London, September 2014
Oh wow, London. This is going to be a massive post with a lot of pictures!I've been tempted to go to London for a while now, but New York is still the place I want to visit the most. I took advantage of the fact that I was going to be in Shanghai to travel through the Northern hemisphere, and managed to get a very beautiful stopover at Helsinki too - a place that's a little bit of an in-joke with my friend from a radio play called Cabin Pressure, but also because I think Finland is a cool place - and the view from the plane is certainly pristine and amazing!
I guess I start at Hyde Park - the first place we walked through as it was near where we stayed. I absolutely love the royal gardens here, and it's a bonus when the birds aren't afraid of people, so I could get fairly close them and take all the pretty photos.
Workshop in Clerkenwell is a full fledged cafe, with a very nice food menu. I couldn't resist trying out the smoked salmon, avocado, wasabi mayo, ginger and seaweed dish. I did find it odd that it didn't default with bread, but the waitress did ask, and having just come from China where everything is overcooked and mushy, I decided to go granary, and then executed my pseudo plating skills to place it on the bread. I kept getting asked at regular intervals if I needed butter or jam to go with the bread, but I kept declining, to the point where I was eating plain bread, but I was loving it - not having had good bread in two weeks meant it tasted so good!
SQUIRREL
My brother could spot squirrels from far away, and I could barely find them when he did! I had managed to find a couple of squirrels in a trip to America a few years back, but here there were plenty! And some of them will even approach you if you have nuts for them, but they notice pretty quickly if you don't have anything at all.
Walking around lead me to a place called the Horse Guard's Parade, which is a parade that happens, but I had gotten there too late and there was only a trail of poop. However, there were still two horses stationed at one of the entrances so I took a photo.
Famous landmarks of London city. I really love Picadilly Circus, mainly because Whole Foods Market is there - which I was very happy to discover. I visited there many times for my coconut water hydration! I'd say it's my favourite supermarket in the world, but I'm not sure it's a valid statement. Also, I loved how close Picadilly and Oxford are - though I did accidentally spend too much money when I saw people walking around with Liberty bags, and that's when I decided it was time to pay a visit to a store I knew I'd love - mainly because all the shirts I get are Liberty prints, so I knew their branded products would be both pricey and gorgeous. Came out just under 600 pounds poorer with a really nice bag, wallet, earrings and scarf.
Baker Street was relatively empty, so a visit to the Sherlock Holmes Museum was warranted. We also had a pit stop at Monocle Cafe - which was so hipster with a German/Japanese food menu, which was pretty interesting. My brother was quite interested in the layout/design of the cafe too, with its two levels and small rooms where it looked like you could have a business meeting over coffee. Ah how nice it would be to have meetings like that all the time!
Ah, I gravitate towards Death because he is so pretty (pun intended)! There are a whole row of these buskers as all different characters here, but Death was my favourite. I think the way these are done are really cool and wish there were some in Australia too.
And back to talking about food. On a trip to Riding House Cafe, my brother and I got separated at Oxford Circus station - very awkward when he didn't exactly have a working phone service in one of the busiest places in London - plus I was the one leading the way! It turns out I had followed the Way Out sign and reached exits 1, 2, 3, 4, and my brother had used the 5, 6, 7, 8 exit. Luckily, being awesome siblings, I knew my brother would probably find a wireless spot, and we were once again reunited. After a very busy service for breakfast at Riding House, we ducked over to the cafe across the street - Kaffeine! And it turned out to be one of my favourites. They offered a fantastic tasting plate of espresso and flat white, with a very unique palate cleanser - cascara and earl grey blend. Wow, everything about this was just so awesome. That espresso was so good, bright and sweet, and the cleanser was perfect, the cascara complementing the coffee and the tea just gave it that extra layer of flavour. Then that flat white - it was so sweet I almost thought there was sugar added, even though there wasn't! I've actually never had a flat white that sweet before in my memory. I don't know how they did it but it was amazing!And those portuguese tarts. Wow... those were the best I've ever had! That pastry was so good and that custard! Mmmmm. In fact, it wasn't till I came back to Adelaide that my barista asked me if I'd had the tarts - looks like I made a good choice to sample one! I would go back to London for this cafe and the Liberty shop alone.
We spent almost an entire day in Greenwich and explored the area of Cutty Sark, and I'm glad to say I managed to use the Underground, DLR, bus and taxi during my stay! The DLR was pretty cool because it's a fully automated system; driver optional. It kind of felt like a roller coaster at times due to the shakiness, but it was certainly fun to be able to stand at the front of the carriage and just watch the tracks.
Another day, another cafe - this time to Prufrock! I actually got there right on opening and was waiting for my brother, at which point one of the staff asked me if I was there for the espresso class. Alas, I had to say no! I would have loved to do a coffee course while in London, but exploration was my number one priority. A lot of cafes here offer the espresso flight - black and white, and my brother was lucky enough to get a super fancy latte art! I learned that the owner is actually not a big fan of art, so we were lucky to get a super pretty pour.
Workshop, Fitzrovia gets a special mention as it's the newest of the four Workshops, and also because it is so elegant and features Madagascan granite! I didn't realise how pretty granite could be until I saw this. The whole place is just so classy looking that it's amazing; each Workshop has a very different feel. This was one where I felt like royalty because of the way it was designed. I also took the opportunity to sample their almond croissant - which was massive and oh so tasty!
During our stay we made several visits back to Oxford Circus, mainly because it was always near us, and also because public toilets were hard to find and cost money - but they were also better maintained than Australian toilets so I was happy to pay the 20 - 50p required to use them - so the guaranteed toilet access I had was at Liberty! As a result, we ended up visiting, and revisiting a pretty cool burger shop called Carnaby Burger Co. We had the tasting plate, burgers, ribs and steak. My brother took great joy in devouring wet chips.
The last of the Workshops, this time in Holborn. This was larger, but a simpler design than the other small cafes, with a double counter. I also noticed that each branch uses a different colour for their cups, which is pretty cute. Some really tasty espresso and milk coffees here too!
And who doesn't go to at least one Jamie Oliver restaurant while in London. I was forewarned that it was hard to find good food in London, and food that was good was expensive, though the cost of food was never really any reason for me not to eat anywhere. When we needed food, Jamie Oliver restaurants were great in a pinch - and I had no need to visit his Italian restaurant. Instead, we went to his Dino Diner and Union Jacks. Fish and chips are pretty tasty here, and I love that they come with mushy peas! I love pea mush.
No trip to a new city is complete without visiting tall buildings, so not only was there a visit to City Social, but also the Shard! The gift shop wasn't so flash but the view was pretty cool - especially because we had a full moon that night too.
Right, apart from just pictures of the top of the Shard from inside the Shard itself... here are the pretty shots of the city!
I decided to also pay a trip to Canary Wharf - mainly because all that runs through my head is "the battle of Canary Wharf" from Doctor Who - and I don't even remember the details! While there wasn't too much there to see, I did get this very nice shot of the Shard.
Reflective water is pretty cool too!
Towards the end of my stay, I managed finally duck into Lyle's, a new restaurant that had opened and I was curious to try it. Had some beautifully cooked quail, chanterelles and crab apple jelly; chicken of the woods (a mushroom); and apple sorbet. I liked the fact that the sorbet came with a shard of elderflower vinegar meringue - which tasted delicious and made the dish look pretty.
And here's a nice reflective building!Now for the text dump, for everything that didn't have an accompanying photo. First of all, a trip to London is never complete without a visit to one of Heston's restuarant - in this case, Dinner, at #5 in the San Pellegrino top 50 restaurants of the world.City Social is another one worth visiting - for the views and the food. And some crazy rare wine like a 1996 Chateau d'Yquem that I didn't actually order because I chose a Chardonnay from Burgundy instead.In my wonderful ways of exploration, I also managed to stumble upon Martin Freeman starring in Richard III, and I pretty much payed through the nose to get premium seats to watch the adorable little man in action. What an intense play, but I'm glad I got to see it, as my only prior experience of Richard III was back in high school, at the back of the theatre, all dark and unable to see or hear anything and on the verge of falling asleep. It was a requirement for me to see a play while in London, and I felt very lucky to have had this particular experience!On the topic of live performances, another afternoon was spent watching Book of Mormon - which was the most hilarious and inappropriate musical I've ever seen! It was highly entertaining and so different from the seriousness and intensity of our previous theatre experience. I enjoyed attending these things so much that if I had the funds, I'd make it a regular occurrence.A standout of the Underground was how organised it was - I absolutely loved how efficient and orderly people were when commuting - the whole "stand on the right" works really well, and the fast lane is beautiful on the escalators. On weekends the efficiency dropped a little, but it was still better than every other city I'd visited so far. In addition, each station was very unique and some of the designs are pretty epic. One exited into a massive glass buildings, others into quaint courtyards. Then there was Westminster, an epic station that for some reason reminded me of the Prometheus from Stargate, even though it probably looked nothing alike, but that's the memory it invoked for me. Another was Waterloo station, which reminded me of the Tardis.If I thought China had gaudy, over the top stuff, then London has set a new benchmark via Harrod's. Oh wow, it stocks the most hideously, filthily expensive shinies I've ever seen! The food hall was pretty epic as well, and all that caviar was so tempting to try! My barista was right in telling me to pay a visit.There are definitely a lot of museums that I still need to see, but with the ones I did visit, the Hall of Enlightenment in the British Museum was beautiful - all library like. The way the hall is set up is amazing, and felt like the most epic library that I could live in. Now I know how my friend feels about museums and why she loves them so much!Overall it was a fantastic experience and I'd love to visit again, to go to places like Cardiff, mainly to see if there's anything being filmed there. I'd definitely revisit Kaffeine and a lot of other cafes that I skipped over from my list, and definitely revisiting Lyle's, and any other place that takes my fancy. Funnily enough, I'd also bring fancier clothes because I felt so underdressed amongst all the suits in the city. Then I might summon the courage to enter a shop in Savile Row too.But for now it was off to Japan!
AND LENS FLARE MAKES A RETURN CAUSE I AM AMAZINGChina, August 2014
I keep telling myself I'll never go back to China, but family matters always come up and I inevitably revisit. I'd consider my expectations of the place to be so low that I really shouldn't be disappointed, but alas, but I've actually increased the amount of spoiledness (I know that isn't a word) from polite, Western society that I continue to be surprised.
Obligatory lobster shot from one of the first days in Shanghai when we celebrated my grandfather's birthday. I'd forgotten that important events were held in private rooms, with massive tables with massive lazy susans, and way too shiny. I even surprised myself when I realised the first thought I had was, "how come we can't see the kitchen and the chefs" and realised that for the last few years, I've been used to too much fine dining. The next thought I still recall is when the food came out, and I asked, partly to myself and partly to my brother, "oh, we don't get our plates cleared or new cutlery?" Welcome to real life! I felt so out of place and awkward!
There was also a lot of cemetery visiting, so what do I do on the first visit but run off at the sound of a cat meowing - and managed to get this picture! At which point I figured I'd start a small project to take pictures of all the cats in Shanghai - mainly inspired from my brother's time overseas where he also took pictures of cats. He'd unintentionally started a trend!
With the amount of restaurants we were visiting, I found that my happiest food moments were from cheap street food. 1 yuan pork and vegetable buns were tastier than most restaurant food - which remained too oily and poorly prepared. It was stuff like the 6 yuan bowl of beef noodles that I wanted to have every night. This place was cheap and tasty, and they even had a variation using spatzle! Well, that's what I called it because of an episode of Masterchef where Gary cheated by scraping the dough off a board, which is exactly how my mum described the version of noodles here.My mum had actually chided me for wanting to visit expensive restaurants and Western restaurants, and though I kept reinforcing the fact that I simply like tasty food and don't actually have a need for particularly high end places, I don't think she actually believed me until I kept talking about the buns and noodles - which my parent's weren't particularly fond of. That being said, I did get the opportunity to try out Commune Social which was an interesting experience.
Obligatory lost in translation picture :)
Due to our length of stay, we managed to visit Hangzhou and all its natural beauty. It was a nice break from Shanghai and the taxi drivers here were really helpful with telling us of places worth visiting. The fares are also a lot cheaper!
Again, the food from stalls was tasty, though we had some Hangzhou cuisine too, including a water-plant vegetable soup that was too gooey even for me, and some great chicken and fish.
Finally we had some free time, so I started going to a few cafes that I'd spotted in the first week. It was actually a bit of a challenge - while there are plenty of chains, a Starbucks and Costa's around every corner, the specialty ones were still tucked away. Luckily, hipster places give off a specific hipster vibe so it became easier to look for cafes the more we looked. This one was my favourite, a place called Essence Cafe in Xintiandi. They had a great selection of single origins that had great flavour, very clean and refreshing. I'd spotted it for their giant "SCAA" sign and figured that gives me the right to hold some sort of expectation about their coffee, and I wasn't disappointed! For 50 yuan, a single origin was provided both hot and cold. There were other cafes we visited - but their filter coffees came out too dark and one that the almighty Google gave as "the best" was actually one of my least favourite coffee experiences. The language barrier didn't help as I was unable to then ask and clarify any details and find out more about how they roast their coffee.
We also found a cafe called Woody Baker that makes some pretty awesome cronuts! They bake them fresh regularly throughout the day, as we were advised of a 20 minute wait, but when you get them, they are warm and oozing custard and oh so delicious! I've only had cro-pastries from a handful of places in Sydney/Adelaide, and wow these ones are way up there!
Cat spam! Because cats belong on the internet. Plus, Boss Cat is actually Demon Cat, as he revealed to us on our final day.Overall, China is a lot less messy, dirty and noisy than it was before, to the point where I'd possibly consider a return visit, but I have plenty of other places to see in the meantime!
Commune Social
The story of how I came across Commune Social isn't super long, but is a story nonetheless - once upon a time, I was stalking a tumblr about Benedict Cumberbatch, when I saw a post that he was at the opening of a fancy new restaurant in London called City Social. I decided to book it as it boasted a view, and I figured my brother might like it since it overlooked the Shard, Gherkin, Walkie Talkie and Cheese Grater. Then, upon further inspection of their website, it turns out their chef, Jason Atherton, had restaurants in China, Hong Kong and Singapore too. And thus, I got the opportunity to visit Commune Social.The setup of the restaurant was quite Western, all courtyardy and open, and in a quick visit before actually going, we were advised that the food portions were very small - but luckily I had known that already, it being fancy and tapas style, so I was prepared. The downside was, I had never ordered tapas style food for more than four people, so it became awkward when we were dividing tiny portions into six! I should have doubled all the orders, and that would have been enough.Not only is this kind of food grossly more expensive in China, but I felt that there was a far lower level of service than in a Western country - perhaps it was just this visit though. I also admit to having no experience or knowledge about how to adequately staff a restaurant, but I've been to a fair few and every now again observe the waitstaff observing customers because it's interesting to watch. I use the "magical refilling water test" as a benchmark of restaurant service, but here it felt like there just wasn't enough attentiveness overall - plus the waiters looked a little stressed out, and I had no way of knowing if they had staff call in sick. That being said, I was excited that I frequently saw the dessert chef popping out to present her dishes.
Beetroot, burrata, gingerbread
I was pleased with the prettiness of the plating, but having had only burrata once before where it came whole, this one was already broken up for sharing and just as tasty. I really liked the gingerbread component here as well.
Black sausage, duck egg, potato
I love black sausage, so when I saw this combined with egg, I had to order it! It's always a winner for me - especially when it comes in a cute little pan.
Cured salmon, lotus root, bok choy
As this was on their board menu, I can't remember what the sauce was. Possibly wasabi, possibly miso? I really liked the salmon here and that vegetable with the pink bulbs on it was something I enjoyed.
Marinated sea bass, pickled kohl rabi, apple
I didn't realise this was a raw dish as I tend to avoid it while in China - otherwise I would have chosen the beef tartare! This was quite nice though and all the vegetables complemented the flavour of the fish.
Char grilled octopus with beetroot
This octopus was quite tasty, though it was probably a little tough for a few others at the table.
And here is some fried chicken! Three tiny morsels per plate, and I had to order a second place as soon as I saw this one come out. Fried chicken never fails and I would have loved to have more.
Iberico pork and foie gras burgers with avocado and pickles
What cute little sliders! I wasn't too sure where the foie gras was, but I assume it was mixed in with the pork to create tender and juicy burgers. Those pickles were perfect too, to the point where I devoured the other two plates of any leftover pickles.
Grilled veal tongue and zucchini
And there's so much more to this plate that I can't remember, but it didn't matter so much because that tongue was so tender and well cooked! Had I known this was going to be so delicious, I would have ordered a second plate of this too.
Caramel popcorn
We saw these go out to every table and wanted some for ourselves, and it turns out it's complimentary! Tasty caramel popcorn served with liquid nitrogen.
Vanilla and chocolate ice cream
I've always been interested to see how restaurants approach the presentation of ice cream because of how simple "just ice cream" is - and this is the first time I've seen two flavours served in separate bowls, on ice, in a bowl, and doused with liquid nitrogen. Overkill much? But it did produce something quite theatrical so why not!
Lemon meringue pie with basil sorbet
This guy has a thing for basil in sorbets - and I love him for it. The deconstructed lemon meringue pie was already a winner, but even though I was sitting across the table, I could smell wafts of the basil sorbet and oh wow, it both smelled and tasted so good - plus I actually love the richness of the green colour as well! Even though this wasn't the dessert I had ordered, I couldn't get over that basil sorbet.
Creme catalan
A neverfail cute cream dessert, with delicious wafers.
Banana, honeycomb, goats cheese
More liquid nitrogen! All the liquid nitrogen! Well it seems like a very popular presentation strategy here - which I'm secretly glad wasn't used in my other Jason Atherton visit - mainly because while the smoke is very pretty, I don't feel it was needed for all the dishes here. It was a very pretty dessert nonetheless, and delicious.
And that concludes my first fine dining experience in China. While I would have liked to sampled a Chinese fine dining experience, this will do for now. Overall the food is as good as anywhere else, however in this particular visit I felt that the service was underwhelming. It's definitely still a place I'd consider frequenting.
Rockpool 1989
Rockpool, a place I've wanted to visit since before Rockpool Bar and Grill, but never found the opportunity to until I decided to squeeze it into a two day Sydney visit. Their new place on Bridge St is super pretty and I love waiters that are suited up and are wearing lapel pins too!It's essentially a degustation plus up to three extra courses (2 savoury and 1 sweet) to finish up. Since everything on the menu looked tasty, I went for three courses. Having had no time (or computer) to blog for a good five or so weeks, there's not too much commentary except that there was a lot of deliciousness!
Prawn tempura with daikon, soy, shiso, prawn cream and dashi jelly
Who doesn't love fried stuff with a creamy sauce! This tasty morsel was a great way to start the night.
Chicken wing with egg batter and konbu butter
The wings were beautifully frenched - in fact, I'd never even thought about frenching chicken wings. I assume that the cooking process also shrinks it to the circle shapes so there's no wastage from the trimming process.
Pork belly with coriander, chilli and rice roll
These burgers were tiny! It was also interesting having a rice bun as it had a different texture from normal buns. Pretty tasty!
Chirashi zushi of tuna, kingfish, bonito and squid
The prettiest dish of Rockpool! I can never resist good raw fish and this was delicious.
Kangaroo Island scallop with drunken condiment and ginger vinaigrette
These scallops are beautiful, and even though I've had plenty in Adelaide, this was one unique in the fact that they left the frills on, since they're actually edible. Plus, I love these scallops because they have such gorgeous purple shells and are huge! This was super tasty and one of my favourites for the night.
King George Whiting with apple, artichoke and red date infusion
I admit that I'm now writing this far too late after my visit, so I don't actually remember too much of the details. It was interesting to have red date with fish but I think it worked. The fish was cooked superbly.
Mapo tofu with avocado, sea urchin and eight precious herbs
This was a bit of a theatric experience as a hot pot was actually brought out during the previous course and soy milk, a setting agent and chilli were combined and left to sit on heat. And voila, mapo tofu was ready when the bowl of herbs and sea urchin came out. It wasn't too chilli and I quite enjoyed it.
Sterling caviar with soft poached egg, crispy potato and allemande sauce
This was one of the options that I chose, mainly because I've always wanted super fancy caviar from one of the Rockpool chains. I wish I had more caviar!
Braised beef sukiyaki with winter melon, lettuce and tendon
This was a dish my brother chose, and we were both super excited when we saw that the tendon was rare - what better way to enjoy such wonderful beef!
Pigeon Zheng Shui Dan with prawn stuffed eggplant and strange flavour dressing
What else would I choose but my beloved all-purpose pigeon as my second main option! This was cooked so well and it was so tasty, albeit a tad too salty for my liking, and it felt like I had just eaten the happiest pigeon in the world it was that pretty, big and tender. I love pigeon!
Partridge with chestnut filled lotus root and bone marrow poached quince
This was my mum's choice, though I think my brother and I did recommend it because of the lotus root. Plus, having partridges and pheasants is a must! I'm all for game birds.
"Buddha jumps over the wall" pork shoulder, clams, guanciale and white cut chicken
My dad ordered this one once we understood the meaning of the title. In Chinese cuisine, this dish is made out of luxurious ingredients that are so delicious, that it essentially makes Buddha jump over a wall and he becomes un-vegetarian.
Moscato custard with rhubarb, apple and streusel
This was the pre-dessert, and I love custard. The ripple effect through the ice cream was also pretty neat, mainly because in a recent episode of Masterchef, one of the contestants had managed to turn their ice cream pink instead of rippley.
Vacherin of pandan custard with coconut parfait, jasmine sorbet and lime granita
This was my dessert choice, and just look at that thin meringue shell! How impressive! I absolutely love pandan, and together with the lime granita, it was an absolute winner for me.
Sweet potato braised in soy caramel with lemon curd, miso ice cream, sesame and candied shiso
This was my brother's dessert option - we were curious about it because it had sweet potato and a curious miso ice cream. The highlight of this memory though, is not the food but rather the extraordinary wait staff (and his cute Rockpool lapel pin), as we had forgotten what the crystallised petal was, and our waiter then brought our minds back to the beginning of the night and mentioned that we had started with this ingredient too - shiso!
Date tart - original since 1984
And last but not least, the petit fours: The Rockpool Date Tart. Impossible to take a non ugly picture of, but tasty!
This was a great experience, and even though I tend to be a little biased against Asian flavours outside of my home (because my parents cook the best chinese, of course), with wonderful waiters and delicious food. I do feel sad that I never got to visit their George Street residence, but their new home on Bridge Street is pretty awesome!