Archive for June 12th, 2011

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June 12, 2011

Trullo

Now Highbury is by no means anywhere near being gastronomic. Unless you consider Tesco. So for an Italian restaurant to be consistently jam packed with people and getting good reviews is a welcome addition to an otherwise restaurant black hole. Add to the equation celebrity backing. Lulu’s (famed British singer of yore) son runs the place. That same Lulu’s son who spent a couple of weeks at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s with me on the larder section! What fun! Must go! After the usual ‘ring ring, hello, yes, sure, oh! wait a minute. no that’s alright, see you later’ business, we were at the bar sipping negroni’s and browsing the menu. Wasn’t very hard to choose as it was a small menu and it sounded good.

So we decided to share a starter of braised artichokes, lamb’s lettuce . I love artichokes and this one made me very happy. Could happily eat a whole plate of them!
My main course was Roast skate, samphire and lentils Again, yum! The best thing about skate is eating the bones – soft and crunchy like chicken cartilage. Yes, strange, I know – but you’re either in that group, or you’re out! It’s yum!
M’s main course was Whole grilled mackerel with a warm salad of croutons, garlic, mint, parsley, tomato and spring onion Very yummy, if only the mackerel being a bit overcooked and dry.

Dessert wasn’t anything special, with Apricot and almond tart, creme fraiche – bit dry.

Nonetheless, we were quite happy and the restaurant was full at any given time.

And the manager (said son of singer) shared a moment of recognition when he passed our table, but quickly moved away. Hmm. I wasn’t going to embarass him with past stories anyway!

We did wonder if the restaurant would continue to be as full with the planned opening of Jamie’s Italian on the other end of Upper Street. We’ll have to wait and see!

Overall Experience: 7
Recommend you to go? 7
Food: 6
Wine: 6
Trullo on Urbanspoon
Square Meal

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June 12, 2011

Jamies Italian

There aren’t many chefs who have a jovial persona on screen and off, cook great food at it’s simplest level, challenge long standing norms and tie their shoe laces with their teeth. Jamie Oliver fits perfectly here (he may be able to tie his shoe laces with his teeth, but we don’t know that just yet). I’ve always admired him and when I finally went with a friend to Jamies Italian in the West End, I was quite shocked. Shocked because there was a queue outside his restaurant as long as immigration in Heathrow. Murmurs in the air told us there might be a 2 hour wait. No problem. We persevered. When we finally got to the front, we were told 1 and half hours. Easy. Names on paper, numbers swapped, off we went for cocktails in the sunshine!

Not having ate at any of his places before, I was quite excited when we sat down and starting perusing the menu. Just what I was in the mood for. Simple basic fare.


Worlds best olives on ice, black olive tapenade
Not sure about being the best in the world, but the tapenade was great.

Truffle salami, cured sardines, olives
The salami was yum! Just yum! and the sardines weren’t too bad – be nicer if they were on toast.


Lamb heart, kidney, shoulder, liver, jersey royals, polenta
A behemoth of a dish. Very very yum. Great big portion. Yes! I like!

Overall Experience: 8
Recommend you to go? 9
Food: 8
Wine: 7
Jamie's Italian on Urbanspoon
Square Meal

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June 12, 2011

L’autre Pied

It had to be my luck. Two days of glorious sunshine, and I mean scorching sunshine and I was stuck in the kitchen, sweating, sweltering and hoping it would stay that way on my day off.

(Really? You really thought that would be the case? This is England!)

And in true British style, I got out of bed on Sunday and promptly got back in. It was raining. No. It was pouring down. Bugger. Nonetheless, had a table booked at L’autre Pied, the off shoot of Pied a Terre (2 star), and the food sounded interesting and playful.

Luckily, the rain stopped. Well, it stopped, started, stopped again, restarted. But for the purpose of our lunch, it behaved and allowed us to have an outside table.

So, on to the food.

Salad of smoked duck, beetroot
I love beetroot and this had it all – raw, pickled, cooked, 4 different types of beetroot. The duck was merely an accessory.

For the mains (which seemed like they’d never come!):

Roast hake, broad beans, peas, sprouts
Delicious and very summery. Only problem, the hake tasted like it had been cured in salt. So I sent it back.

5 minutes later, I was brought the dish again and lo and behold, it was STILL TOO SALTY! My friend thought I was being difficult until she tasted it and confirmed I was right. By this point I was too hungry to send it back, so ploughed through. They’ve got a Michelin star! 2 lots of over-salted fish. Not good. Sunday attitude?

Dessert was equally less impressive, even though it sounded good:

Baked Alaska, cardamom ice cream, rhubarb
Mushy overly sweetened meringue, rock solid, flavourless ice cream (cardamom – really? could fool anyone!), undercooked, oversweet rhubarb (and no where near enough of it – luckily in this occassion!).


Overall Experience: 7 (friendly staff)
Recommend you to go? 5
Food: 4
Wine: 8 (Gruner Veltliner, yet again!)

L'Autre Pied on Urbanspoon
Square Meal

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June 12, 2011

Mint Leaf Lounge

I feel hungry, oh so hungry,
I feel hungry and starving tonight!
And I’m eating,
Everything that I can see in sight! (sung to the tune of I feel pretty, from Westside Story)

Us chefs are a funny lot. It’s easy to get us turned on and excited – just bring out the food porn! No, really! If there’s one thing more exciting than going to a good restaurant, it’s going to the restaurant where a friend is the head chef! Oh yes sir! And especially if that chef is a bloody good cook. So, the one step guide to eating out at friends’ restaurants? – Starve! Starve! Starve! You see, Indians not only love eating, but also feeding – it’s the most inherent of our traits. As a child I always made full use of that hospitality and gorged myself wherever we went much to the delight of all my parents’ friends and our relatives.

So, it was off to the Mint Leaf Lounge. 2nd time for me – I first went when Dhayalan Paul had just taken over, so nearly two years later, I was even more excited as he was, by now, completely in his element.

The bar was buzzing with city workers unwinding after a long day at their desks. The cheerful manager secured us a table where we sat down to enjoy a few Indian inspired cocktails (mine had chilli!) and a plate of duck kebab. Ah! happy!

At our table, we were in a state of flux. We wanted to order the whole menu, but our stomachs advised otherwise. So, after much deliberation, we ordered…


Lentil crusted tilapia, yoghurt rice, coconut chutney
Yum! Although, could have done with more of a lentil crust. Great little starter.

Tandoori chicken, chicken pickle
Highlight of the meal – the chicken pickle. I could eat just that with some naan and be very happy!

Onto the mains:

Grilled beef flank, masala potatoes, pak choi
Tasty, hearty, simple, yum. What more?

Pork vindaloo
As a vindaloo should be. Spicy, but bursting with a myriad of flavours all distinguishable. And it doesn’t burn away your taste buds.

And desserts:

Carrot halwa, cardamom ice cream
A classic. Unfortunately, with the quality of produce we get in the UK, the carrots didn’t contribute much in terms of carroty flavour. But it was tasty, and the cardamom ice cream was sensational. We ordered some just on its own as we were too greedy to share.

Apple streusel, curried apple
An interesting take on a classic. Simple and light after a big meal.


Overall Experience: 9
Recommend you to go? 9
Food: 8
Wine: 10 (Gruner Veltliner! My favourite!)
High ratings – yes, Dhayalan Paul is a good friend, but also a great cook. It’s just about the food! (sorry D!)
Mint Leaf Lounge & Restaurant on Urbanspoon
Square Meal

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