eatatarian

J organised a delicious birthday evening for a bunch of us at one of Heston Blumenthal’s pubs, The Crown. I wish all pubs were like this — quiet, intimate and cute (16th century low ceilings). The distinct absence of music gave it a confidently relaxed yet dignified feel.

^ Honey ham and gruyere toastie, soft boiled hen’s egg.

^ Crispy and light they were.

^ Loch Duart Salmon, crushed new potatoes, spiced tomato and red pepper sauce.

^ Macaroni cheese, baby leeks, garden peas and chanterelle mushrooms.

^ Baked Suet, steak and ale pie, creamed potato.

^ And here it is exploding with meat juice. Look at that fluffy, smooth potato..

^ Sticky toffee pudding, sticky toffee sauce, cream.

^ Vanilla cream, clementines, mandarin and thyme.

Lovely service. Lovely food. If only it didn’t require a taxi ride to and from the station.

The Crown
High Street, Bray, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 2AH
01628 621936

I hate deep-frying things. The amount of oil required, the spatters, the clean-up afterwards.. deep-frying is a messy business.

It was only having made David Chang’s recommended octo vinaigrette that I thought I’d give his fried chicken recipe a go.

Let me just go on a bit about the vinaigrette. It was amazing. It made even the blandest vegetable come alive on one’s tongue. I found myself adding it to finely shredded cabbage, beansprouts and the dying last few bits of leaves at the bottom of a pre-packed supermarket bag.

I carefully cut the ginger and garlic as finely as I could I think I did a damn good job. Using a bird’s eye chilli is definitely worth it. Other chillies just wouldn’t give you the kick you needed — even if you added more.

So anyway, the chicken. The steaming and then deep-frying process wasn’t involved at all — just time consuming. But boy did it produce a kick-ass, juicy piece of fried meat. Due to my steamer being only just slightly bigger than a leg of chicken, I had to steam the chicken pieces separately. And only for 15-20 minutes each, not the prescribed 40. One breast of chicken was a bit overdone, which resulted in a slightly chewy chook upon being deep-fried, but the rest were lovely when steamed to a state of just-underdone-ness.

I still hate deep-frying, but this chicken made it worth it.

^ It looks pinker than it actually was.

^ I didn’t have a thermometer on me, so I couldn’t check that the oil was at 190C. Would’ve liked my chicken browner, but this will do for my first try.

^ Thanks to Chez Martin Barrington-Prowse.

Early in March, this brunch kicked off a week and a half of solid good double-birthday eating.

It was my first time at Caravan. They only do bookings for large groups and we managed to get the lovely secluded table downstairs. Good times. Upstairs was absolutely packed.

^ Fish & potato fritter.. I think.

^ Baked eggs.

I couldn’t concentrate on the food too much as there were friends to be caught up with.. it was all good though. If I was in the area I’d probably go back again. Good coffee.

Caravan
11-13 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QD
020 7833 8115

If I were to run a cafe, I’d like it to be like Banner’s. It’s unpretentious, full of quirky character, has friendly service and has interesting, delicious food. All at pocket-friendly prices.

^ I’m glad we booked a spot for brunch. It was rammed when we arrived one Saturday morning.

^ I like the look of their menu. It underscores the haphazard feel of the decor and the overall no BS of the place.

^ Mocha “99”.

^ Not many things defeat me at the dining table, but these gingerbread pancakes with eggs, bacon and maple syrup changed all that. The gingery goodness was unusual and everything was tasty, but I think I could have done without the gorgeous, oozy eggs.

^ Jamaican breakfast with ackee, bacon, spicy beans, hash browns and warm traditional roti. Absolutely deeeelish! That hash brown was unusual, and even though I didn’t order this dish, I wanted more hash brown..

Banner’s
21 Park Rd, Crouch End, London N8 8TE
0208 348 2930

^ J’s first kedgeree.

At Malaysian food festivals, the Puji Puji stand always seem to be the one with the most satay output. I thought I’d visit the restaurant to check out the rest of the food.

There were some professional photographers photographing a dish of beef rendang. Looks like Puji Puji’s making it into the mags.

^ Crap popiah. The skin’s not even properly wrapped.

^ Good but a little burnt murtabak.

^ Weird-tasting gado gado.

^ Good beef satay.

^ Good chicken satay.

^ Decent mee goreng.

^ Good fish curry.

^ Interiors.

^ Teh tarik.

^ Miracle-green pandan dessert. I think someone got a bit excited with the food colouring here.. Couldn’t taste any pandan flavour at all, sadly.

^ Black rice pudding in coconut milk. Delish. Warming. Generous serving.

^ Crispy banana dessert. Delicious.

I really wanted to have the sago gula melaka dessert, but they didn’t have it that night. Sad times.

Service was good but food was a bit mixed. I can see why the satay was popular at those stalls though.

Puji Puji
122 Balls Pond Road, Islington, London, N1 4AE
07952 674626

^ Another fine J brunch.

There was only really one thing to eat on our last day.

^ After a dip in the Blue Lagoon, it was 2 hot dogs each. Thanks Iceland for a lovely time!

^ We started off the day with a breakfast at The Grey Cat cafe. Here’s my 3-carb breakkie. There’s a small jar of maple syrup sitting off camera.

^Deluxe cheese toastie with a light, creamy mustard sauce. The raw onions actually went really well with the sammie.

Grai Kotturinn (The Grey Cat)
Hverfisgata 16a, 101 Reykjavik

^ Dinner was at the lovely Fiskfélagið (Fish Company). Iceland’s tap water is unbelievably delicious (and the hot tap water is unbelievably sulphur-ious). We drank much of this stuff.

^ We went for the Around Iceland tasting menu.

^ Bread spreads. Can’t remember what all of them were, but one had skyr in it. The middle one was some sort of sambal. All were delish.

^ The amuse bouche. The champagne had started to sink in by this time I remember not what was in it.

^ Furntea marinated cod fillet & garlic-roasted langoustine with burnt artichoke puree, fennel, spiced bread and lobster hollandaise.

^ Beer crusted arctic char and dried salted salmon with walnut powder, salmon roe and dill oil, mustard sauce, radish and malt ice cream. By far my favourite thing was the malt ice cream. It reminded me of something from my childhood.

^ Thyme spiced rack of lamb and saltkjot with pearl onion in crowberry juice, caramelised turnip puree and crispy leek and bacon roll.

^ Stirred blueberry pudding with chopped caramel chocolate, skyr, yoghurt and lime sorbet with white chocolate party.

The evening was full of good cheer, amazing food and lovely service.

Fiskfélagið (Fish Company)
Vesturgötu 2a, Grófartorg - 101 Reykjavík