The blonde and I were joined by frisby boy this week, as Monday Night Club (MNC) went posh. I’ve never felt I could call a restaurant a friend (unless being friends with Pizza Express on Facebook counts) but the blonde can and she had a voucher on Monday to prove it!
A couple of cocktails for us – and a mocktail for frisby boy – helped set the tone for a sophisticated evening. Well it would have been if the blonde hadn’t ordered one that was basically just a glass of pure alcohol. Oh well! At £3.50 (it was another offer but alas not one involving a voucher) a pop, you can’t really go wrong.
Anyway the venue was Browns, again the Canary Wharf, and the offer was this…… get your starter or pud for free with any main course ordered, along with a glass of wine for £3 each. Bargain! Great, sorted. Only one small flaw in the plan – the waiters acted like it was the first they’d heard of it! Four of them huddled around the till, taking very loudly before one returned and tried to palm us off with another offer, which involved ordering food of a restricted (ie. cheap) menu that didn’t have the starter or main course I wanted!!! The deal was ‘order any main course’ not ‘order any main course of a restricted menu’, humpf! Not one to be diddled, the blonde sent the waiter away with a flea in this ear and he retuned, tail between this legs, with the proper menus! Let’s raise a glass to that!
The food was lovely! Crab and avocado salad followed by an oriental-style salmon with pak choi was yum. The blonde’s roasted vegetable tart was the size of a small country and tasted lovely, and frisby boy opted for the more sophisticated chorizo and prawn linguine. He even ate it with a knife and fork - well, he is posh!
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009
Rick Stock
A glass of Chalky’s bike and some posh crisps, followed by a two-course Eastern inspired meal – washed down with some prosecco is a perfect way to spend a Saturday evening. Rick Stock was huge success and worth the two and a half hours of preparation time I spent in the kitchen Saturday afternoon blending, chopping and pulsing away to make various aromatic pastes and concoctions. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that a trip to Waitrose was all that was needed to stock up on the exotic ingredients I needed to make it – result!
The starter was Vietnamese banh tom (otherwise known as prawn and potato fritters) and Balinese satai lilit (or seafood satay). I was really worried about the fritters, as raw spuds cut into matchsticks, smothered in a beige batter don’t really look that appetising - and they didn’t look much better when they were cooked either – ekk! But Rick, AKA God, knew what he was doing when he added it to his book. The secret of this little dish is how you eat it. You break the fritters into smaller pieces and wrap them, alongside some fresh mint and coriander, into a little gem lettuce leaf. You then dip the lettuce pancake into a ginger, lime and chilli sauce and Bob’s your yummy Uncle. The seafood satay was every bit as good as I was hoping. I used coley and prawn but you can use any white fish. Probably better it cooked on a BBQ or flame grill but my little oven-grill did them proud!
The main course was a Thai fish curry, jungle style served with fragrant yellow rice. Jungle curries are not made with coconut milk so are generally much hhhhhhhotter. The sauce looks a bit like a gravy and it’s packed full of ginger, lemon grass, along with various different types of red and green chilli and spices. The yellow rice, which is cooked in coconut milk, helped cool it down a bit and the whole meal was lovely. However, as turmeric is in most of the dishes I spent the evening with yellow hands and nails, making me took like a smoker with a 90 a day habit! Still, it was worth it! Rick and Chalky would’ve been proud!
The starter was Vietnamese banh tom (otherwise known as prawn and potato fritters) and Balinese satai lilit (or seafood satay). I was really worried about the fritters, as raw spuds cut into matchsticks, smothered in a beige batter don’t really look that appetising - and they didn’t look much better when they were cooked either – ekk! But Rick, AKA God, knew what he was doing when he added it to his book. The secret of this little dish is how you eat it. You break the fritters into smaller pieces and wrap them, alongside some fresh mint and coriander, into a little gem lettuce leaf. You then dip the lettuce pancake into a ginger, lime and chilli sauce and Bob’s your yummy Uncle. The seafood satay was every bit as good as I was hoping. I used coley and prawn but you can use any white fish. Probably better it cooked on a BBQ or flame grill but my little oven-grill did them proud!The main course was a Thai fish curry, jungle style served with fragrant yellow rice. Jungle curries are not made with coconut milk so are generally much hhhhhhhotter. The sauce looks a bit like a gravy and it’s packed full of ginger, lemon grass, along with various different types of red and green chilli and spices. The yellow rice, which is cooked in coconut milk, helped cool it down a bit and the whole meal was lovely. However, as turmeric is in most of the dishes I spent the evening with yellow hands and nails, making me took like a smoker with a 90 a day habit! Still, it was worth it! Rick and Chalky would’ve been proud!
Monday, 19 October 2009
Last week
Monday night club went down market last week, as it took to the road and ended up at the local Wetherspoon’s. Just to try and claw back some credibility here – it was a Wetherspoon’s-in-the-Whalf, not a Chavtastic-kids-and-old-men-necking-cheap-beer Wetherspoon’s, so I think that gives it brownie points as a credible place to go to. Anyway, continuing the bargain theme a bottle of rose costs just £7.49 and the place has nice comfortable sofas. Also and, probably because it was a Monday, it was actually quite quiet.
So you can imagine mine and the blonde’s surprise when two unisex looking people plonked themselves on the sofa opposite! We were even more surprised when, after polishing off some dogfood smelling nachos, they push the empty, licked bowl to our side of the table! How rude!! You don’t get that sort of behaviour at All Bar One, that’s for sure. Maybe there is no such thing as a credible Wetherspoon’s after all…….. Anyway, two plates of fried lard and another bottle of pink plonk later, the blonde and I skipped home and it seems the Monday Night Club (MNC) tradition is set to continue!
Tuesday and Wednesday were busy both work and gym wise but Thursday saw a trip to the lovely Thai place I mentioned last week. It was quiet, which I think is a sign of the times, but the food was even better than I remembered. Fish cakes decorated with purple Chaba flowers (pictured left) followed by Thai green curry with prawns and coconut rice (served in a coconut shell), washed down with a chilled bottle of white was just what the busy week needed. And I loved the brightly coloured edged prawn crackers they served in a basket on arrival – must get a picture of them next time!
Friday was a less glamorous affair - frozen pizza and a glass of red while babysitting. Well, it can’t all be glitz, can it? Next Saturday has been dubbed Rick Stock as I’ll be cooking a meal from Rick Stein’s latest cook book. Rick, or god as I sometimes refer to him, is one of my all time favourite food heroes and I’ll be spending most of Friday evening and Saturday morning shopping, chopping, blending and preparing a meal that will make the Stein-meister and his late little friend Chalky proud. Watch this space for more!!!!
So you can imagine mine and the blonde’s surprise when two unisex looking people plonked themselves on the sofa opposite! We were even more surprised when, after polishing off some dogfood smelling nachos, they push the empty, licked bowl to our side of the table! How rude!! You don’t get that sort of behaviour at All Bar One, that’s for sure. Maybe there is no such thing as a credible Wetherspoon’s after all…….. Anyway, two plates of fried lard and another bottle of pink plonk later, the blonde and I skipped home and it seems the Monday Night Club (MNC) tradition is set to continue!
Tuesday and Wednesday were busy both work and gym wise but Thursday saw a trip to the lovely Thai place I mentioned last week. It was quiet, which I think is a sign of the times, but the food was even better than I remembered. Fish cakes decorated with purple Chaba flowers (pictured left) followed by Thai green curry with prawns and coconut rice (served in a coconut shell), washed down with a chilled bottle of white was just what the busy week needed. And I loved the brightly coloured edged prawn crackers they served in a basket on arrival – must get a picture of them next time!Friday was a less glamorous affair - frozen pizza and a glass of red while babysitting. Well, it can’t all be glitz, can it? Next Saturday has been dubbed Rick Stock as I’ll be cooking a meal from Rick Stein’s latest cook book. Rick, or god as I sometimes refer to him, is one of my all time favourite food heroes and I’ll be spending most of Friday evening and Saturday morning shopping, chopping, blending and preparing a meal that will make the Stein-meister and his late little friend Chalky proud. Watch this space for more!!!!
Sunday, 11 October 2009
The weekend
Well, after several JD’s on Thursday it soon became clear why the Chinese was the most popular choice for the Thursday night pose – it’s closest of the three options to the pub! Well, that was easier to solve than the riddle of the Sphinx!
Anyway, Friday was a stupidly busy day work-wise. Call me old fashioned but by 3pm I expect to be winding down and getting into weekend mode, not typing with such a speed that steam is coming off my keyboard. So, when a last minute dinner invitation arrived into my inbox at about 4.30pm, I jumped at the chance as going home and cooking was the last thing I really wanted to do.
So I spent the evening at a lovely traditional place ran by the Italian mother and father I never had. Mama’s menu and decor have never changed in the seven years since I’ve lived here – and neither have her prices – and every meal somehow ends up seeing too much food being eaten, and too much red wine and black Sambuca’s being drunk!!! I think the glasses they use must be bottomless...........
Mushroom Popeye (mushrooms stuffed with spinach and baked in garlic butter) for starter and a portion of freshly-made cannelloni together cost less than a £10 – I’m telling you, the place is a total hidden gem. Even their steaks cost less than a tenner and you don’t need a magnifying glass to find them either. Mama’s has been running for almost 30 years now and its customers are all regulars who are made to feel part of the family. They even do a set meal (three courses, coffee and a bottle of wine for two for £38!!!!) but the prices are so cheap, going a la carte doesn’t usually end up costing too much more.
Anyway........ let’s just say Saturday morning’s Body Pump class was a major struggle. I’m sure it was red wine and not sweat oozing out of my pores!!!!!!
Anyway, Friday was a stupidly busy day work-wise. Call me old fashioned but by 3pm I expect to be winding down and getting into weekend mode, not typing with such a speed that steam is coming off my keyboard. So, when a last minute dinner invitation arrived into my inbox at about 4.30pm, I jumped at the chance as going home and cooking was the last thing I really wanted to do.
So I spent the evening at a lovely traditional place ran by the Italian mother and father I never had. Mama’s menu and decor have never changed in the seven years since I’ve lived here – and neither have her prices – and every meal somehow ends up seeing too much food being eaten, and too much red wine and black Sambuca’s being drunk!!! I think the glasses they use must be bottomless...........
Mushroom Popeye (mushrooms stuffed with spinach and baked in garlic butter) for starter and a portion of freshly-made cannelloni together cost less than a £10 – I’m telling you, the place is a total hidden gem. Even their steaks cost less than a tenner and you don’t need a magnifying glass to find them either. Mama’s has been running for almost 30 years now and its customers are all regulars who are made to feel part of the family. They even do a set meal (three courses, coffee and a bottle of wine for two for £38!!!!) but the prices are so cheap, going a la carte doesn’t usually end up costing too much more.
Anyway........ let’s just say Saturday morning’s Body Pump class was a major struggle. I’m sure it was red wine and not sweat oozing out of my pores!!!!!!
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Thursday
I like Thursday. Not only is it the new Friday but it also means that the worst part of the week (ie. the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday bit is over and done with) and my thoughts start turning away from work and towards the weekend. Slight fly in the ointment this week is the fact that tomorrow is another early start for me but that won’t stop the regular Thursday night club from meeting.
This, in case you’re wondering is a few JD and cokes in the local boozer (served in my own glass, which is kept behind the bar and only used by yours truly – get me!) before dinner at one of the local restaurants that are stumbling distance from home. Not that I’m a creature of habit you understand…
So on the cards tonight is either a curry, Chinese or Thai.
The curry house was one the nicest curry house in town until the lovely owner and his scary-but-quite-nice-deep-down matriarch wife decided to sell up and go travelling about 18 months ago. The new owner is a wanna be actor (I’m an actor know, I’m in the next James Bond, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean film and am on screen for a millionth of a nanosecond, second from the back in a crowd scene..) who doesn’t really want to be running a restaurant. Luckily the lovely team who used to work there are still on board and the food is still amazing – and really cheap, plus it’s bring your own, which is a result. Shame you have to listen to him drone on while you eat it but you can’t have everything. I have is the fish dishes, which are actually salmon. The fish bhuna, fish saag and bagan (auberguine) dishes are all lush!
You get quite the opposite welcome at the Chinese! The two people who run it are like chalk and cheese. One is really chatty and welcoming, and is happy to say open late if you’re still eating or arrive at 10pm after staying for an extra drink in the pub, the other… isn’t! She doesn’t smile, make small talk and actually gives you the impression she’s prefer to be giving you a terminal illness instead of serving you a meal! I reason I still go there is this. It is not a bad Chinese place. Not the best in the world but it’s better than the local alternatives and it does dishes like sizzling cod with ginger and spring onion, crab with asparagus, aubergine in black bean sauce and squid with chilli and salt – all of which I love!!
Which takes me to the Thai place - you always get a warm welcome there, the food is nice and the service is really good. In fact I have no idea why I don’t go there more often….. maybe I’ll put it to the Thursday night posse tonight at the local boozer (more about that another time!). I’ll let you know what they say tomorrow….
This, in case you’re wondering is a few JD and cokes in the local boozer (served in my own glass, which is kept behind the bar and only used by yours truly – get me!) before dinner at one of the local restaurants that are stumbling distance from home. Not that I’m a creature of habit you understand…
So on the cards tonight is either a curry, Chinese or Thai.
The curry house was one the nicest curry house in town until the lovely owner and his scary-but-quite-nice-deep-down matriarch wife decided to sell up and go travelling about 18 months ago. The new owner is a wanna be actor (I’m an actor know, I’m in the next James Bond, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean film and am on screen for a millionth of a nanosecond, second from the back in a crowd scene..) who doesn’t really want to be running a restaurant. Luckily the lovely team who used to work there are still on board and the food is still amazing – and really cheap, plus it’s bring your own, which is a result. Shame you have to listen to him drone on while you eat it but you can’t have everything. I have is the fish dishes, which are actually salmon. The fish bhuna, fish saag and bagan (auberguine) dishes are all lush!
You get quite the opposite welcome at the Chinese! The two people who run it are like chalk and cheese. One is really chatty and welcoming, and is happy to say open late if you’re still eating or arrive at 10pm after staying for an extra drink in the pub, the other… isn’t! She doesn’t smile, make small talk and actually gives you the impression she’s prefer to be giving you a terminal illness instead of serving you a meal! I reason I still go there is this. It is not a bad Chinese place. Not the best in the world but it’s better than the local alternatives and it does dishes like sizzling cod with ginger and spring onion, crab with asparagus, aubergine in black bean sauce and squid with chilli and salt – all of which I love!!
Which takes me to the Thai place - you always get a warm welcome there, the food is nice and the service is really good. In fact I have no idea why I don’t go there more often….. maybe I’ll put it to the Thursday night posse tonight at the local boozer (more about that another time!). I’ll let you know what they say tomorrow….
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Wednesday
Call me lazy but when the day starts with your alarm clock going off at five-something, you know it’s not going to be a good one! But there I was at 6.45am this morning, waiting for the work express. The reason – a breakfast meeting but sometimes I think the people in Trades Description would have something to say about that claim (the breakfast part, not the meeting bit!).
So at around 8am a group of sleepy looking people were pouring coffee so strong you could tarmac the roads with it, waiting for the meeting to begin and more importantly, the breakfast rolls to arrive. And were we in for a letdown. Congealed egg or fatty bacon on a marg smeared bap really doesn’t really cut the mustard with me and by the amount left at the end of the meeting, they didn’t with anyone else. And you can’t blame fact that it’s been credit crunched either as you’d have a shock if you knew how much companies pay for these in-house crap-baps! Give me a baby George and a few supplies from Tesco and I could’ve done better for a fraction of the price – Hmmmm, now that would be an interesting career change for me……..
What made it worse was the fact that I went a bit crazy at the gym last night, to make up for Monday’s impromptu tapas-for-a-tenner evening. Doing two classes back to back, when you’re already tired is hard work and makes you REALLY hungry the next morning. So lesson learnt today – next time I’m having a breakfast meeting, eat before it or bring my own!
So at around 8am a group of sleepy looking people were pouring coffee so strong you could tarmac the roads with it, waiting for the meeting to begin and more importantly, the breakfast rolls to arrive. And were we in for a letdown. Congealed egg or fatty bacon on a marg smeared bap really doesn’t really cut the mustard with me and by the amount left at the end of the meeting, they didn’t with anyone else. And you can’t blame fact that it’s been credit crunched either as you’d have a shock if you knew how much companies pay for these in-house crap-baps! Give me a baby George and a few supplies from Tesco and I could’ve done better for a fraction of the price – Hmmmm, now that would be an interesting career change for me……..
What made it worse was the fact that I went a bit crazy at the gym last night, to make up for Monday’s impromptu tapas-for-a-tenner evening. Doing two classes back to back, when you’re already tired is hard work and makes you REALLY hungry the next morning. So lesson learnt today – next time I’m having a breakfast meeting, eat before it or bring my own!
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Tuesday
Tapas for a tenner!
Monday was a complete right off until 5pm. Got soaked on the way to work (if ever you’re tempted to try juggling holding an umbrella while trying to keep a cake tin upright, don’t. It’s not big, not clever and you’ll only end up getting wet!) and spent the rest of the morning feeling really down. However, take one All Bar One tapas and wine for a tenner voucher and two girls, and Monday suddenly seems much better.
We sat by the door, which meant the blonde was on neighbourhood beer watch, as random people kept asking her to mind their bags/drinks/tables/umbrellas while they popped out for a fag… but I digress.
Pink rose and not bad tapas really does make the world a better place on a wet Monday evening – so does watching a woman scream, wave her arms around and generally give the poor chap sitting opposite her down the banks for the best part of an hour, while you enjoy it! At one stage we thought the poor chap had finally found this backbone and decided to leave banshee woman to it but he’d just decided to get another pint from the bar before going back for round two!
Anyway it cheered us up so much the blonde suggested that a Monday club be born! The rules are simple - it takes place on a Monday, it involves a voucher and sees us (plus any other waif and strays who want to tag along!) enjoy cheap food and wine. What else does a Monday need?
Monday was a complete right off until 5pm. Got soaked on the way to work (if ever you’re tempted to try juggling holding an umbrella while trying to keep a cake tin upright, don’t. It’s not big, not clever and you’ll only end up getting wet!) and spent the rest of the morning feeling really down. However, take one All Bar One tapas and wine for a tenner voucher and two girls, and Monday suddenly seems much better.
We sat by the door, which meant the blonde was on neighbourhood beer watch, as random people kept asking her to mind their bags/drinks/tables/umbrellas while they popped out for a fag… but I digress.
Pink rose and not bad tapas really does make the world a better place on a wet Monday evening – so does watching a woman scream, wave her arms around and generally give the poor chap sitting opposite her down the banks for the best part of an hour, while you enjoy it! At one stage we thought the poor chap had finally found this backbone and decided to leave banshee woman to it but he’d just decided to get another pint from the bar before going back for round two!
Anyway it cheered us up so much the blonde suggested that a Monday club be born! The rules are simple - it takes place on a Monday, it involves a voucher and sees us (plus any other waif and strays who want to tag along!) enjoy cheap food and wine. What else does a Monday need?
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