I’ve been battling with myself on whether I should post something about my meal here. On one hand, I feel like a toff for having had a meal here, yet cheapass to feel the want of telling people about it. But the food was something to remember, thus my decision is… TO WRITE.

I’m not sure about you, but previously.. Pall Mall was but a box on the Monopoly board to me..  But as the taxi drove down this road on Pall Mall on a dark December evening, I could see into the tall grand windows of the buildings: there were 8 feet tall oil paintings of important men in Renaissance-style wigs in tails, parties of men in black tie and tails gathered around holding champagne flutes… I felt like I was living my own Jane Austen dream!

The Coffee Room, The Oxford and Cambridge Club

Inside, having undressed our multiple coats and layers in the cloakroom, we then made our way to the Coffee Room. Grand it bloody well was. A magnificent 20 feet tall oil painting of somebody important, possibly the Duke of Gloucester back in 1821 when he founded the club? Possibly so.

The meal comprised of 3 courses (by choice) and looking at the menu, this was as traditionally British as you could get. I chose seared tuna with balsamic salad as starter, and roast monkfish with a mussel in saffron sauce for the main dish… how awfully wonderful! Also available was the daily roast, which happened to be Roast lamb shank.

The seared tuna was pleasant, and plentiful. A slab of tuna the size of a salmon fillet was presented with baby new potatoes, olives and greens dressed in balsamic vinegar. Beautifully simple, just how I liked it. Although, I could feel the stomach slowly reaching its quota…

I had never had monkfish before, and to be honest, did not know what to expect! The only memory I have of it is this gaping terrifying ugly thing for a face, at the Waitrose fish counter. So when a plate that had nothing of the sorts relating to a head and tail, I was unbelievably relieved! The mussels were dotted over and around, and with side dishes served to us by the waiters, I only took a few boiled potatoes as it seemed like this was only the start and already I felt full by looking at the dish! Some people say monkfish is incredibly rich, however I actually really, really enjoyed it. The flesh was wholesome like lobster flesh, and matched with saffron sauce, it was a very complimentary taste. The mussels were good too (No taste of seawater, thankfully)!

Come dessert time, we were already up to our throats full with food, but the waitress informed us we could take dessert from the menu, or choose from the trolley. Not expecting great things, we were so taken back at how much choice there was! And almost felt like being taken back into primary school, being given the difficult decision to only choose one slice… an impossible decision as you can imagine! On different ‘arms’ of the trolley sat beautiful, as yet hardly eaten, cakes: bar rumba, chocolate forest gateau, strawberry gateau, fruit salad, cherry pie, fruit trifle, and mango delice. I was just fascinated with the trolley, because the waitress would be able to swing out an arm to put the empty plate to hold your slice, before serving with cream at the table. Impeccable service.

By the last few bites of my chocolate gateau, I was near vomiting stage with all the food I had stomached down at one sitting because fearing to appear impolite, I finished nearly everything on my plates.

I feel so full… thinking about this meal.

I cannot fathom anymore thoughts on food.

If you ever have the chance, I would recommend an invitation to the Oxford and Cambridge club. It will be a moment where you remember how posh we British really are. Dinner jackets on and all.

I just wanted to share with you this amazing recipe site!!! I absolutely have fallen in love with it after browsing for one night only. It sounds like I’m advertising for this blog. But really I am SO advertising for them, they are amazing!

Angie’s Recipes

No really, these are actually called Whoppie pies by B.Hall sold in Harrods. Apprently they are fluffly and delicious with soft melting buttercream in between.

The best bit?

They rotate their flavours, so you can never get bored.

Whilst we wait for B’s entry on Lille (yes, by writing here, I’m making sure she is bound to doing so!), let me just tell you of some places I’m waiting to visit:-

• Cocomaya luxury chocolatier affiliated with Agent Provocateur’s founder.
• NUSA Kitchen cafe selling good quality, organic soups + salads on Old Street. See endless queues at lunchtime.
• Princi patisserie – Alan Yau’s ever popular joint in Soho… also our second home.

With due courseworks and lectures on hand still, food visits have been put on hold. Do I even need to mention the terrible dark weather with continuous downpours of rain? Wish I was somewhere hot instead? Never.

Please share tips on the above places if you’ve visited of course! XOXO

Braving the chilliest of all November days, Guy Fawkes, we entered Kiasu just after noon. A fairly quiet environment on the dubbed ‘Second Chinatown’ of London, Queensway. Located next to the church, it’s fairly difficult to misplace this restaurant, even if you haven’t visited before. Me and my friend S were shown to a table and handed the menus – which – I had analyzed thoroughly prior to this meal. So many choices, with only one stomach to fill! Dilemma, if you ask me.

I went for the Bak Chor Mee, with Singaporean broad noodles in a chilli and vinegar-ey sauce served with fish cake slices, pork and prawns with a complementing fishballs in soup. S elected for the Nasi Goreng Istimewa, a malay dish with rice and accompanying sides on the plate. The waiter was polite, and allowed us to continue our chat whilst he attended to the boss and her (assumingly) daughter, who was also waiting.

S’s food arrived about 15 minutes later. I pushed for her to eat hers first, but mine only took another 5 minutes to arrive so we delved straight into the food. One drawback: food was only lukewarm? Maybe our dishes had been prepared for a while, and the waiter had forgotten to serve us at our table. A petty excuse since there were only 4 tables to serve this lunchtime…

Food wise, mine was a good sized dish which I could just about finish. S thought hers was a good size too, with various ’sides’ around her mound of rice in the middle of the dish.

With 20% off due to our student discount, I would say it’s a fair priced restaurant. I usually don’t have complaints for food that is not terrible, but I do expect my food to be served above 50 degrees celsius, which isn’t that much to ask for. I think I could give Kiasu another go before I strike it off my list, especially since the menu seems so extensive, and small things like that can please me already!

Kiasu
48 Queensway
London W2 3RY
Tel: (020) 77278810

“There’s a single maub and some Laduree macarons in the storage box, plenty to sustain you until you two figure things out.” Chuck Bass

You know that macarons are “it” when Gossip Girl mentions them! I’m not entirely sure what the “maub” meant, is it some sort of beverage? Thank you to Lizelle for pointing out what my ears could not. Chuck Bass in fact mentioned “malt” yes, implying you should swish down your macaron with some whiskey! *wink* What a gorgeous life it’d be! Anyway, it’s awesome to find that Laduree macarons makes it onto Gossip girl… as something you should eat when you’re stuck in a lift and need to sort out a feud with your best friend. Please take note for future reference.

Returning to one of the few reasons why we started DT, I’ll be talking about Jade Garden, one of the better-known and traditional dim sum joints. I visited on saturday, and as I walked through the restaurant, it hit me how awesomely old fashioned the interior looked, with dark brooding colours that you’d see in a chinese restaurant of the 90s. Not that I was complaining. Something that chinese restaurants cant seem to excel on nowadays is the interior design, well… that’s unless you are Yauatcha with an endless dispensible budget!

The dimsum list was extensive, and with a whole table of people, we were able to order over two dozen dim sum dishes which ranged from Scallop Siu Mai, to Prawn Dumplings in Spicy Soup as well as Turnip Croquettes. Each dish arrived freshly deep fried, or steaming in their wooden “long” container. And you can taste the difference: the dim sum has actually been made fresh. (Being Chinese, you develop an ability to taste whether dim sum, such as the cheung fun with fried dough are made fresh). We ordered so many that the little towers of dim sum started to surround each of our personal spaces! All the more convenient to just pick out all the food you want though, I say…

At reasonable prices starting at £1.90 and slightly more expensive for the steamed rice dishes with pork ribs and chicken feet, it came to about £7.50 for each of us. Not bad I’d say since we’re used to paying almost £10 for a similar meal… though I put that down to guys eating so much more and making it incredibly unfair for us!

I used to eat regularly at Lido, with cheap prices without compromising on quality of dim sum, however I sincerely recommend a visit for some traditional dim sum at Jade Garden though. Probably a destination I’ll be taking my parents to show them not all hope is lost on Chinese restaurants in the recession! I have heard the prices can rocket up for dinner, as it is, after all, a seafood restaurant. And we all know what “seasonal prices” mean…

London Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant
翠園魚翅海鮮酒家
15 Wardor St., London W1V 3HD
Tel: 020-74375065

http://www.londonjadegarden.co.uk/

For those who commute, and think about food first thing in the morning (like me)… you’ll have noticed an article in the food section of Metro today on Viet Baguette, a joint on Goodge Street serving the Vietnamese special.

To be honest, I was quite surprised that there was a place serving banh mi in London. In the current crunch, a place that opens for only 4 hours and only MONDAY-FRIDAY? It’s like saying “I’m doing so well, I have weekends off!”. How awesome is that?!

Foie Gras Banh Mi @ Ho Chi Minh City

Anyway, I reminisced about having banh mi in Ho Chi Minh on my holiday there during the summer. Filled with foie gras, pork meat, and the brilliant Vietnamese basil and herbs/salad; you’ll have to excuse how different yet how gorgeous these little bites can be. I take that back, they’re not bites. They are your equivalent to Pret A Manger baguettes, and although I proclaim myself to be the Number #1 fan of Pret, nothing can be quite as exciting as having baguettes that are not french/english/Subway.

I’ll be heading over to Goodge Street sometime. Hope you do too. According to Metro, the lemongrass meatballs and pork floss banh mi is quite the steal. At 5pounds each, I’ll have to see… And let’s argue if it’s authentic or not.

Viet Baguette
14 Charlotte Place,
London W1T 1SW.

Open: Monday to Friday
12noon-4pm

S has been hard working at this blog.
B has been not hard working with this blog.

And now I am back on blogging! Spent the whole summer in Hong Kong, with two weeks in foodie Taiwan, and it was amazing to be in the heat and constantly with food around me. Seriously Hong Kong is no doubt a gastronomical city!! My plan is to slowly post about my holiday foodie events slowly overtime.

But hello!

… is a dangerous sport. You tend to want with extreme longingness, when you see food that you can’t touch (nor taste). Usually the case whtn flickr opens you to the big worldwide web, and you’re probably looking at food from across the world. Take this for example:

Eggs on toast by SeetYing

Jelly by SeetYing

And then you reminisce of food you’ve had before, such as the Steamed Shanghai dumplings (Xiao Long Bao), but where people have obviously taken much better photos than you have, and captured just how tasty these little things were when you ate them four months ago. Much envy.

“xiao long bao” 小笼包 by SeetYing

How can Flickr be so cruel, yet so good…