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Archive for the ‘Restaurants’ Category

Thai on Wye

13 Aug
Beef salad

Yam Nua. Beef salad.

The Gannets have frequently visited the lovely town of Hereford and environs over the last few years, but this plucky city has been eclipsed by its neighbours where food is concerned–at least if the chaotic consensus of internet fora can be believed. Poor Hereford, so close to Ludlow and Abergavenny and so far away from fine dining! It is within this context that we were very pleasantly surprised by Thai on Wye on West Street, right in the centre of town. We had just finished a hard day at work and were looking forward to a good meal. In the spirit of keeping our options open, we decided to give all the restaurants on our short list a once-over, but we were especially intrigued by the reviews the two Thai restaurants in the town centre had received on the various review sites. It was still a coin toss from the look of the menus, but we opted for Thai on Wye after I noticed there were actual Thai people eating there who did not appear to be staff or the staff’s family members.

As we were sitting down, we received a warm welcome by the only server in the restaurant that evening. She proved to be very much “on the ball” and made sure we had everything we needed the whole evening. Her friendliness and attentiveness, along with the top quality of the food at Thai on Wye were the main reasons we returned there for another meal two nights later and why we can recommend them without reservation. This is simply the best Thai food we have had in the UK. Yay Hereford!

Ped Makham. Crispy duck with tamarind sauce and cashews.

There are many choices on the menu, which could use a bit of re-organisation, perhaps by grouping the dishes together according to course and style rather than by main ingredient (usually meat). In fact, the menu started off with the best method, but got a little lost. We feel most people order according to style, and it has the knock-on benefit of keeping vegetarians out of the “veg ghetto” located at the end of the menu. Nonetheless, we spotted a few favourites and proceeded to order far too much–we are Gannets, after all.

The tom yum goong sour and spicy prawn soup was excellent–this deceptively simple dish is usually our litmus test for Thai restaurants. The yam nua beef salad was slightly less piquant and just as delicious. The see krong moo op, or spare ribs in sauce were succulent, with the meat so tender it nearly fell off the bone.

Seabass

Pla Manow. Filet of seabass with lemon juice and chiles.

Our server asked us how spicy we would like each dish; spicy was spicy.

Our mains were a comforting yellow curry with chicken, ped makham crispy duck (which the menu recommends), and beef mussaman (mad sa man), which was wonderful and would have been just as good with some local lamb. All of the flavours were distinct and the freshness of the ingredients really came through.

The star of the show turned out to be the crispy duck. It had a lovely tamarind sauce, with the right balance of sweetness to off-set the sourness of the tamarind. It was so good, we ordered it the second night as well, along with a dish our server recommended–pla manow sea bass in a sweet sauce made with lemon juice and chiles.

The Gannets will be in Monmouth soon, which isn’t far away from Hereford at all. Thai on Wye should be expecting us for a third round, this time with reinforcements!

Thai on Wye
15 West Street
Hereford HR4 0BX
namkiing@hotmail.co.uk
Telephone +44 1432 376769

 
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Caviar lunch at BBR.

08 Aug

Caviar lunch at BBR., originally uploaded by Savage Pink.

None of my photos came out very well, whether that was due to the ambient light, or the shakes from my espresso martinis, who can say?

This was The Gannet’s first visit to Bob Bob Ricard, much lauded by fellow dine-out-aholics J&T. Decor-wise, it’s right up our strasse. A deco-licious collison of a classic American diner and the Orient Express, BBR is a lush room full of shiny dark turquoise and brass booths. The utterly delightful waiting staff are dressed in pale pink livery which beautifully compliments their surroundings. Sit down in the generous booth and just try to resist the service bell labelled “Press for champagne”.

The food is a marriage of classic comfort food (roasts, posh hamburgers, soups, macaroni cheese) and a thick Russian influence (herring, beetroot and caviar everywhere).

 
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Posted in Food and Drink, London, Restaurants

 

The Blue Legume

26 May

I have long ago forgiven them for their silly pun of a name, and The Blue Legume is often the first thing that comes into my hungry mind on a Saturday or Sunday morning, particularly if a hangover is involved.  I'm a lucky soul, as it's only a short but beautiful stroll diagonally across Clissold Park to satisfy my Jones.

Catering heavily to vegetarians (and also vegans), the meat-eaters may be in the minority here, but I've never been with anyone who has lamented their lack of choice on the carnivore or pescatarian front.  20080524-_MG_0112-1My all-time favourite dish is the Eggs Benedict. Honestly – their Hollandaise sauce is the best I have ever tasted: light, fluffy, full of air and with a subtle but sublime tang. Perfectly poached eggs, and a generous slice of good-quality, medium thick ham combine to create the perfect dish.  I have as yet resisted the temptation to ask for double portion, but OH! how depressed do I get as I savour the last few bites?

My new remedy to the post-Benedict woe is to order the goats cheese salad as a second course.
20080524-_MG_0113-1

A lovely piece of mild goat's cheese, grilled on top of a thick slice of toasted baguette, and served on a mixed leave salad with a simple walnut dressing.  And plenty of walnuts, too.  It requires the vigorous application of knife and fork to properly attack the cheese/bread combo, so is not for the faint-hearted, or those who wish to appear as delicate flowers around the table.  But the softly melted cheese, the crispy and hearty bread, and the delightful nut-laced leaves are a treasure worth the effort required.

The one endearing quality of the Legume is their apparently compulsive desire to dress every dish with a chive garnish — as you can see from the photos above.  We briefly questioned the absence of chives in the chips (good but nothing to write home about), but quickly realised they were present in the aioli dip offered alongside.

I can recommend a short stumble next door to the Auld Shillelagh pub – a long and narrow Irish pub full of character and charming staff, and with an excellent pint of Guinness on tap.

The Blue Legume
101 Stoke Newington Church Street
London N16 0UD
T: 020 7923 1303
(no web site)

Gannet Rating:  8/10

PS: The origin of Eggs Benedict is well worth a read!  If you've had a great plate of EB somewhere, I'd love to hear about it!

 
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Posted in London, Restaurants

 

Banner’s Restaurant

26 May

Banners in Crouch End has long been a favourite place of The Gannet. We visit most often for a naughty lunch, as it's only a ten minute walk from the office.  On this occasion we were being particularly naughty as it was my birthday, so we had a long leisurely lunch.

The "downsides" of Banners, if they have them, are that it's very popular, so tends to be busy and noisy. It's particular popular with families with small children (whom they cater to with pots of crayons and paper, and a children's menu) so if shouty kids isn't your thing, you probably won't enjoy lunch here.  The atmosphere is laid back, the interior is modeled on a kind of rustic American restaurant vibe (lots of wood, old posters plastered to the walls, motorcycle and music memorabilia etc.  The service is friendly and informal, occasionally a bit hap-hazard, but I usually forgive them as the waitresses have all mostly been with the restaurant for years and they are all very warm and relaxed, even if you sometimes have to ask twice.

Food-wise, Banners has an extensive menu that is largely American (burgers, pancakes, soups and sandwiches), and Caribbean (fish, curries, rice & peas), with regular Asian and Mexican specials.  When banners veers off their set menu, they generally do so with varying degrees of success.  I once had a quesadilla there which was accompanied by home-made refried beans — made with kidney beans.  It's those sort of very rustic, home-made "adaptations" of ethnic dishes on which they tend to stumble.  However, other times they get it just right.

20080515-IMG_0045-1
Luckily for my birthday they got it just right with the special Blackened Cajun Salmon.  Often restaurants tend to over-spice "blackened" dishes – my feeling is that you don't need half an inch of spice coating to achieve the blackened effect, and too much dry spice tends to overpower the flavour of the meat or fish.  Banners served up a huge portion of salmon fillet, perfectly spiced and not overcooked either, and covered with a savory Cajun gravy.  The fish was accompanied by a hefty portion of delicious rice & peas (black beans) and a tasty salad.  Being The Gannet, we also had to have a side portion of fried plantain.

One of The Gannet's companions chose an all-day breakfast – what Banners call Hash Browns, two big deep fried potato cakes, fried eggs and bacon, plus maple syrup to drizzle over it should you wish (The Gannet wishes).  A side of extra sausages was naturally in order.  The other chose the jerk chicken burger, served with potato wedges and salad.  Silly boy didn't order any extra sides and felt underfed as a result. (Warning: this is not a problem at Banners, small portions that is!  Unless you're a true gannet, like us!)  Being in a celebratory mood, we rounded off the meal with Affogato Martinis.  I can't believe I didn't see these on the menu before.  Two of my favourite things in life are espresso martinis, and affogato di gelato (ice cream with hot espresso poured over it).  And yes — this wonderful drink combines all three!  Vodka, kahlua and hot coffee are blended and presented in a martini glass, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Delicious.  I nearly ordered a second, it was so good.

Banners is one of those tried and trusted places that Crouch Enders love so much.  It is starting to get a little frayed around the edges (and hasn't been redecorated since they opened over 10 years ago), and it's not always perfect, but it is a place I will visit again and again, because what they do well, they do so much better than most restaurants in the area.  I have never left there feeling like it wasn't money well spent.

Banners Restaurant
21 Park Road
Crouch End
London, N8 9TE
020 8348 2930
(no web site)

Gannet Rating:  7/10

 
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Chop’d

22 Apr

New chain offers a green & healthy option for lunch.

Chop'd is a relatively new fast food chain, with five branches in
London.  They are, apparently, "on a mercy mission to bring delicious
food into real working lives".  They serve breakfasts (porridge,
yogurt, muesli and fresh juices), soups, and salads.  Everything, they
say, is freshly assembled each morning in-store. Chop'd offers a choice of
pre-assembled salads – tuna nicoise, jerk chicken, superfoods (edamame
beans, avocado, beetroot, carrot, broccolis, spinach, seeds and
sprouts), parma ham & mozzarella, smoked mackerel, and the
particularly frightening (to me, at least) powerfoods (broccoli, green beans, carrot spaghetti, beetroot spaghetti, more seeds).

The more exciting option, however, is the "create your own salad"
challenge, where for £5 you can choose a base (leaves, pasta, rice
noodles, couscous, potato or any combination thereof) plus 3 "house"
ingredients (vegetables and fruit, plus the scary beetroot or carrot
spaghettis), add 1 "deli" ingredient (cheeses, fish, meat, avocado or
pine kernels), 1 "garnish" (fresh herbs and seeds) and a dressing (they
offer 14 choices, from the naughty blue cheese to the low fat miso or
no fat thai dressing).  You can add extra ingredients for 25p to £1.

Chop'd get green points for offering you an extra house ingredient
if you leave without a carrier bag for your salad, and also for
offering free water if you bring your own bottle (not sure if they just
fill it up at the tap though as we didn't have a bottle with us).  Also
the bins they provide in store allow customers to sort the waste for
later recycling.

Cimg0299_ed72_3
The staff were all friendly enough on arrival, though when it came to
serving us one staffer came to the counter and asked if we needed help,
and then turned around and admonished a co-worker for ignoring us,
walked off and made the co-worker serve us!  Said co-worker looked a
bit sour about that.  Apart from this they were all charming enough.

I went for leaves (which considered of iceberg, cos and/or romaine,
which was just started to get a tired edge to it — surprising
considering it was 11am), chickpeas, carrots, fresh peppers (I forgot
to claim my free fourth ingredient, and they didn't offer!), chicken
plus avocado (an extra £1), fresh basil, and sesame soy dressing.  We
sat in to eat.  The portions were certainly generous, all of the
ingredients bar the leaves were very fresh, and the dressing very
tasty.  I'd say good value in general, though I was not happy to have
paid an extra quid for some seriously under-ripe avocado.  I did manage
to spend £8 with my extras (which also included a brownie and sparkling
mineral water).  The brownie was good and moist and chewy, but nothing
particularly special.

Seating at this branch was limited inside, but includes plenty of extra tables outside on the station concourse.

I think a few improvements could be made but will definitely visit Chop'd again if I'm in their neighbourhood.

I visited the St Pancras branch at about 11am today. 

Chop'd
Unit 34, St Pancras International
Pancras Rd, London, NW1 2QL
020 7837 1603

 
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The Islington Burrito Wars

09 Nov

   
  Originally uploaded by Jonathan Fuchs

There is a burrito war waging on Upper Street in Islington.  It
seems that after years of being forced to endure oppressive Tex-Mex
"restaurants", several London entrepreneurs  have woken up to the
business opportunity I have been fantasing about since I moved to
London 20 years ago: the taco stand.  (Okay, they are actually burrito
stands, but taco stand has more resonance.)

First there was Beach Burrito on Berwick Street in Soho.  They
really hit the right notes : Californian-style mega burritos stuffed
with carne asada, chicken, pork, etc.  Then they closed down.

Now we have two entries on Upper Street:

Mucho Mas: I think their
ingredients had been sitting in the warmers a bit too long, (they did
not look particuarly appetizing) and I choked at paying 75p for a
spoonful of guac.  Their hot sauce was incendiary, so be warned if you
don't like them SUPER hot.  Only Corona was offered on the beer front. 
Staff were neither friendly or surly.

Tortilla: More choices
(white rice vs spanish rice, pinto vs black beans, etc) and a more
reasonable 50p for guac.  Their medium sauce was bland and their hot
sauce wasn't (hot). Three or four beers (Negra Modelo, Dos Equis and
Corona, plus maybe one other) and margaritas on offer.  Staff were more
open and friendly.  Seemed to be populated entirely by American
customers.

Neither burrito was particularly flavourful.  For me they tick all
the boxes on ingredients but they just don't have any oomph.   If I go
back, it will be to Tortilla because of the wider choice when building
your burrito, and better beers.

Both are good for a quick fix but I'd still prefer to make my burritos at home where I know they will have some FLAVOUR.

Meanwhile, here's a nice photo of a burrito bar in the Mission in San Francisco, the place that I first acquired my habit.

 
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Posted in London, Restaurants

 

Mercado

22 Jul

Somehow
we managed to avoid food altogether until after 7pm today.  It was one
of "those sleep late, walk directly to computer, loose 5 hours" days. 
When our bodies finally triggered the alarm, we realised we had no food
in the house and we opted to stroll through Clissold Park and enjoy the
sunny evening, heading for Mercado, our local Mexican cantina.

When Mercado opened, it struggled with a lot of negative feedback
from patrons, who (I felt) didn't have a real appreciation of Mexican
cooking.  The British palate associates Mexican food with what I would
call Tex-Mex : nachos, fajitas and chimichangas.   Mercado was dishing
up more authentic fare : mole , pasilla and salsa verde sauces for
example.  Eventually the restaurant conceded and added fajitas and
burritos to the menu.  It seems to be working for them – the restaurant
was nearly full on this Sunday evening.

Unfortunately on this visit I have to say I was not impressed.  It
was the third time I've eaten there.  Last visit I had Coctel de
Camaron which I found too sweet (but put that down to my taste) and the
Carne Asada which I found a bit unexciting.  On this visit things
didn't improve.

Queso Fundido

I started with Queso Fundido – basically a bowl of melted cheese -
or a kind of Mexican fondue, if you will.  Usually the recipe involves
several types of cheese (Monterey Jack, Mozzarella or Manchego
typically), some poblano chiles, maybe some red pepper, and some wine. 
Mercado's version was a duller affair – simply cheese with a few
chunks of chorizo thrown in.  It did the job but it didn't bear
repeating.  Damon had what the menu called "Quesadillas", which were
not made with tortillas as expected, but instead were more like an
empanada.  Filled with cheese, they too were quite bland, but saved by
the addition of some guacamole and warm salsa on the plate.

Burritos

They were out of my first choice – Chiles En Nogada (poblano chiles
stuffed with beef or vegetables) so we both opted for Burritos.  Though
the menu described them in the plural, it was really one large burrito
cut in half.  The filling was a very bland mixture of ground beef and
onion, wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with some guacamole,
lettuce and sour cream, and accompanied by a dull tasting red rice.  We
had to ask for a bottle of hot sauce just to give the burrito a bit of
flavour.

Add to this that our margaritas (we tried the Fallen Angelita) came
served with a rim of sugar, not salt, and it was not a meal to write
home about.  Had we not been so rampantly hungry I'm sure our
disappointment would have been greater.

Service was okay: not good, not bad. Two margaritas, two beers, two
bottles of water and the bill came to £48 for two.  We won't be rushing
back again.

Mercado Bar and Cantina
26 – 30 Stoke Newington Church Street, London, N16 0LU
T: 020 7923 0555
http://www.mercado-cantina.co.uk

 
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Posted in London, Restaurants