Rache was down from Edinburgh for the weekend again and though I was packed in for the weekend I couldn’t not see her when she’d made the effort to come down. Nic took us to one of her favourite breakfast places near Embankment – the Embankment Café.

This little café is quite subtle and I’d say a little hidden gem. Food is very cheap and good (breakfast comes with chips!) and its location is fantastic – you can sit in the gardens and enjoy a nice bit of peace in an otherwise hectic and busy locale or sit on the terrace with views of the Thames.

I can see myself coming back here time and time again.

The last time I was in New York I tried to get into Daniel by Daniel Boulud. Currently number 8 in the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2010 you can imagine you can’t leave it a few days before you want to go there to get a booking – which is what I did! (Safe to say I did not get a booking … heh heh)

Therefore, when I heard that Bar Boulud was opening up in London I got a bit excited. Though Daniel is the restaurant that Daniel Boulud is best known, he does have a few restaurants dotted around the world. The newest to his stable was the Bar Boulud in London that we went to tonight.

Our booking was for 6.30 and normally at this time any given restaurant isn’t actually heaving but Bar Boulud was packed to the rafters! I was quite surprised. It must be the buzz about being a new entry to the London restaurant scene but also maybe its location in Knightsbridge which didn’t hurt.

Dinner menu at Bar Boulud is French bistro/classical French. I’m not sure burgers are particularly French but I knew before I got to the restaurant what I’d be having for my main: the Piggie Burger! which when I read a review of the place for some reason struck a chord with me. LOL. Sandra agreed with me and also went for the Piggie Burger for her main. What can I say – we both have good taste …the Piggie Burger was a beef patty with bbq pulled pork, lettuce and slaw, green chili mayoannise and interestingly served on a cheddar bun. Sound yummy much? And I can say for sure that it was … though the serving was entirely too small. 😉 Pomme frites which came with the burger were well fried.

But before we got to burger we also had some starters. I think Sandra’s was the winner with her seafood platter which looked pretty darned good except the seafood was chilled which I don’t really enjoy. My sausage (Lyon specialty sausage pistachio and black truffle in brioche) wasn’t what I was expecting it to look like but it tasted pretty darn good.

For dessert, which we could fit since our mains were quite modest, Sandra chose a decadent mint chocolate dish. It came complete with hot chocolate sauce which was used to pour over the crisp top to break into the dessert. I went for a lighter option combining two of my favourite flavours coconut and ginger in the Coupe de Fruits Exotiques: Tropical Fruit Sundae with ginger, Mascarpone Foam, Coconut-passion fruit sorbet.

Overall I was very impressed with Bar Boulud. Service-wise they were very good at filling up our water whenever we needed it (my litmus test for good service) and had a balanced presence at our table (though it did slightly disappear when we actually wanted the bill!) Food was good quality. Atmosphere felt energetic and hyper though I was glad to note we didn’t have to shout to hear each other.

Caro and I had a little girlie night tonight at One-O-One which was a perfect venue since Caro loves seafood and my experience at One-O-One last year with Sandra was pretty good. Our meal started off with an amuse bouche which actually hadn’t changed from last year (it was a mixed cerviche of tuna and salmon, with cous cous, avocado and crunchy bits. It was, once again, pretty tasty!

For starters I was so jealous of Sandra’s King Crab legs from our last meal that I had to have it this time again. Though I did opt for the legs warmed with Sweet Chilli-Ginger Sauce and it was absolutely divine. The crab was perfectly delicate and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment. Caro decided she wanted a to experience the Smoked Salmon with Crispy Braised Pork Belly Parsley Crushed Potato and Caper Butter, Balsamic Jelly. How cute was the presentation!

For our mains neither of us wanted to be jealous of the other’s dish so it was Seared Lobster Tail and Honey Glazed Veal Sweetbread, Saffron Carrot Compote, Citrus and Vanilla Emulsion for both of us. The dish was a spectacular fusion of colour but taste-wise it was the sesame seeds in the veal sweetbread that really made this dish.

Surprisingly we were both too full for dessert! Its probably the first time in a while I haven’t done the full three courses …

We had a lovely evening and I’m pleased that One-O-One delivered once again on its quality of food, service and atmosphere. I do wonder, however, how often they update their menu? I’ll have to wait awhile before I come again … though I wouldn’t at all be unhappy to re-experience what I had tonight. Mmmm …

Pat got back from Oz recently and he brought back a secret ingredient in my Mum’s roast so he could make it for us. What a feast we ended up with!

This was my first serve …

Two more plates were to follow. I couldn’t resist! And then I paid for it … I had to roll myself home!

Where I really wanted to have brunch was at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand but they are open for brunch only Mondays to Fridays. What is that about! At any rate as a result I was probably going to be disappointed from the outset by whatever substitute James and I ended up at.

Christopher’s American Bar and Grill sounded promising. Sure I knew we wouldn’t be expecting the same sort of brunch available at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand but I was hoping at least to walk away suitably stuffed and happy with my meal. It was a glorious day today and our table, located on the second floor of the building near Covent Garden, had nice big windows which gladly welcomed in the sunlight from the outside so things were looking good. We were seated away from the windows but if you looked carefully you could still see out to the Imax theatre from where I was seated.

Perhaps before I go further I should confirm that yes – I was in a greedy mood and I really wanted American portions – others have said they have American portions but I didn’t think they were!

My brunch was James had steak and eggs. Both seemed okay but being priced at £xxxxx didn’t seem as big portions as they should have been. My breakfast didn’t come with toast for a start, though we did get complimentary bread at the beginning with some very lovely butter, and my meal did have two little nuggets of hash brown. The chicken piece was a measly! The way the menu read I thought I was going to get something more impressive. I think we should have taken our cue from those around us – they were ordering breakfast things (such as pancakes etc.) for a starter before going on to their main meal!

Service I felt was a bit snobbish. It always felt like the waitstaff were looking down on us though I can’t point out exactly why I felt that and actually I have to say the front of desk staff was very nice – we didn’t make a reservation but she did her best to try and slot us in without having to make us wait too long.

Overall I wasn’t very impressed by my visit to Christopher’s American Bar and Grill. It was an expensive meal (for brunch) and not very filling or satisfying and the wait staff were not at all friendly or welcoming (though they weren’t exactly rude either.) It was all probably just alright and nothing more.

I’m not going to say no to going to a restaurant which serves fried ice cream, even if it did appear that it was served with tomato sauce last time … I actually think Haozhan is one of the better Chinese restaurants around with a slightly twisted menu but, best of all, very decent service! Gladly tonight there were no missteps in the service – it was all once again very friendly, efficient and helpful.

Prices are a little higher than some of its surrounding counter-parts in Chinatown but I think its fair value for money, but very good value for money with 2-4-1 with my Taste London card!

I only came here with Pat less than two months ago but Sandra really wanted to try it out and I was helpless to resist.

At least I got to try some different dishes now though I couldn’t convince Sandra to try the Coffee Smoked Ribs which I still really want to try! Sandra is a huge seafood fan so as a starter, alongside the not to be denied gorgeous Chilli Quail which Pat and I loved last time, we had Tom Yum Prawns: King Prawns tossed in a Tom Yum infused mayonnaise sauce topped with red onion, mango, chillies and salad cress. The complication in this dish was that we only got three cones of the stuff and the cones are not easily divisible in half!

For our mains we had an absolutely gorgeous Cheese Lobster. Yes not what you think you’d typically order in a Chinese restaurant but gee it was tasty. Lobster baked with cream cheese cheddar, French Echire butter, milk and diced ham Portugese style this required 20 minutes prep time … which was totally worth the wait! We also had a a fish which I can’t remember what it was! But it was pretty delicious!

We finished the meal with a deep fried ice cream each and made sure to ask for the sauce on the side. To be fair to Haozhan, whilst it still tasted a bit like ketchup, the sauce actually turned out to be an extremely concentrated strawberry sauce – its just that I don’t think they added any sugar!

A lovely experience at Haozhan again.

Before you let your imagination run away from you dear reader this post is about … food. I hardly ever go south of the river (and that’s not yet another euphemism) so more than likely one of the main reasons I’d be in Clapham is for food! Fantasia was one of Rache’s favourite brunch places when she used to live in London and I can see why – cheap (very cheap!), decent portions, and quite good grub – my eggs benedict actually came with salad, a nice one at that! (although I was a bit greedy and still added a sausage and hash brown. Heh heh)

Had a catch up with Sandra and Kelly today at Plum Valley and now officially I think I’ve eaten on every floor of the restaurant! Ha ha! Food was, as usual, very lovely and so very filling. Great value on the top table deal.

Koya is a new little Japanese cheap eats that has popped-up in Soho. The menu is simple – noodles, noodles and noodles (with sides of tempura and maybe a few bits and bobs …) Those not familiar with Japanese noodles you get all sorts: fat ones, thin ones, flat ones, round ones, ones made of wheat, ones made of buckwheat, served hot or cold there’s quite a selection.

Koya is an udon shop and it’s a no fuss venue with simple tables and chairs which are crammed fairly close together though strangely there is a big amount of empty space down the middle of the front room. The staff are all genuine Japanese too which was very welcome because they were all so very friendly, efficient and humbly polite! Such a Japanese trait! Although for the most part the customers at Koya were a mixed bunch Jenny and I got to sit next to some proper Japanese customers – one lady, once she was finished, actually said thank you for sharing the table with her.

Man I love the Japanese – they are so polite!

So, Koya – my problem? I’m not a Japanese noodle fan! but I still found options on the menu for me. I went for one of the non-noodle dishes on the menu – gyudon which is basically beef on rice. It was good but the tempura that we got to accompany our meal, perfectly lightly battered, was nicer.

This is not a eatery where you will spend very long eating your meal (though there is no pressure for you to vacate upon finishing its not the kind of place to really linger, especially when you see the giant line out the door and also when you find you’ve sat through two rounds of people finishing their dinner …) but you will spend a long time here. Riddle? Well, if you like noodles then there’s not doubt that you’ll be a Koya visitor time and time again.

Hey – on another topic – I like how Jenny’s and my nails went together. Very summery!