The Best of British

I am a self-confessed Italophile and will admit that I have not believed that any good food could ever come out of England. Put to the test by my other half who is of English descent, he was determined that he would show me that London restaurants could rival any of the best food I have ever eaten.  The bet was on – to try the best of British. First challenge – breakfast in London.

Touted as the best breakfast in London we booked a table at  Kopapa, a little Kiwi-owned casual bistro in the super funky Seven Dials district of London. Off the beaten track, the restaurant was very quaint and nestled amongst leafy trees in a chic avenue in the area.  I ordered their famous Turkish eggs, poached  free-range eggs served with whipped yoghurt and chilli butter with a slice of rye on the side. We also tried the spiced banana French toast with grilled bacon, orange blossom labne, tamarind raisin relish & orange vanilla syrup. The restaurant lived up to its fine reputation. The combination of the poached eggs with the whipped yoghurt was an extraordinary combination. Light, fluffy and savoury it felt like I had clouds floating around in my mouth.

The addition of the chilli butter provided a touch of richness and heat to the dish. The spiced banana French toast was equally decadent with the unusual melange of bacon and orange blossom labne that melted in our mouths. What let the restaurant down was the surly staff that grunted our orders at us and banged our plates on the table. This is a real let down for a great eatery. Their lunch menu looks fantastic too but the bad service meant that we are unlikely to return.

A fun breakfast spot we discovered was Muriel’s Kitchen in South Kensington. They served very simple fare but the homemade vanilla and whole chunks of strawberry jam was more-ish. This place is also known for its gorgeous cakes and muffins – whimsical looking fluffy, pastel coloured creations beckon and looked damn irresistible.

Next on the hunt was to find London’s best Sunday roast spot. Hawksmoor Spitalfields in Hackney was the place that had consistently been rated as number one. For 19 pounds you could order a traditional English roast beef dinner complete with Yorkshire pudding, braised leeks, potatoes, baby carrots and all the trimmings. We met up with my cousin there who has been living in London for a few years and is a local in the area. The roast servings were very generous with a huge Yorkshire pudding serving as a basin for the golden, fried potatoes.  

Whilst it looked impressive, this meal lacked flavour. I would have marinated the roast to give it some extra flavour. I don’t understand the English tradition of serving unseasoned meat and vegetables. Meat is so much better when it has been sitting in a gorgeous marinade for a few days. 

For our last night is London we went to a funky new eatery called Lardo. Housed in a renovated warehouse, Lardo draws its inspiration from Italian cooking and serves up tapas sized dishes of Italian favourites such as fresh peaches with parma ham, porcini risotto arancini, melanze al forno (baked aubergine) and a variety of tasty wood-fired pizzas. This was a simple, delicious meal and by far the best I had in London. 

Overall, London served up some creative, tasty fare that was surprisingly good. The reach of chefs like Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay has gone a long way to begin to inspire a more adventurous cooking nation that has been previously synonymous with just plain boring. Your royal highness, for god’s sake give these guys a knighthood.

Hola de Barthelona!

Barcelona has been named the best gastronomic city in the world. Boasting restaurants with nine Michelin stars in Barcelona alone, it’s easy to see why visiting is a must on any die-hard foodie’s bucket list. Catalan cuisine relies heavily on local Mediterranean produce such as vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic, eggplant, local fish and seafood such as anchovies, tuna, salted cod and sardines and of course its legendary small goods like chorizo and aged jamon serrano. Just about every restaurant in Barcelona make their own desserts. Traditional favourites include crema catalana - the famous yellow cream made with yolks, milk and sugar, xuixos - fried pastries created in Girona and stuffed with crema catalane or one of my favourites, pets de monja - small nipple-shaped and sized biscuits also eaten at coffee time. At first they were called pits de monja (nuns' nipples) but time has changed their name to current pets de monja (nuns' farts).

I began my culinary adventure of Barcelona on a good recommendation at La Boqueria market just off the very fashionable avenue Las Ramblas which leads down to the port. Bustling, colourful and vibrant I felt like I had walked into Willa Wonka’s chocolate factory for adult gastronomes. Fresh fruit and berries piled high, stacks of freshly squeezed juices in every colour of the rainbow available for 1 euro, hams hanging from the ceiling, international cheeses, seafood and freshly baked breads, cakes and filled empanadas had us salivating. 

While La Boqueria has some landmark tapas bars, we found them very crowded and opted for a little family run tapas bar that was less frequented. We ordered a range of small tapas dishes including potato tortilla, pa amb tomaquet (bread smeared with tomato and oil, and sometimes garlic), meatballs with prawns and escalivada – a selection of grilled vegetables which included aubergine, red peppers, boletus mushrooms, spring onions and asparagus. The tapas were delicious – if this is what the locals are eating at home, we got an insight into what we were yet to experience at some of the more well known locales. A couple of other memorable tapas spots we tried were Bar del Pla in the Ciutat Vella (old city) and Paco Meralgo, in Barcelona’s upmarket Diagonal area. 

Bar del Pla is a lauded tapas joint hidden off an alley way in the old, historic part of Barcelona. If I hadn’t read about it, I would have surely missed it given its hard to find location. The menu was really interesting with dishes such as octopus bombs, Iberian pig and mushrooms with goat’s cheese and wasabi. We were a little sceptical of the rave reviews as we had tried their new sister restaurant Pla a few days earlier which was underwhelming. We ordered a 400g t-bone steak, a serve of patatas bravas (deep fried potatoes with a romesco and aioli sauce) and a grilled vegetable flatbread with grilled goat cheese. After a lengthy wait, our dishes arrived. Overall, the food was less flavoursome as their other restaurant and definitely not worthy of the glowing write-up. Luckily for us, Barcelona is not short of choice. Next! 

Paco Meralgo was our next tapas destination and a real find outside of the usual tourist-heavy areas. We sat at the bar and shared some real winners. The highlights were the bombas – a potato and jamon serrano crumbed ball of tasty, crunchy ooze topped with a delicious romesco sauce. We also had succulent chunks of medium-rare sizzling peppered beef fillet and grilled, garlic razor clams. Tapas were a little pricier than at the holes-in the wall we had gone to previously but well worth it. Service was fast and very friendly.

This is a well run operation. When we left the restaurant, there was a line up to get in that went around the block. On an evening where it was pouring with rain, there’s no greater testament to how good the food is at this place. 

Perhaps the highlight of my Barcelona dining experience came at a fabulous little restaurant I found in the Gothic quarter of the city called L’Antic Bocoi del Gotic. Housed in an historic building flanked by ancient roman walls this charming restaurant serves up some of the best Catalan cuisine without use of an oven. The design of the space does not allow for cookers yet for fifteen years this restaurant has been serving up some of the best cold delicacies in the city. 

At this restaurant I indulged in by far the best grilled goat’s cheese salad I have ever had in my life. Warm local grilled goat’s cheese sitting atop a bed of mesclun greens, smattered with pinenuts, plum raisins smothered in a dressing of local mille-feuille honey, evo and sea salt. This was a simple and sinful dish that was truly one to savour. As sides we ordered a platter of ruby red, unctuous serrano ham and sampled the traditional coca – a Catalan speciality of grilled flat bread, pork sausage, pork loin, aubergine and manchego cheese. Washed down with a glass of vino tinto de casa (red house wine) the entire meal cost about 40 euros for two. 

What I have noticed about dining in Barcelona is that there is not one restaurant that has consistently great dishes. That is also part of the fun. Trying lots of different places and discovering their signature dish is really a better way to dine, if you can wait until 8pm to go eat your dinner. Restaurants in Spain don’t really open until after 8pm so if you get hungry best have a snack and then hold off until dinner. It’s well worth it! 

A great business opportunity in Barcelona would be to start a restaurant hopping tour where guests go out to 5 or 6 different restaurants just to eat their signature dishes. Five days in Barcelona is not enough to even scratch the surface of a culinary destination that is world class. Barthelona, hasta luego!