A Bit of Oz in Waitrose

Patrick Brisvegas, Food, UK Life

Despite living in my current flat for quite a few months now, it was only today that I stumbled across a Waitrose that’s within a reasonable walking distance. Waitrose, being the most expensive of the supermarkets in the UK, offer very high quality food and vegetables so I shouldn’t have been surprised, (but I was) when I saw they sold Bundaberg Root and Ginger Beer.

Bundaberg Root Beer

Not exactly cheap compared to other soft drinks, they were priced better than the £1.40 per bottle the Australia and New Zealand Store in Covent Garden charge. Totally worth it for something to remind me of home.

Ramen Seto

Patrick Food, Restaurants, UK Life

SushiAfter walking around Picadilly trying to find a restaurant called Toku with little success and getting hungrier by the minute, I ended up giving up and heading to Kingly Street to try another one called Ramen Seto. I’d been past it several times before on the way to Donzoko and I’ve never been able to work out if it was authentic or not, sometimes full of Japanese people, and many other times full with obviously not Japanese people. The restaurant is pretty small, maybe fitting about 20 people though since it was quite late by the time I got there, the lunch rush would have been over.

The menu offers a standard selection of Japanese dishes including sushi, tempura, gyoza, some “don” dishes, and of course ramen. Since I always like to try the quality of sushi, I ordered a sea bass nigiri sushi in addition to the Pork Katsu Curry and Miso Soup set. I really can’t say that the sushi was anything very special though I was suitably impressed that they’d put a slight touch of wasabi between the rice and fish – something that more Westernised places tend not to do. A table next to me had the gyoza dish and each of them looked plump and very satisfying.

Katsu Pork CurryThe pork katsu curry arrived with the miso soup shortly after. The soup was well made though maybe a little bit salty and had just the right amounts of tofu and spring onions. The pork katsu dish looked impressive with a huge mountain of rice surrounded by a pool of curry sauce and the pork katsu. Unfortunately the katsu was disappointingly overcooked and even drenchings of curry sauce didn’t make it any more moist.

I’m not sure if I would go back to Ramen Seto since it wasn’t particularly impressed by anything and there are plenty more Japanese restaurants to try in the area. Oh, and if you’re wondering the Asian waitresses are definitely not Japanese after over hearing them speak to one another.

Details: Ramen Seto
Found on: 19 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5PY
Contactable on: 0871 3328396
Highlights: Sushi was pretty much on par with Yo Sushi and a decent menu offering. Gyoza looked pretty impressive.
Room for improvement: Over cooked pork katsu
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10

A Non Alcoholic Mojito

Patrick UK Life

I found this weekend just gone that you can find some bargains at the Borough Markets despite what prices you will for some items. One of those bargains was a huge bunch of mint almost greater than my hand for only a £1. What to do with so much of the stuff… A Mojito mix jumped to mind.

The drink is so simple, and only required a few more ingredients. Even without the alcohol, Mojitos still taste very refreshing and summery, something that at least Saturday sort of turned out to be.

Mojito

Read on to find out how I made it. Read more “A Non Alcoholic Mojito”

Facebooked

Patrick General, UK Life

I managed to miss the entire myspace thing probably due to generational things more so than anything, but it seems like the Facebook wave has hit me. I can definitely say I’m not (yet) addicted to it (I don’t have plans for installing the Facebook Firefox sidebar). In a good way, it’s at least put me in contact with people from school and University I’ve not chatted to for a while.

Where’s the good coffee? Monmouth

Patrick Food, UK Life, Where's the good coffee?

Monmouth on Monmouth StreetMonmouth coffee is one of my most favourite places to drop in for a takeaway coffee with the benefit of being located just around the corner from my main work office in Covent Garden. Their flagship store that just happens to be several years older than yours truly is located on Monmouth Street although they also have a store at the Borough, and a further stall inside the Borough Market. Their flagship store is tiny and for the most part, you end up sharing tables with other people but worth it for its unique atmosphere.

I’ve found the staff seem to enjoy working there and have always been pretty helpful. That helps a lot when the store gets very busy, particularly on weekends when the line sometimes stretches onto the street.

In terms of coffee, Monmouth only offers a single size for things like filtered coffee, americanos and lattes. Within the last year, it also seems that one of their Antipodean staff has had quite an influence because they now offer a Flat White in addition to their normal drinks. When you pick up your take away coffee, the small stand next to that counter offers a small selection of things you can add to your coffee, including a bottle of milk if you desire a little bit more, or soft brown sugar if you want to make your coffee sweeter.

If you happen to enjoy making coffee at home, Monmouth offers plenty of roasted coffee beans in a variety of forms for you to take home. I’ve found they make a great present for someone you know who enjoys their coffee. They also offer a mouth watering display of all types of cakes, pastries and baked savoury goods that go well with your coffee.

Location: Monmouth is found on 27 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9EU (Google Map link) and 2 Park Street, Borough, SE1 9AB (Google Map link)

Keane at the O2

Patrick Music, UK Life

KeaneOn Saturday night I ended up at The O2 to see British band Keane perform. It was my first time at the O2 and is easily the strangest venue I’ve been to, looking like it was part shopping centre, part convention centre and stadium merged into one. It’s got plenty of restaurants with the only probably being you have to join a queue of at least twenty to thirty people for every single restaurant to get a table. Inside the venue doesn’t seem as big even though it apparently can hold up to 23 000 people. It certainly doesn’t seem as big as Earl’s Court of Wembley Arena. It probably helps that the first of the three layers of seating start next to standing and the stage is very accessible to everyone.

Keane are really great performers and often called upon the crowd to get even more involved at many times. The lead singer would often tell a little story before a few of the stories, sometimes drawing a little bit of haggling from the audience who just wanted to listen to the music. Our standing tickets ended up being perfect for this performance since there was a second stage right in the midst of the standing crowd and Keane performed a number of their softer songs from it.

To finish the night off, the band ended their half hour encore with a bang, with what almost looked like an endless stream of confetti blown into the rafters. Overally a fantastic

Where’s the good coffee? Tinderbox

Patrick Food, UK Life, Where's the good coffee?
Tinderbox Store

When I head to the markets in Angel on the weekend, I make sure that I stop by this ‘espresso emporium’ found on Upper Street. It’s got a great set up – some tables outside, a tall bar by the window to look out onto the world, and then a very roomy interior complete with a sunlight and free wi-fi. Everything looks purposefully retro-styled with a shiny metallic espresso machine pumping out all the orders.

Tinderbox

The coffee here is tasty with plenty of styles to choose from including your traditional espresso, americano, latte as well as the less mainstream macchiatos, and even the affogato. If you find yourself having a take away latte, you’ll only find your pocket a reasonable £1.90 lighter. Though less important to the coffee, Tinderbox also offer a variety of sandwiches, soft drinks, pastries and cakes.

Location: 21 Upper Street, Islington, N1 0PQ (Google map link)

Where’s the good coffee?

Patrick Food, UK Life, Where's the good coffee?

Back home in Australia, Barista’s are generally a commodity and London could easily do with many more of them. Forget chain stores like Starbucks or Costa because I want to know more about the cafes that are worth going back to. I’m going to start writing about the best ones I find in London (since they’re so rare), so that you, too, can benefit from them.