This meal didn't happen that recently, but I have been a little slack over the last month or two, and out of all the meals I've eaten since then, this one deserves a mention at least.
For my birthday the Bear took me to New York. It's everything you could ever want for a birthday, to be whisked off on a romantic long weekend. And it was great fun. We ate lots too. At least once every three hours. From pancakes, bagels, deli sandwiches, pizza, pretzels, you name it we ate it.
On the last night we made a reservation at a restaurant we've been wanting to go to for a long time - Les Halles. The scene of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. A restaurant with the motto, American Beef Prepared in the French Style. Not quite so good for me (a pseudo veggie) but very good for my carnivore companion.
We walked eight blocks in the pouring rain to be greeted by a lavish, dimly lit, French paradise. The restaurant is split in two by a long wooden bench and tables emanate from it. Every available space is full of diners, happily chomping down on fois gras and fillet steak. The latest pop tunes bubble away just audible to the diner, and there is an army of aproned staff, each with their own specific task.
I immediately loved the place. It's like Cafe Rouge but a million billion trillion times better. It's relaxed but not scruffy, it's French but not uptight. In short, it's perfect. And bloody cheap.
To start I had Escargot. The snails came in a deep, almost green, garlic butter in a special deep dish with six holes in it to house a snail each. The snails were meaty and juicy. I doubt very much I will ever have escargot like it again.
The Bear went for the Fois of course. Having read Bourdain's books I know he takes his fois gras very seriously, and so did the Bear. There was no talking during the starter. Just contented concentration.
For mains I had Seared Scallops with Artichoke and Potato Crisps. The scallops were huge, almost raw in the middle, and so so tasty. The artichoke had been cooked with fennel and had a lovely subtle aniseed flavour. All this was piled high with strands of potato deep fried until crunchy. It was awesome.
The Bear went for the steak and didn't speak again for a long time. It was expertly cooked and full of flavour. The chips were chunky. And the mayonnaise was homemade (of course).
For dessert we went all out. Oh yeah, Chocolate Souffle time baby. My god. I think I died and went to heaven for a full ten minutes when eating this perfectly gloopy, wicked pud!! The souffle was sat in a sea of hot chocolate sauce, and once stabbed with an eager fork, even more gungy, gooey, gorgeous chocolate oozed out of it. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum.
The bill came to a piffling $120, which is about £75. What a bargain. The same meal would cost you at least twice that in London.
This restaurant almost makes me want to up sticks and move continent. That's how good it is. If you in New York City, please give this place a try. You won't regret it.
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Wahaca - Chandos Place - Covent Garden - 9/10
Do you like Mexican food? Until Saturday I could take it or leave it. Your usual TGI Friday fajitas just aren't that appetizing. And a burrito covered in generic cheese and sour cream always leaves me feeling about ten stone heavier.
Luckily, Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers has come to my rescue!
On Saturday the Bear and I celebrated 3 years together (my how time flies) and we decided to theme the day. First off a trip to the British Museum for a lecture entitled "An Introduction to Mexican Cookery by Thomasina Miers". Around 150 people packed into the lecture theatre, where a huge table laden with chillies, tomatoes, avocado, squash, pumpkins and a whole host of Mexican produce covered the length of the stage.
Thomasina was very engaging and passionate about Mexican cuisine, making a trip to Mexico for me and the Bear pretty likely in the next couple of years. She made it clear that Mexican food is poorly represented in the UK, but had high hopes for the future. I wouldn't be surprised if she has her own Mexican cookery series on the telly pretty soon!
After the lecture we took a look round the Moctezuma exhibition which was packed with hundreds of beige, slow, annoying people, and then wandered down to Thomasina's restaurant Wahaca, to see if her food lived up to her enthusiasm.
We were not disappointed. Wahaca is a gem.
We arrived at the restaurant at 4pm, which is pretty early, even on a Saturday, but there was still a long queue down the steps leading to the main restaurant. We were told there was a 40 minute wait - you can't book. Undeterred we duly got a tequila cocktail from the bar and waited with the masses. Seats were scarce in the holding pen, and one wrong move could have led to a riot, but luckily my fellow would-be diners were cheery and patient (not so when we left at 6pm when the queue was three times as long and a lot more menacing!).
The no-booking policy is part of a whole market-eating philosophy which permeates the entire venue. Bright, fresh colours on the walls, high ceilings, lots of light wood and warm lighting colludes to make a pleasant and summery eatery.
After about 25 minutes we were shown to our table by a very amiable chap who talked us through the menu. The paper menus that double as table cloths are reminiscent of Wagamama, and the "food comes when its ready" approach confirms the similarity. Squiggles on the table settings confirm what you've ordered and brisk but professional and smiling service brings the whole experience together.
We went for a soup each to start, which isn't the first thing I would have thought of when going for a Mexican, but it was bloody scrummy! I went for the Black Bean Soup with a hint of chilli with diced avocado, toasted ancho, feta, crema and totopos. It came with the soup in a jug and the accompaniments lying in wait in a deep bowl. The soup was chunky, gloopy and beautiful smokey from the toasted ancho chillies. I have never tasted anything like it. The salty feta melted and swirled through the beans, and the crunch of totopos (think similar to nachos) added that little something extra to the texture. BEE-EE-EE-OO-TIFUL!
The Bear went for a similar soup, but with a Tomato base rather than bean, and with strips of chicken. He had a similar reaction to me. Top marks so far.
As a sort-of main we went for the Wahaca selection of street food. This includes 3 Pork Pibil Tacos, 3 Seasonal Vegetable Tacos, 2 Huitlacoche Quesadillas, 2 Smoked Herring Tostadas, 2 Chicken Taquitos and Black Beans and Green Rice. After the soup we were pretty full, but we did our best to demolish the street food.
First up the Huitlacoche Quesadillas, which are toasted flour tortillas with Mexican corn mushroom (which is a sort of fungus that grows on corn in Mexico and has a truffly flavour), British field mushrooms and lots of melted cheese. These parcels were oozing with earthy mushroom flavour and the cheese wasn't too cloying. There was a salsa verde and normal salsa on the table, and these quesadillas were luscious dipped in the spicy sweet tomatillo salsa.
The Smoked Herring Tostada is MSC approved - so a guilt free eat - and very tasty. Served on crisp tortillas with tomato and capers, they are light and fresh.
The Bear ripped into the Pork Pibil Tacos and Chicken Taquitos. The tacos are soft flour tortillas piled with slow cooked pork in a Yucatecan marinade. The Taquitos are corn tortillas wrapped around a filling and deep fried. The Bear managed to polish off all of his alloted street food.
I didn't fair so well. The Vegetable Tacos were rather neglected, but out of the lot they were by far the least exciting.
We were seriously full at this point. I mean dangerously full. Three taquila mojitos, and a belly full of beans. Not good. We were very very tempted by the Churros, which are long straight doughnuts served with a large quantity of sugar and a chocolate dipping sauce. I really did wany to try them, because they bring back memories of breakfast at the cental market in Valencia, but it wouldn't have been sensible. A reason to go back though.
The bill came to £63 - which is a lot - you could eat there for a lot less, but we had a lot of booze and a lot of food.
Wahaca is a breath of fresh air. Extremly tasty, light and fresh mexican food at affordable prices. The only drawback is not being able to book creating long waits to be seated.
I will be back.
Luckily, Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers has come to my rescue!
On Saturday the Bear and I celebrated 3 years together (my how time flies) and we decided to theme the day. First off a trip to the British Museum for a lecture entitled "An Introduction to Mexican Cookery by Thomasina Miers". Around 150 people packed into the lecture theatre, where a huge table laden with chillies, tomatoes, avocado, squash, pumpkins and a whole host of Mexican produce covered the length of the stage.
Thomasina was very engaging and passionate about Mexican cuisine, making a trip to Mexico for me and the Bear pretty likely in the next couple of years. She made it clear that Mexican food is poorly represented in the UK, but had high hopes for the future. I wouldn't be surprised if she has her own Mexican cookery series on the telly pretty soon!
After the lecture we took a look round the Moctezuma exhibition which was packed with hundreds of beige, slow, annoying people, and then wandered down to Thomasina's restaurant Wahaca, to see if her food lived up to her enthusiasm.
We were not disappointed. Wahaca is a gem.
We arrived at the restaurant at 4pm, which is pretty early, even on a Saturday, but there was still a long queue down the steps leading to the main restaurant. We were told there was a 40 minute wait - you can't book. Undeterred we duly got a tequila cocktail from the bar and waited with the masses. Seats were scarce in the holding pen, and one wrong move could have led to a riot, but luckily my fellow would-be diners were cheery and patient (not so when we left at 6pm when the queue was three times as long and a lot more menacing!).
The no-booking policy is part of a whole market-eating philosophy which permeates the entire venue. Bright, fresh colours on the walls, high ceilings, lots of light wood and warm lighting colludes to make a pleasant and summery eatery.
After about 25 minutes we were shown to our table by a very amiable chap who talked us through the menu. The paper menus that double as table cloths are reminiscent of Wagamama, and the "food comes when its ready" approach confirms the similarity. Squiggles on the table settings confirm what you've ordered and brisk but professional and smiling service brings the whole experience together.
We went for a soup each to start, which isn't the first thing I would have thought of when going for a Mexican, but it was bloody scrummy! I went for the Black Bean Soup with a hint of chilli with diced avocado, toasted ancho, feta, crema and totopos. It came with the soup in a jug and the accompaniments lying in wait in a deep bowl. The soup was chunky, gloopy and beautiful smokey from the toasted ancho chillies. I have never tasted anything like it. The salty feta melted and swirled through the beans, and the crunch of totopos (think similar to nachos) added that little something extra to the texture. BEE-EE-EE-OO-TIFUL!
The Bear went for a similar soup, but with a Tomato base rather than bean, and with strips of chicken. He had a similar reaction to me. Top marks so far.
As a sort-of main we went for the Wahaca selection of street food. This includes 3 Pork Pibil Tacos, 3 Seasonal Vegetable Tacos, 2 Huitlacoche Quesadillas, 2 Smoked Herring Tostadas, 2 Chicken Taquitos and Black Beans and Green Rice. After the soup we were pretty full, but we did our best to demolish the street food.
First up the Huitlacoche Quesadillas, which are toasted flour tortillas with Mexican corn mushroom (which is a sort of fungus that grows on corn in Mexico and has a truffly flavour), British field mushrooms and lots of melted cheese. These parcels were oozing with earthy mushroom flavour and the cheese wasn't too cloying. There was a salsa verde and normal salsa on the table, and these quesadillas were luscious dipped in the spicy sweet tomatillo salsa.
The Smoked Herring Tostada is MSC approved - so a guilt free eat - and very tasty. Served on crisp tortillas with tomato and capers, they are light and fresh.
The Bear ripped into the Pork Pibil Tacos and Chicken Taquitos. The tacos are soft flour tortillas piled with slow cooked pork in a Yucatecan marinade. The Taquitos are corn tortillas wrapped around a filling and deep fried. The Bear managed to polish off all of his alloted street food.
I didn't fair so well. The Vegetable Tacos were rather neglected, but out of the lot they were by far the least exciting.
We were seriously full at this point. I mean dangerously full. Three taquila mojitos, and a belly full of beans. Not good. We were very very tempted by the Churros, which are long straight doughnuts served with a large quantity of sugar and a chocolate dipping sauce. I really did wany to try them, because they bring back memories of breakfast at the cental market in Valencia, but it wouldn't have been sensible. A reason to go back though.
The bill came to £63 - which is a lot - you could eat there for a lot less, but we had a lot of booze and a lot of food.
Wahaca is a breath of fresh air. Extremly tasty, light and fresh mexican food at affordable prices. The only drawback is not being able to book creating long waits to be seated.
I will be back.
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