Sake & Sushi Masterclass at Inamo

Last week, I was invited to attend an evening of sake-tasting and sushi-making hosted by Inamo, the pan-Asian restaurant on Regent Street.

Hi, Wilkes and Giulia!

While I do like sake, I can’t claim to know much about it. The masterclass was very informative. We tasted it both hot and cold… I’ve decided that I definitely like mine hot.

The other unique selling point about Inamo is its incredible interactive tables. You can order everything using these touch-sensitive tables, including food that projects onto your plate so you can see what you’re getting. Alternatively you can order a taxi, switch the camera to see what the chefs are cooking, or even change the virtual tablecloth pattern.

I love sushi, but this was my first attempt at making it. I constructed a plate of nigiri and uramaki with tuna, salmon and yellow tail. And how did they turn out? Let’s just call my style “hedious but delicious”. Here is how it is supposed to be done:

Many thanks to Inamo and Sauce PR for hosting a fun evening!

LDN with the Contax

I can’t get enough of exploring London with the Contax 645! Too bad I can barely afford it. Developing film is a killer…

Our first date

It has been a long time since I showed the Contax some love. I’ve finally been on my first photowalk of 2013, and sent off my first batch of film to the lab. This included a few captures from our first date! (Shot on the Contax 645 using Fujicolor Pro 400H film and a 80mm f2 lens.)

We sat on the pavement of Columbia Street Flower Market and listened to the hypnotising voice of Brooke Sharkey.

We wandered through East London, stopping wherever we felt like it. Spitalfields City Farm, Brick Lane, Pizza East, a random cider festival…

Before I knew it, a brunch date had turned into 14 hours together. And the rest, I suppose, is history.

And, because I can’t get enough of the vibrant sights of this part of London, here are a few more shots I took with my iPhone.

A Fishy Weekend

Finally hit up Billingsgate Fish Market! I’d wanted to go for years, but never mustered the strength to get up before 5am on a Saturday. We scored three lobsters, clams, a red snapper, oysters, smoked haddock, and a 3.5kg hake named Jake:

Dinner was, predictably, rather fish-focused. We started with fresh oysters.

Then toast topped with Gentlemen’s Relish, smoked haddock, baby spinach and poached eggs.

Next came a soup of hake, clams and chorizo.

After all of that, we actually didn’t have any room for the grilled lobsters! So it went into a lobster linguine lunch the following day (see my Instagram shot).

…but there is always room for dessert, aka my strawberry and passionfruit mini cheesecakes.

Next on the wishlist is Smithfield Market for fresh meat and poultry. Though that one opens for trading at 3am – gulp!

One Night in Singakong

A wonderful night of dishes from Singapore and Hong Kong hosted by Jason and Cherry at School Of Wok. Each dish was clearly made with love. The authenticity was undeniable!

Soy sauce-marinated eggs with salmon roe:

Tofu with pickled vegetables in a carrot and mushroom broth:

The ngor hiang meatballs were my favourite:

Drunken chicken with goji berries:

The bak kut teh broth with pork ribs and crispy dough sticks was sensational:

Steamed sea bass:

Cereal prawns (so damn good):

Spicy fried gai lan (cabbage mustard) and vegetables:

Triple-cooked pork belly with preserved vegetables:

Mango, pomelo and sago in coconut milk:

Palm sugar pancakes with banana sauce:

Definitely check out their supper-clubs (+65 and FedByTang) if you’re in London!

Brunswick House Cafe

Brunswick House Cafe is located in an architectural salvage shop in a Georgian building, so you’re dining amidst a quirky mish-mash of furniture and housewares.

Ever the gluttons, we had three starters. Firstly, the spice roasted cauliflower with raisins, almonds and mint. Glorious.

Crispy pig’s head with garden nasturtium, quince and apple.

My favourite dish was the chervil root, squash, kale and ragstone (goat’s cheese). A simple combination that I would never have dreamt up, but will strive to recreate.

For the main course, we had the venison haunch with elderberries, girolles and hazelnuts.

The first dessert was chocolate mousse and sponge with buttered popcorn ice cream. I probably could’ve finished another gallon of that ice cream.

Homemade cow’s curd tart with plums and crumble.

I live dangerously close to the Cafe. I will definitely be back during daylight hours to try their lunch menu and photograph the unique interiors.

Bea’s Crawfish Boil

They warned me that the all-you-can-eat crawfish boil at Bea’s Diner was not for the faint-hearted. They were right, and I shall offer the same courtesy… this post is definitely not for the squeamish!

We started with delicious garlic bread. I failed to get any decent shots of said bread because the fluorescent lights of the tunnel created yellow light-leaks across most of my photos (sadface). Soon enough, they came…

The dips were addictive – comeback sauce, cocktail sauce and Cajun butter sauce. After we had eaten what felt like our body weight of crawfish, sausage, potato, garlic bread and sweetcorn, we cooled off with home-made key lime pie flavour lollies. Nom.

Things got a little weird at the end of the night. I blame those margaritas…

Private Thoughts In Public Spaces

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing La Llorona Productions’ play ‘Private Thoughts in Public Spaces’. It was clever, playful, and damn sexy. A part of the Casa Festival 2012 happening in London right now. I do love this city!