Good Eats in London 2

i just realized my memory is not as good as it used to be - i realized i left out quite a few of the places and things i like to eat in london. or maybe, it was masked by the fact that i wrote it in a flu haze.

whatever, these are the other places i remembered i liked:

Kulu-Kulu Japanese Restaurant - i discovered this when my good friend arnold took me. somewhere off a back alley on regent street. it's like upmarket yo-sushi (yo-sushi is a place to go to ONLY if you are in between life and death i.e. I NEED sushi and I DON'T CARE if it's semi-bad). the sushi though are puzzlingly huge. it's like japanese tasting sushi for the size of big white people. at very friendly prices. try the spinach bundles with sesame seed butter as it is very good.

nagomi - round the bend on a back street from bond street tube station. they do japanese home cooking style food so for idiots who think all japanese food is raw, this is a good place to get yourself un-ignorized. or rather educated. (why am i inventing words? because this is MY BLOG)
the fried rice with slivers of pickles, the aubergines, the stewed pork belly......i swear every child whose mother can cook like this needs to give their mums a five carat ring of their mum's stone of choosing every christmas. my friend makiko took me here. and guess what? she said her mum cooks WAY better than nagomi does. i believe her.

ashish' lamb taxi driver curry - i tasted this once and only once when my bestest friend kumuda was living in thailand. her husband ashish learned this from a taxi driver in india. i can only remember that you first make a paste out of chilis, shallots and ginger as i was the one who chopped them all up. and that you don't trim the fat from the lamb (who is the idiot who said you MUST trim fat from lamb?!!!! die idiot! die!). we ate this with potatoes sauteed in butter which kumuda then sprinkled with salt and gram masala and rice. ABSOLUTE HEAVEN. i tried replicating the bloody thing and frankly couldn't get it right. this is why i am saving up to go to goa this christmas. first to finally kiss kumuda's super baby twins in person (and hug and pinch and spoil and play boo with) and second to eat more of this curry and hopefully learn how to do the dang curry right. ok i didn't eat this in london but again - this is MY blog.

waitrose roasted chicken - they always get it right. ok sometimes the chicken is a bit overdone from the rotisserie but that's why you should only ever eat the thigh and leg portions. if you're too lazy to cook, get one from waitrose with some of their cheese tortellini spinach salad and a tiny tub of haagen dazs. you're set then for a good dinner. if you have leftover chicken breast meat, chop it roughly, nap it with some mayonnaise, throw in some fine chopped gherkins and onion, salt, pepper and voila - chicken salad for a sandwich. you can top it with some arugula and tomato.

theo randall - at the hotel intercontinental in mayfair. rustic italian food at non-rustic prices but oh so UBER yummy.

sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream - when i first tasted this i thought 'God save the queen'. i like it really soaked in toffee with some of the dates still in the mixture. i am such a sticky toffee pudding whore i order it all the time when i see it on the menu and even the supermarket ones from sainsbury's and m&s can never escape from me. every winter, i stock up on m&s (my favorite supermarket brand for sticky toffee pudding) plus their madagascan vanilla clotted cream ice cream. as long as i have both, i can be snowed in till kingdom come.

the great british strawberry - served with mounds of whipped chantilly cream. again, God save the queen for this annual wimbledon summer treat.

leong's legend - i discovered this place walking around in chinatown for a new chinese place to eat at other than gerrard's. try the pork with sticky rice and the stewed pork belly...they do pork right and trust me that is high praise for a filipina who is obsessed with piggy things to eat.

the blueberry pie at paul's - i usually eat only blueberries out of a box, fresh. i can't stand them baked into pastry but this one i make an exception for. oh and blueberry cheesecake. and blueberry muffins. (ok i may have been too hasty at saying i hate them baked into things...)

there is also this vietnamese place arnold also took me to. the name escapes me. EVERYTHING on their menu is EFFING GOOD and AUTHENTIC and CHEAP. again home style. i will write about it again when i remember the name. i know how to get there if you were with me but i can't remember the name of the place!

olympic cafe - this is a small, cheap and cheerful place on lower marsh street about 5-10 mins walk from the waterloo tube station. they sell home cooking style chinese, singaporean, malaysian and thai dishes. again, EFFING GOOD and CHEAP. the thai dishes are authentic tasting i can certify. the rest...i don't think are authentic but are good anyway. the spicy singaporean noodles and the duck on rice hits my spot every single time. and each only costs £4.50.....

pearl restaurant and bar - oh so pretty french food. this is where i first tried the leek terrine (kind of like a lasagne made of spring onions) and i couldn't understand it. i also had the rabbit ballotine (a bit dry if i remember it right) but this was saved by the molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and the caramel sauce that was painted onto the plate. i remember thinking (as i was trying to scrape as much of the caramel off the plate onto my fork to eat with the cake) 'why couldn't they have just slathered this on the whole cake? it would've made my CENTURY.' but i quickly banished my plebian thoughts...and admired the million pearls strung out on strings dangling from the chandeliers....ahhh....i felt when i walked in, this is truly a restaurant for an empress....hehehehe......if i were to be honest, i was more admiring of the decor and the prettiness of the food than the taste. however we can fix that since i'll be working there soon.

hmm...i think i need new discoveries for my list. time to find more good eats!!!!