Jamie's Italian - 10th of July

My friend Karin told me a couple of weeks ago that i needed to put aside Saturday the 10th of July for her to treat me to a birthday day out.

Very exciting! So, true to her word she picked me up at 9am and we travelled to the southbank.. and .. we went to a flotation tank! I have never done it before and was not really sure what to expect but it was actually really relaxing.. apart from in the beginning when i did the totally opposite of what i was instructed and rubbed my eyes when in the water.. OUCH! We then went shopping in Covent Garden followed by a yummy lunch at the newly opened "Jamie's Italian" in Covent Garden http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/

We had an amazing "Raspberry and limoncello mojito" (highly recommend it) and some nibbles "Worlds best olives on ice" which consisted of big green olives on ice and a caper & anchovy tapenade with flat bread.

We both then had the "Amazing Chicken salad" which was a crunchy salad of white radish, coriander, cress, kohlrabi, fennel and minty fregola.. plus the grilled chicken of course. It was really interesting and very tasty!

We then headed of to my hair dresser where Karin had booked me in for a wash and blowdry - ready for the evening ahead! Thank you Karin! :-)

Maze - 8th of July

I am so lucky to have such good friends who wants to take me out for dinner for my birthday! This time Helen whisked me off to Maze http://www.gordonramsay.com/maze/ which is part of Gordon Ramsey's empire of restaurants in London's Mayfair.

We went on a 4 course toptable deal. Maze works like a tapas restaurant and everything is in tapas sized dishes but with a british menu. You can order as many dishes as you want but 4 each is fine since the food is very rich.

We both started with a crayfish salad and a cold lobster bisque with avocado mousse. Very nice but rich!

Helen then had the slowcooked duckegg with asparagus and i went for the braised rabbit with a wild garlic risotto on the side.

We both had the roasted loin of lamb with leeks.. yum!

The piece de resistance of the meal was the pudding which looked too good to eat. Pistagio cake with crumble and raspberry mousse and ice cream. Lovely.

I also got a little chocolate cake for my birthday..very nice but rich.. and to finish a selection of truffles/jellies/fudge.

We had a great time apart from the fact that our waiter was very strange... we both thought that we were on Candid Camera for a moment!! All the other staff were lovely so we were just a little un-lucky!

Thank you Helen! :-)

Cupcakes - 8th of July

My boss decided that we should order in cupcakes (again) for everybody in the team to eat during an informal meeting.

2 weeks ago i ordered cupcakes from the Hummingbird bakery in Wardour Street http://hummingbirdbakery.com/ for a similar event but i forgot to take photos.. this time i ordered from Ella's Bakehouse in Covent Garden http://ellasbakehouse.co.uk/ and ta-daah, i remembered to take a photo.

Taste wise i think i prefer the Hummingbird (the carrot cake cupcake) but the peanut butter one from Ella's was nice too.

Note: they are all VERY sweet so be aware of the sugar rush!

Birthday treat at Hix @ The Albemarle - 6th of July

My friend Iolanda treated me to a very nice birthday dinner last Wuesday. We went to Brown's hotel in Mayfair on a Toptable deal. The restaurant is called Hix at the Albemarle http://www.brownshotel.com/dining/ Hix is of course the well known chef and restaurateur who owns and manages a series of restaurants: http://www.restaurantsetcltd.co.uk/markhix/

We had a drink in the bar before our dinner reservation at 7pm. We were actually the first people to sit down for dinner but that was fine. A few more tables got filled as the evening went on but it was quite quiet.
Not that we cared :-)


Iolanda and i tend to like the same things on the menu's when we go out.. and it was no different this time! We both went for a lovely goats cheese salad with lots of crunchy summer vegetables.. lovely and light.


Following the starter we had a very tasty Halibut with peas and pancetta in a cream sauce. Very nice.

We decided to share a dessert and went for an elderflower and strawberry jelly with ice cream.. perfectly wobbly.


Lovely food and lovely company - thank you Iolanda!

Lunch in Tetbury - 3rd of July

When in the Cotswolds we decided to go to a town called Tetbury for lunch. Karim had organised lunch at a place called "The Chefs table" http://www.thechefstable.co.uk/about.html

It is basically a deli/bistro/cooking school with a big open kitchen so you can see your lunch being prepared. I really enjoyed watching my lunch being cooked!

Karim went for a home made Chicken Kiev with mash and he was very happy with his choice. I was not as successful in my choice of Duck confit - it was not tender enough - normally it would just cut like butter! My accompinents were very nice though (broadbeans and parma ham). We did mention that the duck wasn't up to standard and they kindly removed the charge off the bill.

Birthday weekend at Cowley Manor - 2nd of July

Wow, it has been a week of non stop restaurant visits due to my birthday.. yes, i am 26 again ;-)

My lovely partner decided to surprise me with a weekend stay at lovely Cowley Manor in the Cotswolds.. stunning place: http://www.cowleymanor.com/

We had dinner there on the Friday night and since the weather was lovely we were able to sit on the terrace with an amazing view over the pond and grounds.. the food wasn't too shabby either! :-)

Karim started with a seared scallop and salmon with a crispy salmon skin.. looked beautiful and was very nice - i didn't even get to taste! Saying that, my lightly dressed crab salad was very very nice.. perfectly dressed and very light.

For mains Karim went for the steak (he is so predictable) and i went for a panfried fillet of fish with a crab salad (yes, more crab.. lovely).

We finished off with a treacle tart for Karim and a goey chocolate pudding for me. Both nice!

Roasted Tomato soup - 30th of June

I am still a bit obsessed with my hand blender so i decided to make another soup. This time a roasted tomato and onion soup which turned out really well! Here is the recipe:



Roasted Tomato soup with basil oil and creme fraiche (serves 2 as a main)



-2 punnets of cherry tomatoes (plum cherry tomatoes are good)

- 1 red onion - roughly cut into wedges

- 1 red chili (chopped and deseeded)

- 2 cloves of garlic (un-peeled)

- 2 table spoons of Knorr's liquid stock concentrate

- 1 pint of hot water (or more - depends on the thickness of the soup required)

- pinch of sugar

- bunch of basil

- 4 table spoons of olive oil

- creme fraice for garnish

- salt & pepper



Start with putting the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil/salt and pepper and roast for around 20 - 30 min (180 C) until every thing looks cooked (add the chili towards the end so it doesn't get burnt). Tip all of the vegetables including juices into a saucepan. Squeeze out the roasted garlic from their skins and add to the mix.

Use the hand blender and puree everything. Put the saucepan on the heat and add the stock and water until the consistency you are after. Season to taste with salt/pepper/sugar. Pour into bowls and drizzle with the basil oil (mix the basil leaves in a mixes with the oil to a puree) and swirl in some creme fraiche.

Serve with some crusty baguette.

Optional extra: i added a few sundried tomatoes from a jar to the oven baked tomatoes when blending for an extra deep flavor which was very nice.

2 x birthday lunch at Inamo in Soho - 25th of June

We had a double birthday lunch celebration in the admin team the other day and we went to Inamo in Soho http://www.inamo-restaurant.com/ to celebrate.

I have wanted to go to Inamo for quite a while and even missed a reservation there once due to traffic so i was very much looking forward to our lunch. Inamo is an Oriental fusion restaurant and some people might say a bit gimmicky due to the special way you order.. however, we all loved it and the food was fantastic.. and we were on a 50% off the a la carte so un-beatable! It is very dark and moody in the restaurant and your table has got the menu projected onto your place setting. You use a "built in" mouse to browse and to order your food. You can also change the "table cloth" that is projected or do a "kitchen cam" and watch the chefs at work - hours of fun to be had! So, on a serious note.. what about the food? Well, we are all amazed by the presentation of everything - pretty as a picture!

We all shared some edamame and then we ordered 2 small dishes each and 1 large dish each with a couple of sides to share.

I started with "Yellow tail (raw) marinated in mirin and truffle oil" which was very nice!


I also had the "Chicken betel leafs" which basically were betel leafs with shredded chicken, chili, apple and herbs - very moorish and quite spicy - yum!


For main i had the black cod - i can never resist that dish if it is on a menu. It didn't disappoint, lovely flavor and presentation.


We decided to be naughty and have dessert too and i went for the "Macaroon with Yuzu and white chocolate mousse and lemongrass sorbet" which was gorgous and so pretty i almost didn't want to eat it :-)


I would happily go back to Inamo again and again if the food stays as good as it was.. and at 50% off it was a total bargain!