Cinammon futures

I had a hot tip last night that the Nordic Bakery on Golden Square in Piccadilly is the place where one can buy London's best cinammon buns. c.3pm today I was there and... the man in front of me bought the last bun. Well, I could have waited for another batch to be baked but I decided to go back another day as it seemed like it would be nicer to eat in there anyhow (though apparently the coffee is the strongest in London). I caught a glimpse of the bun and it looked good but can it really beat a Cinnabon? Ah hae ma doots.

Don't let the funk mess with your menu selection

SoS for lunch and I was so into all the funky house and the general vibe that I sillily ordered the bean burger with houmous and baba ghanoush again, when I know that it is a rather mediocre thing with bland approximations of real Middle-Eastern mezze. Ah well, next time I will remember how good the veggie breakfast is, and I shan't complain because the chips were as delish as ever and any place that plays spacey trance in the morning at a volume which is loud but which still allows for conversation is A-OK with me.

Language games

I believe that the verb used in Arabic for shisha is that which is also used for drinking, so on that basis can I present my new shisha - or rather, my feet, the shisha coals and Manhattan in the background. It's a dinky number called a 'pumpkin shisha' because of its shape, so I guess there's kind of another food reference there too. Since acquiring the shisha on Thursday evening (the need was urgent because I had to forget a two-hour grilling I'd had at a philosophy of history seminar), it has seen much action, though tonight it must lie unused as I am feeling a tad fragile after perhaps one too many smokes and one two many wines last night (happy birthday OB1!).

Lazyboy healthy pudding

I needed to make a quick, healthy and substantial pudding for the Namba King and myself the other night, and I opted for something which was really not very me at all, but which served as a reminder that making something you think will be a bit rough or bland can sometimes be a good idea! The picture tells the story really: Tesco's maple and pecan crunch cereal (we get through 2.5 boxes a week!), some black cherry yoghurt, sliced banana, satsuma segments, and a little lime juice over the top. I shan't pretend that this is a super-moreish dish, but I'm coming to think that it's quite a good standby when you need a pudding which is filling but not too unhealthy.

On not mucking things up

I forgot my camera I'm afraid, but not sure that even pictures could convey just how unbelievably cheesy the food remains at the Beer Engine under its new ownership. I had a vegetable lasagne which had a layer of cheese (goat's cheese and cheddar I think) which would not have disgraced a cheese feast pizza. The dish was v tasty and super filling, with a simple salad on the side, just as was the case under the previous owners. The bread was a bit weird but other than that it was a tremendous relief to discover that the new owners have not tampered too much with what was a really winning formula of ultra-cheesy baked dishes and all round cosiness.

Still all about the yaki

What more can I say about okonmiyaki? I love it, and now have Suzy's recipe, for what is one of the greatest dishes of all time in my book, and certainly the cleverest use of white cabbage. And check out the breakfast bar in the new kitchen at SVR! And one other thing: some Japanese chilli is also a pretty cool addition to a cheese yaki.

Abu Zaad otro vez

A quick trip to Abu Zaad for a meal that was satisfactory in that it was nice and I was full of tasty things quite quickly, but less so for the fact that poor old b was feeling too ill to eat and was forced to watch me munch my way through many cheese sambousek, houmous, babha ghanous and tabbouleh. All of them were very good, esp the first mentioned, but those yummy lemon and mint juices were probably the real highlight again. Note to self: remember b's point that you can actually get mezze deals when you order three or so dishes, which works out much cheaper than ordering single plates. After the meal I went to see Water at the Hammersmith Lyric, which is a really good play about global warming, but not at all worthy and much more moving than one might imagine.