Taste of London, Winter 2014

I was pondering for ages whether to purchase tickets for Taste of London Winter 2014 or not? Luckily, I won a pair of tickets from Time Out London just at the time that I was about to make a last minute booking. Two Saturdays ago, Mr T and I travelled up and down the tube to Tobacco Dock for a day full of food excitement.

Taste of London Winter is one big food festival held at the Tobacco Dock, perfect setting for its festive touches. So much to explore and taste. You can taste incredible signature dishes from London’s hottest restaurants, see top chefs put their individual twists on winter classics in live demonstrations, get hands on with interactive masterclasses, indulge in cheese, wine and chocolate tastings and sample unique ingredients and festive foodie gifts amongst the markets.

This was my first time to Tobacco Dock and I'm impressed with the venue, it has a touch of winter wonderland feel to it. Before we even tasted dishes from the hottest restaurants, we were already sipping away on champagne, cocktails and beer/cider. Sampling many cured meats (Mr T is especially fond of Jamón ibérico), searching for good quality oil and vinegar, devouring in truffle (dipping bread in truffle sauces) and nibbling on cheeses. 

Gaucho: Tapa de Ancho - Ribeye served with Chimichurri

Out of all the restaurants showcasing their dishes, I've only dined at two of them which are Gaucho and Shack Shake. Yes, I am set to go to many more restaurants. The last time I went to Gaucho, I didn't have a steak whilst everyone else had steaks, it is said to be one of the best steakhouse in London. Tapa de Ancho, top of the ribeye marbled with fat and there are only 2 cuts per cow. It was tender and juicy, I can easily eat 10oz of it.

Club Gascon: Squirrel Terrine Delicacy

I'm not too sure what to make of the squirrel terrine from Club Gason, the terrine was light and smooth. It just didn't cut it for me, it was on the bland side and the whole thing looked miserable.

Ember Yard: Ibérico Pork Ribs with Quince Glaze and Squash Purée

Ember Yard: Charcoal Grilled Octopus Pinchos with Safforn Alioli

After the disappointment, all was forgotten with the Ibérico pork ribs and the charcoal grilled octopus from Ember Yard. The slight charred meat that falls of the bone, the tenderness of the meat with a sweet note of quince after taste was pure joy. I wish there was more of the octopus, it was cooked to perfection.

Kurobuta: BBQ Pork Belly in Steamed Buns with Spicy Peanut Soy

Our last bit of money were spent on "BBQ Pork Belly in Steamed Buns with Spicy Peanut Soy" from Kurobuta. I love this dish, the meat was melt in the mouth and the sauce is sticky with a hint of spiciness. It makes me want to try out Kurobuta, which I definitely will..

Time flew by and just before leaving, Mr T had to have another glass of champagne. This time upping himself to a blanc de blancs from Frerejean Frères, produced by the Frerejean-Taittinger brothers. More likely you would have heard of Taittinger champagne, for the history and story please go to Frerejean Frères's website (also check out how good looking the Frerejean-Taittinger brothers are). At the end, who could not resist in buying a bottle of champagne before heading home?

Note: We bought a jar of San Pietro a Pettine's black truffle sauce, an intensifying truffle taste yet for me to make into a pasta sauce.

http://london.tastefestivals.com/

Lobster Kitchen, London

The success of Burger & Lobster has bought a new craze of lobsters into London with many new establishments such as Lobster Kitchen, Smack Lobster and etc. You can now have good quality lobsters at an affordable price with many innovative twists, whether it's Chinese style (fried with ginger and spring onion) or American style (stuffed in a roll) or even Indian style.

I went on a dreary cold Friday evening. If you see a queue, you know you're at the right place as it will definitely be for Lobster Kitchen. Waited for around 40 minutes before leading into the restaurant. Once in the restaurant, the waitress mistook a customer's table as empty as they went to order food. So we waited for another 10 minutes inside the restaurant before seated. The place is cramped, like no room for maneuver and the seating arrangement is terrible. Mind you, it's a small restaurant with bar seats on the left hand side, a long bench table in the middle and couple of high bar tables at the right hand side. Me and Mr T was seated at the long bench on the edge, it wasn't easy to get your legs across the bench and there was no room to put down your clothes/bags/etc.

It's a fast food restaurant concept, you go up the counter to order food, they'll give you a number and once the food is ready they will bring it to the table for you. It was another 30 minutes wait before the food was brought to your table. I am sorry, but 30 minutes is unacceptable even if it is just reheating food and plating it up. I ordered the garlicky one lobster roll (chopped garlic sautéed in butter and fresh parsley) along with a lobster mac and cheese. Mr T had a whole lobster with fries and a lobster bisque. The food was just pure disappointment, the roll consisted good amount of lobster but where was the garlic flavour? Was it a brioche bun, of course not. I had to add sriracha sauce to give it some flavour. There was fair amount of lobster in the mac and cheese, the sauce was watery and overcooked. The whole lobster was tiny and there wasn't much meat on it, it looks dried and flavourless. The lobster bisque has to be worst item, it was plain, thin, watery and greyish colour looking. A can from the supermarket looks even more delicious than that. The best thing was probably the fries, can't really go wrong with crispy sweet potato fries.

£20 for 2 people was acceptable but for £40 I would be deeming for a refund. If it wasn't for the half price soft opening, I wouldn't have came especially it doesn't worth the price for the quality that you get. By the time we finished our meal, the couple lined up behind us in the queue was just led to the table (they waited like 1.5 hours, crazy?) and at that stage I wanted to tell them you've wasted your time and I could recommend another better lobster eatery.

Note: We weren't actually full after the meal, went home and had a instant noodle. No photos, the meal was just terrible and the photos do them no justice (didn't take any photos).

Score Rating: 2/5
Price: £10-£20/head (50% off soft opening, £20 for 2 people)




http://www.lobsterkitchen.co.uk/

Bacchus Sundays, London

Sunday roasts, a humble British tradition that is consumed all year round. Wait, you don't know what a Sunday roasts is? Think combined roasted meat carved and served with roast potatoes/mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and topped it off with some nice gravy. Before you say anything, it tastes better than it sounds. The question is now, where for the best Sunday roasts in London?

Located in Hoxton, the new cool prime area of East London. It shouted more of council estate where Bacchus Sudays is based at the lion & lamb pub. Bacchus Sundays, a roast dinner pop-up restaurant from the team from behind the now closed Bacchus Pub and kitchen. As voted by the guardian, it is one of the best in London for roasts. It's not easy to find this place, prepare to use you Google map.

Burford brown haggis scotch egg, whiskey mustard sauce

Fried mozzarella sticks

Smoked salmon and horseradish purée

The menu changes each week with limited choices. We had one of each for the starters. I chose haggis scotch egg packed full of flavour, when cut into it the yolk was oozing out. Prefect. Mr T had the fried mozzarella sticks with the melted cheese being very stringy and Mrs T had the smoked salmon, a tad bit salty.

12 hour roasted sirloin of Angus beef, Yorkshire pudding

Roasted leg of lamb, Yorkshire pudding

Gloucester old spot pork belly, wild boar stuffing

For the mains, you simply pick from beef, pork, chicken, lamb or nut roast, and there's even a "bit of everything" option for the indecisive. We opted for beef, lamb and pork. I had the pork belly and I wasn't that impressed with it, the crackling was burnt and on the tough side, wasn't exactly crispy and the meat was not tender enough. The lamb was constantly complained being very chewy, it didn't look that pleasant when the waiter brought it to the table. The best was the beef, still pink in the middle. Personally, I felt that the accompaniments over-shined the star of the show. Loved the roast beetroot and glazed carrot, the Yorkshire pudding is good. The portion size is big, you're unlikely to want to eat for the rest of the day. I'm greedy, as will all girls you have to finish with a dessert.

Apple and pear crumble, custard

For dessert, we shared a apple and pear crumble with custard between three people. It was good, not amazing and nothing special about it. 

Sadly, Bacchus Sundays does not live up the expectation as being one of the best Sunday roasts in London. It does serve good food (strangely the starters better than the mains), but there are many mistakes in the roasts which needs to be improved. I'm sure there are many better Sunday roasts for me to discover. I do hope Bacchus can return to its former highly praised gastropub standard (not that I been to when it was a gastropub, but many rave reviews on Internet). 

Score Rating: 3/5

Price: 1 course - £15, 2 courses - £20, 3 courses - £25 (with £5 supplement for the undecided)

https://twitter.com/bacchussundays

Kanada-Ya, London

Last year, London experienced a burger revolution. This year, it's a ramen revolution. Kanada Ya, arguably the most authentic ramen restaurant in London. An award winning Raman restaurant from Yukuhashi, Japan opened in 2009 by Kanada Kazuhiro with another outpost in Hong Kong. Set up in Central St. Giles opposite to Ippudo (another larger ramen chain restaurant from Japan). I won't be comparing it to Ippudo as I have yet to dine there. I tried Ippudo in Hong Kong and I must admit, it was disappointing.

I came on a Friday evening with my friend around half past five, there wasn't a much of a queue then but it soon started forming. It's a small restaurant with 24 seats, seating arrangements are tight and not the place you want to linger to have a conversation after the meal. Greeted by "irasshaimase",  we were seated at the corner facing the window.

Moyashi Ramen

Sake (salmon) Onigiri

It is a small menu, only 3 choices of ramen and a small selection of onigiri. The chashu ramen had already sold out for the day, which I was gutted. We opted for the moyashi ramen which is the original ramen topped with blanched beansprouts. The only difference is the meat that is served where chashu men had the chasiu pork collar and original/moyashi ramen had the chasiu pork belly. Various toppings can also be added to the ramen, we chose the hanjuku egg. Different firmness of the noodle can be chosen - hard, medium and soft. I chose medium. 

What makes Kanada Ya tonkotsu broth different is that they wash all stock bones before boiling and continue to skim the soup during cooking to remove any impurities, given their ramen a clarity of taste and appearance. The noodle is made onsite using a very specific flour and alkaline salts to produce the bouncy firm noodle. 

The ramen is impressive, the broth is outstanding - tasty but not overly salty, meaty but not too greasy and just the right creaminess, so not too thick and not too watery. It doesn't feel like it is full of MSG, wanting to drink water all the time. A generous amount of meat, wood ear mushroom, spring onion and beansprouts. I grated loads of sesame to my ramen and I could have drank the whole broth. The noodle is bouncy but I would probably have preferred firm instead of medium. I was happy to see the hanjuku egg (soft boiled egg with the yolk remained molten marinated in a soy sauce mix) with the runny yolk. Beside the ramen, onigiri is uncommon to be on the menu. We had the salmon onigiri which was interestingly bland. It is made fresh as the rice was piping hot but it was like eating flavourless rice and salmon wrapped in nori (seaweed).

This is the best ramen I had yet on my ramen journey given that I have not been to Japan. Comparable to other ramen joints in London(bone daddies, shoyru, tonkotsu), they all have their own specialities and Kanada Ya deserve a place amongst the top flight. Very reasonable price, whether there's a queue or not it is worth the wait.

Score Rating: 4/5

Price: £10-15 for ramen + drinks

(We went during 50% off soft launch, £14.80 for 2 people)

https://www.kanada-ya.com/