Bullet-proof dreams

Today was a pretty terrible day... woke up really late with a fever to add on to the sore throat and flu.  Basically, my plans for the whole day were screwed up!

But anyway, it's Sunday so I cut myself some slack.  It's nearly 9pm now and it reallllly sucks that the weekend's ending.  Some time this week, I have to find time to go to Chinatown to buy vegetables, and to Holborn station to buy fruits and to school to pick up my book from the library.  Sigh, I'm so comfortable here in LK that I don't feel like stepping out at all.. heheh.

Okay, I'm back to post about food, yummy food.  Presenting... Paul. (no, not your boyfriend, Huishan!)

My first visit to Paul was back in November last year with the cousin.  Paul's a really old French patisserie (since 1889) that sells the best hot chocolate and pastries.  On my first visit at its Regent St outlet, I sampled their hot chocolate courtesy of the dearest cousin!  And omygosh, it was easily the best I ever had - no exaggeration there.  It was made of dark chocolate, with just the right amount of milk and sugar... hence it wasn't too creamy or too sweet at all.  And it was piping hot, so each time you took a sip, you felt so so thankful to have that cuppa hot chocolate in the cold weather.  I remember it being a rainy day when Carmen and I were seated inside Paul, enjoying such fine delicacies!  Sorry, no picture!  

I also had a strawberry tart that day, and whilst I recall myself enjoying it, I don't remember the exact details.

So two weeks ago, I visited Paul at Covent Garden.  This outlet is much bigger than the Regent Street one, and there was a cafe that sold salads, crepes etc...  But we jus settled for the usuals.  I ordered a peppermint tea and a chocolate tart.  





I was pleased that the tea was a homemade brew and not just some regular Twinnings tea (like the one I had at Lake District!).  I'm not usually a fan of mint but this peppermint tea was rather pleasant... I won't mind having it again.


Well, the highlight must have been the chocolate tart.  It doesn't look very enticing at all, but when you sink your teeth into the chocolate, you just enter chocolate heaven!  The chocolate was sooo soft and it sort of melted in your mouth.  A MUST TRY for anyone who heads to Paul.  I am going to be a faithful fan of Paul from now on... heheh.  (Not exactly good for the pockets though)



This beats Prive hands down and I really think that in terms of pastries and the like, Singapore really should up its standards.  Places like Paul and Patisserie Valerie really put all the confectioneries and bakery cafes in Sg to shame!  But, well, I guess in terms of ambience, Paul wouldn't make the cut for a romantic night out but it's really good for a quick afternoon tea/meet-up in a non-pretentious setting.  

And just a few days before my visit to Paul, I tried their macaroons and what can I say?  They were delicious!  I've only tried those from Canele Patisserie back in SG, and Paul definitely has my vote on this too ;) 

A real pity that most of the Paul outlets close very early, in keeping with London's 'traditions'...  Otherwise, it'd be great to head there after school or after a night out for some hot chocolate and macaroons to keep your stomach happy!

Seems like I'm always blogging more frequently in the lead up to exams, i.e. when I'm supposed to be studying, hehe!

It's Sunday tomorrow already!  Week 1 of Spring Break is over, what a bummer.  And tomorrow's only 23 hours cos of DST.  I remember having a 25 hour birthday last year when DST ended on the last Sunday of October.  Sadly, no more 'special' birthday this year.

Yesterday was Carmen's birthday dinner at her place, with her mom & sis & grandaunt + friends.  A truly heartwarming affair, which made me miss those huge family gatherings we used to have at Telok Blangah when we were kids!  Such fond memories :)  When everything was simpler, happier and very childish.  I remember my brother and Carmen daring each other to touch the steamboat cos of some silly bicker they had.  Heheh.


The spread!


Two cans of abalone sliced by yours truly ;)


Girls in black! (well, almost...)



Pretty girl :)  And a very yummy cake from Patisserie Valerie!  All birthday cakes should be from there :)


Cousins! 


SO YUMMY... no kidding.  



So my dear ole cousin has finally turned 21!!! :)  HAPPY BIRTHDAY once again, hope you liked the present hehe!  But anyway, you're worth WAY MORE THAN THAT!!! <3

Got a whole load of stuff from home thanks to ZJ's PPF membership :)  Dried scallops, yellow beans, ikan bilis, abalone (!!), honey!  Yay, time to cook more scallop soup.  

I'm falling ill... I can feel all the symptoms coming up - what bad timing!  

Okay, going to finish up a few cases then head to bed.  There's DST so I have -1 hour of sleep.  Better not be late for church tomorrow!

Wednesday, 18 February - 6 of us trooped down to the area of Farringdon to try out French cuisine at Little Bay.  There's a special promotion this month of February - pay how much you think it's worth!  Yup, you can order all you can and pay any amount.

(Little Bay reminds me of this Taiwanese drama that I used to watch... Hahah yes I watched silly dramas.  Vic Chou & Patty Hou acted in it - think it was called Mei Wei Qing Yuan.  The restaurant in the show was 'Little Bear' and it served French cuisine too... heheh k enough of sidetrack!)

I had been rather excited about it for days... We were supposed to have E's birthday dinner there but the place was fully booked for dinner for the whole month, can you imagine!  So we got a lunch slot and those who were free headed there after school.  Surprisingly, there were lots of seats available, perhaps because we only got there at 2pm after walking in the wrong direction for nearly 20 minutes hehe.

Among the 6 of us, we ordered 19 dishes (yes I counted!) and they certainly didn't disappoint!

Starters

Moules Marinierie - Val ordered this and boy it looked good!  So greedy me ordered another plate of starters to share with Josh.  Seafood's always one of my favourites so I really enjoyed this dish.  The gravy was perhaps a little too salty (but not as salty as the one a Carmen's place heheh) but it went well with the bread (which J happened to love for some reason).  The mussels were fresh and there were many big ones = lotsa meat.  Thumbs up :)

 

Smoked Haddock Brandade - The dish I had ordered first... Terence as well!  Initially I thought the soup was rather bland, but when tasted with the fish, it was alright.  Didn't really go to cloud nine when having this dish but I guess the soup from L'atelier was hard to beat :p Well, at least there was caviar hehehe.

 

Crab Tartelette - YJ had this if I'm not wrong... Didn't try it but it looks interesting.  Eugene, please try this if you go there.  The shape reminds me of your steak tartar.



Pressed Foei Gras - Josh and Chups had this and I tried it.  It doesn't belong to the 'melt in my mouth' league but it was really value for money, so no complaints there!  

 
Sorry the toasts kind of blocked off the piece of foie gras!

Mains

Rib-eye Steak - YJ, Terence and Chups had this dish... A relatively generous portion was served.  I think they all said it was not bad...! 





Breast of Duck - Val and Josh ordered this and it was pretty funny cos Josh's dish had a 'lump of leaves' missing.  It looked like a dumpling and when we asked the waiter he said it was 'leaves' inside.  Heheh, so Josh had his returned to the kitchen for the 'leaves' to be added...  Funny enough, he said that the 'leaves' were actually rather tasty.  Heheh they were an assortment of cooked vegetables.  I tried the duck but unfortunately, I cannot remember anything about it.  Hahah!




Joshua's plate that was missing the 'dumpling of leaves'.

Paupiette of Salmon - I ordered the salmon, again.  Seems like I can't get enough of salmon.  This was cooked with avocado and tomato salsa.  It started off as rather enjoyable but towards the end, it got pretty jelat.  Salmon tasted a little overcooked too.... I think I don't really like salmon cooked this way.  The Japanese style probably works best for me.



Desserts

We were all so full by the end of our main courses but we still found room for dessets ;) 

Chocolate Bavaroise - Passion fruit icream & almond biscuits


Apple Cake - Custard & vanilla ice cream


Pistachio Creme Brulee - with strawberry ice cream


Profiteroles - Banana Cream & chocolate sauce


I had this and I have to admit it looks rather porn (as Val kindly pointed out).  Heheh, I enjoyed the banana flavour of it but I think I was too full to really appreciate this dessert.

I shall decline to say how much we paid for the food, but we certainly didnt pay 1 or 2 pounds ;) 

 

The restaurant's setting wasn't the kind one would swoon over, it was rather artsy in a way that I could not comprehend.  This place isn't a high class one (as you can see from the chairs itself) - in fact there were points in time it struck me as being kitsch.  But it certainly provided value for money food, even with its normal menu prices.  I was rather intrigued by its choice of decorations though. ;)

Last week Thursday was a landmark occasion for me (and for Terence, Eugene & Evelyn) because it was our very first time at a Michelin star restaurant - L'atelier De Joel Robuchon (accents ommitted).  We were thoroughly underdressed cos it was a rather last minute decision.  We literally decided to go to the restaurant after school!!

There was a really good deal (which was why we went..) - £19 for a 2-course meal, and £25 for a 3-course meal.  All 4 of us opted for the £25 meal of course!

I gotta first talk about the ambience and the design of the restaurant.  I don't know much about Michelin star restaurants and their designs, but this one certainly blew me away.  I felt like I was entering an art house rather than a restaurant.  The place was also dimly lit... I can't decide if I'm a fan of that or not, but over at L'atelier, the lighting worked just fine.  The atmosphere was cosy, romantic and yet not too intimidating  Definitely a great place to bring your date ;)  I can't really quite place the whole atmosphere and setting... I think you have to go there and experience it for yourself.

 
 

The open kitchen concept also bode well with me for I've always been a fan of it.  It was interesting to see the various chefs preparing the food - we saw one cut up the rabbit meat!



So anyway, I just did a little google/wikipedia research on Joel Robuchon - and well he's pretty marvellous.  I think he holds 18 michelin stars now - the highest record for any chef.  L'atelier has branches in Newyork, Vegas, Hongkong, Paris etc...  Nice!

In short, lunch that day was like entering culinary heaven.  So this is what top class food tasted like.. Utterly to die for!



Starters

For starters, Evelyn and I opted for sweet onion soup, while the boys (men?) ordered the rabbit meat.  A little fuss was being kicked because all 3 of them were born in the year of the rabbit, but thankfully no love was lost here.  It was all in the name of friendly fun.

 

My 'L'oignon Doux' - sweet onion soup was fabulous - the crunchy croutons complimented the taste of the soup perfectly :)  But I kind of regretted not ordering the 'Le Lapin' - pressed rabit terrine and salad - when I tasted Eugene's share.  My first time trying rabbit meat and I really fell in love with it!  Eugene... you might wanna elaborate on this heheh.  Terence said that he was 'bouncing with joy' - pun intended.





Evelyn and Terence also ordered the Foie Gras which they gave a 10/10 verdict for.  It came as tiny little burgers.  'Melted in my mouth' was the general consensus.  I didn't try it so I can't say for much... but judging by their quick positive comments, it must have been real GOOD.



 

Mains
Terence, Eve and I had 'Le Lieu' - Pan fried fillet of Pollock served with Pernod flavoured cardoon.  This was my favourite course of the meal.  The meat of the fish was absolutely tender!  Somehow, it looked a little translucent - I'm not sure if it was cos of the lighting but Eugene agreed with me on that.  Anyway, I thought that the fish went very well with its flavouring and woke up every tastebud in me.  It had a thoroughly palatable feel and melted in my mouth.  I spared no bit of it! ;) The pictures don't really do it justice... but that's the best I could manage given that I had forgotten to bring my Ixus to school that day.  



Eugene had 'L'onglet' - steak tartar with baby potatoes.  Well I'm not really one for raw meat (except sashimi!) but I must say that he didn't make a bad choice with this.  Don't really remember much of the taste - but I'd probably stick with my fillet.  I think eating raw beef is an acquired taste, haha.

 

Desserts
All of us ordered the Dessert of the Day - which was some chocolate dessert.  There was a bowl with different textures of chocolate inside.  Honestly, I thought it was nothing much to rave about - you could probably enjoy a similar standard of dessert in a good dessert shop.  I thought of the desserts that Evelyn and I had in Madrid's Los Galayos and felt that those were pretty comparable!  Nevertheless, I'd give the chocolate tart a thumbs up!  It's easy to hit the right notes with me with chocolate I guess.  



Overall, a thoroughly delectable experience.  Would return if I had the mooooolahhh.  I think a Michelin restaurant has got to be on everyone's must-try lists!!!  All four of us were extremely satisfied with our meals and left the restaurant like happy kids.  My previous view of such fine-dining restaurants was that they charged exorbitant prices for miniscule portions of food.  Well to some extent it's probably true, but in all honesty, the standard of the food served was top notch and distinguishes a 'good' dining experience from an 'excellent' one.

 Yesterday I had my second Japanese meal in London, courtesy of my mentor, X!

Was initially a little apprehensive about this first meeting... I mean, what do you say to someone you've never met before?  But these fears were pretty unfounded... it was an alright meeting I guess!

Lunch was at Tokyo City, along Lothsbury (near Bank station).  I thoroughly enjoyed the meal - maybe it was because it's been a long time since I've had Jap food, or maybe it's because the food was simply... good!

We got there at about quarter to one, and managed to get 2 seats pretty easily.  I liked it that the seating is an 'improvised' version of the traditional seating - with holes so that you can stick your legs inside :)  J said that there are lots of restaurants in Japan that are like that now... so I guess it's gaining popularity?  But it gets really troublesome for girls when they're wearing skirts (as X was) and you try to slide into your seat in the most glamorous way possible, but it just really isn't... possible!  



The menu was rather comprehensive - the handrolls looked fantastic but I opted for the Grilled Fillet of Salmon bento box since I wasn't feeling that starved.  X ordered the Vegetable Tempura and Tofu Steak bento box set.  I thought the prices were pretty reasonable too - mine was £8.00 whilst X's set cost £8.50.

 

Our sets came with miso soup, salad and rice.  I loved the miso soup!  It's so much better than say... the RJ one.  I hate it when miso soup gets too salty but this was just right.  And it's a really odd thing to say but the salad was fantastic too.  I cant quite place the dressing they use... but it's quite like the Sushi Tei dressing back home :) Thumbs up!  Wonder if we can get this dressing in London supermarkets?



My main was very enjoyable too - seeing as I absolutely LOVE salmon.  The marinate was a mix of sweet and salty, and I liked the crispy skin of the salmon - left that to the last to gobble down in one mouth :) 

 

Oh yeah... see that dish beside the salmon? I think it was chicken cooked with ginger.  I'm not usually a fan of ginger, but this dish had me pleasantly surprised :)


And this is the Tofu Steak set - I'm not a fan of Tofu so I guess I usually stay away from anything tofu-ish.  

I'll definitely return to try the handrolls as I heard from X that they're pretty popular... maybe when I have a little more spare cash. ;)

Headed to school after that to study... or at least attempt to.  But hanging out with those bunch of wayward dirty-minded friends doesn't really equate to productive studying, haha!  J & I left at about 4plus to Oxford Street... to shop!!!

But in the end the only thing he did was to help me carry my shopping bags.  Thanks dear :)

We had the famous Belgian Chocolate Waffles (£2.50) which never fails to excite me.  But we devoured it too fast and I forgot to take a picture of it.  Had the milk chocolate this time and I dare say I prefer the dark chocolate one so much more.  Guess I'm just more of a dark choc person!  

Towards the end of the day, we passed by Cinnabons... And since I love cinnamon (Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel!!) I decided to give this one a try.  We got the 5 CinnabonStix for £2.99.



My verdict: Potentially delicious.  We had it at the end of the day so it was all soft and cold :( I'd try it again when it's fresh and crispy before I give it a proper rating.  The sauce was interesting though... it had a tinge of orange, almost reminded me of the swensen's sherbert ice cream.  I found it a little too sweet, but J said that he liked it just fine.  Oh well!!!

On another note, the weather is turning really good!  I got out in a short sleeved t-shirt yesterday (coat in hand - for the night) and was perfectly fine.  Perhaps it was cos I just had a hot shower and was walking really fast cos I was late :)

Have to study a bit, then head to school.  Today's lunch menu is french!  Will be uploading a review of the Michelin 2-star restaurant very soon!  Yes, MICHELIN ;)

Some time last month, J and I decided to try out the Japanese restaurant near our place - Habibi Sushi.  There was a £12 all-you-can-eat offer and we being the typical Singaporeans, decided to take advantage of it ;)

There are lots of Japanese restaurants in London but this was the first I tried (and so far the only one too... sigh).  Habibi isn't in the league of Sushi Tei or Hanabi back in Singapore.  If I had to place it somewhere, it is probably on par with Suki Sushi, which I frequented A LOT when I was J2.  The food is not top notch, but it's definitely value for money, especially if you're a student.

Among J & myself, we probably had about 20 plates.  A tip which I learnt from a friend: Don't take the sashimi sushis cos you'll be making yourself full by eating lots of rice.  Take the plates with just sashimi slices.  Really cheapo I know, but hey it works!  You can maximise your value so much more, hahaha!

We headed there at about half past 7 and the place was empty.  But by the time we were finishing up our meal, the restaurant was nearly full (it's not that big though).  At £12 for a buffet, I'd reckon it's a pretty good deal here in London.  Plus, I give the restaurant full marks for service!  The owner (I think) was very attentive and polite to us, and kept checking on us to make sure we were enjoying our meal.  Sometimes, this is what people come back for.

The food was above average, but nothing outstanding.  The sashimi was fresh (much to my relief because E had previously said they weren't that good) but they were in rather thick slices, and I'd much prefer them to be finely sliced.  I can't really remember anything else so I suppose there isn't much to rave about.



I do wonder how the restaurant manages to survive... Every time I walk past it, it is rather empty.  And since people hardly come to Liverpool St on weekends (it's the financial district) - its business on weekends is practically zilch.  I hope the £12 offer did help to boost its business though. 

On a whole, I did enjoy my experience and had a really filling dinner, but I'd think twice about returning since I could probably enjoy a heartier meal elsewhere by paying a few extra pounds.  

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since there's a proper entry here...  I've decided to resume blogging but it'll mainly be about food and travel, my two favourite past times :)  I guess these will be occasioanlly interspersed with other nuances that's going on in my life.  I figured it's a good way for my friends back home to know what I'm up to, since... I'm hardly online.  Hahah!

So anyway, I decided to start with an entry about something typically English.

I met the cousin, C, for tea yesterday at The Muffin Man.  The weather was excellent - I reckon it was about 8 degrees.  Spring is beckoning :)  We were there at about 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, and the place was packed!  Business was very brisk and we saw a number of changeovers whilst we were there for a duration of about 2 hours.  Meeting C was a timely reminder of how family is so important, as cliched as that might sound.  Well for those who don't know, C and I literally grew up together - we had chicken pox together, we attended Chinese tuition classes, swimming lessons, together, and some time in our teenage years we also attended church together.  Oddly enough, we were only in the same school for 1 year - in RJC and I recall that being a really fun time.  I really thank God for her being here in London!

Back to The Muffin Man - it's situated along Wrights Lane, in the more 'atas' (as we Singaporeans call it!!) surroundings of the borough of Kensington and Chelsea.  This area is SO unlike Holborn or Aldwych... It is what I would say I expected of England as gathered from movies and tv shows.  Much classier, quaint-er (sic), and simply more 'English'.

I had the Devon Cream Tea Set, with Earl Grey as my choice of tea whilst C opted for just the scones.  My set came with four buttered scones and jam & cream.  I didn't have to be a frequent scones-eater to know that this place served excellent scones.  The texture was just right, not too soft, and it was neither too sweet nor buttery - very savoury.  Topped with jam and/or cream - it was a perfect Sunday afternoon meal.  C didn't enjoy the cream toppings very much but as she said - it was an acquired taste.

 

My tea was well... typical Earl Grey.  But I thought it was nice to be allowed to have my teapot topped up with hot water when I had finished my first serving.

Overall, this is a nice place to go that will not break the bank.  My tea set cost £5.50, whilst having two buttered scones (as C did) would set you back by just £1.20.  My only gripe is that this place is rather squeezy - my guess being they were trying to fit as many tables as they could.  Even C who is so incredibly skinny had to squeeze past tables to get to the counter ;)  If I'm not wrong, there were seats available upstairs too, perhaps for a private booking?  

I'll definitely be back there when I'm in that area to try the smoked salmon sandwiches which looked fantastic - I love salmon, especially smoked ones! :)  The cupcakes looked really good too but I'm not much of a cupcake person...  But in any case, if I had a few pounds to spare, I'd definitely try them.  It's quaint atmosphere and decorations makes it a great place to relax on a lazy weekend afternoon to enjoy a good catch-up session!  Come to think of it... I should try the muffins here the next time I come.  It's not called 'The Muffin Man' for nothing, right? :)



After tea, we adjourned to her place for dinner which consisted of roasted chicken, mussels, carrots, mashed potatos, and more potato.  Thumbs up :)

P.S: Thanks Carmen for the treat :)