I am thrilled to announce that I have come out of hibernation. It’s about time because I was starting to get worried about my peculiar conversations with the weather gods…

I assure you my mind is back in shape now. Well at least where recipes are concerned. Anyway, on the topic of shape, It’s almost bikini season and I’ve been wearing so many layers I’ve forgotten what my body looks like. In an effort to avoid any surprises, I have vowed to eat loads of salads for a week before taking a peak. I startle easily.
One of the salads I’ve been enjoying on this trek to bikini proof my body is an asparagus salad with truffle vinaigrette and toasted almonds.

Simply divine.

Spring is best time to enjoy these glorious veggies. When buying asparagus look for firm, crisp stalks with purple or deep green closed tips. Use within 2 days of purchase.

Here’s what you’ll need:
For the roasted asparagus
500g fresh asparagus
1 garlic clove
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Toasted Almonds
25g sliced almonds
1-tablespoon olive oil
Truffle vinaigrette
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white truffle oil
Juice of half a lemon
Few Parmesan shavings for presentation

Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C/4G. Wash the asparagus thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel. Gently bend each asparagus stalk till it snaps at the part where the woodiness begins.

Mix garlic and olive oil in a bowl

Put the asparagus in a baking dish and sprinkle with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper

Give it a whizz

Then spread them out

Pop in the oven and cook for 10 minutes

In the mean time, mix all ingredients for the vinaigrette together. In a sauté pan, add a drizzle of olive oil on high heat

When the oil is hot enough, about 30 seconds, add the almonds and let them toast for 30 seconds on 1 side. Turn to the other side and remove off heat. The oil is hot enough to cook the other side

Now the asparagus should be done and ready to be removed from the oven

Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with the vinaigrette and toasted almonds

Now maybe if you’re really really good I’ll make you my brother’s (AKA Stud muffin) favorite soup- Asparagus soup.

Love,
Bethx

Sometimes, the simple pleasures in Life are all we need. Check out Bethany’s blog Dirty Kitchen Secrets.

Ok, first question – what’s a mash-up? Maybe if you’re under 30, the answer is obvious. However, I’m not and I had to experience it to understand it. From experience a mash-up is where food, wine, art and music commingle to make a perfect evening. But perhaps it’s better to describe it –

The Location –

The Loft Kitchen in Hoxton, Northeast London, is actually the residence and laboratory of Nuno Mendes, an innovative Portuguese chef in London who is using the lower floor of his loft as the experimental kitchen for his new restaurant (opening in the Bethnal Green Town Centre complex early in 2010). Every Friday and Saturday night he creates multi-course tasting menus to try out some of the dishes he’ll feature in his restaurant. However, Nuno was merely our gracious host on Wednesday night. The dynamo behind the mash-up was actually Rachel Khoo.

The Cast –

Rachel is Malay-Chinese and Austrian by ethnicity, a art-designer/marketer/food stylist/chef de patisserie among other things by training, and her food events are a combination of her multi-cultural, diverse background and her wide circle of friends worldwide.

First, she used the designs of her friends, Zoe Lydia and Miss K of PikPikZoo in Hong Kong for the placemats, tablecards and even water bottle labels on the table.

Then, she asked her friend, Joseph Seresin, to create a musical mix to entertain us throughout the evening (we even received a CD of the mix to take home). Bronia Stewart, yet another friend, was engaged to photograph the proceedings (almost all the photos in this post are courtesy of and copyrighted by Bronia).

Joseph was involved again for some of the wines we enjoyed with our dinner through his family connection with Seresin Estate in New Zealand. Last, but far from least, Rachel was ably assisted in the kitchen by Frankie (Francesca Unsworth). All pictures above © Bronia Stewart 2009

The Mash-up -

Soft lighting, PikPikZoo designs decorating the table, Joseph’s mix playing in the background and the curtain went up on the Mash-Up –

As the participants gathered, we were offered a refreshing glass of Bailly-Lapierre NV Crémant de Bourgogne Exception Brut Intense. It was zippy and delicious and a perfect tool to get conversation flowing among the diverse participants who seemed to have discovered the event either through some connection to Paris and Rachel or via Kang’s post on LondonEater.com (Kang says: thanks guys).

After a bit of bonding time (which worked extremely well as conversation at the table never flagged), we were presented with Rachel’s opening number a plate of Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils. Served on a plain white rectangular plate, were 3 crisp crackers – one with red onions, one of rye and orange, and the third with olives. Set above them were our “pencils”, carefully crafted from a cucumber, a radish and a carrot. Below the crackers were 3 paint tubes (literally!) filled with 3 different “paints” – a spread of beetroot humus, one of butterbeans, and a third of green olive paste.

Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils Playing with your food

Encouraged to use our creativity, we set to work like kindergarten students in art class, busily spreading the paints on each cracker to determine our favourites. This was a terrifically creative idea, if an enormous amount of work for Rachel and Frankie to sterilize and fill all the tiny paint tubes and construct the picture on our plates. If the ice had not already been broken by the bubbly to start, this exercise in free-child fun certainly got things off with a bang. This course was accompanied by a glass of Domaine Lefebvre d’Anselme 2007 “Trilogie” Côtes Du Rhône. All pictures above © Bronia Stewart 2009

Our next course, A Cup of Tea with Beef and Vegetable Carpaccio Stirrers, was again a dish where we could use our own imagination. The tea was a creation of tamarind, soy sauce, lemon grass, galangal, star anise, lime, water and perhaps some secret ingredients. Served very hot, we could either stir the “tea” with our beef and vegetable skewers or eat them raw. My personal favourite was to just give the skewer a quick swirl in the tea to briefly warm it. That gave me the delicate and rich taste of nearly raw beef, the bright crispiness of fresh vegetables surrounded by the slightly spicy savoury “tea”. And the “tea” was pretty tasty all by itself, too! This was paired with a glass of Seresin 2007 “Momo” Pinot Noir. The wine was perhaps a bit ripe and fruity for the dish but nice.

Slow-Roasted Duck © Bronia Stewart 2009

The main course, Slow-Roasted Duck a l’Orange & Plum with Millefeuille of Potatoes, was probably the only course that was fairly traditional (i.e. – no particular playfulness in the dish). Instead of playfulness, we were given something else I really like in food. This was a “Ronseal” dish – by that I mean, “it does exactly what it says on the tin”. In other words, this dish delivered exactly what its description says. I’m not much of a Duck a l’Orange fan normally because I find the orange often overwhelms the duck. Rachel managed to get just a hint of orange flavour not overly aggressive and the plums were outstanding with it. In fact, I think that doing the duck with just plums would really be terrific. As it was, this was full of flavour and very satisfying. We had another Seresin Pinot Noir with this course, a 2006 “Leah”. This wine was much more subtle and nuanced than the previous “Momo” and was really lovely with the dish.

Palate cleanser time – a Fleur de Geisha Granitá made from Japanese Green Tea and cherry blossom flowers. Simple as this was, it was one of my favourites of the night. The crunchy “snow cone” of ice had a delicate flavour, definitely of tea but airily light but an ephemeral cherry sweetness that really wasn’t sweet at all. An excellent touch and a perfect palate cleanser.

Poached Rhubard with Almond & Strawberry Shortbread and Rosemary Mousse © Bronia Stewart 2009

Now it was time for puds. This was another of the highlights for me – Poached Rhubarb with Almond and Strawberry Shortbread and Rosemary Mousse. Rachel suggested that the Rosemary Mousse, which was beside the shortbread in a little cup, would be very good with it. She was VERY right. Everyone around me seemed to be just as pleased with the savoury character of the mousse, just slightly sweetened, against the bright ripe strawberries and the crunchy almond shortbread. VERY very yummy! We had yet another Seresin wine with this, their 2004 Noble Riesling dessert wine. Although the wine was quite nice, it is always difficult to pair a dessert wine with a sweet dish and this wine was just a bit too much for the dish. I’d probably use a less sweet dessert wine like a Brachetto d’Acqui which isn’t too sweet and which has a lovely strawberry character itself that should blend nicely with the dessert.

Mini Mooncake Truffles © Bronia Stewart 2009

Finally, in what was a bit of a homage to Chinese New Year, we had 3 Mini Mooncake Truffles, each with a coconut “skin”, one filled with black sesame, one with chocolate and the last with pistachio. The sesame one was very Chinese and savoury; the pistachio one was a bit overwhelmed by the coconut, while the chocolate one was “just right”. Maybe I got Baby Bear’s portion!

Maybe you still don’t understand what a mash-up is but go to one. It’s worth it.

Tasting Notes –

Bailly-Lapierre NV Crémant de Bourgogne Exception Brut Intense
A blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this is “champagne” but made in Burgundy, hence, the name Crémant because it cannot be called Champagne. It is intense and very dry with a soft creamy mousse and delicious citrus and apricot fruit. Bright and zesty with crisp acidity.

Domaine Lefebvre d’Anselme 2007 “Trilogie” Côtes Du Rhône
This is a blend of the undistinguished (usually) Ugni Blanc and Rousanne. 13.5% alcohol. Rousanne dominted this blend giving its peachy aromas and flavours. Decent acidity and smooth finish but not particularly distinguished. However, I admit that I was having so much fun playing with the Edible Paint, Paper & Pencils that I really didn’t pay a lot of attention to this wine.

Michael Seresin of Seresin Estate © Jamie Goode 2007

Seresin 2007 “Momo” Pinot Noir
“Momo” is the entry level Pinot Noir from Seresin Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand. Biodynamically made, hand-picked and sorted from three different vineyards, its nose is a classic New World Pinot nose – bright cherry fruit with a hint of underbrush and herbs. Unmistakably New World Pinot on the nose and palate. Soft ripe tannins, cherries and raspberries, with the classic Pinot vegetal undertone. Very pleasant, especially for an entry level wine. 13.5% alcohol.

Seresin 2006 “Leah” Pinot Noir
“Leah” is a blend of fruit from the clay-rich Raupo Creek vineyard, the alluvial shingles of the Tatou vineyard, and the mixed soils of the Home vineyard. The wine spent 3.5 weeks on the skins during and after fermentation. Aged in French barrique (about 25% new). 13% alcohol.
For me this was a much more elegant and restained Pinot than the “Momo” which had preceded it. More mineral character, deeper textures and much more character. Much more of the Burgundian “barnyard” Pinot aromas with ample brambly fruit, a bit of smokiness and spice.

Seresin 2004 Noble Riesling –
From old vine Riesling planted on alluvial soil with free-draining basalt pebbles, the fruit was affected with botrytis and was rigorously selected. After slow fermentation for a month, further fermentation was stopped by chilling after the wine reached 12% alcohol.
The nose is classic for a botrytized wine, honey and beeswax with some citrus notes. For me, however, the usual mineral floral beauty of Riesling was a bit lacking. On the palate the honeyed notes were repeated, accompanied by tropical fruit flavours. There was enough acidity to keep the wine from being cloying but not enough to lift and lighten it as you see in the best sweet wines from Germany and Austria. It was also just a bit over-powering for the delicious dessert Rachel made but a pleasant enough wine nonetheless.

——–

Kang’s note: I hope you enjoyed that one, my only regret is I didn’t show up for it!! Ok, so now you know where to find the coolest secret restaurant in London - Be sure to follow the awesome links below for further details and more. Thanks to Paula Sindberg, it was great post, make sure you check out her excellent wine blog. Finally to Rachel, Joseph, Michael and Nuno – Kang will eat with you someday.

The Loft , Rachel Khoo , Ultimate Wine Company , PikPikZoo , Joseph Seresin , Seresin Estate

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively, You can subscribe via email.

I finally made a trip out to this much talked about cafe, and it was awesome. I need my breakfast, and this review is now a guest post on the blog A girl has to eat. 

[Read the full review there...]

Tsunami Official site

Why I decided to wear four inch heels to meet my friends for lunch at Tsunami, a Japanese/pan-Asian restaurant on Charlotte Street, was a mystery to me. Perhaps it was because with the clocks changing, I got a whiff of spring in the air, and felt that they now deserved a new pride of place, that is on my feet, rather than being relegated to the back of my cupboard. But by now, I should know that such ventures are best kept for those times when I do not have to walk too much. So here I was, ambling down to the bus stop, taking 15 minutes rather than the usual 5; stumbling slowly up and down the stairs of the bus, and almost missing my stop in the process; before finally making that long walk down Charlotte Street. To make matters worse, Tsunami is situated past the concentrated stretch of ‘restaurant row’ where most of the eateries are, down the other end of the street. Sigh, an even longer walk. Grumble, grumble, grumble; I really only had myself to blame.

Eventually I wobbled into the restaurant, in desperate need to rest my poor feet. I settled into one of the white leather seats and surveyed the restaurant. It’s nice, with a chilled, relaxed atmosphere. Creamy walls are dressed with gold floral motifs, and flower arrangements are further dotted about. The room is not particularly spacious, but comfortable nonetheless.

My walk certainly helped to stir up my appetite, not that mine ever really needs stirring. Feeling ravenous, we ordered a sumptuous array of dishes. First up was the sun-kissed salmon sashimi (£8.50) which was lovely and fresh. An appetiser of thinly sliced salmon drizzled with hot olive oil; the addition of ginger, chives and sesame added a further sweet, aromatic bouquet to the fish.

Shrimp tempura came with a light, fluffy batter; and with three pieces for £4.90 was really good value.

Less successful were the grilled scallops (£7.50), the description of which was ‘thinly sliced scallops, grilled with smelt egg and creamy spicy sauce’. The ensemble, served in a scallop shell and mounted over a bed of salt, arrived alight with flames. But as visually entertaining as it was, the scallops were overwhelmed by the sauce, a rich concoction of creamy tang. It therefore tasted more like a plate of sauce, with thinly sliced scallops and enoki mushrooms, rather than a scallop starter. Better harmony might have been struck between the ingredients by using whole scallops – to give the dish more texture and bite – and also by using less of sauce.

To the rolls, and a spicy tuna roll (£6.70) was superb. The tuna was lovely and fresh, and rolled with finely sliced cucumber and shiso (also known as perilla, or Japanese basil or mint). With finely chopped chives on the outside of the rice, it added ample layers of herby, sweet-scented zest to the tuna. However, a Tsunami special roll (£9.90) was far less notable. Made with tuna, snow crab, salmon, white fish, sweet shrimp, avocado, kampyo and tamago (egg), it was too busy. Overwhelmed by the assortment of different ingredients, it was unable to deliver any one distinctive flavour.

A good test of the prowess of a pan-Asian kitchen always seems to be how well they fare on a grilled black cod with sweet miso (£17.90). The Tsunami version was delicate and tender, but it didn’t quite achieve that intense velvety smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture that you might find at some of the top Japanese restaurants. The sauce was also too sweet, and had not penetrated the flesh of the fish sufficiently, so that it became necessary to top up with sauce from the side bowl provided. While the cod was very good, it was not as great as it could have been.

From the special dishes, a beef toban (£16.50), rib eye beef with seasonal vegetables in a Japanese hot clay pot, was disappointing. While served medium rare, the beef continued to cook on the table, which meant most of the meat was well done and had become grainy by the time we came to eat it. Perhaps beef had been a bad choice for something cooked in a clay pot that retains heat. But regardless, the broth lacked the strength and clarity of a well prepared dashi (Japanese stock), and was also a little too salty.

To dessert, and the green tea ice cream packed a real punch, with an intense green tea sensation (two scoops of ice cream (£4.50) from a choice of four). A Japanese steamed pudding (£6.50) with red beans and infused with Calpico, a live cultured drink from Japan similar to Yakult, didn’t appeal. Rather than being creamy, it was too eggy; although the side serving of fruit was lovely.

What Tsunami seems to do best are the simpler dishes, where they let the quality of the wonderful fresh ingredients shine through. Less effective were those that involved more complex preparations, or those with sauces. While these were pleasant, the combinations of ingredients weren’t always finely balanced. Therefore, they did not consistently deliver a harmonious blend of flavours. Nonetheless, there’s enough on the reasonably priced menu to satisfy most palates happily. And with affordable wines, starting from about £16, and lovely, friendly and unpretentious service, all up, Tsunami holds it own on ‘restaurant row’, even if it is down the other end of Charlotte Street.

Meal finished and it was time to go. And also time for that long walk back…

Check out the food blog A girl has to eat here.

Summary information
Food rating: 7/10
Service rating: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10

Mark has an interesting perspective about the world. When he contacted me about doing a guest post about food for Global Patriot, I was a little miffed about how a glutinous little bugger like me can ever be a boon to noble causes. Then he explained how he thought that food was one of the ways that connects us all, and through it – the whole economy of the food industry and how the chain is completely interlinked from the producer/farmer through to the local grocers and ultimately the end consumer. It’s the people, ultimately who opt to for ethical farming methods and organic greens and those of us foodies who champion fresh produce and resist homogenisation (and food over packaging) that we are actually fighting a good fight to keep a healthy, thriving eco system going.

Hope I inspired you a little there, do join the conversation over at Global Patriot.

Why Global Patriot?

I provided a little guest post for one of the coolest new causes around, called Global Patriot. Currently, it is spreading it’s message via a blog – and it’s concept is one which campaigns for ways to care for our entire planet. The issues covered are wide ranging and Mark Lovett is spearheading this effort to tackle them. Some issues include (but aren’t limited to) eliminating hunger and poverty, supporting equal rights as well as climate change and sustainability.

Of course, there are also many hundreds and thousands of organisations out there passionately working hard to solve some of our worlds biggest headaches and one of GP’s aims is also to create awareness for the good work that’s being done and hopefully inspire people to join the conversation to be a patriot, for the world we live in.

In the meantime, the guest posting competition with the super duper grand prize of £50 is now officially done. Over the past couple of weeks, fellow food bloggers have helped me prop up very edible guest posts on London Eater and I am eternally grateful to the foodies who chipped in. As today is finally the 11th of March, all the guests posts will now go into a voting poll. The name of the game is very simple: just vote for your favourite one of any of the eight guest posts  and I’ll pass £50 to the blogger with the most votes via paypal.

The poll will be open until 30th of March and the blogger with the most votes on that date will be £50 richer.

Not sure which one tickled your fancy? Keep reading for a quick summary of the guest posts:

1. A gen.u.ine feasting at Ambassade de L’ile [full post here]

 By Kian of Gen.u.ine.ness and it was a tour de force visit to Ambassade – the two star spot which has polarised opinion from London critics and bloggers alike. Kian said:

Amuse bouche was amusingly (sorry for the pun) served on a turf of grass. First, baked clam served in its own shell accompanied with brunoise vegetables and truffled butter. The tiny morsel of clam laid on top of a finely diced mirepoix and then topped off with a small dollop of truffled butter foam. The sweetness and slight brininess of the clam was highlighted by the grassy, tender vegetables.

2. Forays of a Finance Foodie into Chung Shin Yuan [full post here]

 This one comes from the Finance foodie and her visit to Chung Shin Yuan for a very Taiwanese breakfast. Athena said:

I figured since I was already awake, I might as well go to brunch (plus, I didn’t want to be known as “Anti-Social Athena”). When we arrived on scene, we found half of Boston’s Asian population had already beaten us. Luckily, we bribed an elderly Chinese couple ahead of us in line with a couple of kumquats and managed to nab a table at first seating.

3. 5 star foodie tucks in at The Inn [full post here]

 The five star foodie articulated this very charming write up about her visit to The Inn at Little Washington. She said:

We chose a fine Burgundy to marry with the menu’s winter flavors. Opting for the Domaine Hudelot Baillet “Les Cras” from Chambolle-Musigny, this wine tastes of delightfully concentrated bright fruit, rare for Côte de Nuits, while rich and well balanced, and thus perfectly suited for the courses to follow.

4. Chewing on the real Texas BBQ experience at the County Inn [full post here]

 The fourth entry is a very chewable entry by Hillary of the Chewonthat Blog and is a truly authentic Texas BBQ experience. Hillary said:

I ordered the beef brisket platter pictured at the top of this post and David ordered a combo of ribs, sausage and beef brisket pictured above. I’m no barbecue expert but the beef brisket was some of the most tender and tasty beef I’ve had in a long time. You could see the red smoke lines in the meat and to top it off, they doused it in their delicious barbecue sauce. I’m told Texas barbecue is infamous for the amount of sauce they use – and that’s just the way I like it.

5. Eating green and white worms in mud with The Food Site [full post here]

 This fun post is not really about actual worms in mud , rather it’s about a great Malaysian dessert made from glutinuous rice. Foong runs the excellent Food site and she says:

You know, we Chinese are a superstitious lot but when it comes to food, almost anything goes. The Chinese are known to eat anything that moves except for vehicles so when we talk about eating worms, whatever the colour, it is not really all that unusual. If the Chinese thinks eating animal penises can make them more virile, you don’t even want to know what else they eat for other so-called unproven medicinal values.

6. Fifty four miles separate me and some food for friends. [full post here]

Not only is this write up about a vegetarian restaurant, this post also only has one picture in it and the focus is on evocative writing. Jude – one half of fifty four food miles says:

Yup. But what if one (hypothetically speaking) comes to FfF with a soon-to-be ex boyfriend, in a last ditch attempt to rescue the relationship? What if one comes to FfF with one’s estranged father who has never expressed any attempt to be involved in one’s life until now? It wouldn’t so much be Food for Friends then, would it?

7. Thring for The Light with Oliver. [full post here]

 Thring for your supper! is one of my well liked blogs and I think that Ollie’s got great prose to go with great taste. In this post, he’s bashing the Light and says:

Some might argue that food isn’t the point here: the owners want an easygoing menu for pissed clubbers to nosh before a boogie. That being so, why open a restaurant at all? Why conceive a menu that can only be enjoyed – and even then, I have doubts – while drunk? Who would pay money for that kind of experience? And what kind of chef would work in such a place?

8. Dining on the Riverwalk with Hillary for one last time. [fulll post here]

 And so we have come to the last entry. This is Hillary’s second post and it’s about a cool texas bistro that does fresh guocamole in front of the diners eyes. Hillary says:

They use fresh avocadoes, fresh orange, and fresh limes. We were told some people just come and order like 8 orders of guacamole, no joke. It actually  was pretty darn addicting, but we stopped at one – we knew we had to save room for the rest of our meal.

Thank you Ollie.

Thank you Hillary.

Thank you Athena.

Thank you Kian.

Thank you Jude.

Thank you Foong.

Thank you Nathasha.

And finally thank you for continually reading London eater and also for reading my fellow foodie blogger’s blogs. We appreciate your kind attention and cannot wait to deliver more (and more) delicious content for ya. So keep coming back and we’ll keep serving them up. Hope you enjoyed this little series of guest posts, do vote for a favourite and I’ll see you back here again same time tomorrow for some sushi train bingeing.

Oh yeah.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively,  You can subscribe via email.

Aside from Texas BBQ, one of the more notable attractions in San Antonio is the Riverwalk. Many tourists like to stay on the Riverwalk (like us) so they’re close to all the restaurants and action. If the weather is right, it’s a pretty place to walk around, take a boat cruise and enjoy a relaxing delicious meal by the water.

So in my quest for San Antonio restaurant recommendations, many of you recommended Boudro’s, a Texas Bistro on the Riverwalk. It was definitely one of our considerations but the deal wasn’t quite sealed until the boat cruise tourguide recommended it as well. He said he’s never had a better meal than the ones he has had at Boudro’’s and that the prices were very reasonable, considering.

So after a relaxing boat cruise, we headed on over to Boudro’s. (On a sidenote: did you know that the San Antonio River is both natural and man-made? Maybe that will come in handy in a random facts trivia game).

But on to Boudro’s. First, let’s talk about the guacamole. Mexican cuisine definitely plays a part in this Texan bistro and they’re definitely famous for their “guacamole for two” salad that they make fresh AT your table like so:

They use fresh avocadoes, fresh orange, and fresh limes. We were told some people just come and order like 8 orders of guacamole, no joke. It actually  was pretty darn addicting, but we stopped at one – we knew we had to save room for the rest of our meal. For those of you who want to try their famous guacamole, they do give the recipe on their website. But you have to sign up, so here it is too:

Boudro’s Famous Guacamole

Ingredients

Juice of 1/4 of an orange
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 avocado seeded and scooped out of skin
2 Tbs roasted and charred Roma tomatoes diced
1 ea Serrano pepper roasted seeded and diced
1 Tbs medium dice red onions
1 tsp chopped cilantro
coarse ground salt to taste (sea salt is better)

Directions

Squeeze juices into bowl. Add avocado and coarsely chop. Add onions, roasted tomato, serrano and cilantro fold into avocado mixture. Add salt (more is better). Result should be crudely chopped not mashed. That’s it.
To accompany our delicious guacamole, we stayed with the Mexican theme (a must in San Antonio!) and ordered prickly pear margaritas.

It had been a long long time since I had a good margarita and this was definitely a good margarita. It was made from tequila, Triple Sec, lime juice and prickly cactus pear puree. I saw this prickly pear margarita on many other restaurants’ menus too so it must be a Texas or San Antonio thing. They were so good, not to mention colorful!

And now, for our appetizer (I know, we splurged, the guacamole probably could have been a sufficient appetizer). Hanging out in other cities always brings out the adventure in me which led David and I to both try quail for the first time. They actually had an amazing quail dish for an entree but we were set on trying steak and seafood so had to rule that out. Luckily there was this quail appetizer so we could get our fix.

It looked like a tiny baby chicken sitting on a plate topped with fried parsley and served with pepperjack grits and yucca chips. The whole thing just looked fragile and sad (not the preparation – the quail itself) and I almost felt bad for eating it. But it was too late to change my mind so I took a bite. It was interesting to say the least – to me it tasted like chicken with the texture of steak – a little chewy but tender and tasty.

For one of our main courses, we ordered their signature blackened prime rib. We were tempted by  many other steaks on their menu like the  papaya marinated flank angus steak to the Texas sirloin filet with fried jalapenos, plantains and chimichurri. But in the end, we wound up succumbing to their signature item. It was served with roasted potatoes and a vegetable medley which were both good but nothing special compared to many other side items we had seen on the menu. The steak itself was cooked perfectly and tasted good, but if I’m going to be honest I would say it was very very overseasoned.

Speaking of overseasoned, our other entree had the same issue. We were quite excited for our “Big Tails, Little Tails” dish described as “Pan-seared baby lobster tail and giant Gulf shrimp smothered with spicy crawfish tails; with lemon, avocado and roasted tomatoe risotto and grilled scallions.” It sounded like a great thing to try but in the end it was simply a lobster tail and some shrimp in a very salty sauce.

Overall, my favorite part of the meal was the guacamole and margaritas. I don’t know if my taste buds opened up with the margaritas as the meal went on but everything eventually just tasted overseasoned to me. But in spite of this, I  know that Boudro’s was  undoubtedly one of the best choices for a restaurant on the Riverwalk. Dining on the bank of the river made the whole experience worth it and it was still a very memorable meal.

To view a complete dinner menu from Boudro’s, click here.

Boudro’s Texan Bistro
314 E. Commerce
Suite 402
San Antonio, TX 78205

The Light [1/5]

Restaurants invariably disappoint when attached to other things. The Disneyland diner. The burger van at the dogs. Balconies at the Royal Opera House. Of course, the trump card of such places, their snide and snickering victory, is that the trapped customers have nowhere else to go. Out, then, come the elephant foot kebabs or the patties of pulverised gristle, the preheated, lazily oleaginous mess of it all, with an apathetic shrug that seems to say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’

The Light, housed in a renovated electric light station for G.E.R., is a nightclub, bar and restaurant (the proper order, I fear) squatting at the border between the glassy City and the scruffiness of alt.Shoreditch. We’re here on some recession-wrought deal that one of our party found on the Internet. The place tries to do many things, and does most of them extremely badly. Downstairs, the oversized bar and restaurant have Hoxtonish exposed brickwork and high, uncomfortable stools, while the ‘Lounge’ disco above, the website somewhat mundanely informs us, contains a video projector that is ‘DVD, PAL, S-VIDEO Compatible’.

Nightclubs and restaurants are like oil and water. At Boundary, Terence Conran’s new opening not far from here, you eat in the basement and drink on the roof. Here, the bar and club thump sweatily beside and around the empty restaurant, with only a thin door keeping out the drunken hordes. Eating at The Light, you feel like the sailors in Das Boot, capsuled while the world clangs around you like some collapsing factory, aware that at any moment you might be struck by a torpedo or a sozzled secretary, which are much the same thing.

As a consequence of all this, the menu is a somnolent, familiar trudge. The bar serves burgers, chicken wings and the like. The restaurant is slightly more interesting, offering oxtail broth with pearl barley, or poussin with black pudding. It too, though, is fairly routine, and this wonted sort of food is difficult to do well. Custom shrinks the palate, leading to misty-eyed claims for the family’s roast dinner or microwaved Ginsters. The Light’s lamb chop with dauphinoise and courgettes, then, is going to have to be very good for people to come back for more. And its cheese board… well, I wouldn’t risk it.

Nothing we order is remotely edible. A fried duck egg on bacon brioche with purée of oyster mushrooms is a sugary, ill-considered brunch dish, the egg shiveringly congealed, the bread not even buttered. ‘Baby’ squid with a salad of baby cress and a sweet chilli dressing is even more unpleasant. Albert Steptoe is more of a baby than this squid: squelchy latex hoops with weeds and jam. A slab of pork belly terrine sags morosely beside a dead slimey creature, and has the texture of fresh cement. It too has been garnished with the chef’s evident favourite, baby cress.

Lamb chop is passably cooked, but appears beside a desiccated puck of dauphinoise heavy on potato and light on cream. Adjacent, out-of-season courgettes taste of magnolia limpness, while roast baby tomatoes, not a bad idea in themselves, flew here from somewhere far, far away and left all their flavour behind. Last and (despite stiff competition) least is what the menu describes as ‘papardelle [sic] with duck confit, wild mushrooms and truffle oil’. Each ingredient is present and flabbily incorrect, heaped above a pint of thin, muddy slop. The word ‘pappardelle’, incidentally, comes from pappare, to gobble, which I definitely don’t. What can I say for this dish? Just look at it.

Some might argue that food isn’t the point here: the owners want an easygoing menu for pissed clubbers to nosh before a boogie. That being so, why open a restaurant at all? Why conceive a menu that can only be enjoyed – and even then, I have doubts – while drunk? Who would pay money for that kind of experience? And what kind of chef would work in such a place?

By way of answer, a final note. The kitchen is essentially a cubicle at the back of the dining room, and after the starters, I trotted over to ask if I could take a few action shots. I snapped for perhaps a minute, and the chef said to me in a voice heavy with sarcasm, ‘You’re going to have an interesting photo album back home: starter, main course, pudding…’ I replied, ‘Yes, perhaps at home, or maybe even on the Internet.’ The colour drained from his face, and his sigh spoke of rage and regret in sad, equal
measure. Someone really needs to switch this place off.

The Light, 233 Shoreditch High St, London E1
Tel. +44 (0)20 7247 8989

See on the TFYS Map

Dinner for six, including drinks and service, costs £160.

I always really enjoy Ollie’s sense of humour, I actually want to go to The Light after reading this just to cure the curiousity. Well, I hope you liked this post too,  do remember to come back here on 11th March to vote for Ollie if you liked his post. Till then, why not thring for your supper!

Review: Food for Friends
17-18 Prince Albert Street, Brighton, BN1 1HF, 01273 202 310.

Brighton is an undeniably good place to be a vegetarian: it doesn’t make you a social leper; in fact as a meat eater you often find yourself in the minority in pub-table conversation.

Not surprising then, that Brighton (which now boasts nationally acclaimed veggie spots such as Terre à Terre, for example) was a suitable place to open Food for Friends – the city’s first vegetarian eatery – in 1981; a time when ‘I’m vegetarian’ provoked ‘a what?’ rather than ‘what kind?’ from people. Lactose / gluten-intolerant weren’t common phrases in those days of yore.

But, Food for Friends, as a restaurant name? For an old cynic like me it forces an eyebrow skywards. Its name is telling me that my experience will be joyous, wholesome, filled with laughter as my close-knit group of friends and I (yes we’ve had our downtimes! Yes, we’ve had our clashes and rivalries and love-disasters! But we’re through that!) raise a toast to our little cluster of amicable and honest companionship.

Yup. But what if one (hypothetically speaking) comes to FfF with a soon-to-be ex boyfriend, in a last ditch attempt to rescue the relationship? What if one comes to FfF with one’s estranged father who has never expressed any attempt to be involved in one’s life until now? It wouldn’t so much be Food for Friends then, would it?

I like the restaurant to provide good food, good service and good atmosphere but not to dictate my good experience in terms of the company I choose to keep. Nonetheless, I’d heard good things from my colleagues and friends about the place so I decided to take (well, be taken by) my parents (the estranged father thing was hypothetical – my own life ain’t half so interesting) on their recent visit to Brighton.

So, one point down for the name. But on picking up the phone, that’s when the plus points starting stacking up in FfF’s favour. First point: person-on-other-end is chatty and friendly on the phone, despite the last minute booking on a Friday evening. No Beatles references when I give my first name. My cynical eyebrow starts drooping.

Second point: the restaurant exudes warmth. As we pull up to its doors (in a taxi! It’s with my parents and the walk Hove-to-Brighton was a bit much to subject them to after a long day at work and an hour and half drive, complete with traffic jam) the logic behind its corner location in the Lanes is clear. Inviting light spills out from the windows and we want to be inside. So in we go.

Coats helpfully taken, we peruse the menu and time is given as we make slow choices. I remember that it’s from my parents I learnt the habit of ordering something different from the other diners – we hastily changes choices as we discover that someone else is going for the original selection.

For my mum, vegetarian eating can be tricky. While she often cooks vegetarian (Moosewood is her bible) she doesn’t like detests mushrooms, and doesn’t much care for tomato dominated dishes. But she’s getting extremely excited by her choice of butternut squash filo parcel.

Meanwhile, I’m getting excited by both mine and my dad’s choices. His – sweet potato and coconut curry and mine – a stuffed portobello mushroom.

Given we’ve splurged on a taxi (parking in Brighton is impossible) we share abottle of red – details of which get forgotten as we gasp at our food – apologies. Point down for reviewer.

We skipped starters and desserts but opted for a basket of perfectly oiled focaccia: eaten to last crumb after my mum meticulously divided the last two pieces – it didn’t come divisible by three.
The mains come well-presented and generous, and in true family tradition we all try each others (my mum shunning my mushroom of course). Her filo crisp on the fork, kissing the juicy squash and crunchy cashews (pronounced csh-sew rhyming with the sneeze-sound, in our family).

Meanwhile my dad’s curry is creamy on its bed of pilaf rice, cooled by the cucumber riata. And me… I slowly and delicately select pieces of meaty mushroom and rich feta and dip them in nutty pesto. I’m savouring.
Wine finished, and meals devoured, I’m losing count of all those positive points. FfF has delivered some truly culinary joy – ‘vegetarian’ as an adjective is redundant. The food is fine food. Enough said.

A couple of gripes – my dad’s glass of wine is poured with sediment; and the waiter seems a little eager to fill our glasses when we’ve only had a few sips and to press another bottle on us (declined). But on the whole, service is good.

So, well-fed, we tumble back out into the cold – my initial scepticism at FfF’s name long forgotten. It’s just as much food for families (and I suppose we are friends too), including those like mine, who like to spend ages choosing, eat each other’s food, pronounce cashew in a weird way, and divide the bread up very very fairly.

We ate:

(to start) a daily selection of breads served with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar: £3.45
(her) filo parcel with roasted butternut, cashew nuts, spinach and caramelised onion on a mandarin and mango salad with mirin and chilli dressing: £10.95
(him) roasted sweet potato, butternut squash, cashew and coconut curry with herbed spinach brown basmati pilaf, cucumber riata and spicy vegetable crisps: £10.95
(me) portobello mushroom stuffed with feta, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts with sweet potato wedges, fine beans with a pesto sauce topped with creme fraiche: £11.95

I really appreciated this one especially when it came to the description of creamy curry, yummy… if you loved this guest post, do come back here on the 11th of March and vote vote vote. Fiftyfourfoodmiles is now serving here.

You know, we Chinese are a superstitious lot but when it comes to food, almost anything goes. The Chinese are known to eat anything that moves except for vehicles so when we talk about eating worms, whatever the colour, it is not really all that unusual. If the Chinese thinks eating animal penises can make them more virile, you don’t even want to know what else they eat for other so-called unproven medicinal values.

Now, lets get back to the green and white worms mentioned in the title of this post. As you well know, I am not Kang but a guest-blogger (you can call me Foong) here while Kang is away so I can blog about any food review I want…bwahahahahah…although only for one post…still, I want to shock his readers: YOU.

Who in their right mind would eat yucky green and white worms in mud, right? Well, only in Malaysia and only when it looks like these:

Heheheh…okay, I own up. These are not real worms but they sure do look like worms lying in mud. Okay, here’s another look at the green worms in mud:

This is actually a bowl of Cendol – a Malaysian-style dessert. We went on a short road trip to a neighbouring state near the Thai border recently and made a stop at the area’s famous Cendol Pulut (pulut means glutinous rice but there’s no translation for cendol but it is what those ‘green worms’ are called) at Jo Cendul Pulut Restaurant. The ‘green worms’ are merely green pea flour (made by cooking the flour with screwpine juice that turns it green and alkaline water to solidify it and then a cendol maker to press out the worm shapes). The ‘brown mud’ is made by pouring Gula Melaka syrup (or brown sugar syrup) and fresh coconut milk over shaved ice. Other ingredients such as cooked red beans and canned corn are also added.

This restaurant’s specialty is that it has glutinous rice in it. Due to our hot and humid weather, Cendol is a great dessert anytime of the day. The ice melts pretty fast and soon you are left with a bowl of slushy mix of ‘green worms’, red beans, coconut milk and syrup. This restaurant makes it extra special with the glutinous rice so it is pretty filling too. The flavours are a mix of sweet from the syrup, salty richness from the coconut milk and it is chewy too due to the pulut.
Next, let’s look at the white worms:

It is actually a plate of rice noodles in a sour fishy soup, the local Malay-style laksa. Now, not everyone likes laksa due to its overpowering stench. Yes, it emits a pretty strong fishy stench and since it is one of Malaysia’s (or Penang, to be exact) trademark dishes, we pretty well have a lot of different versions of it. Of course, it is a well-known fact that only the Assam Laksa of Penang is the best of all. Still, I like trying laksa from other states. The laksa here is not exactly the best I’ve ever had as the fishy stench is really a bit too much even for a laksa-lover like me. I like my laksa sour with a tinge of sweetness and spicy. This one is salty, not spicy and not as sour as I’d like it to be but then that’s because it is cooked the Malay-style, thus the tastes are different than the Chinese style Assam Laksa. The ‘worms’ are the rice noodles and the ‘mud’ is the soup made up of fish, a variety of sauces and spices. But if you are into the Malay-style laksa, this is a pretty good one.

Both the cendol and laksa are usually eaten as snacks or as light meals. To complete our tea time snack (aren’t we such gluttons?), we must of course have the other Malaysian trademark dish, satay (barbequed skewered meat). We ordered 10 sticks of chicken satay and let me tell you, these really do hit the spot.

My overall review ratings for Jo Cendol Pulut Restaurant, Kedah is 7/10 and it is worth stopping by for some cold dessert and snacks if you are on your way to Bukit Kayu Hitam, the Malaysian-Thai border.

That concludes my review of the ‘green and white worms in mud’ and I do hope you enjoyed it!

I told ya it was tasty stuff If you enjoyed Foong’s guest post, do make sure you pop back to London Eater on 11th March to vote for her, till then as per usual point your browser to The Food Site.