My gastronomic highlights of 2012

A lot of other food blogs will write about the best openings of the year, the most lauded chefs and the biggest trends. But as I only started this blog in September, I am going to tell you about my personal highlights of 2012. Some months were a lot busier than others, sometimes work got in the way and at other times personal tragedy meant that eating out was pretty low on my list of priorities. But one thing is for sure, eating good food played a very big part of my year.

 

January:

We spent 2 weeks with family in Abu Dhabi over Christmas. Being away meant that I missed my good friend, Ashleigh's birthday. So my January highlight is all about her! Ashleigh loves tea, so for her birthday I bought her 'Afternoon tea at The Goring Hotel'.  Many people will remember this hotel for being the one that Kate Middleton used to get ready at for her wedding to Prince William. It is a gorgeous hotel, traditional in every sense of the word. Service was impeccable and I remember the food just kept on coming. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon on a cold Sunday in January.

 

February:

Dinner with my girlfriends at Galvin La Chapelle. Situated in the heart of the City, this is one of six restaurants in the ever expanding empire of brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin. The restaurant is housed in a chapel (hence the name) and is absolutely stunning. I loved the contrast between the old chapel and the ultra modern glass high-rise buildings around it. Serving modern French food, it was a real delight!

 

 

Galvin La Chapelle

March:

The month of our wedding anniversary. I was lucky enough to eat at two fantastic restaurants. As a surprise, TBH booked The Ledbury for our anniversary lunch....but only realised too late that it was the wrong date! Fortunately I was so thrilled by his choice, that I didn't mind too much. The Ledbury is headed up by Aussie wonder-kid Brett Graham, who so impressed his bosses at The Square, that they invested in this restaurant for Brett to run.  It is a small restaurant in Notting Hill, but really nails the neighbourhood feel. It is relaxed and the food is sensational! The Ledbury was one of my top 2 dining experiences of the year!

 

On the Saturday of our actual anniversary, TBH and I ate at Dabbous. For many this has been the hottest ticket in town this year. We managed to get a table before the hype got totally out of hand and you could still get a table reasonably easily. For me, the cooking was fresh and interesting and it was the best value tasting menu in London! I even got to meet the man himself, Oli Dabbous. He was humble and seemed quite surprised at the furore he was creating in the restaurant world. Dabbous makes it into my top 3 of dining experiences for 2012.

 

Oli Dabbous

 

April:

The month I lost my dad. We had to fly back to South Africa really suddenly as my dad was ill and sadly he never made it. But one of the good things about being back in South Africa, is the good food. Even the chains serve great food, at great prices. (Especially when you're paying in pounds!) We had regular meals at the Ocean Basket seafood chain. A seafood platter for two people including prawns, mussels, calamari and a fillet of fish for around £15. You can't beat that!

 

Seafood platter for 2

 

May:

I remember London having unseasonably hot weather in May. Our next lunch was booked at Texture. A Scandinavian-influenced restaurant and champagne bar by Agnar Sverrison. I was expecting really big things from this restaurant as this is where Oli Dabbous had just come from and I really loved our lunch there a couple of months previously. It was good, but it didn't blow me away and I remember thinking that there was way too much 'ice or snow' with each dish, but the dessert was amazing - a take on Strawberries and cream. Perfect for the hot weather we were having.

 

June: 

Every now and then I have to work on a Saturday. I work in the City and within walking distance from Hawksmoor, Spitalfields. As I've said before, this is my favourite place to go to for a good steak. However, Hawksmoor in Spitalfields runs a Saturday special of a burger and chips for £15. It also so happened that on this particular Saturday I had a terrible, terrible hangover! And the only thing that can cure my hangovers is a big, fat hamburger.  Burger joints were a major trend in restaurant openings this year and I have yet to try them, but this burger from Hawksmoor was pretty darn good!

 

The Hawksmoor Hangover cure!

 

June also saw Sat Bains cooking at The Cube, a pop-up based at London's South Bank centre. I didn't have the pleasure of eating there, but I did get to meet him at Priceless Wonderground festival, also at the South Bank. A really nice, friendly man with the biggest hands I have ever had the pleasure to shake!

 

Sat Bains and I

 

July:

I went to America for the first time ever this month for work. I absolutely loved it and I got to try some very good Mexican food and some fantastic steaks cooked by my dear friends and hosts. It's true what they say about the portion sizes though, I'm sure I came back a few pounds heavier!

 

August:

This month we had dinner at Upstairs at The Ten Bells. As the name suggests, the restaurant is located on top of a very well known boozer in Spitalfields and is a collaboration by two of The Young Turks and another from The Clove Club. Both very popular supper clubs in London. It started as a 3 month pop up, but has proved so successful that it is now located there permanently. The room is quirky, with mismatched furniture and a Tracy Emin neon hanging on the wall. The food was outstanding and really good value. With an ever changing menu, it really is the kind of place you could visit every week and never get sick of.

 

Tracy Emin neon

 

September:

The month of my birth and the birth of Sam The Food Fan. We went to Kos in Greece for our summer holiday. I loved eating the wonderfully fresh seafood and also had a Greek salad twice a day, every day for 7 days!  A really fantastic holiday.

 

 

All things Greek

 

As it was my birthday, I also went to Theo Randall at the Inter-Continental Hotel for dinner with my friends. I loved it!  And another bonus was meeting Theo, who charmed us all and gave me a signed copy of his book as a birthday present. You can read all about it here. It joins The Square, The Ledbury and Dabbous in my top dining experiences of 2012.

 

 

Theo Randall and I

 

October:

I really enjoy running but this year wasn't a great year for me on that front! In October I had a 10km run planned with one of my friends in Clapham. As another friend also lives there, we booked Trinity for lunch after our run - either as a reward for a race well run or to commiserate.  Clapham is very lucky to have this restaurant as their local. Everything from the location, to the ambience, to the staff were absolutely outstanding. I really enjoyed my meal there and am dying to go back with TBH.

 

Spiced quince pavlova at Trinity

 

November:

A very big work project was coming to fruition in November, so it was very much 'head down' during this month and my social life was pretty non-existent! My waistline and TBH's wallet were very grateful.

 

 

December:

And so we come to the end of the year. I had a week off before Christmas and it was a perfect opportunity to try some of the restaurants on my bucket list that do not take reservations. There were some fabulous meals at José, Bone Daddies and Kopapa, but I saved the best until last. A Christmas treat at the number one restaurant on my list - The Square. I built this up so much and was so excited about our dinner there and it really didn't disappoint. You can read the full review here.

 

 

The final highlight of 2012 was a fondue Napoli in Amsterdam where we saw in the New Year. It was everything a fondue should be, cheesy, rich and shared with loved ones!

I hope that you enjoyed the list and that it gives you some inspiration of places to try in 2013. I have a whole lot more restaurants on my list to try next year and I cannot wait! London really is a great place to be eating!

 



My gastronomic year in numbers

 
Wishing you all a very happy New Year, may 2013 bring you everything you wish for!

 

Until we eat again!

 

The Square

It's Christmas time and Christmas is a time for indulgence. For me, that means only one thing. Food. It's been a pretty tough year for me in lots of ways, so TBH has really pushed the boat out and decided to take me to the number one restaurant on my bucket list. The Square.

Phillip Howard has been at the helm of The Square for twenty years and while many of his contemporaries have moved into the role of celebrity TV chef, Phil has steadfastly remained in the kitchen. It is only this year that he has made an appearance on The Great British Menu, won the London region of the competition, and released his first cook book. (Aptly named The Square by Phil Howard) The restaurant has won a whole host of awards including 2 Michelin stars, which I think is largely due to the fact that Phil Howard is a constant presence and has a vested interest in how his restaurant is run.

The restaurant is modern with muted colours, parquet flooring and bright pieces of modern art. We had a great table in the corner overlooking the whole restaurant. Our booking was early on the Sunday before Christmas so I was expecting it to be quiet, but the restaurant quickly filled up with a real mix of people - families with small children, fathers and sons, first-daters. It made the atmosphere a lot less poncy than I was expecting it to be.

So onto the food. We were presented with the menus and the wine list (all 80 pages of it!) While we decided they brought some canapés which consisted of a foie gras cornetto; squid ink crisps with taramasalata and cod croquettes. All were excellent and I particularly like the taramasalata, which is unusual as I don't really like the shop-bought variety. This wasn't that garish pink colour and a lot more subtle in flavour.

An amuse bouché of cauliflower and chicken consommé followed. Silky smooth cauliflower with a little golden sphere of chicken in the centre, topped with brioche crumbs for texture. Another gorgeous dish. If these were the little extras I could not wait for the food I was about to order.

I ordered the signature dish to start. Lasagne of Dorset crab, with cappuccino of shellfish and champagne foam. The pasta was perfectly al-dente and tightly packed with crab meat. The shellfish cappuccino was rich and full of flavour. TBH ordered the Hand rolled macaroni with sticky chicken wings, new season's mousserons, cauliflower and vacherin. I had a small taste of the chicken and it was tender and juicy and boneless! Not your ordinary chicken wing.

We both chose the same main course. Loin of Fallow Deer with a crisp potato galette, pumpkin, chestnuts and trompettes de la Mort. Christmas on a plate!   The picture is pretty awful and does not do the dish any justice - sorry about that!The meat was quite possibly the most tender piece of meat I have ever had, the gallete was like a little Swiss roll of the finest slices of potato. The pumpkin adding a lovely sweetness to the dish. Everything was perfectly seasoned and brought together with a wonderfully rich sauce. Faultless.

After our main course came a pre-dessert of Greek yoghurt with a mango jelly and a doughnut. It was sharp, but the mango stopped it from being unpleasantly so. The doughnut was crispy on the outside and as light as a feather. A nice little palate cleanser.

I chose the milk chocolate bar with salted peanuts, praline and banana for my dessert. The chocolate bar was the smoothest ganache, the saltiness in the caramel perfectly balanced. It came decorated with a little gold leaf that added that little bit of decadence to the dish. TBH chose the Brillat-Savarin cheesecake with mango, passionfruit and lime. I'm told this was as refreshing as it looked.

 And then there was more...While waiting for the bill, we were brought chocolate and salted caramel truffles and a selection of sweetshop lollipops. I would've been happy with just the truffles, but I ate the lollipops none-the-less.

Service was friendly and relaxed and I have to make special mention of Julien, the restaurant manager and Mohammed, the sommelier. Both absolutely charming and made us feel totally at ease. They didn't even turn their noses up when TBH ordered beer with his food! Some Michelin starred restaurants take themselves too seriously and service can be stuffy, but with these two people on the the team and absolutely stunning cooking coming out of the kitchen, Phil Howard can't go wrong!

We had 3 courses for £80, 2 glasses of champagne, 2 glasses of wine and 2 beers. The total bill came to £255.94 and included service. Expensive, but worth every penny. For me, this was my favourite meal of 2012!

Next on the cards is lunch at Roganic in early January, which is a 2 (and a bit year) pop up by Simon Rogan of L'Enclume.

Until we eat again!

The Square
www.squarerestaurant.com
6-10 Bruton Str, W1J 6PU

Kopapa

I don't often go for brunch, mainly because I work full time and on weekends, by the time TBH and I get going it's already lunch time. This weekend I had a friend flying in from New Zealand and as she had just gotten off a 30 hour flight she wanted to meet early. Hmmm where to go? This really isn't my forté. I needed somewhere central that didn't stop serving breakfast or brunch too early and was more than a greasy spoon. Kopapa ticked all those boxes and then some.

Located in the heart of Covent Garden, Kopapa is the baby of Peter Gordon, the god-father of fusion cooking. It is an all-day restaurant and only now that I've done some research, really well known for their breakfast/brunch menu. All the usual appear on the breakfast menu, with some interesting additions like 'Turkish eggs' that Peter is really well known for at his other restaurant The Providores. There is even a nod to his New Zealand heritage with boiled eggs and Vegemite soldiers.

I had the hot smoked salmon, spinach and 2 poached eggs on toast with yuzu hollandaise (£11.20) It was absolutely delicious! Poached eggs are my favourite and these were done just right. The yuzu hollandaise was a clever twist on a classic. The citrus kick it gave the sauce was refreshing and made the normally heavy (for me) hollandaise sauce very light. I really enjoyed it. The Turkish eggs with whipped yoghurt and chilli butter (£8.60) that my friend ordered looked amazing and I definitely want to try it out!

 

 

The restaurant is buzzy and informal with a warm and inviting atmosphere - exactly what you'd expect to find in any Southern Hemisphere café. The total bill came to £62.00, which sounds expensive for brunch but it included 3 Bellini's, a Bloody Mary and service. Everything on the menu looked great and I can't wait to go back to try some other dishes!

I'm already looking forward to my next meal, which also happens to be the number 1 restaurant on my bucket list...The Square. Watch out for my review coming soon.


Until we eat again!


Kopapa
http://www.kopapa.co.uk/home.php
32 - 34 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9HA

Bone Daddies Ramen Bar

I was meeting a friend for a girly afternoon in Soho yesterday and we decided to pop into Bone Daddies Ramen Bar for a quick spot of lunch. They have a 'no reservations policy' and the restaurant just happens to be on my bucket list of places to try. So it all worked out rather well!

The restaurant is the brainchild of Ross Shonhan, former head chef at Zuma and Nobu - both excellent Japanese restaurants, so you know this will be good! Ramen has been one of the many trends to hit the London food scene this year and the opening of Bone Daddies just before winter could not be more perfectly timed. What better comfort food than a bowl of steaming hot broth?

The restaurant is small and takes inspiration from the Japanese rockabilly movement. There is rock music playing in the background and the vibe is very cool. When we were there at 12:00 the restaurant was pretty empty, but that changed quickly and there was a good mix of Soho media types and Japanese clientele.

We started with Salmon Sashimi (£7.00) and Softshell Crab (£8.00).  The sashimi was excellent and the dressing was really tasty. The softshell crab was tender and sweet, but I didn't like the side sauce it came with. It tasted and looked like it had wasabi in it, but didn't pack any punch. The texture was a bit grainy and we ended up pushing it aside and using the sashimi dressing as a sauce.

 

 

I ordered the Tatenkamen Ramen with sesame, chilli, pork mince, bok choy and chicken bone broth (£10.00) for my main. I was warned that it was spicy, but I like spice! The broth was so full of flavour - hot, sour, sweet and spicy. Everything you'd want in an Asian dish.   The boiled egg in the broth was cooked perfectly with a still soft yolk. I have a thing about eggs and this was cooked exactly how I like them. I would've liked the pork to be slices or bigger pieces of mince because I struggled to find the meat in my broth. The noodles had a nutty taste to them, so it makes me think they were wholemeal, I could be wrong though. I also really loved the ceramic bowl it came in - the blue rim just made the colours in the meal pop that little bit more. The portion was huge and I couldn't finish it, but I did lap up all the broth, it was that good.

The bill came to £45 including service. We didn't have any alcohol as we were going to a makeup master class afterwards and didn't want our heads to be cloudy. (Although in hindsight, alcohol may have helped us!)

For a quick, tasty, cheap’ish lunch I would highly recommend Bone Daddies Ramen Bar.

Until we eat again!

 

Bone Daddies Ramen Bar

http://bonedaddiesramen.com/

31 Peter Str, W1F 0AR 

José

The Better Half (TBH) and I have some much needed time off and as we have been away for the last two Christmases, we have decided to stay in London this year. So what better way to spend this time than to eat our way through the restaurants on my bucket list that don't take reservations. As TBH and I both work full time, this will probably be the only time we'd be able to do this.

First stop, José. The first tapas and sherry bar from José Pizarro, formerly of Brindisa in Borough Market, once described as the best tapas bar in Britain by The Independent Newspaper.

The restaurant is located on a corner of Bermondsey Street and as soon as you step in, you forget that you're in South London. It is tiny, but perfectly formed. Authentic Spanish tiles line the walls, wine barrels used as tables and huge legs of Jamon hanging from the ceiling. I've heard that the restaurant gets really busy and there is often a queue to get in, so we arrived early and managed to bag a very cosy spot in a corner by the window.

We were offered complimentary still or sparkling water (nice touch!) and our very friendly waiter, Jack, took us through the different types of sherries on the menu. TBH wasn't brave enough to try any as his only experience of sherry is of the infamous South African brand 'Sedgwick Old Brown Sherry', that is more cough syrup than enjoyable drink! I went for a very nice Manzanilla Classica (£8). I don't know enough about sherry to comment too much, but it was light and went well with all the food we ate. I enjoyed my first foray into the world of sherries and will definitely be having it again.

The menu is chalked up on a blackboard above the bar. It is succinct, so easy to work our way through most of what was on there. We started off with Padron Peppers (£4). The fun in eating these is that you never know when you're going to bite into one that will blow your socks off with that chilli heat! Fortunately, ours were just nicely charred, nicely salted little green peppers.

   

 

We also had a very generous portion of Jamon Iberico (£9). Nutty from the acorns that the Iberico pigs are fed on, the fat melting in your mouth. Then, a Tortilla (£4). Lovely big chunks of potato and onions and eggs cooked just right.

Our next round consisted of Croquetas (£6) that were so good that we ordered them twice! They were golden and crunchy on the outside, but creamy and goo'ey on the inside with a hint of smokiness. I initially thought it had a smoked cheese inside, but one of the waiters told me it was made with a beschamel sauce and cod!

We also had Piri-Piri prawns (£7.50), a firm favourite for us if cooked well. And this was. Again, so delicious we ordered it twice! The waiter advised us to order some bread (£5 - expensive for 4 slices!) to mop up the sauce and that was probably the best advice we got all day! Garlic + Piri-piri + prawns = perfection! The Chorizo al vino (£6) was another winner for me, slow cooked and beautifully tender.

There were a couple of plates that weren't as successful though. Iberico pork cheeks (£9), well cooked but lacked seasoning and a little bland. Interestingly, both our waiters said this was their favourite dish, so maybe it was just an off day. Razor clams with chorizo (£7), for both TBH and I a dish that we've never tried and I'm not sure we'll have again. The sauce it came in was tasty, but it just wasn't for us.

In total the bill came to £87.10, which included 2 glasses of sherry and two beers. They don't accept service paid by card, but fortunately we had some cash with us and were able to give that straight to the waiters.

I've said before how much I love sharing food and this little tapas bar on a side street in South London is my idea of heaven!

 

Until we eat again!

José

http://www.josepizarro.com/restaurants/jose/

104 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3UB

Benares

Another week and another 'end of project' celebratory lunch. We had a lot of people to celebrate with, but this is the last one, I promise! Our American project manager and my dear friend, loves Indian food and so our hosts chose to take us to Benares in the heart of Mayfair.

Chef Atul Kochhar was the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star (at his previous restaurant Tamarind) and still retains a star at Benares. This isn't your usual curry house you would find on every British High street, that is for sure! Atul combines his heritage Indian flavours with traditionally British ingredients to create a unique and interesting menu.

To kick things off I had Hand Dived Scottish Scallop in the Shell, Textures of Cauliflower. It didn't come in the shell as described, but I didn't mind. The shell is just superfluous to requirements in my opinion. The scallops were cooked to absolute perfection. Coated in a myriad of spices that just gave it that little bit of kick. The textures of cauliflower were interesting. One, blood red and pickled, the other almost tempura like, but with Indian flavours and the third a really smooth puree. Very tasty.

 

 

Tawa Gosht Aur Sunhari Kahsta (Locally Farmed Cannon of Lamb, Umbles Samosa, Fork Crushed Potatoes, Pickled baby Artichoke, Sauce Rogan Josh) My main dish was a little mixed. The umbles samosa (innards), which I didn't think I would like, was actually the best part of the dish for me. The filling was really succulent and full of flavour and the pastry very crisp. A very light tasting element of the dish considering the contents. The potatoes were also delicious, mixed with fresh green chillies and more Indian spicing. The lamb however, was a little disappointing. It was cooked very well, but it could've been any piece of meat. For some reason it just didn't taste like lamb. The rogan sauce was served on the side and was not as punchy as the variety you would find in your local takeaway. I'm not sure which is the more authentic of the two, but it was still nice.
 

 

We ordered a few vegetable side dishes, which in hindsight were totally unnecessary  due to the amount of food we had! None-the-less, they were all very good.  Punjabi Chole (Chick Pea Casserole) was my favourite. I love chickpeas and this was an interesting recipe that I want to try and recreate at home. We also ordered Tori Ki Bhaji (Stir Fried Courgette), which was a little boring. There was none of those magical spice combinations that were in some of the other dishes.

 

After all that food,  I had no space left for dessert. But my sweet-toothed American friend ordered what I would have had. Chocolate Peanut Butter Tube, Jaggery Cake, Cumin Marshmallow and Sugar Cane Ice-Cream. Chocolate and peanut butter are a combination made in heaven for me and I was intrigued how the cumin would fit into this dish, so I snuck a little taste.  In one word - inspired! The cumin was so subtle, but it just lifted the dessert to a whole new level.

 

Service was friendly but a little haphazard. We felt a little rushed initially to place our orders, but the food was pretty slow in coming out. When the main dishes came out, only 2 of the 4 came out and then there was a delay of a few minutes for the rest of the dishes. Not good. Saying that though, that was the only real dampener on the lunch.

I seem to have used 'nice' an awful lot in this post and that best describes the whole experience. Nice. Indian food is not my favourite cuisine, but I am glad I have been to Benares and experienced some truly interesting Indian flavours. 

 

Until we eat again!

 

 

Benares

www.benaresrestaurant.com/

12a Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BS

 

Hawksmoor, Guildhall

One of our good friends in South Africa regularly comes to London for business. On his last trip here we got talking about food and I was telling him about the amazing restaurants in this fair city. In particular, I was waxing lyrical about the fabulous steaks you could get here. He basically laughed in my face! "There is no such thing as a decent steak in London!". He needed to be taught a lesson and what better place to go to than Hawksmoor?

 I don't want to come over all gushy, but to me, Hawksmoor - whichever branch you visit - does the best steak in London! I have been to the Spitalfields and Seven Dials branches several times. But on this occasion neither had availability on the night we wanted to go. Beggars can't be choosers though, so off we went to the Guildhall branch. I was a little nervous, I thought it would be stuffed full of City boy types and lack that 'cool' vibe that the others have. And yes, there were a lot of suits in, but the vibe was still undeniably cool.

 
When we arrived, we had a quick drink in the bar. Which as is with all the Hawksmoor restaurants I have been to, kitted out in the art-deco style. Gorgeous mirrors and tiling throughout this side of the restaurant. The main restaurant is all leather and wood, giving the space a very manly feel. The Guildhall branch is the biggest restaurant in the Hawksmoor stable but still manages to retain atmosphere. Luckily for me, our office has just relocated within spitting distance, so I am sure this won't just be an occasional treat any more.
 

We came for steak so we went straight in for the main event. No messing around. I ordered the 400g rib-eye steak cooked medium rare. It's not a cut I usually go for, but I think this particular steak may have converted me. It was cooked perfectly and rested for long enough that the plate was absolutely bone-dry, there was none of that 'leakage' you usually get from a piece of meat that hasn't been rested long enough. Seasoned just right and the marbled fat adding so much flavour. I could not fault it. I know, I'm gushing! We ordered creamed spinach and the triple cooked chips to go with our steaks. Both excellent accompaniments.

 

 

 

On our very first visit to Hawksmoor, our waiter recommended a very good Rioja to go with our steaks. Being creatures of habit, we still have the same Ramon Bilbao Limited Edition wine every time we visit. Delicious and matches the meat perfectly.

The staff, as always, are super-cool and happy to help. I just love this place and even though there are a lot of steak restaurants in London now, I would feel like I was cheating on my partner if I visited any one of them, such is the love. Needless to say, our South African visitor loved it too and rated it up there with the quality of steaks you would get in SA!

 

Until we eat again!

 Hawksmoor

thehawksmoor.com

10 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 5BQ