The Belly Rules the Mind

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

2009-08-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Gdynia and Gdansk

2009-07-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Rice Box - Oxford

2009-07-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Sicily

2009-07-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Branca

2009-07-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

Malmaison - Oxford

2009-07-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Fishers

2009-05-25T15:52:00.001-07:00

Fishers
36-37 St. Clements St
Oxford
OX4 1AB

Winner of several seafood awards a few years ago, Fishers claims to be a laid back and unpretentious fish restaurant that serves simple and good food. The nautical theme inside with chip-paper table cloths certainly verify this point of view, but what of the food?

Seated with menus we are given some excellent marinated anchovies. The slightly tangy hot-sauce offsets the anchovy nicely.

We would prefer a fattier fish, but this was a nice bite to tantalise.

The menu is simple - fish, fish and more fish.

We made our choices, and the bread arrived with some excellent butter. Unfortunately, the bread was past its best before, and crumbed horribly everywhere.

Tabasco and chili powder in anticipation of our entrees.

The (very long) wait was rewarded with a platter of delicious, fresh, and plentiful bounties of the sea. Jumbo prawns, langoustine, small shrimp, fresh oysters and smoked salmon. Everything was incredibly fresh, with a brilliant briny taste.

The oysters were plump, but had unfortunately lost some of their brine. The prawns, shrimp and langoustine were simply poached in salted water, and their natural flavours illustrated their marked contrast: the large prawns were firm and meaty, while the smaller counterparts (with roe intact) were briny and tender; the langoustine were much sweeter with a very delicate flesh.

We had a pseudo intellectual discussion on the difference between prawns and shrimp. A thought the small crustaceans to be prawns, because of the additional set of plates near the thorax, and the brooding method of the roe (rather than shrimp, that eject their eggs). Pseudo intellectual because neither of us could remember the facts, so we were going by half-remembered biology lectures. Well, A was; I had nothing to go on except mock-aussie accents and jokes about the barbie.

The last, sad piece of bread - hard to the touch, and definitely left over from a kinder era. The only reason we had polished off the rest of the stale bread was because of the wait for our mains. Tables came and went, whole eco-systems emerged, evolved, developed nuclear warfare, and disappeared, before our mains turned up. Even the manager was getting embarrassed by the length of time it took to plate up, blaming the long wait on the size of my sea bass (doesn't look too big to me), and saying that it took longer than expected to cook. An hour for a whole sea bass? Perhaps, but unlikely.

The offending creature in all its glory.

A's whole lemon sole looked fantastic. It was served with a caper, parsley and smoked salmon sauce. Smoked salmon sauce? Eating it didn't dispel any of the confusion.

Roaaar! I love whole fish. In the end, the fish was adequately cooked (slightly over), and with an overpowering smell of thyme (many sprigs stuffed into the poor creature's belly). A's fish had suffered from the wait in a warmer, becoming tougher and less delicate. Not brilliant, especially for a restaurant that specialises in this stuff.

The chips were flaccid, slightly cold and not at all tasty. More on that later.

The potato on the bottom left is obviously twice the size of the other taters. One of the potatoes still had clods of dirt clinging to it (garden fresh, as they say), while the offending gargantuan was crunchy in the middle from being cooked for the same length of time as the other three.

Because of the lateness of the mains, and also a quick word about the problematic tubers, the manager graciously took our bottle of wine off the bill, and invited us to return another night, to show that usually their chips are of a very high quality. In fact, we hadn't so much complained as mentioned to our waiter upon clearing the table that the spuds were inferior.

The damage: £58.30 for an enormous cold seafood platter followed by two fairly decent mains, sans wine (which would have been approx £14 - a cheap tipple). The wait was too long, and service at times was difficult to flag down, but all in all it was friendly, and competent. If the manager hadn't been so gracious in dealing with our potato problems, we would have meekly left, never to return. With the warm welcome back, we might give them another shot.

Cafe Rouge

2009-05-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Café Rouge
51 St Giles St
Oxford
OX1 3LU

With a fantastic 50% off the food bill with the Gourmet Society, we couldn't wait to dine at Café Rouge.

Having had fantastic steak and roast chicken here before, the discount is difficult to ignore.

Café Rouge is a nation-wide chain serving (faux?) French food - mostly steak, chicken, and fish, grilled or roasted. Faily generic, but in Oxford it is done very well. It's about the only place in Oxford one can find a steak cooked to order, rather than uniformly grey.

The highlight is usually the dessert menu.

My duo of seafood (crab mayonnaise, and smoked salmon) was somewhat disappointing. The salmon was marvellous, but the crab was scant and mayonnaise overpowering.

A chose the daily special of escargot served one of three ways (with spinach, or garlic butter, or goat's cheese). The garlic butter was delicious, and snails tender and flavourful but without the earthy stink that they sometimes have.

We asked the waiter the provenance of the snails, and after several iterations he got it out of chef that they were sent alive from France and not frozen as we had assumed.

A's seabass with spinach was served possibly poached. The skin was certainly flaccid, with no sign of crispness. The fish was cooked nicely though, with good flavour. It was just a shame that the crisp skin, usually the highlight of seabass, was left out.

My marinated bavette steak was delicious. Recommended by our flamboyant (Brazillian) waiter, it came with excellent frites, and served rare (or as near as possible) as requested. When ordering, we asked what bavette was, not being familiar with the term. After some confusion, our waitre rubs his tummy and declares 'the belly!' And indeed it was - a trimmed piece of thin skirt steak marinated in oil, garlic, spices and wine, and grilled rare. Slightly chewy but with an intense flavour of beef and the marinade, this is definitely one of the better steaks I've recently had.

A couldn't resist the trio of desserts: lemon tart, rum baba and chocolate truffle torte. The lemon tart was perfectly light with a zesty flavour, and topped with brulée sugar. The rum baba lacked rum - rather it was watered down for the English I expect, and the chocolate truffle torte was decadent and heavenly.

The damage: with 50% off the food bill, and a bottle of wine, dinner for the two of us came to a meagre £41.72 - a ridiculous amount. Even with tipping our fantastic waiter heavily, we walked away from a delicious three course meal barely scathed. Paying full price, the bill would be £70-80 for two. Still excellent for the quality of food here.

Oxford farmers' market

2009-05-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Farmers' market
Gloucester Green
alternate Thursdays every month

Apostrophy madness aside, the market is a great place to buy fresh meat from farmers, giving better choice than the usual weekly Wednesday market, and with a few interesting stalls that outstrips the usually excellent covered market.

The hog roast man is usually there, and aside from excellent roast pork baps, he also sells fresh bacon and pork ribs.

Fresh soup is always to be had.

Local ales.

Masses of crackling: the hog will usually come to 200-250 portion.

This lady sells amazing goats' cheese. Garlic, herb, pepper, it's all excellent.

Small batch farm-made dairy products.

Not being a sucker for meaningless adjectives like 'farm made', these cheeses spoke for themselves. The smoked cheddar was singularly outstanding.

The pork man (one of many) sells excellent tongue.

Blue veined brie.

By 12 noon the doughnuts have all sold out.

The mushroom man sells interesting varieties: shiitaki, shimeiji, oyster and the best giant portobellos we've tasted.

We took home one of the cute little punnets of beets. Watch this space for our beet-growing antics!

All sorts of vegetables I never thought to grow at home: including sweetcorn!

This man sells brilliant mutton, and also game when in season as well as grain-fed duck, smoked chicken and also venison.

Mmm, smallgoods...

Little Whittenham lamb, as well as beef from a local farm every alternate market.

The breads aren't my favourite: I prefer our local baker at Gatineau.

Xi'an

2009-05-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Xi'an
197 Banbury Rd
Oxford, OX2 7AR

My very first restaurant meal in Oxford was Xi'an. Arriving in 2003 as a bright eyed and bushy tailed postgraduate fresher, my family and I went for a quick Chinese meal at Xi'an. Totally unimpressed and slightly aghast at the Oxford prices for generic food, I didn't have the heart to return till 2005, when hungry and out of sorts, a friend and I went to the only Chinese in Summertown. That was almost a half decade ago, and some friends and I decided to investigate Xi'an again.

Showy shelves full of empty bottles. From the higher end Cloudy Bay whites, to the masses of Dom Perignon, to the sake:

To show the opulence of the restaurateur? The clientele? No idea. These wines weren't even on the menu!

The well-stocked bar. Because there's nowhere better than a Chinese restaurant for cocktails!

Ubiquitous prawn crackers served with the menu. Nothing to fault as they were crisp and dry - not at all greasy.

Flowers of rice-puff.

More than one bottle of 'Kiwi Cuvee' was consumed, and spilt, that night.

We settle for everybody's favourite: set menu C with extra prawn cracker. What's on the menu? who knows.

Mixed entrees of vegetarian spring rolls, sticky ribs, chicken wings and 'C' weed. Not bad, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not, but at least it was fairly tasty and filling, without the usual quantities of grease, despite being deep fried dishes.

Next up: lettuce wraps with pork filling. Very nice, in fact. My evening was definitely looking up.

Trimmings for the duck. Can one eat out in Britain without the crispy duck?

Mmmm, deep fried to oblivion, the duck was surprisingly moist on the inside, with a great crispy texture.

Sweet sauce.

Pancakes

Shredded and yum.

A attacked the remnants of a wing. Minimum duck and maximum crisp. Yumm-o.

The mains turned out to be highly disappointing. The lo-han (meaning monk's) duck was just a medley of vegetables (hence reference to monk) with pieces of pre-cooked duck. Stringy duck with what is meant to be a vegetarian dish. Confusing.

At least I love the little straw mushrooms. Tinned, but I do love them so.

Fairly standard fried rice.

Some sort of chicken. I think it was described as Sichuan, but was more akin to Jamie Oliver cooking Chinese than anything I've seen in China.

Or maybe it was meant to be sweet and sour. Who knows.

The only vegetable dish was the deep fried vegetables. Crisp batter, but also soggy with oil, this was a far cry from the impeccable deep frying we'd seen earlier. Maybe chef was outside, scratching himself, and the waitress had to make this herself.

Beef (or was it meant to be lamb?) in a bird's nest: the meat was so thin, fried and chewy that it was impossible to tell what was in there. Possibly it was all batter - I do not know. The sauce was sickly sweet, possibly left over from the ribs earlier, and the nest was a dense, jaw breaking mound of noodles rather than a wispy potato or vermicelli creation.

Don't order it, you will regret it in the morning.

There were a couple of other totally forgettable, and definitely non-Chinese dishes. Everything was greasy, sickly, sweet and sticky. Unfortunately a full glass of wine was sent racing across the table to land all over me, and my genial photo-journalistic mood was spoiled by the loss of my salvation to the evening.

The damage: around £15 per head for bad set menu, or around £20 for a more expensive but no better set menu. Best to just avoid this place like the plague in the first place. As an aside: Xi'an accepts the Gourmet Society card. Avoid it anyway.

Cafe Opium

2009-05-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

Cafe Opium
67-69 George Street
Oxford

Having reviewed Cafe Opium here for yum cha, and here for noodle soup, this will be a brief roundup of a late, quick and delicious dinner.

Sizzling beef with black pepper. Savoury, tender, not at all authentic Chinese, but very good anyway.

Black pepper pork with rice. Cheap and filling. Nothing wrong except lacking in some authenticity. Basic stir fry with gravy over rice.

Mushroom duck with rice.

Kung Po chicken, I think.

Not sure how this was, but the neon sauce doesn't bode well.

My shui zhu rou (literally boiled beef) was delicious. Served poached in a chili broth with veges on the bottom of the bowl, it lacked the litres of fiery chili oil used in China (I kid you not, it is meant to be drowned in oil), but had a very good flavour.

The perfect accompaniment to plain rice.

Satay beef with rice (?).

Roast duck on rice. I've only had duck at Cafe Opium once, and it was very salty and not terribly crisp. In their defence it was about 11.30pm and I wasn't the most sober I'd ever been. This particular version looked very nice.

The damage: £7 for a main dish with rice. Not bad, not great, but most of the mains were delicious and were quickly gobbled up.

The Mitre

2009-05-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

The Mitre
17 High Street Oxford
Oxford, OX1 4AQ

The Mitre is one of the Beefeater chains of pubs, 'specialising' in their grill. True to their Beefeater name, the menu boasts a host of deep fried food (usually involving mushrooms or onion) and beef, chicken, lamb and burgers cooked every which way possible.

The photos of the menus aren't terribly good, but rest assured that the menu is a combination of rump, sirloin, ribeye and other meats, cooked to your liking with all the trimmings, priced between £10 and £20 depending on your waist line.

The Mitre also does a generous £9.99 two course special which involves deep fried entrees and grilled mains from a selection of around a dozen options.

My choice on this particular day was the 10oz rib eye grilled rare, of course, served with chips and salad.

Look at that hunk of meat peekabooing behind the salad.

Don't be shy, little steak.

Cut around half an inch thick, the meat was cooked incredibly skillfully, with an even rare texture throughout. The beef itself was disappointing, lacking in real cow-flavour and having rather the taste and slight mealiness of cardboard.

Chicken burger

This is the rump steak served with the set menu. 8oz (I believe), served with five different options for potato (dauphinoise, chipped, mashed, baby or baked), and a plethora of sides, of which YM chose the onion loaf. Somewhat like an unspicy onion bahji, but with more grease and less flavour.

My steak really was cooked rare - an unusual sight in Oxford. Very few places seem to cook an OK steak, and the Mitre happens to be one. Pity about the quality of the beef they use.

Upon asking the waiter how they get the steak so nicely cooked, he told us that it's their special grill, which is kept on all day (how does that help?!), and that the meat is marinated. Bingo. I am guessing cheap, mass consumed beef that isn't hung for flavour, shipped out across Britain to Beefeater pubs everywhere. A pity, because the man behind the grill seems to know what he's doing.

The damage: around £12 for a main, going up to £19 for the half-kilo rib on the bone (highly recommended). Leave you cholesterol counters at home, and let out your belts before eating here. Gourmet society cards accepted here (although there is a LOT of confusion and disinformation about what the discount actually is - this has yet to be resolved. On this occasion, we got 1 free main for each one ordered with a Gourmet Society card).

Hassans!

2009-05-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Broad Street
Oxford

Frequent revellers leaving the KA. Or last minute Finals crammers leaving the Bod late can often be seen orbiting Hassan's kebab van on Broad Street.

Undergoing a makeover, and returning proudly with a huge, shiny pimped out van this Trinity term, Hassans now boasts 'gourmet cuisine' in enormous lettering, as well as its new name: 'Chez Hassan'.

The grills are so shiny!

Allowing three people to work without constantly getting in each other's way, the new van is a triumph to 2am munchy preparation.

The burgers are as bad as they always were, but the runny egg (yes, they cooked the egg beautifully!) with greasy pattie stuffed into a bun is to die for, after too many Old Rosies.

Browns

2009-05-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Browns
5-11 Woodstock Rd
Oxford, OX2 6HA

Brown's a chain throughout England, and is one of the more upstanding establishments in Oxford, catering to the well heeled populance in search of cooling cocktails on a summer evening, and also the occasional student dressed in the Sunday best, rescued from the usual college gruel by a visiting parent. Not quite as old fuddy-duddy as the Old Parsonage, Browns nevertheless commands a relatively high position in Oxford cuisine, with a price tag to match.

Your intrepid reporter went for a leisurely Friday lunch with four friends in tow. Ordering was fairly swift, without the usual dithering about what to pick.

MH's chicken schnitzel with poached egg was fairly well received, although the chicken was somewhat dry - a recurring theme during the lunch. The egg was perfectly poached, and at just over a tenner, not a bad dish.

L's pappardelle with chicken was... well, dry. The pasta was nice with a tiny bit of bite, but the chicken pieces had been wrung of all juice.

E's chicken baguette arrived with brilliant frites, but was, again, dry. Not one to complain, E seemed content with the whole package.

It looks moist, but it didn't quite deliver.

Y-M's slow braised belly of pork came on a veritable mountain of mash - not to be attempted by the faint of stomach. This was the only dish to pass without negative comment.

Creamed spinach came smothered in fat. Not the most pleasant sight to behold, unless you're training for a heart attack.

The main quibble: my rack of lamb with potato dauphinoise: raw lamb and crunchy potato.

At first glance, it looks fine, although the lamb has been cut in a peculiar way, with uneven bones and somewhat ragged meat.

This is the serving before I had touched it: the ragged cut marks done the rack were performed in the kitchen. The piece to the left was twice as thick as the piece to the right, and the other pieces on the plate were equally irregular. I managed to eat the piece on the right, but the fatter piece on the left came out raw and cold inside, with only marginal grilling penetrating no more than a millimetre of the surface.

Doesn't that look like someone has had a go at my lunch already? So I send back the dish, as it was a thick round of totally raw lamb, and 25 minutes later - after my table had finished eating - I receive the following:

Mysteriously, my four two-bone 'racks' had turned into four very thin lamb chops. The photo doesn't adequately demonstrate how small and thin the pieces were. Upon asking our waiter, I was informed that these were the same pieces of lamb I had sent back (but obviously sans the piece I had cut open to reveal cold meat), reheated and served a second time. The manager came, and told me a contrary story: that on the first plate I had been given 'extra' as the pieces were rather small, and that this is the standard serving. Not a satisfactory answer by any stretch of the imagination.

As a compromise we were offered a free dessert, and the side dishes (chips, and creamed spinach) taken off the bill. L had the Pimms jelly, which although sounding interesting turned out to be a foul tasting blob of rubber. Real rubber would probably have tasted better.

I opted for a cheese board as my freebie, to share with the table.

Grapes with yellowing ends.

Wilting celery, and an extremely watery 'balsamic onion chutney' - that rather resembled bisto gravy gone wrong - were served with some severely under ripe cheeses.

The damage: Around £12-15 each for a main dish, with good service and abysmal food. I would not go back again, despite the gesture to remove some of the items from the bill.

Steak cook off

2009-05-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Sooo, Sainsbury's has a special on rump steak, but rather than spending hard earned cash on inferior steak, we thought we'd put it to the test against some of the best that Oxford has to offer.

Off we rush to M Feller, Son and Daughter, the premium butcher in the local covered market, which serves up organic meats of the highest quality.

M Feller's is the butchery that usually has whole beasts hanging outside its window.

The second butcher (photo soon) that we visited was our usual, and the friendly folk there purvey Old Spot pork, goat and fun foods besides. We'd recently had a delicious pork belly from them, and wanted to try their rump steak as well.

The three pundits: Sainsbury's standard on the left weighs in at £9.69 per kilo, our local butcher at not much more: £11.99 per kilo, and the organic beef on the right at a whopping £18.99 a kilo.

The steak on the left is obviously wetter, exuding some fluid. The middle steak was hung for 21 days, I was told, but was cut from a whole rump straight out of a wet-seal bag. The smallest piece was also 21 days old, but as the organic butcher is frequently seen breaking down half carcasses, this is more believable; it is also the driest steak of the three.

Get close to your meat.

The Sainsbury's steak, in all its glory.

The local butcher's: slightly less wet and a darker colour.

The organic steak almost looks purple here.

My (fairly) new buy: a super-sized cast iron griddle that sits on two hobs on our stove. The reverse side is a flat griddle perfect for bacon and eggs. Tonight, it's all about the grill marks.

The pieces are salted, and put on in order of size.

Flipped.

Flipped again.

The taste test: In a blindfold test, I managed to pick all three steaks on texture and taste.

The Sainsbury's (bottom right) was a distinctively wetter steak, with a juicier bite. Tender enough, but slightly less beefy - although not to the point where this becomes a problem.

The local butcher's (bottom left) was unfortunately very chewy for some reason. Perhaps it's the wet-ageing or the fact that it was cut from the outside of the rump, but it had a distinctively chewier and harder texture.

The organic steak was the best, with a dry grilled surface but juicy thanks to it being served rare.

The damage: The three steaks came to approximately £6 each, but with obvious variance in size. The Sainsbury's was the best value/taste ratio, coming in cheapest but with a perfectly acceptable texture and taste. The local butcher's fared poorly, but this may be an isolated event. The organic steak was tasty, but at twice the cost of the Sainsbury's, one would need to demonstrate that being organic is significantly superior to warrant the price tag. I never thought that I'd say this, but the Sainsbury's standard rump steak comes off incredibly well in a blind cook off.

The Windmill

2009-05-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Windmill at Badby
Main St
Badby, Daventry, NN11

Before we review the Windmill, just a quick aside about the De Veres in Daventry: After a hard won game of chess in the day (don't ask), we retire to the hotel bar for an aperitif before dinner. Upon asking for a martini, we were asked whether we wanted ice. "Well," I began, "I would like it stirred over ice, but not served with it... if that's what you mean?" Confusion ensues as the waitress asks if I want rosso, bianco or extra dry. "Dry", I stammer, upon which I was served a short of Martini Extra Dry vermouth.

Explaining that we would like some gin with that, we were told firstly that they do not posses a shaker, then no appropriate glass (despite martini glasses being in sight behind the bar, probably gathering dust) and finally that they had no vermouth, despite trying to sell me a shot of the stuff. The manager then took the glass of vermouth out the back, returning five minutes later having not been able to locate a suitable shaking vessel. A high ball glass was finally filled with ice, Gordon's (they didn't try to upsell the Bombay Sapphire, which we would have preferred), and then given to us with an olive bobbing merrily. All this took the best part of a half hour, and we were charged around £8 for the confusing drink. Next time, stick to the pints of Stella.

But I digress. Dinner with the team(s) was at a quaint little pub, in the middle of nowhere, called the Windmill. Having ordered as a group weeks in advance, nobody remembered what they had ordered, so I include a selection of what people had on the night.

The smoked salmon was, I am reliably told, very nice; the portion was certainly extremely generous.

Served with a corn not-quite-relish, all of the entrees were served with buttered sliced bread (of the standard issue supermarket kind). Slightly odd.

My jalapenos stuffed with cheese were very nice - but lacked the fiery kick I had hoped to have. The salsa-ish relish thing was jarred at best, but most likely came out of a 10 gallon caterer's bottle. Again, served with buttered bread.

Goopy cheesiness, yum.

A's prawn cocktail was highly disappointing, with bland, wormy defrosted prawns of the Young's variety, served with a half avocado, some mixed leaves and the ubiquitous bread.

The farmhouse pate was a luscious slab, and decidedly rich. Probably home made, we agreed.

A's steak came smothered with a mushroom sauce. The sauce was gloopy and obviously thickened with starch. The steak was fine, but would have fared much better without the artificial sauce. Whatever happened to some fond, deglaced with brandy and finished with cream? Simple, and tasty.

My brill was somewhat overcooked - which I suppose is to be expected - not served as one piece, it came flaked and looked slightly chewed. Not great presentation, but otherwise ok.

The shared servings of fried potatoes were amazingly crispy with a fluffy centre. Delicious, and we couldn't get enough.

Veges were of the boiled variety.

Desserts were a highlight, with a deliciously tart blackcurrant sorbet in a brandysnap basket.

I believe the puree was mango, adding some sweetness to the sorbet (which was really an ice cream).

A's cheesecake was impeccable, and easily rivaled the one at Portabello's.

Smooth, rich and light, with a sweet ginger biscuit base - this cheesecake was near perfection.

The third option was sticky toffee pudding, which we were assured was sticky and great.

Plenty of custard, and oozing toffee.

The damage: with drinks and three courses, it came to around £35 per head. Not cheap, not great, but certainly a cut above your usual pub meals. Throw in some real English countryside ambiance, and it's well worth a visit if you happen to be passing by.

What we've been eating - goose egg(s)!

2009-04-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Wednesday market in Oxford has stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, a fishmonger in his van, and random bits and bobs.

An elderly man and his wife sell cheeses, bacon and eggs (a glorious mix, for which the couple should win medals), and for the past two weeks they have had goose eggs for sale.

Quite a bit larger than a hen's egg, these monstrosities were an incredible white colour. At £1.50 each, they were quite pricey.

The egg itself is mostly yolk, with an incredibly translucent albumen, quite unlike egg white. The yolk is a dark, bright orange. Can a colour be both dark and bright?

For comparison, the size of the egg compared to a small jar of Colman's mustard. Each egg probably weighs in at around four large hen eggs, or six small.

Aren't they pretty? We blew out one of them for A to paint.

The shell is so incredibly white, and very strong - similar in a way to M&M candy shells, when tapped.

The yolk that was blown out...

And turned into this delicious omelette au fine herbs with the baby parsley and basil that SS provided a few weeks ago. The egg tasted... slightly tougher than hen eggs, although that's unfair, as it was an almost crunchy, bouncy texture rather than the toughness of an over-scrambled egg. Quite delicious, but not for every-day meals!

1 Lombard Street

2009-04-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

1 Lombard Street
London
EC3V 9AA

Having shed its Michelin Star in 2009, 1 Lombard Street seems to be rallying to regain its favour with diners. Located in the Square Mile, where dining without an expense account is unthinkable, the restaurant is currently offering a '5 course' menu for £19.50 in its brasserie to win over new custom. Really the menu is 3.5 courses, but I jump ahead of myself.

Bread is served promptly with butter. A selection of wholemeal and white bread with caraway seeds. Chewy and moist, it's good, but not great. Certainly not Michelin great.

The a la carte menu offers a plethora of dishes, vegetarian and omnivorous alike.

Meals are described in fanciful terms, but the protein/starch/greens combinatorics underpin an easily recognisable modern-euro menu.

The chef's dishes of the day sound delicious, but from the lengthy selection it seems they don't actually rotate daily. Your reporter could be wrong on this point.

Dinky small portions of flaky sea salt and coarsely crushed pepper are set out on the table. I personally believe that if these are present, they should be served with salt-spoons. Asking diners to grab salt and pepper with their fingers is just asking for an outbreak of something nasty.

First up: potato and young garlic leaf soup with toasted pumpkin seed oil.

The soup is velvety and smooth - the perfect texture. Without a spoon to use, it clung lovingly to the sides of the espresso cup. The flavour was mild with distinctive but mellow hints of garlic, reminiscent of sweet garlic scapes. The pumpkin seed oil assaults the nose and the palate in a firm, but gentle manner - akin to being marched through the complex flavours without being allowed to stop and savour each element. Less fancifully, it tasted like toasted sesame oil, but with pumpkin instead of sesame.

An interlude to stare at the decor before the next course: built in a former bank, the brasserie is smartly decorated with friendly lighting and comfortable seating. The tables are not crushed into every space, and there is an opulent 360 degree bar in the centre of the room beneath the light well for those with serious expense accounts.

Asian seared prime salmon with blah blah blah. As we'd only glanced briefly at the verbose menu, we could only guess at the accompliments, which made for very interesting conversation. The salmon was grilled and topped with a deep fried leaf of coriander. Served with three sauces that we identified as possibly reduced teriyaki, pickled daikon and salsa verde (from left to right), and a salad of cerviche topped with baby leaf.

The cerviche caused the most confusion, as it had the texture of fine fish, but not really the bite: each tiny orb parted on the tooth without any noticeable sign of grain. A thought it might have been cerviche or tartar of scallop, but lacked the seafood taste. Of course, it was aubergine, which we hadn't figured out till much later.

The sauces were a little superfluous, especially the first and third. The brown, possibly terikyaki sauce was reduced to a gloop and by the time it was served, had congealed into thin strands of gelatin on the plate. It certainly wouldn't spread or dip, so was best tasted by being scraped up with a fork. The minced daikon added, well, asian-ness, but not flavour to the fish. The salsa verde was fine, but this time a little too runny to serve with the fish.

The salmon itself was fantastic - one of the best cooked pieces I had ever eaten. Barring the Fat Duck version of salmon (which I loved except for the licorice gel), this was definitely the best presentation of what is a fantastic but easily overcooked, overused and 'boring' fish.

The meat was juicy and pink, without being raw. Cooked all through yet retaining its flavour and juices really made this dish shine.

Slow cooked caramelised lamb with cassoulet of white beans, parsley mash, truffle oil. Well, it pretty much is what it says on the tin.

A thought hers wonderfully cooked; I thought mine a little tough for a slow cooked belly of lamb. Execution is pretty much excellent, with alternating layers of lean and fat tied into a roulade, the flavours were clean and savoury without an overwhelming smell or taste of lamb, which can dominate cuts with more fat. The white beans were stewed to perfection, with a tiny amount of tooth, but mainly melting starch. The mash, often an easily overlooked component, was buttery and smooth. One shudders to think of the quantity of cream and butter it might contain.

A palate cleansing granita. Superfluous, and not terribly well made. Possibly rose water, possibly pomegranate, the flakes of ice were sometimes too large, and slightly watery and unpleasant on the tongue.

By now the light began to fade (as you can see), and dessert and cheese were ordered.

A was delighted by her mulled bilberry with blackberry meringue, with vanilla ice cream.

The meringue was competent, but the compote of bilberry and blackberries were bright, sweet and flavoursome, and the vanilla ice cream rich and bursting of real vanilla.

My cheese platter was competently chosen, with some rich and full bodied cheeses. Somewhat let down by presentation, we were willing to overlook the rather aged and worn plate due to the quality of the cheese itself.

The damage: two very reasonably priced and excellent dinners, a bottle of wine and a bottle of water, with service came to just a tad over £76. The wine list is extensive, but heavy on the wallet. As an aside, they are a member of the Gourmet Society.

The service is highly competent but with moments of major flaw. A's soup was served in a cup heavily crusted with somebody else's dinner; apologies were profuse and a replacement was prompt. At times the staff looked confused - we were led to our table via a tour of the restaurant, after the maitre'd seemed unsure where to seat us. Our initial reservation had been lost, and it was only due to us calling to change the booking that this was discovered. Our food busser arrived at the table with an enormous tray, but nobody to help serve; it took several minutes of desperate looks from him before a waiter came to relieve him of his burdens. Etc, etc, this was not fine dining, but it could be once they sort out the minor issues.

A return to Inn Noodle - Bayswater

2009-04-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Inn Noodle
106 Queensway
London
W2 3RR

Having previously mistaken the place as being called 'Noodle Inn' (a far more sensible name), we return to Inn Noodle with the fabulous V in tow on a wet spring evening. Wine was on the cards, and probably shenanigans too. Definitely shenanigans.

Orders took a while to arrive, which mattered not, as we had much to catch up and understandable as there was a long queue for takeaways by the door. A's only adamant choice was the gai lan sauteed with garlic. This was almost perfect, with a sweet crunch and soft wilted leaves, the dish could only have been improved by having garlic cooked with it, instead of being topped with the pre-fried garnish. Not even close to haute cuisine, but why should it be? This is probably the most delicious way to inject green into your day.

Having texted V earlier in the evening to let her know of our imminent arrival, she had responded: "you know I have a one tracked mind", further inquiry on what that track might be, elicited: "prawns!"

Ok, in a 'real' restaurant with table cloths and menus without photos, I might have quibbled about the prawns in chili and garlic. A certainly didn't care for the slightly doughy batter, and we wondered if the gluten to starch ratio was too high. However, for a simple eatery, the prawns were big, tasty, and doused in fiery fried chili: grease+salt+spice = happy.

Wontons in vinegar/soy and chili oil. Delicious. These were actually incredibly good wontons, and superior to the ones we tried at the excellent Baozi Inn.

The highlight of the evening (overshadowing even the effervescent V), was the Cantonese roast duck. Not realising there was a choice, we received the boned version. Ever a gnawer of bones, I was disappointed to be deprived of my usual entertainment, and doubly so when I tasted the duck. The meat was plump and juicy, and tasted of soft yielding duckiness. The skin was crisp, oh so crunchy, with a melting layer of fat below. The soy sauce was savoury and salty, but balanced the sweetness perfectly. This is, without doubt, the single best Cantonese duck I have had in the UK so far, since I moved over in 2003.

Some shanghai siu mai, just out of interest. Unlike the yum cha cousin, the filling is made with glutinous rice. This version wasn't like mum's; the filling was almost entirely rice, soaked in sauce. Good, but not great.

Pot stickers - like the wontons, the filling was exceptional. The wrapper was thick, but in a good way, holding together the filling and a pocket of juice akin to xiao long bao - soup dumplings. We actually queried whether these were pot stickers or simply jiao zi, as no evidence of frying was apparent. On the underside (not pictured), a light brown surface had been achieved, but not to our satisfaction.

The damage: an eclectic selection of the weird and wonderful for distraction while chatting to a good friend. Add a bottle of wine and it came just shy of £50 for three. Given that the local pub in Bayswater (a horrible place) was charging close to £20 for house wine, this seems like a pretty good deal. Plus, the duck can't be praised enough.

British Rail - burger on board

2009-04-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in Yorkshire
Aboard one of National Rail's finest

Having concluded a difficult week in Durham, and rushing to return to my gorgeous A waiting in London, I boarded the 14.17 service to King's Cross with nary a thought for lunch, and precious little time to check the luggage, let alone sip some water.

This particular train served hot food, and I was told by the stewardess (is that the correct term?) that a chef was on board to cook the burger to order. Hurrah the wonders of modern convenience!

Served with wedges and a salad, I savoured the wedges - slightly chewy with a wonderful potato flavour: just how I loved wedges. I poke the bun to take a photo of its contents and to my astonishment, the chef had forgotten to give me my burger patty!

Swift conversations and several apologies later, this was rectified and an enormous burger patty was presented in all its glory.

How did she not realise that this beastie was missing from my plate?! The meat was... sadly a little artificial, with a meatloaf texture and taste. Overall very passable, especially as the bun was fairly good when compared to kebab van drivel. The wedges were great, and salad pert and refreshing.

The damage: £8.95 for the burger wedges and salad. If I had been served that in a pub, I wouldn't complain. Definitely a cut above a greasy spoon, and a thankful alternative to drab and dry sandwiches.

Fried breakfast - Durham

2009-04-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

A little cafe
Down the road
From the Castle
Durham

After a night of social networking meant serious dehydration and a fairly heavy hangover. The unprecedented sunny 20 degrees in the north of England (!) also didn't help. Coffee, black as midnight, and greasy starch was called for.

Cute little cafe with an all day breakfast. For £2.99 you get the 5-star special, and for a measly £2 more, they double it to the monstrosity you see above. The bread was heavy, and the hash browns were crisp. Everything was cooked hot to order, and beautifully done without any trace of grease. It looks like they can cook up here after all.

Oldfields - Durham

2009-04-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Oldfields
18 Claypath
Durham
DH1 1RH

My first night (ever) in Durham, ahead of a week-long stay. What lies ahead, I don't know. The people seem friendly, and I am yet to be mugged. I am away from A for longer than I would care to be, and stress levels are high, and all I want is a chunk of rare beef. Oldfields look good, and it had better deliver.

The menu is British, with touches such as bubble and squeak, rabbit, etc. Mostly, it's the usual chicken, fish, beef, et al. Promising, as this could be something to rival bistros in London. Well, that's the plan.

The menus are slick.

The place mat, well, a little tacky.

But all is forgiven when a bottle of Malbec arrives.

Salt and pepper: good. HP and ketchup? not something I want to see on the table when they claim to specialise in seafood.

Bread and butter are promptly served. And the service here really is friendly. The staff are young, but do not treat customers with a casual air, but neither is the atmosphere stuffy. Great.

Glass of wine, and I'm a happy camper. The Chamuyo is powerful and fills my palate - just how I like it. It should compliment my bloody steak well.

A bit of thumb twiddling. I have never eaten in a restaurant without company before. How odd. Lets take some photos of the decor.

Ok, gazing out the window done. Lets read the back of the wine bottle.

My starter arrives: oyster thermidor. Interesting concept, and they do boast about good seafood...

Yes, that's an almost identical shot: the cheese sauce looks leaden and I dread to even poke it.

But everything is better with bacon, right?

The poor oyster had been so smothered that it had lost all its original taste of the sea. Limp and cowering, it could barely be located.

The shell on the left is actually FULL of the cheesy gunk from both of the oysters. In a scene reminiscent of Mr Bean's efforts to conceal his unwanted steak tartar, I did not know how to indicate to my servers that I was done with my oysters. I could not stomach any more of the sauce, but had to move it to show that I was finished. How did I get myself into this situation?

Plastered a wall? you could have constructed the wall itself from this paste. Bland, gloppy, sticky and sickly, even the bacon totally failed to make it edible.

Sirloin and chips - can't go wrong, right?

Asking for it very rare, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the waitress knew the word 'bleu'. Doubtful of its execution, I would rather have my steak raw than brown all through.

The chips were at least as shiny as the Dalai Lama's forehead, and only failed to be more glistening due to the failing light.

The travesty of the evening turned out to be my pepper sauce, served separately in a neat little milk jug. No pepper (or indeed anything but cream) was harmed in the making of this sauce, and at most, the chef waved a bag of pepper from across the kitchen. Perhaps spices are still at medieval prices up here in the north.

The steak is surprisingly almost rare. The thinness (as in all restaurants) prohibits it from being terribly rare, but this was at least still pink: a success! The steak was very well done, but lacked flavour until I found the salt mill. I think it had been cooked sans any seasoning whatsoever. Properly salted the steak was very tasty - beefy and tender, and a delight to eat.

Hmm, lets have a go at that sauce. Oh crap, that's not sauce, he brought me a milk jug. Oh, wait, that is the sauce? Are you sure somebody hasn't just tipped cream into a dirty jug?

Inspired by a terrible meal salvaged by a decent piece of steak, I thought that I deserved more punishment and ordered a lemon cheesecake as dessert.

I have a sneaky suspicion that the cheesecake was made from the very same smegma that I had sent back in the first course. It was dense, bland and horrifyingly rich. There was probably a sale on double cream at Lidl, judging by this meal. Do NOT attempt to eat this dessert.

The damage: aside from a £18 bottle of wine, the rest was reasonable priced. Three courses plus wine (no water, because they didn't offer, and then refused to come near me) came to £53. With my handy Gourmet Society card, the total was £40.49. Service: very friendly; dinner: dreadful.

Four Seasons - London

2009-04-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Four Seasons
12 Gerrard Street
London
W1D 5PR

Apparently once the home of the best roast duck in London, we try the menu at Four Seasons.

Seated upstairs, we were in close proximity to their slop buckets. Although no noisome odour was apparent, the leftovers of many an other meal wasn't the best appetiser we could wish for.

Tea was duly served.

Aubergine hotpot - braised aubergine with minced pork. The aubergine was nicely braised, losing all of its 'raw' taste.

The sauce was savoury and generic, but certainly tasty. A good rendition of a memorable comfort food.

Braised (twice cooked) pork on taro.

There were two versions of this on the menu: taro, or mei gan cai (a dried fermented cabbage) - both being very traditional. The pork is usually cooked at least twice (but in actuality in several steps involving blanching, frying, stewing and steaming).

This version needed a lot of work. The pork wasn't as tender as hoped, and tasted like it might have been too old to serve. The sauce was sweet but lacked any defined or depth of flavour. The taro was chewy and had failed to pick up what little flavour there was in the sauce. A terrific dish done very poorly.

'Monk's vegetables' - a medley of bok choi and Chinese mushrooms. This was our favourite stir-fry of the set. The bok choi was tender and sweet, and the mushrooms juicy and full of musky xiang gu flavour.

I never know if they are just superior at soaking dried mushrooms, or if they use fresh or tinned. The texture is very fresh and bouncy, but I always think that the taste is superior to fresh mushrooms.

The crispy roast pork was one of the better versions I've tasted in the UK, and this was an improvement on Gold Mine's rendition.

The skin is highly crispy, and the meat salty and flavourful. Our only quibble was that it had been served somewhat cold.

The roast duck was disappointing - lacking real flavour and served tepid.

Patches of skin had been burnt, and the meat itself was slightly chewy without substantial duck flavour.

The damage: lunch for 5 not-so-hungry eaters came to £45. This could have been less had we passed on the entirely forgettable duck, or could have more if we'd ordered more substantial dishes involving seafood instead of vegetarian alternatives. The service is not prompt, and the usual heavy handed routine found in standard Chinese restaurants. Would we go back? almost certainly not.

What we've been eating - Easter!

2009-04-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

A terrible photograph of A's amazing interpretation of Monet's gardener's masterpiece: water lillies.

Sunset on the Thames.

Vincent's 'big daisies'; sunflowers.

Fauna.

Scarlett Johansson's 'Girl with the Big Pouty Lips'.

Flora.

More flora.

More fauna.

Food colouring and icing sugar makes the most amazing fractals.

Try it, it's fun!

Easter lunch/dinner laid out for seven.

Everybody gets a little party pack, complete with plenty of chocolate, sugary things, and a little toy.

Tiny little eggs on a bed of home-sprouted mustard cress.

So cuuuute...

Cottage cheese and radishes.

Side servings of baby tomatoes and radishes.

My offering: a meat brick encased in bacon.

Mustard.

Horseradish cream.

Horseradish and beetroot.

A crusty loaf from Gatineau: those loving bakers who got up on Easter Sunday to provide us with freshly baked bread for our table.

This blue-tit mother is rather confused, and is sitting on quail eggs.

A sliced ballotine of fish, encased in aspic.

Roast loin of pork stuffed with prunes and roasted garlic.

Unfortunately the rest of the food was demolished before photos could be taken. Guests first, blog second, I'm afraid.

Our dear, dear friends K and A couldn't find a shop open to procure presents, so found an ethnic foods store that had dried fish. Thanks, guys!

Portabello

2009-04-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

Portabello
7 South Parade
Summertown
Oxford
OX2 7LJ

Portabello is one of the nicer restaurants in north Oxford, serving good casual dining to the smarter dressed and well heeled citizens of Summertown.

The menu ticks all of the usual boxes. There is some emphasis on locality - in the beef and lamb - and the blackboard specials are interesting.

There's also a set menu which at £12.95 for two courses, and £16.95 for three, represents incredible value.

Cocktails, drinks, et al.

And the wine list.

My starter of smoked duck breast served with salad and rehydrated cherries was flavoursome, but the duck itself was a little overcooked, and thus the meat was mealy. The smoke flavour did not manage to penetrate the duck, and was definitely not as good as our own attempt.

A's calamari was a popular rendition, but done to a very high standard. The calamari was sliced a little too thin, but was dredged in seasoned flour and fried so nicely that the calamari retained its tender texture with a slight chew, while the outside was crispy and delicious, without a trace of cooking oil. The two dipping sauces: tartar and sweet chili were both well executed, flavourful and not overly rich.

Our friend K's goats' cheese salad was simple, as it should be. The cheese wasn't too pungent, and was creamy and well chosen.

K and A both ordered steaks, the former a rump served medium with a sauce Bearnaise.

A ordered a rare sirloin with garlic butter, which was unfortunately somewhat overcooked to medium.

My calf liver with bacon and mash was more bacon and mash than liver. Two small pieces of liver was topped with several large pieces of, admittedly delicious, bacon. The spring-onion mash was quite good, but the serving was rather small. The jus was on the thin side, but added a punch of flavour.

The biggest disappointment was obviously the liver itself. One could overlook a small serving, but as I ordered, the waiter asked if it's ok that the liver is served pink, which only added to my enthusiasm, which gave way to disappointment as the liver turned out to be dry and well-done. Nary a drop of juice survived the vicious attack on this poor piece of meat.

A's chips were crispy, and tasted of potato. We were assured that these were hand-cut in the restaurant.

The inside of A's steak - although still pink, it was far from the rare that she had ordered.

A dessert menu was produced.

A chose to have the Portabello 'latte': Kahlua, Amaretto and nutmeg.

K's cherry custard tart was declared to be delicious.

My white chocolate cheesecake nearly redeemed the overcooked liver. Rich, smooth, on a gingernut biscuit base, this was everything that I love about cheesecake.

Pale and buttery, the cheesecake tasted of rich white-chocolate/cocoa butter, but retained the smoothness of the cream cheese.

The damage: between three of us, having three courses each with two bottles of wine, the bill came to £111. Not bad, considering that the food was actually quite good. With a Gourmet Society card, the bill was reduced to £83 without tip, or just over £30 a head. Definitely worth a revisit.

Bombay

2009-04-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Bombay
82 Walton Street
Oxford
OX2 6EA

One of the favourite hangouts of students is Bombay, a reasonably priced and enthusiastically friendly little Bangladeshi restaurant tucked slightly north of where most people frequent, in Oxford.

With a large, and unsurprising, selection of foods available, Bombay caters for the majority of tastes, tending towards a British interpretation of curry. The tandoori dishes here are highly recommended.

Vegetarians are well catered for, with a separate and extensive menu.

Being a BYO restaurant that allows wine (officially. Unofficially, beer and soft drinks are fine as well), we popped round the corner to the Grog Shop, which specialises in a large selection of eclectic world beers, we bought a selection of four ales. Two of them being Trappist beers.

The tandoori chicken was one of their best efforts. Occasionally, their chicken is a miss but usually it was as on this night: moist, tasty, juicy, and a steal at around £3.

The lamb tikka was a slightly smaller portion, but equally delicious with a moist tender flavour, and a good bite - some places marinade bad meat for too long in yoghurt to make it palatable, ending up with the meat having a texture rather like a bath sponge.

A minor quibble, and at this price totally unwarranted, was that the slice of lemon provided had almost no juice, making it irrelevant. The fluorescent-pink sauce and iceberg lettuce garnish were unnecessary, although presumably occupied blank space on the plate.

A's lamb biryani was wonderfully flavoured, with a soft turmeric scent (ha, you think that they use saffron at this price?) and quite acceptable small pieces of lamb.

Quite acceptable, but not great - the lamb was well flavoured but slightly chewy (to me, A thought it was fine), and the dish was a touch drier than I'd expected.

The biryani was served with this vegetable curry. Slightly homogeneous, the curry was mostly meant to lighten the rice dish. One rather pleasant surprise was the use of white radish (mooli, or daikon, depending on your provenance), which had softened, but still retained a slight bite, and a delicious sweetness.

My kofta came as two oversized turds served in a rather disconcerting brown sludge.

Upon closer inspection, they had, in fact, made 'scotch eggs' from the lamb mince, then after cooking had slice the ball in twain, before covering with what turned out to be a rather rich and creamy tomato based curry sauce.

Complimentary basmati rice: we were unsure whether this came standard with the koftas (one suspects on reflection that it does), or that it was served because we were taking photos of all of the dishes, and discussing the food rather animatedly.

A beautifully crisp garlic naan.

Plenty of caramalised spots from the tandoor, giving naan its unique flavour. Nothing from a supermarket baggie, or even your best oven efforts, will compare to this.

Now, we were pretty certain that between us, with two entrees, two mains, and a garlic naan, that we had spent more than £25. A quick bit of math: £3 for the entrees, £9 for the mains, +£2 for the bread comes to £26, ok, fine, that's pretty cheap. However, the Gourmet Society card allows us a 25% discount on this, which should be a discount circa £6 + some pence. For some reason, we were given a discount of £11.15, making this a ridiculously cheap meal of £14.20 for two courses of very good Bangladeshi food each, and around £9 for 4 bottles of fine Trappist beer.

The damage: around £10 per head for two courses, and you can BYO drinks. A steal for such good food.

SoJo - Mongolian Wok

2009-04-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

SoJo
8-9 Hythe Bridge St
Oxford, OX1 2EW

Sojo is one of those places I love to hate. Every time I visit, I am served lackluster food by uninterested and sometimes outright rude staff. Yet every time I visit, some table of Chinese people chattering away about their new iPhone or new Bently is served totally authentic food by an overly attentive propriotor. Maybe I just don't give the rich vibe that gets me premium service?

The menu is mostly standard fare.

With a dim sum menu as well (from previous experience, this ranges from good to awful).

A lunch menu of 'specials'.

And some explanation of where they come from as a cuisine. If you ever see 'specialises, Shanghainese, Szechuanese and Dim Sum' all in the same sentence: run a mile. This is like a restaurant claiming speciality in Danish, Spanish and Indian cuisines.

But we came because we were bored, and felt like returning to that old Mongolian Wok thing. When I was a starving student, my friends and I had to construct cunning feats of engineering to fill a bowl as high as possible, to ensure a full stomach for the rest of the week. £5.90 for all the food you could fit into a bowl is a serious challenge for us. Alas, we may have been over enthusiastic and spoilt it for everybody, as they now have this sign denoting a maximum of a half bowl of meat.

Not to say the meat is of very high quality - it isn't. But wait, I hear you complain, why did you go if you are so down on this dump? Well, I guess it adds a little bit of interest to what might otherwise be a mundane lunch chomping on bread with [insert filling here].

A choice of chicken, pork, lamb and beef.

The fun part: the condiments. There are over a dozen spices, mixes and sauces to choose from to top your gargantuan creation.

Selections of veges, if you're feeling healthy. To be honest, if you eat this stuff to be healthy, you're going to be in for a big surprise.

Satay powder - a mix of curry powders I believe.

You can top your creation off with noodles, but it's also served with plain rice.

You hand your bowl to this tiny little wizened man who looks like he should be at home on the plateaus leading a yak.

Some suggestions on flavour combinations on the blackboard.

A healthy dollop of vegetable oil to get it all frying.

Left to heat through.

Et voila, instant cuisine.

All shoved artlessly on to a plate:

*sigh* Once upon a time, they'd take the care to form the rice into a ball, via a round bowl turned upside down. These days, it's barely warm, let alone nicely formed.

We also ordered a bowl of dan dan mian - spicy noodles. We were told that this is a very very small serving, but turned out to be ok as a large snack, or small lunch.

The broth was surprisingly good, very flavoursome and tasty - most likely chicken stock - with a spicy finish. Topped with spring onions, cashew nuts (tradition dictates peanuts on a sesame sauce), and served with shredded cucumber. Not terribly authentic, but a decent bowl of noodles.

The house chili sauce was one of the best I'd tasted, with chewy detritus of dried shrimp, chili seeds, and black beans, the oil was fragrant and spicy, as well as wonderfully savoury.

The damage: around £10 for a sizeable lunch. Not great food, but definitely value for money.

What we've been eating - March

2009-03-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

A sudden cold snap in the air meant one thing: pies! What could be better on a cold winter's day than a hot mince and cheese pie?

Having made our own demi glace a few days earlier, we were keen to try out a good Kiwi mince pie. Rather than a pastry top, we decided to made a buttery potato-top: that mainstay of a good Kiwi school lunch.

The gravy was absolutely luscious, with a thick, unctuous texture made velvety by the home-made demi glace. We ground some lean topside roughly for the mince filling, and topped it with sharp cheddar and mashed potato.

Absolutely divine.

Golden crust. I'm drooling as I type this...

We've also been experimenting with smoking duck on an outdoor bbq. The result is a rich, aromatic duck breast. Absolutely delicious.

Cured for a day in kosher salt, then washed, dried, and hot (warm) smoked for two hours over apple chips, these two pieces of duck came out almost slightly roasted. A quick sear to render the fat, and we achieved pink, moist, and extremely flavourful duck. No exaggeration, this was the best duck we'd tasted.

These photos weren't actually of our best attempt - which we had scoffed up before managing a single snap.

A return to Guest Night at New

2009-03-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

New College
Oxford

Having raved about our steak at a guest night in a previous post, we took the leap and signed up for the end of term dinner - promising to be a fancy affair.

New was going 'Japanese' with the above menu promising... well... probably too much.

Condiment platters arrive: sweet chili sauce, gari (pickled ginger), and little fish filled with soy sauce.

First up, H's vegetarian platter. Vegetable tempura in the far distance (pumpkin, we think), vege maki roll, rice topped with half a quail's egg, cucumber and gari.

Non-vegetarians were served the above: prawn tempura, prawn sushi, smoked salmon, cucumber roll and what we think is a tuna maki rolled in shredded nori.

The rice was hard and bland, while the fish was... oddly flavourless. The attempt at tempura was admirable, but was probably closer to fish & chips batter.

An unplanned middle course arrived: vegetarian soup. Surprising, as college are known to cut costs where ever possible, so unannounced courses tend not to occur. It turns out that they probably had dishwater that they needed to dispose, and we were the recipients. A medley of random vegetables combined with shiitaki mushroom stems (tougher than jerky, and much less tasty) came in a thin vegetal broth that was most likely made from boiling carrot together with cabbage. Totally inedible.

The main course of tonkatsu, yakituri [sic] and rice. What can I say? the rice is of the Uncle Ben variety - bland and hard, and as no sauce-based food was served, impossible to swallow. The 'yakitori' was just grilled chicken with no sauce, and no seasoning. Chewy, bland, hard. The tonkatsu was more similar to a poorly executed schnitzel - no real complaints, but again dry and bland, although it was about all that we could eat.

The vegetarian option - an udon casserole (heaven help the man who thought of that idea) was declared a mess. Gloopy noodles sat in essentially the same mix that had previously been served as soup, topped with an egg. As H doesn't like egg, this was pretty much declared inedible as well.

The side servings of boiled pumpkin and spinach added some texture, and (thank goodness) a tiny amount of moisture to the meal.

Dessert turned out to be a surprisingly edible 'cheesecake', which was in fact more like a baked cottage cheese mix topped with a lychee.

Served with mango sauce (read: canned mango pulp), it was surprisingly good.

All in all, this was worse than the first effort documented here. For £17 per head, this is not good eats.

Edamame

2009-03-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Edamame
15 Holywell Street
Oxford
OX1 3SA

Edamame is a tiny little home-style Japanese restaurant in Oxford, with a cult following and odd opening hours.

Run by a couple with children from the downstairs conversion from an apartment, the hours are short, and the places closes early. Serving cheap and cheerful Japanese cooking with a simple menu and Sushi every Thursday, this place is a hit with the local student population: as evidenced by the length of the queue that winds out into the street.

This fateful Thursday, we were joined by C and M, for our first ever sushi night at Edamame's in the 5 years I'd been in Oxford.

A and I initially ordered a selection of tamago (egg), amaebi (raw sweet shrimp), squid (raw), octopus, tuna, salmon and poached shrimp.

C had the salmon and tuna set.

Our order of salmon roe gunkan maki were delicious. The little pearls of slightly salty salmon eggs bursting deliciously when pressed on the palate.

Tuna and salmon sashimi. Thinly sliced, but so fresh and sweet it was definitely worth it.

More salmon: although the knife work does not match professional sushi chefs in specialised restaurants, the cuts were good and the flavour of the fresh fish delicate and creamy.

More sushi! a repeat of the sweet shrimp, some tuna, salmon and unagi (grilled eel).

Edamame serves real wasabi for a small price (50p), but our host dissuaded us from it, telling us that they had replaced the powdered wasabi that day with 'wasabi with bits' - a new product that they were trialing. This turned out to be pungent and delicious. Definitely better than the usual bright green and chalky mess that's served in large pyramids.

We always love our miso soup...

A brief swirl and the spring onion, wakame and tofu cubes appear.

C had the Asahi black, which he likened to a light porter, but declared to be weird coming out of a can with funny writing all over it. He's a bit like that.

The damage: a fairly heavy dose of sushi and sashimi for A and me, with C and M being more sensible with their orders (not being gluttons like us), with two beers and a large sake came to just over £70 sans tip. Steep for this little joint, but not bad for what we were served. Their usual dinner menu is cheaper, and well worth a visit.

A return to Paddyfields

2009-03-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

Paddyfields
39-40 Hythe Bridge Street
Oxford
OX1 2EP

Having been to Paddyfield's only moments (it seemed) earlier, we return with an eclectic group of friends for a long-overdue meet up, and some greasy, greasy duck.

Tuesday night is buffet night. Everything is prepared when ordered - no troughs here - but the selection is fairly euro-centric, and the majority is deep fried.

First up - three ducks were sacrificed to the team of around 17. Deep fried into a crispy caramelised nugget and ceremonially shredded at the table betwixt fork and spoon, the duck turned out to be a surprisingly good rendition of a dish unknown in China. The skin was crisp and the fat was rendered. The duck itself had retained moisture and was totally delicious. Greasy - but of course, it was deep fried! - even though a fried dish, it didn't overwhelm. Wrapped in thin pancakes and doused in sweet sauce, this could certainly be healthy if consumed in moderation. Did we consume in moderation? Ha!

Next came the assorted entrees. Not my favourite under any circumstances, and not my favourite here. The satay skewers were edible, but salt and pepper chicken wings were over salted, greasy and tough. The ribs were coated in some impenetrable good, and the spring rolls lacked filling. Boo.

Mains were devoured with gusto, so the photoset is incomplete. My favourite dish, and it often is at Chinese restaurants, is the 'monks vegetables': a collection of whatever greens are hanging around the back of the fridge. Crisp, refreshing, and totally what I needed after the earlier grease fest.

A passable fried noodles in soy sauce. But this is a buffet! Don't get bogged down by the gratuitous starch!

Beef in black bean sauce. Where would westernised Chinese cookery be without this stalwart offering?

Ahhhh, sweet and sour pork. I spoke too soon. This is truly the keystone to Chinese food.

Mongolian lamb. This confused me, somewhat, as outside of Britain I had never come across deep fried lamb belly served on fried rice vermicelli. It was actually rather good, and on a day when I hadn't previously consumed my monthly allowance of grease, it would have been excellent. Flavoured with cumin and soy, it was crisp and crunchy - utterly delicious, but far too rich given the preceding dishes.

A short aside: Mongolian food is often marked by quick-fried meats and veges (probably true), as a nomadic lifestyle meant scarce fuel, leading to quick, hot applications to cooking, such as flash stir frying. Large vats of boiling fat was probably not available to them (imagine trekking across Asia with vats of grease in tow), putting a lie to this dish being remotely Mongolian.

Mystery meat and vegetables. I think it was pork with selection of vegetables in a black pepper sauce, or something. Ho hum.

The damage: at £12 for all you can eat grease, this was a fairly good offering. The food is not as good as Pink Giraffe's £16 deal, but if you're looking to stock up on three day's worth of calories for as cheaply as possible (which is exactly what some of us wanted), while retaining some dignity (which none of us managed), this is the way forward.

Paddyfield

2009-03-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

Paddyfields
39-40 Hythe Bridge Street
Oxford
OX1 2EP

One of the better (read, more authentic) Chinese restaurants in Oxford, Paddyfields has an eclectic menu of Chinese favourites, celebrating all the pieces of meat only normally seen inside a sausage (where it is safely hidden from sight), interspersed with a few British favourites such as 'deep fried pork ribs in sticky sauce', 'deep fried pork in sticky sauce' and 'deep fried chicken in sticky sauce' for those who believe that cod suffocated in batter and fried into submission is the height of cuisine.

Returning from a successful weekend away, we pass Paddyfields at around 5pm, and break the cardinal rule of morning tea by having it at dinner time.

The obliging host assured us that they would still serve dim sum at this late hour, and within moments of us being seated, tea was poured and a menu was pondered.

Taro puffs stuffed with pork. Unfortunately, without the flash this steaming, crispy, pork-filled and flaky ball of goodness is impossible to see. Basically, it's a croquette of sweet pork filling wrapped in mashed taro and fried. The taro expands rapidly leaving crisp tendrils of caramalised starch - think the finest fries imaginable.

The steamed ribs with black beans were tender, chewy, and flavourful. Definitely made to be savoured, the meat itself is hardly worth the effort, but the self-sauced pieces of pork rib are a delight to work on.

Beef manifolds in black beans. A similar presentation to the ribs, but with a slightly sweet sauce that translates to BBQ on the menu, but not in reality. The manifolds retain their sweetness and crunch, despite being cooked long and slow, evidenced by its tenderness.

Prawn dumplings - a staple - turned out large and juicy with whole pieces of prawn. One of the better examples in Oxford.

Similarly the siu mai were freshly prepared for us, despite the late hour, and were a chewy and bouncy texture that both A and I love. The pork was fresh, and not overwhelmed by other flavours.

Beef cheung fen - a departure from our usual prawn option. The fen was a good texture - not at all heavy, while the beef was that slightly curious, but (to us) pleasant crunchy texture. How do they get beef to become crunchy? I shall never know.

The phoenix claws (ha!) in black beans was very good, but slightly cold by the time it was delivered. Our rather pleasant host joked that we were addicted to black beans - although this a tad unfair since they served everything with the little fermented rat turds. The sauce for each was different, despite the beans, and this was served in a sweet and slightly sticky 'BBQ' sauce.

The damage: around 8 dishes with tea and service for a total of £25. Not bad for an afternoon meal to perk oneself up.

The Big Bang

2009-03-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

The Big Bang
124 Walton Street
Oxford
OX2 6AH

Well, the photography in this post are almost worthless. The BB is great, but unfortunately for food blogging, it has extremely intimate mood lighting, meaning that everything is hideously under exposed.

Specialising in local sausages served with good mash, reduced red cabbage, and peas, the BB delivers by offering around a dozen options for sausage, and serving them at around £8-£9 for three of your choice on gravy with a choice of garlic or herb mash, and the aforementioned sides.

The sausages are locally made from locally butchered meat, and are substantial enough that the smaller serving of 2 will fill up a smaller appetite.

Relishes and mustards on the table.

Washed down with a local Hook Norton ale.

The damage: Approx £14 for a filling plate of top-notch sausages, some of the fluffiest and creamiest garlic mash, washed down with a local ale. [addendum: BB is now affiliated with the Gourmet Society]

Tour of Torquay

2009-02-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

A brief, but memorable weekend to Torquay was brought to a close by an hour of walking up and down the promenade waiting for Wimpy restaurant to open.

Having visited friends that weekend, I saw my first real-life, in the flesh, Wimpy, of which I had heard so much, and of which nothing good was said. I was fascinated.

Alas, on the Sunday it did not open until 12 noon, so off we went in search of further succor.

Oh, yes, a Cornish pasty store. In lieu of decent pies in this country, the pasty is the next best thing. As we are the closest to Cornwall that I had ever been, a pasty to fortify the spirit seemed to be in order.

The usual choices of meat+potato = goodness.

All of the choices also conveniently printed on your paper bag, in case you wish to return for seconds: what a great idea!

At first glance, exactly what one would expect. Firm crust; not too greasy; large and risen; crunchy to bite...

Unfortunately, it was all but hollow...

The pastry was thicker than expected: less like a puff pastry than one of those unfortunate pastry shells used to contain a filling when baking, and to be discarded before consumption. Possibly very authentic, but certainly not good for the stomach.

Yes, we had found the black hole of Calcutta...

Back to our main feature: Wimpy's! As a young lad, brought up on cartoons and comic books, I was enamoured by the manly adventures of Popeye, and his menagerie of friends: one of whom of course wisely said: "I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a burger today". Wise economics, indeed. I think, although might stand corrected, that Wimpy as a chain was named for the eponymous hamburger consumer.

Wimpy's is (or was) a chain of restaurants from the 70s, and indigenous to the UK. Boasting burgers, and their ilk, this was a sit down restaurant, not one of those self-service upstarts!

Alas, MacDonald's took over, and Wimpy restaurants are now rarely sighted in their natural habitat.

It seems that in the sleepy town of Torquay, where the average age of the local fauna is around 65, this bygone from a gentler age still exists... just...

Yes, the menu is incredibly extensive, with helpful photos in case one couldn't picture a chicken nugget, or bangers and mash.

When ordering at the counter, I was told that this is a sit down menu, and asked to well... sit down. Once seated, I was asked my order... I guess when in Rome, do as Romans do.

The general hygiene of the place was highly suspect, with the loos in serious disrepair and dangerous overfill - and lit by ultra violet lights; possibly to help clean the harder to find stains.

Our quarter-pounder equivalent firmly ensconced in a generic paper bag, we head off in search of the station.

Mmmmm greasealicious good. At least it's in a wholemeal bun, for that semblance of healthy eating.

That's not pus, it's cheese! (we think).

The flaccid, and somewhat old, chips are served in a generic styrofoam container used by the most (and least) reputable kebab shops and vans.

After chomping through a half of the burger, we hit the mother lode of onions, all huddling in one corner, ready to make a last stand.

All in all, not to be recommended; another cherished childhood memory bites the dust.

The best falafels we've ever had!

2009-02-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

Nameless little shack
Gloucester Green
Oxford

This nondescript little shack, with no branding and no fanfare, is almost always crowded with Middle Eastern customers.

Sandwiched between a shoe repair place and a dodgy fried chicken shack, we'd passed but never been adventurous to try it, until a friend gave it her highest recommendations.

Riffs on a theme: we were told to try their falafel - the best in town.

A tiny but immaculately clean cooking area within the shack. The metal container contains the chickpea mix, which is made into falafel shapes and deep fried to order. The proprietor told us that falafels simply don't age well, and that all these place serving days-old falafel were cheating their customers.

A range of shashlik kebabs were also offered via colour photographs, but everybody was ordering the falafel wraps.

Additional fillings: salad, pickled gherkins, pickled chillies, fried potato; as well as spinach and halloumi for other dishes that they serve.

Hummous, and the shashliks.

Our falafels are wrapped in turkish bread, dense and chewy but thin so that they aren't too heavy.

Doused with a little garlic mayo and chili sauce, this was actually heaven - even though it was vegetarian.

The falafel are tasty, with a distinct nutty flavour from the chickpeas. Not at all dry, the falafel itself would have been great with dips, but wrapped with a crisp salad of contrasting savoury, sharp and zingy flavours, this was a total winner.

The entire wrap had been toasted quickly in a panini press before serving, so that the flat bread had time to warm up and crisp slightly.

The damage: £2.80 for a falafel and hummous wrap, 20p more if you want some crispy potatoes. Better than any baguette you will find in town, and definitely the best falafel we've so far tasted.

New College Guest Night - revisited

2009-02-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

New College
Oxford

In our previous installment on Guest Night at New College, your reviewers panned the ability of Chef to construct a cohesive dish, and his total lack in common sense in sticking foie gras into lumpy mashed potato.

We return once more to sample what an Oxford college can provide.

A very pretty salmon starter appeared, capped with toast and paired with a baby leaf salad. Certainly an improvement upon last time, with the salmon tasting mild and creamy, balanced well by a herb dressing and a slight sharpness from the green leaves.

Mostly mild, the salad was comprised of fancy lettuces and baby spinach, but the occasional rocket leaf added some zing.

Curiously, the High Table was always served almost table-side, by a portable service unit. Did their mains get cold quicker than ours, necessitating this stainless steel display of culinary dexterity? Who knows. In our opinion, it just added clanking racket to the already bustling hall.

High Table, cloaked in darkness - could they see what they were eating?

Steak and mash - redux.

This time the mash was much creamier, although still slightly heavy. Served as an imperfect quenelles still indicated a rushed service. No real complaints, as Chef would need to plate almost 150 servings simultaneously - something few restaurants would wish to attempt.

The steak this time immediately caught our attention. Rather than the flaccid, grey splodge of the previous visit, this filet mignon was pert, caramalised, and crusted nicely with aromatic spices that at once suffused our senses in the most pleasant way.

Served atop sauteed cabbage and green beans with a simple jus, it was all done to the internal temperature to decide whether or not this meal would be sublime.

Look at that delicious spice crust. A mix of fennel, cumin and coriander seeds, the steak tasted faintly of anise mingled with the musk of cumin, which, usually served with lamb was a heady addition accentuating the meaty taste of the beef.

The vegetarian option was similar, replacing the steak with a crusted, stuffed, portabello mushroom.

Which was declared competent, but still just a mushroom, by our vegetarian friend H.

Yes! Finally, somebody left a bit of pinkness in my steak!

Absolutely brilliant - a medium to medium rare steak is certainly something I can sink my teeth into. Left to rest, the juices had redistributed. Combined with the flavours of the spices, this made for a wonderful morsel.

All washed down with a bottle of Bordeaux we had brought back from Paris.

And followed by a berry mousse topped with a tuille.

A wondered whether Chef was having a mushroom themed dinner, as the entree was also presented in this fashion. Who knows?

All in all, Chef at New has definitely redeemed himself in my books. Having just enjoyed some gorgeous steak in Paris, I could not say that this was the best steak I had eaten for a while, but it is certainly one of the best served to me in the UK - and we eat a lot of steak!

Paris - odds and ends

2009-02-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

An assortment of odds and ends from our trip to Paris.

The window display mentioned in our previous post.

Either chickens, or possibly guinea fowl on the left.

Quality burger! Having never tried this French burger chain, I absolutely had to, just for the experience.

Over 7 euro for a burger, fries and chips? This had better be damn good squishy.

These pseudo MacDonald's can be found all over Paris.

Back in our hotel room, the contents of our paper bag is quickly dispensed. Chips are crisp; good.

The burger has a little neck collar, like they have for dogs. Perhaps they too bite their stitches? The verdict: not awful, but not great. The bread is sweet and slightly brioche-like. The patty is fairly bland and generic, and the cheese is... processed cheese.

Pomme de Pain is a chain of baguette/sandwich eateries dotted around the place. I was told off for taking photos inside, but they mainly sell pastries, filled baguettes etc.

Crepe man on the Champ Elysee

Just before visiting the Musee d'Orsay, we stopped for a quick lunch. The restaurant/cafe/bar is located immediately behind the Musee itself.

Seated at the window, we overlooked the museum.

A's steak tartar was very nice, but unexpectedly was mainly flavoured with mustard. The texture and flavour of the meat was very nice, and the chips were crisp but slightly dry and bland, needing either more salt and/or less cooking

The steak was a little too cold for A's liking, and numbed her taste buds slightly. The seasoning was just right, and the mustard flavour didn't overwhelm. The beef was a good cut, and had been chopped, and not ground.

I made the unfortunate mistake of ordering roast chicken. France is famous for its treatment of roast chicken, and indeed on a previous visit to Paris I had the most amazing rotisserie chicken, which I'd hoped to revisit. A food critic once wrote that you should never order roast chicken in a restaurant that did not require prior booking, or at least a delay.

The less we say about this chicken, the better.

The damage: a carafe of house wine, and two mains came to €36. The service was extremely friendly - indeed we only had one incidence of the infamous Parisian waiter syndrome, but everybody else was friendly and helpful.

Honourable mention:

Outside the Jardin du Luxembourg we stopped for a cafe breakfast, and A had the most amazing cappuccino and croissant, and an even better freshly-squeezed orange juice.

My espresso was rich and the crema was, well, creamy!