Dinner at Meza with the girls - 18th of February

Had a girly evening out on the 18th of February with the lovely ladies :-) We met up at Detroit bar http://www.detroit-bar.com/ close to where i work (they have some good happy hour cocktails until 7pm which we then followed up with dinner at Meza on Wardour Street http://www.meza-bar.co.uk/. Our birthday girl, Erika, had managed to bag a 3 course deal for £15 which is great for Meza. We had a limited menu with around 3-4 choices per course but for £15 - who can complain?
Meza was really buzzy when we arrived just after 7pm.. great ambiance and we got a very good table .. i think we scared away the group that sat nearby with our laughing but hey, you can't please everyone... and 8 girls after a few cocktails can not be expected to be quiet ;-)

For my starter i had "Marinated scottish salmon, belgium endive, sweet mustard and dill dressing" which was perfectly acceptable but quite small. For my main i had "Pan fried seabass, grain mustard mashed potatoes, mussels and a beurre blanc" This was only let down with the mash which had been totally overworked so the texture was a bit like glue.
My dessert was "Orange flower & dark bitter chocolate tart with mascarpone and chestnut honey" which was nice.
Definately a good place to go with a group for a fun evening. A big plus was our lovely waiter Kurt, who did not get intimidated by us and just took it all in his stride :-)  A big minus for Meza having pushy toilet attendants who expect you to give them a pound for just handing you a paper towel to dry your hands...

Lena's Restaurant - 24th of February

Had a dinner date with my lovely friends Fredrik and Ian on a lovely and warm (for being February) Thursday evening. They had booked a restaurant called "Lena" in Shoreditch on a 50% off the a la carte deal (the price next to each dish below is the full a la carte price and we had 50% off that)
http://www.lenarestaurant.com/
The restaurant looked very white, zesty and modern and we were lucky enough to get the lovely sofa's by the entrance (i think Ian had requested the sofa's when booking) which were comfortable.
Service was good after some initial issues with the wine order due to a missunderstanding (the old language barrier) but that was sorted out and we were "good to eat".
I had "Seared hand-dived Devonshire scallops, crispy pancetta, salsa verde" (£14.50) which was nice but the scallops were not seared properly.. so could have been better - i love it when scallops have been properly seared and almost caramelized on the outside and still soft on the inside.. sadly not this time.
For main i had "Sliced char-grilled Scottish sirloin steak, rocket leaves, black truffle shavings & white truffle oil. (£22.90) Perfectly cooked beef, medium, with lovely truffle aroma. Very tasty indeed!
I really enjoyed this restaurant and i would come back again on a deal but i would not pay full price.

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley Hotel - 22nd of February

I booked a table at Marcus Wareing @ The Berkeley for Karim's birthday dinner on the 22nd of February. I have always admired Marcus cooking from the days when he used to head up the kitchen at Gordon Ramseys' Maze (which actually used to be at the Berkeley).. i have fond memories of the "bon bon trolley" and to my great surprise it is still there!
We were both very excited about the dinner ahead and the restaurant was very busy when we arrived on a Tuesday evening. It is not exactly the right place to take up a camera phone and snap away so i am afraid there are no photos to show... however, the food was beautiful and the service very good and attentive without being intrusive.
We decided to go for the "Menu Prestige" which showcases the restaurant's cooking and gives you a little bit of everything. This is also so much more fun since you get to try things you normally might not order. All the appetizers/starters were great and looked like little pieces of art. Karim picked the beef for his main and i picked the lamb... both of us enjoyed our choices. We skipped the cheese course and went straight for dessert (incl. 2 pre desserts). We then were so full up that when the bon bon trolley came around we could not eat anything.. but luckily for us we got a bag of chocolate truffles to go instead! I would highly recommend this restaurant for a special occasion but note that it is very expensive so save up before you go! (like i did :-))

Prestige Menu

Foie gras, prune, armagnac, walnut, apple
•••
Dorset crab, potato bread, pear, chestnut
•••
Quail, chorizo, tomato marmalade, goats’ cheese, coriander
•••
Langoustine, black pudding, clementine, leek
•••
Cornish lamb, falafel, cucumber, carrot, pink peppercorn yogurt
Or
Aberdeen Angus beef fillet, onion, parsley, smoked bone marrow
•••
Selection of cheeses from La Fromagerie (£12 supplement)
•••
Pre dessert
•••
Espresso arctic roll, bitter chocolate, blackberry
£ 98

Valentines Day - 14th of February

Another year.. another Valentines day :-)
I made a very cute dinner for myself and Karim for Valentine's day.. puff pastry hearts filled with feta, parma ham and caramelised onions.. yummy... and they looked fab too.

Puffy Valentine hearts for 2:

- 1 ready rolled puff pastry pack
- 1 pack of parma ham (6-8 slices)
- pack of thyme
- 1 large red onion
- 1 tbsp of caster sugar
- 4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- 1 red chili
- 50-100 grams of feta cheese (up to you how much you want)
- handful of pine nuts - toasted
- 1 egg (whisked and used to glaze)
- salt and pepper to taste
- rocket salad for the plate

How to: Roll out the puff pastry and cut out hearts, gently cut a "frame" 1 cm inside the hearts but not all the way through. use the leftover pastry and create letters or other shapes and stick on to the heart (you can use some of the egg glaze for it to stick. Brush the whole heart with the egg glaze and put in the oven for 15 - 20 min (200 c) until risen and golden.
In the meantime, sweat down the onion (chopped) in some olive oil together with some chopped chili, when soft, add sugar, balsamic, some fresh thyme, salt and pepper and let it caramelize. Put aside.
Take out the puff pastry hearts, gently cut off the "lid" then fill the bottom bit with the onion mix, strips of parma ham and top with the feta cheese. Put back into the oven and let it cook for 10 min or until done.
Take out, sprinkle the toasted pine nuts on top, put the lid on and serve on the plates with some rocket on the side.

Cocoon - 8th of February

Had a dinner date with my lovely friend Helen last Tuesday.. we normally meet up once a month but we have been a bit slack in organising these catch up's recently.. we finally agreed on tuesday the 8th of February and Helen booked us in on a 50% off deal at Cocoon. I used to love Cocoon but i haven't been for over 2 years.. last time i was there it looked a bit tatty and in need of a refurb.. i was pleasantly surprised when i arrived on Tuesday.. it looked quite fresh and nice.. and the waiter told me that they are in the process to have another re-furb in the next couple of months.. hmm.. i think i will be back again.. but only on a deal mind you.

We ordered 3 starters to share... i highly recommend all of them actually.. firstly duck spring rolls crammed full of lovely duck.. a classic but with a very generous filling. The 2nd dish was also fabulous, chicken gyozas.. which i love.. and they were very very good (and a nice presentation). the 3rd dish was quite subtle in flavour.. i loved it but Helen wasn't so sure.. which meant that she only had one dumpling.. and i had the other 3 :-) It was a a vegetable dumpling with truffle.. bright green in colour and filled with perfectly cooked vegetables and a hint of truffle.. very tasty.

For mains we shared a "Bo-Luc-Lac beef" which translated to stir fried beef slices with mushrooms served with a dipping sauce and little lettuce cups which you put the beef in and rolled up into a roll. It was nice but the sauce lacked chili heat.

We also had a green chicken curry with rice.. it was OK but not great.

The meal for 2 incl 2 glasses of wine and 2 non alcoholic coctails, a bottle of water and service came to £70 after our discount which i think was good value for the meal and i would go back again on the offer.

Sunday Lunch at Stoke Place - 23rd of January 2011

We decided to drive out to Stoke Place on Sunday to have a look around since they were having an open house for Weddings.. and since we are planning ours we thought it would be fun to take a little peek.. We also decided to have lunch there since the food is pretty good.. and good value for money, £15 for 2 courses - not bad at all.

I went for a layered terrine of smoked salmon and anchovy butter with marinated cucumber and a citrus dressing, served with brown toast. I really loved the dish, so simple but really nice.. i will have to experiment with some sliced smoked salmon at home i think!

Karim went for a chicken mousse terrine served with a chutney, beautifully presented and very tasty i'm told.

For main i had a pan fried bream with borlotti beans and sauce vierge. Tasted lovely and fresh.

Karim went for the roasted sirloin of beef, roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding (surprise surprise) :-)

We did not have space for dessert but they did look very tempting too. :-)

At Home (away from home) - 21st of January 2011

We are currently living in an apartment hotel since we are having repair work done to our flat.. i have only really heated up soups until now.. but on Friday i thought, Let's Cook!
It is a fully fitted kitchen in the apartment but i am of course missing some of my favorite tools.. never mind - time to improvise!
I decided on making a dish i saw in Metro newspaper one morning.. with a few tweaks.. it was YUMMY.. so here we go:

Chorizo, Butternut and Sweet potato bake
(2 people)

- 400 gr,  ready cubed mix of butternut squash and sweet potatoes ( or you can of course cut them yourself)
- (about 300 gr or 5 small) cooking chorizo's
- 1 red onion
- bag of rocket salad
- 1 tub of feta cheese
- handful of pine nuts (toasted in a hot frying pan)
- chopped red chili
- Olive oil, salt, pepper

Put the butternut squash and the sweet potatoes in a lined oven tray with the red onion (quartered) and the chopped chili. drizzle about a tbps of oil or less over, grind some salt and pepper and mix with your hands. cut the chorizo length ways and add to the tray.
Put in the oven for about 25 min on 200 degrees C, turn a couple of times for it to cook evenly.

Scoop on to plates, crumble the feta over, then add the pine nuts and top with the rocket salad. Lovely!