Tag Archives: nick harman

San Hao Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

Guitar god Nigel Tufnell once asked “How much more black can it be? … None. None more black”. I’m looking at K’s chilli chicken cappuccino but replacing black with white. It’s like gazing into an open tin of Dulux, albeit slightly frothier. It’s rather mesmerising.

It’s called New-Age “Cappuccino” Chicken Noodles. The cream is really a topping, and underneath is rich chicken broth and, when stirred, fat noodles break the surface along with portions of roasted chicken. The noodles are hand made, silky smooth and have more bounce than Eeyore. It’s not my dish,  but I love the flavours so much that I keep dipping in my spoon, much to K’s annoyance. I love the pricks of chili, just enough to fire up the palate not so much as to extinguish all the other lovely flavours, especially the flavour of roast chicken skin.


Located in the very heart of Chinatown and spread over three (possibly even more floors, these Chinatown buildings are bigger than the Tardis inside) San Hao is a new kid on the Gerrard Street block. It may also be the only one that hasn’t got a staff member outside hassling passers by to come in, instead it relies on word of mouth and a man making Baos in the window, to advertise itself.

Billed as San Hao Noodle Atelier, or ‘workshop’,  its avowed aim is to do something different with noodles while respecting tradition and leveraging British produce. It’s the first joint project between Daren Liew (Hakkasan, Duddells, Nanyang Blossom) and the people behind the YiQi, The Eight and Dozo.

It’s modern inside, and the staff have headsets, but I got 90s Deja Vu when they told us to go upstairs just as Won Kei always did back in the day.

The range of inventive noodle dishes, wet and dry, is compact but very tempting. When we get upstairs there are a fair few Chinese, or Chinese heritage, people eating which is a good sign and one man appears to be eating a dinosaur bone in broth, but it’s probably Black Garlic Herbal Pork Bone Soup Noodles.

We share  the Four Flavor Bao Platter, and there are four of them. This is not usual as Chinese dining rules usually dictate odd numbers only, which makes sharing fairly – fairly difficult.

Not here though. Each was different, so we picked randomly. All delicious and with “nicely browned bottoms”, as they would gleefully say on Great British Bake Off, no doubt courtesy of the cast iron pot they were cooked in. A side dish of chilli oil was useful.

So I told you about the ‘cappucino’, but what else did we have from an extensive menu? Well we share Salted Egg Salad Cream with Fine Bean  – translated as ‘crispy green beans tossed in buttery salted egg glaze’. To be honest, this seems to simply be French  beans deep fried in a light batter. I believe the salted duck eggs are supposed to add a savouriness  but I don’t  detect any or much help from the garlic and chilli. A pleasant dish but underwhelming.

There is a slight lack of heft in my dry noodle dish, Golden Roe Chilli Crab and Salted Prawn as well. Lovely pieces of crab and prawn in a sauce that is tasty but overly sweet for my liking. I expected more saltiness from the roe and the prawn,  and the obvious pieces of chili are surprisingly muted, considering the dish’s name.

 For a Chinatown place, San Hao seems a bit Western timid in its spicing. Great noodles, just the right bite and the sauce sticks to them lovingly, so perhaps though I should have had Hot ‘n’ Spicy Roasted Yellow Chilli Grouper Noodles?

We don’t have desserts. I rarely do in Chinese (or Indian) places, but the two on offer sound quite interesting.

I like the concept of San Hao, a Chinatown restaurant that’s not offputting to Westerners. It’s clean and crisp looking, and there are plenty of unusual dishes that are clearly explained on the menu. Just as well, as  I think we’ve all at some time ordered something from a Chinatown menu that made us feel a bit shocked, if not ready to scream, when it arrived.

3 Gerrard St, London W1D 5PD

www.sanhao.co.uk

Sycamore Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

Hotel restaurants, when not stand alone specials, can get a bad rep. The challenge is to provide food for everyone of any race, creed or colour. And, of course, their kids. Sycamore has got it right.

Sycamore, is an Italian restaurant at the five-star Middle Eight hotel, Covent Garden. It’s not quite in Covent Garden to be fair, it’s east of the architecturally gruesome Masonic Temple, but it’s only a few minutes walk away and not much further to Theatreland.

It’s a super modern hotel, all glass fronted and with sliding doors that cleverly open just before you crash into them. The bar is very large, an island surrounded by seating, with a ceiling that’s all ducting camouflaged by thousands of gilded sycamore leaves. 

It’s a good space, warm and welcoming despite its size. We ate here, as the restaurant proper is at the back and a little less welcoming. Everyone eating was in the bar area and there were a lot of people for a Wednesday. Many were guests, I assume, but all the same it was a good sign.

Real napkins. I know that seems a small thing, but it’s a good sign in my book. They’ve gone for the extra expense of laundry to make the dining a bit classier.


The menu is, obviously, Italian. There’s plenty of choice for starters that range across mushroom arancini with basil aioli;  mac and cheese croquettes with marinara sauce;,  garlic king prawns with chilli and fresh herbs and more. Small plates, so you could easily make a meal out of these alone. There are pizzas too, of course, but personally I don’t trust restaurant  pizzas, I only eat pizzas in pizzerias.

We share chargrilled chicken skewers with lemon, thyme, smoked paprika, and golden calamari with lemon aioli. I always tell myself I won’t order calamari yet again, and yet againI always do. I have some kind of addiction to these things.

These are good, if a little overbattered which makes them quite filling, and a bit more lemon in the mayo wouldn’t have gone amiss. 

The chicken skewers are moist, not always the case with grilled chicken, and the paprika spiced mayo swirls are helpful. I do like the pea shoots, still a trendy garnish, the crispy stems a good contrast. As you can see from the photos though, pea shoots got rather a lot of airplay across the meal. I began to wonder  if I’d get some on my dessert as well.


I press S not to have steak, not on a review, anyone can cook a steak, but he really insists. Rather an expensive Flat Iron steak, but it’s a good one. Medium rare and well rested so that the pink is smoothed out, and it’s pre sliced against the grain too, which I think makes it always look a bit more interesting as well as easier to eat. Flat Iron is probably the ​​next most tender cut of beef after fillet, with the all important marbling that means flavour.

The smoked salt fries that I repeatedly steal are delicious, and the chimichurri sauce is well made so he doesn’t need to open the little pots of tomato sauce and mayo provided,  presumably intended for less sophisticated diners to ruin their chips with.

For me it has to be pasta, and while truffle carbonara tagliatelle with pancetta, cream, and pecorino would have been glamorous, and king prawn linguine, with garlic, chilli, parsley very fancy, I wanted ragu, slow cooked beef ragu with pappardelle.

This is just how it should be, the beef ragged and scrappy from its long cooking and the sauce rich with the smooth wide pasta having absorbed some of it. No parmesan at table, but enough already added and yes, more pea shoots. They must have bought a job lot of them.

Tiramisu to end. Very nicely done, kind of deconstructed and modern, plenty of chocolate, plenty of mascarpone but B all Marsala as far as I can tell. I imagine alcohol is not included because of children, there should be two versions  – one for the little darlings and one for grown ups.

Panacotta is wonderfully wobbly and unctuous, we love the vanilla in it and the strawberry sauce and crumbled shortbread are good dance partners. Pea shoots have been replaced by edible flowers and look very pretty.

Conclusion? Hotel guests unwilling or wary of eating out in the wilds of Covent Garden won’t be disappointed, especially if they have kids in tow. A nice classy place with prices within reach especially if you look for daily deals.

It’s also ideal for theatre goers who want to eat something first without being ripped off and still be within easy reach of the show. No need to go full on, three small plates or bites and a glass of wine is £25 which seems very reasonable.

 66 Great Queen St, London WC2B 5BX

www.middleight.com

Hankki Restaurant Review

Posted on by under restaurant reviews, Restaurants

Hankki means ‘one meal’ in Korean, but when Nick and K went in they ate enough for an army. 

Just on the fringes of Chinatown, a few doors down from my once beloved Wong Kei ( it eventually got too self-aware and ironic), Hankki is the kind of place Instagrammers love. It’s not completely traditional Korean, the full on cooking can be a bit challenging for some, and it has made sure it’s brightly lit with a very youthful vibe out front. The staff took one look at K and me and directed us out to the back, we were far too old and vibe killing.

Actually though this was a good thing as we got to sit at a nice large table, and we were going to need all that space as the dishes soon started piling up to satisfy our venerable greed. The centre of the table had a BBQ skillet which our waiter, sensing our intentions, fired up straightaway to get good and hot.

There are various set menus available, from £31 to £46 per person and they’re all generous in choice and taste, but we dive straight in to a la carte with some prawns in batter which are properly crispy but not overly exciting, whereas the fried squid is lively with, I assume, gochujang, Korea’s marvellous fermented chili paste. 

This is perfect for knocking  back in quantity with cold beer, so that’s what we do. I really like the fact it is all in odd size pieces, the tiniest and best bits being almost all batter, just like it used to be in UK fish and chip shops.

Talking of batter, the seafood pancakes (Haemul Jeon) feature a lot of batter around a good selection of seafood and the all important spring onions, nice and crispy on the outside, a little bit oily inside, but very delicious. We then have to drop  our follow-up slices to deal with Kimchi Tofu soup.

It’s more kimchi than soup and that’s fine by us as we both love kimchi and its full on funk. This hot and sour soup is often made with pork, but this is cubes of tofu along with garlic, ginger, spring onion and daikon. Spooned onto rice it’s frighteningly addictive and we shovel it down like it was going to run away.

But hold on, there is now Chicken Noodle Cheese. A tangle of bouncy noodles with lots of chicken thigh and topped with cheese. Plenty of Gochugaru and Gochujang are pumping out heat with a hint of sweetness to balance it. The cheese topping binds it and there is a fried egg included, although it’s hard and I think it should be soft so it can be broken and stirred in. Absolutely delicious. 

We really could call it a day and roll out happy, but there is the BBQ to be dealt with. Plates of raw Hankki beef, Bulgogi Wagyu Sirloin, spicy chicken and sweet soy octopus to griddle and eat along with more kimchi, cucumber, daikon and other assorted pickled vegetables and sauces.

We do our best. The Wagyu is of course divine, the basic beef great, the chicken tender and soon charred,  and the octopus, depending on how long we leave it on the grill, nice and tender or overdone.

And we’re done, lolling back in our seats and groaning slightly with no room for the IG special, Yuzu cheesecake in the shape of a miniature dog. We see it being served as we leave soon after and it is so realistic it’s a bit unnerving.

We absolutely loved our Hankki feast and with so much on the menu it’s a place to go back to again and again. Bold flavours, plenty on the plate and a great atmosphere. ‘One meal’ indeed, but what a meal.

www.hankki.co.uk

7 Wardour St, London W1D 6PE

Lilibet’s Restaurant Review

Posted on by under restaurant reviews, Restaurants

Opulent and impressive, with a side order of slightly camp, this restaurant celebrates the past and feels guaranteed to have a glorious future

An IKEA TV campaign, not so long ago, urged everyone to ‘chuck out their chintz’. It seems that much of it ended up in Lilibet’s. I’ve not seen so much of the stuff since my maiden aunt died at 97, the same day as Elizabeth II, and her house hadn’t changed since the 1940s.

This new restaurant is on the site of the building where Elizabeth (Lillibet) II began her life, although the actual house was demolished years ago.


Internally Russell Sage Studios have created what can be either called a loving homage of interior design trends back then, or an affectionate parody of the same. There are handwoven Gainsborough silks on the walls, and even the sort of fake fireplace once found in stately council homes. Usually accompanied by a car up on bricks outside.

I like it, everything about the place has a wry smile on its face and it’s extremely welcoming, comfortable and, yes, it is actually elegant. There’s nothing else like it in an area that has become very blingy, majorly catering to Russian and Middle Eastern tastes.

It’s not perhaps what you’d expect from Ross Shonhan, once Executive chef at Zuma London, and who created the iconic Bone Daddies ramen bars that for years were the talk of blogland, with people scrambling to get as much oily broth inside themselves as possible..

Here it’s fish, fish  and more fish across a very large space divided into zones. A bar, a marble topped seafood bar, (oysters and caviar feature, of course) a fish grill, and traditional seating to eat whatever you want. These seats are extra plush, and whilst the tables have no tablecloths, they are dark wood and so still feel upper class.

It’s a menu that could have you indecisively flicking back and forth for a month, but we know what we want.


Anchovy éclairs and crab tarts are more nibbles than full on starters, but they are both rather wonderful. I love anchovies, particularly the tinned brown fillets, but they do repel some people. The important thing is to get the best you can find – cheap anchovies don’t have the rich texture and deep umami that’s so present here.

I saw a recipe for these in the The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook (don’t judge me). So as a savoury they have been around a long time in posh circles. They’re usually made with puff pastry, here though it’s proper choux with the hollow space inside piped with anchovy parfait and on top sharp/sweet sauce. Gone all too quickly, but the memory lingers.

The crab tarts are equally impressive, small works of culinary art, super-fresh sweet crab enlivened by citrus and cosseted in pastry shells that are as delicate as the porcelain  Liz 2 probably had her afternoon tea served in.

Did I mention it’s a big menu? Well we dither over the Ricotta agnolotti,  lobster spaghetti, whole turbot pil pil as choices, but the “fish triptych,” fish served in three different ways – a crudo, a grilled main and a soup  – sounds too unique not to try.


From the fish of the day we have the Sea Bream. This arrives first as crudo – raw – dressed with olive oil, salt, lemon and perhaps vinegar, and liberally scattered with herbs. This really showcases the fish which is firmly ‘cooked’ by the acids to a divine buttery texture. My only caveat being that the fresh chili was rather too fierce at times.

Next from the same fish comes its fillets, cooked in the searing heat of the bespoke wood oven. A perfect piece of fish, the skin crispy and golden, the flesh gorgeously creamy. It is so naturally excellent that the mojo verde sauce is in some ways not needed,  but in other ways I need lots more. And a spoon, too. I could also do with some chips, but then I am common.

Lastly, the remains of the fish are cooked fast in a pressure cooker to create one of the best fish soups either of us have ever tasted, and yes we have been to the South of France.

It’s ladled out tableside, which is posh, and we boat it back with little oohs and aahs. There is some left in the tureen, so rather than summon a footman I top up our bowls myself. Sometimes one simply cannot wait to be served.


I now have to mention the Lobster Mash, after all everybody else has. Firstly it gave me an annoying earworm; I can’t stop hearing ‘Monster Mash’ in my head, and secondly it really is very good. Buttery, creamy, mash anointed with a lobster bisque? How can it fail?

It’s served after the soup, I’d have liked it served with the #2 fish, although that may not have been the best way to showcase either dish. Anyway, it is decadent, depraved and delicious. It’s a must have, a right royal treat.

They do a rather odd dessert here, a Prego sandwich. It’s a garlic steak sandwich, the word ‘prego’ in Portuguese means ‘nail,’ perhaps the nail in your coffin? It is actually a well-loved Portuguese snack that is often eaten after a seafood meal. I don’t really fancy it, but a twist on crepes suzette does sound good.

It arrives rolled up, topped with a sauce of caramelised sugar, orange juice and butter, plus thin candied orange peels, and yes, it is torched (or flambeed as they say in more refined circles) at the table. It’s a blast from the past and a very welcome one.

Lillibet’s really is something special in London; its interiors, its staff, its food all remind me of why I go out to eat in the first place, not to greedily catch a trend but to relax and enjoy time with friends and family in a place that believes in the basics. 

Lillibet’s I am sure will become as much a part of London’s history as Liz 2 was, and hopefully live just as long.

17 Bruton St, London W1J 6QB
lilibetsrestaurant.com

Med Sallah Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

In the heart of Kangaroo Valley, this small but perfectly formed Vietnamese restaurant is properly delicious

It’s not really fair to call Earls Court ‘Roo valley anymore, but back in the 60s just about every young Australian lived there. Today its grand old houses are more likely to be hotels than bedsits, but the area still has a certain rundown aura.

Down under one of the big houses, in what would once have been the servant’s domain, there is still a kitchen at 32-36 except now instead of boiling cabbages it’s grilling delicious fish and meats and simmering some wonderful Phos.

Med Sallah is the new restaurant from Med Pang and Koi Lee, the people behind critically acclaimed Malaysian favourite Med Salleh Kopitiam.

Once down the steep little steps you enter a compact place warmly painted and with a market scene across one wall. The chairs look like they’ve been rescued from a 1920’s British open topped car, they’re very covetable and also very comfortable.

Koi’s Vietnamese wife Syphong Lam is in the kitchen and out front is a welcoming and friendly team. Most of the customers also appear to be Vietnamese, which is usually a very good sign.

We sat back and let the team choose for us, after wimpishly specifying ‘no offal’ and we certainly got the works.  Translucent prawn summer rolls with dipping sauce were packed with crispness and great clumps of fresh herbs, the prawns eerily visible through the wrapper skin as if hiding behind a shower curtain.

Rather cleverly the prawns are divided in half lengthways so they appear large but are in fact light and delicate. Veggies can have the version with mushrooms.

Moving on, a mango and prawn salad has the classic Vietnamese interplay of sharp, sour, sweet and hot. Tomatoes, grated carrot and lettuce all up the freshness. Personally I would have upped the fish sauce quotient too, as well as the lime, but I have no doubt this is done correctly for Vietnamese tastes. It was delicious all the same.

Med Sallah focuses on street food and in Vietnam that means things cooked over the simplest grills, literally on the street.

We have three superb lamb chops, crusted in spices, grilled and perfectly pink-ish. Lemongrass and chilli seem solidly represented and they are very gnawable right down to the bone where the best flavour always is.

Also grilled is a squid, the whole tube and at sea-monster size too. It’s not easy to cook squid well, it either needs to be cooked very fast and very hot, or slowly braised. In between it’s rubbery. Here it was spot on, and again generously but not overpoweringly spiced. The waitress cuts it into rings with large scissors, a very useful aid to eating. We have a little tussle over the tentacles, for me the best bit.

Bun Cha is cold vermicelli rice noodles with meat marinated in lots of lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce and soy sauce. You can have it here with grilled chicken, beef, prawn or mushroom. We have excellent beef and chicken, the cold noodles are a bit odd at first but we come to love them. I imagine they are wonderfully refreshing in a hot climate.

And Pho. Created in Nam Định, Pho Phở is of course broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. The meat cooks in the hot broth when mixed at the table.  Here we had a version almost certainly not eaten on the average street, unless perhaps it’s Bond Street, which was their Classic Signature Truffle Wagyu Pho.

Well it was superb, the dense flavours of the stock pricked by the truffle and the beef was remarkable. Soft, melting and all too soon gone, but drinking the stock kept the flavours going.

And to end something from the mists of time, a deep fried banana with ice cream. This made me very nostalgic as  I burned my tongue just as I used to do all those years ago. Mind you,this was fresh crisp batter, and back in the day that was unheard of.

You have to like Med Sallah, its cafe style relaxed atmosphere, the great food and the lovely people. Take a first date there and impress them with your knowledge of places not on the radar.

32-36 Hogarth Rd, London SW5 0PU

medsalleh.co.uk/viet-earls-court

Viking Feast at The Glyde Inn Review.

Posted on by under Europe, Northern Europe, restaurant reviews, seafood

Seafood of the finest kind is served at this ancient Irish pub, but horned hats are optional

Looking over my shoulder I can see my fellow viking crew members pulling hard at their oars. Turning to the right I can see the shoreline and our settlement. A quiet voice in my head is telling me the history of the place.

Ten minutes later and I’m back in the pub, readjusting to the world as it is now.

The Glyde Inn, Annagassan County Louth has stood for centuries on the site of what was once a major viking settlement. It was ‘National Irish Pub of the Year’ in 2018 and from the front it seems no more than a small pub in a terraced row of houses, but pass through the cosy 1770s interior and head out back and you come across breathtaking views of both the enormous Dundalk bay and the Mountains of Mourne.

The enterprising owners Paul and Ann O’Neill have built up the business since 1976 and recently created an engrossing VR headset experience to illustrate the village’s viking settlement history, a time when it was Linn Duachaill, a Viking Longphort.  It really is the last thing you’d expect to find in an Irish pub once the evening haunt of C.S Lewis, author of the Narnia tales.

Viking tales aside, I’m here for the beer and the Viking Seafood Feast. These waters produce superb seafood and have done so since the Viking times, one of the reasons they chose to settle here about an hour’s drive from what is now Dublin. After a surely very difficult and perilous journey around Scotland, to find this earthly paradise must have been a relief.

I’m relieved to find it too. While the weather outside is unusually fine for October, a cosy pub is always a pleasure to dive into.

With the VR goggles off it’s time to don beer goggles for a bottle of Linn Duachaill Irish Pale Ale, the house beer of The Glyde Inn and made in small batches for them by the Brehon Brewhouse. Nicely hopped, not like the London hipster pale ales that taste of urinal cakes, it’s a good palate teaser for the first dish- Carlingford oysters from nearby Carlingford.

Superb oysters, screamingly fresh, plump and briny, you’ll be hard pushed to find better. The beer is a perfect pairing.

Next crab legs, again pulled out of the nearby waters. Massive things simply dressed with Irish butter aromatised with lemon. I wield my ‘crackers’ with what I assume is skill,  but manage to explode a leg so that butter, and fragments of crab, go everywhere, some of it on other diners. This being Ireland it’s taken in good spirit.


I spend a happy ten minutes teasing every last piece of the deliciously sweet white meat out of the shells. So simple, so delicious. I drink a glass of Fairy Trees Chardonnay aged in Irish Whiskey Barrels for 3 months with it. The grapes are grown not far away on the banks of the River Dee. Who knew wine was made in Ireland? Not me. The creamy texture and hints of whiskey work well with the crab.

Like a true Viking I plough on. Next up are razor clams, one of the most delicious seafoods there is. Again fished straight from Dundalk bay, cooked they’re served in a garlic, white wine reduction. For anyone that’s not had razor clams, the texture is soft but firm rather like a cooked king prawn. The tip is usually more tender than the base, which is a bit more chewy. Lovely.

And then something new to me, Cloggerhead Black Sole served on the bone. What a fish, the flesh lifts away perfectly, while dripping butter, and soon only a Tom & Jerry skeleton is left. What a London restaurant might charge for such superb fish I can only guess at and it’s academic anyway, it would never taste as good if it had to travel hundreds of miles rather than hundreds of yards.

It comes with Colcannon mash that’s made gloriously green with sea radish that I saw chef foraging earlier from the shoreline. And with that I breathe a deep sigh of happiness and down a Bailey’s before heading off back to modern times.

This really is the kind of seafood meal that would be all over the Sunday magazines if it were in Spain, and yet this kind of excellence is available just next door to Britain.

It’s another excuse to travel to County Louth for a short break of a foodie kind. Skol!


www.theglydeinn.ie

Aer Lingus fly to Dublin with 9 daily flights between London Heathrow and Dublin, Ireland. One-way fares start from £59.99 each way including taxes and charges. For more information visit www.aerlingus.com”

Nick’s visit was facilitated by www.discoverboynevalley.ie



Thornbury Castle Restaurant Review

Posted on by under chefs, Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

You may not eat in the same room that Henry VIII did, but you will have a royal good time

There’s a bit of a cliche around the royal meals of Olde Englande. Kings chucking well-chewed chicken legs over their shoulder, at least twenty meats on the table and the fish could include ​​conger eel and even porpoise.

These days castle meals are finer dining and the restaurant at Thornbury Castle is a restrained and elegant affair with Executive Head Chef, David Williams who recently retained the hotel’s 3 AA Rosettes with his tasting as well as his a la carte and set menus, serving up a three course menu of three dish choices for each course at £75 per person.

The setting could not be more fabulous, the beautiful castle was once the property of Edward Stafford, who built it in the 1500s but who lost it to a jealous Henry VIII. The King then stayed there on occasions with Ann Boleyn who got the chop, and not the lamb and mint sauce kind, months after her last visit.

Courtyards, stone stairs, gorgeous lounges and grand bedrooms abound in the hotel and the dining room is a cosy circular ground floor room with a massive fireplace. A place for a posh meal and suitably decked out with the sort of heavy white linen now sadly absent from many high end restaurants, presumably because of the cost of cleaning.


After drinks in the pretty Privy Garden, we found our way to the dining room and had no problems choosing from the compact set menu.

We rather like our amuse of frothy avocado and then soon settle down to some Pate En Croute with Rare Bread (sic) Pork and the hotel’s  own Piccalilli. A large walled vegetable garden in the grounds provides much of the fresh produce required by the kitchen with preserves keeping things going into the winter months.

Pate en croute is French for Game Pie (not really as there’s no hard boiled egg, but there is a family resemblance) and this has lovely pastry, very much a leading component, along with a thin layer of jelly and well-seasoned pork interior. The crisp pickle is a good foil to the meat and jelly, while the minimalism on the plate is attractive, although the lack of bulk would have had Henry VIII calling for the chef’s immediate execution. Today it’s a perfect portion.

Burrata with heritage tomatoes, with balsamic vinegar and olives, always relies on excellent burrata and tomatoes with flavour and this dish scores highly. The pouch of cheese cuts open to let the creamy interior flood out and mingle with the sweetly sharp vinegar. The tomatoes are well ripened, slightly acidic as they should be and very colourful too.

As a nod to Henry, I waive my usual rule of ‘no steak’ and have a big hunk of perfectly cooked fillet of beef accompanied by an elegant rosti, some bright carrot and tousled spinach. Across the table a rather complicated mix of hake, salt cod, clams, mussels and shrimp actually delivers simple pleasures, each element a star on its one and the combination a real winner.

Mango cremeux with Thai basil and coconut ice cream is beautiful to look at and eat, while vanilla and strawberry cheesecake is stylish and refreshing.

Staff throughout have been conscientious without being cloying, there when needed and away when not. Over attentive waiting breaks conversations up annoyingly.

So many gorgeous hotels fail to deliver on the food front, but not Thornbury Castle. The modern food is a contrast to the ancient stones and the price is reasonable for all you get by way of atmosphere and service.

Thornbury Castle
Castle St, Thornbury
Gloucestershire, BS35 1HH
+44 (0) 1454 281 182
reception@thornburycastle.co.uk
For more information and reservations please see the website.






Revery Bar Afternoon Tea Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

“Tea, Cakes & Cocktails,” is a twist on Afternoon Tea and redefines the quintessentially British pastime with a modern angle.

I’ve done a few afternoon teas this year but Revery’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” is the winner so far.

Tucked away in the London Hilton on Park Lane, the menu features the usual array of savoury and sweet treats but they are all outstandingly good. And at £65 a head, a bargain too.

In addition to the traditional tea offering, you also get mixology experience that includes one cocktail and one mocktail, prepared tableside for an interactive and personalised touch.

We began with canapés – Beetroot Cheesecake and Mushroom Pate Tartlet, followed by the “Finger Feast” course featuring Mini Poached Lobster Roll with Marie Rose Sauce, and Devon Handpicked Crab on Sourdough Toast with Citrus Bisque Jelly. Each was incredibly well made, looked a treat and tasted superb. The Black truffle macaroon with chicken liver pâté was particularly good. Revery’s pastry chefs are geniuses.

The sweet course had Carrot Cheesecake, a Triple Chocolate Sandwich, and then both Plain and Raisin Scones with Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream. All excellent.

Drinks began with cocktails, a nice change from champagne, choice ranges from Earl Grey Sour to the Pistachio Bliss – a blend of pistachio liqueur, amaretto, and cream. I had a Mexican breakfast Patron Silver tequila infused with English Breakfast Tea, it wasdelicious.

Non-alcoholic options include the Blooming Blossom, featuring elderflower syrup and fresh strawberries, and the Moroccan Souk – a blend of orange juice, ginger, cinnamon, and mint.

And of course there was tea. Revery Revery has partnered with London Tea Exchange to offer a selection of over 300 premium and rare teas sourced from twenty different countries. These teas are some of the rarest and most sought-after by connoisseurs globally.


We ended with a selection of Revery’s pic ’n’ mix, including Apple Jelly, Vanilla Fudge, and Dark Chocolate Truffle.

Revery Bar’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” is a wonderful treat and it’s in one of London’s most iconic hotels as well. Definitely one to savour.

Revery’s “Tea, Cakes & Cocktails” costs £65 per person and is available to book Thursdays – Sundays from 12pm – 6pm.

Revery Bar, 22 Park Ln, Mayfair, London W1K 1BE

Bookings can be made here: www.reverybarparklane.com

You Be Chef. Light Up Your BBQ Game

Posted on by under chefs, Europe, food, food producers

These boxes of deliciousness from the Isle of Wight  are just the thing to make your barbecue sing

Okay yes I know, the weather has been a bit awful. Not that it ever stops me BBQ’ing though because I have the best BBQ in the world, the Weber Kettle, and it has a lid.

In the UK we tend to refer to anything cooked over charcoal as BBQ but, to be more accurate, what we Brits tend to do is grill.


BBQ means the food is not cooking directly over the charcoal, but instead is ‘oven cooking’ with the BBQ lid on, This is what traps the delicious smoky aromas and is perfect for large pieces of meat. That lid also means you can cook in the rain. I also have a remote thermometer so I can monitor the temperature inside the meat without leaving the house. Cunning, eh?

So we got ready to cook with one eye on the sky and the lid at the ready.

You Be Chef comes from the Isle of Wight, via chef Robert Thompson. Not only does he have an MBE, but he also won a Michelin star in 2007.

Robert is a champion of Isle of Wight produce, and is a big part of the Island’s food scene. His idea was to take the island’s produce, write recipes around it, and send the food and instructions all over the UK.

Our trial chilled box arrived on the hottest day of the year (so far) and was thoughtfully left on the front doorstep, in the blazing sun, by a delivery driver who obviously didn’t think it was worth ringing our bell.

Luckily he did at least send me a text and so I was able to call my wife to rescue the parcel before it melted away, or became victim to our local ‘porch pirates’. They will pinch anything round here, even though they have no idea what it is they’re nicking.

Unboxing was fun, each panel revealing a message, and it was good to see most of the items were in recyclable packs, some sort of cardboard material. 

We had the Tandoori Lamb Burger for two. So we had the burgers (natch), and then in various packs – Sesame Challah Buns,  Pont Neuf Potatoes with Garlic and Flat Parsley Butter; Onion Rings – Fried in Curious IPA Beer Batter with Black Onion Seeds; Rose Harissa Hummus; and Crushed Avocado with Lime, Beef Tomato slices, Feta, and Baby Gem Lettuce. Oh and there was Red Onion, Mint and Lime Salad and flavoured grilling oil.

It all appeared good, but for the lettuce leaves, which clearly had not enjoyed their journey and were rather limp and tired looking.

Juggling the oven times for the chips and the onion rings was a bit tricky. After some thought we cooked the rings first in our brilliant Ninja Foodie,  then took them out and kept them warm while we cooked the chips, then we put the rings back on top for the final minutes to get them hot again.

The burgers were a large diameter, I had my doubts they would fit in the buns, but once cooked they became the right size.

Now I am no chef, but I was surprised when the instructions said to give the burgers six minutes a side. I was so doubtful, that after rubbing them with the supplied grill oil,  I only gave them three minutes a side, after which time my trusty Thermapen read 62C in the centre, which is just right. I suspect there may be a typo in the instructions and it really means six minutes in total.

We added, as per instructions, the feta to the top of the meat for the last minute to warm it up, then split our buns (ooo err madam) toasted them lightly, and put the lettuce on the bottom (it’s important to ‘waterproof’ the bun from the juices), then added all the other ingredients to create an impressively stacked burger.


I’m a survivor of the burger craze which swept social media a few years back, ending only when the biggest influencers realised they were killing themselves eating so many monster burgers a week and gave up, so I know what to look for and this burger was perfect.

It had size, but with heavy pressure it was compressed to be eatable. And very good it was too, with the lamb superbly juicy and spicy. The other ingredients all added to the pleasure, particularly the salty feta and the limey avocado. The buns were a bit sweet for me, but fine.

The Red Onion, Mint and Lime Salad was rather like shredded pickled onion, no bad thing and mint is always an ideal partner for lamb.

The onion rings were crunchy and also sweet. We liked them a lot, but couldn’t eat all eight, and the chips were excellent, although dangerously hot inside so we had to leave them to cool for a bit. They were great dipped into the hummus, which was not as spicy as feared.

It really was a great BBQ blow out. Having everything ready made was a game changer and made it all so easy. And it didn’t rain.

Order your boxes at www.youbechef.com

Nanyang Blossom Restaurant Review

Posted on by under Europe, food, restaurant reviews, Restaurants, seafood

A bit of everything makes up Nanyang cuisine. Chinese, Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese,  Indonesian and even Filipino but that doesn’t mean it isn’t focussed. Flavour comes first.

irst though you have to find the place. It’s in a stumpy little pedestrianised street, barely a hundred metres long, almost opposite Harrods. The street’s main purpose is to cut the corner between Knightsbridge and the Brompton Road. It’s called Knightsbridge Green.

Ah yes, Knightsbridge so, spoiler alert, this is not going to be a cheap restaurant. The question is whether the price is worth it for us mortals watching the pennies. The sound of supercars going down the Brompton Road suggests that the locals at least are not short of disposable income.

Nanyang Blossom is small on the outside, but Tardis-like larger within and set over two floors. It’s opulently furnished with thick fabrics and smart chandeliers and the staff have uniforms and are all swish operators. Chef de Cuisine Daren Liew was once Executive Sous Chef at Hakkasan Group, while General Manager David Chan. David used to run Zen in Hampstead and Phoenix Palace, Marylebone.
It’s busy at lunchtime with many customers of Asian appearance, which is normally a good sign.

The menu is large and, while we wander around it, we eat marinated skinned cherry tomatoes. I pity whoever has that job in the kitchen, still though it’s nice for the customers. These are quite good tomatoes, but as I have an allotment they don’t beat mine fresh off the vine and still warm from the sun.

Choice is hard, it all sounds good, but we stay fairly conventional at first with chicken satay ‘Melaka’ (Malaysia)  skewers. These are clearly thigh meat, which is a good thing, although I do wonder if it is a little bit undercooked. Doused in a sweet and sour sauce it’s enjoyable and there is only a small amount of peanut sauce, which is a bonus as the unusual pineapple and cucumber relish does a far better job of partnering the meat.

Prawn toasts in a standard Chinese restaurant are usually pretty awful. Here though they are very pretty and elevated to fine dining by being fluorescent green ( the colour comes from edamame beans we are told, and not seaweed), and a topping of flaked almonds that makes them resemble Mr Kipling’s finest slices. They are very good indeed, the almonds adding a whole dimension of texture.

Talking of texture, we had squid sambal next which always makes me think of the Chinese restaurant joke that’s no longer acceptable. ‘Waiter, this squid is rubbery!’’ Why thank you very much sir!’

Of course this is not rubbery at all. The sambal is spicy and sweet and it’s all topped with what I think is deep-fried bread. Pomegranate seeds add a sharp note that’s very effective.

We’re not sure about the Knightsbridge Crispy Beef Ribs though as they aren’t crispy at all and are very fatty and sweet with Medjool dates and pineapple. The only dish we’d not order again

However Seafood Nyonya Sambal Fried Rice is gorgeous, in some ways it’s an oriental Paella, as the rice has absorbed all the good flavours as it cooks. Lobster, octopus, and prawns all served in a claypot, we scraped that pot out and then chased the last rice grains with our fingers. Superb.

And finally Lemongrass chicken, something of a staple on my home BBQ. Plenty of char here, and char is where the flavour is. I have never topped mine with tamarind and mango kerisik (kerisik means ‘dry’) as they do here though, but I shall try now. A simple dish but done very well. I have to give a shout out to the baby Pak Choi side dish too, so sweet to look at and wonderfully tender to eat.

Bananas always seem to feature on Chinese restaurant dessert menus, usually over-battered and deep fried. It’s a favourite Southeast Asian snack. Done well it’s crispy and not greasy, which is how it’s served here. For the first time I actually enjoyed this classic.

We downed a bottle of decent Picpoul with the meal, it was crisp and citrusy. It worked well with all the dishes

Verdict? All very good, bar the Beef Ribs, and the space and service are all charming. I could definitely head back for  the Seafood Nyonya Sambal Fried Rice which was outstanding.

Of course the prices are, as I hinted, high. However in this area they are actually average while the food is very above average. So if you have the cash to splash, I’d definitely recommend Nanyang.

12 Knightsbridge Green, SW1 7QL