Lunch at Zuma

With all this seriously impressive sushi making going on, I realized that I forgot to tell you about our lunch at Zuma on the weekend.

I kept trying to get reservations but G and I are last minute people; we hate to be tied down to a schedule and generally prefer to go out for dinner when the whim strikes us. And every time I called (usually the same day) they were always full.
Yeah, I know our methods don't really work if you want to go to a popular restaurant.
But what can you do.
So we settled for a lunch reservation last weekend and made sure to eat light the night before so we'd be in top form for this much anticipated meal.

We had no agenda, it was the first sunny Saturday in what seemed like forever, so we ordered a bottle of wine. (I did say the sun is worth celebrating, right?) It was some French number that had 4 different kinds of grapes in it (including Chardonnay) that we liked so much G pulled out his camera phone and snapped a pic of the label.

The decor in Zuma is nice, the way you'd expect an upscale sushi place to be. Soft lighting, with minimal but warm decor. We were surprised at how many families with children there were, including one yummy mummy in some seriously fierce Louboutins. I contemplated how one manages a 3 year old in a pair of those, but perhaps that is just a skill that some women master for the sake of fashion.

Nonetheless with our wine chilling in an ice bucket at the side of our table, we tuned it all out (except for my repeated glances at those shoes)..

So on to the food.
We ordered number of small dishes from the menu and of course some sushi. Dishes were brought out one at a time, with a bit of overlap so that we were never sitting there waiting for the next one. In the order it arrived, we had:


*Spicy fried tofu with avocado salad and japanese herbs.
*Chilled soba noodle and lobster salad
*Tuna tartare with miso, myoga and lotus root crisps.
*A sushi plate consisting of a dynamite spider roll (softshell crab, chili mayonnaise, cucumber and wasabi) and the spicy tuna roll (tuna, homemade chili miso and yuzy tobiko)

Believe it or not, after all that, we still had a wee bit of room in our bellies for some more so we both chose one more item from the menu. I opted for the crispy fried squid with green chili and garlic (aka calamari) and G went for the california roll.

For dessert:
I had the green tea and banana cake with coconut ice cream and peanut toffee sauce.
And G chose the lemon croquettes with a rhubarb compote and ice cream, but we forget what kind.

Let me just tell you. It has been a long while since G and I have had a stellar sushi meal. Sure, we have our favourites--the quick no-frills kind of places that you can just walk into on most nights. But every now and then you want to step it up a bit you know?
We were thrilled with the whole Zuma experience. The food, the wine, the service. The tofu dish was stellar, and the lobster salad was fresh and lively. My least favourite dish was the tuna tartare. Although it was good, I thought the dressing overwhelmed the tuna a bit. G on the other hand raved about it. So there you go.
The sushi was well done, although our spider roll wasn't as hot and crispy as we tend to like it, but the pieces were not so overly sized that I risked choking myself to death. The spicy tuna roll and the california roll were also nicely done.
And we both agreed we had never had better calamari. Perfectly seasoned and salted, my mouth waters just thinking about it.
As for dessert, my green tea and banana cake was to die for. With the toffee and the ice cream, all I can say is oy. I didn't even pay attention to G's dessert but he seemed to like it.

We lingered there for over 2 hours by which point all the kids had left and we were both a bit tipsy and a lot happy.
A perfect date, no?
Yeah, well, then we went to see Die Hard 4.
Sometimes, you wonder if they don't just take you out for a nice lunch so that you'll let them pick the movie.
You know what I'm saying, girls?
I think you do.

ZUMA
5 Raphael Street
Knightsbridge
London, SW7 1DL
Tube: Knightsbridge

Note: the online menu does not even cover half of what is actually on offer at the restaurant. And apparently reservations are not needed if you want to sit at the sushi bar, which actually looked kind of fun.

I have moved way past infatuation..

Last night I got my Moro fix again. You know how I rave about Moro, and if you don't, let me tell you, I love it.
LOVE. IT.

Raving about a restaurant can sometimes be a dangerous thing. I mean, if you bring a friend there what if they hate it? So when Clotilde and I decided to go there for dinner last night, she admitted to me that with all my raving her expectations were pretty high. And we all know that that can, more often than not, result in disappointment.

Oh dear.
I scratched my head in contemplation.
I hadn't even considered that.
I mean, it's Moro.

But suddenly I realized that it was entirely possible that I was blinded by love and maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be her cup of tea at all.

But people, let me just say it. The minute they put that freshly baked bread in front of you and you tear off a doughy chunk of it and dip in that fresh peppery olive oil you will fall hopelessly in love too.

And she did. Just like I knew she would.

I mean really, you could stop there and be happy. But then came the appetizers.

She's French, she wanted to try the sweetbreads with artichokes, preserved lemon and cardamom. I am Canadian, and scared of meats that are vaguely named, as though there is something to hide. But oh my goodness. Sweetbreads? Maybe I don't want to know what you really are made of, but you sure do taste good.

We moved onto charcoal grilled onions and broad beans with salbixada. Neither of us knew what salbixada was, but what the heck. We threw caution to the wind because we are wild and crazy. Turns out it's a spanish chile paste, and it was heavy with the smokey scent of pimenton de la vera. That spanish paprika that I seem to put in everything these days. (Man I love that stuff)

Our mains did not disappoint--mine: a wood roasted chicken with garlic and saffron vinegar and slow cooked green beans. Hers: the fish fattee--a charcoal grilled bream with spring vegetable pilav, dill yogurt, sorrel and pine nuts.

And then came the ultimate question: "Should we share one dessert?"
To which I replied: "No. We should share two."

And so we did.

The spanish cheese plate with membrillo came out and we washed it down with Moro's yogurt cake with pistachios and pomegranate seeds.

My heart beats a little bit faster just thinking about it.

Love will do that to a girl.


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You can find all the pics at Clotilde's Moblog!


Moro Website

Moro. I love it. And that's that.

The first time I ever went to Moro was just shortly after we moved here. G and I dressed ourselves up and because it was too early for dinner, we opted to sit at the bar and test out some of their tapas.

We spent a few hours over small dishes of syrian lentils, chorizo, olives, empanadillas, patatas bravas and fresh sardines. While my eyes and tastebuds danced with glee, G immersed himself in the wine list and we tried wines by the glass from more countries than I care to admit.

For days afterwards I couldn't stop talking about it to anyone who would listen. I even bought Moro's 2nd cookbook and like a woman possessed I made 6 of their recipes in what seemed like a single weekend. They were all fabulous.


Needless to say, I have been back to Moro several times since then, and I still love it. I love the way it looks, I love the way it feels and, most importantly of all, I love the food. Their rosewater and cardamom ice cream is the stuff of my dreams.

Sometimes, I will admit, you have to break the ice a little bit with some of the staff, but show your enthusiasm about any of the dishes or the wine and that seems to do the trick. Either way, I'm just so happy when I go there, that even if the staff ignored me completely, I'd still sit there with the biggest smile on my face.

It's also worthwhile to check out the shop next door to them, called Brindisa, which carries many of the spanish ingredients that Moro uses in their dishes. Brindisa can also be found at the Borough market.

MORO
34 - 36 Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QE
Farrington Tube
Tapas are available 12:30pm to 10:30pm Mon to Sat.
Dinner from 7pm to 10:30pm Mon to Sat.

BRINDISA
32 Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QE
Farringdon Tube

Cocoa muffins, an upcoming trip, and a vegan lunch

Cocoa muffins.

Where does the time go? It's been almost a week since I gloated about my recipe making accomplishments. I guess a girl can only gloat for so long before it starts to get a little excessive. And anyway, that braised chicken picture was starting to bore me. But I will say that I made my version of that recipe again last week, but I stewed some meatballs in the sauce, and man, that was some good stuff.

In the meantime I did make some really disappointing cocoa muffins last weekend. They had such potential--just look how they are bursting through at the tops. The taste, however, was about as boring as.. hmm... I'm trying to think of something really boring.. Let's just say it was as boring as boring is when you are really, really bored. A complete waste of 2/3rds of a cup of Valrhona cocoa powder. Adding insult to injury I had even used my madeleine pan for some of the batter which made the cutest little chocolatey madeleines. They did look cute in my garbage, but it was still quite heartbreaking.

In other exciting news, exactly one week from today this girl is going to be on a train to Paris.
I haven't decided which suitcase I'm going to bring yet because in Paris it's such a pain in the ass pushing your suitcase through the metro turnstiles. I know, you can get the attendant to open the gates at the side but sometimes it takes far too long to get their attention.
Ahh Paris.
How I missed you.
It's no coincidence that my trip coincides with the Salon des Saveurs, that mecca for gourmet food lovers that occurs twice a year in Paris. I never missed one while I lived there and I certainly don't intend to miss it now. My friend Alisa and I are experts at weaving our way around the French madames with their grocery trolleys and their "if it doesn't get out of the way, just run it over" attitudes. When the finest of French food products are at stake, all sense of order gets thrown out the window.

And people, you know I'm going to Mariage Frères. I stocked up before I moved, so it's not as if I'm running low, but I need my aromatherapy and there are always flavours that I have yet to try. I might even give that jaunty little tea boy that works in the shop in the 3rd a big old hug, just because I missed him and his cute little white outfit.

Alright, enough with the rambling. I should talk about something useful, like that nice little lunch I had recently at a place called Vitaorganic in Soho. It's vegan and organic and they seem to have this thing for raw and "gently cooked" foods to preserve the living enzymes.

For 4£ you can select 3 items from the many prepared dishes on display (behind glass of course).
I settled on a mixed plate with carrot and parsnip salad, a lentil salad and some lightly steamed broccoli. This maybe doesn't sound like the kind of lunch that gets your mouth watering, but it's right up my alley. And I'm neither vegan nor even vegetarian for that matter. But it's healthy and fresh and no matter what you pick you are doing your body good.

They also make fresh juices and smoothies to cure whatever ails you, such as the BlueBooster, which will apparently soothe and strengthen your throat.
You can either sit in and enjoy the general healthiness in the air or take your meal away. Oh, and you can get more or less than 3 items if you want, the price will vary accordingly. Makes sense, right?

Vitaorganic
74 Wardour St.
corner of Wardour and Meard Streets
Soho, London
W1F 0TE
Leicester Square Tube



Ok, I'm done rambling now..

You had me at roasted artichoke..

A souvenir of my lunch at Gail's, because I didn't get a pic of
the sandwich that this post is really about. A girl has to make do.

I know, it seems as though all I ever talk about is some place or other in Notting Hill. But geez, it's so damn charming, can you blame me?
I fully intended to go back to Book for Cooks for lunch the other day, but as we made our way there, my friend and I noticed this cute little bakery/lunch spot and couldn't help but peek our heads in. I tell you, once you pop your noggin' in there, there's no resisting.

Gail's is not new to London but it is relatively new to Portobello Road. Take one look at their range of artisanal breads, pastries and sandwiches and I dare you to try to walk out of there empty handed.

Let it be said that I do not take sandwiches lightly. I am a very complicated, sandwich-loving woman.
In fact, I will only buy a sandwich if it meets very exacting standards. This happens maybe once or twice a year, except for that dry spell of 2004. Because nothing upsets me more than a poorly executed sandwich.

So there I was. In Gail's. Man, it sure smelled bready and good in there. There were sandwiches that seemed to be tailored made for a picky girl like me:
Charcoal ham and guacamole
Gorgonzola and pear
Greek feta and courgette
I wiped the dribble off of my chin and I swear the skies parted and a heavenly (or maybe just fluorescent) beam of light shone down on this one:
Bresaola, Roasted Artichoke, and Rocket Sandwich.

As if that weren't enough, we washed it down with a glass of freshly squeezed blood orange juice and finished it all off with a yogurt and granola cup.
Let's pause to appreciate the fabulousness of this lunch.
It was such a healthy meal I was forced to restore balance in my universe by indulging in that red velvet cupcake later that afternoon.

I left Gail's with not just a full belly-- but also a fresh baguette and a plump sausage roll to bring home for G.

I'd never been to Gail's before, but I'm happy to be able to find them on Portobello Road. Since I never seem to go anywhere else.

Gail's
138 Portobello Road
London, W11 2DZ

64 Hampstead High Street
London, NW3 1QH

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Note: you can sit down and enjoy your lunch in their cute little space or take any of this home with you. Their website has a menu of their offerings.

Books for Cooks and also.. why no pictures?

First things first:

My camera is broken! I'm still tweaking my letter to Oprah. It goes something like this:

"Dear Oprah. I need a new camera. A really nice one with some fancy lenses. I promise to be a better person if you send me one."

Now let's move on to the Books for Cooks part.
If I were 15, I might explain my experience at Books for Cooks like this:
OMG! WTF! LOL!

But 15 I am not, and Books for Cooks demands a bit more explanation.

But it must first be mentioned that after I've finished writing my letter to Oprah, I will be penning a plea to Books for Cooks to let me work in their test kitchen.

Books for Cooks is a pretty small store, but it is absolutely loaded with books all about food and cooking. As if that wasn't good enough.

No kidding, it actually gets better.
Tucked away in the back, is a small open kitchen and a mere 5 tables served at any one time.
Every day a few recipes are selected from among the cookbooks in the store, and lo and behold this is what is on the menu for lunch that day. Hello dream job? I never knew you could be that dreamy.

But as a customer, and not a staff member, here is the exciting part:
Three courses cost a mere 7£.
Or you can select two items for 5£.
Insert coughing fit here. Because now I realize that perhaps my shampoo is a bit too expensive.

Here is the lovely lunch that I got to enjoy the other day for a MERE 7£.

First course: The best mint pea soup I have ever had with a generous slice of a caramelized onion and goat cheese bread--still hot from the oven.

(If I had been a good girl, I would have stopped here, because my belly was perfectly satisfied by this point. But I figured I could be a good girl some other time. I mean, 7£ people. You just know there was no stopping here. You just know, right? )

Main course: Meatloaf with balsamic sweet potato mash and tamarind chutney. Yum and yum and yum.

And. AND. A choice of one of 4 desserts: Rhubarb crumble, flourless chocolate cake, plum cake, and a lemon blueberry polenta cake. I chose the plum cake but my stomach was on strike by that point so I took it home and generously gifted it to G.

I had a stupid grin on my face during that whole lunch.
And for hours afterwards, I'm sure anyone who passed me could hear me mumbling: "omg. wtf?"
Because really, it made me that happy.

I've got to work on that letter. Forget Oprah, my dream job is at stake here.

Get thee to Books for Cooks
4 Blenheim Crescent
Notting Hill
London W11 1NN
Tel 020-7221-1992
Fax 020-7221-1517