn’t turn out to have anything that made it stand out. The salsa tasted much better than the bland-as Mexicali, though to me, still doesn’t stand out to either Daddy D or Freebird Burritos.

Where’s the good coffee? Manon Cafe

Patrick Coffee, UK, Where's the good coffee?

Jim found Manon Cafe when we were on a project in Clerkenwell and I have to admit it’s a great little store that sells an amazing brew of Illy branded coffee beans. Only open during the weekdays, their baristas are both friendly and efficient.

manoncafe

Most importantly, their coffee is well made, perfectly creamy espresso that never has that bitter edge of a badly burnt coffee made by a poorly trained barista. Their prices are reasonable (£1.90 for a small latte) and best of all, they offer a free chocolate sample with each coffee because they also happen to house a Leonadis chocolate store. It’s a great location if you happen to work in the area, and the only downside is that it’s not open on weekends to enjoy.

Name: Manon Cafe
Details: 110 Fleet Street
Website: http://www.manoncafe.com/

Cafe 52

Patrick Restaurants, UK

staceWes and Stacy had booked a night out at a nice little restaurant in Aberdeen called Cafe 52. Booking in advance was a great idea since we ended up with the private room to the left of the entrance that gave us plenty of privacy and made the evening all the more special. Complete with a sliding glass door to keep the drafts from the entrance away, the only downside is that the staff had some trouble remembering that we were in the room every so often. For some reason, we ended up with yet another Australian waiter for the evening, who was fairly friendly but wasn’t particularly attentive, forgetting a number of the simple things (like water!) that we had to ask for several times. On the other hand, the chef was extremely helpful coming out to explain which ingredients were in what dish since due to dietary requirements, not everyone could eat everything off the menu.

thaiscallopsIn terms of ambiance, they had a decent soundtrack playing that wasn’t so overwhelming that meant that we could still chat away without having to shout over each other, and enough ambient noise to ensure that it never fell silent. The food was an eclectic mix combining quality Scottish produce with some tradition and definitely not so traditional recipes. I started with the cullen skink (£4.90), a traditional smoked haddock soup that went down perfect considering the sub zero temperatures outside. It matched exactly what I thought it should be, thick, creamy and full of haddock chunks. For the main, I ordered the prawns and scallops cooked in a rich thai cream sauce (£17.90). I had hoped for something with a lot more kick, but my palette instead met with a more sublime sweet sauce, infused the familiar Thai coconut flavours covering about four prawns and three scallops. Their home made fries, perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside made the perfect compliment for soaking up the rest of the flavours just as well as a chunky loaf of bread would have been.

coffeepannacottaThe dessert menu arrived and I couldn’t quite resist finishing the meal off with the coffee flavoured pannacotta though was fairly pricey at £7.90. It wasn’t the creamiest of panna cottas that I’ve had, instead lightly infused and a much lighter custard that went down almost a little bit too well with the slice of caramelised clementines. I would have preferred a much thicker coffee sauce as it almost felt like someone had spilled a little bit about coffee on the plate instead of someone making a proper sauce.

Cafe 52 offers a great experience if you can get the private booth, though I think that each dish was definitely overpriced for what you get. The dishes are definitely on the small side for the prices you pay though the ingredients seemed fresh enough.

Name: Cafe 52
Details: 52 The Green, Aberdeen, AB11 6PE
Contactable on: See http://www.cafe52.net/

The Potarch Hotel

Patrick Restaurants, UK

Famished after our long hike on my visit to Aberdeen, Wes and I stopped into The Potarch Hotel for dinner. We’d actually stopped at another town for dinner but since it around 5pm, and no one was opened we continued on our journey back to Aberdeen, stopping in to see if the restaurant at The Potarch was open. Although open at six, the combination of a roaring fire, and the bartender saying she’d take our order immediately left little to refuse.

fishcakes

Defrosting in front of the fire, the menu looked amazingly appetising and I couldn’t decide what sort of food to order. In the end, I ordered the Peat Smoked Haddock & Leek Fishcake (£6.25), and the Pink Peppercorn Crusted Loin of Pork (£11.95). I think Wes tried the Breast of Ballogie Pheasant (£11.95) but I can’t remember because they also had some sort of poultry special of the day that looked just as tempting. We had a beer in the meantime to drink as we started to feel some sensations return to our hands and it wasn’t too long before our food arrived.

porkpinkpeppercorn

All of the food came out piping hot, obviously freshly made and the fishcakes were definitely the best out of the two dishes. With three reasonably sized fishcakes, the smokiness of the fish added an amazing depth that resonated well with the flickering fire. Both crisp, light and filling, I would have been happy by the fishcakes alone. It’s such a shame they were so expensive though. I was much more disappointed by the pork that came out obviously overcooked. Definitely dry and overly tough, the thick loin definitely needed the red wine jus to be edible. I’ll admit the pink peppercorn crust added a different dimension of texture and flavour but really couldn’t quite redeem it.

The Potarch Hotel is a lovely spot, obviously popular with locals since all the other tables had been booked out for the evening. Its surprisingly bright tartan carpet seems to fit in with the rest of the decore – photos of people catching fish in the summer and other memorabilia from its past. Service wise, I have to thank our Australian waitress who came over to have a bit of chat with us although she also admittedly she quite liked keeping warm by the fire at the same time too.

I think Wes and I agreed that The Potarch Hotel has a lot of potential, but with many of the dishes overpriced by a couple of pounds, you really want to pick the dish to enjoy.

Name: The Potarch Hotel
Details: By Banchory, Royal Deeside, Scotland, AB31 4BD
Contactable on: See http://www.potarchhotel.co.uk/

The evening with elBulli

Patrick Interviews, UK

As previously mentioned last night, I had the honour of sharing, with probably fifteen hundred other people, the evening listening to Ferran Adria. Organised by Jay Rayner, and held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on southbank in London, we all listened in awe at him sharing his experiences creating new and exciting gastronomic delights for the two million people who wish they could enjoy it, yet in reality only able to serve a few very lucky thousand each year.

Last evening’s format flowed smoothly with the majority of the time spent with Adria sharing his vision and how he’s managed to accomplish this by inventing new techniques. I doubt anyone can deny that he achieved his ambition, especially the way he talked about creating new languages, new characters and new words that are being used more and more frequently.

It wasn’t just him talking all night as well, with several audio visual clips prepared to demonstrate exactly how some of his techniques work, and the wide variety of unusual applications they have. From all the readings that I’ve done, most writers make it out to be like a laboratory when in fact it’s almost the complete opposite, being experimentation the way you’d imagine other chefs doing things, simply substituting gels, foams, and the visually spectacular liquod nitrogren where others would use boiling, frying or grilling.

At the end, Jay also opened the floor for questions and I couldn’t help but giggle a little at the veracity that some people had of raising they’re hands. As Jay best put it, “Give the microphone to that person that looks like they will die if they don’t get to ask their question.”

I thought the evening was great. Adria surprised me by how humble he comes across, and like all great pioneers, cares more about sharing his techniques with others so that they can push the benhmark even higher. He’s funny, definitely talkative, and obviously still passionate about the things that he does and you just have to respect someone with all those qualities.

Roast at Borough Market

Patrick Restaurants, UK

Roast sits overlooking London’s Borough Market. It’s no wonder then that this restaurant often has long lines. When I met up with Gerrod and Kristy for brunch, their suggestion for booking ahead was a good one, proving it wasn’t too hard to plan ahead via TopTable.

You get to Roast’s entrance via a circular staircase where a hostess greets you at the small reception, taking coats, bags and anything else you may care to leave them. On our visit, two people staffed reception and when we arrived seemed quite disorganised and everything excessively chaotic. Things didn’t seem to be much different when we left, with the chaos amplified by more people waiting in line.

From reception, you walk past the flames from the kitchen, into the main dining area, an airy room brightly lit by floor to ceiling windows and skylight panels. We were lucky to dine with blue skies and bright sun shining down, though I’m sure that even in a typical British, overcast sky, the dining room would still look spectacular.

Their breakfast menu looks simple, with pretty much all of the items you’d expect of a great British breakfast, even complete with kippers. I decided to go for the eggs benedict, one of my favourite dishes though too much effort for me to think about making it home for a normal occasion. Gerrod ordered one of the three egg omelette while Kristy ordered the tattie (potato) scone, accompanied by bacon, mushrooms and a single egg. I have to agree with Gerrod’s comments that they really should serve it with some sides like toast or something else (though you can at additional cost).

I have to give full thumbs up for the table service during our visit. The waiters took our orders promptly, and the food arrived shortly after. After our meal, we sat around chatting for some time and despite the ever growing queue at the entrance, I never felt pressured by staff to leave.

Name: Roast
Found at: The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, London SE1 1TL
Contactable on: 020 7940 1300 or http://www.roast-restaurant.com
TheKua.com Rating: 8 out of 10