copita, london

good modern spanish in soho.

let me start by saying, I have made it to copita! one of the group of trendy no-reservation restaurants in london popping up on food blogs and ‘what-to-do-in-london’ mailing lists. I really don’t rather appreciate no-reservation systems; if I have the right to plan for a meal out and call ahead of time, then everyone has that same right! it’s not inherently fairer to have it first-come-first-serve; I’ll heartily weild a sword against anyone who tries to argue that point.

but in any case, I used the magic golden ticket of a late weekday lunch to get to copita, and I had a good time. prices are high for such small plates, and they add up very quickly – as an asian I feel obliged to let you know that bread is not free-flow and that the 1quid baskets are your best bets in filling up during the meal. it is lucky then that the dishes are so intensely savoury that it’s almost impossible to eat them entirely without the monotonous sponge qualities of the bread.

my photos give the dishes the illusion of being regular-sized, but let me tell you that most of them were smaller than the length of my hands (and I don’t have big hands). they were prettily enough presented though, and came at a regular rhythm that kept the conversation going and our stomachs sated.

between the two of us, we started with spanish jamon, two bread baskets, pea-truffle oil-cheese croquets, a pork kebab (really a wrap), duck egg yolk with mushrooms, monkfish with kale, and finished with churros.

the ham was marvellous. there’s something about such intensely dehydrated pork meat and fat that melts in your mouth and reminds you of the good food they must have imbibed before such glorious sacrifice. it was a generous platter, even when so small, and a tiny piece goes a long way in bringing pleasure.

the pea croquets opened up a brilliant spring green interspersed with cheese strings, and that on its own made it irresistible. very, very tasty. the pork kebab that followed was a bit misplaced, in that the sour cream and pepper in there tasted very mexican-american, and it was a little bit heavy. the only dish I was glad was small.

the duck egg yolk was cooked to perfection as you can probably tell, and under it were these anorexically-thin strips of large mushrooms that were woody and forest-y and amazingly mushroomy. this dish is a must-order. the monkfish didn’t fare so well; the liquid that came doused with tasted like a bizarre mix of olive oil and some piquant-tasting pickle juice – not the best.

the churros that followed were freshly-fried and really nice, especially since I’m never one for fried bread – the smell of oil that bread-ish goods retain after frying being extremely unappetising – but this was good. the only strange thing was the chocolate dip it came in was closer to a runny liquid than we expected, and it had clearly been made with cocoa as you could see the grains within.

all in all though, it was a very good lunch. it’s not great for when you’re hungry, but it’s a good conversation-sustainer, and it was lucky the fresh and chewy bread was on hand to tide us through the meal.

and anyway, wardour street with princi and l’eto are just round the corner if you need stomach-fillers!

arang, london

decent korean in soho. I’ve walked past arang quite a few times while in soho, and I think I might have been here about 3 years ago but tonight it was a very good place for a meal with friends, and the ventilation system isn’t too bad for a korean bbq place. very much like assa, however, you smell like food when you leave – I think it’s a korean restaurant typeofthing.

our meal started off with the typical appetisers of seasoned bean sprouts, a potato salad and kimchee, the last of which I still am unable to appreciate. it’s sort of like my dislike for olives – I like the leftover flavour that it leaves behind in a stew or a dish, but eating it on its own is very much a fear factor thing to me (I exaggerate only a little).

we started with dubboki, here cooked with the transparent-and-chewy sweet potato noodles, fish cakes and a half-boiled egg, very tasty and the sauce was less overpowering than the rendition at assa.

the barbecue was pre-empted by our waitress individually doling out leaves of  lettuce and arranging seasoned spring onions atop; the hot plate and dishes of bulgogi, squid and marbled beef followed very closely. the meat was fresh and tasty enough; I had no complains. we also ordered a seafood and vegetable casserole to bulk up the meal – this had quite a lot of seafood, sweet potato noodles and the crab in there helped make a fantastic broth, even if it left the crab meat and shell soggy.

we finished with a complementary plate of prettily-cut oranges; this immediately made me wonder how many young waitresses were behind in the kitchen cutting segments of orange.

the only quirk with arang is how prompt, almost anxious, they are to pass you and collect the bill (already noted by some other foodies). they came to ask if we were done, rather pointedly, and then came forth with the card machine even before we finished the oranges. I don’t understand this, as there weren’t that many people waiting for tables – but oh well.

otherwise, service was friendly till the weird urgency at the end of our meal, and the food was decent as well as reasonably-priced. I think I might choose to come here instead of koba the next time I crave barbecue; though koba seems to have better food quality, the combination of price-worthiness and convenience here at arang is difficult to beat.

carrot cake with frosting

I was all set for an apple cake, an apple sharlotka from smittenkitchen, until my SO declared vehemently that he didn’t like apples, and so i switched my baking craving toward a carrot cake.

I’m not very good with frosting, in that I don’t particularly like it’s over-richness and over-sweetness, but I have an incredible weakness for cakes I’ve baked myself since they usually are done the way I like. and somehow something always tastes so much better after you’ve worked hard at it yourself.

carrot cake is one of those strange cakes that doesn’t really smell that great while it bakes, even though it has a phenomenal amount of spices in there. I rationalise it to the fact that the cake is largely carrots (which don’t smell of much) and vegetable oil which doesn’t have the same smell-interest that butter has.

but this cake is extremely delicious, in that grab-a-tiny-piece-when-you-walk-past sort of way, and is a lesson that you may mix and match recipes as much as you want, and really just listen to your tastebuds!

cakeee:

so this recipe is my adaptation of the recipe from deb at smittenkitchen, my only changes being that I made three-quarters of her whole recipe and baked the whole thing in a 9-inch pan instead of dividing it into two pans.

although it’s quite a lot of work (and arm-exercise), I prefer to grate my carrots manually instead of using a processor which I think doesn’t create pieces as thin or as soft, and the grated carrot isn’t nearly as soggy when you do it by hand – and moisture staying into the carrot means moisture going into the cake!

I also used currants instead of raisins. I like this recipe because it doesn’t have the fussy coconut and pineapple that may recipes have – I think they sort of detract from that traditional taste of carrot cake that I enjoy.

I suggest dividing it into 2 pans if you are extremely particularly about a perfect cake, the only problem being with baking it all at once that the cake dries out a little on the sides and base, but that rectifies easily with the frosting which helps keep it moist.

frostingg:

I used david lebovitz’s cream cheese frosting, my only change being that I added grated orange zest to add more flavour and just that bit of zest, pardon the pun.

DELICIOUS.

olive oil + yogurt cake

this cake is the product of a baking craving and not wanting too much fuss. it is also an amazing result of italian rusticity combined with british tea-time, and is essentially the prevalent italian yogurt cake made into a victoria sponge. we also threw in a cream cheese-yogurt filling for good measure, instead of the typical whipped cream, elevating this cake just that little bit more.

the lack of complex measurements means this cake requires nothing more than a pan and some imagination (or greed) and can be easily baked even when you’re on holiday! (which I was.)

the olive oil we used here was noted on its label as slightly peppery, which made me rather worried at first. there was no need, however, as the cake was insanely delicious with the olive oil offering an elusively savoury note and kept the sponge layer interesting. I’d say for you to do the same, but of course if you used regular vegetable oil or light olive oil, the cake would just taste more like a regular sponge cake.

for cake (I adapted the recipe here):

1. preheat the oven to 180C, and line the bottom of an 8 (or 9)-inch cake pan.
2. empty out 1 pot of yogurt (150g, and I used natural light yogurt) into a bowl, and use the same container to measure out 2 pots of castor sugar as well as 1 pot of extra virgin olive oil (we used a slightly peppery blend) into the same bowl and mix till even. beat in 3 eggs separately, blending after each addition and add a tiny dash (about 1/2 teaspoon) of vanilla.
3. add 3 pots worth of self-raising floor (you might find it useful to wash out and dry the pot before doing this) to the wet ingredients and fold until the batter is soft and thick.
4. pour the batter into the pan and bake until a cake tester comes out clean. I would recommend checking after 25 minutes and tenting if the cake browns too quickly; I checked at 30 minutes and the top of the cake was nearly untastily charred. my cake took about 40 minutes to bake.
5. let cool (for as long as you can bear) before serving, or filling as we did.

for the filling, we used a mixture of about 100g of low-fat cream cheese and 1.5 tablespoons of greek-style yogurt; vanilla and honey were added to taste. since we were using raspberry jam for the cake, we didn’t make the cream cheese filling too sweet; you want a contrast, not a frosting.

I sliced off the top of the sponge cake so that it made for an even base (the scraps ‘unfortunately’ need to be consumed by the baker i.e. me) and then halved the cake to make 2 layers. spread on a layer of jam, then dollop the cheese filling, leaving about half an inch around the edge free so that it doesn’t ooze out too much when you press the top on. place on the top layer gently, and serve.

this was good the day we made it, and the cheese filling was oozey because I hadn’t the patience to wait for the cake to cool completely. the next day, the filling had been absorbed and was ‘set’, and the cake was a delight to slice, and was also positively addictive.

this is fantastic for tea time, with golden crumbs, a refreshing filling and the comforting flavours of a quintessential british tea.

purnell’s, birmingham

good british near birmingham new street. purnell’s is apparently well-known for its chef – though I hadn’t really heard of him previously – and after reading a couple of mixed reviews I wasn’t quite sure about what we would be getting.

we were directed into a cosy corner, which I was initially pleased with, until I realised that behind us was the exit by which the waiters and chefs and workmen took to get outside and so we had to contend with that throughout the meal. no matter though as I didn’t ask to move; our waiter was french and very polite and pleasant, even reminding us to eat while the dish was warm. I had been committing the mortal sin of food bloggers with photography.

our meal started with a surprisingly hearty serving of bread, complete with whipped unsalted butter and salt. the bread was very tasty, and later useful for dunking into our complimentary amuse-bouche of pumpkin veloute and crispy black rice crispies.

I should mention we had ordered the 3-course lunch set that was going for 27quid, but changed our desserts to the ones on the tasting menu for a supplement of 4.50quid each. I haven’t ever mentioned prices on this blog before, but receiving the bill was a bit surprising, even though I have eaten at quite a few restaurants before – our bill meant that each dessert was going for nearly 9 pounds, which I thought a little extravagant.

no matter, as our starters were tasty and fresh.  I had the ling fillet, served with slivers of pungent red onion, a basil puree and miniature greens – it was cooked perfectly, such that you could still see the faint veins in the fish. on the other side of the table was the rabbit and pork terrine – it was very pleasantly gamey and came with different purees and a quenelle of sour cream that helped cut through some of the richness. the terrine came apart in shreds of meat and was still very fresh-tasting.

there was a bit of a wait between our starter and main courses, probably due to the number of people who arrived at the restaurant during that time. the dishes were decent if unextraordinary, a plate of pork belly with a rich jus as well as my dish of cod with quinoa, which tasted a little middle-eastern. well-cooked, just nothing special.

our desserts were a little higher on the impress-me scale, but then again this was because they were on the more expensive meny. the original desserts were a sort of rhubarb crumble and pavlova, neither of which sounded great to us. our choice of chocolate-and-passion-fruit dome served with a mousse-y parfait was delicious; the little dome came topped with gold leaf and opened up to show an inside of rich chocolate ganache that was tangy with the flavours of passion fruit, while the parfait was an airy mousse topped with an airier foam of the same fruit and honey-comb tuiles. my apple crumble parfait was actually an apple sorbet atop pastry crumbs with a sesame tuile, as well as a fresh-tasting blackberry sorbet and halved blackberries and sugared orange rinds. tasty, special, and helped make the meal memorable.

I would agree with an unusual chinaman that purnell’s might not be worth the trip up from london, especially since there is a large number of restaurants here that do such good food. but when you’re in birmingham, it’s worth a visit for some very decent cooking.

kinnaree, birmingham

alright thai down near brinkley street. when we walked towards the restaurant we could barely tell if it was open (this was at noon), and the lady at the counter was still putting on her makeup as we walked in. the place also had about a gazillion thai statues and sculptures around, and sort of looked like an overzealous thai home decor show had exploded in there.

this clearly isn’t fine dining then, but it did make for an alright lunch with friendly if – mostly – missing service, and have a look at those prices! a dish of noodles or rice for less than 5 pounds! you know you’re not in london when..

so in any case, I had what was missold to me as noodles in tomyum soup, but really came out as a chicken soup – didn’t taste of MSG and I wasn’t too fussed so I just threw in some of those bird’s eye chillis. on the other side of the table was a red beef curry, tasty and quite creamy. these two dishes were still sort of teetering on the bad side of the mediocre-average divide, but our shared dish of fried sea-bass – in what was supposed to be thai sauce but really seemed a bit like sweet and sour – helped lift the meal a little. you can’t really go wrong with a fresh whole fish.

so I might come here for cheap thai in birmingham, but then again I’m not a local and so there might be better places around but for a londoner, those prices are acceptable and almost-reasonable for the food we got.

beef-mushroom stew

celebrating three years together with my partner means, for us, a simple dinner at home. when you don’t have the time to head out to a restaurant for a proper long dinner, you want something hearty and comforting.

I went onto The Pioneer Woman because I love Ree and her photography and recipes, and the fact that she has a manly cowboy as a husband and little boys to feed means she knows what men like to eat.

it was a weekday-night, and so I couldn’t really do anything too complicated, but this stew looked to be the thing! how can you go wrong with simmered mushrooms and beef in wine? when we had it for dinner that night, it was good, but it was much much better the next day as lunch.

I’m leaving my quantities and notes here because I did a half batch and made some substitutions, but head over to Ree’s for more step-by-step photos!

1. dice 420g of british stew beef meat – usually this refers to some sort of marbled meat that becomes tender with long, slow cooking on low heat. heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of butter to high heat. sear the meat until it is mainly brown on the outside – but don’t cook it through! transfer to a plate while you get on with the rest.
2. dice 1 shallot and 2 cloves of garlic and heat up the pan (that you used to sear the beef in – don’t clean it!) and saute the garlic and shallots for two minutes on medium heat. add 120g of brown cremini mushrooms, and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. pour in about 1/4 cup of red wine – I bought a tiny bottle of jacob’s creek as I don’t drink regularly – as well as 1.5 cups of water and 1/3 of a beef stock jelly. give it a stir, add ground black pepper liberally. add the browned meat back in, as well as 2 sprigs of fresh thyme.
4. cover and simmer for 40 minutes, and after that make a flour slurry with cold water and pour it into the stew to thicken up the liquid for another 10 minutes on medium heat.
5. serve over pasta or egg noodles!

this stew tastes very continental – in that I don’t recognize it as british or european, and initially I thought the stew liquid tasted very much like mushroom soup – but in a good way. this is good for the man in your life who likes meat (and which man doesn’t?)

burger continental, pasadena

(a late post from last month!)

welcome to the USA! land of large serving sizes and a curious mixture of food. I was in Pasadena for about 3 days and this was the first restaurant I went to, albeit chosen for its affordability to students.

it was a curious mix of food as I shall soon explain, and though everything tasted
relatively decent and more than edible, I was so confused by the endless stream of dishes coming out. what’s more, this was a set that was planned for our party by the restaurant which really should have paved the way for more coherence, but didn’t.

we started the meal with a mixture of hummus, tabbouleh and raitas with pita bread, all very tasty, especially since the bread was warm. soon after came a heavily dressing-doused greek-style salad with hard cheese and olives – so doused that you could see a layer of dressing on the bottom of the plate.

mains followed, starting with an italian vegetable lasagne that was cheesy and sloppy (but in a good way) as well as a middle-eastern chicken kebab dish. the chicken was very good though oily, and had lovely charred parts. it was served on a pita bread that I think was meant to soak up the oil but really the surface of pitas aren’t conducive to that kind of responsibility so it was oily enough to blot on a napkin.

we were then served a potato dish that no one at the table touched. it was basically sitting in a centimetre of oil – yuck. the rice pilau that followed – very persian – was also very oily though apparently rather flavourful; I didn’t touch it myself.

our last main course was another pasta – this time a creamy salmon mushroom carbonara. this was tasty but by this time we were all stuffed, and could only a few pieces of salmon.

I think through this meal we traversed quite a bit of europe and the middle east, and it has been one of the most confusing meals I’ve had in a while. there was enough food leftover to pack 4 large trays to bring back, and that is typical of the other meals I had here. I’m not sure I would come back, but I’m told that this place is good for value in the area and good for students and so perhaps it might suit your needs.

union jacks, london

enjoyable british in covent garden. this is the first jamie institution that I have gone to, and only because it is the only one that I have read consistently good reviews about. it wasn’t technically challenging or impressive in any manner, but it was enjoyable and service was good and friendly.

the place was packed on a friday evening, and so we had to wait a little for our food, but it was nice to sit in such a colourful and visually appealing place and talk.

we started with fish fingers – they were tasty and flaky, though there was a bit of resistance to the fish that gives me the impression that the fish fingers might have been frozen prior to cooking. the sauce on the fingers was pleasant and tasty, with chunky bits of pickle that brought a new dimension to the fingers. the sauce did make the outside batter a little wet, but it was enjoyable.

we ordered two ‘flats’ – so named, I believe, so they don’t incur the wrath of italians by calling it pizza. these flats are of what I think to be the modern style – with the dough baked with some sauce and then later topped with some separately cooked ingredients.

we had the old spot; basically roast pork and crackling, as well as the oxtail – half of which I asked for chillis to be put on. the old spot was a little greasy as the pork was fatty, and it made the dough a bit wet at certain parts. it wasn’t very strongly flavoured, and I think the oxtail was much better. the oxtail was strong-tasting and very, very tasty. my half of the pizza was the one with the rainbow chillis on there, and I nearly expired from the heat.

I had thought it was going to be a british-kind-of heat, i.e. non-existent but I had clearly forgotten that jamie oliver is a bit of a chilli fiend, which is why the chillies were quite so potent. I still very much enjoyed the pizza though, but I’d watch out for it if you aren’t quite used to spicy heat.

I’ll come back again; the prices are fair and the servings are reasonable. the menu is small but quite satisfying, and I didn’t get to try the desserts this time. worth a visit.

cecconi’s, london

brilliant european in mayfair. cecconi’s is apparently a sort of brunch institution in london, and we were lucky enough to get in at 11 on a sunday without having to wait too long, although we had to sit at the bar.

it was enjoyable enough, since we got to talk to the bar-man and see the cocktails and proseccos being dished out and it was cosy enough to chat. we started off with pots of tea – they were very generous with the loose tea leaves – and have I mentioned how much I love pretty tea strainers and silver teapots?

we decided on a florentine and royale for the two of us, and very quickly got our plates of perfectly poached eggs on english muffins and hollandaise. have a look at that amazing orange yolk – all flowy and rich-tasting.

I have to say I don’t really understand the point of hollandaise – but I don’t eat mayonnaise either – it’s a sort of mild-tasting sauce that I suppose is meant to make the dish even richer. it doesn’t taste of much to me, and you can see that I asked for it on the side.

in any case, I’m going to try and come back for lunch sometime – the smells and seeing the plates of food coming out as we were done with brunch were so savory and appealing. this place is posh too, in a classic institution sort of way, and brilliant for a girlfriend’s lunch, or for a meal with the parents.