Dear Londoner,
I've got to hand it to you. Not only do you contend with the routine horrors of the Tube during rush hour day after day, but somehow have the stamina to go out after work; on a weeknight for god's sake. I mean, if it were me I'd be slumped in a half stupor on my couch with a cup of tea in hand come 6 o'clock. So well done, for leaving nothing to chance and booking everything weeks in advance. It's a killer of spontaneity for sure, but I'd rather be eating where I want thanks very much. The mental picture of oneself wandering the streets hungry, cold and clutching a paper cone of chestnuts (or worse, McDonald's) for sustenance is alarming to say the least. It really is survival of the fittest, and the fastest walkers (I was warned).
Yours truly,
G
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| Swan past too quick On Wardour St and you'll miss it! Credit: Jackson + Rye |
Thankfully, this time round one of us had the savvy to book online (and yes, punters were being turned away as we walked through the door). Jackson + Rye has been bitten by the hype bug pretty hard and it's still going strong after opening in Soho late 2013. It's premise is rather on-trend (darling) being an American style bar and diner seeking inspiration from 1920's New York. With suitably stylish interiors by Martin Brudnizki, Jackson + Rye looked like the place to be in and by that, I mean it was LOUD. Now I'm not a huge fan of shouting to communicate with my table companions but apparently, c'est très cool. Ugh.
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| This is it, you're pretty much guaranteed a full house 7 days a week. But look how happy they are! Credit: Jackson + Rye |
The menu in all its cardboard glory falls just short of encyclopaedic. My head was spinning at one glance, I hadn't even reached the drinks menu yet. So I basically did what I always do, and ordered a special. Can't go wrong, right? J+R seem to have forged a reputation for their steaks, a great option to please the lads who are looking for a slab of meat and no veg (well, almost). What's nice about the whole dealio is that the menu is all-day, they are literally open from 8am till after 11pm most days which is kind of nifty. But dinner service is where it's at ;)
Mesdames et messieurs, entrée is served...
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| Truffled mac & cheese with light parmesan sauce. The sauce was indeed very light, nigh unnoticeable. If I was at home, you'd be able to see that parmesan all gooey and sticking between tendrils of pasta, dammit |
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| Shrimp & Grits: hot shrimp, chilli, garlic, spring onion. Excuse my ignorance but I was a bit perplexed here...what are grits?! Ground corn according to wiki - a feature of Southern American cooking. Well, there you go. I found the 'grits' to be quite gluggy, perhaps that was the desired effect but who knows... |
And then for main:
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| Market fish: grilled swordfish with green beans, tomatoes and new potatoes. A very homestyle kind of dish but boy was the swordfish tasty. Gorgeously cooked and super succulent, delicious! |
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| All up in my grill...200g of grass fed beef fillet. Yes, it looks rather sad and unloved on the plate but it also came with a house sauce of your choosing, fries and smoked garlic butter (that's better). By all accounts the steak was cooked well. The asterisk grill marks look great by the way (kidding) |
DOLCE (= party time)
Why not do the obvious and order one of each? Duh?!
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| Baked cheesecake (left) and frozen white chocolate, raspberry soufflé (right). The general consensus was that the cheesecake was the best dessert (we have a winner!). The cheesecake itself was light and fluffy and when combined with the berry compôte = dynamite. The soufflé was a NOT a soufflé, don't make the rookie error of not reading the fine print. It is essentially a semifreddo moulded into a ramekin. I was wishing for Messina at that point... |
In complete contradiction to my mostly kind words, Marina O'Loughlin from The Guardian gave J + R a proper ribbing describing the food as "bland and forgettable". Scathing. Our experience at the restaurant was a rather pleasant one, it looks as though a lot of the initial speed bumps have been ironed out now. The service that we received could not be faulted actually and the food was fairly decent. One day, I'll come back and order the grilled lobster (bring out the big guns). Yeeeaah :)
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| I think now is the time for some sage words from Apu, "Thank you come again!" Credit: Jackson + Rye |
Thanks for reading!
xGourmand
Now would you look at that. I have reached the big "5-0"...in posts that is! I'm rather happy with what I've achieved on my wee blog which is 20 months young. To celebrate I'm letting you in on this little gem...Bar Tomate, an all day diner in the Salamanca district. Olivia te Cuida was definitely a hard act to follow but Bar Tomate is a sure fire winner. Sure, it has been featured in Condé Nast Traveller & the NY Times no less, but the glowing praise rings true.
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| Stepping through the glass walled atrium/entrance, I was surprised to see the size of this space. Laid out in an L-shape, a more casual dining area with booths and benches abuts the main restaurant with it's charming book lights....literally Source: Te veo en Madrid |
At a very early hour (by Spanish standards) we were seated on a bench that we could lounge comfortably on. We took the liberty of laying out our Madrid map on the table to plot our day's itinerary (NERDS!). We were practically the only people there to begin with. After the obligatory café con leche order we tentatively made our way to the banquet/bar where there was laid out the most glorious spread of breakfast muffins, croissants, sandwiches, freshly squeezed OJ and cake (heaven forbid). It was like breakfast heaven no joke. Not quite sure how to proceed (err, what's new?), the staff kindly helped us put what we liked on a plate. Reminded me of a refectory (old school)!
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| Okay, so it was horrifically dark in there but we made do. The coffee was watery *sigh*, I am starting to see a trend here. Is it that the milk is not as good in Spain? Maybe it's just the ratio being a bit off, who knows. Anyway, the freshly squeezed orange was magnificent (as juice can be anyway). We finished the jug of it ourselves...whoops! |
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| Here was the selection of freshly made mini sandwiches available. Akin to a breakfast 'picnic' or tapas sitting this is exactly what we needed (after having churros overload). The one on the left had creamy slices of brie + black olive tapenade (unusual!), the right thin slices of mushroom |
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| The potato frittata: the perfect antidote to a winter's day. Gives me the warm and fuzzies! |
I probably went back to the counter a good 3 or 4 times for refills, 'samplers' and the like. It was pretty much irresistible, lain out like that! After we had gotten through they had to downsize the buffet size. I'm a bit embarrassed about that to be honest! They were probably thinking, "They're coming...batten down the hatches!" It ain't far from the truth ;)
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| The CHEESECAKE. You must be thinking - huh?! At breakfast?! Umm, yeah... Contrary to how it looks the cake was quite light (like a Japanese cheesecake) and the slice was the perfect 'slither'. The smidge of strawberry jam on top was manageable (I usually scrape it all off) |
I had a jolly good time here and left a very happy camper. And with the wealth of breakfast options available (not necessarily healthy, which I'm okay with) I left full and grinning ear to ear. And all that for just €33,50 for 4 people, I almost felt guilty afterwards! Almost.
Thanks for reading!
xGourmand
Good morning sunshine. Who knew that a Sydney winter could be so accommodating during my uni holiday. The sun, is actually warm here - a rather sad fact since I spend 90% of my time in the nation's capital (ice box). I'm currently sitting in my pyjamas, munching on a slice of brioche (homemade I might add and a smashing first attempt - see the recipe here) accompanied by a soy latte. Simple pleasures people.
Good things. That's what I've heard, or read rather, about the new joint set up by Dan Hong and Jowett Yu of Lotus fame (or maybe not?). Sometimes you need a casual dining setting once in a while. Fine dining is golden, don't get me wrong but I still find I have these awkward moments when wait staff come to set cutlery/pour wine etc and I feel compelled to abruptly stop conversation. I'm not sure why I do this, I'm not ripping apart the restaurant or anything (usually). But then again, I don't really want to share my bitching. And so, we sit in silence in that time, and then mutter a near inaudible "Thank you". Only to continue the raucous laughter/D&M as soon as they leave our vicinity! Anyway, back to the matter.
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| The street front signage. There's also another neon sign with "six two one" on it - the additive number of MSG. Photo from Concrete Playground |
Ms G's - a clever (maybe too clever *shifty eyes*) use of Asian cookings' frenemy MSG. First thing, the walk to the restaurant takes about 10 minutes tops (that's more a leisurely stroll) which is awesome. Any place that I can walk to within a reasonable amount of time (30 minutes is my upper limit) has potential from my point of view. Once you step through the front door you are hit by a wave of decibels. The soundtrack may have something to do with that as well. It's a blend of old-school funk and soul with a but (in a kiwi accent) of modern stuff. For example Islands by the XX and For the Love of Money by the O'Jays. I always find music choices interesting... but they've done well to feed an atmosphere which is abuzz.
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| The faces. Jowett (left) and Dan (right) run the show at Ms G's. P.S. I like their wall, and birkies. Photo by Daniel Boud, published in Time Out Sydney |
Being situated in a terrace house in Potts Point, there isn't a lot of wiggle room. But they've tried to squeeze in as much seating on the three 'levels' be it bench, booth or stool by the bar. You can tell that Merivale (read: Mr Hemmes) has invested a lot in the fit out although you can't tell. I think they were going for the "oh, this was just something we threw together" look without really succeeding. It's a bit contrived, but that's not to say I don't like it. Our table was a perfect vantage point to see in the kitchen. Excellent!
The point of deliberation: our usual rule is to order a dish each minus one if sharing mains but we may have underestimated the portions of each so we ended up adding dishes to our order. I'm sure they weren't complaining either!
Anywho, this was it:
1. Egg noodles with XO sauce, braised duck, soft poached egg - more duck please!!
2. Wok fried cultivated mushrooms, baby corn, sugar snaps, jerusalem artichoke - delicious sauce and nice variety of mushrooms (pretty!)
3. Queensland spanner crab, broccolini, silken tofu, shellfish dashi - okay, the tofu was a little firm but crab is always a treat
4. Jow's sweet and sour lamb ribs - OMG (in a good way), the only way to eat these is with your hands - just so you can lick the glaze off your fingers haha. Definitely my favourite dish of the night
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| Cuties. Maybe for next time, mini bánh mì - chicken katsu and crisp pork belly. Photo from Spicy Ice Cream |
Other popular choices of the night (I was definitely peeking at what was coming out of the kitchen) were peking duck pancakes (the night's special), buddha's delight (extremely healthy looking salad), ceviche (a random latin american menu addition), the mini bánh mì (the vietnamese version of a pork/chicken slider) and the stoner's delight dessert (an American inspired sugar smorgasbord). There was also the Pandan chiffon cake, strawberries and coconut sorbet - featured in a pressure test on Masterchef. Temptation was resisted because...
At home there was a homemade Japanese cheesecake awaiting!
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| Why, hello. |
The beauty of these cakes is that they're so light. Even though we were heartily stuffed with dinner and only walked about 500m back home - there's always space for an incey slice of cake. I first tried this baby from Savoy cake shop in china town YEARS ago - and they really can't go wrong. Recently, my dad found a recipe for this and we haven't looked back! The results are heavenly...
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| Heavenly, I tell you! It looks fluffy cos it is ;) The dessicated coconut and sultanas make a world of difference too. |
Japanese cheesecake recipe (adapted from Diana's Desserts)
Ingredients
140g granulated sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tspn cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100mL milk
1 tbspn lemon juice
60g cake flour
20g corn flour
Method
1. Lightly grease and line a round cake pan with greaseproof paper
2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture (in the fridge if necessary)
3. Preheat oven to 160°C
4. To the cheese, fold in flour, corn flour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well
5. Whisk eggs whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peaks form
6. Add cheese mixture to the egg whites and mix. Pour mixture into cake pan
7. Bake in a bain marie (water bath) for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown
8. After baking, let cake cool completely. Again, in the fridge if necessary (this may take several hours). Patience is a virtue and totally worth it! xo
