My top 10 food experiences isn't meant as a mere add-on to the top 10 dishes and restaurants, but as distinct recognition of other things which I've really liked this year:
10. Pearl: My one posh, haute meal of the year, when I took Rabs out for her 60th birthday and it was a really super meal, in a lovely room, with great service and all-round happiness.
9. Raisin bread from Marylebone farmers's market: good, fruity brown bread with blue cheese, nice combo.
8. Laduree macaroons - esp passion fruit and chocolate: loveliest food present out there I reckon.
7. Manstree fruit picking: great fun (with secret fruit scoffing out of sight of the owners) with a wonderful selection of berries and plums.
6. Suzy's cooking: home-made Japanese food, lucky old me.
5. Having a doughnut party/sushi-making: Food-making and eating with friends, makes you glad to be alive.
4. Park lunches: taking turns to make sandwiches and eat it in the park with two old friends, makes me look back with fondness on 07.
3. Neal's Yard: great British cheeses and a wonderfuls service ethos.
2. Borough: it really is still good.
1. Chapel Street: my local fruit and veg market, with more nugget deals than anywhere else and lots of good banter with the stallholders (sample, me: "How you doing mate?", veg man: "I'm tired, I'm cold and I'm unloved!"). Fantastic quality of produce at great prices all year round.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Top 10 dishes
Coming up with the top 10 dishes of the year ain't easy by any means, and there are some great things which have missed out on the list, but writing this makes me excited about food, about continuing blogging and enjoying good things with people in 08. Here we go:
10. Ricotta, pea, olive oil and rock salt salad: Ok, I made it for myself, but damn! if this isn't one of the finest summery combinations you can imagine. Ricotta from Olga's, olive oil and salt from Sainsies, peas from the market, and a happy walk home to make this.
9. Marine Ices: I just love Marine Ices, most especially the chocolate ice cream, especially when eaten on a bench on Hampstead Heath.
8. Pecorino Tartufo di Toscana from Gazzano's: truffled pecorino... feels weak at knees.
7. Tart of onion and thyme with hollandaise, Roxburghe House: classic cooking in the best wedding meal I've ever had I think.
6. Cafe Corfu spinach filo pie: Number7 recognised how amazingly good this was as we ate it, predicting that we would be back for more, and she's right that the memory of it is really sweet.
5. Dhal: The doctor's recipe is amazing - mustard seeds, I'm a believer.
4. Mr Falafel: great people, great philosophy, great felafel sandwiches.
3. St Moritz: the service may be a bit shabby but we know for sure that they make London's best version of the most regal of all cheese dishes.
2. Mish: a dish so good that you can forget about it and when you come back to it, it's like "Oh my God, this is amaaaazing!" Best thing on toast ever.
1. Doughnut Plant donut with coconut cream: the best doughnuts on the planet; almost mystically good, made by the man they call "the Don Quixote of doughnuts" who is pushing the envelope of deep-fried bakery products to new dimensions. I reckon I think about them more or less every week.
10. Ricotta, pea, olive oil and rock salt salad: Ok, I made it for myself, but damn! if this isn't one of the finest summery combinations you can imagine. Ricotta from Olga's, olive oil and salt from Sainsies, peas from the market, and a happy walk home to make this.
9. Marine Ices: I just love Marine Ices, most especially the chocolate ice cream, especially when eaten on a bench on Hampstead Heath.
8. Pecorino Tartufo di Toscana from Gazzano's: truffled pecorino... feels weak at knees.
7. Tart of onion and thyme with hollandaise, Roxburghe House: classic cooking in the best wedding meal I've ever had I think.
6. Cafe Corfu spinach filo pie: Number7 recognised how amazingly good this was as we ate it, predicting that we would be back for more, and she's right that the memory of it is really sweet.
5. Dhal: The doctor's recipe is amazing - mustard seeds, I'm a believer.
4. Mr Falafel: great people, great philosophy, great felafel sandwiches.
3. St Moritz: the service may be a bit shabby but we know for sure that they make London's best version of the most regal of all cheese dishes.
2. Mish: a dish so good that you can forget about it and when you come back to it, it's like "Oh my God, this is amaaaazing!" Best thing on toast ever.
1. Doughnut Plant donut with coconut cream: the best doughnuts on the planet; almost mystically good, made by the man they call "the Don Quixote of doughnuts" who is pushing the envelope of deep-fried bakery products to new dimensions. I reckon I think about them more or less every week.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Top 10s
It's getting near the end of the year and while I want to believe that the best meals are still to come, I thought it'd be kinda fun to look back through the blog and come up with some top 10s for the year. I'll begin with my top ten restos (includes service, ambiance etc), before moving on to dishes and then my top 10 food experiences of the year. I've tried to share the love around a bit in having three top 10s and will aim not to repeat too many places across them.
So, thinking about my top 10 restaurants, one of the things which quickly became clear to me was that my fave places are almost all ones which I've been to many times. This may reflect a certain conservatism on my part, but I like to think that it reveals these to be restaurants which are super reliable, where there is in all cases good service and a nice place to eat, as well as truly delicious food. London gets 9 of the 10 and all of them are at the budget-midrange end of things, which reflects very well on the capital as a city where you can eat exceptionally well without going crazy. Here they are then, in reverse order...:
10. Smiths of Smithfield: I don't think the food is that amazing, but what a building and what a buzz. Actually, the veggie breakfast is delicious and there's nowhere I'd rather have brunch.
9. Abu Zaad: still the best cheese sambousek, and much else that is great besides (including the fantastic lemon and mint juices).
8. The Eagle: not been lately, but the food does tend to be great and their beer and wine selection is fantastic.
7. Tbilisi: one visit was enough to convert me to the deep yumminess of Georgian food. We must go back.
6. Ganapati: Peckham south Indian - again just visited once, but a super vibe and the most amazingly delicious beetroot.
5. Ciao Bella: big pizzas you can eat outside in Bloomsbury at sizx or seven quid, with amazing olives, breadsticks and hunks of parmigiano as a free starter: I'm there.
4. King's Sandwich Bar: Somewhere I can walk in, grab a Diet Coke from the fridge, shoot the breeze with my main man behind the counter, and not have to order, because he knows I always have a giant bap with cheese, salad and colelslaw. Quite simply one of the places that makes me love food and being alive.
3. Plaza: the best sag paneer I had all year was in Birmingham's balti triangle. Hot damn it was delicious.
2. El Vergel: love the place, the people, the cherry cheesecake and the amazing tacos.
1. Pho: hope to go there tonight with Number7: hot, healthy Vitnamese food, which you get to wear bibs to eat, with the best crunchy tofu ever and a really nice atmosphere too. Pho, you are a worthy winner of lacroixduroi's restaurant of the year award. The owner's very friendly so we may tell him this later.
So, thinking about my top 10 restaurants, one of the things which quickly became clear to me was that my fave places are almost all ones which I've been to many times. This may reflect a certain conservatism on my part, but I like to think that it reveals these to be restaurants which are super reliable, where there is in all cases good service and a nice place to eat, as well as truly delicious food. London gets 9 of the 10 and all of them are at the budget-midrange end of things, which reflects very well on the capital as a city where you can eat exceptionally well without going crazy. Here they are then, in reverse order...:
10. Smiths of Smithfield: I don't think the food is that amazing, but what a building and what a buzz. Actually, the veggie breakfast is delicious and there's nowhere I'd rather have brunch.
9. Abu Zaad: still the best cheese sambousek, and much else that is great besides (including the fantastic lemon and mint juices).
8. The Eagle: not been lately, but the food does tend to be great and their beer and wine selection is fantastic.
7. Tbilisi: one visit was enough to convert me to the deep yumminess of Georgian food. We must go back.
6. Ganapati: Peckham south Indian - again just visited once, but a super vibe and the most amazingly delicious beetroot.
5. Ciao Bella: big pizzas you can eat outside in Bloomsbury at sizx or seven quid, with amazing olives, breadsticks and hunks of parmigiano as a free starter: I'm there.
4. King's Sandwich Bar: Somewhere I can walk in, grab a Diet Coke from the fridge, shoot the breeze with my main man behind the counter, and not have to order, because he knows I always have a giant bap with cheese, salad and colelslaw. Quite simply one of the places that makes me love food and being alive.
3. Plaza: the best sag paneer I had all year was in Birmingham's balti triangle. Hot damn it was delicious.
2. El Vergel: love the place, the people, the cherry cheesecake and the amazing tacos.
1. Pho: hope to go there tonight with Number7: hot, healthy Vitnamese food, which you get to wear bibs to eat, with the best crunchy tofu ever and a really nice atmosphere too. Pho, you are a worthy winner of lacroixduroi's restaurant of the year award. The owner's very friendly so we may tell him this later.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
A good left-over idea
I had some average rice and beans left over, and was pleasantly surprised that with addition of some salad, some yoghurt, Tabasco and fajita wraps, they made a really tasty dinner the next day.
Leon
It may not be quite as good as it thinks it is, but Leon's claim to be the acceptable face of fast food is pretty much true in my book. McFlurries aside, I cannot remember the last time I had a burger from the Golden Arches or BK, but I was genuinely pleased to have Leon's superfood salad again today: a winning mix of sprouts, broccoli, quinoa, sheep's cheese and a yummy dressing. Along with a bowl of houmous and a Diet Coke, this was a v. satisfying meal, and I like the styling at their outfit in Spitalfields.
Some days
Some days the end of a working week is just well-finished with a pizza, a Sprite and some onion rings. Shame that the bases of Penton Pizzas taste like old cardboard, but the toppings were just fine.
TGI Friday's
What to do when London's trendy Wahaca and its nuevo market-style Mexican cuisine demands a 90-minute wait? Well, walk across the road to TGI Friday's for old style Tex-Mex as it happens. It may go without saying that the place was cheesy (and I'm not just talking about b's quesadillas, which were one of the highlights) but it was definitely fun, and the dishes which were good (the quesadillas and some 'Mac and cheese bites') were really tasty. My burger and chips was rubbish, but it was partly my error for not takin' it to the border, Tex-Mex style. Kudos to any eaterie that offers a deep fried ball of cheese and macaroni as a starter.
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