hot chocolate art @ fernandez and wells

acorn house restaurant

the acorn house restaurant took the runners up spot for best ethical restaurant in 2010 (observer food monthly awards 2010). it has been on my list of places to eat at for a while and my tastecard gave me a wonderful 50% of for the first visit. i decided that s and i would lunch there today and it was a decision well taken.

sunday roast at the black lion

my ex-flat mate recently moved to kilburn from arsenal. a rather warm but rainy afternoon found me wandering into her neighbourhood to join her and another friend of ours, s from helsinki who had come down to london for the weekend. j had chosen a local pub  'the black lion' to have sunday lunch. i know the black lion from my days of working in the area. it was a common after work drink pub and we had an office party there too. the pub is housed in a period building and it's ornate ceiling with its accents of gold and dark mahogany are grade ii listed. the dining hall is slightly off the bar area and is brighter than the drinking area. 

all three of us settled in and then had to decide whether we were going to have the chicken  or beef roast. after much deliberating about how beef roast is tricky because we prefer it medium rare we all ordered the same, that is the beef roast asking for it to be medium rare. we also decided that we weren't going to order wine but then landed up ordering a bottle of red. j, who is generally my guide for wine ordered it but we could have done without it as it really was quite vinegary. 

the beef roast came beautifully presented with all its regularly vegetable accompaniments - potatoes, broccoli, carrots and sugar snap peas, yorkshire pudding and gravy. sadly the beef was far from medium rare having been done more than well. the gravy however was flavoursome and the vegetables were remarkably well done. they weren't mushy. instead they had a little bite. the carrots in particular had a lovely buttery glaze and were just right. the yorkshire pudding wasn't much to write home about. i've had much better. 

would i go back for a the sunday roast? i don't think so. but i'd definitely go for a drink at the pub if only to admire the ceiling. 


274| kilburn high road| nw6

dessert at albion caff

for h's birthday o & i took her to papadoms in bricklane and to albion caff for dessert. we figured we'd give her the flavour of home in banglatown ending on a note of sophistication at albion. it's funny but o and i usually wind up at the albion almost every time we are in east london. there is something quite charming about this casual eatery with its open plan kitchen, its dim custard lighting and the smell of comfort food. this is the home of hearty british staples like pot pies and rarebits and kedgeree. then there are the wonderful classic pudding the likes of crumble, poached fruit and bread and butter puddings. we also love the tea served in pots with quaint knitted colourful poises and tall enamel pots with coffee. 

h chose the apple and blackberry crumble, n the warm chocolate mousse and i went for the steamed syrup pudding. both the crumble and the steamed pudding came with a jug of creme anglaise, that delightful and sophisticated pale version of custard flecked with vanilla that blunts the edges of tart and sweet, taming flavours with creaminess. my steamed syrup pudding was everything i could ask of of a classic pud. served in a rather creative manner in a tate and lyle treacle tin. i dug my spoon to the bottom to blend the golden syrup at the base knowing that if i didn't do this my last couple of mouthfuls would be painfully sweet with the edge of salt. then pouring over the creme anglaise i tucked in. if done well, steamed pudding is something that never fails to please me. it strikes all the perfect notes for a wet, rainy and cold london day. warmth, comfort, sweetness tempered by a hint of salt. it was perfection in a treacle tin.

as a side note, the crumble was good. but i'm one of those who much prefers making crumble at home only because it means that i don't cheat the topping of a much needed crunch. the chocolate mousse didn't really resonate with me much. i like my mousse to be lighter than heavy cream whipped with chocolate and served with more cream. i like it dark with fluffed egg white whisked into it and albion caff's is the heavy creamy sort. not my cup of tea.

on my next trip i am trying to bread and butter pudding. 

2-4 boundary street| shoreditch| e2 7dd

toku

today was the most hellish monday i have had in a while. i left work late and arrived at the tube to find tube chaos on the piccadilly line due to a person on the tracks. i made a dash for the victoria line only to find out half way down the escalators that it too had been suspended due to a signal failure. since o was working late too i called him and told him to meet me at green park to while time over dinner in the hope that we’d be able to tube home.

o suggested jom makan but i was wanting japanese so suggested that we try toku. toku’s menu is quite extensive and o and i studied it whilst eating wasabi peas so sharp that i had watery eyes. i always like eating sashimi, mostly because i love the taste of it but partly because it is an indication of the freshness of the fish and the skill of the chef. toku gave me the perfect combination of salmon sashimi don – a bowl of rice with sashimi and miso soup on the side. o ordered his usual chicken teriyaki set. i choose the genmai cha (brown rice tea).

chicken teriyaki

the tea had a robust roasted rice flavour. out of curiousity i lifted the lid of the teapot and found brown rice in the filter along with some ground matcha. both our entrees were beautifully presented. the teriyaki had a glossy brown glaze with a bright and colourful salad on the side. the rice had some black sesame sprinkled on it. a gentle stir with chopsticks brought together the cloudy centre and clear edges of the miso soup. my sashimi was a contrast of salmon pink and spring green onion and wasabi.

salmon sashimi don

and it all tasted as good as it looked. the miso was as it should be. not too salty with the hint of umami and the comfort of warm broth. the sashimi don was accompanied by what appeared to be a soy sauce but was actually very mild. together, the sauce with the slightly warm rice and the crunch of spring onion cut through the richness of the salmon. the salmon itself felt like silk in the mouth. o’s teriyaki had that sweet and salty and slightly sticky taste that is customary of it. the sweetness is akin to brown sugar but something more complex. it is a taste that i have always failed to identify.

daifuku mochi

to finish, we had the daifuku mochi which have a reputation for themselves. apparently, mochi is a traditional japanese sweet made from rice that is pounded and stretched into pastry. the pastry is filled with anko (sweet azuki bean paste). what i love about these tiny ball shaped sweets is the texture – the stretchy, chewy rice pastry contrasting with the smooth mellowness of the bean paste. not to mention the deep maroon filing against the pale slightly cool rice white. daifuku means ‘great luck’ so i am hoping that eating them will bring changing fortunes, although i fear that the only changing fortune with our waistlines.

we would definitely recommend toku and i personally think it is quite reasonably priced too. 

16 regent street| london| sw1y 4ph