Coming up

Since my blogging is sporadic at best, I thought I’d add a list of upcoming posts for any interested readers.

Fondue at St. Moritz

Wine Tasting in Napa

Lunchtime sushi

bad blogger and San Francisco Eats

So.. I am a very bad blogger and haven’t updated in about a year! No excuse really, other than blogging apathy and I haven’t really eaten anywhere that spectacular. We did visit San Francisco for a holiday and food is one of my favourite things to do in the States. But, this trip was a little wake up call for me. By the end of it I just couldn’t ’stomach’ the excesses of food on offer, the huge portions and the shameful amounts of food we left behind. Driving down the streets past endless Jack in the Boxs, Mc Donald’s and Denny’s really grossed me out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming the companies, it’s supply and demand!

We even went into this ‘all you can eat’ place by accident and I thought, wow, is this really necessary. Greasy food, epic portions and the over abundance of fried, cheesed and hot fries on food just really turned me off American food. I was glad to get back to London and the less complicated, Europeanish style food here. Wraps and salads have never been more appealing. We also had some dodgy sushi that I am still queasy over.

However, while in San Francisco we did indulge in some of the local ‘delicacies’. It can really be said that I have a fondness for novelty foods, I don’t know why but they always seem more interesting and delicious than regular foods. Hence my delight at sushi and fondue. Novelty was thus the reason for these two beauts!

This was the Shrimpers Heaven at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf.  4 kinds of shrimp in these awesome holders! I think I can hear everyone in the food blogging community collectively groan at that. Come on, I had to try it - it would have been criminal not to. But man, it was horrible and filling. You ask how can I complain about American food when I order stuff like this, I agree, it really is my own fault.  C got a stuffed crab, shrimp cheese thing that came with and fries and a side salad. We were so full and we left most of it behind. The server asked did we want a box for it, I was like, dude I may never eat again and I definitely don’t want to eat that again. He was like, okay how about dessert?

This was clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, again in Fisherman’s Wharf, really THE place for novelty foods. It was actually quite good, not the best chowder ever, but tasty enough. The restaurant specialises in their sourdough bread and it was sour. We often get sourdough baguettes over here, but I didn’t realise they were actually meant to taste like that. Because they don’t, at all. So I was a bit taken aback by the sourness of the bread and it wasn’t really to my liking at all.

So the verdict on San Francisco was that the food wasn’t at all amazing and I am definitely not judging it on these places, but on all the meals we had there. Overall, not an amazing selection or excellent quality. We didn’t find that many different places to try, though C did have an interesting yoghurt dip thing in the Mission.  Perhaps I am too biased by European food. Thoughts?

breakfast of champions

I’ve mentioned before how much I love breakfast, though not necessarily at breakfast time, more noonish! We recently discovered an incredible breakfast place, recommended by our flatmate, called Joes Kitchen (no apostrophe). We went there on the tip that they did Toast Soldiers, for anyone who doesn’t know what a toast soldier is - you are friggin dead inside and had no childhood! Toast soldiers are an amazing feat of food engineering and will forever be the nostalgic food of the gods for me. We had initially thought Joes would be a caf (re: caf= cafe = skeezy place where builders and workers eat greasy fry ups and drink mugs of paint stripping tea on plastic chairs and Formica tables) because most of the breakfast places around Borough High Street are cafs. But, I thought, anything for a toast soldier!

However, Joes isn’t a caf, it’s a really trendy type wooden tables and chairs, Saturday brunch with your mates kind of place. Serves Mimosas and Coronas, alongside your breakfast. Very young, Jamie Oliver esque.

Joes Cafe Breakfast + beans. What’s an English breakfast without beans I ask you? The thing about Joes is that unlike a caf, it is all high quality delicious breads and meats, not greasy and cheapish. Also they have the God of all breakfast foods for me, American pancakes with Maple Syrup. Drool-tastic!

The infamous Toast Soldiers, made with batch loaf bread, thick and buttery. It was undoubtedly a cardiac inducing meal, but we didn’t care.

Verdict: the food was amazing, the toast soldiers sublime! The staff were a tad disgruntled and appeared none too pleased to be working as waitresses, but hey that pretty much sums up all the trendy, young, dreadlocked wearing staff of these types of places. I want to say to them, folks..we all had dreams that have been cruelly crushed by the real world… but get over it! The cost: only about £21 which included mango and strawberry smoothies. Tip was extra, not that they bloody deserved it mind you..

We will definitely be going back, possibly today.

food porn!

White Chocolate Gateaux

White Chocolate Cream Profiteroles

A happy meal?

People say food doesn’t cure what ails you, but you know what…they are so wrong. Sometimes food is the answer and today it definitely was. After a gruelling session at the dentist, I was feeling disturbingly low and also hungry. After contemplating sushi takeout, sandwiches etc, I spotted the food Mecca of the civilised world… Mc Donald’s. First, can I preface that I never go to Mc Donald’s, sometimes on a long drive to Sligo we would stop off there at the halfway point, but normally never! So I went in (on my own, another rarity) and ordered a Happy Meal, as ordering an adult meal is very un-me! And you know what, I DID feel happy after it, more relaxed and less low. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the food, jovial atmosphere or perhaps just plain trans fats… Whatever, it truly was a happy meal!

How do you eat yours?

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/04/quirks_at_table.html

Am really loving this article as I can definitely be accused of a bit of food quirkiness. I am a dipper; mostly everything I eat must be dipped in something. I have to have some kind of mayo, ketchup, sauce or condiment on the side of the plate. I cannot abide dry food and at the same time hate overly wet food. I also never use a knife to eat and always use my fork to cut food. A totally primitive habit, I know! C always saves his favourite bits till last and on a few occasions I have inadvertently plucked the last morsel off his place, to see his face fall. I ask, mouth full ‘oh were you saving this?’

making the most of it

I have started to suspect recently that I may have a food allergy, surely the worst fear of any food blogger. I was told before that I am allergic to gluten, wheat and should only have dairy once a week. As a vegetarian and self confessed food glutton, I cannot imagine a world in which I couldn’t eat cheese, breads, cakes, cookies… Apparently 1 in 100 people in the Uk are gluten intolerant, this is not a group I want to be a part of.

As much as my first instinct is to run away and eat a cream cake, I have decided to go and get checked out. I tried to go off these foods before and lasted a day…a miserable day in which I was starving. Fruit, people, does not fill you up. I’m not sure how I am going to manage not eating all the foods I love. Till then I am going to make the most of gluten and dairy…

Korean barbecue

Last Friday night we headed for Arirang on Poland Street, which advertises itself as a Korean Barbecue. We hadn’t really gone in for the barbecue, but the waitress said we would have to sit downstairs otherwise as the barbecues are built into the table top. In the effort to be adventurous, we went for a seafood barbecue concoction.

Firstly they delivered some pickled veg, which C refused to eat as it was cold, he hates cucumbers and anything spicy. Out of a sense of politeness I forced down some pickled cucumber, chilli lettuce and slimy beansprouts, but I’m not going to lie to you, it was gross!

After the waitress lit the gas barbecue, she brought the plate of raw seafood, rice must be ordered separately, but you do get some miso soup. The barbecue experience was a bit strange, as the waitress stood silently at the table, grilling and putting the pieces of prawn, squid and mussels into our bowls. It was a bit weird to have someone wait on you so quietly.

As we are noted gluttons, we also ordered sushi…which was actually needed, as the barbecue was far from filling.

The barbecue was really delicious. I love seafood and this was really well cooked, the only downside is unlike a full meal, you are only getting little bits at a time. Also eating in front of the omni present waitress was a little bit uncomfortable.

The best part of the meal had to be the two drunken, city types sitting next to us. Totally intoxicated, they ordered a lot of random stuff, telling the staff to just bring enough for two. This was clearly a dubious decision, as when it arrived it looked like more of the pickled veg variety.  I nearly choked on my food, when the drunker one said to the other ‘look at you tucking into this shit already’. We had to take a picture of them as they were so entertaining. So drunk, they were just shovelling the food in.

The verdict on Arirang was that it was a great experience, but I don’t think I’d go back. The staff were lovely and they even give you orange slices and melon at the end of the meal, but it was too gimmicky for me.

blog lethargy

Recently I have been suffering a bit of blog lethargy, while I had places to write about, I just could not summon up the energy, or even photograph things I’ve eaten. I’ve read about this kind of writer’s block on other blogs so it is nice to know I’m not the only lazy one. We have moved into a really nice new flat in Borough, near London Bridge, so I have been a bit complacent and too relaxed to write. The good side of the move is that I will be blogging about different places, like the Borough market, Bermondsey Street and surrounding areas. Bye bye Camden, hello South London!

Camden

Borough Snow

Comfort Eating

Afternoon Tea.

Eh a burger? Can’t remember what it was called, as I didn’t eat it.

This Easter weekend has truly been a pisser, not only could we not afford to go home to the bosom of our families, but we thought we had found a really gorgeous apartment to live in and it fell apart. Since we assumed that this place would work out, we didn’t look at any other places and now face the prospect of imminent homelessness. Sh*t! As you can tell I am very annoyed and frustrated and even the mass quantities of chocolate eggs I’ve eaten, have done little to calm me.

The two pictures above are of a lovely lunch we had in the John Lewis brasserie on Saturday, when we still had hope of a beautiful apartment to think of. The brasserie decor isn’t much to write home about, but our waiter could not have been more pleasant and helpful. The afternoon tea was exquisite, fantastic little cheese and onion, and prawn and salmon sandwiches, incredible mini scones and the tastiest cream I have ever had. The verdict: Needless to say I will be back at John Lewis for more of those scones, the tea pot was a bit small though. The cost: about £24 and surprisingly they didn’t include service charge. After paying for some really crappy service recently, it was a pleasure to be able to add it ourselves for so lovely a waiter.

This is a shot of the view from our table, really funky fittings and all those escalators made for excellent people watching.