Lunch for 1 without Cream Soda: £19.50

So a friend of a friend here in London who was planning a trip to New York for him and his wife for their 1 year anniversary had asked me for restaurant recommendations in NYC.  I obliged with a list of the top notch eateries where the Hoi Polloi gather to nosh and was very impressed with myself and my gourmet credentials when he came back and asked for my list of favorite Jewish eateries.

This request immediately created an intense craving for Jewish food.  I know myself well enough to know that left unfulfilled this craving would consume my every waking moment.  So after sending off the email with my favorite places in New York to clog ones arteries with things cooked in schmaltz I set off to find some here in London.

I got off the tube in Golders Green expecting to emerge into a thriving Jewish neighborhood, only to be somewhat disappointed.  I ended up wandering up Finchley road for quite some time before I found a lone (open) Jewish restaurant in Temple Fortune – Delisserie.

Delisserie bills itself proudly on its awning as a “New York Deli”.  Now I’ve had some seriously disappointing experiences with “American” or “New York” style foods here in London.  For example have you ever eaten a “bagel” in this town?  Then there was the absolute disaster that is Harlem restaurant.  You can understand therefore why I was suspicious.  But at this point I was also completely ravenous.

I started with chicken soup with lockshen and kneidel – sheesh what a mouthful.  You would never see these words on a menu in a NY deli, we don’t have time to read all those words in New York City.  Matzoh ball soup – shorter and with the added benefit that the goyim can pronounce it.

Matzoh Ball Soup

The flavor was definitely spot on.  The broth was really good, but the single matzoh ball was tiny.  I am used to getting one absolutely ginormous matzoh ball surrounded by a little bit of broth – not a big bowl of broth with one eensy ball.  It was good though next time I would request a few more of the itsy kneidels.

Next I had a deli platter which included chopped liver, salt beef and a potato latke.  Here’s where I had another problem with the whole “NY” claim.  They say they have and I quote “The best salt beef sandwich outside of New York”.  I defy you to find a salt beef sandwich in New York – they simply do not exist.  We have pastrami and corned beef – but salt beef – no.  Nevertheless it was pretty damn good.

Chopped Liver, Salt Beef AND a Latke

The pot of yellow mustard (not pictured) was the perfect foil for the beef.  The latke was also delicious but shockingly they did not have apple sauce.  I am sorry people but you cannot call yourself a New York deli if you do not have apple sauce for the latkes.  I am pretty sure that would be against NY city law.

The chopped liver – it was fine – but I am in the fortunate/unfortunate position of having an aunt who really does make the best chopped liver on earth so I am never completely satisfied with what I get served in any deli.

It was all good and if I should ever again find myself getting dizzy from hunger in Temple Fortune again I will stop in.  But a nice Jewish girl I know has recommended I head up to Edgeware so I think that is where I will be going the next time I crave chopped liver.

Delisserie
1 Belmont Parade
Temple Fortune
London, NW11

Breakfast for 1: £14.00

My good friend Lee turned 40 recently and to celebrate he threw a fabulous blowout of a party.  Fun was had by all and when I finally headed home at 3:15 AM after a final round of shots I thought, wow this is going to hurt like hell when I wake up.  And boy did it ever.

When I eventually did wake up at 1:30 in the afternoon later that day my first thought was greasy food.  Actually my first thought really was where the hell am I?  But once I figured that out my second thought was breakfast.

Since I’ve already determined that the place near my flat that serves “American” food is absolutely terrible I had to wrack my brain for some place that I could find a good heavy breakfast that did not involve baked beans or grilled mushrooms.  After about an hour of serious thinking it occurred to me that the Mexican restaurant I’d been meaning to go to for dinner might also serve a non English breakfast.

Huevos Rancheros Verdes

Taqueria specializes in Mexican street food – there is a large selection of different kinds of tacos on their regular menu.  But since I was definitely after eggs I ordered the Huevos Rancheros Verdes.  Two fried eggs each on a corn tortilla with tomatillo salsa, some refried beans and a little bit of queso fresco.

This one dish is easily the best Mexican anything I’ve been served in London.  My only complaint was that I prefer my huevos on a soft corn tortilla (i.e. not a deep fried crispy one) but this is really a minor thing.

Rice and Plaintains

The side order of rice and plantains was the perfect starchy accompaniment to the heavenly eggyness of the rancheros.  The food along with 12 cups of tea and a large glass of Tamarindo sorted me out and I was able to walk home under my own steam and take a nap.

I’ve since been back to Taqueria for dinner as well and I can say that they serve some genuinely authentic and really tasty food.  Service is very friendly as well.  I will definitely be going back to this restaurant as many times as possible.

Taqueria
139-140 Westbourne Grove
London W11 2RS

Dinner for four with wine: £100

One of my good friends is originally from South Africa and we’ve talked about SA food so many times I decided that it was about time we attempted to find some here in London.  I’ve visited neighboring Namibia which has similar cuisine and ate some pretty delicious stuff when I was there.

I thought we’d end up having to travel to beyond the middle of nowhere but it turns out there is an SA restaurant plonked right in the middle of Chiswick (which depending on how you define it could be considered the middle of nowhere I suppose).

Once I found Chakalaka though I had some reservations about it.  Mostly because their website makes entirely too liberal use of zebra stripes, shields, spears, etc.  I was really worried that it was going to be some zany crazy theme restaurant, but it was the only South African restaurant I could find that was easy to get to on a weeknight from the office so we all just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.  I should point out that Chakalaka serves Afrikaner food which revolves around meat.

The exterior had the same Zebra thing going on but once you step inside it all thankfully mellows out a bit and in the low light you hardly notice the decor at all.  The low light also hinders the taking of decent photos but rest assured it all looked good in person.

Boerewors and Chakalaka

I started with the Boerewors and Chakalaka.  Boerewors is a farmer’s sausage and the chakalaka is a traditional piquant tomato and onion relish.  The entire dish was served over a steamed corn pudding called miele pap.  The sausage was nice and rustic, well spiced and the sauce and steamed corn were a tasty combination.  Chakalaka is meant to be quite hot though and their’s was only just a wee bit so.  If I order it again I’ll ask them to bump up the heat for me.

Sean's Dinner - the Ostrich and Kudu Duet

My main dish was Kudu steak served with onion rings and mash in a red wine jus.  Kudu is an antelope and is a very lean meat similar in flavor to venison.  The steak was juicy and tender – not too gamy.  The photo is of my friend Sean’s meal which was a combo of kudu and ostrich which he enjoyed very much.

We had a vegetarian with us and even he managed to do quite well despite the obvious catering to the carnivore set.  I assumed I would end up having to apologize to him for the lack of veggie options on the menu but by the end of the meal he was just as stuffed as the rest of us.

Despite the kitschy decor the food at Chakalaka is not at all gimmicky.  The owners are clearly interested in doing justice to the produce available from South Africa and Namibia and I think they’re doing it pretty successfully.  The service was also excellent and the wine list has a good selection of South African wines (try the Nederburg Noble Late Harvest White).

I would definitely go back the next time I am craving a big meaty meal.

Chakalaka
1-4 Barley Mow Passage
Chiswick, London W4 4PH
(There is also another location in Putney)

Dinner for 1 with wine £35.00

I recently went to Scotland for the first time and despite what all the naysayers say about Scottish food, I went to eat.  I mean not just to eat.  I went to hike and drink whiskey and well mostly to drink whiskey but also to eat.  I was determined to come back to London with tales of the incredible meals I’d had.

My first attempt was the Loch Fyne Oyster bar on Loch Fyne.  This is by no means an off the beaten path restaurant.  It has branches all over the UK promoting Scottish seafood.  This however is the original and is supposed to be the best.  It also gets very mixed reviews for service so I was pleasantly surprised when I called to make a reservation that the nice man on the phone promised me a table with a great view.

The drive up to Loch Fyne from Glasgow was chock full of jaw droppingly gorgeous views.  I kept having to pull over to get out of the car and just gawk.  I figured that when I got to Cairndow the beauty would be marred by an enormous tour bus welcoming commercial mega-enterprise,  but it wasn’t.  Simple sign, the place is not very big and shares its space with a garden center.  If you didn’t know it was a famous location you might just pass it by.

Unbelievably I ended up at, as promised, at a great corner table with the best view of the Loch.  I couldn’t believe they’d actually remembered.  So far so good.

The service was a little slow but it was just as well as I had serious trouble deciding what to order.  So I ordered everything.  I started with oysters of course.  I had high hopes for these oysters.  In theory these should have been some of the freshest, sweetest, bestest oysters I’ve ever eaten.

Oysters with Shallot Vinaigrette

And they were.  They were some really really amazing oysters.  I briefly considered canceling the rest of my meal and just having 18 more oysters.

Next came the salmon course.  Even though its called an oyster bar, Loch Fyne is also very well known for their smoked salmon.  I had a sampler which came with salmon smoked four different ways.  Gravlax,  smoked, Braden Orach (strongly smoked) and Braden Rost (kiln roasted).

Salmon Sampler

Choosing the sampler was the best way to go.  It was so interesting to have such significantly different flavors and textures from the same fish.  They were all spectacular and a great introduction to Scottish salmon.  All that was missing was a bagel and cream cheese.

For my last course I moved on to my beloved scallops.  These particular scallops were baked in their shells with mashed potato.

Scallops

The most intelligent thing I can think of to say about these scallops is aaaaaaaarrrrggggghhhhh…  They were just so sweet and creamy.  The mash had a good crusty top to it with the scallops inside perfectly cooked.   This is a dish that looks like it is possible to replicate at home.  Really simple – no extra faff – just perfect.

I could not force myself to eat a pudding I was so stuffed.

If you are anywhere near Cairndow in your Scottish travels definitely book a table here – it will be worth it.  And if you can’t manage to get in for a meal they have a fantastic shop right next door where you can buy fresh and smoked fish and fixings.

Book I was reading:  Scotland A New History

Loch Fyne Oyster Bar
Clachan
Cairndow
Scotland PA26 8BL

Dinner for 1 with beer: £21.00

I wasn’t planning to go to this restaurant.  My original target was a pub that serves Thai food in the same area.  But when I turned the corner where the pub was it was rammed to the rafters with those Notting Hill type guys with collars popped up on their rugby shirts.  There was some kind of football match on and the yelling and cheering did not seem like it would make for enjoyable atmosphere so I decided to move on and suss out one of the other neighborhood Thai restaurants.

I almost ended up skipping the Market Thai as well because it doesn’t look particularly appealing from the street.  Its above a pub and is entered by a somewhat grim looking stair case.  At this point though I was getting pretty damn hungry and just decided to give it a try.

Once you get past the stairs however the interior is actually nice.  The whole place has a sort of distressed, worn look – not in a grotty way at all.  It reminded me of restaurants I’ve eaten in in South East Asia.

I was given a seat by an open window overlooking the hustle and bustle of Portobello road which made for some excellent people watching.

Grilled Shrimp Salad

I started with the grilled shrimp salad.  I hate it when you order a shrimp salad and you get 3 pieces of shrimp.  This shrimp salad had a ton of big plump shrimps in it and tons of fresh shallot and lemongrass and all sorts of other sour, salty, sweet Thai flavors.  It was the absolute winner of the meal.  I ate the entire dish.

Red Curry with Tofu

For my main I had the vegetarian red curry with tofu.  It was a respectable curry – could have used more fish sauce or just some salt but other than that it was enjoyable.

The Market Thai are not doing anything particularly exciting or original with their food but the service was very nice and the food satisfying.  This is a great place to come for lunch if you are wandering around Portobello road on a Saturday – especially if you can get a window seat to allow you to watch the goings on in the market below.

The Market Thai
240 Portobello Road
London, W11 1LL