A regular sighting on most mornings in Notting Hill
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Monthly Archives: May 2010
One-O-One Deux
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!
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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!
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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.
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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 …
Holborn Station
Need I really say anything?
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The Fantasticks
This show was anything but fantastic for me I’m afraid. Supposedly one of the longest-running musicals of all time tonight’s performance had its moments but for the most part I just couldn’t wait to get out of there.
The story is a kind of Romeo and Juliet in reverse – fathers of neighbouring youngsters fall upon an idea that in order to get their children together they needed to concoct a fued between the families. Teenagers, after all, are known best for rebelling against what their parents want and if their parents don’t want them to get together, then inevitably they’ll find some way to do so. To ensure the romance moves forward the fathers even go so far as to hire a magician, possibly the only character in the whole play that you could like, to “abduct” the daughter so the boy could “rescue” her. It goes well until the end of the first half before the ploy slowly unravels afterwards.
Characters are unsavoury and though the actors try hard they end up being more annoying than endearing. I did like the simplicity of the stage and the use of a dancer to embody the changes in scenery.
Summer is soooo here
I’ve always said I don’t mind it when the weather is shite during the work week then you’re not missing out on much. However, a nice day outside makes you feel happier … even if you do have to enjoy it from the inside of an office!
At least today Pete and I had a nice big window to enjoy the start of summer from
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Mum’s Pat’s Roast Chicken
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!
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This was my first serve …
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Two more plates were to follow. I couldn’t resist! And then I paid for it … I had to roll myself home!
City Buildings
It was just another one of those gorgeous days that made me want to walk forever and ever until the sun disappeared so after brunch with James I called up Su Yin to see if she wanted to take a walk.
We ended up walking for a couple of hours around the City which was blessfully empty of its city workers. heh heh.
I may not love the city workers but I do love their buildings. Lloyds:
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and of course the Gherkin
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Christopher’s American Bar and Grill
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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
Glorious Day at Greenwich
Its going to be a really good summer this year if today is any indication. The weather was absolutely amazing today and its only May!
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Laney and I thought we’d take advantage of the glorious weather and do some more elephant hunting out at Greenwhich. I don’t get out here too often cause its so far away but it’s a lovely short getaway from “London” and if you can gather the energy to climb up to the observatory on the hill you can get some stunning views across London. As usual when the sun surprises us there are some … interesting sights as the population do all they can to get rid of their pasty white bodies!
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The only pain today was the number of people lining up to stand on the meridian. Tourists are so rude and thoughtless sometimes! But we eventually got our turn (not without there being some fights which broke out in front of us though!)
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Glorious day.
A fortuitous meeting
I was out hunting for elephants this evening after work and as I was walking through Hyde Park towards Royal Albert Hall I suddenly noticed these arms waving around out the corner of my eye. It turned out to be Mei and Laney waiting to go in to see some performance at Royal Albert Hall. What are the chances of running into them randomly like this … once again it leads me to wonder at how no matter how massive London seems to be, its still very small in other ways!