Another new opening for London West End

Opened only 1 week ago "Fornata" on Kingly Street is yet another cool counter top relaxed dinning experience.

Lovely food excellent service and not too pricey but a little. I have a few little images below for you - go check it out for yourself - its well worth it.

Duck Soup new kid on the block in soho

amazing - tomato with soggy bread, basil, garlic and chunks of parmesan 

perfectly cooked lamb perfectly seasoned very very good but no greens?? 

glad i didnt order this not my bag. and i latter noticed missing a langoustine also the artichoke was a great touch in theory sadly not in practice best left alone in my opinion  

great counter top dining - tiny venue and we saw two men lunching on their own. which is always a good sign 

wine list written on white titles quite cool - its all very cool but possibly a bit try hard cool ??

This place only opened its doors two weeks ago is is the brain child of some guys that worked at Hicks.

Good job I say, keep up the good work.

few tiny gripes - looks like they spent minimal money (which I think is the look they are going for) even down to loads of spider plants everywhere and unfinished looking flooring and brick work - it seems to be popping up everywhere at the moment. Any way sorry, my point is its all been done on the cheap but its far from cheap 14 quid for 4 lamb chops! I ask you, really...

We sat at 1 of the 3 tables along the wall - note to all, DONT. My friend thinks they should have an actual note posted on arrival 'fatties be advised the tables are NOT made for you, we suggest you sit at the bar'.
Needless to say they are rather snug and not ideal if you are not of a slender frame

They seem to have a daily menu which I think is fab! hand written and kept on a meat hook??? make of that what you will.

http://ducksoupsoho.tumblr.com/

Blackberry Jam

Yesterday my dad and i went foraging for blackberries, first in the garden then in the near by hedge rows. We managed to pick a kilo of them! I have been thinking/wanting to make blackberry jam all summer as there has been such an abundance of them. So on possibly the hottest day of the year i did!


Its very simple... however i didnt have pectin which as far as i understand gives the jam a firmer finish and longer life so i guess mine is more of a compote?

Any who - i went to Tesco to buy some of those lovely old jars but they had none so ended up buy Tesco value jam  just for the jars.

Recipe ....


1kg sugar
1kg blackberries
1 pinch salt
2 table spoons lemon


bring to the boil for 20mins stir a lot!

pour in to jars and leave in a sink of cool water


Thats it!

Now as far as i understand this jam needs to be eaten within a week of opening and kept in the fridge.

Also this recipe made 4 and a bit jars of jam.

And the verdict ....
very runny but very tasty!

Very average Da Polpo

Same set up as polpo but luckerly for us no wait! We were seated next to a very loud table I suddenly noticed I was actually shouting when speaking to my friend. Any way we order we decided on arancini chicken liver crostino, market greens, classic beef and pork meatballs, calamari, cotechino sausage, lentils and salsa verde and to finish nutella pizzetta.  

The verdict ... Alright not amazing just alright. Couldn't decide if it was value for money or not - it came to £69 odd the was for all of the above a bottle of sparkling water, bottle if house wine and some bread. (Clearly I had a day off the diet). 

The sausage was an very odd soft texture and the salsa verde was minty I don't like mint. The arancini was like balls of risoto not how they should be. The meatballs were a little peppery for me but well cooked and good sauce. The veg - aka market greens were horribly over cooked which is just a crime. 

All in all it was ok ...





Sorry no picture as in all of there places its was so dark we could barely read the menu. 

BELVEDERE VODKA AND (RED)TM JOIN FORCES TO SAVE LIVES

Raise money and save lives by drinking Belvedere Vodka! 

This September Belvedere Vodka has partnered up with RED to launch the special edition bottle to raise money for the Global Fund to fight against Aids, Tuberculosis and MalariaTM. 50% of profits from the global sale of BELVEDERE (PRODUCT)RED TM Special Edition Bottle will contribute to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

This fab bottle is limited edition too so you can look cool and be cool at the same time. Great to pull out at a dinner party just to bolster your ethical stance among your friends. Or as a gift to your host. 

(BELVEDERE)RED Special Edition Bottles will be available in over 50 countries at a wide range of outlets including retail stores, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and airports.

To top it off USHER, the multi-platinum, award-winning recording artist has teamed up with Belvedere to raise awareness around HIV/AIDS and emphasize the need for consumers to unite in support of programs that help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

Charles Gibb, President Belvedere and Millennium Imports states “Belvedere Vodka is delighted to join (RED) in the fight against AIDS by helping to raise funds generated from the global sales of (BELVEDERE)RED. As one of the world’s leading spirit brands, we are in a unique position to harness the power of our customers to benefit the millions of people who are at risk, or are living, with HIV. We want to raise consumer awareness and incite more global action to eliminate AIDS in Africa. Our message is simple - (PRODUCT)RED helps saves lives.”

Lets be honest we didn't really need an excuse but now you are armed with a do good excuse to by possibly on e of the finest vodka's about. 

Go buy and enjoy! - oh i think at this point i am meant to say 'please drink safely'... or something like that.

Available from September 27th until after Christmas for £34.49.

Amazing lunch at Pearl restaurant in Holborn

I've wanted to go for over 7 years and now i have been - i can confidently say - GO!

It was amazing! we have the 3 courses for £25 - great value if you ask em. The service was fantastic and the surroundings, beautiful!

http://www.pearl-restaurant.com/
The Chef -  Jun Tanaka

Jun Tanaka's acclaimed cuisine, regular TV appearances and reputation as a roving gourmet have helped secure Pearl's reputation as one of the capital's leading restaurants.

Born in the US to Japanese parents, Jun began his culinary career aged 19 working with the Roux Family at Le Gavroche. From there he honed his skills and understanding of French gastronomy by working with some of the country's best Michelin-starred chefs and restaurants including Nico Ladenis at Chez Nico, Eric Chavot at The Capital and Marco Pierre White at The Restaurant Marco Pierre White and The Oak Room.

I've added images and the menu

Dukan diet cookies!

Ok so this is week 4 of the Dukan diet. I have done it before an lost a stone and after the summer filled with fabulous meals out and yummy bbq's its defiantly time to get back on it.

This time my lovely boyfriend is doing it with me - which make life a whole lot easier. We made it through the 'attack' phase - for those of you that dont know what the Dukan diet it is - its basically protein and veg no fat.The 'attack' phase is just protein! So its been 3 weeks of chicken salads, steak and veg, eggs, lots of eggs.


I found a recipe for cookies!! on the diet you are allowed to have oat bran... for anyone who is on the Dukan diet or has been on it these are amazing... I am eating one as I type with a cup of tea!

The recipe is with thanks too http://mydukandiet.com/recipes/oat-bran-cookies.html, I have mad a tiny few changes.


Ingredients 

1tea spoon Baking powder
1 egg
2 table spoon Sweetener
2 table spoons fat free yogurt (I could only get low fat greek natural yogurt - still guess its better that full fat???)
3 table spoons Oat bran - this is usually sold in the cereal section or whole food section.
Dash of cinnamon

Method 

Mix it all together

Pour the mixture in to baking tray

Bake for 15mins at 180c

Take the out turn them over and bake for a further 15mins


And that is it!! I served them with an extra dusting of sweetener

I know they dont look like much but they are the first sweet thing I have eaten in 3 weeks! 

I think they are great so much so I had to get on here and tell everyone... well everyone thats on the Dukan diet - if your not on the diet they arent that great. 

HAHAHA 

Booja Booja - Chocolate thats good for you

I was introduced to these delicious chocolates last year, a friend of mine brought me some as a birthday gift.

The packaging is beautiful - (The Artist’s Collection gift range is handpainted dont you know) and once opened are a total treat not the kind of chocolate to inhale in one sitting they are more the type you treat yourself to, maybe a truffle a night or bring them out after dinner with friends. They taste super indulgent but they arent which is just shocking. 

I had the 'Around Midnight Expresso' truffles, they are, wait for it.....Dairy free, Gluten free, organic, vegan and GMO free and they still taste great! 

Honestly dont take my word for it - go out and get some, for you, for a friend or even better take a box along to your next dinner party. 

www.boojabooja.com

Amazing meal in St Andrews!

This week I visited Rocca a restaurant in St Andrews over looking the world famous golf course and sea view. We arrived early around 7pm, unfortunately for us we hadnt booked all the window tables had been reserved. This wasnt actually a problem as no one was in the restaurant and we were sat at a very cosy round booth for two.

The staff were very friendly and incredibly helpful, they offered us a drink from the bar first, while we reviewed the wine menu. We were also at this point advised of the specials- chilli oil oysters. Once we had decided on the wine, our waiter brought the bottles to the table and filled each glass, this was really lovely, a nice change. We had not ordered a bottle as I wanted white and my boyfriend red.

A bread basket and olives were brought out almost straight after we were given our menus at which point we were asked if we would care for some balsamic and olive oil, it was good to be offered the option, there was already better on the table.

We went ahead and ordered, we both decided on the quartet of quail, I decided on the braised beef and my boyfriend went for the Roasted Roulade of Cornfed Chicken.

Once our order was taken we were asked if we were finished with our bread or if we would like some more, a nice touch I thought.

The starter was exceptional - a mouth watering plate of game consume, boiled quails egg, breast of quail on a bead of celeriac and a balontine of quail - it was very very good indeed, the presentation was excellent and the flavours were wonderful. It was at this point we asked our waiter about the chef - only 25 and heading up the restaurant sending out dishes of someone many more years than he.

The main courses did not disappoint. My beef was so tender it simply fell apart. The waiter advised that we might like to order some sides, so on his recommendation we did - green beans with shallots and roast potatoes. I was pleased we did as my dish came with only purée and a few peas.

The chicken came with pork belly, sweetcorn puree, parmiggiano potato gnocchi and a maderia sauce - this was also very well presented, very elegant and the gnocchi was delicious.

After all this we were full to the brim, the waiter (a different waiter) asked us if we would like to see the dessert menu, I had a look but could not manage a thing more. My boyfriend decided to have a whisky, this started a little banter with the waiter which we always like.

Then it was on to the bill, this is the only tiny down point of the evening - the card machine lost signal and I was advised that my card hard been declined. As you can imagine my hart missed a beat, I asked them to try again as it must have been their machine. It was.

All in all it was an excellent evening with wonderful service, food and surroundings.

The biggest burger i have ever seen!

Yesterday a bunch of us had lunch and drinks outside the Jigger Inn in St Andrews on the old course. Amazing views slightly sheltered from the sea breeze and great food!

All 6 of us ordered the Jigger burger and we were not disappointed! see for yourself.

My only problem was a asked for medium rare and it came well done. Not the end of the world but a little annoying.

More amazing Scottish food!

Ok so its one amazing meal to another up here - I think it may be a mix of childhood memories and amazing food. Yesterday we picked up some steak square sliced sausage from the local butcher for breakfast this morning. I promised my mum I would bring some back for her - we love it! 


My friends have not tried square sliced sausage before apart from my boyfriend. So here is a pic of our yummy breakfast complete with square sliced sausage. 


To be honest the best way to have it is fresh from the grill in between scottish plain loaf bread with loads of butter. 


I love square sliced sausage!!

wikipedia says: Square sausage, also known as Lorne sausage, flat sausage, sliced sausage or slice, it can also be referred to as slab as opposed to link, is a food product most often eaten in Scotland. Sausage meat – which may be pork or beef – is set into a square and sliced into pieces generally about 3 inches (76 mm) square by about ¹⁄₂ in (13 mm) thick. The sausage is rarely a perfect square given the minced state of the meat, which is often bound with other ingredients such as rusk.

Holiday in St Andrews - so much amazing food and views!

We arrived Sunday night, late. Yesterday we had lovely sunshine all day so walked along the beach blar blar blar. We stopped for the oblatory holiday ice-cream iat the 'best' ice-cream place in town. Much to my joy i saw a man outside eating an oyster ice-cream - now i dont know the correct name for these but they look like this...

They are a wafer shell with marshmallow inside a little chocolate coating and a dusting of coconut.

We used to have these on a Sunday after our roast - it just brought fond memories of being a child. If you havent tried one ....do!

Eating in St Andrews

Today we stopped off at The Castle Course club house for a spot of late lunch. Now my mum is from Scotland, and I was brought up eating traditional Scottish food. This week has been great, I have sent so many pictures to  my mum as all of our fav food is here!

Today was no exception - Fish and Milk! Well a posh version - smoked haddock, potato and leeks in a saffron broth. My mum used to make this for us when we were kids and I love it, so to see it on the menu this afternoon it was a must have dish!
And I am very happy to report it was very very good.


We also tried 'haggis dumplings" we were all very curious, so decided to order them - being all fans of haggis and dumplings we thought you couldnt go too wrong - sadly I was wrong they were horrible. basically deep fried balls of haggis.

I should probably mention that my friends had club sandwich and the burger - all of which were yummy!

The venue its self boasted stunning views of the golf course with a breathtaking backdrop of the sea.

I was so thrilled with my 'fish and milk' it pretty much made my day!

If you find yourself in St Andrews check it out.

A taste of Spain in London's sunny Soho

Lunch in London on a sunny summers afternoon. Yesterday my friend took me to lunch at BarraFina in Soho -I have often walked past but have never been. It was just lovely. Amazing food, wonderful, personal service and tables outside - i felt like i was on holiday! It was about 28 degrees in central London and I did have a ice cold glass of wine in hand. 

My friend ordered for me as to be entirely honest the menu was a little heavy on the Spanish, and i didnt know what much of it was. 

He ordered, classic tortilla, salchichon, rump lamb and bread with oil. 

The Salchichon - Just delicious plenty for two to share and cut perfectly. 

The tortilla - wow! I obviously have never had a proper tortilla because this was like nothing I have tasted before. It was so good, quite rich but so so very good. 

Rump Lamb - tender succulent, cooked to perfection and to sauce was to die for all the herbs and flavours  were brilliantly balanced. The sauce was so good I had to order more of the fresh soft divine bread to mop it up. 

Needless to say I will be back again. It's a wonder how it has slipped past me!