The pleasure of pudding

I’ve moved back home to St Albans this week and finally got to eat at The Pudding Stop, which my parents have been raving about. I have a very sweet tooth and love desserts, so a restaurant dedicated to such is heaven to me. I started with a peanut butter milkshake, because I’m a sucker for anything containing peanut butter, and followed with sticky toffee pudding. It was to die for. A block of soft sweet sponge sitting in a shimmering pool of hot toffee sauce.

The only other time I’ve been to a specific pudding restaurant was a pop up pudding parlour at The Athenaeum hotel. The concept claimed to be all-you-can-eat but then set a limit at one visit to the buffet table with one relatively small plate. I took this as a challenge in how many puddings can be piled onto one plate and carried in my spare hand. The result was a mountain of treacle sponge, chocolate brownie, champagne jelly, crème brulee, macaroons, cake pops, stewed rhubarb, lemon meringue pie, chocolate truffles, cupcakes and more. Living the dream!

My favourite desserts have always been traditional English puddings, such as sticky toffee. I have fond memories of getting my hands stuck in to making crumble topping as a child and even of the giant cubes of chocolate sponge or spotted dick we got served at primary school. None of these puddings would be complete without lashings of custard. In fact I’d be happy enough with just a bowl of custard, hot or cold. The below photo is of apple crumble and custard at Mildred’s (Soho); the only reason I would revisit the vegetarian restaurant.

Another custard delight, which I have only recently discovered, is the floating island. My friend Laura had this dessert, an island of light fluffy meringue floating on a sea of crème anglaise, on our trip to Paris. I had rice pudding at the time (another favourite) but finally tried floating island back in England at Brasserie Blanc.

              

The more desserts I think of, the more favourites I seem to have. Recently I have had a couple of exquisite fruit pies. Unfortunately they were served with ice cream instead of custard but you can’t win them all. Hix (Soho) served up a beautifully presented blueberry pie, while Chicken Shop/Dirty Burger (Whitechapel) brought a huge apple pie to the table and slapped a quarter of it on my plate. Both were delicious, with sweet fruit filling encased in soft buttery pastry.     

I think the reason those are all my favourites is that they are substantial and comforting. I’m not such a fan of a fancy pudding (though I am unlikely to turn down any dessert). They might be great to look at but are over too soon and more style than substance. The below treat from the Queen’s Park farmers market intrigued me with it’s pipette of berry sauce, but was rather disappointing to eat.

I can be as much as a chocaholic as the next woman but I tend not to pick chocolatey desserts. I prefer sweet puddings to rich ones, which is what the chocolate ones usually end up being. If I were to go with the chocolate option, a melt-in-the-middle fondant would be top of the list, or a mousse, but I find brownies can vary too much. Ideally the menu would have all bases covered in one dish, such as the chocolate dessert selection below.

Ice cream sits at the bottom of my dessert preferences. In a restaurant I am more likely to have no dessert than eat ice cream, unless peanut butter flavour is available of course. I do enjoy the odd soft serve with a flake in the summer and occasionally indulge in a tub of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough, but I can honestly take it or leave it.

As I am often trying to lose weight and have become healthier over the years, I do have to resist dessert more often than not nowadays or choose more wisely. I was pleasantly surprised recently at Le Pain Quotidien, with the guilt-free desserts on offer on their menu. It meant I could enjoy a chia seed pudding without feeling like I was breaking the diet. However, I will never be able to give up sugar or cut out desserts completely, as life just wouldn’t be worth living!

Raise the steaks

I didn’t actually like steak when I was younger. I was fussy about meat if it didn’t ‘look right’ so I would avoid anything near a bone, too fatty, the wrong colour etc and I would certainly not eat a steak if I could see pink or heaven forbid actual blood. Therefore, on the rare occasions I ate it, I would have it well done and consequently I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. I was missing the point of a good steak. That all changed a couple of years ago when my boyfriend at the time introduced me to Gaucho. I had a lesson in meat and ate my fillet medium, what a revelation! Now I’ve done a complete 180 and love nothing more than a juicy rare bloody steak. I became a total carnivore. I cook them at home quite a lot now; it always has to be good quality steak and cooked for 2-3 minutes each side on my Le Crousset griddle pan. Here’s one I devoured last night.

I admit that now when I eat steak out, I am a restaurant snob about it. My favourite steak restaurant is Hawksmoor; I’ve been to the Covent Garden branch twice. I like the dark wood and leather decor, it’s how I feel a steakhouse should look. The steaks were cooked to the perfection, once a juicy fat fillet and the other time a meaty 950g bone-in prime rib that I shared with my delighted dad. We are also big fans of the bone marrow starter, the soft meat sweetened by onion, and the peanut butter shortbread is to die for.

As mentioned earlier, my first memorable steak experience was at Gaucho. My first visit was to the Chancery Lane branch and it’s pretty much only the steaks that stick in my mind. As it was my introduction to good steak, I went through the full lesson where the waitress brought out a board of raw meat to show off the cuts and explain how they should be cooked. I also had a red wine tasting session but I’m afraid I still can’t take to it. More recently I went to the Piccadilly branch with work. At that visit I had a 300g bife de lomo, a fillet, which is my favourite cut of steak. Again, the meat was beautiful in texture and flavour. To start I enjoyed succulent king prawns with soft black pudding and orange segments, after warm cheesy bread rolls, and to finish one of my favourite desserts, a classic sticky toffee pudding.

For my latest birthday I tried out Goodmans, off Regent Street. This was another family outing, so following the tradition set at Hawksmoor, I shared a huge steak with my dad. This time it was an 850g chateaubriand which melted in the mouth and had a delicious crisp salty exterior. We all enjoyed our big starters, my rich sweet foie gras, mum’s thick cut smoked salmon and dad and Martin’s herring served Russian style ie with a shot of vodka! The truffle chips were the best I’ve ever had and I’m not a fan of chips so they have to be special to impress me and these certainly were, fluffy and light in the middle but crisp on the outside. My dessert was fairly average but the candle and birthday message were a nice touch.

Another great steakhouse is JW Steakhouse in Mayfair, where I have been twice. While I stuck to my usual fillet, the boys attempted a caveman style kilo Tomahawk steak each. Their desserts are of equally impressive size; the cheesecake wasn’t a slice, it was a whole cheesecake, and the peanut butter mousse was a huge slab. JW serve one of my favourite sides, bourbon sweet potato mash topped with marshmallow, for those with a sweet tooth.

At the bottom of my London steakhouse ratings is STK. There was nothing wrong with the steaks, they match up to the high standards of the above, but the restaurant is not my cup of tea, not to mention the horrendous service. STK is a steakhouse for girls; from the blinged up decor of sparkly silver and mirrors, to the menu of small sashimi plates and a fairground wheel dessert. I ordered the latter in great excitement then realised it’s just a combination of tacky sweets you could buy at the funfair for a couple of quid.

Apologies for the cheesy title of this post, but a steak pun is a rare medium well done.

Cocina Española

Yesterday I met my friend Beccy for breakfast at Nama raw vegan foods restaurant in Notting Hill, to try something different. I had the ‘porridge,’ a mix of fresh mature coconut, dates, almonds, apples, vanilla and spices, topped with cocoa nibs, hemp seeds and blueberries, and served with coconut milk. Beccy had the savoury crepe, filled with marinated mushrooms, tomato relish, greens, caramelised onions, fennel and cashew cheese. The food was beautifully presented and tasted delicious and super healthy.

After a mooch around the London West Bank Gallery and local shops, we started to feel hungry again and were tempted into El Pirata Detapas, by their lunch deal of two tapas, bread and wine for a tenner each. I was concerned at first, thinking the restaurant was another branch of El Pirata of Mayfair, where I had an awful dining experience. We were there for a work Christmas party, so the tapas were bog standard and mass catered, and my salad starter came with some extra protein in the form of a bug. Luckily, this restaurant is not related, but is one of Gordon Ramsay’s favourite Spanish restaurants in the country. We shared mushroom croquettes, fried aubergine with honey, mackerel with a cheese sauce and roasted figs with cheese foam. The food was great but far too rich for my tastes now.

I cooked my own Spanish food earlier in the week, a seafood paella. I make this dish quite a lot using the simple recipe on the back of the paella rice packet. I vary the ingredients, almost always adding seafood and vegetables, often chicken and occasionally chorizo.

On the same night, my brother moved home from Madrid, where he had been living for the past 18 months. Before he lived there I had only visited Spain for cheap beach holidays and didn’t have a great opinion of the country, but since he’s been there I have been to Madrid three times, as well as Barcelona and Granada. I now have a much greater appreciation of Spain and would really like to see more of the country, particularly Valencia and Seville. The below photo is of my family in Granada, taken at Las Tomasas restaurant overlooking The Alhambra, which provided better views than food.

I don’t eat Spanish food a lot back home, but occasionally ate at average chain restaurant La Tasca or my preferred choice of Pix, a pintxos bar. I prefer to eat full meals than pick at food, so I don’t favour tapas, but visiting Spain opened my eyes to more authentic Spanish eating. On my first visit to Madrid I discovered that in most bars drinks are served with a tapa, a snack to enjoy with the drink. Larger portions of tapas are known as racions.

My favourites are tortilla, chorizo and garlic mushrooms. My main problem in Spain is that everything is served with bread, often even a tortilla is wedged inside a roll. There is also usually a lack of vegetables with main dishes or on tapas menus, though one traditional restaurant in Madrid, La Sanabresa, offered a wide range of vegetable dishes, though most were extremely garlicky, another key Spanish ingredient. That restaurant offered a ‘menu del dia’ which can often be found in restaurants in Spanish cities. These menus offer great value meals, usually three courses with bread and wine for less than €10. I do enjoy Spanish desserts, particularly crema Catalana and flan, but I never enjoy churros as much as expected and almost break my teeth when I try turron!

A special experience in Madrid was our visit to Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world (according to the Guinness World Records). The kitchen has rows of suckling pigs lined up on show, which are then roasted and served, head and all. This follows a starter of garlic soup and ice cream is served to finish. The restaurant has a great atmosphere and you can have a look around the old wine cellars too.

Following my enjoyment of Madrid, I went on a girls’ holiday to Barcelona. I discovered more types of Spanish culinary delights. As well as trying more common tapas style restaurants, we had two meals at Bilbao Berria, which offered pintxos style eating. A range of individual tapas are laid out on the counter and you can choose as many as you want, then pay per item at the end. One drawback is that again bread is a common theme, however it stops you having to decide what to share between the group if there are fussy eaters. The first Bilbao Berria branch outside of Spain has now been opened in London (Lower Regent Street) by Masterchef The Professionals winner Ash Mair. My favourite meal in Barcelona was at traditional restaurant Cal Boter, which served delicious Catalan food, juicy meats and creamy desserts, in a lovely local setting away form the hustle and bustle of the city centre. We also enjoyed our fair share of sangria. Although I’m not a fan of red wine, I am partial to sangria or a glass of tinto de verrano (essentially a red wine spritzer).

My most recent visit to Spain was a family holiday, collecting my brother from Madrid and going on to Granada, a beautiful city. Our first meal, at Seis Peniques, was probably my worst restaurant experience ever, with bland soup, gristly paella, tough meat and limp chips served by an extremely rude waiter. The fresh seafood at Noray and authentic racions at Ocana were much more enjoyable. However, the highlight was our exquisite meal at Carmen de San Miguel. A delightful walk through the back streets brought us to the restaurant with beautiful views over the city and Sierra Nevada. The tapas sounded amazing and lived up to our expectations. There was the surprising pairing of rabbit with lemon sorbet, fresh thinly sliced octopus carpaccio, creamy goats cheese with sweet marmalade and a modern twist on the traditional eggs, potato and chorizo dish.

Back in Madrid I had my first try of Senegalese food, a huge plate of tender lamb and vegetables, with sauce and rice for only €6 for two. Of course, there was more than just Spanish food on offer in all the cities, with great Italian food at A Gianni in Barcelona, Arabic meze packed with flavour at Shukran Casa Arabe and awesome burgers at Mad Café, both in Madrid. There were also delightful cakes on offer at cafes Mar de Cava in Barcelona and Los Porfiados in Madrid. I hope to do a road trip around Spain one day and take in more of the culture, sceneries and food that the country has to offer.

Afternoon tea by the sea

I spent the weekend at my friend Kirsty’s amazing hen party down in Bournemouth. It was a weekend of excess as you would expect, with tartiflette, chocolate fondue, pancakes, BBQ and of course lots of booze. We spent Saturday afternoon on the beach and enjoyed a traditional afternoon tea. Everything was homemade, with sandwiches rustled together in the morning, top class scones baked by the mother-of-the-bride and a wonderful selection of cakes and other treats made by a few of the hens. We did burn it all off afterwards, playing several games involving inflatable willies and an epic three-legged race.

I also had a lovely afternoon tea at another hen party recently, for my friend Nicky. We’d already had lunch so it was just scones and cupcakes, but they were incredible. They had been made by the owner of our guest house, Rigsby’s in Hertford, who had quite rightly won TV’s ‘Four in a Bed’.

Afternoon tea food is not actually what I would consider to be my cup of tea (excuse the pun). It’s a bit of a carb overload, I don’t like most sandwiches and I’m not actually a huge fan of cakes, despite my sweet tooth. However, in reality how could someone not like afternoon tea?! I do like to indulge from time to time, usually out at a restaurant or hotel, but sometimes homemade. For my friend Laura’s hen party (a common link between hens and afternoon tea it seems) we created an epic spread, where everything was homemade by the bridesmaids. At other times, such as a surprise birthday below, we’ve settled for making sarnies and buying cakes from the bakers.

My favourite place for a spot of afternoon tea is speakeasy style bar Volupte, for the delightfully named Afternoon Tease (aka Tea and Tassles) because the tea comes with a side of burlesque and cabaret. I’ve been to Volupte a few times now, for the tea or just evening drinks, and while it’s not everyone’s idea of fun, I really enjoy the shows there. Plus they have the Bon Bon Bar with sweetie inspired cocktails to satisfy both the grown up and child in me.

 

The best place I’ve had more traditional afternoon tea is higher class Fortnum and Mason. There are some important factors when it comes to rating afternoon tea, the main one being unlimited refills, and also an interesting variety of cakes and sweets. Brown’s hotel, where I visited with the same group of friends, also had a pleasant tea and the sweets included such delights as this tiny apple mousse.

For something a bit different I tried a chocolate afternoon tea at Flemings Hotel. The scones were chocolate chip and the cakes all based around chocolate, plus there were churros with hot chocolate sauce, even the tea was chocolate flavoured though luckily the sandwiches weren’t! I actually found it all too sickly; I like chocolate as much as the next person but this was definitely death by chocolate.

Somewhat lacking in the cake department was afternoon tea at the Intercontinental Westminster, which only provided a few cakes between a large group of us and didn’t top these up, so you didn’t get to try them all and it was only a sliver. The harpist playing in the background added to the atmosphere though. The Atheneum was also slightly disappointing, the main annoyance being shown the sandwich and cake options and having to pick, rather than just being left a plate of everything to enjoy. (Reading this back I sound like a right greedy pig!)

I will have to consult my friend Laura for where to go next, as she is a real afternoon tea aficionado. I do want to try Sketch, as theirs looks more interesting than usual, though I wasn’t impressed by my visit there for cocktails, except for the unbelievable space age toilets (I wasn’t in the men’s, the pods are mixed).

The great London burger showdown

For dinner tonight I had a BBC Good Food South East Asian twist on a classic burger and chips, a Thai turkey burger, sweet potato wedges and pineapple salsa (mine is served naked with salad).

It’s a tasty simple meal but doesn’t compare to the satisfaction of a proper burger. The best burger I’ve had recently was actually in Colombia, and I’ve had some great ones in the States (photo below is from Bill’s Burger and Bar in New York, great burger and awesome toasted marshmallow shake), but let’s focus on London and the many fantastic burgers on offer. I’m by no means a burger connoisseur so this is no definitive ranking of the best burger in London, but it’s my top choices.

Meat Liquor – This place has constant long queues but I went on the hottest day of the year while everyone was sunning themselves in the park, so walked straight in. I hated the restaurant decor and atmosphere; it’s dark, loud and more suited to a night out, hence the liquor part of the name I guess. The service was poor as well BUT this was the best burger I’ve had in London. Not a huge patty, but juicy and full of flavour. Also had some interesting starters and sides, particularly the deep fried pickles with blue cheese dressing which I did not expect to enjoy in the slightest (given that I dislike pickles and blue cheese) but I ended up wanting more.

Five Guys – I’m not sure this gets a fair ranking as I was pretty intoxicated at the time thanks to happy hour at the nearby Covent Garden Cocktail Club (great little place), so I devoured this burger like it was my last meal on Earth. You do have to queue here too but there are free peanuts while you wait, an excellent idea. This is no gourmet burger, more on the fast food side, but nevertheless it’s a good one. The standard is a double, so you get two tasty patties, which are great with all the toppings they pile on (various sauces, fried onions etc) though that meant it got a bit messy and a lot of it ended up down my front. I tried the Cajun fries but they were a bit too spicy.

Patty & Bun – P&B had been massively hyped up by my friends so I had high expectations which inevitably means I will get some level of disappointment, especially after queuing for 45 minutes on the street for the privilege. However, I think I am being unfair in my judgement here. The burger, the simple Ari-Gold, was still delicious, just not the best burger I’d ever had and that is what I had hoped for. The toppings (cheese, salad, pickled onions and special mayo) seemed to take over from the burger, as it was only a small patty but the soft brioche bun won extra points. Sides were standard fries and they do peanut butter choc ices for dessert, can’t go wrong there really. The restaurant was a bit small and cramped but played good old school music.

Byron – You can always trust Byron to deliver, which is why I’ve had eaten there more times than I can remember. What Byron offers in a burger that most other burger joints don’t, is size. Their burgers are big solid meaty burgers but don’t compromise on the important flavour and texture. They also have something different to offer on the side. I’m not a big fan of regular fries so I like other options and here you can get mac n cheese or courgette fries, though recently I have favoured the Caesar salad. I’ve tried a few different Byron locations and like how they are designed around the local area, more fancy on Haymarket, stripped back trendy in Soho and modern minimalist in Westfield.

Honest Burger – I went to Honest Burger in Brixton Village, where I used to live. The Village, a covered market place, really grew in size and popularity during my time in the area and has so many great places to eat. Honest had been recommended by Jay Raynor in his Observer column and coincidentally he popped in while I was there. There was a short wait but we were kept nourished with fantastic rosemary fries in the queue. The burger was on the Byron end of the scale, a solid honest burger.

Shake Shack – SS had been on my list since it opened its London branch, more for the shakes as I hadn’t heard great things about the burgers, but I was put off by the queues. My long-awaited visit ended up being in the last place I’d have expected to see one, Istanbul. The experience was exactly as expected. A small McDonalds style burger at four times the price, nothing to shout about, but the crinkle cut chips weren’t bad. The frozen custard (not a label I appreciate as I absolutely love custard but this is just standard ice cream) was really good though, and there was a fine line between the shake and the concrete, as even the shake was thick enough to require a spoon. They must have seen me coming, as the daily special was peanut butter, marshmallows and banana.

BRGR – This was a backup option, as the queues were bigger in all the burger places I wanted to go to that day. The burger was clearly nothing memorable, as I had to consult my Trip Advisor review to remember anything about it and it got a distinctly average three stars. However, the menu does offer a burger variation on afternoon tea, which sounds like a brilliant idea to me, so they may well get a second visit.

Tinseltown – aka Tinselghetto, a student diner which is incredibly noisy and tacky. The burgers are nothing special but they do amazing shakes in flavours you wouldn’t dream of, including several peanut butter varieties.

Still to try…I would like to go back to Burger & Lobster to sample their burger. I’ve been before and chose the good value lobster (shown below) over the over-priced burger (they are the same price), but next time I would go half and half. I’m also sad I’ve missed out on the Lucky Chip Breaking Bad days and hope they have another in future, for the chance to try the Jesse Pinkman burger with PB&J and bacon. I still can’t decide if this is disgusting or genius!

The brilliance of brunch

Today I was planning to have brunch at the Waffle House in St Albans, one of my favourite restaurants growing up and it still is to this day. A unique experience, sitting in an old water mill, or outside by the stream, with a menu full of waffles. Regulars include savoury ham, mushroom and cheese sauce, or sweet banoffi. There are daily specials too and they do gorgeous milkshakes. Unfortunately, due to bad time planning, brunch ended up being an incredibly bad bacon bap eaten whilst running across the park trying to spot my dad walking the St Albans half marathon.

Usually, brunch is the perfect meal, as it encompasses two other meals and therefore you are entitled to eat twice as much, which is usually necessary as I inevitably have the sweet vs savoury dilemma and they both win. Such as at Kopapa (Soho), shown below, where I wanted to try the avocado and goats cheese on toast for something a bit different, but I just couldn’t resist my beloved porridge, especially as it was made with chocolate and topped with figs and hazelnuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with brunch is that I can get a bit bored with the typical options. Don’t get me wrong I love eggs and a decent fry up, but I can make them at home very easily, so when I’m out I like to see something unusual on the menu. That’s why I adore the brunch at Dishoom (Covent Garden). A soft bacon naan roll, complete with cream cheese and chilli jam, with a thick breakfast lassi of banana, mango, yoghurt and oats, finished off with the perfect Indian cuppa – a cup of comforting sweet spicy Chai.

Another favourite brunch of mine is the chorizo hash topped with poached eggs, which I’ve had varieties of at The Riding House Café (near Oxford Street) and Giant Robot (Clerkenwell, shown below). Riding House is one of my favourite brunch spots, I like the atmosphere and décor, plus they do an awesome PB&J smoothie (if a restaurant serves anything with peanut butter it gets extra brownie points from me). I didn’t actually have the Giant Robot hash for brunch as it was part of an all day menu but it did deserve an honourable mention in this category. They also do a cracking burger apparently.

An old favourite, that has unfortunately gone downhill recently in the service stakes, is The Modern Pantry (Clerkenwell). The restaurant has a nice modern setting and good range of savoury and sweet brunches. My favourite combination would be eggs with mushrooms and halloumi, followed by ricotta pancakes (not too much, contrary to the waitress’s beliefs). If you’re still not satisfied after those two courses, there’s a Tinseltown, aka Tinselghetto, diner just across the street where you can get nachos and a huge variety of exciting flavoured milkshakes (cherry bakewell was my personal choice). Yes we actually ate that much once.

For twists on classic breakfast dishes, I have enjoyed NOPI (Soho, pictured above) and M1LK (Balham, pictured below). NOPI is a lovely laid back communal dining area complete with open larder and bizarrely blinged up toilets. I sampled some pastries before enjoying a good old sausage sarnie but with fresh tomato relish and a fried egg with perfectly runny yolk. M1LK had more of a quick turnaround but served up the superbly named ‘Convict’, essentially a fry up served inside an English muffin. Perfection.

Next up…I would love to go for brunch (and everything else) at Duck and Waffle, but I don’t know where I would even begin to decide between the dishes: duck egg en cocette with mushrooms, gruyere, truffle and soldiers; Colombian eggs with grilled chorizo; or ox cheek benedict to name a few. That would definitely have to be a two courser, ‘Full Elvis’ Belgian waffle with PBJ, bananas brulee, Chantilly cream and all the trimmings anyone?!