Our first day in Krakow, all the traditional Polish restaurants were full for lunch (so reservations probably recommended!). We were hungry and ended up having lunch at Baroque, a cocktail bar in Krakow (not ideal but suffice). We picked dishes from the 'traditional' Polish menu.
Approximately 20-40 PLN for each dish (£5 - 11)
Baroque: bar and restaurant
For starters we ordered sour soup. This was my first encounter of Polish rye flour soup. It wasn't actually that sour, but it was exceptionally yummy!! I need to learn to make this!
Rye meal sour soup (Zurek staropolski)
The traditional Polish dumpings were very nice. The pastry wasn't as stodgy as I expected. Apparently they use potato flour to make their dough, which may be one reason for its lighter texture. Fillings included spinach, cheese/potato, and mixed meat.
Polish dumplings (Pierogi)
The next main, was the pork dish. This was meant to be a 'pork chop' - it wasn't actually a pork chop, more like a schnitzel/escalope. None-the-less, it was very palatable. The fried sour cabbage on the side was also very nice- again not too sour and had bacon bits which enhaced its flavour.
Pork chop with fried cabbage and grilled potatoes (Kotlet schabowy z kapusta zasmazana)
My friend ordered the veal. I didn't try this but she said it was very nice. She particularly liked the black rice risotto.
Veal in marsalla sauce, on a bed of vegtables, with risotto milanese (Saltimbocca)
Overall the food was good. The music was, well definately not polish (linkin park in the background).. ! The service was good. There was a large choice of food on the menu. We didn't have drinks, only tap water, which was charged (!). The water probably cost just as much as a juice drink! (but, it seems to be the norm to charge for tap water in Krakow...). Overall, not bad.
I've just recently come back from Poland (Krakow) for work related things, and I'm glad to report that I've tried a number of delicous goods! Zapiekanka is essentially half a grilled baguette with grilled cheese and mushrooms with additional toppings and sauces of your choice. Two mushroom haters I know have said they love this hearty open sandwich. This is extremely cheap and very filling (5-8 PLN, less than £2).
One store that sells zapiekanka
One word: yummy!
Zapiekanka: (top) spinach/mushroom/cheese topped with chicken and bbq sauce. (bottom) cheese with mushrooms, topped with olives and garlic sauce
A friend mentioned a great August lunchtime deal at Club Gascon, so we decided to take advantage of it before it expired.
Club Gascon exterior
I arrived, I was warmly greeted and shown to my seat. The restaurant was quite small with tables running on either side and down the center of the room, with the bar at the end. It was simply decorated with muted colours and lots of natural light.
Club Gascon interior
Beautiful tableware
Whilst we decided what to eat, we were given some cheese sticks to whet our appetite. They were delicious, salty with a strong cheese flavour and very crisp. We were also offered a selection of warm breads which was served with two types of butter: a foie gras chantilly butter and a sea salt butter. Both were lovely.
Cheese crips
Sea salt butter (left) and foie gras chantilly butter (right)
My friend ordered the glazed quail for starter which came with frosted lillet foam and olives. When trying the dish, I didn't expect it to be cold (despite the word 'frosted' in the menu) but it was a pleasant surprise and otherwise very refreshing.
Glazed quail, frosted lillet and aromatic olives
For the starter, I decided to have the clams and mussels eclade with oyster chantilly which was served on tray of smoking pine needles with samphire, deep fried parsley and pieces of toast with the oyster chantilly butter. The dish was beautifully presented and definately had a wow factor when it came out. The smokeyness came through strongly in the seafood, especially at the beginning, and the accompanying toast was a nice texture but not much taste except for the butter which made it really scrummy as it started to melt. Overall, a lovely dish.
Clams and mussels eclade, oyster chantilly
For the main, I opted for the vegetarin option of watercress qinoa "risotto", garden moss and crosnes. The dish was nice and the garden moss had a very unique texture, like a sponge, but a tasty one!
Watercress quinoa "risotto", garden moss and crosnes
My friend went for the pork with fennel salad and squid-choritzo chutney. The pork served was cooked two different ways; one was simply pan fried and the other was deep fried and stuffed. It was beautifully tender, though a little pink for my liking.
Old spot pork variation, fennel salad and squid-chorizo chutney
After the main, we were given a complimentary pre-dessert of Bordeaux cannele with a summer fruit sauce. The cannele was chewy and sweet from the caramelised outside of the pastry but softened by the sharpness of the fruit sauce.
Cannele with summer fruit reduction
My friend had the miniature meringues with lemon posset and passion fruit for dessert. I'm not a big fan of desserts in general, but this was really delicious. Actually, I regretted not getting it myself.
Honey meringues, lemon posset and passion fruit
I opted for the chocolate 'cigar' which came with a coffee and armangnac granite. The way it was presented was amusing and the chocolate was very smooth and rich. The granite was chilled and tasted ok, though I found it difficult to drink without simultaneously swallowing large pieces of ice.
Coffee and armagnac granite, milky almond and smoked chocolate cigar
As we finished the meal, we were served the petit fours, a selection of sweets including chocolate raisins, fruit jellies, spiced almonds, truffles and wafer caramel. All scrumptious! Even though we were both stuffed, we managed to finish the lot.
Petit fours
Overall, I had a really lovely time and at £22 per person for the chef special, it was a bargain! The service was very good, attentive and friendly without the aloofness one might expect from a michelin starred restaurant. The food was lovely, beautifully presented and wonderfully innovative. Even without the special August price, I would still revisit.
When we crave something sweet, we always want something which is easy to make and QUICK. These double chocolate chip cookies are very easy and extremely satisfying when you want a sweet fix.
The Recipe (makes 16)
1. Mix 65g soft brown sugar into 125g of soft butter until creamy.
2. Mix in 1 beaten egg, 150g self raising flour and 2 heaped tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder.
3. Stir in 200g roughly chopped chocolate.
4. Using a tablespoon, spoon dollops of the mixure onto a lined baking tray, leaving space between each one to allow them to spread whilst baking (we put 6 on a 12x9 inch pan). Bake in a preheated oven, Gas mark 4, for 15-20 minutes.
5. Once out of the oven, leave them on the tray to harden for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
As part of my friends Birthday celebrations we went to a nice modern Italian restaurant Zucca which is approximately 15 mins walk from London Bridge underground station.
Average price per person £20 (2 course) in September.
When you first enter the restaurant, what hits you first is the modern white decor, open kitchen plan and the relatively small size of the restaurant. Our waiter was fantastic - polite, attentive and willing to help us translate the Italian menu and regularly topped up our glasses with tap water.
There were about nine anti-pasta starters to choose from (~£4-5 each). None of us could decide what to order. Instead we ended up ordering all the starters on the menu and share between the eight of us.
The free complimentary bread arrived at the same time as the rest of the starters. The bread was nice. The breadsticks looked unique - long and twiny with bits of sea salt.
Selection of bread and bread sticks. Served with olive oil and salt on the side.
"Zucca" in Italian translates to pumpkin in English. Their stable dish, "zucca fritte", is essentially deep fried tempura pumpkin. This dish was quite nice. The batter was slightly salty but very yummy otherwise.
Zucca Fritte
The aubergine roast was nice, though not much flavour (although I must admit I didn't get to try any of this with the cheese). The texture of the aubergines were nice and soft. The carrots with this dish was a tad hard and could have done with a bit longer cooking.
Roasted aubergine and carrots topped with cheese.
The cured fat of ham, is exactly what it the name states - the fat of ham sprinkled with sea salt.The waiter recommended it, it taste nice, but to me it was just fat with salt sprinked on it =/
Lardo: cured fat of Italian ham sprinkled with sea salt. Oven roasted garlic,onion and spring onion on the side.
The ham selection was nice - again, as you would expect, just slices of ham and salami, but to me, not particularly special. A nice dish otherwise.
Selection of salami and San Daniele ham
The smoked eel bruschetta was to me, one of the more different dishes. This was the first time I had smoked eel. The eel was slightly fishy (although others might not agree), but complimented the tangy taste of the capers and cabbage.
Smoked eel bruschetta with olive oil, capers and cabbage
The raw seabass (seabass carpaccio), another dish I've never had. This dish was actually quite nice. Don't let 'raw seabass' put you off! It wasn't fishy at all and had a subttle salty taste. The chilli wasn't hot at all and the olive oil complimented it very well. If I had to order again, I would probably order this dish.
Seabass carpaccio: with olive oil and a non-spicey chilly
The mushroom with cheese sauce was nice, although a bit normal. Add cheese onto anything and it taste good.
Mushrooms with a cheese sauce layered on a grilled slice of bread
For mains, people ordered a number of pasta or anti-pasta dishes. I didn't get to try the sweet and sour rabbit - but it looked fantastic.
'Sweet and sour' rabbit with capers and roasted pine nuts sitting on a slice of grilled bread
I ordered the seafood stew, cacciucco. However, this looked more amazing than its taste. The muscles, clams and prawn had a nice natural sweetness to them. The filets of seabass however was a bit bland and maybe slightly over boiled in the sauce. The sauce itself was ok, if it was seasoned more and was more tomatoey - it would have been nicer. The small mishapen balls (~3 mm thick) of pasta in the dish, though unique (never had this type), was a little thick/starchy. I think a thin/fine pasta would compliment this dish much better - particularly as the sauce was a little bland for my palate.
Cacciucco: sea food stew consisting of a king prawn, mussles, clams and seabass, in a tomato base with fregula pasta
I tried a little bit of the veal. From the little bit I tried - this dish was nice - though could do with more sauce? Although, I can't really comment since I didn't eat this dish entirely.
Veal with spinach and polenta
The veal pasta. Didn't eat but looked good.
Pappardelle pasta with veal bolognese topped with ricotta
The mushroom pasta. This dish was really nice! Very rich and cheesy and the mushrooms cooked to perfection. Though this dish would probably be a little rich if I had to eat the entire thing.
Tagliatelle with chanterelle mushrooms and cheese
Overall, I had a good time. The service was good and the atmosphere of the restaurant was perfect - casual (but not too casual), dim lighting, warm busking friendly chit chat in the background. There was good choice in food, particularly with the anti-pasti collection (ideal for me as I'm not usually a huge fan of pasta). For the mains, there was a choice of: 3 seafood dishes, 3 meat dishes and 2 pasta dishes - to give you an idea of the selection. There are also specials of the day (not on the menu). The food itself was not too bad, but not exceptional - however the price (~£15 for seafood/meat main, £7-9 for pasta) was just right particularly with the food variety and excellent service. They seem to change their menu on a day to day basis, since they print the menu with the date, something good to know because it suggests that they use seasonal food.
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10
Food: 7/10
Recommend? Yes if you love Italian food.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA
Heston Blumenthal (owner of famous 3 michelin star restaurant 'The Fat Duck'), opened his first restaurant in London earlier this year, Dinner. This restaurant is situated in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, next to hyde park. The theme of this restaurant is to re-create British food from several centuries ago (13th - 18th century). Since its opening, there has been (at least) a two month waiting list to attend this restaurant.
Two of my friends had booked to attend this restaurant a while back, but due to unforseen circumstances, two of their party couldn't attend, they then asked if me and the boyfriend would like to join them for dinner instead. Unable to resist temptation, we said yes! The logic is, better to attend this restaurant before they hike up the prices (e.g. on receiving a star - which is highly anticipated), right?
[Note: Since Oct 2011, Dinner by Hesten Bluementhal was awarded one michelin star]
In August the average price per person was ~£65 (3 course, without drinks)
When we first arrived, we were greeted by friendly staff who directed us to our table. The surroundings were very nice and spacious. We were provided with free complimentary bread to begin whilst we waited for our starters.
Bread (brown and white) with butter topped with sea salt
For starters we ordered: broth of lamb, savoury porridge, and the famous meat fruit. The broth of lamb reminded me of something that was a little bit asian (little bit spicey/peppery) with a hint of sweetness.
Broth of Lamb (c.1730): Slow Cooked Hen’s Egg, Celery, Radish,
Turnip and Sweetbreads
The savoury porridge (also served in the The Fat Duck) was exceptional. Very well seasoned, not bland at all. The snails were nice and slightly chewy (in a good way) and the mushrooms were delicious. Recommend!
Savoury Porridge (c.1660): Snails, Girolles, Garlic and Fennel
The all famous staple starter dish, meat fruit. This was very nice. What made this dish stand out (apart from the looks) was the mandarin jelly around the pate. The jelly was slightly sweet with a hint of mandarin flavour that complimented the pate very well.
Meat Fruit (c.1500): Mandarin, Chicken Liver Parfait and Grilled Bread
Meat fruit: opened
For mains we ordered: powdered duck, black foot pork chop and the wing rib of irish angus.
The powdered duck - is two duck legs/drumsticks with a glaze (orignally a powder, but on cooking changes to a lovely gloss, hence the name). This dish was a bit disappointing - the meat didn't have much flavour and the glaze didn't really add to the flavour of the duck. The potato puree (or mash) was exceptionally exceptionally buttery - too buttery for my liking. I'm glad they seved that on the side.
Powdered Duck (c.1670): served with smoked fennel and potato purée (on the side)
Potato puree
There have been raving reviews about the wing rib of irish angus. However, it turned out a bit disappointing. We asked for medium/rare wing rib of irish angus, but it turned out a bit too rare (you can't really tell from the photo). I'm not particularly keen on the texture of meat that is too rare. The meat didn't have too much taste itself. The mushroom ketchup was nice, a slightly sweet sauce with mushrooms. The steak also came with a red wine gravey - but taste of the taste of the red wine dominated the gravy too much.
Wing Rib of Irish Angus for 2 (c.1830): Mushroom Ketchup, Red Wine Juice
with fries (on the side, not pictured)
The pork chop, was exceptionally nice though, if you don't mind your pork a little bit pink! Other than the hint of pinkness, the sauce and texture of the dish was very nice. I was surprised how nice this dish turned out since I'm not normally a fan of pork. Recommended.
Black Foot Pork Chop (c.1860): Pointy Cabbage, Robert Sauce
For dessert we had tipsy cake (which needed to be ordered in advance, as this takes 25 mins to make), lemon suet pudding, and the chocolate bar.
The lemon suet pudding, was quite small, probably about 5 cm in diameter. It looked very pretty, particualrly with the edible flowers. When you break into the pudding, the pudding itself has a hard texture (kind of like a tart) and inside is a lemon caramel (quite sweet if you didn't eat it with the cream on the side). Overall, I wasn't too keen on this dessert.
Baked Lemon Suet Pudding (c.1630) with a custard, and jersey cream on the side (not shown)
Inside: a lemon caramel
The chocolate bar, is something my friend ordered. This dessert has, surprisingly, a very light moosey texture. From the look, you might just think its rock solid! The moose is very chocolately and at the bottom is a very nice passion fruit jam which cuts the sweet/bitter chocolate just perfect. On the side of the chocolate bar was a ginger ice cream which was quite nice on its own or with the chocolate bar. Reminded me of a mix between a jaffa cake and a chocolate moose. If you're a fan of chocolate moose, then this is probably recommended.
Chocolate Bar (c.1730): Passion Fruit Jam and Ginger Ice Cream
Chocolate bar: open
The tipsey cake, is the staple dessert at Dinner and therefore is a must if you come here. Tipsey cake is a sweet bread/sponge-like dessert that is half soaked in alcohol and custard. On the side, is a grilled piece of pineapple. This dessert was nice, though the taste and texture reminded me of the "pineapple bun" you get at a chinese bakery. If you've never had a chinese pineapple bun, this dessert is a treat. If you know what a chinese pineapple bun taste like, you should try it anyway because its the staple dessert.
Tipsy Cake (c.1810): with Spit Roast Pineapple
Spit Roast Pineapple
At the end of the meal, they asked if we wanted tea. There was about 5-6 selections of tea (ranging from £5-15), but we decided to decline. They then gave us a complimentary dessert - a white chocolate ganache (that was flavoured with earl grey tea) - this dessert was quite nice. The earl grey tea is more of an after taste. The only complaint is that it was a tad too sweet (but then again, I prefer savoury over sweet). The biscuit had a mixture of spices and other flavours I couldn't really pin point. It was a nice end, to a nice evening with friends.
Earl grey tea with white chocolate ganache and a caraway biscuit
Overall, the evening was great. The service was fantastic. The waiters explained each dish and filled our glasses with water (iced tap water) without needing to ask. They were almost 'invisible' - in the sense we didn't notice them because we were enjoying ourselves. The starters were great, lots of imagination/creativeness, taste and variety. The mains a little bit dissappointing (particularly due to vast no.of fantastic reviews). The desserts were nice, but didn't particualrly have a 'wow' factor in terms of taste. If I were to go again, I would probably order two starters.
