a gorgeous interior, great service, and good food to boot – it would have been perfect if I hadn’t lost my way in this infernal heat on the way to the meal (responsibility all mine, of course).
I’m totally bamming you guys – this isn’t a review at all – just sharing a delicious meal cooked by the very lovely and talented bernie (you may know her as the hungry bunny). sometimes one can really luck out with friends, eh?
we have similar tastes – and this lady knows her food – so I was in for a treat.
and to start with a bunch of flowers and a jug of ribena – not a drink I take frequently since turning older than 7, but you couldn’t guess how much of that berry cordial I downed (even I was surprised).
we started with risotto, tinged yellow with saffron. do I have to tell you the rice was al dente and it was delicious? just look at it.
a note to you if you’re cooking risotto though – never underestimate the importance of stuff (for lack of a better word) you serve with it. so often restaurants serve up a plate heaped high with just rice, but it gets boring quick – bern cooked a truckload of mushrooms that really made the dish.
and despite the fact that the risotto was completely trouser-busting on its own, I was completely gratified obliged to finish her stew of fall-off-the-bone chicken thighs, softly melting greens and sausage balls.
life can be so difficult.
we finished with a cake I brought that could barely compete with the feast we had been served – I had overbaked it, so it was lucky that she had some vanilla ice cream on hand to rescue it. lesson learnt: never bake something new when you’re bringing something along (unless you have friends kind enough not to break your heart).
if you’re interested, here is what we ate:
- sauteed mushrooms
- risotto alla milanese
- imploding honey custard cake (which would have imploded if it hadn’t been overcooked)
time to share my second lesson learnt – when using a recipe, always read through the entire thing and its notes (and ALL the comments if they’ve got them). I still forget sometimes, which is why I didn’t see all the comments complaining about a shorter bake time – if you’re baking the cake, make sure you stick with a 7-8 minute timing, and maybe your cake will live up to its name!
thank you, bernie and don! you guys are plain awesome!
xx
andmorefood 