UK Life – Page 21 – thekua.com@rest

The Natural History Museum

March 19, 2006 Patrick London To Do, UK Life

Yesterday I finally managed to get entry into the Natural History Museum, located closest to the South Kensington tube. Last time, the massive crowds lining up thwarted my attempt, but thankfully yesterday most of the people were already inside. The museum is impressive from both its size and shape having been built in the mid to late 1800s. Inside it keeps a collection of breathtaking displays with the current exhibits including impressive replicas of animals such a blue whale, elephant and hippopotamus, a large display of dinosaur skeletons and other prehistoric animals and an earth sciences wing containing all different aspects that make up our planet.

The dinosaur exhibition is definitely worth seeing because seeing skeletons is so different from reading stories or books or watching movies such as Jurassic Park. There are a lot of them, but the museum does an excellent job of putting stories together for each animal.

The other wing worth looking at is the one containing the mammals display which contain life-sized replicas of animals as you don’t realise just how big some of them can be. The blue whale is most impressive, but any the detail that has been put into many of these animals make it almost creepy about how life like some of them can be. One of the other highlights that I’m keen to check out is the Giant Squid that is on display as part of the Darwin exhibition but is so popular that it tickets go very quickly

New Fortune Cookie

March 14, 2006 Patrick Bayswater, Food, Restaurants, UK Life

This Chinese restaurant is my favourite so far along Queensway. Though it’s small and hidden just behind the work that’s going on with the Queensway Tube station, its tiny front room hides the great food on offer for even better prices.

Ignore the strange two door entry that you almost need to fight your way through, and once you manage to adjust to the super attentive waiters and waitresses, you can sit back and enjoy the food that they serve. I’ve eaten here a few times and although I can’t say that it is a super busy as the Four Seasons, or Kam Tong, you see a higher proportion of Chinese people in this restaurant.

The Chilli Salt Tofu is superbly crisp and the duck and rice combinations they put out are better than the ones that they serve down the road and much better than what many offer in Chinatown. There is a set menu on offer, but if you find yourself reaching for it, you should really stop yourself because you miss out on many of different dishes that they offer, of which most of them will be good. New Fortune Cookie is also quite rare as it’s the first Chinese restaurant I’ve seen in London that has Deep Fried Ice Cream on the menu, though it’s not like any of the ones from back home (this one is wrapped has ice cream wrapped in rice paper and fried with a coconut mixture).

Service is super attentive and getting refills for tea is no problem. Food arrives very promptly and although you may feel like they are trying to rush you through your meal, it is just the sort of service that they give – very prompt and efficient. When the end of the meal comes, you enjoy not only a plate of orange slices, but you also get the hot napkin, and like the name, a fortune cookie to laugh over with your fellow diners. Do be wary about staff though asking if you would like to put additional tip if put things onto a card as it is included in the total of your bill.

Details: New Fortune Cookie
Found On: 1 Queensway, London, W2 4QJ
Contactable On: 020 7727 7260
Highlights: Efficient service, great food at decent prices, lots of trimmings including a fortune cookie
Room for improvement: Attendants could be a little less in your face but there is not much physical room
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

Kam Tong

March 13, 2006 Patrick Bayswater, Food, London To Do, Restaurants, UK Life

Bayswater is a plethora of restaurants because it gets a lot of tourists being right close to Notting Hill and it is also being quite central to the whole of London. I have eaten out at a number of my “locals” but I realised the other day that I hadn’t reviewed many of them. This entry is an attempt at fixing this.

I don’t actually understand why there are so many Asian restaurants along Queensway but there are. It’s not because there is a huge Asian population here, because at least I don’t think there is. Amongst the many Chinese restaurants that are just downstairs from me, Kam Tong is not exactly one of my favourite haunts, but it appears it is for many others. Perhaps its popularity stems because there always seems to be huge crowds there, sometimes even spilling onto the sidewalk, but there is also its fantastic location being almost adjacent to the Queensway tube exit.

The food is decently priced (a huge plate of Char Sui and Rice only £4) and its buzzing atmosphere (surprisingly an equal mix of Western and Asiant people), cloth tablecloths and napkins actually makes this feel like a quality restaurant. I found that there are little things that make this restaurant quite appealing, such as the dish that appears out of nowhere with your food containing three smaller dishes of chilli oil, sweet sour sauce and sliced chillis in vinegar. I have always been automatically given tea when I go there, and from what I remember on the bill, the tea is surprisingly free, unlike many of the others in Chinatown. I also like the fact that the staff automatically server orange segments at the end of the meal, a nice way of cleansing the palate.

Though most dishes are cheap, some of the more exotic ones, like the Hokkien Freid Rice, are a lot more expensive than what others offer in Chinatown, and I can’t say it’s the best food for the price in this area, but at least service is quite consistent and the atmosphere generally much better than most. If you do decide to make a visit to Kam Tong, do come prepared as they have a cash only policy.

Details: Kam Tong
Found on: 59-63 Queensway, London, W2 4QH
Contactable on: 020 7229 6065
Highlights: Fairly cheap Chinese food, lots of different trimmings and so close to the tube, you could crawl your way back.
Room for improvement: Should get a Credit Card machine
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10

A Kosher Lunch at Zvika

March 12, 2006 Patrick Food, London To Do, Restaurants, UK Life

Nowhere in the world has as many New York Delis as, you guessed it, New York, but it certainly doesn’t means other places do not try. London has a few New York-style delis and today I visited one of the newest of them, Zvika located between Tottenham Court Road and Soho. Zvika is less deli and probably more Kosher as their menu offerings are quite wide, many of the items on offer including different types of curries and Middle Eastern foods though there is plenty of pastrami, salami and salt beef to keep people happy.

Zvika, just like any NY deli seems to focus on really big portions and it was quite a mistake for me to order a soup and a sandwich as you can tell from the pictures. I found the prices though a little bit excessive for London and found myself paying quite a lot more than I thought I would for an extremely filling lunch. They have quite a lot of varying things on their menu although you can tell that the sandwich combinations must be quite popular, with many of them named after famous people like the Victoria Beckham (Turkey, Lettuce & Tomato), the David Beckham (Salami & Pastrami), Madonna (Turkey & Pastrami) and the Wayne Rooney (Big Salt Beef). They serve goulash, hot dogs, spaghetti and meatballs, a variety of salads, sandwiches and soups and by the time you’re finished with your meal you’d be unlikely to reach for dessert though they have them too.

The Matzah Ball Soup is a clear, chicken soup broth served with three large bread dumplings. The soup was well seasoned and full of flavour without tasting extremely salty. It was the first time that I had ever had Matzah Balls and though I found them to be quite meaty, I found their texture slightly off putting because I had no idea what in them and though they because they didn’t taste like any meat I could think of, found it overly strange. Since then, I found out people typically make them out of a combination of matzah meal, eggs, fat and seasonings.

I had no idea what to really expect when I ordered the NY sandwich other than the fact that there was going to be a lot of meat, and even that was a gross understatement. What arrived between two thin bits of rustic bread was a massive portion of meat, including pastrami, salt beef and a hot dog. Thankfully a large gherkin and coleslaw came with and the waiter was kind enough to give me a bottle of mustard to help keep the meat from overwhelming my palette. When it arrived it looked quite impressive and was obviously freshly heated as you could see steam rising from the meat barely contained by the white slices of bread. The hot dog was solidly deliciously and unlike the very fatty English sausages simply tasted meaty. The pastrami and salt beef was somewhat overly chewy but then it could have been just because I had never eaten so much meat in one sitting before and my jaw was probably tiring out. As you can see I had a great attempt at actually finishing the sandwich but alas, failed and gave up before my body did so that I could walk around only slightly uncomfortably instead of the alternative I dare not face.

Overall it was quite a nice experience and I can’t really compare it to anything authentic since it’s been a while since I had a proper New York Deli sandwich I thought it was a decent effort if nothing else. I do recommend that if do you decide to eat there and price is an issue, its best if you go for take away and eat it in the nearby Soho Square park as there is a significant difference in price between dining in and takeaway and it doesn’t even include the typical service charge.

Details: Zvika (Closed)
Found On: 8 Great Chapel Street, London, W1F 8FG
Contactable On: 020 7434 2733 or info@znydeli.co.uk
Highlights: Huge filling kosher portions of food. Good for those atkin-dieters out there. Has additional space upstairs and the dining room is quite nice for a deli
Room for improvement: Seemed to be a little bit overpriced for what it is.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

A Monsoon in Brick Lane

March 11, 2006 Patrick Food, London To Do, Restaurants, UK Life

On Friday night, the closest thing that I could really do to go out was just dinner (still overcoming the whole sickness thing) so I suggested we head out to Brick Lane for something different. Though there are many good curry places littered around London, and some could easily argue, even better places located outside of London, Brick Lane is one of those streets that you have to visit at least once if you eat curry. Much akin to Lygon Street in Melbourne, once you make your way there, the hardest thing to do is pick a place to eat. The number of places is overwhelming and the most distracting part of choosing is the number of hawkers hired by the restaurants to reel in the diners. Promises of free bottles of wine, or a round of beer and tempting discounts from 20-30% or perhaps free starters distracts you from you might otherwise think a good place to eat. I lucky that I did a little bit of reading up before hand and we came across one that I remember being positively reviewed, and after a little bit of menu gazing and some talking later, we were sitting on the second floor with a window view of a curry house called Monsoon.

Service was actually okay for the night and I was surprised to find that even though we were not ordering all the crazy amount of drinks that other tables might have been, we were treated just like any other customers. Monsoon have a free bottle of (house) wine which lasted us the entire meal, and a 30% discount meaning after a few poppadoms, three curries, a couple of rice and naan later, we were only up for £8 each – a very cheap night indeed. The curries themselves were nice, saucy, and quite tasty (except for the Bangladeshi fish that was just weird tasting) but were lacking in substantial amounts of meat. Having said that though, we still didn’t finish all the food and we were quite full (I have no idea how any of the other tables could eat starters or side dishes as well!)

Throughout the night I was equally surprised that there was no real pressure from the waiters to speed up our meal, despite a queue forming downstairs and people continually being “assisted” by waiters upstairs. The evening’s meal was probably only spoilt by an excessively loud table of ten women on the opposite side of the room. There was one in particular that had a really painful laugh, and another who announced to the world that she was from New Zealand and had been in London in six years (you would have thought she might have learned some manners by now!). Other than that though, the curry house was quite good and I could definitely go back there though I would be most keen to try some of the others. It is a bit hard to justify crossing town though to eat curries there when there are a few places nearby that serve just as good, if not better nosh.

Details: Monsoon
Found On: 78 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RL
Highlights: Nice decor, reasonably priced curries (only after discount), okay service and great company for the evening
Room for improvement:The lamb could made more tender and there could be more meat in the curries.
The Kua Rating: 6.5 out of 10

The Delays @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire

March 10, 2006 Patrick Music, UK Life

Despite being under the weather this week, I still managed to drag myself out of the house and see The Delays perform at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Tuesday night. The best thing about seeing them at Shepherd’s Bush Empire is that it’s a smoke-free zone, and frankly I didn’t need any additional help coughing on my own.

I have always enjoyed listening to The Delays after hearing their first album, Faded Seaside Glamour, a great example of the hauntingly different indie-pop-rock tunes they can produce. They apparently had a fair amount of airplay in the UK, but they also got some airplay back home on Triple J. This particular concert promoted the release of their new album, You See Colours, on Monday. They played a number of songs off their new album, and even though there are definitely heavier rock undertones in contrast to their first album, the poignant vocals and lyrics that are distinctly ‘The Delays’-only is still there. It’s one of those ones that I am going to have to listen to fully sometime very soon.

They mixed playing their new songs with a number of the crowd’s favourites from their first album including Long Time Coming, Bedroom Scene, Nearer Than Heaven and Wanderlust (and so many more). The light show, obviously themed to be consistent with their newest album was amazing and the band did not disappoint on Tuesday.

The Square Pie Company

March 5, 2006 Patrick Food, London To Do, UK Life

Pies seem to be an English staple and pubs in London that serve food are always guaranteed to serve some form of pie. I had read in a few reviews that The Square Pie company is one of the better pie makers and I thought today would be a good day to test them out for myself. I had only read about the outlet at the Spitalfields Markets (though since then I found they also haves stores in Selfridges and Canary Wharf), so I jumped on the Central Line to get there for lunch.

I haven’t really had many pies here so I can’t really generalise, but I do miss the ones that you get back home sometimes, with one of my favourites being the Steak and Beer pie that Goldsteins sell. Today I opted for a Steak and Guiness pie, served with mash and gravy. The pies that they sell are not cheap, mine coming in at £4.25 and although they are big, my initial impression was that it wasn’t quite worth the price.

The pies come in a really hardy box that would no doubt survive being thrown around. The pie takes up almost two thirds of the box, with enough space for mash or mushy peas, both of which many people indulge in. The Square Pie company certainly have the whole production line all sorted out, with a person putting the pie into the box, with another dishing out the mash or peas, another to pour the gravy, and then the final person who takes the payment.

I would love to tell you that as I cut into the pie (apparently it’s not how you eat pies here) and brought that initial piece into my mouth that it was mind-blowingly tasty, but I cannot lie. The chunks of beef were moderately tasty in their rich dark gravy, but certainly not as tender as other pies that I have had. I was a little disappointed in the pastry, with the top not quite as flaky in comparison to I’m used to, and the base a lot doughier than I think it should be. The mash was nice and flavourful though and I could see the pieces of onions in the mash, adding to the combination of flavours. Admittedly the pie and mash was filling and if you’re craving a pie, then I think these ones are fine, but I probably won’t be making a journey out again specifically for those ones.

Details: The Square Pie Company
Found On: (Spitalfields Markets) 16 Horner Square, South East corner of Old Spitalfields Market, London E1 6AA, though they have branches in Selfridges and Canary Wharf
Highlights: Filling pie, nice tasty, and big chunks of beef
Room for improvement: A little overpriced and the pies could come in better pastry.
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10

Escaping the Hustle and Bustle via Holland Park

March 5, 2006 Patrick London To Do, UK Life

London, like most big cities, is always seen as being super busy and full of people (rush hour on the tube is one great example). While living in London, there is a compulsion to go away outside of London (some nice European town perhaps?) in order to get away from the noise of the city, but there is actually a veritable array of places inside where you can find peace and quiet. At the end of the road where I live, for example is Hyde Park.

London has an amazing number of parks all spread throughout the various suburbs and most of them are quiet lush and substantially sized. One such park is Holland Park, one that I am lucky enough to walk by on the way to work everyday. Despite the larger number of times I have passed it, I had never actually really entered the park, so yesterday I went for a quick stroll into its vast greenery. Like most parks here, I’ve been completely surprised by how big it is, and the number of things it contains. It has a number of football (read: soccer) fields, an open air theatre, an Orangery, a mansion, and even a fully operating Youth Hostel.

It also houses the Kyoto Gardens, my most favourite part of the park. This place was first built in 1991 as part of the Japanese Festival, but has been touched up a couple of times since then. Like most other Japanese gardens, this one is set about a carp-filled pond constantly refreshed by a cascading waterfall and surrounded by well trimmed shrubbery, all giving this place a true feeling of tranquillity. It was nice simply sitting there, absorbing the sun’s warmth and indulging in the quietness of the area. My other highlights of the visit included the huge peacocks walking around and the live black rabbits jumping around in the bushes.