thekua.com@rest

I’m glad more and more decent cafes are opening up around Clerkenwell, especially since it’s very convenient for me. I’m therefore very glad that The Modern Pantry opens its cafe for breakfast Saturday and Sunday offering a decent selection from basics such as toast and porridge, to the more exotic sugar cured prawn omelette or feta and onion waffle.

Our group decided to try the ricotta pancakes, grape and stone fruit compote, creme fraiche and one of the classic fry up (with poached eggs instead).

The dining room is bright, helped by the large windows that surround two of the large walls. They also have a small bar area that people ended up standing in to avoid the squall-like downpours whilst they waited to be seated. It seemed to get quite busy the closer it seemed to lunchtime.

The coffee is reasonable, and with ex-Providores experience, a flat white order was taken without question. When it arrived, it was certainly a decent brew, although looked a bit lacklustre when it arrived. The breakfast menu is reasonably priced, and with high quality tasting ingredients I really couldn’t complain. The fry up came with perfectly poached eggs (the white just cooked with the yolk still runny) and flavourful tomatoes, mushrooms and salty streaky bacon crisp and not burnt. The pancakes on the other hand slightly disappointed. They were fluffy and light, yet the stone fruit compote towered over the small golden discs, and upset the delicate balance that should have been presented.

With a decent breakfast offering, I’d be interested to see what a proper lunch and dinner menu would look like in the upstairs dining rooms. It’s a welcome addition to the area, and a great place to meet up with friends.

TheKua.com Rating: 6.5 out of 10

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I booked three of us in for dinner yesterday as I’ve walked past this place dozens of time. I’ve always thought it a little too fancy, most of the time seeing people in suits, or couples for some sort of romantic dinner. Inside it’s both intimate and roomy at the same time with most of the tables spread out against each wall, leaving plenty of personal space without the feeling that you’re dining by yourself.

The menu, put together by head Chef, Andrew Thompson is a combination of classic European dishes, nothing especially fancy, yet all very appealing such as seared salmon, rump of lamb and a crisp confit pork belly. Throughout the night, the kitchen impressed us with all the little food touches they brought throughout the evening, starting with a amuse bouche, a bread basket (white and olive bread), and a handful of bite-sized chocolate, caramel and chocolate chip assorted plate with the bill. The waiters presented the amuse bouche, describing that it was a gift from the chef, yet didn’t explain what it was exactly. Whatever it was supposed to be (to me it tasted like a small amount of pumpkin soup, drizzled with coriander oil and served in a shot glass), it was thick, creamy and definitely tasty.

The rest of the food, for some reason I found was reasonable and filling, yet not quite spectacular. All indicators pointed in the right direction - the monkfish I ordered perfectly cooked, the pork belly someone else ordered melt in the mouth, yet all dishes seemed overseasoned and though pleasing, missing that special thing to delight. Admittedly each dish was beautifully presented and we still enjoyed each dish.

Thankfully, service for most of the night really impressed us with our tap water constantly topped up, and enough time given for us to peruse the menu without waiting too long. I think it did break down was the rest of the restaurant filled, as after we had finished our desserts, we ended up waiting another ten minutes for the pot of mint tea we had ordered (with the desserts) finally arrived, and another significant amount of time to get the bill. Admittedly our waiter was extremely friendly, smiling all the time and quite helpful at explaining the menu.

Though I won’t be running back to the Clerkenwell Dining Room anytime soon, we had an enjoyable evening in a relaxing atmosphere, and indulged in quite a lot of food. I’d recommend this place for groups of up to four, and definitely more suited for doing business or the romantic dinner.

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One of the benefits of living near Smithfields is access to a wonderful range of butchers offering fantastic cuts of meats at very affordable prices. If you get up early enough, you can find any sort of cut of most types, as well as plenty of other products made from them including black puddings and various smoked meats.

Tonight I got to finally try some sticky maple ribs that looked fantastic. Here it is served with honey spiced squash, mashed potatoes and romaine heart leaves.

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The picture above is what I woke up to (very late) this morning. It looks like we may still have a summer yet. Thanks to the rain clouds for seriously pouring down yesterday so that today ended up just as nice. Now I need to get out of the house!

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This weekend’s weather has been very poor though apparently representative of classic English spring weather. Dreary grey skies, moderate to fairly heavy down pours put a damper on wanting to actually get out and do some stuff. Being slightly inspired to do something I thought I’d whip up a batch of some lime and coconut friands I used to make back home, and since I couldn’t find the recipe I previously used, adapted one found on the ABC website.

I had to improvise since I didn’t have a friand tin, though a small muffin tin worked out well. According to wikipedia, friands are popular in Australian cafes though I have seen a few in a number of French stores and cafes here in London.

Read on for the recipe. (more…)

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You have no idea how hard it was for me to finally locate a store near me that sold desiccated coconut, but when I finally did I managed to whip up a couple of batches of chewy Anzac biscuits much to the same recipe I did last year.

I brought a bunch to work and it was nice being able to explain Anzac biscuits, and more importantly Anzac Day and the tribute to all of the people who were a part of ANZAC. Amazingly not many people had tasted these biscuits and even though some people didn’t really like coconut still found them very tasty.

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I’d seen a couple of these around, but had no idea they were part of an art movement around the world. This one is starting to deteriorate as people peel off tiles one by one.

Others like the following seem a little inconspicuous to thieves and vandals or maybe just a little bit too high up for them.

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I’m now a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Being a member gives you access to their private tasting room located in the middle of Farringdon as well as invites to their tasting nights. It also gives you discount to rooms and suites available in Edinburgh. Better yet you get to sample a wide variety of whiskies from around the world at very reasonable prices. Let us know if you ever want to visit since it’s a pretty nice experience even if you’re not a big fan of whisky.

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