Category Archives: Food

Espelette Afternoon Tea

Posted on by

I thought it would be nice to bring Caro out to an afternoon tea for her birthday. I’d read about the “Chic and Shock” afternoon tea at the Espelette in the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair from Timeout so was eager to try it out with Caro. Afternoon tea is served in the Conservatory which overlooks Carlos Place and Mount Street. When we arrived the place was abuzz with other fellow afternoon tea goers. Interestingly many of them, or the men at least, were kitted out rather casually in jeans and trainers! Still, afternoon tea is I think an opportunity to indulge in my girly girly side (which doesn’t really come out that often!) so I was happy to make an effort!

We were guided to a seat by the window which gave us a view out to a most amazing day. After a quick sneaky mention to the waiter that it was Caro’s birthday we settled down to an afternoon of overeating! Ha!

First of all we started with the tea selection – the variety included the usual variants of black, white and green tea. Whilst Caro opted for a mix of a number of teas with the Connaught Blend (Darjeeling, Lapsang, Keemun and Oolong) I went for a black tea which a hint of lemon, bergamot, caramel and vanilla (a blend called Paris.) If I ever come here again I’d be interested in trying the Caribe blend: Black and green tea infused with hibiscus, guava, coconut and strawberry accentuated with Marigolds and cornflowers. All those flavours!

Served at the same time as our tea were our sandwiches. Two usual suspects in the cucumber and dill cream and egg, mayo and watercress sandwiches and then the two sandwiches with bite: prawns, mayonnaise with chilli and fresh coriander leaves and smoked salmon and wasabi cream. Interesting! My favourite sandwich was definitely the prawn with chilli mayo with the egg and mayo coming a second. I liked the wasabi on the smoked salmon but I’m not a fan of smoked salmon itself.

After a second round of sandwiches (which we didn’t in all honesty need) it was on to pastries which are always the highlight of the afternoon tea. We had quite a few to choose from so we decided that we’d split everything to try it and then if we wanted anything else we’d just ask for more. Our pastries, starting from the bottom layer and working up were: Tirgre, marzipan and chocolate sponge cake topped with caramelized rice crispies, Praline cream with and hazelnut crumble, Tarte Montblanc, then Tiramisu tart, coffee financier and mascarpone mousse, Lime bar, milk and almond glaze topped with hazelnut gianduja cream, and Choux paste with caramel pastry cream and finally on top a shot glass of Coca Cola jelly and marinated pink grapefruit in whiskey along with our clotted cream for our warmed plain and apricot scones. We also got a variety of jellies to go with our scones: strawberry, chestnut, orange and marmalade.

Do you think that once we went through the above that we felt like seconds? Ha! Not at all – were so stuffed but then they brought a little plate for Caro and, though we’d forgotten about it, our final round: cakes! Slices of chocolate cake with a Gianduja glaze and lemon cake with ginger and Earl grey tea. I wish I’d been less full to do justice to the cakes.

We had a lovely time at the Esplette though surprisingly the waiter who we’d been assigned was a little bit remiss in his attention. I think he was caught up trying to keep on top of the big group of women that were seated next to us. Other than that though the other waitresses and waiters were fine. On a clear day like today the Conservatory was a perfect setting for an afternoon tea – light and airy and a good slightly buzzy atmosphere.

Note also that afternoon tea here is definitely at the higher end of the scale (£35 before service and sans champagne!)

Viktor

Posted on by

I was expecting quite a bit from Viktor, a “Modern Japanese Restaurant, located in Knightsbridge. The location seemed right, the menu seemed interested … its just a shame that no one told me that in just a few days time it was closing for renovation! If I had known this I would have thought twice about making a booking for dinner tonight. Over half the items we wanted to try were not available as the kitchen was apparently running down their supplies …

Walking in at 7.30pm on a Friday evening the restaurant was practically empty except for one or two other diners. This was not a good sign! However by the time we left a couple of hours later it did start to fill up a bit though not by much.

First impressions were pretty good – we were seated quickly at a window seat in a room which was dominated by browns and dark colours popular with modern Japanese restaurants. Loads of mirrors line one side of the wall, presumably to make the restaurant feel bigger than it actually is. Our serviettes were folded up like a little suits and our soy sauce saucer was in a cute little fish dish. However things soon degenerated when choice after choice got shot down. Perhaps if the waiter had told us from the outset what was unavailable our expectations might not have been so disappointed.

Nevertheless we finally settled on a combination which was actually available. We started off with two sushi dishes: Grilled Spicy Salmon and Viktor eel (Avocado, cucumber, tobiko, eel on top)

The sushi wasn’t too bad to be honest though we would have had a lot more had there been availability.

We followed this with a few main dishes of Almond Honey Shrimp Tempura, Duck Leg Sake, Lamb Ribs Teriyaki and a gorgeous grilled Aubergine which was the standout dish of the evening. The tempura was average, the duck leg was salty and the lamb ribs … tasted too much like lamb! Ha!

Although we were quite full at this stage we still pushed on with some dessert. Pat went for his favourite green tea ice cream and I thought I’d try something different: wasabi ice cream. It was surely the oddest thing I’ve ever eaten – it was sweet but also not sweet. Strange and, admittedly, very difficult to get through. I was almost grateful I only had one scoop – even if the dish was priced at over £6!

With the 50% off the meal was still quite expensive, though admitted we had quite a few dishes, but I think at full price the restaurant would have been slightly overpriced. Service was a bit hit and miss – such as the not explaining from the beginning which dishes were unavailable and being a bit pushy on drinks.

I’d say our visit tonight was a rather average visit marred mostly by not being able to eat what we wanted.

grace kua night

Posted on by

I always get excited when I see my name has been used for a business whether it be a restaurant, a shop, a building so I got super excited when I heard there was a grace bar opening in London and even more excited when I heard there was a bar named for my last name. Therefore I decided to have a grace kua night for fun.

grace bar turned out to be where sugar reef used to be. I don’t know why they felt they needed to rebrand and refit the bar since sugar reef seemed okay as it was but hey what are you to do. We started with some dinner in the bar section of the grace bar (as opposed to the restaurant) and I’m afraid to say the experience was a little disappointing. Though our waitress was friendly enough when we got her attention – she was not very good at her job and as a result we barely saw her and she forgot one of our orders. Additionally the bar was extremely slow in getting our drinks ready and the kitchen super slow in getting our (overcooked) burgers out to us. Very disappointing and if we hadn’t had the 50% food and drinks voucher I might have had words.

Hilariously I asked for a kahlua and milk drink for my second drink and they served it as two separate drinks:

After our dinner and a couple of drinks we decided to head over to the second half of the evening – the kua bar. The kua bar is located in the Cumberland Hotel just behind Marble Arch. Unfortunately the closest we got was the door because apparently it had shut for the night (it was only 8.15!)! Apparently it’s a bar that the hotel keeps open for as long as they have customers … I guess tonight it was a quiet one.

Hibiscus

Posted on by

Its only recently that I’ve started to realise that sometimes eating off a set meal or special menu at these Michelin-starred restaurants is a bit of false economy – though you’re saving at least 50%, if not more, on your total bill you’re actually short-changing yourself on the experience because quite often the set menu will be quite limited in its choice and, whilst showing-casing some of the skill of the kitchen, is unlikely to offer the best options from the a la carte or official tasting menu. Still, it is a good way to sample the restaurant that’s friendly to your pocket and can pave the path for you to return should you like you’re experience enough. You do still get a Michelin-starred experience .. .which is what we got tonight at the 2-starred Hibiscus.

Hibiscus is chef Claude Bosi’s restaurant. Training under such big-name French chefs as Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse he earned his double starring for his Hisbiscus restaurant in Ludlow. He moved the restaurant to London in 2007 and managed to retain the double star rating.

Our dinner menu (4 courses for £48.50) read like this:

Appetiser
—
Warm Royale of Parmesan & Walnuts, Salsify Veloute
—
Poached Gurnard, Casserole of Pearl Barley, Carrot and Black Treacle Puree
OR
Roast Shropshire Partridge, Caper & Raisin Sauce, Glazed Savoy Cabbage, Smoked Butter
—
Ice Coconut Parfait, Lychee & Rose Water Sorbet

I love how the menu had a disclaimer “GAME: We kindly remind you that some Game dishes may still contain traces of shot.” Ha ha!

Our meal started with some lovely warmed cheese rolls. Lovely and warm and extremely cheesy I could have happily eaten them all night! Then we had some slices of warm brown bread and a lovely butter served on a gray slate.

We weren’t sure what to expect with our appetiser which turned out to be this:

A multi-Moroccan spiced soupy creamy froth in an eggshell concoction. And though its not the first time a dish has been presented in an egg shell it was still pretty cute. The soupy creamy froth was pretty tasty too.

Quickly following our appetiser (really what would function as the amuse bouche in other restaurants) was our veloute and partridges (both Sandra and I opted for the bird over the fish, especially when our waiter described the Gurnard, I must google that later, as an ugly fish!) We had really cool if not exactly function knives to go with our partridges.

The portion sizes of both dishes look bigger in the picture than they were in reality so we made sure to take our time eating the dishes. Both were quite nice and well seasoned though I think I’m a bit over game bird now – they are, well, a little gamey for my liking these days.

Before our parfait dessert we were presented with the sweetest little pre-dessert: Granny smith apple compote, celeriac jelly, chestnut foam. Very strong tasting though it was a bit awkward to try and get a spoonful of all flavours at once.

Finally we had the lovely dessert which included all the flavours I love – coconut, lychee and rose. Mmmm … tasty and even though Sandra isn’t a big fan of coconut even she enjoyed the dessert!

We had a lovely experience at Hibiscus tonight and though it may not seem like for all the food we appear to have eaten we were in and out of there rather quickly. It wasn’t like we were rushed or anything but I guess small portions don’t really take all that long to chow down! The service was very friendly and efficient. As an example when one of the waitresses was pouring the water out for us she accidentally spilled it outside of the glass so she actually took it away to replace/dry before bringing it back to reserve the water! Additionally because neither Sandra or I were up for a bellini the drink man produced a delicious non alcoholic cocktail for us which they went to great depths to explain the ingredients to us!

The room is quite intimate and small. You may also end up being quite close to the table next to you but despite that overall feel was of people carrying on discrete conversations rather than trying to shout at one another. We could probably make out the couple’s conversation next to us if we had concentrated.

An interesting experience and another 2 michelin starred restaurant ticked off my list. I would one day love to go back and try the Suckling Pig two ways …

Caffe Uno

Posted on by

Caught up with a bunch of people tonight (Mei, Jonny, Annie, Randy, and Leo) tonight at Caffe Uno. It was great to see them all especially Mei who’d just come back from a few weeks in Perth. I was extremely jealous of the tan she was still sporting – when will I be that colour again!

Food at Caffe Uno is not spectacular at all. My salmon was at least a decent size, unlike Randy’s lasagna special, but it was so overcooked (seemingly deep fried at that!) that it practically resembled chicken. However at least they let us sit at our table long after we’d finished food and drinks. I’ve never sat in a restaurant for nearly three hours having eaten only one course!

Obsessed with Wasabi

Posted on by

I’m absolutely obsessed with Wasabi at the moment. Wasabi has recently seen an explosion of the chain all around London. It offers freshly made sushi as well as hot food at a reasonable price. Granted the quality of the ingredients are unlikely to be same as you’d get in a restaurant like, say Nobu, but for what they’re offering and the convenience of what they’re offering – its not too bad at all.

Pearl Liang

Posted on by

Yum cha dishes are generally served with three dishes per dish so Sandra had the bright idea that Pat should join us for lunch today at Pearl Liang so we could order a wider variety of dishes. Although this did work out logistically we somehow still ended up eating way more than we normally would so nearly rolled out of the restaurant!

Pearl Liang is supposed to be one of the better yum cha restaurants in London and in times past when I’ve visited they’ve normally delivered. On today’s visit, though the food was reasonably of good quality though not as good as I remembered it to be, the service was absolutely horrid. The restaurant was busy (so if you want to come always make sure to book) but that was no excuse for the lack of service that we got. For a start the restaurant didn’t have enough menus to even give one menu per person and secondly we could hardly get the attention of any wait staff to get our orders in. It was very disappointing.

Orrery

Posted on by

I caught up with Su Yin and Kelly at Orrery tonight. Orrery is another in the stable of the D&D restaurants and sits on top of a Conran shop on Marylebone High Street. Its probably a surprise to see that there is this restaurant upstairs – I almost didn’t see the entrance! Orrery serves “French inspired” and tonight’s experience proves why some of the best service you’ll ever find will be in a French restaurant.

But let’s start with the food. We were taking advantage of a set menu offer – £30 for 3 courses and a glass of bellini. As is the trend with many of the posher restaurants these days we also got a few little extras – which was good because the food portions were, I guess rather typically, small!

(I think we spent more time taking photos than eating our dishes!)

Our meals were started with an amuse bouche of Parsnip soup and mushroom foam. It was very cute and intensely flavoured. We followed this with a starter of seafood tortelinni, lobster bisque which I was pleased to see came with a giant prawn (thankfully peeled) on top. Delicious but I could have done with at least two more portions of it. Heh heh.

For mains I stayed with my seafood theme with Sea bass, truffle mousseline, champagne veloute. Beautifully presented even if I do object to the foams and smears of “sauce”. I was expecting stronger flavours but as usual the truffle essence is lost on me. The sea bass was quite fresh.

Food at this stage was coming out really quite quickly and when combined with the fact the portions weren’t too huge I thought we’d be in and out of the restaurant in half an hour! However, there was a slight delay on our desserts. Whilst waiting for our dessert we were surprised by a pre-dessert of vanilla foam (more foam!) and pear and apple crumble which was very delicious. I would have been happy to get a full dessert of it that’s for sure.

The delay was soon explained by this:

I had opted for the pear frangipane and vanilla ice cream but I wasn’t expecting the silver candles and the Happy Birthday written on the plate! I was wondering why I got the place but could only track it back to when halfway through our main meal Su Yin had suddenly said “Happy Birthday” to me. She said it quietly but our hovering waiter must have overhead! I was well impressed that the waiter did something about such a subtle hint! It was so funny because even the guys next to us chipped in wishing me a happy birthday … my birthday isn’t until later in the year by the way! But see what I mean about French service.

Because we were having such a nice time in the restaurant we finished our meals with some tea. Stepping right up to the task Orrery delivered with some delicious petit fours, which our waiter was more than happy to top up:

The waiters were really lovely and their presence was exactly spot on: there when we wanted them and not there when we didn’t need them although I did note that the later the night got the more harried they seemed.

Orrery was a truly enjoyable experience with fine food, fine food, and fine atmosphere. It may have been a little on the pricey side for the amount of food we got on our plates but you do get quite a few extras and the ingredients are pretty high quality.

Caro’s Pie: Two-ways

Posted on by

Nate and Caro are always out to take good care of me most especially by ensuring that I eat well. Yes I know what you’re thinking – Grace does not have a problem with that!

Not that I ever need an excuse to visit my good friends but one of the reasons that makes my trip out to their home in Earlsfield so memorable is the delicious food that Caro always manages to turn out. Today it was pie day. Pie has to be one of my favourites and Caro certainly delivered with her beef pie and applie pie. Not only were the pies good but the french fries (well seasoned with chilli powder) and vege that accompanied the beef pie were fantastic too.

Yummo!

Lana’s 30th: Sushinho

Posted on by

The problem with my visit to Sushinho tonight was that I was expecting a restaurant which delivered a meal as spectacular as the one that I’d had at Sushi Samba in New York. Basically the two restaurants have the same premise – the fusion of Brazilian and Japanese cuisine but where Sushi Samba really delivered on presentation and content I felt Sushinho was a little flat. But that’s not to say it was overall a terrible experience because some of the food, the tempura especially, was quite nice.

For starters we all ordered some sushi, whether it was a sushi special or the platter. We were expecting the dishes to come out served individually but for some reason rather than present the dishes separately, to emphasise the ingredients, they piled everything on to one plate. I understand that they were trying to encourage shared eating but when I compared it with the flamboyance of Sushi Samba it kind of paled in comparison. My sushi special was the samba roll (eel and papaya, tobiko, lime dressing, 6pcs) as I can never resist eel. Taste-wise it wasn’t terribly exciting – the eel flavour wasn’t strong and even the lime dressing didn’t even cut through.

Things improved when it came to my seafood tempura. I have to hold my hand up and say that it was quite possibly the best tempura I’ve ever had. The batter was perfectly light and crispy and the dish somehow managed to stay quite warm. It was delicious through and through.

The hot mains (or the sushinho specials and grills as they are called on the menu) are served as is (that is with no accompaniment) so bear that in mind when ordering as you’ll likely need a side of rice or something to bulk up the dish a bit. My dish was actually quite attractive – red snapper fillet with gnocchi (about five pieces) cooked in squid ink, cucumber and fennel salad and black sesame sauce. It was an odd combination but actually worked quite well. At £22 I felt it was slightly over-priced but I guess this is what you get when dining on King’s Road!

We didn’t get to try any of the desserts which was both a curse (cause I love dessert!) and a blessing (saved myself a bit of money!) as Lana had brought her own dessert! We were actually at Sushinho to celebrate Lana’s 30th birthday so she had planned ahead and bought a dozen beautiful cupcakes from Lola’s at Selfridges! How nice of her! The cupcakes were delicious but after a big meal we all got to take a “doggy-bag” cupcake away. Heh heh. I was impressed that the staff didn’t say anything about us having the cupcakes there but to be honest tonight the service was fairly relaxed anyway!

Overall I’d say Sushinho was a nice, though pricey experience. It’s a pleasant atmosphere (room is quite dark and minimalist so quite intimate) and I imagine on a busier night they might even have some funky South American music going on (I didn’t really notice if any was playing tonight as we were to busy chatting!) Not quite as brilliant as Sushi Samba but from the reviews I’ve read it has certainly improved since it opened just over a year ago. I’d really like to see them innovate on their sushi a bit more and work on presentation.