It is shameful how I’ve lived in London for 7 years without visiting Maltby Street market until now. As much as I like Borough Market, it’s just so busy all the time. By comparison Maltby is laid-back and quirkier. I love the deep tunnels… and it sure looks pretty with the patriotic flags out for the Jubilee!
Oh Bea’s, you so pretty…
Hasslachers hot chocolate is so, so tasty.
Wonderful jamon from Tozino:
Jason, Selina, Giulia and Dini – hi y’all.
Believe it or not, last week was National Doughnut Week. What better way to celebrate than with dreamy custard doughnuts from St John’s Bakery? So I met the Doughnut Gang (ha) on Saturday morning at Maltby Street market for breakfast.
Oh-ho-ho, there the beauties are…
The early risers of the foodie lot, Jason and Selina:
And Giulia. I have many photos of the Gang eating doughnuts, but I shall resist publicising them and losing friendships. Oh well, maybe just one…
We then joined lots more foodies at Bea’s Of Bloomsbury for buttermilk pancakes and French toast. It felt like a big family breakfast, especially with the long wooden table.
Seventeen hosted a wonderful bloggers’ event tonight. As a Sichuan girl, I intended to judge the food harshly against the ultimate – my parents’ cooking – and I came away feeling reasonably satisfied.
When asked if I wanted white or red wine, I struggled for a moment. Then I realised that I never order wine with Chinese food, because there’s always white meat, red meat, fish, and a zillion conflicting spices. Beer is a good option, which helps if the chilli gets too much, but I usually stick to green tea.
The first course was lamb skewers seasoned with cumin (羊肉串). Always a favourite, and this did not disappoint. The only minor issue is that Seventeen is a classy establishment, and there is no possible way of eating these gracefully. Just sayin’.
Next came the beef shank in hot and spicy sauce (麻辣牛健). This was authentic and flavourful, and I believe it was a universal success among my fellow bloggers too.
Sichuan-style fish (水煮辣椒鱼) literally translates to ‘water boiled fish’. Don’t let the deceptively-mild name fool you. This is usually a beast of a dish, swimming in a fluorescent sea of chilli peppers. The one that Seventeen served to us was milder than a fully authentic one would be… but I genuinely thank them for that. I have Sichuan blood, so occasionally I do enjoy eating a chilli dish so hot that I have to take regular breaks to let my tongue recover. But this dish had the right balance of fragrant chilli oil, but not too much of a kick so we didn’t have to sit there sweating.
Not much to say about the green beans with chilli and pork mince. Or the Chinese broccoli with garlic (清炒芥兰). Both were nice and fresh, but they’re pretty hard to get wrong…
To be honest, I rarely choose chicken when there’s other meats available. But the Chongqing chicken (重庆口水鸡) had me picking at it until there was no more, so they must have done something right!
Okay, now the twice-cooked pork belly (回锅肉). I got excited when this dish was announced, because it’s one of my all-time favourites. Not least because my parents make the best one in the world. I still maintain they do, but Seventeen did a very respectable alternative.
After dinner came tea with dessert – black sesame mochi and mango pudding. I can’t actually name a single dessert that I associate with Sichuan. Come to think of it, I never even have dessert when I go out for Chinese food. This is because I will have already stuffed myself silly. (The same goes for carbs. I only eat half a portion of rice or noodles, to leave maximum room for the meat, fish and veg!) But I do admit it was nice to have a bite of sweetness to soothe that chilli fire.
It was great to meet so many other bloggers too – here’s a shout out to Ken, Selina, Dini, James, Alice, Giulia, Jason and Tiffany. And finally, a big thank you to lovely Mark for hosting us. The service was just as impeccable as the food, and 加油 for your business!
Oh Dishoom, what a treat you are! I’m not particularly good with words, so I’ll let my photos do the talking…
Last night I tried out Wimbledon’s newest sushi restaurant, Sticks n Sushi. Loved it; seriously loved it. The restaurant has only been open a few weeks, and it was easy to see how it has gotten such great reviews. The decor was somehow both spacious and cosy (very Nordic!) and the staff were super-friendly.
The food centred mainly around yakitori (sticks) and sushi. I was curious about how Denmark and Japan would fuse together food-wise. The answer: splendidly.
These ebi bites were sensational:
The marcel chocolate cake with raspberry foam was a slice of heaven. Really. M wouldn’t let me talk to him until he finished his piece (“don’t you dare ruin this by talking!”)
Oh I will most definitely be back soon.
On my last night in San Francisco, I enjoyed fantastic food and company… at Sons & Daughters with Pei, Chris, Dan and Till. The tasting menu was exciting – so much so that my taste buds couldn’t even process some combinations! Really liked the assortment of freshly-baked bread with salted butter in between courses too.
Cardoon • smoked creme fraiche • caviar
Green garlic • turnip • mussel | kampachi • kosho ponzu
Asparagus • quail egg • onion
Salmon • castelvetrano • watercress
Squab • pistachio • fennel | pansy • yoghurt • meyer lemon
Chocolate • coconut • hazelnut | guava • yarrow • pate de fruit
Dan drew us on the menu. Love, love, love!
K made me swim in the outdoor pool on this fine 3°C morning, so today’s lunch was well-deserved! After 50 laps, we pigged out at Jamie Oliver’s new venture – Union Jacks – which serves flatbread pizzas with a British twist.
I had the Old Spot (roast shoulder of pig, quince & Bramley sauce, Cropwell Bishop Stilton, crackling & watercress) with a lovely fresh ginger beer. And for dessert, 3 scoops of home-made ice cream – Earl Grey tea, Snickers and sticky toffee.
{ Let me welcome my dear friend Mervin as today’s guest writer. I supply the photos, he supplies the words. I cannot wait for his food blog to go public! }
We went to L’Autre Pied this week for the seven-course tasting menu. Testament to the lengths we will go for good food, the outside temperature that night was -30 degrees Celsius, it was windy and I was still recuperating from a spell of The Most Vicious Man Flu.
Charlotte bought us the vouchers from Groupon for my birthday, although she was careful to point out that I, unlike everyone else, do not age but remain fresh-faced and line-free, having sold my soul for eternal youth to the Devil, Estée Lauder.
The visit to L’Autre Pied, incidentally, bumped Charlotte up in my esteem, not that my friendship and love can be bought if any of my other “friends” are reading. Gloves. I need gloves. Dents, Slim, silk-lined brown leather gloves from menswear at Liberty’s. Cashmere-lined puts you above Charlotte.
I digress, back to the food. L’Autre Pied brings fine and Michelin-starred dining to the mass – you people – by stripping it down to the bare essential. They keep: good service (efficient to the point of slightly rushed), French waiters, a good wine list, and understated setting. They dispense with: tablecloths, personal space, Stark champagne flutes, and grovelling host. While this makes it very affordable dining, although not markedly more so than Pied A Terre, it does diminish the experience if only slightly.
The cuisine, however, does not suffer. Everything comes with purées, emultions, reductions, foams, crunchy toppings and copious use of seasonal ingredients with the just the right highlight of exotic and obscure ones to make the food Michelin enough – think Mizuna instead of rocket.
L’Autre Pied does not offer the same amount of gastronomic research and novelty in the menu or presentation as Pied A Terre – it does feel a little “two-years ago” – but the execution of the dishes is excellent, the flavours well-developed and balance right most of the time.
Our first course, an amuse-bouche of whipped pumpkin purée sprinkled with chives, toasted sunflower and sesame seeds amused us greatly indeed. We were also introduced to the breadbasket at this point with which we asked to be re-acquainted often through dinner.
The starter of Jerusalem Artichoke Velouté with Burnt Roscoff Onion, Toasted Hazelnuts and Rocket Oil was earthy with varied and interesting textures. The velouté, poured on the accompaniments at the table, was not quite creamy and unctuous enough to be called a velouté at all. Jerusalem Artichokes deserve a splash of cream and perhaps a slither of seared foie gras to fully be shown off. The spring onions at the bottom of the plate although thinly sliced were aggressively raw. Bearing in mind that a velouté is served warm rather than hot, a quick blanching really was required.
The Lasagne of Pheasant with Cep Vinaigrette, Baby Onions, Watercress Puree and Toasted Hay Veloute was our favourite dish of the night. It was exquisite; deeply savoury, with complementary and very well-balanced flavours and textures.
The main course of Roasted Breast of Guinea Fowl, Caramelised Apple Purée, Brussel Sprouts, Black Olives and Thyme Jus fell short of excellent because of the overpowering and bitter black olives – less would have been better – and the sprouts, a sparse garnish, need not have had billing in the headline at all.
Farm House Cheese – semi-matured brie – with Sesame Lavoche – Middle Eastern crispy flat bread – and Fig Compote followed. Served at a dinner party, the cheese plate would have been delightful, here it underwhelmed and a course it was not.
Pre-Dessert was a triumph: Vanilla Panna Cotta with Clementine Jelly and Apple Foam. We conferred and concurred on being fully committed to the concept of pre-desserts from now. If one is good, two must be better.
Dessert was Vodka and Grapefruit Parfait with Citrus Filo and Coconut Foam topped with Freeze Dried Mango. T’was al’right.
I'm Char. I live in London and like taking photographs. 
