In Dubai with Pinkberry

I had a little time to kill when I was laying over in Dubai (again!) and I chose to spend it in the company of Pinkberry. My twirled natural and pomegranate with crushed Oreos, dark chocolate niblets, crushed hazelnuts and sliced strawberry Pinkberry to be precise.

I've been having frozen yogurt withdrawal symptoms lately (damn Yog! Sorry the post hasn't gone up yet but it will be going up shortly) and I couldn't imagine my luck when I saw the Pinkberry man handing out samples. I think I'm in danger of becoming one of those obsessed frozen yogurt fans I only ever read and laugh about :)

The Pinkberry verdict
Taste wise I was hoping (expecting) something a little more tart. The portion size wise it was grossly tiny. The yogurt was piped to the centre of the container leaving a pretty gap on the sides. The amount of the 4 extras that came with small size were grossly stingy. Considering I paid just over £6 for the yogurt and a small bottle of Evian I expected a little more. I certainly get a larger portion for a third less of the price at Yog. However, I think I may have got my own back when I took 2 bottles of Evian by mistake :) Shhh I won't tell if you don't.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shoes, Holidays and Cake - Aubaine, Selfridges

I've done it! I survived my yoga session on Saturday and I finally got round to booking my flight to distant lands where the sun shines everyday and the temperature is never below 25 °C. At the moment my body hurts like crazy and my bank is on the verge of calling on the IMF AND the European Union to bail me out. But hey ho .... I'm going away on holiday (imagine me dancing a wee online jig)!

I'm off in a couple of weeks but until then a girl has to keep her spirits up and what better way than a long overdue visit to the new Shoe Galleries at Selfridges? 35,000 sq ft, 150 brands, 4,000 pairs on display and 55,000 pairs in stock at any one point - that's a lot of shoe stats. It was intense shoe pleasure - I wriggled my toes in Louboutins, shimmied around in Choos, glided around in Ginas and I even dared to ignore the eagle eyes of the old bats down at Chanel and copped a feel or two of their goods before rushing out (just in case they saw through me and called security!). High on heels (flats and everything in between) we headed for the one section of the shoe area we could possibly afford - Aubaine.

Stuffed to the brim with ladies who shop and men who wait for ladies who shop, Aubaine's limited space was packed. To maximise every inch, tables were jammed together. Customers tried hard to ignore conversations around them and very likely failed. Well, I did ... I became quite fascinated with the stories the 2 girls from New York (very much Londoners for the moment, apparently) next to us were regaling each other with. They too in turn looked suitably horrified the moment after I suddenly exclaimed to my friend, "Oh, have I told you about the guy who's stalking me?". The stalker story is very much true but that's for another time.

My shoe fanatic-in-arms suggested we share a portion of salt and chili squid, unsurprising since she has a bit of a thing for deep fried squid. The dish was actually rather lovely. The squid was pipping hot, the batter was light and crisp and the whole dish was seasoned well. This in the middle of the shoe department in one of the city's most exclusive departmental stores. I'm really quite impressed. They did, however, let themselves down on the lime aioli. Under seasoned and just a tad bit lame.

This was what we came for - cake. Well, I did anyway and ended up ordering their over sized strawberry macaron. Topped with a light handed sprinkle of poppy seeds, the macaron was fine. Not particularly exciting but good. Crisp, light shell with a jammy centre.

My companion chose the raspberry tartlet - yes, raspberries in the middle of January...imagine! Little sweet/tart nuggets sitting on crème patisserie and a crisp, buttery pastry. Served with a squiggle of raspberry coulis. She seemed incredibly happy with it and my little bite tasted just fine.

So what do I now know about Aubain that I didn't know before the weekend?
I now know that Aubaine does a heavy cup of skinny latte, the staff don't know their white wine glasses from their red and the food served is actually rather scrummy, albeit on the steep side. I also know that the service is pretty decent but with slight dips here and there ... like the guy who kept insisting on arranging piles of forks in strict military precision on the service counter right next to our table ... imagine .... *clink, clink, clink, clink, clink ....*

Aubaine
Selfridges, 2nd Floor - 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 1AB

A Half Cheat's Fish and Chips

So the tale of Miss Grumpy Pants continues ....

I've been eating more than what's good for me and had room for more. Plus dessert. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon. I have a yoga session today - with some luck I'll survive to tell the tale. Until then I leave you with a super large dinner that I made recently - my odd version of fish and chips.

I lightly dusted some sprats (bought right off the fishermen when I was down on the Kentish coast right after the new year) in equal parts plain and cornflour. Deep fried until lightly golden - 2-3 minutes. The "chips" were your run of the mill supermarket hash browns. I did make sure I bought the smallest bag possible, simply because there was no space in the freezer for any leftovers. *Tah dahhh ..... * Fish and chips :) Hope your weekend isn't as painful as my yoga session!

A Meal for a New Year

I have been such a scrooge this Christmas. I didn't mean to, promise! I actually made vow to myself in November that I would be nice .... and try to actually enjoy the festive season for once.

Then .....

The the weather took a turn for the worse, the snow came and I tumbled - or sank into a miserable heap into the ice. In the last three weeks I have battled a cold, a tummy bug, immense tiredness followed in equal measures by insomnia and because of all of the above, total and utter boredom at being stuck at home. So whilst the parties went on ... I shuffled around the flat cursing the evils of the holiday season.

Shredded pork with Szechuan perserved vegetable - probably not what I was expecting. I gave it a blank stare when it arrived. I was anticipating a stewed dish with lots of lovely gravy.

But hey ho, it's a new year. Fresh starts and all that. As for the colds, tummy bugs and all that ... nothing a good Chinese meal can't put to rights :)

Dau mui with garlic - my favourite vegetable.

Fried chicken with preserved red beancurd sauce - with a surprise of black fungus and golden needles (dried lily flowers) cooked in fermented beancurd hidden under the chicken.

Joy King Lau
3 Leicester St, London WC2H 7BL

Big Dirty Breakfast

Brekkie at the local greasy spoon. Big, hearty and a more than a little greasy - the best way to start a weekend and fight the big chill.

Big brekkie 1 - Bacon, sausage, fried egg, fried mushrooms, black pudding, beans, tinned tomatoes and chips.

Big brekkie 2 - same as the above except it the chips were replaced with hash browns.

Rosa's - Soho, London

The first time I went to Rosa's I left my camera charging at home and couldn't stop kicking myself for being such an idiot. So I promised myself I would return - not just to take photos, mind ... but also because the food was rather tasty and deserved another visit. Persistently on Timeout's list of Top 10 Cheap Eats in east London (mind you this was in the day before the branch in Soho opened) and I've been wanting to try it out but was way to lazy to head all that way east. So all the better for me when they opened up in central London. I know there's been quite a bit of criticism about how the quality had dropped dramatically over the last few years but hey, I'm none the wiser. On this visit it also tickled me to drag my friend Rosa along (childish, I know!).

Perusing the menu, I realised I had forgotten that Rosa doesn’t take too well to anything spicy and is no fan of coconuts either. The 2 things so entrenched in Thai cuisine. No worries, there had to be something that she could have – sticky rice – safe and definitely had no spice and no coconut. Interestingly it was not until recently that I realised quite a few people don’t like coconut milk/cream. I guess growing up in Malaysia I just took it for granted that people just ate it – nothing to dislike. Ooo … I do remember thinking it was the oddest thing when I found out an old boss of mine not liking bean sprouts! She would laboriously pick out every bit from her plate before she started eating. Imagine! And she lived in Malaysia too where nearly every noodle dish comes with a handful of bean sprouts. Anyway, I diverge from Rosa’s meal. For her main she chose Gai Pad Cashew Nuts (£8.25) – innocently described as stir-fried chicken and cashew nuts with mixed peppers in oyster sauce. So Rosa digs in – first bite “emm … nice”, second bite, third bite …. Then she starts sniffing. A little at first and then a bit more.

“Are you OK, Rosa?”

“Noooo … this is spicy!!!!”

So I peer at the dish. It still looks incredibly innocent. I shove my fork in and taste a bit.

“Don’t be silly, Rosa. It’s fine.”

I shove my fork into the dish again (I’m notoriously greedy and would never say no to an extra titbit). Then it hit me. Uh ohh … there’s some heat coming through. Peering at the dish again I realise that the little dark specks throughout the dish were not innocent bits of blackened veg but bits of lethal dried chilli. Poor Rosa! I dare say she was not a happy bunny (no worries, we went for cake after, which cheered her up immensely).

I would say this to Rosa’s though …. If you’re going to add chilli to a dish, just say it on the menu! Put a little chilli sign next to the dish. You do for all your other spicy dishes.

I went down the boring route and ordered what my dining companion had on my first visit a few months previously - Gaeh Yang Char (£10.50) - grilled rack of lamb served with spicy dry chilli sauce and cooled steamed vegetables. I really enjoyed this dish on my previous visit and then it hit me … I probably only enjoyed it so much because I only had a few bites. Faced with a whole dish – 3 large pieces of grilled lamb covered in creamy coconut gravy – I realised what a wimp I had become. Oh I finished it alright … along with the steamed veg sitting at the bottom of the meaty heap – steamed cauliflower and carrots (I’m still not sure what they mean by “cooled steamed vegetables” – cool against the spice of the gravy or the veg was hot once upon a time when it came out of the steamer and now it isn’t?). But I was almost whimpering by the time I swallowed my last bite. It was a mountain of food and this wasn’t even counting the steamed rice I had ordered on the side. I offered to share my meat with Rosa – she likes lamb, she told me so – but my offer was kindly declined.

“It’s covered in coconut sauce, Justine.”

Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten. She did accept a piece – a conciliatory gesture. She did point out it wasn’t cooked through. Yeah, I know …. It was an extremely bright shade of uncooked red in the middle.

“I think the English like to eat their lamb a bit rarer than you or I, Rosa”.

She simply nods. From one foreigner to another.

Rosa’s Soho
48 Dean Street, London W1D 5BF

Oodles of Noodles - Mien Tay, Battersea

I will unashamedly admit that I returned to Mien Tay the very next day after my first visit for another meal. It was supposed to be burger night but after a failed hunt for the reportedly best burger this side of the Atlantic sold by The Meatwagon for 1 day only outside the The Ship down in Wandsworth (oh, we found the truck alright but they had soldout!!! 3000 burgers made for the weekend, they had sold 2950 the day before in Islington leaving only 50 burgers to be fought over down south on Sunday. Oh rubbish, but maybe next time!) we trudged back to Battersea. It was a toss up between McD's (it was burget night, remember ...) and Mien Tay. Naturally I have veto power and Mien Tay it was.

We weren't into having another pig out like the previous evening and opted for a single dish each. I had the the Phở Đặc Biệt (£6), which I believe translates to 'special phở'- it basically had sliced beef, beef brisket and and beef balls (the greedy person's phở). The soup was a tad bland but nothing a little sprinkle of salt and a dash or two of fish sauce didn't sort out. I was so content after eating this, I felt like I had been wrapped up in a big fluffy blanket. Oh, I do like my noodle soups.

SM had the Mì Xào Bò (£5.50) or not so exotically translated to stir fried soft noodles with beef. Flavours were good, it was packed with sliced beef and veggies but only one problem .... SM hates celery and the dish reeked of celery. I confes I'm not a celery fan but I'll eat it cooked should the occassion call for it. SM dislikes celery even more than I do but I doubt it mattered that night as the dish was wiped clean within minutes after I took my last shot of the dish.

I forgot to grab a shot of the free fruit presented to every table at the end of the meal on my first visit. Cute way to present fruit.

Mien Tay
180 Lavender Hill, Battersea, London SW11 5TQ

Comptoir Libanais - Westfield, London

As much as I love shopping and enjoy browsing the shops I find always find myself slightly ill at ease whenever I'm at Westfield. It's something about the layout that's all wrong - for all its space, Westfield still has the make me feel incredibly claustrophobic as I walk into one of their shops. But having to wait for a friend to finish her shift, SM and I found we had a couple of hours to hang around and decided to sniff around for some food. Their "foodcourt" - The Balcony - is laughable piece of space. If you're not up to having a meal at one of their restaurants, grabbing a sandwhich from Marks, munching on a prettily iced cupcake or slurping down an artisan gelato as you browse the shops, The Balcony is probably your best bet for a resonably priced bit of food. But the problem is it's anything but reasonaly priced and for all the space they have allocated to it, there are only few "stalls" to choose from. Just 12 high street chains - Square Pie, Pho, Crepeaffaire, etc. serve the hungry hordes. Because of the horrendously long queues at the other outlets, we choose Comptoir Libanais. Their main store on Wigmore Street in Marylebone is part deli part cafe, which has been described as the Middle Eastern equivalent to Carluccio's.

The first thing that stuck me was the lack of a menu. If there was one, I didn't see it and wasn't offered a glimpse of it. We just stood there looking around as a server waited for our order. So we ha a look at the somewhat sad looking pastries at the counter and peered into the pots of ready made stews. There was, however, a small sign sitting on the counter proclaiming their meal deal - a choice of stew with rice or couscous for around £7-8 (I can't remember the exact figure now and the receipt has gone astray). So far it's not a bad deal.

The kofte tagine with rice was SM's choice. Lamb meatballs simmered in tomato based sauce with chickpeas, peppers and courgette. It was good. Simple, honest food.

I had the aubergine and chickpea stew with couscous. Slow cooked aubergine (to an almost mush like state) in a tomato sauce with chickpeas. An incredibly heartwarming dish. My kind of comfort.

To wash it all down I had a pommegranate lemonade.

Comptoir Labanais does probably deserve a another visit but it would have to be to their Wigmore Street branch.

Comptoir Libanais
The Balcony, Westfield Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, Shepherds Bush, London, W12 7GE

Bodean's Pig Out - Tower Hill, London

Bodean's Pig, Tower Bridge and a ball game on telly

Cold and hungry as we headed out to the east end to check something out for a friend a few weeks ago, SM and I passed Bodean's at Tower Hill with a sign advertising their £10 pig out. Exactly what our grumbling tummies needed - a big mountain of food with lots of meat.

Table sauces - oddly the Hot Chipotle and the Smoked Hickory tasted exactly the same!

We used to go to Bodean's every now and then but that was years back and we haven't been in awhile. They must still be doing reasonably well since it was place was almost full on a Friday night in Tower Hill - not the hippest and most happenin' of areas.

The both us opted for the pig out deal with SM going for the half rack of baby back ribs and pulled pork combo. From a choice of sides, SM decided on fries and coleslaw. The ribs, covered in BBQ sauce, were nicely tender and meaty. No complains from either of us. I wouldn't have personally ordered the pulled pork mainly because it was stringy and just that little bit dry. I don't usually mind dry so much - I've recently discovered a liking for Ryvita's (but that is another story) but the pork just didn’t do it for me. Though a good douse from BBQ sauce from the squeeze-y bottle did perk it up.

I went for the burnt ends, chips and coleslaw combo. The slow smoked chunks of beef brisket served with BBQ sauce was wondrously tender. Some pieces had some big bits of fat attached but I wasn't fussed. Cut off, move on to the meat. Satisfyingly good. I remember when Bodean's only ever served this on weekends but it seems it has now made it onto the daily menu.

Each meal came with a drink and I choose Tango. Not something I would pick - I'm not much of a fizzy drinks girl but I make an exception for Orengina. I adore Orengina. Anyway, back to Tango .... I thought the Tango orange heads on the tin were pretty cute :)

You've been Tango-ed

Good, bad, ugly?
It's quite a deal for £10. It's solid food and it's tasty. Will I return? Heck ya ... those burnt ends were really nice and the ribs were decent.

Bodean's Tower Hill
16 Byward Street, London EC3R 5BA

Mien Tay - Battersea, London

Fine, I admit it ... I'm a terribly superstitious person. Little niggly things that I let influence my life (most of the time anyway) and one of them is Vietnamese restaurants in London. The last time I ventured over to the east end to sample a couple bowls of phở my dining companion and I ended up having a raging argument on the street after (yes ... one of those embarrassing ones and yes, please don't ask why). And the time before that ... well, let's just say my friend whom I dined with discovered a serious health problem that very day (of which she is only slowly recovering from - the health problem not the dining experience with me). I know it's silly to associate Vietnamese restaurants with bad events but like I said niggly little things influence my life .... alot.

But last night I seemed oddly unperturbed by my little superstition and decided to try Mien Tay in Battersea (Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction .... take your pick - it seems like Asda has decided fire up the old Battersea/Lavender Hill/Clapham row. Hmph!). We were sat in a little corner in the low ceiling-ed lower level with what seemed like 2 large tables celebrating birthdays - excited chatter, sudden eruptions of alcohol fueled cackle and indecent displays of male flesh (yes, you read that right .... some of the guys at the next table thought it would be a hoot to drop their trousers). OK, so the restaurant is a little small and the service is a bit of a hit and miss but I didn't really drop by for the environment or the service.

As usual, I ordered. I had to make sure it was boy friendly - anything deep fried and meat is probably best. Bánh xèo (£6.00) is always a good choice (as are spring rolls but that gets boring after awhile). I like my crepes crispy and Mien Tay delivered. The filling of sliced pork, prawns and beansprouts were a little bland but fine once dipped in the nước chấm.

I was interested in tasting the quail with honey, garlic and spices (£4.50) since it was one of those dishes that I've heard so much talk about. Tender, succulent little bird served with squeeze of lime on the side. Nice honey and spice flavours coming through but in no way sickly sweet. Good order.

The failure of the evening - aubergine with minced pork (£5.40). Perhaps the kitchen ran out of minced pork and substituted half of the mince with sliced pork instead? Or maybe half and half is what they usually do at Mien Tay. So ... the problem wasn't so much that the dish had minced and sliced pork in it but there was just no 'uumph' to the dish. Perhaps I've been spoilt by Chinese restaurants who make this dish a whole lot better with that almost compulsory wok hei flavour.

My favourite of the evening had to be the deep fried sea bream with shredded green mango and nước chấm (£9.00). So simple and so tasty. I don't very often order fish when I dine out but as this came as a recommendation from the waiter I thought, "why not?". The fish was incredibly fresh (not event the slightest hint of fishiness around the stomach area) and I got the tail and head to suck the flesh off - my favourite bit :) The mango and the nước chấm added freshness and lightness to what would have been boring old fried fish.

I am really glad I shook off my superstition for the evening and wandered into Mien Tay. Truth be told, the other suggestion for dining venues was KFC ... so you can see how easy my decision was. An excellent choice if I can say so myself.

Mien Tay
180 Lavender Hill, Battersea, London SW11 5TQ