Food – Page 9 – thekua.com@rest

Super busy

February 13, 2008 Patrick Food, UK Life

The last week and a bit have literally flown by with lots of stuff going on. Last week I spent a couple of days up near Coventry and stayed in a wonderful little boutique hotel in Kenilworth unimaginatively called The Kenilworth. Recommended to us by our client, it was the soft jazz music and the long list of cocktails and wine on offer that hinted this was no ordinary place. It was only walking into the room did the throw on the bed, the Molton Brown toiletries and the three cocktail books in the corner confirm my suspicions. Who has a book of cocktails in their bedroom, let alone three of them?

Returning almost exhausted to London, the weekend kicked off with a visit to Borough Market on Saturday to prepare a couple of desserts for a traditional steamboat or shabu shabu (in Japanese) dinner at Mike’s place. It kicked off with six of us around a table that ended up in some dice and card and us leaving sometime in the cold early hours of the morning trying to get everyone to where they needed to go. We had plenty of mojitos, lots of food and lots of wine (including some dessert wine to finish off).

Sunday slowly started with some dim sum planned in Chinatown. Straying away from Laureate and managing to organise a table at Golden Dragon I was amazed that we managed to get a table amongst the crazy crowds that circled the entire area given Chinese New Year celebrations. We got our table almost as soon as the majority of the ten people arrived. As always, the bite sized portions and the few dishes ordered on top went down like a treat and so cheap (for how much we had) at only £14. We also headed to the Cabinet War Rooms afterwards – an amazingly non de script entrance leading to the underground maze attached to so much recent history.

A prediction for 2008…

February 4, 2008 Patrick Food, Restaurants, UK Life

2008 is the year of the Mexicans. Walking around town this weekend (still no Apple Air in store!), all I seemed to stumble across was plenty of new places all serving mexican (or at least a tex-mex mix) of food.

Just down from Flat White I saw Mexi Cali, apparently replacing a less popular Mexican place. It’s apparently already located in Notting Hill and Chelsea (how did I not hear of this?). Also, I noticed something like four or five places all along Upper Street in Angel. On Thursday, after a recommendation from JK, I checked out Wahaca for lunch (very modern, nice and conveniently located near our office!)

Yauatcha

January 30, 2008 Patrick Food, Restaurants, UK Life

After eating at Alan Yau’s Michelin starred Hakkasan, I was yet to eat at his other Michelin starred restaurant, Yauatcha that also recently got purchased by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. That changed this Sunday. Located in the heart of Soho, it’s easy to mistake the iridescent blue corner striping the outside as some sort of club. Certainly the downstairs dining room, a dark room fitted with lights best described as starry, and a fishtank fronting the entire length of the bar certainly make it feel like one. Upstairs is the brighter and more casual feeling dining room that also serves as a tiny store offerings fanciful macaroons, divine chocolates and the unique varieties of tea on offer in the restaurant.

Unlike his other restaurant, the focus of dim sum makes this place slightly more casual and before the crowd rush hit at 1pm, it was easy enough to take pictures with my, rather not obvious, camera. As we entered the restaurant, three people immediately greeted us, one of them politely guiding us to our table downstairs. I’m sure that it’s probably best to book ahead yet Sunday seemed very quiet and arriving early meant we were seated with a wait and without fuss.

We sat directly in front of the bar where three or four men continuously pumped out the exotic drinks offered on the menu. Their comprehensive list of teas form the base for a number of even more unique and further tea-mixers both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. I ordered a lime and passion iced tea that proved refreshingly tart and a great complement to the food ahead (although aptly priced in a place like this at £4).

Most of the food seemed fairly reasonable and not as crazily priced as I thought it would have been, with each plate being about a pound more than you’d pay at other decent Chinese dim sum places in London. We tried a number of new dishes as well seeing as they offered a large number of things you wouldn’t normally have at other places such as an Ostrich dumpling – a gamey ball of meat surrounded by a steamed pastry and enough liquid to rival a well made Xiao Long Bao. Standard dishes such as Siu Mai and Har Gau arrived in cute tiny little baskets both freshly made and extremely tasty. I was slightly disappointed by my favourite BBQ Pork Bun (Cha Xiu Bao) as the bread wasn’t as fluffy and white as other places make it, and the meat mixture inside a little bit too fatty and with an unnaturally overpowering pork taste (my sister was convinced it was the sherry flavour). It still wasn’t too bad although I probably wouldn’t order it there again.

The service throughout the meal was just right, and so it should be for the automatic 12.5% they add to the bill. One waitress in particular had a very enthusiastic, almost over the top, happy approach to serving her customers that it made me chuckle just a little bit. They exchanged our plates once during the meal (though I think it was a bit of a waste) and they presented each dish with its name, whisking away empty baskets and plates shortly after the last piece had been taken. See the rest of the pictures here.

Details: Yauatcha
Found at: 15-17 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 0DL
Contactable on: +44 20 7494 8888
Highlights: Modern contemporary quality dim sum, lots of tea mixers and a very untraditional dining setting
Room for improvement: Not all of the dim sum had descriptions, making it difficult to choose some more of the exotic dishes as you wouldn’t really know what you’re getting.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10

A Public Dinner

January 23, 2008 Patrick Food, New York, Restaurants, Travel

As I mentioned before, I had dinner at a restaurant called Public with Mike on my last night in New York. It hosts a lovely bar and a beautiful restaurant inside though you need to book ahead if you want a place (it seems like most places in Manhattan). Surprisingly, with a common name like Public I would have expected to have trouble finding their website except it was pretty easy by searching for the terms “public restaurant new york”. The reason I mention their website is that I have to really laugh at the way they call their food “free-spirited fusion” on their FAQ page.

The interior of this restaurant is beautiful – much of it is renovated to look like a modern public library (I guess, hence the name). To your right as you walk in, is a lavishly polished cabinet of what looks like an index card catalogue. You know, those little index cards you used to have to look up to find a book, now replaced by computers these days. If not, I must be getting too old :-). The chairs are sleek and dark that almost blend into the floor to highlight the white tablecloth and the hanging lightbox filled with old fashioned-looking lightbulbs. Like most restaurants these days, the lighting is pretty dim (certainly not great for taking photos of food!) although I guess accentuates the mood of the place.

For the evening, I drank the Guava and Red Chili Margarita (composed of Sauza Tequila, crushed red chilli with lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, orange liqueur and guava puree). It was divine since it wasn’t as sweet as your typical cocktail and the chilli had enough kick to give your mouth some heat without burning it. Of course, the sweetness of the guava and orange liqueur cuts through the bite of the rim of salt and tequila liquor.

I started with my appetiser (shown above) of Marinated white anchovies on quinoa croquettes with spicy saffron aioli. The anchovies didn’t overpower the dish excessively like I though it would though I think it lost the flavour of the soft saffron in the ailoi that also failed to be noticeably spicy. The crunch of the quinoa (a grain) croquette) went well with the soft flesh of the anchovies.

For the main (or the entree as they call it in the US) I had difficulty deciding between the Tasmanian sea trout or the New Zealand Snapper. After asking the waitress, I decided for the snapper dish, on the menu marked as Pan-seared New Zealand snapper on wasabi-boniato mash with poached conch, pickled ginger, and yao choy. The fish was delicately cooked – so soft that poking it with a fork would unfold its white gems of flesh. I’m not sure where the conch was and the subtle wasabi-boniato mash was creamy and slightly sweet that went perfectly with the fish on top of it.

Details: Public
Found at: 210 Elizabeth Street, New York, 10012
Contactable on: +1 212 343 7011
Highlights: Strong classical menu involving lots of Australian and New Zealand seafood and meat with a modern twist.
Room for improvement: Not that I’m vegetarian, but I noticed on their menu they only had one choice for vegetarians from their main dishes.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

Highly Recommended Tour

January 22, 2008 Patrick Food, New York, Travel

After spending what time I could with the family, I thought I’d do some more of the off-the-beaten track type things and joined one of the tours from Foods of New York Tours (at USD40). This one centred around one of the foodie-streets in Greenwich Village where we did effectively a progressive sampling from many of the different places in this area.

In total we had thirteen people including a mix of several dutch visitors, an Englishman, and a number of other Americans visiting from different parts of the country. Our tour guide, Cindy who’d been working as a guide for many many years grew up in the area and is extremely passionate about her history and sharing it with the group. It was a very friendly atmosphere and the combination of the questions the group asked and the passion of the tour guide meant the three hours allocated for the tour extended to almost four as we combed the several blocks in the area.

Here’s the places that we ended up visiting:

Joe’s Pizza (7 Carmine St) – One of the “best” pizza places (there’s many in Manhattan) and also the location of the first scene in the Spiderman 2 film where Peter Parker loses his job. We had half a slice of pizza, freshly baked and crisp from the oven. The small counter means the pizzas are continually fresh and crisp.
O&Co (249 Bleecker Street) – A store where the store manager is a self confessed “olive oil nerd” and shared with us a number of the shocking facts about olive oil (did you know that many olive oils you buy tend to be blends including many nut oils that trigger allergies in people unknowingly?). Here we had a tasting of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over a fresh baked loaf of bread.
The Cornelia Street Cafe (29 Cornelia Street) – We took a break from all the eating and sat in the basement of this little cafe where they host live music and, often, many popular artists.
Faicco’s Pork Store (also known as Faicco’s Italian Specialities found on 260 Bleecker St, New York) – This Italian speciality store sells all kind of pork products and is a heaving deli, especially at lunch time when everyone’s ducking in to grab some of their sandwiches, or other freshly made foods. We had a lovely rice ball (cheap at only 75c) here.
Aphrodisia Herb Shoppe (264 Bleecker Street) – We stopped in here just because our guide pointed out the huge variety of herbs and different spices you can find here. Thankfully we took a break from the eating here too.
Lime (29 7th Ave S) – A funky Thai restaurant offering a twist on your classic Thai creations. We had two fresh chicken dumplings, sitting in a home made sauce with some fried garlic and a slice of fresh chilli.
Milk and Cookies (19 Commerce St) – We had our first dessert of the day – an obligatory American chocolate chip cookie that we just sweet enough.
Bleeker Street Pizza (69 Seventh Avenue South) – We had a slice of square pizza here with a much thicker dough than your classic American. Nice and crunchy with a delicious tomato sauce.
Murray’s Cheese Shop (254 Bleecker St) – An amazing Cheese store even with its own Cheese cellar and tasting room. We had a fantastic platter of three cheeses (sheep, goat and cow) as well as a pork product from next door and bread from Amy’s down the street.
Rocco’s Pastry Shop & Espresso Cafe (243 Bleecker St.) – Our guide brought our final item from across the road to Murray’s where we were sitting upstairs in the tasting room. Our final dessert and food item for the day was a light and airy Cannoli. They only fill these when you order them so they stay as crisp as possible without deteriorating into a soggy mess.

WD-50, The Restaurant

January 21, 2008 Patrick Food, New York, Restaurants

Although the name sounds like some sort of variant of the lubricant, cleaner and anti-corrosive WD-40, this restaurant bears no other resemblance and is actually a combination between the restauranteur’s name and the address. I wanted to try this place out as the chef was well known for matching bizarre and strange ingredients, much along the lines of The Fat Duck. Karl and I had dinner here, first trying an appetizer and entree (main course) the followed by the three course dessert tasting menu. What followed was an extravaganza of a meal.

Our waitress provided fantastic service throughout the night and we joked with her about a number of things (like the endless cutlery that accompanied everything). She also gave us two glasses of free dessert wine (a light rose, and followed with the muscat) that went smashingly with the multi-course desserts we had.

Read on to find more about our culinary journey. Read more “WD-50, The Restaurant”

Chelsea Market

January 19, 2008 Patrick Food, New York, Travel

Walking around the West side of New York, I stumbled across the Chelsea Market. I’d never been through this place in all my visits to New York and I was mightily impressed by what’s inside. At the entrance, they have the New York version of the Westbourne Grove cafe/store, 202 (who, I might add, serve one of the tastiest french toast/bacon dishes for brunch) and the glitzy though expensive Buddakan. Inside is dotted with a huge variety of bakeries, produce places and restaurants. I find out later that this place is the shooting location for many of the shows off the Food Network, and its neatly refurbished interior is definitely an ideal backdrop for many of these shows.

One of the best things about this place that I liked quite a lot is the open kitchens of all the places – you can see master bakeries preparing the dough for the rows and rows of ovens, or watch as they whip up a fresh milkshake at Ronnybrook’s Milk Bar. There’s a couple of places to have coffee, a number of small boutique stores and is just great meandering around.

A Night at Nobu

January 16, 2008 Patrick Food, New York, Restaurants

My family tends to avoid famous restaurants and by habit, we prefer closer to home-cooked meals, at reasonable prices and with an atmosphere that doesn’t have to resemble a club to be enjoyable. Even then, if we end up going to an upscale place, it has to be for a pretty special occasion and what we call special occasions are far and few between. Getting everyone in my immediate family together in New York is one of those special occasions that we thought we’d splash out and celebrate as a family. The result? Dinner for twelve at the famous Japanese restaurant, Nobu.

Although I ate at the Las Vegas version of this restaurant, dining at the flagship restaurant with the family and some other relatives ended up with as a much more enjoyable meal lasting over ten courses and stretching over at least three hours. I’m glad to say that our waiter worked extremely well for his service charge, telling us about the menu in great detail, talking about his own recommendations, topping up everyone’s water frequently and bringing the food at a reasonable pace. He didn’t try to up sell certain types of food or try to push things that we didn’t want to eat or drink, and he didn’t interrupt during our meal at awkward times, breaking the flow of whatever conversations we might have been in.

Read on to see the list of dishes we ate and photos of the food (at least those that turned out). Read more “A Night at Nobu”