New York Part II: More fatty adventures

Hello folks! Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I was unfortunately stuck in bed last night with the most annoying headache ever, but luckily I'm feeling a lot better today and am ready to take advantage of the last day of the weekend! I feel like there is a bit of pressure on me to deliver now that my blog has been exposed at work, though this is more of an error on my part by volunteering such information on my CV. I've been told to hurry up and start talking about food in New Zealand – and I will eventually – you will just have to wait for about three or four more updates to pass by! Sorry that it has been a bit of a wait between updates, I've been a bit busy! Thanks to M visiting me for a week, I've also been to a few more new places in Auckland and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Today's update however, will be a continuation of my fatty adventures in New York City. As I look back at my time in the US, it really seemed like all I did in Manhattan was...well, eat. I can't tell whether my stomach enjoyed my three months of gluttony or not. Yes then. Now maybe not so much.

Mesa Grill

102 5th Avenue (between 15th and 16th St), New York, NY 10011 (Closest subway: 4th St - Union Square)

Before leaving for the US, I asked my brother whether he wanted me to bring back anything for him. Knowing my brother, he would have a list of things to request. One of the things he requested was for me to buy was a bottle of Mesa Grill's Mango Habanero Hot Sauce. Mesa Grill is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants in the US, which specializes in Southwestern cuisine. Buying a bottle of this particular hot sauce actually required me to go to Mesa Grill because the cost of buying it online with shipping was double the cost in person, so I figured I should probably try out their food too. I knew about Mesa Grill through my love and avid watching of the Food Network channel, as I used to see Bobby Flay's face everywhere. I must admit that I had a bit of trepidation about going to Mesa Grill because the reviews were pretty mixed online and didn't really want to be on the 50% side of having an unhappy experience. I dread being on that side.

In the middle of my Christmas shopping and waiting for my friend, R to finish work, I decided to go to Mesa Grill for lunch. As I gave a quick look at the menu, one of the waitstaff placed a bread basket on my table – a blue corn jalapeno muffin and a couple of cornmeal dusted bread rolls. Luckily I read Bourdain's book after I left the US because bread baskets are so common in the US and I'm now feeling a bit scarred about them. Thanks, Bourdain. Luckily in my naivete, I really enjoyed the bread basket. The bread was warm and the blue corn muffin was especially delicious.

I can be rather systematic in my approach to eating out if I know where I'm going to eat the night before. However, most of the time my systematic approach fails as I always order something different than what I originally intend to order. Whoops. I asked my waiter (excellent and not at all pushy) what he could recommend and he mentioned that if I'm into breakfast, Mesa Grill's take on eggs benedict would be a good, popular choice. So I ordered their take on eggs benedict – spicy chicken and sweet potato hash with poached eggs and green chile hollandaise ($14 US). The hash had the right amount of heat with the mellow egg yolk counterbalancing the heat from the hash and the sauces, but I found there to be more sweet potato than anything so I had a bit of hash left on my plate. I wanted a bit more chicken. It was pretty good though!

I was pretty full and I knew that I was going to meet my friend La Burdick for hot chocolate, yet I knew I had to try some dessert. I decided to go for the toasted coconut layer cake with coconut cream sauce ($10.50). I really wanted the churros on the menu but had to go beyond my natural cravings, a choice which I did not regret at all. It wasn't overly sweet as I thought it was going to be and the cake itself was very light. Coconut rules.

The only thing left to say is that they really need to update their interior decor. The front dining area looks so painfully odd. Wish I had a picture to prove my point.

Beauty & Essex

146 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002 (Closest subway: Delancey Street)

A visit to Beauty & Essex was spurred on as a result of a friend of mine, A, who had been living in New York for a year and is someone that I have known since the good old days of high school. She told me to come and visit her work, so for one night my fiancé and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice night out in New York. When guests enter they firstly walk into a pawn shop, but the back door leads you to the front of restaurant (ground floor) and bar/lounge (upstairs). It was so dramatically different, I was taken back by how lush and glamorous the restaurant looked once I stepped inside. Immediately impressed.

Our waitress recommended that we order 4-6 savoury dishes as their dishes are meant to be shared. Both of us don't have the usual American appetite so we went for three. My lovely friend recommended a few dishes to us (although she pretty much told us essentially everything was good), a couple which we followed through with and ordered. When our waitress arrived with two cocktails – thanks to A! – I knew I was in trouble. One being that M doesn't really drink cocktails. Two being that my face immediately turns to a tomato after one measly glass of wine. While the 'beauty elixir' cocktail (gin, cucumber, strawberry, sparkling rosé; $14) was good, the 'blood orange-jalapeño margarita' cocktail (jalapeño infused tequila, blood orange juice, lime, cointreau; $14) was even better. I could have done with two of those. Actually with my alcohol tolerance I couldn't, but in my head I'd like to think I could have consumed two. Or three.

Top: Amuse bouche of red beet tapanade on a corn crisp
Bottom: Delicious cocktails and the pulled pork tamale

Throughout the duration of my meal, I tried to sip both of these slowly and casually.

To start our meal, one of the waitstaff presented us with an amuse bouche – some type of red beet tapanade on a corn crisp. If you've read my blog, you'll know I'm not into beets. However this was  pretty small and almost the size of a swollen finger that it didn't really taste too much like beets for me. (This, if you hadn't already figured out, is a compliment). M and I decided to share the lobster tacos ($19) which A recommended, the 'carnitas' pulled pork tamales ($13), oven braised chicken meatballs ($16), and a side of broccolini with garlic, soy and chile ($9). The highlight was definitely the lobster tacos. I could have eaten just a plate full of those tacos and it wouldn't have bothered me. This statement in my head actually matches up with my stomach. But actually everything tasted pretty good. I don't know if I would ever go for the chicken meatballs ever again, but they still tasted good to me.

For dessert, we ordered the black bottomed butterscotch pot de creme with coconut chantilly ($11) which was also recommended by A; but when our dessert arrived, dessert became desserts. Next to the pot de creme was a box of doughnuts (half of them filled with chocolate hazelnut creme and the rest filled with raspberry jam; $13). We initially thought it was a mistake until A told us that it wasn't (see A, you spoiled me with dessert and cocktails. I can now feed you with some cupcakes!). That pot de creme was, without a doubt, awesome. The only adjective I can adequately use to describe the pot de creme would be sinful. And goddamn delicious. We were really full by this point, so we cheekily took the rest of our doughnuts home (which we ended up finishing in the train and in our apartment by the end of the night). The doughnuts were pretty finger-lickin'-good as well but not as good as that pot de creme.

Top: A side of broccolini, chicken meatballs, pot de creme, doughnuts
Bottom: Delicious lobster tacos, man

By this point we were pretty full. I was pretty warm. Before leaving for the subway to get back to Penn Station in order to get to our train back home, I asked A to lead me to the bathroom. As we were walking, she asked me if I knew what was down there. I exactly knew what was down there but I was reluctant. I was reluctant because I pretty much consumed two cocktails and I was feeling warm. What does that even mean? What does that have to do with feeling reluctant? Well in the ladies bathroom, there is free champagne available. It's probably the coolest and worst idea ever wrapped up into one. Despite my reluctance, I eventually took a glass and brought it upstairs with me. M was hoping for champagne when he went to the toilet, but unfortunately guys don't have the same privilege in their bathroom. 

I had a really good time at Beauty & Essex. During my three months in the US, it was probably one of M's favourite dining experiences we shared. Not only was the food great but the service was first class too. Very attentive and knowledgeable staff.

I'm not going to tell you what happened on the trip back to Penn Station. Let's just say that I had to make a detour e.g. W 4th Street subway stop. Sipping cocktails slowly doesn't work with my tolerance level apparently. I've given you enough clues. /shameful. 

Madison Square Eats / Union Square Christmas Market

I love markets. When there are markets dedicated to food only, it's even better. During the Spring, the outdoor market brings together NYC's most popular restaurants (apparently) around the Madison Square Park Conservancy. The best thing I ate was a peking bun ($4) from Hong Kong Street Cart. The steamed bun was killer. The beef empanada ($3.50) from La Sonrisa was also good, as well as Graffiti | Mehtaphor's garlic fries ($3). The most average dish I ate was a pulled pork slider but I can't recall the stall I bought it from. Too bad. At the Union Square Christmas Market, they had limited food stalls, but I did try four of Macaron Parlour's macarons ($2.50 each) including their Candied Bacon with Maple Cream Cheese flavour. It wasn't as good as Bosie Tea Parlor's one though. Not as delicate.

Vanessa's Dumplings / Tasty Dumpling

118A Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002 (Closest subway: Grand St) / 54 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10013 (Closest subway: Canal St)

My oldest brother told me that if I had a craving for dumplings, I should go to Tasty Dumpling because they have the best dumplings around Chinatown. Even though, I always have that craving for dumplings, that was my plan after brunch out at Clinton Street Bakery (fatty right?), except that R, told me to go to Vanessa's Dumpling House instead. Which I did, with the false promises of my friend that she would help me eat a dumpling or two. She made me eat them all. :( I ordered the pork and chive fried dumplings (4 for $1, see the pic above) and they were really good. So good that I bought a 50 pack of frozen ones for $9. They pretty much helped M & I through the first few days of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Those dumplings kept us alive and kicking!

About a month or so later, I eventually made my way to Tasty Dumpling and tried their pork and chive dumplings (5 for $1.25, photo not taken sorry). A combination of aloof service and temperamental dumpling wrapper at Tasty Dumpling made me deem Vanessa's Dumpling House the overall favourite. I know you shouldn't expect much service at dumpling houses, but the reception I received at Tasty Dumpling was pretty cold and unappreciative. Plus the dumpling wrapper was way too flimsy. I still liked them though because who doesn't like a dumpling?

Chikalicious Dessert Club

204 E 10th Street, New York, NY 10003 (Closest subway: 3rd Ave)

After an early dinner one night, R took me to Chikalicious Dessert Club which was a nice 20 minute-something stroll coming from the West Village. We had just finished dinner and were quite full, though we (okay maybe it's just me) always seem to think there's always room for dessert. On one side of the street there's the Chikalicious Dessert Bar, which was (and still is) the better looking Chikalicious of the two from a completely interior and exterior decor point of view. Literally on the other side of the street there's the Chikalicious Dessert Bar, sort of a hole-in-the-wall kind of place with limited seating and counter service only.

After endless amounts of flip-flopping, I ended up ordering the Hot Apple Cinnamon Crisp ($7.95, bottom right corner in the photo next to Madison Square Eats) which was pretty much an apple crumble-like dessert with a perfectly round scoop of vanilla ice cream. R ordered the Tres Leche Tiramisu ($7.95) which also had a scoop of vanilla icecream on the side too. I also decided to take home a four pack of macarons ($2.50 each) – flavours consisting of salted caramel, strawberry, chocolate and green tea. Thought I should bring something home for later (little did I know that they would mostly be consumed by two tall Polish boys as soon I'd arrive back to New Jersey). Everything that we purchased was pretty solid. I really enjoyed the warm apple crisp in conjunction with the cold ice cream. The fact that it was warm made a good dessert even better. The macarons were consumed back in New Jersey without complaints ("interesting" is as good as it's going to get with guys consuming small, petite macarons in their large gobs) - I particularly enjoyed my green tea one, though I enjoy anything with matcha. Yum!


Other bits in bobs in Manhattan:

• Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014 - I had brunch with R and her friend here at Cornelia Street Cafe on a cold winter's day. Both R and I ordered the Eggs Benedict ($9) which also came with a side of garlic rosemary roast potatoes, whereas R's friend ordered the mushroom risotto. My eggs were perfectly cooked, runny just the way I like my yolks to be, though there was a bit of an annoying long wait for our food. We kept ourselves occupied with warm drinks and a lot of annoying ranting (mostly by myself if you asked my brunch companions). Potatoes could have used a small pinch more of salt, but otherwise it tasted pretty good and was perfect in size (at last!).

• Malatesta 649 Washington Street, New York, NY 10014 - I was taken to Malatesta by R as a result of the restaurant being recommended on Yelp. I normally follow her Yelp recommendations. We initially arrived too early – arriving before dinner service started – but once we got there, it was smooth sailing. I ordered the ravioli al formaggio (ricotta cheese ravioli with pink sage sauce, $13.50). I had never tried pink sauce until I had it at Malatesta. It still sounds quite scary to me from its name (just like the thought of shrimp cocktail scares me), but the sauce was luscious, creamy and not at all scary. Service was prompt and the setting was quite relaxing to dine in. Cash only, which sucks for those who do not like carrying cash!

• Shake Shack 691 8th Avenue, New York, NU 10036  - While the burger philosophy might be a bit different between the two (yes, I just made up the term 'burger philosophy'), let me tell you that Shake Shack is no Burgerfuel in terms of taste. This is notwithstanding that both are still pretty good burger joints without the comparison. I had a few different burgers in the US though (unfortunately no In & Out) and Shake Shack was the outright favourite. They're known for their massive queues that end up reaching outside, but luckily after massively conquering The Met, there wasn't a huge line to wait. I ordered the single ShackBurger ($4.60) and a hand-spun peanut butter shake ($5) and M ordered Shack Stack (a combination of a Cheeseburger and the 'Shroom Burger, $8.85). My burger was simple and not too fussy which is the way I like my burgers and the shake was especially fantastic. It wasn't for M's taste but if you're a peanut butter addict you'd definitely enjoy it. M's burger was huge with the portobello mushroom almost being the size of two normal beef patties, but he enjoyed it as well. I ended up going to Shake Shack a few weeks later to have a try of their cheese fries ($3.70) and they were good...minus the cheese. Which sort of defeats the point of having cheese fries I know. I guess I don't like cheese sauce. 

• Cafeteria 119 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10010 - A ended up bringing me here for lunch, which ended up being my second meal ever in New York. I learned on this day that being 40 minutes late is nothing really in New York. I was grateful for this catchup as she gave me an advanced warning of how huge the portion sizes are here and the inevitable doom of eventually being able to eat more then you thought possible. It's true, unfortunately. I was able to eat a lot more at the end of my three month visit compared to when I first arrived. Anyway, I went for Cafeteria's Mac & Cheese with Smoked Gouda and Bacon ($10). They had a few different Mac & Cheese dishes, and I'm not going to lie that I went for this one in particular because it had bacon on it. I love bacon. Luckily the portion size was not too big – I was feeling a bit guilty that I was ordering comfort food for lunch on a warm day in New York City – but it was just what I needed. Good stuff!

Conclusion: New York is a food blogger's dream. I can't wait to go back during the Christmas holidays and stuff myself silly. 

New York Part I: Please don't let me get fat (oh wait, too late)

Hi everyone! Happy Easter to you all! Hope everyone is savoring the long weekend and enjoying themselves. I have just survived the first two weeks at my new job and am happy to say that I am enjoying it thus far. It's always a lot easier when the managers and the rest of the staff are such easy going people. I'm going to treasure this four day weekend, and by that, I mean sleeping in and being in full relaxation mode :) Starting next week, I am planning on some (cup) cake testing and my fellow work colleagues are going to be my guinea pigs! Some of them don't know it yet, but they will next week. I'm not making any apologies if there's any sudden weight gains at work!

I am now going to move away from talking about London and start talking about my time in US! Before heading back home, I spent three months in the US late last year with my fiancé. I had a lot of free time and spent quite a bit of time eating. I'm pretty sure I gained some weight. Also, the portion size is out of control. A normal sized main in New Zealand is about half the size of a main in the US!  

There will be a two-part blog on New York (pretty much Manhattan only), another two-part blog on New Jersey, one blog on Philadelphia (more specifically Morimoto's restaurant), and one blog on Boston (or more specifically Coppa). Enjoy!

New Wonjo

23 W 32nd Street, New York, NY 10001 (Closest subway: 34th Street - Herald Square)

The very first meal I had was not in New Jersey where I was staying, but in New York. Before leaving NY (sounds confusing but my first day visit to NY had its purpose), M and I decided to go for a quick lunch before taking our train. Quite close to Penn Station was Korea-town. I must admit that Korean food isn't exactly my favourite – though I really do like Korean BBQ – but I was rather more fascinated about how NY had their own K-town. I think it was a matter of convenience really for us to find something close to the train station, but after a quick glance of the menu and their lunch deals (from 11am - 3pm, Monday to Fridays), we decided unanimously on this place. 

After we gave our order to the waitress, she plopped on our table a bunch of little dishes, otherwise known as 'banchan'. Included in the banchan was the standard kimchi, which I can't stand anyway because I hate anything pickled (I'm pretty sure I'm going to offend someone with that statement, sorry). For my meal, I ordered the 'ddukbaegi bulgogi' ($11.95US) which was marinated slices of rib-eye with rice cake and noodles in a hot pot. Pretty much korean beef soup. Yum. It was extremely delicious. I ordered a bit of rice on the side even though there were noodles in the pot. It was partly a mistake because I didn't see the word 'noodles' on the menu. Silly me. I still ate the rice...well most of it anyway. Because of my lack of experience in eating Korean food, I mistakingly took the rice cake for fat. I don't even know why I thought it was fat. When I took it home for dinner, I realised that it was too perfectly oval to be fat. Now I'm a fan. Funny that. /embarrassing.

M ordered the beef fried rice ($8.95) which was pretty straightforward but he really enjoyed it. Such a massive amount of fried rice, so of course he took it home as well. Service was quick and efficient and it was a really good first meal. Great prices - especially since we were able to eat two meals out of it! Even though my fiancé and I were so hungry, we decided to take home the rest of what we couldn't eat at lunch because there was so much food!

Clinton Street Bakery Co & Restaurant

4 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002 (Closest subway: 2nd Ave)

Other than M and his family, the only other people I knew around the East Coast was A and R, both who I knew from back home. R in particular was my eating buddy and I always had faith that she would choose some really good places to eat for the two of us. She was partially responsible for my weight gain. /half joking. Clinton Street Bakery was on her list of places she wanted to go for brunch and after a couple of failed attempts of meeting up and eating, I agreed to meet her here. Little did I know how popular this place was. We were on the waiting list for about 20 minutes, which was a lot better than the 45 minutes that was promised. Luckily while we were waiting, I was able to explain to her my sordid night out  (which you will hear about in Part II unfortunately). 

From a brief look on the internet, I gathered that Clinton St Bakery were pretty well known for their pancakes. So that's what I ordered. I ordered the banana walnut pancakes with warm maple butter ($14), with a hot chocolate ($3.50) to accompany it. It did not disappoint. It was such a huge serving and it was quite saddening to not finish it all. I was so full, but then again it did not stop me from scoffing a bunch of dumplings afterwards. Whoops. Not only were the pancakes were delicious but the  maple butter was great and not too heavy too.

R decided to go for more lunch than breakfast and ordered the grilled chicken sandwich ($13). The whole dish (including potato chips, coleslaw, and a giant gross gherkin) looked like it was big enough for two. She barely made a dent in it despite how much she liked it. Service was pretty fast and efficient  which was pretty decent considering they had a packed house and patrons were still waiting outside too.

Momofuku Milk Bar / Momofuku Ssam Bar

251 E 13th Street (on 2nd Ave), New York, NY 10003 (Closest subway: 3rd Ave)

207 2nd Avenue (at 13th St), New York, NY 10003 (Closest subway: 3rd Ave)

This had been on my list long before coming to the US. Granted that my list wasn't very long, but it should count for something. My brother probably had a bit of influence on that as he would tell me about his own eating adventures in New York. David Chang is his favourite chef, and if you don't have a clue of who he is, well then judging from this paragraph, he founded the Momofuku group of restaurants. Due to its massive popularity, the group of NY-based Momofuku restaurants have now been extended to Sydney and Toronto. 

Christina Tosi, head pastry chef and owner of the Momofuku Milk Bar has some interesting creations from the names alone. I only wanted to try Momofuku Milk Bar because of their crack pie ($5.25 a slice). I do not exactly remember how I found out about it but the name instantly intrigued me and heard awesome things about how good it was. No, it doesn't contain crack but it pretty much contains a lot of butter and sugar. The recipe is online but it's so time consuming that you'd be better off just buying it at any of the Milk Bars. It is pretty sweet and I did enjoy it, but after such high expectations I was a wee bit disappointed. Even though it's not exactly identical to Depot's sugar pie in Auckland, I couldn't help compare the two and did think (as well as R) that the sugar pie was better. Just thinking about the sugar pie makes me want to drool. 

In addition to the crack pie, I also ordered a compost cookie ($1.85 for 1, $5 for 3, $10 for 6). The compost cookie which I also heard about long before visiting the US really intrigued me as I found it hard to imagine a combination of sweet and salty snacks. Chocolate and butterscotch chips, potato chips, pretzels, rolled oats, graham cracker crust, coffee...yeah all of that is (supposed to be) in a compost cookie.  The premise behind the compost cookie is to add whatever your favourite snacks are to the cookie base. It was interesting. While it was good, I was expecting a whole range of different flavours that didn't fully exist in my cookie. Again, I feel like I was expecting too much. I'm probably going to try and make these myself (thanks to the Internet) and see what they're like. A potential blog to follow up on!

As for the Ssam Bar, my intention was to go there for their signature steamed pork buns with hoisin, cucumbers and scallions ($10). Not only had my brother raved about them, but if it's their signature dish then it must be good. After such high expectations, they did not disappoint. The steamed bun was so light and fluffy and the filling of pork belly inside was so warm and tender. I probably could have ordered another plate but didn't want to tempt fate. To end my meal, I ordered the peanut butter soft serve ($5) which had concord grape jelly at the bottom. $5 is a bit extreme but it did feel like I was taking endless spoonfuls! It was so delicious. I love peanut butter anything and I probably would pay $5 to eat it again. Service at the Ssam Bar was very very good too.

Cornerstone Cafe

17 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009 (Closest subway: 2nd Ave)

This was another one that R took me to for brunch and I did not know what to expect. I didn't do any of my usual so-called research, so I arrived to this place with an open mind. When I go for brunch I pretty much go for more breakfast type of dishes rather lunch. I think it's partly due to the lack of breakfast I usually eat from day-to-day. For brunch, I ordered the baked eggs with italian sausage, tomato sauce and basil ($12). The eggs were served alongside potatoes and toast, but in my mind when I was ordering it I thought it was going to be a handful of potatoes and a few slices of bread on the side of my eggs. Not only did I expect the skillet to be that big, but I didn't expect three different plates! It looked more like a feast for two and I know it's a comment that's been regularly said throughout the places I've talked about above, but Cornerstone Cafe take it to a whole new level!

To finish this on my own was utterly impossible. To the detriment to my stomach, I tried to finish at least two-thirds of it. It was that good. As much as I love a potato any day, any meal of the week, I actually didn't think they were needed. The only thing I was disappointed about the solid egg yokes. I love a runny, oozy egg yoke.

They make a decent latté too!

Bosie Tea Parlor

10 Morton Street, New York, NY 10014 (Closest subway: Christopher St - Sheridan Square)

If you've been reading my blog from the start, you'd know that I'm a big fan of afternoon tea. I kept telling R that we needed to go out for afternoon tea! Now! Soon! ASAP! I looked into afternoon tea places in New York and wanted to find a really good place that wouldn't exactly blow my wallet but wouldn't compromise on quality. It was pretty busy when we arrived and it was left to me to do all the eating since R, my fellow eating buddy-in-crime had already eaten too much at work. Totally uncool. I ordered the tea for one ($27) which included a two-cup pot of tea, two mini scones with clotted cream and jam, three different tea sandwiches, two mini tea cakes, and the choice of two macarons. I can't believe I ate most of this on my own.

Bosie have such a huge selection of teas that it is almost quite intimidating. I mean, the tea selection has its own menu! For my made-to-order sandwiches, I chose the egg salad, cucumber with cream cheese, and salmon as the fillings which were all tasty in their own right. As for the macarons, I ordered the pistachio and the bacon & maple syrup flavours. The sound of a bacon and maple syrup macaron sounded totally bizarre but I wanted to try it for the same exact reason. The macarons that I ate from Bosie Tea Parlor were fantastic and delicate, only second best behind Ladurée's macarons. Yummy. And the bacon & maple syrup macaron was fantastic.  The flavours of bacon and maple syrup were present and the mix of sweet and salty worked so well. I tried a version of this at the Christmas Market in Union Square and it wasn't as good as Bosie's, even though the one I tried at the Market actually had maple bacon inside.

The scones were a big hit with me and R and the little jars of clotted cream and jam were incredibly cute too. The most disappointing thing wasn't actually that disappointing, but I think the chocolate and lemon tea cakes were a bit underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the tea set.

While it's not the most economical meal you'll ever have, Bosie Tea Parlor is definitely somewhere I would like to go back again whenever I get the chance to go back to the US! Now I'm in the mood for afternoon tea – it should definitely be on the cards very soon!

Next blog: Part II of my NYC travels! Some of which includes dumplings, meeting Bobby Flay (okay not exactly), foodstalls at NYC markets, and a bit of a drunken adventure that doesn't exactly need to be discussed in detail...

London: The 'everything else' post (Part II)

Happy Sunday everyone!  It's been a good week for me – hope it has been good for you too! I went out with a couple of friends last Friday and  had my first glass of wine in three months. I don't know why I do these bans to myself because after one glass I looked like a pink banshee. Sheesh.

It's been a little over two months since I've been back and I cannot believe how incredible the weather has been. I think it's only rained like twice? Very unlike Auckland! And I say this as it starts raining. Oops. Hope this weather continues until the end of April :)

This is Part II of the everything else post - but really focuses on the Polish and Turkish food I ate in London. I think today's update might be one of my favourites. I had never tried either cuisine before coming to London – and no, the kebab on rice that I would buy for lunch as a university student doesn't quite count. Polish cuisine is something special for me seeing as my fiancé is Polish, so now I have a much better insight to Polish cuisine compared to when I first tried it London. Seriously, I had no clue before!

Mamuska

Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, SE1 6TE (Closest tube station: Elephant and Castle)

This is not a case of me finding Mamuska, rather being that Mamuska found me. I first found Mamuska on the way to having lunch at La Bodeguita. I remember walking past the restaurant and seeing the phrase "affordable polish meals for everyone" at the front, taking a photo of the restaurant, and then showing the photo to my fiancé, M, in one of our seminars. I had read a few reviews which were surprisingly very positive, so us as well as F, were willing and ready to try the restaurant out in a location which Timeout humorously described once-upon-a-time in their Mamuska review as a "culinary wasteland". Even in spite of the shoddy decor of the shopping centre that Mamuska was in, we were going to put our faith in the world wide web and hopefully have a good Sunday lunch! M did threaten me though that if the food wasn't any good, then I was not allowed to blog about it as a matter of protecting the reputation of Poland and Polish food. I'm not scared of him!!

Mamuska is based on the Polish milk bar, where the meals are filling and very affordable. When I mean affordable, I mean £5 for a main meal type of affordable. So very unlike London. The canteen-style of the restaurant means that you order and pay at the front, sit down at an empty table and wait for your order number to be called to retrieve your meal. Once you finish, you would then bring your empty used tray to the rack and leave.

I really had no clue about what to order. I mean I didn't even know anything about what Polish cuisine consisted of and was pretty much going by what M was telling me ("We don't really put spices in our food" etc). For lunch, I decided to order the potato pancakes/"placki ziemniaczane" (£5) and chose the mushroom sauce to accompany it (you can choose either  the mushroom sauce, pork goulash, or beef stroganoff). I love mushroom sauce and I love anything involving a potato, and while I did like the dish, the thing that disappointed me the most was that the pancakes were completely drowned in the mushroom sauce. Drowned to the point that the crispiness of the potato was lost. Soggy potato pancakes are sad pancakes. For £5 you'll definitely get a filling and hearty meal, so if you decide to try it out...come hungry! I also ordered their homemade lemonade (£1) which tasted fine too but could have done with some ice!

M ordered the pork meatball/"kotlet mielony"(£5). He contends that it's not really a meatball but that's the "translation" or description that they used, so I'm using it too. I tried the meatball which had good flavour, but it was dying for a sauce (I feel like Manu on My Kitchen Rules right about now). The meatball was served with mashed potatoes and pickles, the latter which I was never going to touch ...nope.

When F showed up, she had no idea what Polish food was either and because it was so foreign to her, she was flip-flopping between dishes. She then saw a photo with sausages on the back of the menu and pretty much said to M – who used his Polish charm and ordered for us – that she'll order that....whatever it was. I couldn't find it on the menu and I'm not quite sure they still do it anymore, but it was pretty much sausages with onions, tomato, and bread & butter (£3). The sausages actually looked a bit oily and you could tell with the remnants of oil on the plate, but for £3 you can't complain too much right?

In the left column: potato pancakes, pork meatball, and sausages from Mamuska; in the right column: pierogies and potato pancakes from Bar Polski

Bar Polski
11 Little Turnstile, Holborn, WC1V 7DX (Closest tube station: Holborn)

In the midst of M & I's blooming friendship...relationship...whatever you want to call it, London was experiencing something that was rather surprising to the both of us.

Good weather.

Surprised? See, I told you. Three hour lunches under the sun in the park was probably a bit of an overindulgence, but you just simply needed to make good use of those days! No use staying in the library – how productive are you going to be if the sunshiny weather is staring right back at you in the face? After many lunches in the park, he suggested that we should try out the Polish place close to our university campus. It's hidden in a backstreet and would have never known about this bar had he not taken me here.

As he had been here before, he kindly recommended the potato pancakes to me but only because he had never ordered anything else. I didn't want potato pancakes again and wanted to try something else so he then advised me to order pierogies. At Bar Polski, you can either order them boiled or deep-fried, but he told me to order them boiled (I probably would have ordered deep-fried knowing me and my lack of diet). I ordered the potato and cheese filling with bacon and onion on top (two things which he despises sadly) and now after eating probably what seems like hundreds of pierogies in the US, pan-fried pierogies defeat boiled ones (and most likely deep-fried) any day of the week. They were good though not as good as the ones that M's dad's wife makes. Pan-fried is much better in terms of texture. Bar Polski has an extensive vodka menu and even though I don't like vodka,  I would recommend a shot of coconut flavoured vodka. The plum one made me nauseous.

That wasn't my only visit. I went a couple more times after that and did eventually try the potato pancakes (more than once actually). They put their mushroom sauce and sour cream into little ramekins which I really liked since I like to keep my potato pancakes crispy and not soggy. A soggy pancake is a sad pancake. I know I'm repeating myself here. I'm pretty sure that they add grated onion to their pancake, which after successfully mastering the potato pancake myself while I was in the US, gives the potato pancake more flavour. Yummy. They have mostly served crispy potato pancakes, with the exception of one time where they were a bit greasy. Their dishes may be a bit more expensive compared to Mamuska by a few more pounds, but based on potato pancakes alone, Bar Polski's ones are better in taste and you still get a plentiful, generous plate full of food. I like the fact that they accompany it with salad too. 

You must think that the only Polish food I seem to eat is potato pancakes and pierogies. This is not true.  Also, Polish desserts are awesome (karpatka anyone?!)...with the exception of the cheesecake I ate at Rich Mix in London. Sorry to whoever made it. I wish I could explain my love for Polish desserts further, but maybe another time.

Antalya

103-105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH (Closest tube station: Holborn or Russell Square)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this update, I haven't really eaten much Turkish food. If I have, then I don't remember it at all. In the midst of exam season, a Brazilian, a Mexican, a Turk, and a Thai-NZer (me) were pretty much anticipating climbing a mountain. That mountain being our final VAT exam. My mum said to me the other day that she would have assumed that such a course would be so easy to take. I laughed quite manically when she said that to my face. We tried to prepare ourselves for the worse by preparing summaries, answering past exam questions, organising study groups. After we completed our last study group, we went to Antalya for a quick reprieve. With a Turk in the midst of our table, I was definitely going to heed his advice on what to order. Antalya had a lunch special – 2 courses for £8.95, so I went with the sigara boregi (filo pastry rolls with feta, normally £3.95) for the starter and et sote (sauteed lamb cooked with tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic served with bulgur rice, normally £10.95) for the main.

While I had no complaints with my starter, the main of sauteed lamb that was recommended by my friend was definitely the standout. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavours of the stew and the bulgur rice too as it was something a bit different than the rice I'm normally used to eating at home. The portion sizes were great as I wasn't feeling too full (which is better than eating until your tummy has had enough). Service was good too, though it was interesting to observe the not-so-Turkish waiter having a brief Turkish language lesson from my dear Turkish friend.

Olives and Figs

14 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LJ (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

I'm not quite sure how we ended up at Olives and Figs, except that it was very close to where M & I were living and that was most likely the reason as to why we decided to try it out. Compared to Antalya, this restaurant was pretty average actually and not that memorable. We had a halloumi phase for a few months – we were obsessed with the idea of grilling pieces of cheese on my George Foreman grill – so along with our complimentary bread basket and sauces, we decided to share a starter of hellim (£3.95) which is pretty much the same thing as halloumi. In hindsight, I wonder why we ordered something we could have easily done ourselves, but I guess we wanted to know how different hellim was to halloumi. As I pointed out above, it's pretty much the same thing. 

For the main course, I ordered the mixed grill (small £9.50, large £13.50) which consisted of different pieces of grilled meat from their menu (mostly chicken and lamb),  served with rice and salad. While most of the grilled meat was good except for one which was a bit dry – wish I remembered which one it was – the salad was boring and quite bland. If you are a bit of a carnivore, this place isn't too bad for a meaty meal. It's a lot of meat and even I couldn't eat it all! If you are a vegetarian, well this place isn't too vegetarian friendly. None of the main dishes are meat-free, so you'd only be able to order from the meze portion of the menu. Whoops. 

Something extra: This neither Polish nor Turkish but I just wanted to give a quick mention to the Walkabout, which is a chain of  Kiwi/Oz sports bars all over the UK. They've been around for awhile, even around the time when my brothers went to university in the UK...which was long agooooo. Going to the Walkabout felt like home to me even though it was more of a Australian sports bar, but that technicality didn't faze me in the slightest. (I mean, I am in possession of an Australian passport. Don't tell anyone though). Watching the State of Origin matches on the big screen made me feel like I was back at home on the couch watching the league! If you're missing a bit of league and you're also keen to try some kangaroo, then go ahead and visit the Walkabout. I have tried the Kangaroo 'Sarnie' (sandwich) and the Kangaroo Burger, which were both pretty good considering that it was pub food. 

This is most likely the last update of my London eating adventures, unless I have more photos hiding away somewhere in a folder on my laptop. My next update will either be about some of the brief trips that I made while I was living in London (such as Florence and Copenhagen) or I'll move on to my US foodie adventures. I have a lot of fatty US adventures to talk about! I haven't quite made up my mind! x

London: The 'everything else' post (Part I)

A few nights ago I tried making polish dumplings (pierogi) for the first time. When I stayed in the US with my fiancé late last year, we were fortunate to be given a bucket load of them and as a result they probably made me a little bit fatter. Just talk to my mother – she'll tell you. It's been a bit over two months and I miss them. So I decided to make a batch the other night, which made my parents cringe ("don't eat too much!" and "you're gonna get fat!") and I doubt that I'll make them again. Fortunately I made a huge batch but it was so time consuming and there were just so many dishes to wash! Washing dishes is not my favourite chore. Luckily, yet also to the detriment of my parents, they tasted good!

I really didn't know how to title this because today's post is pretty much an "everything else that I have failed to mention" update. It does not exactly mean that the restaurants aren't great, I just didn't know where to place them in my updates. This will be split into two parts, so hope you enjoy reading it. :-)

Pasta Brown

31/32 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 9ED (Closest tube station: Charing Cross)

I had a job interview a few days ago where I was happily discussing my love for stuffing my face with food (with relation to this wonderful blog of course) and one of my interviewers asked me what my favourite cuisines are. I easily replied with Japanese and Vietnamese cuisine, but I also mentioned that I think Italian food is such an easygoing cuisine as well. Which is true....I mean who doesn't enjoy Italian food? I don't even mind non-authentic Italian food. It's average, yet palatable. This is not the case for Thai food (spoken like a true Thai). But that's probably the best way to describe Pasta Brown. Eating here was a bit of an accident as F, another coursemate B, and I found ourselves meeting up for a Friday night dinner in Covent Garden. Friday night without a booking nor a plan wasn't and still isn't the most ideal situation. I suggested Wahaca by default, but by the time we arrived the wait was for over an hour. Somehow we ended up at Pasta Brown and were lucky enough that they had a table available. 

For a starter, the three of us shared the garlic bread mozzarella e pomodoro (cheese and tomato sauce, £4.75) which was okay and nothing too special.

I wasn't in the mood for pizza nor pasta, so I went for the aged rib-eye steak with fries and rocket (£15.55). You must be thinking, what kind of person orders steak at an "Italian" place? When I travelled to Florence for New Years to see a friend of mine, I realised that Italian cuisine didn't just consist of pasta and pizza. They drink tons of vino (wine) too, which is shamefully my favourite part of Italian dining. I also realised that in Florence particularly, they eat a lot of steak. Florentine steak is goddamn huge too. The steak and fries were fine, but I seriously have an issue with restaurants or any chef that do not bother to dress their salad greens on the plate. Even some lemon or olive oil would do! Without dressing it's just simply dry and unappealing. 

The conversation and company was great, but as I mentioned in the beginning, the food was simply average yet palatable. Service was fine but a little bit slow.

La Bodeguita

Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, London, SE1 6TE (Closest tube station: Elephant & Castle)

La Bodeguita was my first proper foray into Latin cuisine that wasn't Mexican food. I'm not exactly sure how I found out about this Colombian restaurant, though I do recall my ex-flatmate's friend telling me about how he went with his non-Latino friends. He mentioned that he arrived late to the restaurant and his friends ended up ordering the "wrong" dishes. Apparently they had ordered the Latin version of fish and chips. Oops. He also recommended me a dish to order, one that I failed to remember unfortunately. Anything sounding remotely Spanish, apart from Hola escapes my memory. 

I brought F, my favourite Venezuelan and a very curious Z along with me for our first visit. Both decided to come for different reasons. It was only natural that F wanted to know if there was any decent Latin food available in London, whereas Z didn't have any idea what to expect and was simply curious. It also helped that Z and I lived in close proximity to the restaurant (about a 10-12 minute walk).

In all honesty, I find Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre a bit freaky. It's a bit of a ghost town in some aspects of the mall and looks quite rundown. Lots of the tenants had been evicted so there were a lot of empty shops. F told me that as soon as she arrived, all she could hear around her was Spanish. I can imagine that La Bodeguita is much more lively and loud at night, but I never had the chance to go during that time. Then again, I'm not one for late night adventures in Elephant and Castle.

For starters, we shared the Patacon con Carne Desmechada (crispy fried green plantains served with shredded meat) and ordered three Empanadas (which they describe as a "Colombian meat patty", but it's pretty much a stuffed pastry that is fried and crusted with cornmeal). Both were delicious. I highly recommend the empanadas in particular, especially with the sauce that they accompanied it with. It's a crowd pleaser. The plantain dish was unusual but I really enjoyed it as well. I'm pretty sure it had been my first plantain experience too.

Z and I shared the recommended Churrasco Argentino (Argentine beef served with fried potatoes, green plantain and chimichurri) which was even too much for the both of us sharing. Apparently the beef is about half a kilo before it's cooked. I don't think I've ever eaten that much meat in my life. It was pretty good despite the fact that I couldn't move by the end of our meal. Going back to the flat was a bit of a struggle. F ordered another recommended dish, Medallones Bodeguita (Medajon Argentine beef in mushroom sauce, served with rice, yellow plantain and vegetables). I've actually tried this dish during another visit and I still find it a bit odd that the steak and mushroom sauce is eaten with rice. F assured me that it wasn't odd at all; and even though I felt that way, I did enjoy the dish. They do ask how you want your steak cooked and they don't always get it right. Luckily I can eat any kind of cooked steak, bar blue.

During another visit, I also ordered the Croquetas de Pollo (Chicken Croquettes) which I don't have a picture of unfortunately. They were nice but a bit dry on its own, so F asked in Spanish if they could bring a dipping sauce. The sauce was almost like green-aioli like kind of dipping sauce. Probably the most undescriptive description I could give you, but the only way I could describe it.

Overall, the food is very solid and the service is pretty good too (especially when you have an awesome friend that can speak Spanish to the staff). Location is a bit dodgy, but you can kind of block it out once you're in the restaurant and having a good time.

Bankete

3 Bell Lane, London, E1 7LA (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

(Brazilian Snacks, Brazilian-cut steak, Chicken Hearts with 

Onions, Chicken Parmegiana, Calpirnha drink, Feijoada)

Following from more Latin food, there was a really nice Brazilian restaurant that was a two minute walk away from my hall during the summertime. My fiancé, M suggested this place actually, long before I moved in to my flat. I remember reading the menu online and seeing chicken hearts! M does not like offal which made me vindictively order it as a starter once we dined in (I don't know why I'm so mean sometimes. Sorry, M). If anything the chicken hearts fried in onions (£5.50) reminded me of tiny sausages. I'm always up for something different and I've really enjoyed it each time I have had it. Him not so much but I'm glad he at least tried it. I probably should have waited until I knew someone that would come and eat them with me as there was quite a lot of chicken hearts on the plate, but I ended up taking the rest home anyway (to eat...for breakfast...).

Considering I was at a brazilian restaurant, I thought I'd go for the feijoada brasileira (£9.95), which is considered the national dish of Brazil. Feijoada is a stew of sorts, a mix of pork and beef cooked in black beans, accompanied with rice, farofa (a cassava flour mix), spring greens and orange slices. Had never heard of farofa until that day. While it was delicious and full of flavour, the stew was rather heavy and filling so I wasn't able to finish it all. The only thing that I didn't really like was the accompaniment of the spring greens. They were just unappealing to the tastebuds.

We also ordered caipirinhas for drinks (£4.50) and whoa, it's a strong drink! Or maybe I'm just  typically weak. But it was really good. My fiancé and I have taken quite a few of our friends here, so there are a few more dishes that we've tried. In terms of the starters, I've tried the brazilian snacks (£4.95) – coxinhas (fried dough filled with chicken), rissole (fried pastry with a cheesy filling), and kibe (beef croquettes/fried meatballs). All of the snacks were pretty nice, the rissole was my favourite one in particular. The cod fish balls (£5.50) were also very good and surprisingly not overwhelmingly fishy, whereas the fried cassava (£4.50) lacked a bit of flavour. The one brazilian dish that I've tried before ever stepping into London was the cheese bread/pao de queijo (£4.95) and they never seem to disappoint.

In terms of mains, the brazilian cut steak with rice, beans and salad (£8.95) was perfectly fine despite not really knowing what makes the steak a brazilian cut and the likely chance that the beans came from a can. They also have some random "house specialities" such as the chicken stroganoff (£7.95) and the parmegiana (£8.25) with both being accompanied with fries and rice. I've tried their stroganoff and it's not too shabby, but then again I've never really had stroganoff. So I have nothing to compare it or no knowledge of what it's supposed to be like. It was really good though! M ordered the parmigiana and let me try a bit of it. I enjoyed it, but then again how hard is it stuff up parmigiana?

If you're looking for something that's small and low-key, then Bankete is a good place to visit. It's certainly nothing fancy, but the prices are affordable, the portions are overly generous, and the service is good too.


Bierschenke
46 Essex Street, London, WC2R 3JF (Closest tube station: Temple)

I don't exactly remember the first time I went to Bierschenke. I first heard of this place due to a friend telling me where he was planning to watch one of the Euro Cup matches here (soccer... or football for the finnicky people). That never happened considering how literally screwed we were for our VAT exam. As soon as I told my fiancé about this German pub, I knew we would eventually visit since they had his favourite beer on tap. I think I went through a period of visiting Bierschenke four times in two weeks to drink, eat, or do all of the above. I don't mind going to pubs even though I don't like beer at all. I'm a wine drinker and normally pubs stock a poor selection of wines, but Bierschenke had such a nice sauvignon blanc (that happened to be from New Zealand) that I didn't mind paying £5.60 for such a small glass of wine. Perhaps that's what gets me into trouble. 

Usually I don't associate good food with pubs, but Bierschenke's German menu was surprisingly tasty, if not brief/limited. Even F, who is skeptical about "pub food" really enjoyed her schnitzel! I've tried two of the schnitzel dishes on the menu (£12.90) – the "hunter style" schnitzel which is served with a creamy mushroom sauce, and the "gipsy style" schnitzel which is served with a tomato paprika sauce. I'm always partial to a creamy mushroom sauce but both are equally delicious and are served with huge portions of chips. I pretty much stick to the schnitzel since I'm not really a sausage fan, but Z who did order one of the sausage platters which came with mash and sauerkraut (£12.90) said it was fine but the schnitzel that I made her try was better.

If anything, I would say that Bierschenke is probably a bit more upmarket than your usual pub. The food wasn't exactly cheap and the German beers are around £5 for a pint, so not exactly the most economical pint of beer you could find in London. Though location wise, some may say that such prices are expected. I wasn't that fussed with the prices really. You can probably tell since I said that I once visited four times in two weeks. Service wasn't exactly memorable but that's not a good nor bad thing.

Moo Grill

4 Cobb Street, London, E1 7LB (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street or Aldgate East)

My fiancé walked past this restaurant on one of our strolls around our neighbourhood. From the menu outside, we were excited about the prospect of eating Argentine food and I couldn't help but be excited once I saw its name. So one night, we went in for dinner and didn't expect such a tiny restaurant inside! It was almost the size of a shoebox with minimal tables. As we grabbed the last table that was available, we were hoping to be wowed.  We ordered two different fillings of Argentine empanadas: beef, eggs and olives (£2.05), and the ham & mozzarella (£1.95). Both were really nice and certainly nicer than the ones I tried at the Brick Lane Food Markets, but were rather small. Maybe I'm just greedy. 

For our mains, my fiancé ordered the milanesa (£7.95) – expecting it be like Uruguayan milanesa he had tried before which had ham on top of the breaded cutlet – but was left disappointed. Little did he (or I) know that the Argentine milanesa is commonly similar to the German schnitzel. They proudly advertise on their website that Argentina is like a spa for cows, so I ordered, perhaps uninspiringly, the churrasco (£9.99) which is a thin-cut of grilled rib-eye. I chose the healthier option of a lettuce and tomato salad to accompany my steak, whereas my fiancé ordered the fries to accompany his dish. My salad really didn't have any dressing and his fries were pretty good, so I chose wrong on that front. The steak didn't come with a sauce, so I ordered a side of chimichurri sauce which was really good. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I left feeling underwhelmed by my main and perhaps I chose incorrectly as a result. 

We bailed before dessert and after paying for our meal, we both felt underwhelmed despite the really good empanadas. Because Moo Grill is such a small restaurant, it is indeed very intimate. Consequently if the patrons are loud then the noise echoes throughout the restaurant, which was the case when we dined in...to the detriment of my fiancé. Service was excellent nonetheless. I remember our waitress telling us a really nice story about how she got her job at Moo. 

In hindsight, I wish I had ordered one of their signature lomitos (gourmet sandwiches) because that is what they specialise in and what people tend to recommend. This is what happens when I fail to do my research. I'm a stickler for looking up restaurants and researching what to order; and while some may consider it nerd-like, I consider it smart for wanting to eat a good meal. Or perhaps I should have asked the waiter to recommend me a dish. Oh well.

Next week: Part II involving Polish and Turkish food....and a bit of kangaroo! Yum!

London: Taking a walk through Asia (Part II)

Hi everyone! I've been wanting to update the blog since the beginning of last week but it was a busy week for me. I went to Wellington for a couple of days and the weather was brilliant. Wellington put on a great show while I was there. Can you believe that it was my first visit to the capital? First visit to the domestic terminal in Auckland? As my friend said to me, I'm a foreigner in my own country. I totally forgot to take photos of the food I ate (which wasn't that much really), but had some really good beef rendang and mee goreng at KK's. That's pretty much all you need to know.

This is Part II of my Asian culinary adventure! This week we will be venturing all around China as well as Japan. After this blog, I will only have two more London posts! Quite sad really. I had some fantastic food memories in London.

Welcome to China:

I don't know where to start really. Chinese cuisine is quite broad and there are a number of different styles depending on the region. A few of the restaurants that I mention below were recommended to me by my ex-flatmate, N. Both my flatmate at the time, A, and I would pretty much just go with the flow with her recommendations as every place she took us to was always a great experience. It's a shame I never got to take my parents to any of them since the only food my mother likes to eat apart from her own is Chinese food. It's slightly embarrassing. 

Shanghai Blues

193-197 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BD (Closest tube station: Holborn)

I was told about this place thanks to Z ("50% off dim sum on the weekends!") who had been here previously. She thought it was better than Yum Cha Silks and Spice and warned me that while the food was good, there was less variety and was more expensive making the 50% discount vital. So along with Z and F, we embarked on a weekend dim sum feed. The moment you walk into the restaurant, it almost feels like a bit of a surprise. I don't exactly know how to describe it except that it didn't feel like a Chinese restaurant up until we sat down and ordered.

No dim sum experience can be without a pot of tea, so instead of the usual chinese/jasmine tea, so I ordered the chrysanthemum bud tea (£3.20 a pot per person), which was so floral and easy to drink. I had something similar at Silks and Spice, so I gather that I must like this kind of tea.

We ordered an array of dishes: mini golden pumpkins (£5), char siu bao/BBQ pork buns (£4.60), xiao long bao/shanghai dumplings (£5.60), shanghai pork dumplings (£5.60), crystal prawn dumplings (£5.60), and steamed rice with chinese mushrooms, chicken and chinese sausage (£6.20).

I wish I could remember why we ordered the mini golden pumpkins, because I would usually not order something like that. But whatever the reason, it was a good decision. The pumpkins consisted of a pumpkin juice pastry filled with pumpkin and chopped chinese mushrooms. They looked like mini pumpkins and were almost too cute to eat. However, nothing that cute gets by me and my stomach, so I gladly ate one! Yum!

Everything else was also pretty delicious to eat though F was not so much of a fan of the xiao long bao, as the colour and texture of the filling inside did not appeal to her much. F and I did agree that the char siu bao from Yum Cha Silks and Spice was much better, but was nevertheless still good to eat. I never used to like char siu bao that much actually, but London seemed to convert me. Same with egg tarts!

While everything was pretty solid, I still consider it not as good as Yum Cha Silks and Spice. Almost, but not quite. Without the 50% discount the dishes are priced way too high. Why pay over £5 for har gow when you can pay a couple of pounds less than that in Camden/Chalk Farm?

Royal China

24-26 Baker Street, London W1U 7AB (Closest tube station: Baker Street)

My trip to Royal China was an excuse to go out and not stay in my shoebox flat. After endless months of studying, exams were finally over. I was making plans leading up to the end of month, where I would move out to my new place and then travel briefly for a week with my parents who came briefly see me whilst travelling all over Europe. I can't wait for retirement.

When I did my dim sum research, Royal China frequently came up. Many of their restaurants are located throughout London and I had gathered that the Baker Street one would be the best out of the lot (excluding Queensway's one which was closed for renovations at the time). I requested some dim sum time with Z and away we went! We were pretty lucky to get away with no reservation as it was extremely busy once we arrived. We weren't that hungry (though I'm pretty sure I did most of the eating) so we ordered four dim sum dishes: Fried Glutinous Mixed Meat Dumplings, Fried Vegetarian Beancurd Rolls, Roast Pork Buns, and Prawn Dumplings. It's not that hard to identify which one is which from the photo. Everything tasted decent, but not as good as Yum Cha Silks and Spice. Probably not as good at Shanghai Blues, but at least Royal China is about £2 less per dish if you go by Shanghai's normal prices, and it's not like Shanghai Blues is magnificiently better either.

Another mention: It's a shame I don't have any photos but I feel like I must mention another dim sum restaurant. Many many months ago, I attended the Southbank Chocolate Festival with my fiancé (well he wasn't at the time :)) and after walking around the area, I was in the mood for a non-chocolate bite to eat and something to drink. You must seem to think that I'm perpetually hungry. I'm not, honest..

Anyway we were walking around and I noticed Ping Pong, a dim sum restaurant which a friend recommended to me when we had a conversation that had something to do with food (nothing new here). I thought, oh why don't we go here? My fiancé, M, was skeptical as he confessed to me that he did not like dim sum (!!!!) and has never had a good experience. He blames the texture. To dislike dim sum is a crime in my household. I thought it was my mission to convince him that there was good dim sum around and that he just happened to not experience any good ones!!! But let me tell you that I regret taking him here. If I knew that it was not going to be good, I would have taken him somewhere else. We ended up sharing a set menu that was for one (rather than for two) and most of dumplings we shared were below par. Maybe I should have asked my friend which dumplings to order because maybe those ones do in fact taste good and I would know if I had ordered them. Or maybe not. Since then I have been unable to get him to come and eat dim sum with me. He's too scared. But once he comes and visits me in NZ, he'll have no choice....

My Old Place

88-90 Middlesex Street, London E1 7 EZ (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

Thanks to my ex-flatmate, this was one of my favourite places to go to London. With restaurants like this one you don't really expect quality service, but it's quick and affordable. It also ended up being very convenient for me too during the summer, as it was literally a three minute walk from my flat. My Old Place specialises in Northern Chinese cuisine, but also has a few Szechuan-like dishes on the menu. It's a nice change from the Cantonese food I tend to eat if I'm in the mood for Chinese.

There are two dishes that I always have to order when I visit. One being the stewed potato-green pepper-aubergine dish (£7) and the other being the BBQ lamb skewers (£1 per skewer). The first time I went there, I was skeptical of the potato dish. Not because of the potatoes of course, but because of the green peppers and aubergine. But as I must have mentioned in an earlier update, My Old Place made me change my views about aubergine. I just absolutely love it in that dish and am not afraid to eat it elsewhere now. As for the lamb skewers, well it was love at first sight for me. I cannot resist anything barbequed – especially if it's meat. The lamb is extremely tender and is generously spiced with cumin and the heat from the cumin really makes the lamb sing. Everyone (except my fiancé) that has come to eat with me here are big fans of the skewers. My fiancé on the other hand, thinks they don't trim off enough fat from the lamb. I seriously don't understand. Every other dish I have had there has also been good, though watch out for the Szechuan peppers if you're ordering a hot dish! Yikes, a pepper on the tongue is literally like an explosion in the mouth. And not a good one if you know what I mean.

Four Seasons Restaurant

12 Gerrard Street, London W1D 5PR (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

This is another restaurant that I went to on the basis of my ex-flatmate's recommendation.  There are two Four Seasons branches around the Chinatown area. I have also been to the second branch on Wardour Street, which was long ago when my parents came to visit me the first time. My parents are not exactly the most adventurous type of eaters, so when they eat out, 98% of the time they will eat at fast food chains or Chinese restaurants. I ate a lot of Chinese food in Chinatown during that week they were here.

When I was taken to Four Seasons during the winter, I almost had to do a double check. I had thought to myself, haven't I been here before? I didn't even realise that there were two branches in Chinatown. For the record, the food was rather decent at both branches though Gerrard Street was probably marginally better. Four Seasons are well-known and supposedly reputed for their Cantonese-style roast duck (£9 for a portion, £12 for half, £20.80 for whole), which I tried when we ordered the "two combo BBQ"(£8.50) where you can choose two dishes from the BBQ dishes menu. With the duck we also tried the soya chicken and both were flavourful and tender. I'm not sure if it was the best roast duck I've ever had but it was excellent for sure. Another dish that I really enjoyed was the Fujian fried rice (£9.50) which was something that I never tried before but would definitely love to try again. It's a bit similar to regular fried rice except that it comes with a dose of gravy on top. Again, I don't think Four Seasons would win an award for its service, so don't expect too much on that front.

Another mention: Another notable restaurant to mention would be Young Cheng, but the one located on Lisle Street rather than the buffet on Wardour Street or the one on Shaftesbury Avenue. Once again, my wonderful ex-flatmate recommended this place and out of all the restaurants in Chinatown that I went to, this one was my favourite. The selection of dishes she ordered for us was superb. I think there might have been some dishes on the Chinese menu that wasn't available on the English menu, but I'm not entirely sure on that. I managed to try Roasted Pigeon for the first time, which was pretty good. Not as flavourful as duck is, but good nonetheless. I really enjoyed all of the dishes. At the end of our meal we were given a small bowl of yam tong sui with sago (pretty much a sweet soup with yam and smaller tapioca pearls). It sort of reminded me of a dish my mum makes at home (minus the sago), so it brought me back to some excellent memories! It was delicious.

Another place in Chinatown that I've been to is Cafe TPT, which is next to the Four Seasons Wardour Street branch. Their food is a bit sweeter in flavour compared to the Four Seasons, but it's not too bad as well. There are a couple more restaurants in Chinatown that I experienced with my parents, but I don't really remember anything because they were either not that memorable or not that good. Well there was one thing that I remember from Wong Kei, but that's probably for another day....

Welcome to Japan:
You have no idea how much I love Japanese food. I enjoy it so much that it's probably one of my Top 3 favourite cuisines. I probably cook more Japanese food than Thai food, that's how much I enjoy it! It is shamefully my favourite part when I travel there. For the most part, Japanese food is nutritious and flavourful. You never feel guilty when you stuff your mouth with sushi, right? There's a reason why Japansese people tend to live longer than anyone else.

Taro Restaurant
10 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4TF (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

I've been to Taro a couple of times. My friend, Z, and I noticed this place as we were strolling around Old Compton and Brewer Street. Certainly it wasn't the best Japanese food I've eaten (actually there are probably a lot more decent, affordable Japanese restaurants in Auckland then there are in London), but it was doable. It was a packed house when Z and I came for dinner. The ramen dish that she ordered looked and tasted a bit strange and was average, but the tori karaage (deep fried marinaded chicken, £4.90) was really good. The chicken yakitori sticks (£4.50) that I ordered were pretty average and I didn't have any qualms with the salmon teriyaki don (£6.90).

Weeks later, I decided to plan a group outing for my coursemates. Initially I had picked Bincho (which I will talk about later), but they didn't have a table for 12 people for the time that I wanted when I called them a couple of days before our outing (as I was chastised, "You should've booked a week in advanced!"). So with such late notice, I decided that Taro wouldn't be so bad. It was right next to Bincho and based on the experience I had with my friend, the food was okay and the prices were diminutive. I just wanted to avoid a trip to Pizza Express (is that so bad?). While I booked for 12 people, 12 eventually became 18 and luckily the staff at Taro didn't mind so much about that. I had the impression that the food wasn't so much a hit with most of my coursemates. A pretty mixed reaction depending on what you ordered, like the yakisoba and ramen dishes weren't so much a hit. I myself ordered the tori karaage again even though I knew I was going to be full with my chicken teriyaki bento box (£9.90, with sushi £12.90). The salmon teriyaki is much better than the chicken, as their cooking method for the chicken was kind of unorthodox and strange. My friend's gyoza (£4.80) was not too shabby as well.

I convinced my friend to try shochu and holy bananas do I regret it. I now realise that it is much stronger than the milder korean soju I've tried. It's like taking a shot of misery into your mouth.

Other mentions: I wish I had taken more photos of Japanese food. But once I see it, I usually pounce. When I moved closer to Liverpool Street, my fiancé and I most frequently visited The Japanese Canteen. The name suggests that it may sound not so good, but their food was really good value for money and we enjoyed every meal we ate there. Quick service and dimunitive prices. We would bring friends along sometimes and we never had any complaints. My fiancé would pretty much uninspiringly order the same dish because he liked it so much, which was the chicken katsu curry (breast £5.95, thigh £4.95). While I would mostly order the salmon teriyaki donburi (£5.95) which was delicious, I have tried the chicken teriyaki donburi (£4.95) which is not as good as the salmon, the volcano roll sushi (£5.95) which has a bit of heat to it but is very filling indeed, the takoyaki (£2.95) which was decent, and the miso soup (£1.50) which was better than the crap you can get at Itsu.

They seat around 130 people and it's a madhouse during the lunch service. That's all you need to know.

Z and I went through a Japanese phase after we ate at Taro. Ten Ten Tei, which is close the the other branch of Taro, is another Japanese restaurant around the Soho area. There is more seating downstairs and while it's sort of relatively inexpensive, it's inexpensive for London but costs a little tiny bit more than Taro (as far as I can recall). Dishes we ordered included agedashi tofu (deep-fried tofu with a dashi-based sauce), nasu dengaku (eggplant glazed with miso), tonkatsu (fried breaded pork cutlet) with rice, and beef donburi (or otherwise known as gyudon, beef on rice). Everything arrived promptly and service was efficient.

Last but not least, Bincho. One of the first things that I wanted to find when I moved to London was a izakaya/yakitori bar that would similarly fulfill the same expectations I usually have at Tanuki's Cave. I've been to both locations – once in Soho with Z and the other in Exmouth Market with my fiancé, though it looks like the EC1 location is closed since there's no mention left on their website. While not as good as Tanuki's, it's still pretty decent. I basically enjoy anything on a stick really. There's a minimum of two skewers per menu item and everything is pretty good from the menu. Even the chicken gizzards. My least favourites were probably the pork belly skewers (£2 per skewer) which were too fatty for my liking (yes, even for me!!) and the shiitake mushroom skewers (£1.75 per skewer) which had barely any flavour. You can do walk-ins at Bincho, but it can get really busy at night.

Japanese Canteen: 100 Middlesex Street, London E1 7EZ (Closest tube station: Liverpool Street)

Ten Ten Tei, 56 Brewer Street, Soho W1F 9TJ (Closest tube station: Piccadilly Circus)

Bincho: 16 Old Compton Street, Soho W1D 4TL (Closest tube station: Leicester Square)

From the above, it doesn't really seem like I ate much sushi. But I ate tons of it. Shamefully (or maybe not so), I went to Wasabi for my sushi as a matter of convenience and price. It's not too bad. Just don't go there for warm/hot meals, it's not good at all. Not even worth the little amount you pay.