The Providores

This was my second visit to Peter Gordon's The Providores on Marylebone High St (http://www.theprovidores.co.uk). This time it was for dinner with my English friend/client, C.

They label their food as "fusion" and although the term "fusion food" has gotten a bad rap over the last 20 years, somehow Peter Gordon is doing something right here because his food is absolutely brilliant.

For dinner from Monday to Saturday, they have a tasting menu where all their savoury dishes are served "starter sized" and you can choose from having two to five courses (dessert can form one of the courses). C and I opted for 3 savoury courses each and I have to say their "starter sized" portions are rather generous!

Here's the menu when we were there:

Here's what we ate (sorry for the poor resolution; the lighting in the restaurant was very dim even though C tried to help by holding candles on either side of each dish (often uncannily managing to douse the flames): 

Piquillo pepper & poppy seed fritters with fennel puree, crispy capers, shallots & celery salad

Coconut & green peppercorn laksa with fish dumpling, soba noodles, crispy shallots & coriander 

Pan-fried Scottish scallops with Bloody Mary sauce & jamon crisp

Smoked Dutch Eel with samphire, seaweed, sesame, furakaki & ponzu tapioca

Dessert - Stem ginger panna cotta with manuka honey jelly & cherry sorbet

Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the seabass (which had an unusual accompaniment - ketupat (compressed rice)!) and the Roast Gressingham duck breast which were both really good too. 

If there's one place you've got to try when in London, it's The Providores. 

The River Cafe

This was my second visit to The River Cafe after a break of 7 years. I didn't remember being impressed on my first visit but I decided to give it a second chance. After all, it has stood the test of time for more than 20 years and earned itself a Michelin star so I thought, why not give it another go? I'm glad I did as  the food was very good, despite the high price tag.

It was a lovely sunny evening by the River Thames when we sat down, albeit a bit chilly when the wind blew which resulted in us migrating indoors (I relented after protests from E and S).

The place was buzzing by the time our starters came, and everyone who walked in looked rather glamorous which made us wonder whether there were any celebrities amongst us. Much speculation was had during dinner as to whether the woman next to us was a tranny...(no photos, sorry).

The River Cafe is known for its seafood and their Scottish langoustines were given such a rave review by the owner of the Naked Finn (in Singapore) that I just had to try them. Here they are (Mazzancolle - cold poached split Scottish langoustines with summer herbs and extra virgin olive oil), and I'm glad I ordered them. They were delicious and very fresh.

Mazzancolle

S had the Capesante in Padella (seared Scottish scallops with gardens peas and 12 year aged balsamic vinegar) while E had the Caponata Siciliana (eggplant, tomato, capers, olives, celery heart, sultanas, pine nuts and parsley). Both got the thumbs up.

Capesante in Padella

Caponata Siciliana

View from inside

For mains, S and I had the Linguine con Granchio (linguini with Devon crab, fennel, chilli and olive oil) and though it was nice, we both felt it lacked oomph and would have benefited from more chilli. Perhaps it was our  Singaporean taste buds speaking but honestly, it could have done with more heat.

Where's the chilli? 

E had the Branzino con Vongole (sea bass with clams, chilli, creme fraiche, lemon zest and Swiss chard) which she enjoyed.

Of course, we had to have dessert. S demanded her own almond tart with strawberries which meant E had to order her own too. I plonked for the River Cafe's famous Chocolate Nemesis and indeed, it was my downfall. Very rich and gooey and impossible for one person to finish. I preferred S's and E's almond tart which had a lovely buttery crust and delicious frangipane filling where you could really taste the almonds.

A very generous portion!

Rich and deadly

So pretty!

Bubbledogs

Hot dogs with champagne may sound a mite pretentious to some but that's what Bubbledogs in Fitzrovia serves up (www.bubbledogs.co.uk) with great aplomb. Their list of champagnes is far longer than their hotdog menu so you can see where the focus lies. Testament to that was the completely packed bar when we were leaving and it was only 12 noon!

The place is fairly spare with open brick walls and cute cartoons of dogs in various poses in buns hanging on the wall.

Between E, S and I, we had 2 Sloppy Joes (dog with chili, onions and cheese) and a Jose (dog with salsa, avocado, sour cream and jalapeños), coleslaw, tots and sweet potato fries, all washed down with root beer. Yes, we eschewed the champagne. Too early for us!

Verdict - Yummilicious.  I'll have the champers the next time I visit.

The Peak District - alas, not foodie heaven

E and I spent three days hiking in The Peak District. Food was okay, at best, and dismal, at worst. Especially the coffee. Someone needs to teach the people in Derbyshire how to draw a decent cup of espresso. We even had a bad cream tea in Derbyshire (how is that possible?).  Here are photos of the best food we had in The Peak. Thankfully the scenery more than made up for the mediocre food.

E's dinner at The Plough. Actually pretty decent.

My dinner at The Plough.

Raspberry meringue roll at Edensor Tea Room.

Bakewell tart at The Plough. 

 Fish & chips in Castleton. Good crispy fish. Soggy chips. 

And here are some pictures of The Peak District. Lovely views.

On top of Win Hill.

Peveril Castle

View from Peveril Castle

High Tea at The Goring

Okay, so these later posts are a little on the tardy side. I got side-tracked by having so much fun in England that I got a little lazy in posting. Anyway, here's my report on our high tea experience at The Goring. For those non-royalists amongst us, The Goring is where the Duchess of Cambridge, then the commoner Kate Middleton, got prepped for her wedding to Prince William in 2011. Located in Belgravia, just a short walk away from Buckingham Palace, The Goring is a charming family-owned hotel established since 1910. It's a small hotel (just 69 rooms) with a charming private garden out back which the tea room overlooks. It won the 2013 Top London Afternoon Tea award so I decided we just had to have high tea there.

We opted for the Bollinger High Tea (GBP 49 per person) which comprises a glass of champagne, strawberries and cream and a tiered stand filled with scones, finger sandwiches and little cakes. I measure all high teas by the standard of their scones and The Goring passed with flying colours. Their scones were warm, short and tender. Good stuff. I enjoyed their finger sandwiches too, especially the one with smoked salmon. Our waiter, who sounded Eastern European, asked "You want picture with food?" and as you can see below, we certainly did!

Strawberries & cream

The tiered wonder.

English trifle to finish!

View of the garden from the tea room

Everything's Coming Up Roses and Roast

It was a lovely sunny Sunday today, not as hot and humid as yesterday, with a light breeze in the air. Some dark clouds dotted the otherwise clear blue sky but all in all, it was a fab day. The day started, not with food, but with another of my favourite things starting with "f" - FLOWERS!

We went in search of the Columbia Road Flower Market in Shoreditch today. Slightly delayed and hampered by the Northern Line being closed for repairs, we managed to find our way there on Bus 43 from Monument Station with the help of some friendly Brits. We knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw people walking towards us clutching bunches of sunflowers, roses, peonies and all manner of plant life.

As we neared the market, we could hear cries of "Sunflowers for a fiver!", "Roses for five pounds!" and the like from almost every stall holder there, mainly burly men touting their floral wares. It was a feast for the senses.

Hidden behind the flower stalls were quaint little artisan shops selling home wares, gardening tools, stationery, retro sweets and interesting cakes (like this rainbow cake here sold by Pomp De Franc, a bakery run by 29 year old baker, Katie Franklin, who designs ornate and imaginative cakes).

http://www.pompdefranc.co.uk

After scarfing down a piece of one of Pomp de Franc's creations (a rum and ginger loaf glazed with a lime flavoured icing)...

...we headed off to our next destination - a roast lunch at The Pig & Butcher on Liverpool Road in Islington. A lovely little pub on a tree lined street in a residential neighbourhood off Upper Street. Our cab driver seemed rather impressed that two Chinese girls who just got off the plane the day before had hunted down a pub with a roast lunch in that neck of the woods.

The menu was rather interesting with various kinds of roast meats...

http://www.thepigandbutcher.co.uk

Everything looked good but we were drawn to the 35 day aged roasted Aberdeen Angus rump served with a gloriously risen Yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes, creamed leeks and vegetables. See how happy I looked?

After polishing that off, I couldn't resist dessert and while I toyed with the idea of the apple & rhubarb crumble and the Sweet Jersey fool with poached Hampshire strawberries, the friendly waiter sporting a spiky hedgehog hair-do strongly recommended the Parkin with toffee sauce and clotted cream. I decided to heed his advice after he swept by with two examples of the Parkin (surely to tempt me!). I didn't regret it. It comprised a light sponge drenched in a caramelly toffee sauce topped with a crown of clotted cream. It tasted almost like a sticky toffee pudding.

We rolled out of The Pig & Butcher, suitably sated and ready to do work off the calories with some shopping. We passed by the Islington branch of Ottolenghi and was tempted by the dazzling array of cakes but self-restraint prevailed.

We finished off the day sharing a Taxidriver burger from Gourmet Burger Kitchen just round the corner from our hotel. Not a bad burger with American cheese, onion ring, Cajun relish and smoked chilie mayo, though I still prefer the Shake Shack burgers. I also had an Oreo milk shake - burp. Think I am suitably nourished to face Day Three...

NOPI

Dinner tonight was at NOPI - Yotam Ottolenghi's restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. We set off in the rain in a black cab (our feet wouldn't let us take the Tube). We couldn't get a table in the restaurant so we were shown to the basement communal table. I always enjoy coming to NOPI, the food is always different and tasty. The restaurant is also pretty and full of buzz.

We shared the following Small Plates:

Twice cooked baby chicken with chilli sauce that tasted like the kind you get with Hainanese Chicken Rice back home.

Roasted aubergine, feta, coriander pesto, walnuts

Baked cod, squid ink, venere rice

Dessert was unusual. Marshmallow, strawberries, lemon verbena creme anglaise

A happy camper I was!