Tag Archives: travel

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

Exploring Sicily’s DOC Wines: A New Age of Quality

Posted on by under Europe, Southern Europe

Sicily DOC wines are exciting, fresh and a world waiting to be explored. I visit the island to discover a new age of quality that’s all in the family.

In the “baglio” or traditional central courtyard of Tonnio Baglio Ceuso, the father of the winery is frying aubergine slices and fennel sausages over glowing charcoal. The aroma is fantastic but, not speaking any Italian I can only give him a thumbs up and get one back with an accompanying grin.

Now semi-retired, he enjoys watching his descendants do most of the wine work while he offers sage advice that I’m sure is warmly welcomed, although perhaps not always, but hey, that’s families the world over.

I’m discovering a new generation of Sicilian wine makers, the sons, daughters and even great grandchildren, of the originals, who are now front and centre in Sicily, and that’s a good thing for Sicilian wine. The island’s wine scene is no longer dominated by the production of cheap, generic, wines, as it has been for so long.

The big name red grapes such as Nero d’Avolo, Nerello Mascalese and Frappato ‘fruity’ are still king of course. Whilst for whites, Cataratto (now named Lucido, because apparently we non-Italians can’t pronounce Cataratto) can still be found across the island, and crisp, savoury Grillo (used to make Masala) is now a fine white wine all on its own. Winemakers are using these grapes to make exciting new style wines, as well as growing ‘international’ grapes such as Syrah, Merlot and Chardonnay for blending and single grape production

There is power in a union

Around 450 forward thinking Sicilian wine makers came together in 2011 to promote  tradition, innovation, and quality over quantity in Sicilian wine, as well as to support each other in what can be challenging times, by creating Consorzio di Tutela Vini Sicilia DOC which now numbers 7,000 winemakers and more than 530 bottlers.

One problem they all face is climate change.  A young winemaker showed me a photo taken last year of the lake that has always irrigated his vines, ‘this year,’ he said drawing with his finger, ‘this….’. He indicated an area of water so reduced it was hard to believe it was the same lake. The patches of blackened undergrowth I saw all over the island also witness the lack of rain this year and the outbreaks of devastating fires.

Positivity is the main vibe from all the winemakers I met though, even when grumbling slightly about how big UK importers are still adamant they only want cheap plonk.  They are reluctant to buy the more expensive quality wines these winemakers have dedicated themselves to, but that’s changing as UK wine lovers wake up to the new Sicilian scene and its amazing options.

The island can have four different climates over a vineyard surface that’s three times that of New Zealand’s, which allows for a lot of wine variety, but all over the DOC portfolio, quality and organic farming is key.

Sicily is now the top producer of organic grapevines in Italy. By leveraging the natural climatic conditions of the island, fewer treatments are needed. One winemaker told me how he is trialling a natural insecticide derived from local cacti as a cheap and effective crop protection solution.

Don’t walk away René

At Fuedo Diso, a fifth generation winery, the Di Lorenzo family were the first registered company to produce Chardonnay in Sicily. They’ve owned the winery, whose Baglio dates back to to the 17th Century, since around 1867, and whilst the buildings are gorgeously ancient, the equipment they use is state of the art.

Their Grillo, Chara, Nero d’Avola and Adhara wines are fresh and revitalising. Their particularly deliciously crisp Grillo is a star wine, while their sparkling wine René, named after the patriarch, comes  from the oldest Chardonnay vineyard in the Feudo. As we taste through their range of wines, René is front and centre with his glass, and he’s not spitting any out. Mind you, neither am I.

Vinifying up a storm 

The fresh energy at the Tola winery is also palpable. As I tasted the wines in their ultra modern building south east of Palermo, the skies darkened and the giant windows framed dramatic lightning storms over the gulf of Castellamare to the north.

The winery crackles with life – all white surfaces and sharp angles it’s run by Francesco Tola almost 400m above sea level. This makes the temperature moderate –  it can actually be very cold at night – with sea breezes bringing salinity to his classic Sicilian grapes of Nero d’Avola, Syrah, Grillo, Catarratto, Insolia and Zibibbo, as well his international vines of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

He uses steel tanks a lot, to keep the freshness of the grapes alive to produce light, zesty Nero d’Avola and, as a very modern winemaker, he is happy to use the latest machinery for efficiency, while keeping his CO2 emissions low. 

Out back a machine is processing just picked grapes, blowing streams of stems into a pile to be composted. I can’t help but notice the workers here are all wearing Kippahs. ‘ Ah yes,’ says Mimmo, ‘this batch is for kosher wine and so can be only touched by Sabbath-observant Jews from the harvest to the bottling’. An interesting example of finding markets for his second division grapes.

His flagship red wine Black Label – Nero d’Avola Doc Sicilia – though is traditionally made from the best hand harvested grapes and is an intensely fruity example, while his sparkling wine, made from Catarratto and Grillo grapes, gets its fizz from the Charmat Method, where the second fermentation that gives the lovely bubbles is created by using large pressurised tanks, and not bottle ‘dosage’, as used for Champagne. This makes for wonderfully bright bright fruit flavours

Concrete Proof of change

Concrete often gets a bad rep. In the old Soviet Union it was used for shoddy buildings that fell down a lot, usually due to the ‘concrete’ being made of flour, water and potato peelings.

However for a long time proper concrete was the storage vessel of choice for winemakers –  cheap, easy to clean, stable and hardwearing, it’s also slightly porous and its thickness makes the wine inside less susceptible to temperature changes or ‘shock’. 

Stainless steel seduced many winemakers in the 1980s and lots of old concrete tanks were literally smashed up. Back at  Tonnino Baglio Ceuso, with the aubergines eaten, I went with the chef’s daughter, Francesca, to see the usual steel vats, but also their row of concrete tanks that were still in place when they took over in 2023.

Their flagship wine Ceuso, created by enologist Giacomo Tachis in the 90s, is a modern blend of Nero d’Avola, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. After fermentation, the wine is sent to mature in these old cement tanks before moving on to Seguin Moreau barrels. The result is an exceptional wine with velvet tannins and which can be aged for years in your own ‘cellar’.

They also produce a delicious dessert wine, ZIBÒ Made from their best Zibibbo grapes, it’s a reimagined Sicilian classic being fresh and balanced and not as cloying as older styles.

The variety of wines at each winery was remarkable. Innovation was everywhere and this was confirmed at a final tasting in town with twenty six producers and their wines present. It was head-spinning and not just because of the wine being drunk.

Twenty six passionate (yes, for once that word is appropriate) winemakers is a big crowd and whilst I tried to sample every wine, it was impossible. So many superb wines in one place was a remarkable one off event, and all the winemakers were lively and refreshingly young and keen. I naively asked some of them if they had ever wanted a different job from the family business and not one said ‘yes’ and no wonder.

The work is undoubtedly hard; it can be heart-breaking when a year fails to meet expectations, or an experiment with planting fails, but the joy of creating something superb cannot be beaten.  Sicilia DOC wines are moving forward at pace, the bad old days are over, and their wines should be on everyone’s oenological shopping list

The sausages, by the way, were delicious!

Porte Noire Review

Posted on by under Europe, restaurant reviews, Restaurants

There’s dog on the menu and a lot more besides at this cool wine bar slash restaurant beside the canal in Coal Drops Yards.

Okay I admit the dog bit is pure click bait. There is indeed a dog at Porte Noire but he’s very much alive and wagging. After a fraught, irritating, windswept search for the restaurant located in the base of one of the old gasometers, now fancy apartments, his happy face behind the glass doors waiting to welcome us cheered us up no end.

His name is Cooper and he belongs to the co owner  David Faber, the founder of Connaught Wine Cellars and his presence rather sums up the wine bar’s character – warm, welcoming and cheerful. The other co-owner is Idris Elba, by the way, also a bit shaggy and loveable and curator of his very own champagne brand, Porte Noire, after he and David visited the Sanger Viticultural School in Champagne in 2018. His Porte Noire champagne and cognac are on the drinks menu, of course.

David has taken his own vast wine knowledge and placed it in a restaurant setting and the result is a place that is a wine lover’s ideal spot, but  the food makes it not just a banlieue for the bibulous.

The curve of the old gasometer makes the room pleasingly unusual, while the metal of its construction blocks out mobile signals. This was not deliberate, but it does have the effect of making people put away their phones and concentrate on wine, food and friends. Given the amount of tech types in the area this may be the only oasis they have away from their screens. I don’t think there is any guest wi-fi available, at least none showed up on my ‘phone.

Outside is seated and canal facing and I can well imagine how nice it must be come the summer. Incidentally if you follow Google Maps from Kings Cross you will arrive from this direction and you won’t get as lost, as we did. Once at the door you pass by an impressive wine wall at the entrance, where you can also catch a glimpse of cabinets of cured meats

The menu is short, compared to the wine list, which is long. I believe there are over 800 wines in the cellars. I do like wine, but I make no pretense of knowing a lot so we gaze at the wine list rather blankly, while eating from an excellent charcuterie board. There are cornichons, I do love the crisp vinegary tang of cornichons, but  I would have also liked some sliced baguette and a big cold lump of butter as well.


Wine help is at hand from the sommelier, who doesn’t make us feel ignorant, but is friendly and keen to find us wines we’ll enjoy. Prices are reasonable I suppose for London, but one can still wince a bit at £12.50 for a small glass. Still you can pay close to that for rubbish wine in many places, and these wines are very good, Plus what does a pint of cooking lager in a London pub cost these days? Almost £7.00.

With the charcuterie devoured we turned our attention to Truffle and mushroom arancini n and truffle mayo, and Devonshire hand dived scallops , Bresaola crisps which we drink with Chateau Paillas, Cahors. This  pairs well with both the shellfish and the arancini. The scallops are butter soft and creamy, with a gently spicy sauce buoying them up, the bresaola a salty texture contrast.

Arancini are crispy fresh and the bosky flavour of the mushrooms is set off by the rich truffle in an unctuous mayo. When no one is looking I use my finger to scoop up the last of it.


We move to a glass each of Lyseras Blanc 2023, a soft yet zesty white which is parfait with my stuffed squid. Not the most elegant of dishes, it looks like a Zeppelin has landed on my plate, it’s a powerfully flavoured dish thanks to a rich stuffing of chorizo and a bed of sun-dried tomato tahini.

The squid is a little bit tough, nothing to worry about, but it could have been softer. It’s a good bistro-style dish overall and I like the crispy cavolo nero on top. Cavolo nero is a type of kale and baking the oiled leaves makes it very palatable. Boiled or steamed, it usually comes out as more of a penance than a pleasure.

M is on, Shropshire duck breast, chestnut puree and a pinot noir jus. He really loves that puree, mentioning how nice it is several times. The jus is jus(t) great too, he reckons and the duck is perfectly cooked, a hint of pink and no more. He also gets those cavolo crisps and likes them as much as I do.

Unsure what to have on the side, we order the ‘famous’ chickpea chips to share. Like panisses, the south of France street snack, these are based around Gram (chickpea) flour. A thick batter that once set is deep-fried. Delicious and addictive, especially when we dob them into the thick luscious mayo served generously with them.

We end with Burnt Matcha Cheesecake  on a raspberry puree, and a chocolate cremeux with Calabrian olive oil and Maldon sea salt. The latter was a bit too heavy for me, although chocolate fanatics would love it. The olive oil worked surprisingly well, but personally I would hold back a bit on the salt. The cheese cake was gone in seconds, so that was clearly well liked.

Cooper came round on his patrol, seeking more head rubs and praise, which we were more than happy to give him. Praise to David and Idris as well, they’ve created a lovely little place at Porte Noire that has a lot of taste and a lot of style.

A bit hard to find (again, use Google Maps and not Apple), it’s hard to beat for a relaxed glass or two and some highly competent food.

Valentines’ Day sees a candlelight dinner at Porte Noire with live music

Wine is available to buy both in the ‘shop’ and online and there is a set lunch every weekday.

Gasholder 10 , Unit A 1 Lewis Cubitt Square

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



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








Jamie Oliver Catherine Street Review

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

Jamie is all over the place, but his restaurants no longer are. I try a recent new one in the company of some actors

To be honest, I am not actually at the same table as the actors, but next door is a Very Well Known TV Actress and an equally Very Well Known TV Chef, plus some other people I vaguely recognise.

As I wait for my wingperson to turn up, while grazing a mix of olives dusted in oregano and  served, rather unusually, on ice, I also try to keep my own cool. Nonetheless when I momentarily glance over She looks up at the same time and our eyes meet. ‘ Big fan’, my eyes say, ‘Oh God, a stalker!’ say hers.

You’d expect to find actors in here for lunch though  as it adjoins the back of the Theatre Royal. A space between the buildings is now roofed over to create a spacious and airy mini dining atrium, so thesps only have to walk a few yards for a meal.



We are eating inside today though, in what was once the ground floor of an office block, not that you’d ever know it after a splendid refurb. The place has a Grand Cafe kind of buzz to it; classy without being snobby.

There are trendy artworks on the wall, classic old photos, unusual lighting, comfy banquettes plus Sade on the sound system. Apart from the latter it could almost be a Jeremy King joint, another restaurateur who has had his ups and downs.

It’s family friendly;  there are kids here and a kids’ menu. The seasonally changing menu itself is a one sided affair, colourful but disposable, it tells diners this is easy-eating. A two- or three-course set menu is available Monday–Saturday from 12–6pm, Sundays offer roasts with all the trimmings. 

Apart from the icy olives there are other nibbles on offer.  Now that S has finally arrived  we try croquettes made with pureed Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese with leeks, and dobbed on top with pickled walnuts and they are one-bite tasty, the cheese gooey and sharp. Shame they are served in threes though and not twos or fours.

Jamie has said the food’s inspired by what he grew up eating at his parents’ pub, which explains the prawn cocktail on the menu, although it’s a bit more than that – it’s a seafood cocktail with British crab, brown shrimp, prawns, yuzu cucumber, Marie Rose sauce (natch) and focaccia crisps


It’s an impressive dish, the focaccia crisps are large sails powering the dish towards me. The prawns are a bit watery, the rest is good, especially the crab. I’d have liked some more Marie Rose sauce, my mother used to always sink our family Prawn Cocktails in the stuff and I used to also surreptitiously eat it out of the jar.

Mr Forty Minutes Late For Lunch has a Scotch Egg made with Stornoway Black Pudding, a Cacklebean egg and mustard mayo. It’s the sort of thing we ate a lot of in the late 80s and 90s, a Gastropub thing, and he reports it’s fine but not overly exciting. It’s a well-golden egg though and it is cooked perfectly.

The menu is full of Jamie’s other culinary memories and I recognise a few pasta dishes from the old BBC Executive Canteen, better known as the River Café, and some from legendary Fifteen as well. I go for the Dayboat Fish though, which today is Stone Bass, (or ‘Wreckfish’ or ‘Meagre’ ). A fish normally farmed and not caught, it comes swimming in a lake of “Champagne Cream Sauce, Dulse, Royal Kombu, Green Peppercorns, Herb Oil”. 

It’s a chunky fish, not quite as good as Sea Bass but firm and white and generously sized. The sauce is excellent, but it needs a spoon (or even a straw) to eat it. I instead use my ‘Koffman’s fries’ to blot it up. Good fries, but they needed more salt IMHO

Also a day special is a whole split lobster with linguine and tomatoes. A big plateful, it rather intimidates S who finally has to admit defeat trying to eat it all. The pasta has absorbed lots of good juices from the tomato and shellfish, but it also makes it rather heavy going. He doesn’t regret trying though, it was a good lobster.

We’re drinking Pale Ale made by one of Jamie’s ‘mates’ in Walthamstow. Unlike most hipster ales it hasn’t gone overboard with the hops, so it doesn’t taste like drain cleaner. I like it so much I have two.

S is still suffering from lobster overload, so I have dessert alone, a rather nostalgic Jelly & Ice Cream, although this is very grown up jelly. Made with Provence Rosé, it wobbles like Keir Starmer being asked what a woman is, and raspberry and vanilla ice cream and summer berries finish it off. Really enjoyable.

This new Jamie puts bad memories of his Italians to bed, although there is a sense that the kitchen is being run by people doing a professional job and not a passionate one. With a menu that is obliged to cover all bases, from pasta to burgers, seafood to grills, that is perhaps not surprising though.

It’s certainly an excellent space and the food is highly competent, although the prices are somewhat higher than you might expect. The staff are charming, all commiserating with me as I waited and waited and waited for my guest to finally turn up.

And you may even get the chance to freak out a famous actress. What’s not to like?

6 Catherine St Covent Garden London WC2B 5JY
www.jamieolivercatherinest.com

Opening Times: Sunday to Wednesday: 12:00 – 10:30PM Thursday to Saturday: 12:00 – 11:00PM

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3084 7565

Reservations: reservations@jamieolivercatherinest.com

Ocean Basket Restaurant Review

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

There are 200 Ocean Baskets around the world, I set sail for the Kingston outlet

‘It’s kind of like a Harvester, ‘ said a friend who knows the brand,  ‘but one that only serves seafood’.

Some people might say that sounds harsh, snobbish even. I don’t agree, there is a place in this world for family-friendly restaurants that are consistent, well-priced and tasty. Harvester didn’t get where they are today by not knowing their market, and how to satisfy it.


Ocean Basket was founded by two Greek brothers whose family arrived in South Africa in the 1960s. They certainly knew what they were doing as they have successfully reached out around the world, and recently to the UK with a restaurant in exotic Bromley, as well as one here in rather posher Kingston On Thames.

They certainly have a lovely location in Kingston, so close to the river you could probably catch your own fish from one of the sought after balcony tables. The sun is belting down as we sit down, and with the smell of frying seafood coming out of the kitchen we could almost be in Greece.

Ocean Basket says that its buying power means it is able to source great quality, usually frozen, fish from all over the world and keep menu prices down. It also sources locally when it can, as proven by our platter of oysters from the UK.


These were decent examples, quiveringly fresh, plump and served on a bed of ice cubes (although crushed ice would have been more aesthetically appealing, and probably not cost the restaurant any more). Well shucked they had no shell fragments floating about, something I really get annoyed about when it happens in fine-dining restaurants.

We had slices of grilled halloumi alongside. Nicely browned on the outside and a salty compliment to the oysters. If I am being picky I would have liked the slices to have been slightly thicker so that the cheese wasn’t cooked completely through. That’s how I grill halloumi at home, anyway. 

We’ve all had Greek salads in Greece, they can be a mixed bag, or bowl. Here the cucumber dominated the scene backed up with green peppers, tomatoes and some olives, although not enough olives for me, and a good-sized hunk of feta. It was all crispy and refreshing, the dressing perhaps a little underpowered.

Now onto the fish. There’s a hefty selection of dishes, stand -alones and platters.  The restaurant’s deep fryer ‘basket’ seems to do most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, but grilled fish is offered too. All the dishes have nutritional information, which is handy but you don’t really need to be told not to overdo it on the battered food.


So we had one of the  platters, its arrival drawing envious glances, but at £50 for two people, it’s not expensive for what it is. From left to right we had excellent plump mussels in a lemon garlic sauce, calamari ‘popcorn’ (deep fried squid tentacles, presumably called ‘popcorn’ so as not to frighten kids), wonderfully tender and small grilled calamari (specially sourced apparently), prawns butterflied and grilled, and some Cape Hake which we asked for grilled, not fried, as it seemed a shame to drown such an excellent fish in batter. Cape Hake is sold in M&S, so it’s obviously a good fish.

There was rice, Uncle Ben’s style, but actually perfectly okay, and chips which were fine but we stayed away from so as not to lose any space for the fish. The prawns were very tasty, the butterflying removing the vein and making sure the grill got to kiss all the flesh. A bit of a messy eat, I’d suggest supplying finger bowls on the table because we soon ran out of paper napkins.

As a SA restaurant you’d expect it to have well-priced and good quality wines and it did, a Benguela Cove Sauvignon Blanc served us well.


We were well stuffed after all this, but I still succumbed to the lure of a Dom Pedro, a South African classic. It’s basically a milkshake made with alcohol and is very rich and thick.


So thick that my straw kept getting clogged and I wondered if perhaps a long-handled spoon might have been easier. Still though it was decadently more-ish and obviously a crowd-pleaser.

And that’s Ocean Basket, a crowd-pleaser. It’s not fine dining, and doesn’t pretend to be,  but the fish is all well-sourced and high quality, and there’s so much variety on the menu I can’t imagine anyone would be stuck to find something they fancied to reel in.

Website
52A High Street, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1HN


Ocean Basket works alongside WWF SASSI (South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) and uses global guidelines from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)



The Art of Afternoon Tea

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

A beautiful room and some seriously stunning cakes, this afternoon tea certainly made my day

They say English Afternoon tea originated in the 1840s, a light meal to tide over genteel ladies of quality until dinner at 8pm.

Lunch it seems was not an English thing back then, a posh person had a biggish breakfast and then toughed it out until the evening. No nipping down to the mansion, or the castle kitchen, for a sneaky snack.

So to combat afternoon energy drops, ladies began taking tea and delicate sandwiches at around four o’clock in the afternoon. Soon no society hostess could afford not to invite or be invited to tea, it was ‘the thing’.

Today it’s something many tourists actively seek out, a quintessentially British experience in London’s best hotels. With so many on offer though, many a disgraceful rip off, it pays to be selective.

The Kensington, part of the Doyle Collection,  is one the very best. Just a short walk from South Kensington station and the Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall and V&A,  it appears to have been created by joining four elegant 19th Century stucco fronted houses together. Entering through the grand front door, held open by bowler hatted porters, you turn left into a gorgeous double aspect lounge.

On any day it’s a well lit room, warmed by a real fire, but on this sunny early Spring day it shines and dazzles. The furniture is a mix of modern and antique and just what you’d expect to find in the townhouse of a tasteful member of the aristocracy. Understated elegance.

We take a table in one of the bay windows, noting the excellent china cups and saucers as well as the crisply folded napkins. Every detail matters when taking tea.

The menu offers a variety of The Rare Tea Company teas and infusions, from the classic ‘breakfast tea’ to exotic single suppliers. They are all the same price and are served ‘bottomless’, although you’d not utter such a common phrase here. A pre tea glass of champagne is appreciated, if not exactly traditional.

Up to a point the food is classic, which is a good thing. I’ve tried afternoon teas in places where they’ve gone crazy with the sandwiches, creating monsters that can’t be eaten without mess. The whole point of AT sandwiches is that they must be dainty, easy to hold and to nibble at.

Our tea arrives in silver pots too heavy to lift, which is okay as the charming staff are there to pour tea for us. Milk first or last? Last of course, because that way you have a chance to adjust the tea’s strength

I have delicious Rooibos while P has Cloud Tea, a fragrant black tea from the “Abode of Clouds” in the cloudy hills between Assam and Darjeeling. 

From the elegant tiered stand come sandwiches which are pukka and properly finger shaped  – there is St. Ewe Egg with watercress, Chapel & Swan smoked salmon with lemon cream cheese,  Cucumber with mint cream and Pastrami with gherkin and horseradish. All beautifully delicate and the teas make them taste even better.


We have plain and fruit scones, cosily wrapped in a soft napkin. They are still warm. Thick clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam are slathered on.

And now, as we wipe some off that jam off our shirts, we come to the art in the Art of Afternoon Tea.The sweet cakes have been inspired by artists and are quite incredible, so much detailed work has gone into them that it seems a shame to eat them so we look for a while instead.


These are inspired by Jackson Pollock, Yayoi Kusama and Alicja Kwade. The Pollock  uses his ‘drip technique’ for a dark chocolate mousse tart with passion fruit parfait, Japanese artist Kusama’s cake is  polka-dot pumpkin of mango mousse shrouding  coconut yoghurt cream, and visual artist Kwade’s spheres are made from white chocolate vanilla mousse with pineapple compote centre.

Our photos do them some justice, but they are even more remarkable in the sweet, sugary flesh. A bit messy to eat, but I think that’s allowable.

We have our teapots refreshed and sink back into the deep cushions. The ceremony has done its job, we are no longer hungry but also feel that by dinner time we will be ready for more.

Everything done right traditionally and with a modern ‘arty’ twist. This Afternoon Tea is one you will savour.

Prepared and served fresh daily, The Art of Afternoon Tea is available everyday from 12pm-4.30pm for £58 per person or £70 per person including a glass of champagne. 

The Kensington 

109-113 Queen’s Gate

South Kensington, London, SW7 5LP

La cuina dels genis. The cooking of the geniuses.

Posted on by under Europe, Southern Europe

Discovering the Catalan dishes and landscape that inspired Gaudi, Picasso, Miro and Casals.

I’m holding a large loaf that I’ve just hollowed out, it’s now filled with herring, roasted tomatoes and garlic and a very great deal of olive oil.

Biting into it I temporarily lose sight of the beautiful convent  at the foot of the mountain across the fields from the village of Horta de Sant Joan in Catalunya.

Bread completely fills my vision and olive oil runs down my sleeves. Now this is what I call a sandwich. Continue reading →