amuse bouche: single quail egg, pea puree & pea dust The Ledbury is by far my favourite high end restaurant in all of London, if not the world. I’ve been lucky enough to visit once and twice, and now on my third visit, I knew the service would strike a perfect balance between professional yet … Read More →
lamb tagine (slow cooked lamb braised in a tomato, coriander, cumin, turmeric and parsley sauce) I’ve been in Johannesburg a week and this trip has been ridiculously, magnanimously wayyyyyy more enjoyable than the last trip. One, because I’m not working 14 hour days this time and two, I’m not working 14 hour days this time! I’ve had … Read More →
Cumberland sausage and chive mash with caramelised onion gravy It’s now officially 8 sleeps to go before I bid farewell to these gloomy shores. Days like today – Sunday, dumping rain, windy, scattered sunshine (kind of like Melbourne, really) – makes me think I won’t miss London at all but who am I kidding? As … Read More →
I’ve been on a whirlwind of farewell dinners this week, my diary packed from last Saturday all the way through to this coming Sunday. For a wee little homebody like myself, this is tiring. Luckily, with the barrage of dinners, I’ve also had a huge array of gastronomic delights to power me on. Monday night … Read More →
Tick tock, tick tock, time sure is ticking fast! 16 sleeps to go and I’m well into my list of final visits to favourite eats around London. The Ledbury is done, Sushi of Shiori is done, Dinings and Hawksmoor are both lined up for next week. Excitements! Last night we went to Bocca di Lupo. … Read More →
hip hop roll – crab meat, avocado and lettuce, wrapped in seared salmon, topped with fried garlic My time in London has come and gone! Waaahhhhhh BIG SAD FACE (T.T) … I didn’t actually feel particularly sad until the very last night when I lay in bed and thought about everything that I was going … Read More →
On Saturday, my friends Brendon and Christine hosted a most fabulous BBQ down in the ghetto. Well, the term “ghetto” is used relatively here. Basically, they pretty much live across the street from the Ministry of Sound nightclub and back in my hey day (because yes I am old), that minuscule proximity to MOS would have totally … Read More →
Sometimes I find a place so good in London that I can’t wait to tell y’all all about it. Because I’m nice like that. Right? WRONG. Because when I find the places I reaaaaaally love, I just want to keep them all to myself. I mean, damn if I’m gonna be sharing all my secrets! … Read More →
oh ee kim chi (pickled cucumber seasoned in red chilli powder) There’s been a lot of talk lately about one of my most beloved fruits, the durian. And let me tell you, it hasn’t been so kind, this talk about my durian. It seems that more and more people (even Asians, dammit, you call yourself … Read More →
There’s something about getting all dressed up that still makes the girlie girl hidden deep within me flutter with excitement. I never wear proper dresses and heels in London (work clothes don’t count). The walking, the raining, the cobbled streets… unless you actually want to sprain your ankle or god forbid, to damage the perfectly … Read More →
I should probably warn you guys that this post is going to feature a whole bunch of meat, but you can’t eat any of it. In fact, try and they might eat you, or at least that’s what I was told. With that knowledge tucked away in my little brain, I remained incredibly well behaved, … Read More →
organic porridge with brown sugar, banana & honey When Panu’s out of town, I get up to a whole bunch of no good. Like, I bake a batch of brownies and eat half of them myself. I watch The Hills on repeat, UP LOUD, and just to be really naughty, I even sleep on his … Read More →
black prawn ravioli, prawn mousseline & champagne-chervil cream It’s only two more sleeps until I’m back on the plane, hurtling my way back to London. My two weeks in J’burg feels like it’s flown by, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve been here for eons and I want to go home so … Read More →
It’s official. Well, it’s been official for about six months now but due to things like work and our lease and all kinds of grown up things, I haven’t been able to talk about it. But now I can! In just over six weeks, Panu and I are officially packing up and moving back home … Read More →
Saturday night and I’m flying el solo. I kind of like this once in a while, to take my own time and wander along Southbank and you know, eat like five courses of modern Singaporean food on my own. Thank goodness they were itsy bitsy courses, a part of Singapore Tourism’s new campaign to introduce … Read More →
There are good reasons why I’d never gone to Polpetto. For one, I never want to eat dinner flat on 6pm. For another, they don’t take reservations for 7pm which, for the record, is my ideal time for dining out because you get there, get settled, browse the menu, order and bam! Dinner is served at … Read More →
It is currently all of 8pm and my eyes are so tired they sting. But look at me, all superhero and stuff, doing this blog post because for the next three days, I will be stuck on a game reserve in the middle of nowhere with NO WIFI and NO CELL RECEPTION and if I … Read More →
The first thing you notice about the new Giraffe Bar & Grill in Soho is that there ain’t no space to park your buggy. Unlike the rest of its Giraffe clan – whose main mission I think is to either induce a violent fit of cluckiness or well, nausea – this Giraffe is aimed at those … Read More →
The first time I went to Flat Planet, all I had was a tea. But the fabulous ladies behind the counter were making these deliciously topped flatbreads and offered us some sample slices. I had one taste and fell madly deeply in love. The concept is unassumingly simple – they make their dough using organic English … Read More →
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal was always on my bucket list of places to go before we left London. But – and I don’t know how this happened – there was a momentary lapse in my super-crazy-organised-ness and somehow I never got around to making a reservation. Enter Su-yin, who aside from feeding me a whole lot, … Read More →
Ok seriously, waddup with this weather? Firstly we had schizophrenic Friday, which was thundery then sunny then rainy. And then Saturday which was… ok Saturday was nice. But then yesterday! Cold, rainy, windy, 14 degrees… total hibernation weather… in June? I don’t know what the hell is going on. But I do know that a … Read More →
It’s not every day I bake the biggest, pinkest, gayest cake I’ve ever made. And it’s not for just anyone that I would do that either, but this was a special occasion. My friend Melissa was getting married… in Australia. Why was I making a cake in London? Well, it’s all very complicated… and this … Read More →
It’s the little things that make me happy. Blue skies, hugs and matcha kitkats. What really makes me happy though is roast duck, especially roast duck from Four Seasons. Despite the bad service (although, staff at the Queensway branch are infinitely more polite than the Chinatown branches, but that doesn’t say much) I keep going … Read More →
When someone suggested we have a “sticks” themed pot luck lunch, it piqued my curiosity. Fun with sticks? Sticks? Really? Really. Not that I am opposed to sticks. Growing up in Australia, our BBQ was fired up on an almost weekly basis so meat on sticks featured heavily in my weekly food diary. Not that … Read More →