生意兴隆! 财源广进!

A regular reader (and chum) of my blog has just survived opening week of his new resto in HK....the website isn't up and running yet but here is a nice little article about the swanky place and even a quote-unquote from the man himself! :)

Clearly, I needed a bit of help from Ma and Ba Chan on the Cantonese title but wishing all the best with the new venture JB!!

Phat Phuc - unfortunate name, forgettable food

Having spotted an Orla Kiely sample sale on DailyCandy for the weekend, I dragged JD with me to Chelsea Old Town Hall to check it out. After a bit of retail therapy, we crossed the road for a spot of lunch at Phat Phuc Noodle Bar which claimed to be an authentic Vietnamese outfit. There were some nice smells wafting out as we entered but unfortunately, the pho was sub-sub-standard........JD's duck salad wasn't much better and was mostly salad and not much duck. I felt a bit guilty for dragging him to try this place out and offered to buy him a coffee on the way back to the tube station - popped into an Italian place along the way thinking we would get a good brew but that ended in disaster as well, poo! :(

I guess Sloanies priority is not food.......

Salt Yard

JD and I met up with one of his old colleagues (who's recently started a fab job in Canary Wharf!) for a spot of dinner at Salt Yard, a tapas restaurant on Goodge Street. We managed to book a table for Thursday night and on arrival, the place was already heaving despite it only being 7pm?? 

Its a lovely resto with a small bar area, tables on both the ground  and basement floors (I would try and get a table in the basement the next time!) with a buzzy atmosphere. The food was also pretty good as well but just a bit peeved that portions were not exactly generous. The tapas are more exciting here than Barrafina and definitely worth making the trip here, at least you can book a table in advance! Puddings were OK but I definitely picked the worst one out of the trio we ordered, buttermilk pannacotta.......silly of me to think that I wouldn't be served something that wasn't sour!! (JD insists that I was being a drama queen on the sourness, believe me, it was sour!)

Love the logo - tres cute!

Charcuterie platter - all very tasty, especially the jamon nestling at the back of the pic!

Boquerones - one of JD's favs but failed to hit the mark this time

Grilled bread with olive oil - deceptively simple but oh so good

Squid with ham and broad beans - yum!

Special of lobster with some sort of pulse (barley, spelt?), quails eggs and wild mushrooms - a lot going on but not bad

Ham croquettes - another JD fav and again, he was disappointed :(

One of my favourite dishes of the night - cod with shrimps and fried greens, could've eaten a whole plate of this......ON MY OWN never mind having to share a "morsel"amongst 3 peeps!!!

A recom from my boss - pork belly with white beans......not great sadly!

Patatas bravas - was not a fan of the brava sauce but the aioli was tasty

My other fav dish of the night - skirt steak with purple artichokes

JD's pud - cold chocolate fondant with honeycomb and black cherries. Honeycomb was the highlight for me, JD liked the whole thing!

Ms Shah's lemon and cinnamon doughnuts with cocoa nib ice cream - lovely.......the ice cream was spoilt a little by the bitter nibs :(

The dreaded "sour" pannacotta with "madalines" (spelt as per menu, char!)

Simple Thai green curry

I was taught this recipe by my bro many years ago - his version at the time was a tad spicey but  thats dependent on how much green curry paste you decide to use. It is probably not the most  authentic way of making a Thai curry but it's a favourite of mine - quick, straightforward and hugely satisfying, bon app! :)

Preparation is key - make sure you have everything ready and to hand

Heat some oil in a wok

Add green curry paste to taste - am using 1.5 tablespoons which gives a mild kick. Heat gently to release the spices.

Add 1 can of coconut milk and simmer gently

Take empty can, add 1 teaspoon of chicken powder and fill with hot water - chicken stock in seconds!! Add to wok

Add your veg type by type. I am using baby corn, aubergine, courgette and straw mushrooms. I have added into the curry in order of cooking time. Any veg combo will do - experiment and see what's your fav

Add chicken (or any other meat you fancy) - this is cut into pieces slightly larger than you need for a stirfry and marinated quickly beforehand with salt, sugar, soy sauce and oil

Leave to simmer gently and for everything to absorb some flavour

 For finishing touches, season with some fish sauce and a squeeze of lime (apologies, not possible for me to squeeze and take a pic at the same time) - I would like to garnish with chopped coriander as well but JD is not a fan so I leave it out

Served with steamed rice - apologies again this time for a crappy pic, was so hungry after making the curry that I forgot about that final photo, oh wellos!

Attempts to eat healthy!

Freshly made brown bread served with smoked salmon and capers and veggie soup - detox following our weekend eating spree! :)

Yummy Korean - Nara

We hadn't been back to one of our favourite haunts, Nara in a while so dropped in for a spot of dinner whilst in town. Still yummy as ever :)

Complimentary pajeon of acorn jelly and marinated seaweed

Modum namul - mixed vegetables

Kimchee pancake

BBQ - marinated pork ribs (we also ordered squid which we had already gobbled up by the time this pic was taken!)

Yuk whe bibimbap - yum!

Complimentary fruit - watermelon and fancy orange carving 

Saturday treat - Nordic Bakery

I was introduced to this little jewel of a cafe by my friend Won and its now turned into one of my fav places to go if I'm in town and looking for a coffee and some cake (along with a gaggle of other folk as the place is ALWAYS busy!!). JD fancied a coffee so we sat down and also ordered a slice of Boston cake and oven cooked pancake. The Boston was basically a flattened cinammon bun with toasted almonds on top (not bad) - my oven backed pancake was yummy but I think it had more to do with the scrummy blob of blueberry and raspberry jam which it was served with :)