Le Pain Quotidien, Borough, Part 2

 The other day when I went to Le Pain Quotidien in Borough, I sat near the kitchen, so I could see the food coming out of the kitchen. One thing I saw was the chicken pot pie. It looks golden and delicious, so I thought I would give it a try. Not a cheap meal for only £11!! It came as pictured. The white plate looked huge and the pie looked a little lonely against the chicken pot pie. What it needed was a garnish, maybe some steamed veggies or some mashed potato.
The pie its had chunks of chicken which looked like they had been grilled. The sauce was creamy and tasted strongly of leeks. It had been seasoned with salty liberally, however needed more pepper to counterbalance the strong taste and sweetness of the leeks.
Lifting the pastry lid, it looked as though the pie sauce was cooked separately, heated in the oven/grill once ordered then a disc of puff pastry placed on top to assemble the dish together. The pastry topping was light and fluffy, it was as you would expect from bakery/restaurant.
It was tasty, however it just felt like it was missing something else, the portion size was adequate if you're planning to get a dessert as well. However for that pie there are many other places out there you can get a tasty pie and mash included. I don't think I would get this again, it wasn't anything spectacular for me to justify spending that much on a pie.

The pie left me feeling a little peckish, so I decided to get a Normandy apple tart.
The tart came cold, it had been in the refrigerated display cabinet. I wish I had asked for it warmed up, that would have brought out more of the buttery pastry taste. The tart also looked a little lonely, perhaps needing some cream; whipped or pouring in a little jug would have gone down well. The tart doesn't look like much when it arrived, it didn't look like anything special, but as soon as you take the first bite of apple and pastry, it's delicious. The buttery pastry melts in the mouth. It was such a surprise to me that something so little and looking so uninspiring would taste so yummy.

Perhaps Le Pain Quotidien is a place for pastries, cakes and bread rather than main meals, however as I thought this I looked over at the table next to me, and a lady had a kale Caesar salad. It looked delicious! The was piled high full of salad leaves, big crunchy looking croutons and hard boiled eggs. Maybe next time I go here, I'll stick to the basics; pastries, cakes and bread.

Kulu Kulu South Kensington

 I love Japanese food. I love the freshness of everything. Japanese food isn't all about sushi and sashimi. Kulu Kulu operates a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in, Soho, Covent Garden and South Kensington. You simply pay for each plate you take off the conveyor belt, there are 5 different plates at different prices. Do keep an eye out if you're worried about costing, as you could easily get carried away picking plates off the belt. This is a good place to take someone that is a sushi virgin so that they can see the food on offer. And we do eat with our eyes as well! Here's a few of my favourite treats they have on offer, OK I know I haven't added many sushi or sashimi items but here goes.... Sweet tail prawn nigiri, out of all sushi "toppings" on offer, my favourite have got to be either sweet tail prawn because it is slightly meaty but sweet or toro because you have to eat this fish extremely fresh or you can definitely taste the difference, and because it is meaty, slightly salty tasting of the sea with a hint of sweetness because it is so fresh.

 "Tempura hand roll" featuring a tempura prawn, strip of salmon sashimi, and a slice of avocado, with sushi rice, mayo, wrapped in nori. This gives you a the best of both; cooked and raw food. The crispy tempura prawn gives you great texture against the soft velvety salmon and soft avocado.

"Soft shell crab hand roll" featuring tempura soft shell crab, sushi rice, mayo, sesame seeds wrapped in nori. The soft shell crab is crispy on the outside with soft crab on the inside.

Hand rolls are a fun way to introduce sushi. I think it's a good way of introducing sushi to children, obviously not raw fish if they're really young. But kids love eating with their hands so a hand roll would be ideal. I think even as we grow up, as adults we enjoy eating with out hands.


"Ebi fry with potato salad". Crunchy breadcrumbed prawns, need I say more? if you love prawns and you love deep fried food. Yum!! The potatoes in the potato salad is mashed, with pieces of carrot, cucumber and onion to give it an interesting twist, with creamy mayo. Its such an interesting and different take on potato salad

Chawanmushi; which is a steamed savoury egg custard. It can have prawns, kamaboko steamed fish cake, shiitake mushroom, spring onion. This chawanmushi comes with spinach on top, with little cuts of chicken and fish cake. You may have to wait around 15 mins as it is not as popular as some of the other items on offer so you may have to order it when you sit down, but its well worth the wait. It's a great little treat as it warms you up when there's snow outside like there is now. 

Last, but definitely not least, my favourite item on offer from Kulu Kulu..... Their tori kara age, or how I like to call them, chicken nuggets. I think they're absolutely amazing!! The chicken has been marinaded in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, ginger then fried. The outside is crunchy, but the inside is juicy soft chicken. They're the best chicken nuggets I've tasted in London. I love their chicken nuggets. If I haven't had them in a while I start getting withdrawal symptoms and really start missing them. I think they would be as part of my last meal request. Even now as I'm writing this, staring at its picture, brings me memories of its taste, texture and smell. It's making me salivate over the picture and have a real Homer Simpson moment mmmmmmm*drool*


If anyone thinks somewhere else offers tori kara age better than this let me know, would like to be enlightened!

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Baked vanilla & blueberry cheesecake

There have been times in the past when I have bought cheesecake from supermarkets and the biscuit base bottom isn't always as crunchy as it should be.
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference range brings a Baked Vanilla & Blueberry Cheesecake. The cheesecake was creamy with a hint of vanilla and when you get a blueberry it was a little burst of berry-ness. The biscuit base was just the right thickness and had a crunch and biscuit crumble. All in all yummy

Dinner at Cote, Ealing Broadway

Dinner for 3 on a snowy winter's evening at Cote, Ealing BroadwayCalamari with tartar sauce

Moules provencal: Mussels in a tomato sauce.                         Smoked salmon on toasted bread with dill, capes and creme fraiche dressing

    Half chargrilled Breton chicken with garlic butter and frites.              Duck confit and cassoulet

Pan fried sea bass with a pea and cream sauce








Cote is a chain of restaurants delivering French food for a reasonable value. I don't have an issue with chain restaurants. I mean as long as the food is still freshly prepared and cooked, each individual restaurant is its own individual restaurant, with the chefs inside each restaurant affecting whether you like the place like with stand alone restaurants. It's the chain restaurants that buy everything in frozen, and simply re-heating which give chain restaurants a bad name. Cote shouldn't worry here.

The feel of the restaurant is like a French bistro and the staff are professional and friendly giving a warm welcomed feeling to the restaurant. This isn't my first time at Cote, I have been to others within the Cote chain and have the standard, taste and freshness of the food to be great.

The starters; calamari, mussels with a tomato sauce, and smoked salmon with a creme fraiche dressing. The calamari was meaty and had a great crunchy breadcrumb coating. I loved the little bits of breadcrumbs and sauteed garlic at the bottom of the pan, it was a real treat, like finding the little off cuts crunchy bits of chips at the bottom of the paper bag from the fish and chip shop. The mussels in the tomato sauce was delicious, slight tang from the tomatoes but the meaty mussels were able to stand up to the powerful sauce. The smoked salmon was delicious, however since it was on the set menu could have done with a few more slices of it, rather than just enough to cover 2 pieces of toasted bread.

The mains: Duck confit with cassoulet, half chargrilled Breton chicken, and seabass with a pea and cream sauce. The duck confit was super soft, the meat literally fell off the bone, the skin was crisp and the cassoulet underneath was rich tomatoey. They had added little garlic croutons, which gave a burst of garlicky crunch against the soft beans which was a real treat as you didn't get this with every mouthful and it was a surprise when you got this. The Breton chicken was delicious, and came with garlic butter and crispy french fries. The  sea bass was perfectly cooked and the creamy sauce was rich but the peas give it the needed freshness.

We were too full for dessert, however I love getting the creme caramel, its amazing!! Maybe next time

Borough Le Pain Quotidien

 A snowy afternoon in London Borough Market. The snow gave Borough Market a Chrismassy and slight romantic feeling. I was looking for somewhere warm indoors to eat preferably a hearty bowl of soup to warm me up. At one end of Borough Market is Le Pain Quotidien. As soon as you walk in, there are lots of freshly baked bread on the shelves and a display of delicious looking cakes. The special soup of the day was scotch broth. I had a cup size so that I could also try another daily special recommended by the waitress Chorizo and potato frittata. The scotch broth can with a chunk of their freshly baked bread. Their bread was delicious, had a crunch on the outside and fluffy white bread on the inside. The scotch broth was filled with lots of veggies, however the soup came warm instead of piping hot and some of the barley had a slight bite to it. I think barley should be soft? Or maybe the slight bite ones were there to add a bit of texture to the soup


The potato and chorizo frittata came with dressed salad leaves and some bread. Their bread is delicious so I really cannot complain about the amount of bread that came. The frittata came with what looks like tomato ketchup, however when you tasted it, it tasted like ketchup mixed with Dijon mustard. That surprise mustardy kick in the ketchup was delicious and gave the whole dish that lift it needed. The frittata itself was filled with potato and egg and not enough chorizo. I like chorizo, when you eat it you should get the hit of smoked paprika and spicyness of the sausage, however this frittata need a little more chorizo. The frittata need that spicy kick to lift the dish which was lacking. The tomato dip that came with it definitely brought that kick where the chorizo was lacking. All in all a nice dish.

To finish, I had a baked apple flan and a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate comes in bowls rather than cups which give it a unique warmly feeling when you're drinking it. You can just imagine sitting next to a log fire, snowing outside and you sitting there with a bowl of hot chocolate. Yummy!!
I wasn't sure what to expect with the baked apple flan. Perhaps like an apple tart. The flan came warm served with whipped cream. The flan was eggy with sweet apples on top. If you don't like egg as a dessert or custard tart as a dessert this is not the dish for you, as the egg was prominent. However I like egg and custard tarts, so this dessert was delicious. Even though it was made with egg and looked a little dense, it was actually delightfully light, with a bite from the pastry bottom and a slight crunch with the sweet apple top. Yummy. I wonder why this is only a special and not a regular addition to the menu?

All this came to £20.64 inc service. I know this was a bit much for lunch and there are many other places you could go to get a filling 3 course meal, however the freshly baked bread and desserts are a real treat for once in a while

Afternoon snack at Paul Bankside

Afternoon tea was created in the 1800's consisting of tea, mini sandwiches, scones and cakes. I love afternoon tea. Its not just the cakes, it's the whole experience of sitting in an elegant and relaxing setting, seeing a little tiered stand of artwork (cakes). But the afternoon experience can be a lengthy process. It shouldn't be rushed, it should be savored. Not everyone has time to have an afternoon tea each day, let alone each week. But today I had a little extra time on my hands so decided to pop into the newly opened Paul on Bankside. The huge glass front is welcoming and you can see from the outside the cakes and pastries awaiting you inside. I've been to Paul's many times before, mainly take away and rarely get the chance to eat in. Today I had a millefeuille. The millfeuille's pastry was light, crisp and flaky as it should be, you could feel each layer as you bit into it. The custard, hint of vanilla and creamy. the icing on top gave the dish the sweetness with each bite. Yummy!!

Blue Moon Tufnell Park

It was snowing outside and cold, so whats best for lunchtime, something warming and perhaps spicy. So I went down to Blue Moon Thai restaurant in Tufnell Park. They offer a lunch meal deal; starter, main and a drink for £7.95. So to start I had chicken tom yum soup. It was just what this weather needed, hot, spicy with a sour tang, delicious. I don't think I've had tom yum soup this nice anywhere. Ok I haven't tried all that London has to offer in tom yum soup, but this one is tasty. Then I had the pad siew with tofu. Fried soft thick rice noodles with crispy tofu and crunchy veggies, had the right balance of saltiness with a slight sweetness coming through. Yummy!! This isn't my first time here, and chicken tom yum soup is what I do tend to usually order, especially in this cold weather, but every time I do come here, the staff are always friendly and welcoming. 

It is a little disturbing that I'm already thinking about going there again for lunch tomorrow?? If any of you know the Tufnell Park area, it is pretty dreary and lack culinary offerings, but this is a little gem

M&S hot chocolate profiteroles

After my lunch at the M&S food to go counter, I had to browse the dessert aisle. I have a massive sweet tooth and love dessert. Just standing in front of the desserts on display feels so tranquil, it brings me back to being in a sweet shop and looking up at all of those jars filled with sweets.

The hot chocolate profiteroles caught my eye. I thought how could you have hot chocolate mixed with profiteroles? surely the hot chocolate would melt the cream and would make it slightly curdle.

You just heat the profiteroles in the oven for 8 mins and heat the chocolate sauce for 20 secs, put it together and there you go....

The profiteroles had a nice crust, inside was a sweet custard filling. The chocolate sauce comes separate which is just as well, since the profiteroles and the chocolate sauce together can be slightly sweet... even for me. But I love the idea that they've take the humble profiterole and taken it where you can reheat these at home and would make a great dessert for when you have guests round and would want to impress, without having to make the choux pastry from scratch

Marks & Spencer food to go

So it was lunchtime, passing a Marks & Spencer food to go counter. I used to work near a M&S so would often browse the food to go menu for something different at lunchtime. Today I saw something different from the usual sandwiches and burgers on offer... BBQ ribs, potato wedges and coleslaw. As soon as I saw this on the board I offered it straight away, without even reading it properly.

When the ribs came, I thought they might be pork ribs, however they looked like too big to be pork, more like baby dinosaur ribs, of course it was beef. The ribs were sweet, slightly smoky and sticky, all you could want from bbq ribs. The meat was so tender it just fell off the bones. Of course ribs are the type of food you eat with your hands, which make the whole experience that more gratifying; trying to make sure you don't have bbq sauce around your mouth, but then realizing that they're too tasty to care.

The coleslaw was crunchy and creamy, however had a little too much raw onion in, which leaves a lingering taste of raw onion in your mouth. The potato wedges were that, potato wedges, slightly crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. But the star of the show are the ribs.

All of this only came to £4.95, what a bargain!! Definitely getting this again, if only there was a M&S closer to my work so I could get this more easily.

Gaucho Tower Bridge

I love steak. Steak and chips is definitely one of my all time most favourite meals. It's such a comforting meal, fills you up but also allows you to bring out the carnivorous side.
The service at Gaucho was very friendly and I love that they have a meat board and want to explain the cuts of meat to you. It definitely adds to the whole carnivorous experience, having raw cuts of meat laid out on a wooden board. It might sound a little hannibal lecter but looking at the meat board and hearing the waiters explain the board makes me salivate and you know there are good things to come.
I ordered the Churrasco de Chorizo; sirloin marinated for 48 hours, medium.The steak was soft and buttery, so easy to cut and succulent on the palate. I was famished upon entering Gaucho and this made a real dent in my belly. The steak was so easy to cut with a knife, perhaps the fact that the steak has been marinaded for hours that it has made the steak more tender? The chips were crisp with a hint of rosemary. I love the little crunchy little chip ends at the bottom of the bowl, makes it a little treat at the end of the meal.
The bar within this Gaucho is relaxing and a nice quiet spot for drinks, and the barmaid is willing to make whatever drink you want from their vast array of spirits. You just tell them what flavours you fancy and out it comes. I had a fruity strawberry number which had a sugar rim around the glass which was delicious.

Next time I really want to try the chorizo starter. I can't think of anything better than a spicy paprika sausage before a big steak. hmmmmmm

Geales Notting Hill Gate

Friday night dinner at Geales. Maybe there was a rush of customers around the corner, however the staff were a bit slow when taking our orders, and we were failed to be informed until we order that they had run out of sole.

 Starters: whitbait and tempura soft shell crab. The whitbait were crunchy and the soft shell crab had a soft flesh inside its crunchy light tempura batter.

 Mains: grilled john dory, battered haddock and a fish pie. The john dory was reasonable, the haddock's batter had a nice crunch however was slightly overcooked. The fish pie was "interesting". There was a crunch topping of breadcrumbs, which was to cover the burnt cheese topping. Underneath was big chunks of fish, prawns and peas (however the peas were looking a little grey), most bizarre was at the bottom...

For some reason, at the bottom of the pie, the pie appears to be burnt. We informed the waitress, who did not know how the pie was cooked, so she asked the chef. She returned to say that the pie wasn't burnt it was in fact "caramelised". I think the word "caramelised" is used by chef to sound trendy and avoid the fact that the food is in fact very very brown towards being burnt. At least it didn't taste charcoal burnt, it just gave the pie a slight nutty taste. I was not impressed with the pie at all. You could pop down to the supermarket and get a better fish pie which wouldn't be burnt.

We looked over at the table next to us and saw a couple eating a seafood platter, this looked so yummy and made us all envious.

And the damage...?

I reckon service would be better if you're a known local, as they seem more attentive to the local customers. What they really need to change however is the fish pie and the annoying fact that you can hear the chef call "service" every time a dish is ready. Surely with modern technology nowadays they could invest in something where customers do not need to hear this.
Maybe this is petty, however, I do find it very bizarre that this is a fish restaurant but they do not give you a fish knife to eat fish with?

Bill's Brewer Street Restaurant

I went to Bill's Brewer Street on 30th December 2012. The place had a buzz about it and was busy for a Sunday night. The staff are very friendly and attentive. I had a ginger beer, it was a nice touch that they serve it with a sprig of mint and a slice of fresh ginger in the glass at the same time. I had a mac & cheese which was with wild mushrooms and leeks with a crumb topping. The mac & cheese was creamy and rich with a hint of leeks. I only wished it would take more cheesy, with actual wild mushrooms and needed a little more seasoning. Maybe it was the dark setting by candle light that I could see any wild mushrooms but I couldn't taste any either. D had the fish pie, which was he said "bland" as he kept reaching for the salt and pepper whilst eating. However this may also be the fact that he has eaten the fish pie at J Sheekey and nowhere's fish pie has ever matched it. M had the pan fried salmon with beetroot tortellini. The salmon was a touch over cooked however the beetroot tortellini was fresh and different from the usual tortellini on offer.

 Bill's took over from Aldo Zilli's fish restaurant which was previously on this site. I visited Zilli fish last year when it was still there and I have to say I much prefer Bill's, especially as the staff are so much more friendly and attentive, without any pretentiousness.

All in all, Bill's is a good place for dinner with friends or to bring a date. The food is ok with a homely feel about it.