Sunday 6 February 2011

LONDON - A gourmet weekend


St Katherines Docks Good Food Market
St Katherine's Way
Tower Hamlets
E1W 1TW

'Panka' - Peruvian food stall


We had a mixed box which included Corriander beef, mixed vegetable quinoto, grilled chicken and salad for £5.00. The corriander beef was the highlight, the meat was really tender and flavorsome, but they could have been a bit more generous with their serving size. The Quinoto was a mix of quinoa, peas and sweetcorn, nice and healthy but a little bland and could have done with more seasoning. The grilled chicken was quite tasty, but quite subtly flavoured, the cabbage salad was a nice touch, and provided a nice crunch amongst all the meat and grains. 



Also at the market was an extremely appealing Carribean stand 'Creole' selling mostly vegan friendly sweet and savoury loafs, but i did notice they were selling some rather nice looking hot savoury fritters at a reasonable £1.50. After sampling most of the loafs available from the little tasting plate on the stand we went for the mango loaf at £3.50 for half. This is one of the nicest vegan cakes i have tried, so moist and extremely moreish!




'Abu Zaad' - Syrian

29 Uxbridge Road
London
W12 8LH
http://www.abuzaad.co.uk/

There was such a huge selection of dishes we wanted to try on this menu, and i had some recommended dishes that i was interested to sample.

'Pastries filled with lamb, raisins and pinenuts'
The pastry was a bit too thick and chewy which was ashame as the lamb filling was really tasty

'Foul Mukalla' - Broadbeans with corriander, garlic, olive oil and yogurt
This was one of the reccomended dishes and i wasn't dissapointed. It went really well with the flatbreads we were served.

'Bamieh-bil-zeit'  onion with tomato corriander and olive oil
'Harah Isbah' - Pasta cooked with tamarind, lentils and garlic
'Makdous' Aubergine stuffed with walnut and pepper

The 'Harah Isbah' was my favourite dish on this mixed platter, strange sounding combination but worked really well and i liked the crunch of the toasted bread on the top. The aubergine was a bit dissapointing as it was pickled and was a bit too sour.


'Makloba' - Rice cooked with nuts and spices baked with aubergine and topped with lamb.
This was the dish i was most looking forward to and also came highly recommended. Lovely smoky charred sliced of aubergine encasing a mound of spiced rice and slow cooked chunks of lamb.


Portobello Road Market
Kensington
London
'Churros Garcia' 
www.churrosgarcia.co.uk

Churros are a fried dough pastry, and are most popularly known as a 'spanish dougnut' I have always wanted to try them, and i heard that this was the best place to get them. The queue for this stand was very big so i had a good feeling about it. At £3.50 a little pricey but they were really good, crisp hot and chewy, covered in sugar and came with a rather nice hot chocolate dipping sauce.




'C+ R Cafe' - Malaysian

52 Westbourne Grove
London
W2 5SH
www.cnrrestaurant.co.uk

After walking around Portobello Market in the rain, we decided it was time to take cover and get some lunch. Most of the places we ventured past in this area seemed a bit pricey but then we spotted C + R which i had been reading about recently having been recommended by none other than Michel Roux in one of the weekend supplements.


'Pad Thai' - Fried rice noodles with chicken, beansprouts, peanuts and egg


Kampung Style Nasi Goreng - fried rice with chicken, prawns, anchovies and chilli with a fried egg

Gessler at Daquise  - Polish

20 Thurloe Street
London
Sw7 2LT
www.gesslerlondon.com



'Pierozki'  Dumplings filled with pork served with bacon lardons.
These were brought to the table by the chef, still sizzling away in the pan. Served piping hot and drizzled with the cooking oil and crunchy pieces of bacon. They were packed full of soft rich pork, and the pastry was light and not too heavy. Very generous portion for a starter too.


 'Tatar' - beef fillet with egg yolk, gherkin, capers, and anchovies
I had always been a bit reluctant to try steak tatar, i guess the idea of raw meat and raw egg had never seemed that appealing. However, after sampling this i really enjoyed the dish.The beef was very fresh, and seasoned extremely well, the anchovies added a nice extra bit of saltiness. The gherkins and capers giving it a nice crunchy texture in contrast to the softness of the meat.




'Kaczka' - Rosted duck with apples, with cranberries and red cabbage with dill mashed potatoes

Again the main meals were all served to us at the table which i really enjoyed, each component of the dish being brought out in various frying pans and pots.  The duck was lovely and tender with nice crisp skin, and  the mash and red cabbage were both a great accompaniment. 


Medaliony z jelenia - meddalions of dear in armagnac, served with polish noodles and roasted beetroot

Sunday

Maoz

43 Old Compton Street
Westminster
London
W1D 6HG
www.maozusa.com/restaurants/locations/london

Pitta with falafel, humous, and various salads and pickles from the help yourself bar.
£3.40

Really good value, very generously filled and good choice of extra salads and sauces.  They also do good value meal deals, which included belgian fries and drinks.


'Koba' - Korean

11 Rathbone Street
London
W1T 1NA



Mixed pickles of cabbage, carrot and radish

Spring onion and chilli fried rice cake

Tofu Hotpot


19 Numara Bos Cirrik - Turkish

34 Stoke Newington Road
N16 7XJ

I think this is probably one of my favourite places to eat in London, it never disappoints. It's small with tables tightly packed in, but it has a great feel about it, especially when the locals are dining.


You get three salads and bread for free when you order your meal. My favourite is the grilled onion soaked in pomegranate juice. 


'Chicken Beyti Kebab'
Juicy chargrilled pieces of chicken with finely chopped pepper and herbs, wrapped in bread served with buttery rice, yogurt and tomato sauce. 


This is my favourite dish, and i pretty much always order this because i enjoy it so much. Aubergine stuffed with lamb mince and vegetables served with rice and a garlicky tomato sauce.






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