thekua.com@rest

It’s that time of year to look back and see what’s been going on for 2009. It seems like it’s been a quieter year than most before and despite not wanting to do a lot of travel, it still seems like I ended up doing a fair amount.

Travel
The year started off in the US where I spent the day getting back from Boston before celebrating the New Year in New York. Since I was travelling to Marlow for work during the week, I didn’t end up going anywhere until March where I met the rest of the family in Japan.

Rather than hitting Tokyo, we met them in Osaka where we headed out to places like Kobe, Nara, Himeji and then spent the rest of the time visiting the temples and shrines of nearby Kyoto. April saw me head up north to visit my old flatmate, now living in York. The start of May then saw me head to Chicago for the first time, for a wedding and catching up with lots of people I knew living there.

I also took advantage of the great weather to head to Brighton for the first time. The end of may, I headed out to Sardinia for a conference where we ended up pretty much isolated from anyone else for the entire week. Great times yet I still remember the water being particularly cold.

It was around this time that I also started doing the weekly commute to Copenhagen for several months. I think I ended up staying over on the weekend twice – once to see what life in Denmark was really like, and then another to head over to Malmo (Sweden) on a very convenient and modern train.

August then saw me returning to Chicago for another conference before finishing off the year with a trip to Edinburgh in November and then Finland for a pre-Christmas holiday. I’d also mention travelling to Cambridge daily since returning from Copenhagen but other than eating out and resting, I don’t really get to see much of Cambridge.

Music
I don’t think I got to see as many bands this year seeing Aussie bands Eskimo Joe and The Living End in April, followed by amazing musician and talented whistler, Andrew Bird in May. I then saw John Butler outshine the Union Chapel in July. October then saw a flurry of activity including The Cribs, Franz Ferdinand and then Scottish musician, Calvin Harris play a sweat inducing performance at The Forum. The year finished off with a performance by Japanese musician, Ryuichi Sakomoto.

Food
I think this was definitely the year of the Michelin-starred restaurants for me. I was very thankful managing to find the only booking open in a three month window for the world’s 3rd best restaurant, Noma. What an unbelievable experience the tasting menu here was.

Amazingly local food accompanied by great service. I still remember the evening sun setting at just before midnight casting an amazing warmth into the converted warehouse when we sat down to eat.

We had just as an amazing meal at Restaurant Paustian v. Bo Bech before leaving Copenhagen. When visiting Chicago for the second time, I made sure to head out to Moto to enjoy the delights of clever cooking techniques and dining dazzlery. I can still picture the sparkling bombs that explode in the mouth for dessert. I also took my sister out to Rhodes 24 for her birthday (admittedly quite late in the year) and also ended up having a lunch at (overrated) Gordon Ramsey’s Maze restaurant. There was plenty of other amazing food places eaten ate but I woulnd’t be able to list them all.

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When a little Japanese lady exclaims when ordering a sushi platter, it’s probably not a wise idea to order more…

Dinner at Sushi Time was great.

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I felt very disappointed by the experience I had at Aubaine at Brompton Road this morning, and wanted to share with you this experience so that other patrons may benefit from the feedback.

I had booked for three people for noon, hoping to have a leisurely morning with some good food and a great atmosphere. I will congratulate you on having a warm, bustling atmosphere however I would like to share what our experience was this morning. Other than having to ask for a couple of coffees and twice for tap water, everything from the ordering and delivering of food ran very smoothly. It was only after we had finished were we asked to move tables to seat a larger group.

We happily obliged as we weren’t too bothered by where we were sitting, however I felt extremely put out when, shortly after, another waiter asked us to leave because of a prior booking they needed to fill. Admittedly, we did not want to order any more food and drink as were full, however we all felt this was extremely rude, and a complete contrast from what you have on your website (http://www.aubaine.co.uk/about/brompton_road.html), “You could spend all day here. This is encouraged.”

I do not intend to come across as rude in my email, I simply wanted to share what our experience was like in the hope that you can look at why this happened and prevent further patrons from suffering the same series of events that made our Sunday morning less than enjoyable.

Yours sincerely,

Patrick Kua

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Last weekend, I caught up with Kristy (of GK/UK fame!), for another one of our slow food days. Admittedly we cheated a little at this particular challenge, instead choosing to go out for a long afternoon tea. Other than the one that I had first in Canada at the Banff Springs Hotel, I had yet to do an afternoon tea experience in any of the places in London, and if anyone has visited here, they know there’s plenty to choose from. We decided upon doing it at the restaurant inside the long time standing, Fortnum and Mason.

Sunday is obviously a popular time to partake in afternoon tea at St James’ constantly busy from the time we got there until the time we left. Of course, being a slow food day, and being a while since I caught up with Kristy, we sat around for some time chatting with slowing eating the tiny bite sized morsels.

I’m guessing that St James’ has a proper dining area because their afternoon tea is held in the bright, airy lounge area, complete with comfy sofas and chairs to host their customers. A pianist played almost continually throughout our time their, and Kristy impressed me by recognising many of the songs he would play. The lounges are comfy enough though if we both sat back, it felt like we had to shout at each other across the table.

As you can see from the picture above, we indulged in quite a bit of tiny morsels, starting with a set of savoury sandwiches, and a tiny tartlet that we both agreed was the best, moving up the stack to scones and a tiny selection of cakes that the waitress let us choose in particular from a large tray. Overall the afternoon tea experience was pretty much perfect with enough room between the tables for some privacy, and service for topping up the tea. The sandwiches, cakes and tea were all at the right level of quality and the only strange thing is probably the fact that Kristy and I barely made a dent on the average age of people there.

I have no idea about how it compares to other places for high tea, but Fortnum and Mason’s St James’ certainly delivers.

TheKua.Com Rating: 8 out of 10

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After walking around for the London Open House event, I settled in for a late lunch at the place that just won British Restaurant of the Year in the London Restaurant Awards. It’s been on my list for a while, and because they typically take bookings, and I know that its sister gastropub, the Anchor and Hope is hopelessly busy I was fortunate it was fairly quiet for that time of day. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary restaurant or pub, with only a picture of a crown amidst a dinner setting instead of name distinguishing it from its neighbours.

Dozens of tables inside huddle near the front of the restaurant, with only three or four alfresco tables outside. Even though they had plenty of tables to choose from, I decided to sit at the bar, if anything, just to get a better perspective of the entire place, and for an easy sideways glance into the kitchen, full of flames and a relentless stream of orders in and out.

Service wise, this place impressed me because not only was it fast, efficient but it was also friendly. Whilst perusing the interesting, apparently ever changing menu, they immediately placed a board topped with hearty bread chunks, butter, salt and coarse pepper, in front of me as well as a jug of chilled tap water and a small glass. I love this about places where you don’t even have to ask for it.

Despite the great service, what really matters to me is the quality of the food and I cannot express how delicious my meal ended up. With lots of tempting daily specials and many dishes resembling those you’d see at St Johns, I eventually settled for the seven hour lamb shoulder, and based on a recommendation, a side of green to go with it.

At the same time, as I contemplated a red wine to go with, the bartender graciously offered me a sampling of their wines including their Beaujolais wine, a lighter red wine whose full flavour peaks when it’s chilled. Although I settled for something different, I thought it very nice of them to offer.

Being a seven hour lamb shoulder, it unsurprisingly came out quickly since it didn’t really need any other cooking. Even at £13, I thought the entire bowl was going to defeat my normally fearsome appetite, only to be satiated by the soft, melt in your mouth flesh accompanied by sweet carrots, and other vegetables in the dark gravy. The bright green cabbage brought a sharp and fresh contrast to the almost overpoweringly rich flavours of the lamb, and let’s just say I walked out of there a very content person.

Great for groups, couples and individuals, Great Queen Street offers something for everyone. If only I had room for dessert, I’m sure it would have been just as amazing as the main dish.

TheKua.com Rating: 9 out of 10

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Recently I went along to Alan Yau’s latest Japanese themed restaurant that also won Time Out’s Best Restaurant for Design. It looks impressive, yet I have to say the overall experience disappointed and I’d rather spend the money at more traditional places like Sushi Say.

The design…

Taking over what looks like the first two floors of an office lobby, you enter via automatic round doors guarded by a bouncer into a rather non descript lobby. We almost missed the place with tiny small lettering only visible when you’re standing almost right next to it. To your left as you enter, is a less formal sushi bar, with the dining room accessible by a set of two tiny escalators moving up and down. You check in at the tiny desk at the front before a an attendant seats you at the bar while you wait for your table. The tiny escalators, perhaps intentionally designed to induce a claustrophic sensation, take you to an even tinier coridor.

The dining room sits underneath an array of light wooden square frames creating sharp and contrasting options with soft yellow lights casting their glow in the circular dining room. Around the outside perimeter of the building, diners sit at more traditional tables where they need to remove their shoes before seating, with the inside used to host regular tables and chairs. Though impressive looking, I’m really not so sure why they got voted the best design as I’ve seen better at other places.

The service…

For a place that should have been astonishing with their service, I’m afraid these people are still practicing. I was already put off by being made to wait at the bar when the restaurant was clearly empty, and I’m sure our table clear. Instead we were made to wait at small tables near the bar, until we ordered.

We asked for tap water, that they ended up serving in a tiny 200mL glass. I wouldn’t have worried so much except that they didn’t give us a jug and the attendants only refilled them once throughout the night, despite the sodium rich food leaving you wanting more liquid. I’m sure that had we been paying their £3.75 per bottle of water, or more for wine, they would have been better.

When the food arrived, it somehow took two people to serve the samll plates of food each time – one to hold it, the other to put it and present it on the table. The final straw was when it took at least fifteen minutes for them to bring the bill after asking for it specifically and giving up trying to make eye contact with at least one attendant in another fifteen minutes.

The food…

Since they opened, it’s obvious that they have listened to the feedback offered by numerous reviewers. Unlike before, the menu is now roughly grouped into different areas like fried, grilled, stewed, appetisers, and the dishes significantly larger than the others marked as “for 2″ or “for 3″. Their menu still lacks descriptions so be prepared to be very adventerous, read up before going, or already know a lot of Japanese dishes. Having eaten at many Japanese places, I didn’t really know what to expect from a number of them, although I could take some rough guesses.

We tried a few new dishes including the sesame aubergine, tempura figs with yuzu salt and the soft pork ribs. Out of them, I’d have to say the ribs were the best that, although not fall of the bone soft, were actually pretty easy to eat even with chopsticks. The meat was sweet with the vegetables served with it providing lots of flavour. The tempura figs provided a sharp contrast to the strongly flavoured citrus infused salt. I can’t say that the dishes, as good as they were are worth the money you pay for at this restaurant.

Conclusion…

I get the feeling most people dine here to see and be seen. As much as a unique Japanese experience Yau wanted to create, I’d rather go to a proper Japanese restaurant than return to a place that obviously still has teething problems.

Value for money: 4/10
Food: 7/10
Service: 4/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Overall rating: 5/10

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I caught up with a friend for lunch here last Sunday, with a combination of dim sum and their famed xiao long bao. For those unaccustomed to the latter dish, imagine a soft steamed dumpling pinched together barely enclosing a meat filling buoyed in a mouthful of soup. Eating it straight from the steaming basket invites a burning mouth if you’re not careful. The customary way of eating it, is to place a dumpling on the soup spoon, pinching a tiny hole in the dumpling before seasoning with either the dipping sauce they give you or some chilli. This is one of the rare places to serve these dumplings, as you can imagine the hard labour making them, so £5 for eight seemed reasonable enough. The pastry wasn’t as doughy as I had read other reviewers write about, though the soup inside was definitely just as tasty.

The rest of the dim sum dishes we had were fairly sub-standard, considering the other competition all around them in Chinatown. Although each dish is cheap, with most priced at £1.80 or £2.00, the quality really reflects the price. The cheung fun (rice noodle rolls) barely held any filling, and the char xiu bao (steam BBQ pork buns) disappointingly unbalanced with mostly bread, and a bland filling. Considering that this is a Taiwanese place, I would stick to some of the dishes they specialise in, and skip what dim sum dishes you may be tempted by.

I found the atmosphere intriguing as well, where diners sit at rectangular dark wooden slate tables unlike the round white table clothed ones you’d find in restaurants nearby. Almost kitschy decorations in the form of armaments stand next to the staircase, towering over all the diners though obviously not very real.

Considering that we only spent £20 between the two of us, and we walked out of here considerably satisfied, I would come back when you want something a little bit different from the typical offerings of Chinatown.

Thekua.com Rating: 7 out of 10

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I remember first reading about this place as one that apparently the Prime Minister of Malaysia used to come and eat at when visiting town. It also happens to feature quite frequently in the listings in Time Out magazine.

It looks small on the outside, and you can tell they’ve put in as many as tables as they could without making it too uncomfortable. The top floor entrance seemed buzzing with people, and with our 8:30pm booking, we ended up downstairs where it was a little bit less frenzied and a bit more relaxed. Large teardrop lightings fill the olive green painted walls with warmth with the dark brown square tables providing a sharp contrast to the dining atmosphere. They even had a more intimate dining ‘alcove’ downstairs which we saw one party fill, complete with mini teardrop downlights and black pseudo-leather couches.

Compared to a lot of other places, I have to say that their menu all looked really tempting and it was pretty hard to stay focused without being distracted by all they had to offer. Their menu is organised around rice, noodle, sides, chicken, beef, fish, prawn, vegetable and for those who can’t make up their minds, a series of different set menus matching both appetite and budget (£15.50 – £26.50)

All of their dishes really impressed me and I thought worth the little bit more that they charge. The very simple Nasi Aayam (steamed chicken with rice served with soy and chilli sauce) remained thoroughly moist and flavourful, even without the dipping sauces. The satay sticks had their perfect amount of smokiness, and also remained moist with the only downside being the peanut sauce not being as spicy as I would have liked it (and understanding that it typically isn’t that spicy). I also liked the fact that their mee goreng (friend noodles) contained plenty of flavour and not just soy sauce as evident from the heat given off from whatever chilli paste they used throughout it.

The only fault I can really give this restaurant was the rather lack lustre service that was never in your face yet, nor was it particularly attentive when you did want something.

TheKua.com Rating: 7 out of 10

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