El Viajante

It would have been a little better if I had found the entrance to the restaurant first instead of having to go through the whole hotel to get there. Though I have to say that the Town Hall Hotel was very interesting and going through the lobby all the way to the restaurant which is at the far end you get to see some turn of the century items that where really worth seeing. http://www.viajante.co.uk/index.html

The first set of amuse bouche, left to right: Thai explosion II, air dried duck ham, Paprika brioche with whipped pig fat, smoked enoki mushrooms with lardo and dashi

Mushroom consome

Fresh cheese with peas and flowers: very interesting textures and flavors the peas where raw and gave off a great pungent flavor that worked well with the fresh cheese

One of the most interesting dishes I have had: Tuna Bone marrow with rice stock and kombo... it almost tasted like congee with tuna but different textures. 

Charred marinated mackerel with cured lemon and sorrel.  The sorrel helped to bring out the flavor of the mackerel and the acidic lemon cut through the oiliness of the fish that was part raw.

White, green and wild asparagus with milk skin. The texture of the milk skin have a different edge to the dish.  

Brill with daikon and red currants. This was the dish that I did not enjoy as much as the others as I found that the daikon over powered the brill, that was cooked perfectly. The acidity of the red currants where a great touch though... not sure about the daikon... too strong in my humble palettes opinion.

This dish wowed me! Confit salmon, fried aubergine and braised skin, this was finished with a dashi. It was an explosion of umami flavout and the texture of the salmon was perfect. Never had poached salmon skin on purpose this was great too.

Cod tripe with onion and crispy potatoes. Textural explosion: gelatinous tripe with a salty twang, creamy and sweet caramelized onions and crispy fried potatoes. 

Bone marrow with onion and beef consome. One word yummy!!!

Duck heart, duck tongue with mushroom floss and spiced broth. Never had duck tongue or heart and the flavor was very good, texture a little chewy but its as expected since it is tongue !! haha the Morrel mushroom and the mushroom floss gave a rich earthy flavor.

Pork secretos with hot potato gel and cereals. This dish evoked a very interesting reaction because it reminded me of  braised pork with rice. 

Frozen Maple with shiso and green apple. Great palette cleanser

White chocolate with grapefruit and lemon: the dish had some smoked merangues as well that gave a very interesting smoky taste to the dessert

Pickled and raw cucumber with milk sorbet: freshness in a bowl

The chocolates where interesting just what you need after all this food. A good dose of chocolate !! 

An unusual find in the middle of Marbella: Vegan Desserts!!

So have just moved to Marbella for work reason. Been here before and lived here before. So walking around in the centre we came across a very interesting restaurant. Loving Hut a vegan restaurant in Avenida Miguel Cano 11. www.lovinghut.es it is a chain of vegan restaurants all around the world. Each restaurant has their own menu but all vegan. I have to say that it was a very very interesting experience.

Burrito: Vegetarian Chilli made with chickpeas and pinto beans and Soya Cheese. Great depth of flavour and really enjoyed it. Not as heavy as a normal burrito but still nice and filling

Falafel with ´Yoghurt´ sauce and hummus. The great thing about this is that the falafels where not dry but nice and moist 

This is an caprese salad tomato and mozzarella but with a soya based cheese instead of the soft buffalo mozzarella. The taste was very close, the touch of oregano and basil gave it a very authentic taste. The only thing that stands out and that is just to be picky is that the texture of the cheese is a little tougher than the mozzarella

This was what attracted us to the restaurant in the first place the desserts: Carrot cake, shockingly the waiter informs us that yes it 100% vegan. So bring it on. Have to say its great! One of the best carrot cakes I have tasted vegan or not, moist and tasty. I think the fact that it was not overly covered with the cheese frosting. The frosting made assume from a soya based cream cheese was just enough but the great thing was the cake itself. 

Now the piece de resistance cheesecake with cherry. I don´t know how they did it but my god this was a great cheesecake!! If you are ever in Marbella you must try this cheesecake !!

Lola Rojo Northcote Road. Great sunday lunch with friends

Life moves you along and change always comes. So for my last Sunday lunch in London for the foreseeable future I chose Lola Rojo. This now institution on Northcote Road in Clapham Junction is a great place to experience  great, innovative tapas sitting alongside hearty paellas. http://www.lolarojo.net/

Left: Patatas with romescu, string cut potatoes with a lovely spicy tomato sauce
Centre: Thinly sliced aubergine chips with romescu and blasamic glaze
Right: Buñuelos de Bacalo, Cod fritters with a parsley alioli. Nice and crisp on the outside and creamy and salty cod flavour in the centre

Left: Brava potatoes, lovely little cups of potatoes with spicy chilli foam, would like it to be a lot spicier but they where really creamy
Top left: Croquettes of Chicken with saffron mayonnaise. Light and crispy croquettes.
Right centre: Jamon Iberico....I don´t think it needs anymore explanation  

Apologies for the photo we got very carried away before I could take the photo. Lola Rojos famous Chicken and Chorizo Paella !! Two words Very Tasty!!

I dont eat seafood so this was for the rest of the table, Paella de Marisco. The ones who had it liked it very much, though we all dug into the Chicken and Chorizo one !!

This new advert is very nice

There is something about this advert that touches something deep inside me as a chef. The things that happen when you are in the kitchen and when you are doing a stage. The people you meet and the things that you experience.

http://youtu.be/eFMRixa0mDA

This proves that anything is possible

Thank to Riks for sending this article. This just goes to show that you can serve food anywhere

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/dining/04train.html?_r=1

Burger at Cafe Luc

You know what its like when you feel like having a burger and you want something good. So went down to Marylebone High Street to a place called Cafe Luc http://www.cafeluc.com/ Someone told me that they do good burgers. So there I went to try it out.

This is the burger. Sorry for the bad photo did not take my camera with me. 

I have to say this is one very good burger. Great size, the bread was nice and moist and soft. The quality of the meat was superb and in general this was a very very good burger.  Will definitely go back to have another one !

Hand made ice-cream in Camden with liquid nitrogen !!

So when the weather is nice and sunny there is nothing better than a great ice-cream. So off we go to this great little place in Camden Market called Chin-Chin Lab http://www.chinchinlabs.com/.

This place has some swings at the entrance so the first thing you should is get a swing because there is nothing better than having an ice-cream on a swing.

So you walk in and there is this clip board with three flavours and you get to choose topping and sauce. 

This guy then explains to you about the liquid nitrogen which is at -195C and adds the ice-cream base into the kitchen aid. He then adds the liquid nitrogen and beats. 

So great toppings and sauces to be added to the  ice-cream. Went with the hazelnut crunch and for the sauce the sea salt caramel. I thought it would go well with the flavour of the week: Queen of Puddings ¨Raspberry and Cake¨

The finished products !! I have to say that they really hit the spot!!