Month: July 2015

“I want my great Thai food back!” Review of Busaba Eathai

Published by

Last weekend, I caught up with my lovely family for my brother’s graduation at Kingston Uni. We always seem to end up in the same two places whenever my parents come to visit  – The Druids Head, Kingston-Upon-Thames (a great central pub with a cute pub garden for the Summer and wood fireplaces and mulled wine in the Winter), and then Busaba Eathai: One average Thai dish too many! I used to really rate Busaba Eathai. I first visited the Shoreditch branch around three years ago when the restaurants were only in Central London locations (no shopping centres) and the food was amazing – the jungle curry nearly blew my face off, in a really good way. But now they seem to have sold out, opening restaurants here there and everywhere, each with less charisma than the last. Vouchers and offer codes have taken over, and now it’s the sort of place that you’d never go unless you were getting at least a 25% discount (just like Pizza Express or another below average soulless chain.) A group of us visited …

Summer in Provence at Aubaine

Published by

Last Monday, I was lucky enough to travel all the way to sunny Provence (through the medium of food and drink) for ‘a celebration of Summer in Provence’ at French restaurant, patisserie and boulangerie Aubaine. I was invited by fellow food blogger and Indian food extraordinaire Binny, of Binny’s Kitchen. One of my favourite Indian inspagrammers (inspirational instagrammer!), her website has recipes for the most delicious, homecooked Indian dishes you’ve ever seen. We only met recently at a Find Your Feet charity event, where I picked her brains about her own food blogging and supper club experience. I love meeting like-minded foodies at foodie events, over conversations about food – it’s a topic I will never be bored of! We were introduced to loads of different little tasters that bursted with the flavours of summer. From brioche buns filled with mushroom duxelles (like a creamy mushroom pate), steak and chips on skewers, chicken terrine wrapped in ham and plenty of fine French wines. Below are some of my personal favourites from the night, and some ideas I will definitely be taking home …

The Big Food Fight

Published by

Of the 481 accounts I follow on Twitter, aproximately: 200 are chefs 150are  restaurants 81 are food writers 50 are food fanatics and a fair few MasterChef contestants are thrown in there too. I am bombarded with tweets about new places to eat and new things to try. From the short-lived ‘Cronut’ hype of 2013 to the recent gravy-dipped burger trend that I keep bloody hearing about, its safe to say nobody’s stuck for choice when deciding what’s for dins. Take the beloved beefburger: Cool person 1: ‘Have you been to (restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty). It’s the best burger in London!’ Cool person 2: ‘I beg to differ.. you’ve gotta try (another restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty). Cool person 3: ‘What about (yet another restaurant title including one or more of the following words: dirty, bun, burger, cow, liquor, meat, patty)? It’s the bomb!’ Well, which is it then people?! Are these new places ‘WE’VE GOT TO TRY’ actually that special? Are …

Food styling: my charity shop treasures

Published by

I’ve recently started to poke my head into every charity shop I pass looking for new plates and tableware to style out my recipes. So if I am ever late for work or miss my bus, I blame the British Heart Foundation! Buying weird and wonderful plates is an amazing way of kitting out your dining table without spending a fortune and I find new dishes give me inspiration for new recipes to try. My bargain hunting tips: Gumtree is filled with people trying to get rid of their old kitchen junk that they might think is worthless or outdated. Often, these sellers don’t realise how much money they could be getting from their old stuff! Ebay is a great way of checking if you are getting a bargain or not. Check how many people are bidding for certain items and how much they are selling for, so that you always get a good prices. Be aware of chips and cracks in tableware that you buy online. If you are taking photographs this is not …

Keralan runny eggs, curry leaf & coconut curry

Published by

The perfect healthy filling vegetarian brunch I know the words egg and curry might not instantly make your mouth water. What about spicy coconut curry and a soft boiled eggs with a runny yolk? Better? Ok, now try the three musketeers of any curry – ginger, garlic and chilli – tempered in coconut oil with curry leaves and mustard seeds. Finished with coconut milk and fresh herbs and topped by perfectly soft boiled eggs. Eaten with flat breads to dip in the yolk this dish is not only delicious but really healthy and a perfect brunch to set you up for the day. Egg curry was recommended by a blog follower as a ‘favourite curry dish’. A similar dish was served up every morning for breakfast when we were in Kerala, with hot chapatis and yoghurt. Like an Indian egg on toast. Keralan runny eggs, curry leaf & coconut curry Serves 2 as a brunch or lunch 4 eggs 1 onion 1 large, or two medium tomatoes, diced 2 inch piece of ginger 4 hot green chillies 1 tbsp coconut oil a small …

Mean clean beefburgers

Published by

Cooking as a couple can go one of two ways: either you get into an argument over how fine to dice your onions and you end up eating the finished product 4 hours late in complete silence (all been there?). Other times you take tips from each other in order to create something truly epic. We’ve been making burgers together since we started dating, taking influences from our favourite restaurants and cook books, in an attempt to create the perfect home burger. Our burger recipe is the product of lots of different trials (and some catastrophical fails) until we had developed the perfect formula. What to do and what not to do: We’ve used Jacobs crackers in the past (a la Jamie Oliver) – I don’t really rate this. They dont provide much flavour and the texture is a bit crumbly. I’ve tried raw onions mixed through the mince and it is horribly wrong. Onions never go soft if they aren’t cooked properly, and stay acidic and unpleasant We’ve used BBQ or Cajun seasoning in the beef mix before now. …

Food Fight: Five Guys vs Byron

Published by

I’ve tried my fair share of burgers (GBK, Honest, Patty & Bun, meatMission to name a fraction) and to be honest, I would say most don’t live up to their hype. I’ve put two leading burger chains to the test to see which if they’re all they’re cracked up to be… The Five Guys Hamburger  (£6.75) 4 out of 10 I’ve got so many issues with this place. Il list them for brevity: Little fries are NOT little – think of a large portion of Maccy’s with a few more thrown in the bottom of the bag and you’ll get the idea. This is just a selling ploy to panic you into over-ordering. Yes, you do get lots of fillings for free. But I find them a bit weird. Fried onions? Grilled mushrooms? Green peppers? Not in my bun! (which, in this case, was mediocre.) The patties are super thin and have that weird grey alien look about them like when you open up the bun of a Big Mac. They don’t look or taste like they have …

Mango & Lime Lassi Posset

Published by

I survived on mango lassis when I was living in India. Like an Indian-style smoothie, lassis are made from yoghurt mixed with water and spices, and can be salty or sweet. Salty lassis take a bit of getting used to but are delicious on a cold day. Different parts of India have different preferences and flavourings. In North India, we mainly drank mango lassis. The mangoes over there are so fresh and juicy, you can squash them up with your hands into a pulp, make a small hole in one of the ends and suck out the juice. This, mixed with goats milk yoghurt, plenty of jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) and spices is the basic foundation of a lassi, and absolute heaven after a rich spicy meal. I’ve been working on a dessert to finish the evening of my Curry & Chips Club (my first Curry For Change supper club which will raise money for the charity Find Your Feet). I have come up with the Mango Lassi Posset: a  smooth and creamy lime posset with all the beautiful flavours of a lassi. It’s …