thekua.com@rest – Page 45

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!)

Training First Class

January 31, 2008 Patrick Travel, UK Life

On my way up to Lancaster, I was fortunate enough that the person who booked my ticket had booked first class all the way. I’ve been on plenty of Virgin trains whilst I was working with a client at Milton Keynes though forty minutes on a train doesn’t really justify the price. Three hours on a train apparently does.

On arrival, an attendant greets you as you board the train, welcoming you to your seat complete with a dinner setting (napkin and metal cutlery) and plenty of space around you. You’re soon offered a newspaper and a choice of a hot meal (at least for breakfast I was). They offer that first refresher drink before meal and plenty of tea and coffee during and after.

My favourite bit about first class though is that each table is outfitted with a power socket that you can connect any electrical appliances to. This meant that you could have a bite to eat, work in leisure all with only minor interruptions. The only improvement I can really ask for is wireless Internet (they had a couple of wireless networks though I couldn’t get Internet from them).

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

Happy Australia Day

January 29, 2008 Patrick UK Life

Unlike the many other Aussies celebrating this event in all the Walkabouts around London, I went along to Gerrod and Ben‘s traditional Australia Day party out in Chiswick. Part of the tradition is listening to the JJJ’s Hotest 100 countdown, something I’m glad we could still do thanks to the streaming two hour blocks from JJJ’s website. I think I arrived somewhere around #75 and hung around way past the #1 song that, surprisingly ended up as Muse’s Knights of Cydonia.

The party also meant a great opportunity to catch up with many of the people who I hadn’t seen well before leaving for India and a few other people I’d never met before yet I’d seen on their respective blogs. We ducked out for a late lunch at Ground and disappointingly we ended up having to eat outside where many people froze to death. The burgers here were decently sized yet I still think that GBK’s shakes and fries are much better (we didn’t even dare go since they said it’d be another two hour wait).

See more pictures here.

Lancaster

January 28, 2008 Patrick Travel, UK Life

Last week I helped out on a project way up north nears the Lakes district located in Lancaster. I’ve never really been that far north in England – the furtherest place really being Milton Keynes (and that city’s definitely not very representative of England). Being pretty far north, I expected lots of rain and extremely cold weather so I was pleasantly surprised when I got off the train to semi-blue skies and a fairly moderate temperature. It did rain during my stay there yet it was still fairly light and didn’t last all day and night.

Lancaster has plenty of history and going out to dinner with one of the client staff told me much more about it all. Lancaster is located very close to the coast, leading to very moderate temperatures all season (never too hot in summer and never too cold in winter). The infamous Morecambe Bay (where the eighteen cocklefish pickers died several years ago) is also located very close there. Of course, travelling during the week and doing so for work meant that we never got to visit the vast stretch of sand where the tide will cause the shore water to move faster than you can walk, leaving you in plenty of deep water before you know it.

What I really enjoyed about the city was it’s pristine condition for such an old city. A small ring road encompasses the main part of the city and all the places within it are all walking distance apart. In fact most are no more than fifteen or twenty minutes from one side to another. All of the buildings in this area must be built from stone and the resulting look is simply stunning with store fronts, houses and office spaces simply looking like extensions to the Castle and Church located in the heart of the city. Like most English cities, Lancaster has plenty of pubs per person though forty within the tiny ring road still seemed a little excessive to me. We ended up in the Ye Old John O’Gaunt one night and enjoyed a little bit of live music amidst the buzzing mix of university and locals.

I stayed at the Penny Street Bridge Hotel for the couple of nights I was there and was definitely impressed. It’s definitely new and its modern finishings and fittings seemed to stand in bleak contrast to the older stone exterior. It’s only got 26 rooms yet I was the last person to check in that effectively filled it up. They offer a standard continental breakfast and free internet (both wireless and the standard network cable).

I think it would’ve been great to stay there for the weekend and check out all the local sights. I had slight difficulty understanding some of the Lancashire accents yet the people were extremely helpful and friendly in all the places I went.

Albums of Choice for 2007

January 25, 2008 Patrick Music

In the wake of even more lists and reflections on last year and a touch of inspiration from Ben’s blog entry, I thought I’d share a number of albums I either listened to a lot last year or really caught my attention.

Best of British rock

Wait for Me by The Pigeon Detectives – One of those very easy albums to listen to and watching these guys perform live is pretty amazing too. It’s great to listen to get you going in the morning. Favourites from this album include Wait for Me, I Found Out, Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye, and I’m Not Sorry.

Mens Needs, Women Needs, Whatever by The Cribs – Certainly much more upbeat riffs and high energy from another British band. Songs are short and sweet except for the epic, six minute long song, Be Safe. With songs like Our Bovine Public, you know they’re having a bit of a laugh and the they’re a sure to be a long time favourite on many an Indie dance floor. My favourite song on this album is Moving Pictures.

Your Truly, Angry Mob by Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby, ruby, ruby! It’s one of those lyric sets that you continue to hum long after you’ve heard it, especially with the cover done by these guys. Listen to it and another song called Heat Dies Down. The rest of the album is pretty addictive too.

Rock around the world
Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace by the Foo Fighters – The album tends to sound like a lot of their other albums yet a number of the songs off their latest album still manages to hit the right key. Both the song and the film clip to the first track on this album, The Pretender is amazing, starting in the soft undertones, quickly building into the well known sound of the Foo Fighters. I also really enjoyed the strangely repetitive and hence, maybe mesmerising track Come Alive.

Alibis and Other Lies by Grinspoon – Another winning album from this Australian rock band that have continued to churn out great tracks. The usual combination between the heavier tunes and the melodic acoustic tracks and yet somehow the album seems different from their previous ones. You can tell this band is maturing as the sounds are far from their early albums. Listen to the tracks What you Got and Living In The City.

Dance trax
Klaxons Myths of the Near Future by the Klaxons – A mix probably better classified as electro rock, this band mixes up the rock sounds into a uniquely sombre and dark album. Starting off with something that sounds alarming, they take you through a journey that based on their film clips take you through space to other worlds (or at least I guess they’re supposed to). They also picked two of their best songs for a colourful and symbolic film clips – Golden Skans and It’s Not Over Yet.

Version by Mark Ronson – Mixing it up with a number of British artists performing covers to other British artists songs puts together an eclectic mix of sounds you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. The interesting part is mixing up the different styles from different artists whose covers are just completely different takes. My favourite off this album is the cover of Maximo Park’s Apply Some Pressure.

Calvin Harris - I Created Disco I Created Disco by Calvin Harris – With cheesy, simple film clips and a fun attitude, this Scottish artist creates an album that somehow makes you laugh. Lots of synthetic mixes and some very simple lyrics that just keep looping in your head after you listen to them. Best songs off this one, Born in the 80’s, Merrymaking At My Place and The Girls.

Hold Your Colour by Pendulum – This drum and bass outfit presents an album that takes you on a journey worth taking if you’re into this sort of music. My favourite song here is Slam.

Honourable Mentions
Cross by Justice – Though I didn’t really get into the whole album, the song D.A.N.C.E. is light and entertaining. Its film clip is even more innovative and interesting to watch. See it below

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.