Mugen Restaurant - August 2012

Mugen is a Japanese restaurant located in the City of London. My hubby had been there many times with his colleagues (Japanese and non Japanese) for lunch. He thinks that they do good value set lunch (especially in the City!). All his Japanese colleagues seem to enjoy the food at this restaurant. I was curious about this place so I suggested to go there for lunch before we set off for the Olympic park to watch a basketball match.
The restaurant is very busy at lunch time so it is safer to book a table. The restaurant has also a sushi bar.
We went for a set lunch as that was what we were there for. My hubby chose a beef dish which is served with a poached egg on rice. I chose grilled eel on rice with a special sauce. Both dishes were served with a small starter, miso soup and a fruit salad.

Yakiniku-jyu Set - (£12.80)

(Seasoned and marinated thin beef & poached egg on rice served with a small starter and miso soup)

Una-jyu Set - (£14.80)

(Grilled eel on rice with a special sauce served with a small starter and miso soup)

Both dishes were very good and indeed good value for money!
The service was very efficient and friendly. Our food arrived pretty fast. I was pleased that we went there for lunch...as our dinner at the Olympic park in the evening was not very good (even if our day at the Olympic park and basketball match were very enjoyable and memorable).
This place is definitely recommended if you fancy a quick and nice Japanese lunch in the City.


Mugen Restaurant
26 King William Street
London EC4R 9AW

Tel: 020 7929 7879

http://www.mugeneurop.com/

Casa Sibilla - July 2012

Brixton Village market has become a destination for foodies. We were keen to try out one of the eateries so we decided to go there for our Sunday lunch. We walked around Brixton Village market to read all the menus and see what took our fancy. My hubby suggested Casa Sibilla as the menu looked very enticing. It's simple homemade Italian food cooked with fresh ingredients. They had a set menu (£12.50 for 2 courses or £15.00 for 3 courses) as well as A la Carte.
We opted for the set lunch and this is what was on the menu on the day of our visit:

Set Menu - Sunday 29th July 2012

Amuse Bouche on the house

For starter, we both chose the Casa Sibilla platter. The selection of Italian cured meat was excellent.The cheese and grilled vegetables were also very nice. The starter was very enjoyable.

Casa Sibilla Platter: Selection of Italian cured meat, caciocavallo cheese & grilled vegetables marinated with chilli

For main course, my hubby chose the homemade tagliatelle and I had the beef meatball dish. The tagliatelle dish was superb, the pasta was thick and had a nice bite to it. The beef sauce was very tasty.The meatball dish was also delicious: the meatballs were tasty and went very well with the polenta and the grilled vegetables. Both main courses were very yummy.

Homemade Tagliatelle with Scottish beef ragout & Parmesan

Beef meatballs, corn polenta, vegetables & homemade Balsamic glaze

For dessert, my hubby went for the Tiramisu and I had Apple & cherry crumble + custard. The Tiramisu was made with some nice strong coffee, it was nice and tasty. The apple & cherry crumble + custard was probably done the Italian way where the custard was baked together with the crumble. Both desserts were quite enjoyable but maybe a bit on the small side.

Tiramisu

Apple & cherry crumble + custard

Although we were the first customers, the service was quite slow. It took them a long time to prepare the dishes. It didn't matter so much as it was a Sunday and we weren't in any rush. Still, I noticed that it took them a very long time to serve other tables and they were not even full. There were about 4 tables when we were there, I wonder how they would cope if it was full house.
The food was excellent and we would definitely return but we have to make sure that we are the first customers in order not to wait too much for the food to arrive!


Casa Sibilla
67 -68 Granville Arcade
Coldharbour Lane (Brixton Village)
London SW9 8PS

http://www.casa-sibilla.com/

Hereford Road - July 2012

Good British seasonal food with top fresh ingredients is always worth exploring. Hereford Road restaurant has been on my radar for some time as apparently it serves good British food and the Head Chef comes from St John Bread and Wine. We have been to St John restaurant and St John Bread and Wine many times and we love the kind of food they serve, so we were definitely keen to try out Hereford Road.

My hubby and I finally paid a visit on a Sunday lunch. We both were very excited when we saw that they had suckling pig on their menu! Their menu changes on a daily basis depending on what produces they find on the market. This is what was on the menu on the day of our visit:

Menu on Sunday 22nd July 2012

My hubby chose the Grilled Cuttlefish for starter and I had Potted Crab. The cuttlefish was very nice and fresh. The Potted Crab was also nice but a bit on the small side! If I was to compare it with the Potted Crab served  at Magdalen restaurant, the one at Magdalen for me is nicer as it has more white crab meat.

Grilled Cuttlefish, Rocket and Aioli

Potted Crab

For main course, both my hubby and I ordered the Roast Suckling Pig as we are both bonkers about Suckling Pig! We have never had the chance to taste the Roast Suckling Pig at St John restaurant or St John Bread & Wine as they never offer it as a portion. One has to order the whole Suckling Pig to share between a few people! That was why we were very excited to find it on the menu. The portion was very generous but  not only we finished it, we also had a little bit of space left for dessert! The Suckling Pig was nice and tasty.

Roast Suckling Pig, Roast Potatoes, Parsnips and Apple Sauce

For dessert, my hubby chose Eton Mess and I had Treacle Tart. The Eton Mess wasn't the best we've had. It was a mixture of strawberries, whipped cream and meringue. It would have been nicer if the Whipped  Cream was mixed with some mashed strawberries to give the cream more taste. The Treacle Tart was very nice. The pastry was thin & crunchy and the treacle mixture was very tasty.

Eton Mess

Treacle Tart and Vanilla Ice Cream

The service was a bit stiff but efficient. All in all, we enjoyed our lunch at Hereford Road and would definitely
come back.


Hereford Road
3 Hereford Road
London W2 4AB

Tel: 020 7727 1144

http://www.herefordroad.org/

Franco Manca - July 2012

My hubby and I love good  pizzas cooked in a wood-fire oven like they do in Italy! We were very excited when we read a good review of the pizzas served at Franco Manca in Brixton in the Metro newspaper a few years ago. Shortly after reading the review, we went to Franco Manca to find out what their sourdough pizza tasted like. We were not disappointed! The pizzas were absolutely fantastic! The menu is simple. It has only a few pizzas but the selling point is that they source top ingredients. Needless to say, we have been back to Franco Manco numerous times since.
Since our first visit, Franco Manco has expanded. They have also opened two other branches: one in Chiswick  and one in Wesfield Stratford.
During our last visit, this is what we had:

Gloucester Old Spot ham (home cured), Mozzarella, Buffalo Ricotta, Wild Mushrooms

Tomato, Cured Organic Chorizo (Dry and Semi Dry), Mozzarella

If you like good pizzas like they do in Naples, this is definitely the place to go!


Franco Manca
Unit 4 Market Row
Brixton
London SW9 8LD


020 7738 3021

http://francomanca.co.uk/

Fish, Wings and Tings - July 2012

After her first visit to Brixton Village market, my Australian friend was very keen to come back to try another  restaurant. She wanted to try Jamaican food at Fish, Wings and Tings as it is not something she can find in Australia.
The menu is simple, it has a few small dishes and a few big dishes.

Menu

My friend ordered Jerk Chicken and I ordered Goat Roti.The Jerk Chicken came with rice, coleslaw and pineapple & mango chutney. My friend enjoyed the Jerk Chicken very much. I had a taste of the Jerk Chicken and it was nice enough but I much preferred my Goat Roti. The Goat Roti was very tasty. And according to my friend who had goat many times before and found it too strong in taste, she thought the Goat Roti was excellent. The meat wasn't too strong. She liked the taste of the Goat Roti so much that she ordered one to take away for her lunch the following day!

Jerk Chicken

Goat Roti

On the table there were three kind of sauces. I tried the tamarind sauce as well as the Pepper sauce. Both are excellent and went well with the Goat Roti. As the Tamarind sauce was also spicy, it brought some sourness and spiciness to the dish. 

Various Homemade sauces

On a different visit, I ordered Reggae Wings. It is very similar to the Jerk Chicken but with chicken wings.

Reggae Wings

On the first visit with my Australian friend, the service was friendly and we didn't have to wait too long for our food to arrive. However on my second visit, things were pretty chaotic. They were understaffed. The owner had only one waiter working for him on that day and he was so much behind his food preparation. I was very keen to taste the codfish fritters on that day and the owner told me that it wasn't ready. He asked me to come back in half an hour which I did. When I came back and sat at a table, the waiter was busy with other table and 15minutes later, he was still very busy attending other tables. Since I was starving, I went to place my order with the owner, Brian. To my annoyance, the codfish fritters were still not ready. In fact, out of the 4 small dishes on the menu only the Reggae Wings were available. As for the Big dishes,only Rotis were available as he hadn't cooked the rice yet!
I would definitely come back to this place as I love the rotis however, I will check with Brian first if what I fancy eating is available. If it's not available then I would not wait as it would never be available within the time frame I am prepared to wait!


Fish, Wings and Tings
Brixton Village market

Brixton Cornercopia - July 2012

Brixton Village market is such an exciting place to visit for the variety of interesting cuisines that it offers. There are many places to eat worth exploring including Thai, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Jamaican, British, Colombian etc...
During this visit to Brixton Village market, I asked my Australian friend to choose the place we could try for lunch as she was visiting me in London (as a Londoner, I have plenty of opportunities to try other places). She chose Brixton Cornercpia which serves British food. During the week, for lunch Brixton Cornercopia has a set menu (£8.50 for any two plates per person, or £11 for any three plates per person). The menu changes on a daily basis and this is what was on offer on the day of our visit:

Menu

My friend ordered Chicken & Pork Terrine as her starter and I ordered crab croquettes. My friend enjoyed her starter very much and I also enjoyed my crab croquettes.

Chicken, Pork + Apricot terrine, wholegrain mustard

Crab Croquettes, Aioli

For the second dish, my friend ordered the salad and I order the red mullet. My friend enjoyed her salad very much. She found the peas and broad-beans very fresh and just loved the poached duck egg (you can see from the picture the egg yolk oozing out!). My Red Mullet dish was also very tasty but the portion was a bit on a small side.

Salad of peas, broad-beans + mint, poached duck egg + pea-shoots

Red Mullet fillet, slow roast tomatoes, saffron

The produces were of top quality and the cooking appeared simple but very competent. The food was very tasty. Service was friendly and efficient. 
This is a very good place to eat British food! On Sundays, they seem to have Sunday roast on the menu which I am very keen to try one day.

Brixton Cornercopia
65 Brixton Village Market
London SW9 8PS


07919 542 233

http://brixtoncornercopia.co.uk/

Royal China (Baker Street) - June 2012

Royal China is simply my favourite Chinese restaurant in London for Dim Sum! My favourite branch of Royal China in London is the Baker Street one as it is spacious and airy unlike the one in Bayswater.
It had been a long time since we last went to Royal China for Dim Sum as I am allergic to prawns and lots of Dim Sum contain prawns. However, in April this year we took my parents to Royal China for Dim Sum when they came to visit us in London. I realised that there were many dishes that I could order which did not contain prawns...this is to my hubby's joy as he simply loves Dim Sum! We recently came back to Royal China in June, just the two of us and this is what we ordered.

Fish Crispy Aubergine

Spinach Crab Meat Dumpling

Scallop Dumpling

Prawn & Chive Dumpling

Fried Squid Paste

Yam Paste

Prawn Cheung Fun

Fried Dough Cheung Fun

Fried Eggs York Buns

Milk & Egg Tart

All the Dim Sum were delicious in different ways so I wouldn't know which one to choose as my favourite! I like them all!
The service is nice, friendly and efficient unlike most of the restaurants in Chinatown where service can be quite abrupt.
The bill came to £51.75 for the two of us, including 13% service and two portions of egg tart to take away.
I love Dim Sum so much that I wouldn't mind eating it every weekend! Too bad, we don't live next door to the restaurant or close enough! Can't wait for our next visit to Royal China for Dim Sum!


Royal China (Baker Street)
24-26 Baket Street
London W1U 7AB


020 7487 4688

http://www2.royalchinagroup.biz/

Almeida - June 2012

Almeida restaurant seems to be the restaurant of choice for us whenever we go to Almeida Theatre! They offer good value set lunch ( 2 courses for £15.95 or 3 courses for £18.95) and the food is good.

On this occasion, this is what was on the set lunch menu:

Set Lunch Menu

For starter my hubby ordered Pork & Peppercorn Rillette, Celeriac Remoulade, Watercress Salad, and I ordered Crayfish and Avocado Salad, Confit Tomato, Creme Fraiche. Both starters were nice, mine is lighter and more summery, while my hubby's starter is more hearty (especially the portion was very generous!)

Pork & Peppercorn Rillette, Celeriac Remoulade, Watercress Salad

Crayfish and Avocado Salad, Confit Tomato, Creme Fraiche

For main course, my hubby ordered South West line caught Pollock, Spiced Mussels, and I ordered Braised Beef Cheek, Pomme Puree, Red Wine Shallot Sauce. The fish skin was nice and crispy, the spiced mussels went well with the fish. The beef cheek was melting in the mouth and the pomme puree very smooth!

South West line caught Pollock, Spiced Mussels

Braised Beef Cheek, Pomme Puree, Red Wine Shallot Sauce

For dessert, my hubby ordered Homemade Ice Cream & Sorbet and I ordered Glazed Passion Fruit Tart, Yoghurt Sorbet. Both desserts were pretty enjoyable.

Homemade Ice Cream & Sorbet

Glazed Passion Fruit Tart, Yoghurt Sorbet

Our lunch at Almeida was very enjoyable. The food is classic but competently cooked. The staffs are always nice and friendly. The service is efficient. The bread at Almeida is also very good!

Almeida restaurant
30 Almeida Street
London N1 1AD


020 7354 4777


http://www.almeida-restaurant.co.uk/

Dabbous - May 2012

Dabbous only opened in February 2012 and apparently has become the hottest restaurant in London! It has become impossible to book a table! Obviously, if one is desperate to eat there, one can always turn up every evening and stand in the bar just in case a cancellation comes up! But it takes some determination!
It was thanks to me that we got a table booked at Dabbous on Saturday 19th May 2012!!! But my hubby would argue that it was thanks to him for showing me a review of Dabbous on the Evening Standard! Anyway, the review was published on 2nd February 2012 and I made a reservation on 20th February 2012 for Saturday 19th May 2012! It was hard to make a reservation then, now it's totally impossible.
My hubby and I were very much looking forward to our meal at Dabbous since we read such great reviews.
The restaurant is on the ground floor and there is also a bar in the basement. The restaurant has only 36 seats, that is probably the reason why it is difficult to get a table.
The waiter brought us the menu and explained to us that the portions were on the small side. So if we were to go A La Carte, he advised that we chose between 5 to 7 courses per person. However he recommended us to go for the Tasting Menu. Before going to the restaurant my hubby and I had a look at the menu on their website and we had already decided to go for the Tasting Menu since it was probably our first and last time dining there...as we don't think we'll be lucky enough  get a table there again.
The Tasting Menu consists of 7 courses at £49. There is also an optional cheese course with £9 supplement.

Dabbous Tasting Menu on Saturday 19th May 2012

They gave us some green olives which were quite nice but nothing special so far.

Green olives

Then, they brought us some bread freshly baked on the day! The paper bag containing the bread has the date stamped on it!

Bag of bread home baked on the day

The bread was warm as if it had just been baked for us! The sourdough bread contained various seeds & nuts including poppy seeds, pine nuts, walnuts. It had also a bit of bacon. The bread was very moreish. The bread came with some whipped salty butter.

Bread

Then our first course arrived: Peas with mint. What Dabbous managed to do with the simple peas and mint was fantastic. The guy has definitely a very refine palate. This dish was extremely good.

Peas with mint

The second course: Mixed alliums in a chilled pine infusion was also very good. It was a light  & refreshing dish and the taste was very refine. The taste is hard to describe as it is not something we had before.

Mixed alliums in a chilled pine infusion

The third course was: Coddled free range hen egg with woodland mushrooms and smoked butter. This dish was amazingly good! I wouldn't mind having an egg like this every morning for my breakfast! The taste was just so wonderful. 

Coddled free range hen egg with woodland mushrooms and smoked butter

 The fish course was Grilled halibut, iodized sour cream, beetroot & watercress stems. The fish was cooked to perfection and the iodized sour cream worked very well with it. 

Grilled halibut, iodized sour cream, beetroot & watercress stems 

The meat course was Barbecued Iberico pork, savory acorn praline, turnip tops, homemade apple vinegar. The Iberico pork itself was very tasty as expected from Iberico pork but I couldn't really get the barbecue taste. The praline sauce was very strong in flavour, it went well with the pork. It would have been nice to have a bigger portion of vegetables in relation to the piece of meat...but posh food doesn't seem to come with a lot of vegetables nowadays!

Barbecued Iberico pork, savory acorn praline, turnip tops, homemade apple vinegar

 We chose to have the cheese course as an additional course. The plate contained four different cheeses from the British Islands including a goat cheese (at the top) and a blue cheese (at the bottom). It is an excellent idea of the restaurant to introduce British cheeses to the customers. The baked apple was very nice, it was almost like the apple in a tarte tatin without the pastry! The cheese course was enjoyable. My hubby who doesn't like blue cheese in general enjoyed the blue cheese! It's probably to due the fact that he doesn't get to eat cheese that often due to his cholesterol!

Artisanal cheese from the British Isles, baked apple and toasted sourdough

The toasted sourdough that came with the cheeses was very nice. It's nice to have toasted bread rather than biscuits.

Toasted sourdough

The first dessert was Iced lovage. This was very refreshing and a good palate cleanser before the main dessert.

Iced lovage

The second dessert was Chocolate ganache, basil moss, sheep's milk ice cream. The dessert was simply sensational in terms of taste and texture. Each element on the plate worked very well together, the combination was very clever. It was nice to end the meal with such a nice and tasty dessert.

Chocolate ganache, basil moss, sheep's milk ice cream

We had a fantastic meal at Dabbous. The service was fairly efficient except I had to ask three times to three different waiters for some tap water before I got some. The waiters were all young and friendly. The atmosphere is quite relax. The only little criticism I have about this place is that the music was too loud. It felt almost like being in a noisy bar/nightclub rather than a restaurant.  

The bill came to £129 plus 12.5% service charge . We enjoyed our experience at Dabbous very much but it is unlikely that we will return not because we don't want to but it seems just impossible to get a table! Upon writing this, apparently accordingly to an article in the Evening Standard (published on 25th May 2012) for a lunch slot one has to wait until September 2012, for a dinner slot until January 2013, for a weekend dinner slot until February 2013!!

Upon leaving the restaurant, one waiter said to us "hope to see you soon!". We told him that we'd love to but it seems impossible to get a table...so he smiled. Ah well... I feel lucky that I had the opportunity to try this restaurant at least once!

Dabbous

39 Whitfield street

London W1T 2SF

020 7323 1544

http://dabbous.co.uk/