27 January, 2012

Arianna II – Kilburn

Since moving from the leafy streets of Maida Vale to the slightly more ‘authentic’ (and a lot more cheap) Kilburn, I’ve been doing two things: saving money and exploring new places to eat. DQ and I have already found our staple takeaway places…

  1. La Basque for pizza
  2. Alex Plaice for fish and chips
  3. The Haandi House for curry
  4. Woody Grill for a messy kebab at 3am

I was ready to find somewhere to sit down, and the first place we tried was Arianna II, an Afghan restaurant on Kilburn High Road and an absolute gem of a place. Brilliant food, cheep and cheerful, and BYOB. Can you think of a better combination?arianna ii kilburn

We started with the Kadoo Buranee, a wonderfully aromatic warm pumpkin dish perfect for a winter evening. Along side, we enjoyed some fresh hummous, pita and some piping hot  meat samosas, smacking of ground cumin and chili.

I was insanely excited for the Kabuli Palow, and it didn’t disappoint. The shank was so tender that as soon as I picked up the bone (see Exhibit A), the lamb literally slid off the bone. Served on top of a sort of pilau with carrots, raisins, almonds and pistachios, it was the perfect combination of savoury and sweet.

arianna ii kilburn

Exhibit A

DQ went with the slightly more boring, but all together tasty Chicken Kebab. It was surprisingly spicy, and certainly enjoyable, if not a little predictable. He’s a boy who likes his chicken though, so what can you do?

Dessert was Firnee and Afghan-style pistachio pudding with a consistency not unlike a flan. After this much food, it was a welcome, light and slightly sweet note to end the meal.

arianna ii kilburn

All this, plus BYOB meant that our bill came to £25.00. That’s in total. Not per head. Rock on, Arianna II. We’ll be back.

 

Ariana II on Urbanspoon

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10 January, 2012

My Top 5 meals of 2011

A slight cold and travelling over Christmas has delayed the drafting of this post. However, that means I’ve had time to think about. My Top 5 meals of 2011 are a completely mixed bag, from the super cheap to the super expensive. I think only one is a ‘gimmie’, but you can’t fault the flawless execution of an internationally-famous chef. The rest I hope will be a bit of a surprise and inspire you to try some fantastic, not so well known, restaurants in London and abroad.

In no particular order, here are my most memorable, most delicious and most unique meals of 2011…

Kateh – Maida Vale
Although I’m no longer in Maida Vale, Kateh would be a reason to return. One of London’s only Persian restaurants, I still dream about the Koofteh Berenji starter of Persian meatballs I had. As an added bonus, it’s next door to the Windsor Castle pub – hands down the most delightful in a neighbourhood of over-priced drinking holes

The famous Meat Fruit from Dinner

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – Knightsbridge
Heston’s first London outpost made many-a-list this year, and it’s no surprise why. Our entire meal from beginning to end was expertly crafted and executed. I can say with certainty that the ‘Meatfruit’ deserves the amount of praise it received, as did the rest of the menu.

Heron – Paddington
Heron has made a little bit of noise over the past couple months. Rarely am I the early adopter of food bloggers, but finding Heron almost by accident in October was a real treat. It is hands down the most authentic Thai experience you can have in London. The menu is all in Thai, the food will make your eyes water and the random karaoke will have you in a fit of giggles.

900g of lobster at Fjöruborðið

Fjöruborðið – Iceland
Lobster is the name of the game at this tiny seaside restaurant. About 40 minutes drive from Reykjavik, it’s worth the trip. You will leave stuffed and happy.

Arianna II – Kilburn
It’s a bit of a cheat, because I haven’t written this up yet, but Kilburn’s only Afghani restaurant is (so far) my favourite restaurant in my new neighbourhood . With cuisine somewhere between Moroccan and Middle Eastern, it was a cheap, cheerful and delicious.

I know that I’ve slowed on the blogging in general, but I fully intend to pick it back up in full force in 2012. I may not be the best food blogger or the most influential or even with the ‘in’ crowd, but that’s not what this is about for me. It’s a love of food and dining out that keeps me going – and I hope that I will continue with it for many years to come.

Thanks for reading :)

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2 January, 2012

BrewDog – Camden

‘Hello! How are you?’ These are that questions you should say to every beer you drink.

If it doesn’t answer you back (in a manner of speaking), you’re not having Brew Dog.

Luckily, the six beers I tasted at BrewDog’s new bar in Camden were full of words. They wouldn’t shut up, to be honest. Considering, I’m not the biggest beer drinker, this was a good thing. However, I still brought along the boyfriend (nicknamed DQ for the purposes of this blog) to give his expert one-line, beer-loving opinion along with my totally amateur one.

  1. Tokyo
    Me: This is the first beer I tasted, and it actually wasn’t part of the event, meaning that I had a half pint of an 18.5% beer that that tasted like a chocolate-covered cherry. Trust me, that gets a 5’3” girl tipsy in about 3 sips.
    DQ: A beer that tastes port. Yes.
  2. Punk IPA
    Me: A bit strong, sort of citrusy. If you don’t like beer a whole lot, I would skip it
    DQ: Nice, tastes a bit weird, but I like it (Editor’s note: we were back at Brew Dog two nights later, and he had two pints, so I think ‘like it’ is a bit of an understatement)
  3. 5am Saint
    Me: Almost like a bitter honeycomb. We’ve been told it’s been boiled for 90 minutes and hops are added after fermentation, sort of like brewing tea.
    DQ: I like this. Full of flavour.
  4. Scotch Ale
    Me: It’s dark like the Tokyo, and I’m immediately disappointed that it’s not.
    DQ: It’s like coffee and beer had a love child (Editor’s note: can you tell we were a bit far gone by this point?)
  5. Hard Core IPA
    Me: Yes, hardcore. Way too hardcore for me.
    DQ: Very hoppy, slightly acidic, overall pleasant
  6. AB08
    Me: I can’t really taste anything at this point.
    DQ: Smells like a farmyard, but in a good way. It’s a combination of hay and manure, but tastes like coffee and honey

Beer isn’t the only thing at Brew Dog, though – and that’s where I come in. There is a very small menu devised by Masterchef winner Tim Anderson, which features a rolling menu of burgers, pizza and cheese plates.

During the tasting, we tried the Santa Ana pizza – a hot little tamale of corn, onions, chilli, spicy salami and crème fresh. If you’re sensitive to spice, it’s not for you. I loved it, though.

Later on and still hungry, we bought the Milwaukee burger (£6.95), and absolutely perfect blend of pork, sauerkraut and a sauce I can’t quite remember, that is surely a contender for best burger in London. It was amazing.

Actually, the whole place was so amazing that DQ and I found ourselves back there two nights later. I’ll be honest, I’m not the hugest fan of Camden, but Brew Dog is enough to sway me. I’ll be back in a heartbeat.

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7 December, 2011

Crazy Homies – Notting Hill

Crazy Homies is crazy, no doubt about it. Whatever you think about the name and/or the decor though, I can’t fault the cuisine. The place is routinely lauded as some of the city’s best Mexican, and for this American food blogger abroad, I’d have to agree. In fact, the only  negative part about my experience was realising that I lived about 15 minute walk away from the place for 3 years, and it took me having an American visitor/new UK transplant who was desperately missing black beans, to finally go.

I had told my compatriot the harsh truth -  that Mexican food in London is largely hit and miss. A sea of takeaway street food lunch burritos (of which there are some gems), Wahaca, a smattering of unremarkable chain restaurants and the obligatory lone nacho starter that so many dreary pubs and bars tend to have on the menu. Not the best state of affairs.

Luckily for us, Crazy Homies breaks the mould. It’s a fresh, and authentic approach that includes all the staple goods like the oh-so-tender slow cooked Pork Picadillo Taquitos (£6.95) and appropriately goopy Spiced Chicken Nachos (£7.95)  we shared as starters.

For mains, I wanted nothing more than the Beef Carnitas Enchiladas (£11.75), which – if I’m honest – was a rip off for the size of it, but was still very tasty – the black beans especially. (Side note: WHY aren’t black beans more popular here? They’re so lovely and versatile!)

The burritos on the table got similar reviews, though I can’t confess to having had a taste. This was the part of the meal where the only sounds you could hear at the table were those of belt buckles expanding.

It was a fantastic evening with fantastic food and fantastic friends. I feel slightly guilty for complaining about the fantastic price tag, considering (it ended up being about £40/head with nibbles, wine and beer), but if you go, you can certainly dine for less.

Crazy Homies on Urbanspoon

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1 December, 2011

Banana Tree – Soho

At first I thought Banana Tree was an Alan Yau restaurant. It had to be. The style of the menu, the atmosphere, the overfilled dining room so loud you can barely hear your boyfriend even on a Tuesday night at 8:45pm. It had to be. But nope, despite all the similarities, Banana Tree is a chain of Malaysian/Thai/Vietnamese-style canteen style restaurants headed by chef William Chow (which coincidentally rhymes with Yau. Scary…)

I had a £60 voucher to spend given to me by their in-house team – and trust me, £60 will get you VERY far in this restaurant. Three starters, two mains, rice and a bottle of wine to be exact.

Despite a couple misses, the food I’m happy to say was actually really good. The only thing I could fault is the presentation, which is why I’m not going to post many pictures. I don’t know if my camera was acting up or what, but the photographic evidence of our meal was not pretty. However, if you’re curious and don’t judge books by their covers, head to my set on Flickr.

Here’s the one that came out alright – Tamarind Crispy Fish with Thai Basil Glaze (£8.45):
banana tree

Tasty, it was, too. So many cheaper East Asian restaurants rely on gelatinous gloop that serves as ‘glaze’. This was light and accented the fish perfectly, which incidentally, did stay crispy throughout the meal.

We also really liked the Char Grilled Blackened Chili Pork (£8.25). It was an incredible deal considering the amount of meat on the plate. It was blackened, but not burned, something I’ve never been able to achieve at home.

The Spiced Lamb Lettuce Wraps (£5.85) were quite lovely and aromatic. If there’s one thing Banana Tree isn’t afraid of, it’s spice. Not so much hot spice, but full and flavourful accents of clove and star anise that this style of food is built upon.

The only misses of the night were on the starter/nibble side. I found the Sweet Corn Cakes (£3.25) and the Vietnamese Spring Rolls (£4.25) way too oily – like they’d been sitting in the fryer for the length of the bible.

Overall, though, a great experience. Service was pleasant and snappy. Most of the staff looked like they were actually having a good time, which always bodes well. Happy staff = happy service = happy customers. I’ll be back.

Banana Tree on Urbanspoon

Disclosure: As above, I was given a £60 voucher to try out Banana Tree. I had a completely anonymous dining experience, typical of any off-the street patron. Again, I can’t say how glad I am that PRs and restaurants are finally offering bloggers anonymity. It’s fantastic.

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18 November, 2011

The Big Chill House – King’s Cross

The Big Chill House is a very large, trendy pub not too far from Kings Cross station. Really, one might call it a part of an empire. There’s the Big Chill festival, of course, the Big Chill record label and The Big Chill Bar (London and Bristol). Together, they form the embodiment of, well, what it means to be cool, but not too cool. Perhaps that why they went for the ‘chill’ theme.

DQ and I went for an admittedly rushed breakfast before having to pick our friends up from the train station. Huge windows mean that on a bright and sunny day, the atmosphere is really quite pleasant and light, despite the heavy fabrics and dark colours used for decoration.

The menu, mostly a combination of British and American items, was fairly basic. DQ went for the Full English (£7.50), which with its light and fluffy scrambled eggs and streaky bacon was a hit.

I was less enthused with my French Toast (£3.75), however. Even though I ordered it with all of the syrup and butter on the side, it came out of the kitchen clearly having been drenched with the stuff and sitting under a heat lamp for quite some time, making it an overly sweet, soggy mess.

Luckily the edges  – the only part not swimming in syrup  – were delicious and crispy, which makes me think if they had got the order right, it would have been fantastic.

I get the impression breakfast is a new thing for The Big Chill House. It’s quite competitively priced and the staff were very friendly (although our meals took AGES to come out). But that said, I think they’re doing some good things on the whole.

Give them a bit of time to work out the kinks, and The Big Chill House’s breakfast could be a great start to the morning.

Big Chill House on Urbanspoon

Full disclosure: I was given a voucher from The Big Chill House to come in and try their breakfasts at my leisure. My experience was ‘off the street’ and thus, anonymous. This review reflects my true opinions on the food and service provided

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26 October, 2011

Kopapa – Seven Dials

Generally, the only time I go around Covent Garden area is when I have tickets to the ballet. Otherwise, it’s too busy with tourists and full of mediocre and overpriced restaurants. Therefore, I admit I was a little dubious of Kopapa. It’s technically in Seven Dials, which is the area north of Long Acre with the cobblestone streets, cute independent stores and restaurants (home of Neal’s Yard Cheese Shop, for example), and the tiny deathtrap of a roundabout where taxis speed by without care or regard for the fleeing pedestrians.

Kopapa is situated at the apex of the SE spoke Seven Dials spokes. It has a pretty slick, but equally comfortable interior. Despite it being Tuesday, the place was hopping and we very nearly didn’t get a table. I’m so glad we did though because I truly enjoyed the experience, not least of which the service, which from start to finish was perfect.

The menu is small plates-based, but with no particular affiliation to a cuisine. In one menu you go from pork belly to bruschetta to soft shell crab tempura. It could have been a disaster, but on the whole (barring one stand-out miss) it stood up to scrutiny. A credit to executive chef Peter Gordan and his team.

The aforementioned pork belly (£8.80) was savoury and sweet, with sweet potato dumplings and chilli pickled plums, though the crackling lacked the crunchiness that would have made it perfect.

Spring rolls of slow roasted duck leg, Sichuan pepper, feta & guindilla chillies with tamarind aioli  (£8.10) were surprisingly meaty’, not just your average duck spring roll starter.

We also enjoyed the butternut squash risotto and burger, both massive portions and altogether enjoyable.

In fact the only true miss of the night was the calamari, which was unfortunately overcooked and way too salty – a real shame as the aioli it was served with was excellent.

Desserts were lovely, although there was a distinct lack of chocolate-based treats, if I’m honest. I went with the passionfruit brûlée and palm sugar tapioca substituting a mouth-watering honeycombe ice cream for the coconut sorbet it was meant to be served with (hate coconut, sorry).

I always feel weird gushing about a place, especially if I learned about it through a PR pitch (full disclosure below), but honestly Kopapa was great. With drinks and wine and a few extras, it wasn’t a super cheap meal (£120), but anyone on a budget could certainly scale it down. I’ll definitely be back.

Full disclosure: I was given a voucher in the amount of £100 to dine at Kopapa. Though I did not personally pay for the meal (apart from the £20 we went ‘over’), I was completely anonymous and the evening represented a typical ‘off the street’ experience.

Kopapa on Urbanspoon

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18 October, 2011

Balan’s – Westfield

Balan’s – all seven locations in London – is known for their breakfasts. Nice fluffy American-style pancakes, equally fluffy scrambled eggs and streaky bacon. In short: any American in London’s dream brunch. Why then, oh why, do I insist on deviating from the norm and order something not breakfast-y?

In this instance, it was because I wanted to be ‘healthy’. I opted for a salad. BIG mistake.

My salad was made up of exactly two prawns, about 10 corns kernals, a sprinkle of black beans and three slices of avocado – all for the bargain price of £8.95. Luckily (sarcasm alert) they did not skimp on the lettuce as the bowl was overflowing with it. I reckon their overheads for this salad was probably in the region of 75p at the end of the day, which really just makes me a chump for assuming £9 would net me more than two prawns. Silly me.

On the other side of the health scale were the aforementioned pancakes DQ ordered, which were delicious and everything one could hope for in an American breakfast. Fluffy buttermilk goodness with fresh maple syrup and crispy, salty proper bacon. Well, proper for me anyway. At £6.95, they were slightly overpriced, but certainly didn’t break the bank.

You know, I really like the restaurant choices at Westfield, but I’m steering clear of  Balan’s for next time. Sorry kids, but even nice pancakes did not erase my hatred of paying £9 for romaine lettuce.

Balans on Urbanspoon

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13 October, 2011

Recipe: Crock-Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches

As a child, I was picky with my food. Veggies were out, anything with chunks, anything green – I wouldn’t eat. So when my mother insisted on making a healthy meal of Cabbage Rolls in her Crock-Pot at around age 8, I immediately turned my nose up. Stews and vegetable soup? No frickin’ way was I going near it. From about that time, I always associated her oh-so-80s Crock-Pot  with limp, overcooked vegetables and chunky soups – and even though I quite like chunky soups now, I was a little dubious about the slow-cooking machine.

As I understand it, the Crock-Pot was more of an American thing – and while they’re trying to make a comeback over there, they’re trying make somewhat of a debit over here.

Their PR team got in touch with me ages ago to try a Crock-Pot review. They sent a lovely box of veggies, which I immediately knew I probably wasn’t going to use. I had a Eureka moment instead. What better way to bring the Crock-Pot to the UK than to slow-cook a delicious American classic: Pulled Pork.

I was inspired from a few different recipes online, but for the most part, this concoction was all mine. Most of you know that I’m far from an expert in the kitchen (having things cooked for you can be so much more reliable!), but I have to say this one is a winner.

Please note, that as an American, I still have my American measuring cups. I love them, and I still think that way, so most of this recipe (bar the pork) reflects that.

Ingredients:

  • 500g pork shoulder cubes
  • 1 medium white onion, minced
  • 1/3 cup smokey whiskey (Note: MAGIC INGREDIENT. I used Jura)
  • 1/3 cup quality maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup  ketchup
  • 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons hot sauce (do yourself a favour and don’t use Tabasco. Go Original Cholula or Frank’s)
  • 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
  • 1 teaspoon corse sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes
  • As many twists of ground black pepper you want
  • Fresh from the bakery onions rolls (or baps, if you will)

Method:

Add all ingredients into the pot. Turn on  the lowest setting, wait 8 hours and then shred the pork with a fork. That’s it.

Before:

And after (served with chips made from my beloved Acti-Fry):

I can not tell you how delicious and easy to make this was.  Spicy, sweet and fantastically tender. The only downside is that next time I make them, I’ll have to wait another 8 hours to eat them.

Welcome back, Crock-Pot, I imagine you will go far.

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10 October, 2011

Heron – Paddington

I love how, every now and then, London can floor you with surprise. The city is an incredibly rich example of multiculturalism, but I have to say that this is the first time I ever felt like I was in a completely different country.

It was a Friday night, and I was out at after-work drinks with DQ. Slightly giggly due to too much wine and not enough food in my stomach, I suggested that instead of going home and being boring, we go out for dinner. A quick look at Urbanspoon showed Heron – a Thai restaurant within a pub just down the street. DQ remembered going there once or twice for lunch and thought it was pretty good, so we headed down.

The Heron is basically a sports pub, typical of the locals you might imagine in some small English countryside town, where the guys have nothing to do but drink a few pints and watch the footie. TVs with Sky Sports were positioned all around the bar so that wherever you were sitting, you could have a view of whatever match was featuring that night. Even worse, there was no food to be seen on any of the tables.

Just as we were about to walk out and try to find somewhere else, I saw a staircase. It couldn’t hurt to have a look. That’s when it happened. We walked through to a small room, where immediately, all eyes darted to us, like we were obviously in the wrong place and must be looking for the bathrooms. Undeterred, we sat down and our server, a nervous-looking girl with broken English asked if we’d been before because their dinner menu was just in Thai, and she could possibly try to translate it for us, but it is quite long and she might struggle.

The blasting Thai karaoke music on the big screen TVs and garish disco lanterns all around made it difficult to concentrate, but we eventually settled on a minced pork with chili, a sort of Tom Yom soup with giant prawns and spongy omelet-type squares of eggs and a dish of spicy Thai sausages. Naturally sensing that this was not exactly the type of place where you can get spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce, this was proper authentic Thai.

The rest of the evening was kind of a blur of fantasticness. The food was amazing. The chili in the pork was hot enough to singe your eyebrows, and the soup was a multi-layered example of the balance that Thai food should exhibit – the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, sour and bitter. The sausages were bursting – almost chorizo like in spice and flavour. It was a beautiful thing.

On top of that – the entertainment. I mentioned before the karaoke tracks playing on the TVs? Nothing compared to when one overly-keen budding star of the London/Thai karaoke circuit at the 12-top next to us, grabbed the mic and belted out a version of Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’ that could have quite easily made the ‘train wreck’ compilation of auditions on Britain’s Got Talent. By the end of the song, everyone in the restaurant was joining in. The experience was unreal, completely foreign and so much fun. It was like we were on holiday.

The bill came to £45 for two with two beers a piece and a side of rice. It’s not takeaway prices, but it’s worth it. In fact, I’ve actually hemmed and hawed whether or not to write about this place, simply because I want it to remain a secret, but at the end of the day, Heron can not go unrecognized as the most authentic Thai experience in London.

Heron on Urbanspoon

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