1st novelty cake!

One of my very close friends from Uni asked if I could make a b-day cake for his nephew to celebrate his 1st 12 months on planet Earth. Of course, I was more than happy to help - the brief was that his nephew liked rabbits hence our 2 little friends perched on top of this cake. I have to admit that I haven't done sugarpaste modelling since my Squires course 3 years ago so was more than a little nervous when attempting to make these bunnies. I eventually found a video on Youtube which demonstrated how to make bunnies using polymer clay to help me out!! The principals were the same I figured so that served as my guide! I soon realised that sugarpaste is not the easiest stuff to make models with as it does not hold its shape very well and has a tendency to dry out easily which makes sticking limbs to a body very difficult when you work as slow as moi. As a result, bunny no. 1 (on the right) is looking a little "dumpy". I soon learned from my mistakes and decided to make bunny no. 2 smaller and in superfast time too since his "perter" shape. If I had to make the again, I would probably choose to work flowerpaste next time but am proud of myself of "making it work" with sugarpaste :)    

Zucca

I have read great reviews about Zucca and have been meaning to visit for a while but been put off by the rather long trek to Bermondsey from our pad out west. Zucca is also one of the restos at the mo which is widely popular so practically impossible to get a spot for dinner (at a decent time) unless you are prepared to book 3-4 weeks in advance. We were very keen to try the place hence the putting up with an early dinner reservation on a Saturday night at 6:30pm.

It was our first time walking down Bermondsey Street and we were surprised to find a little, cool neighbourhood.....a bit like Shoreditch but no hipsters and no trying too hard. Zucca itself was lovely, the resto was bright, airy, contemporary and very relaxed - kind of what I imagine River Cafe is like......or would like to be :)

Service was impeccable, food was simple and delicious - hands down the best Italian resto I have eaten in here in the big smoke. If only Zucca were in my neighbourhood!!

Open kitchen :)

Delicious bread - I could've eaten those grissini ALL DAY!!

Starter of pork belly with pea shoots - not what I am used to for pork belly but tasty nonetheless

Roast cod with borlotti beans and clams - fish was very well cooked but the star of the dish was the broth, yummers! Slight gripe in that the dish could've with more than just 2 clams, otherwise don't advertise it on your menu!

We ordered a side of purple spouting broccolli - perfectly cooked and delicious. I loved the purple flecks of juice left on the dish :)

 

My dessert of hazelnut cake with poached rhubarb - nice but not particularly sophisticated and a slight stodgey end to a meal.

JD's pannacotta with pears - perfect!

Very happy to see Zucca using a Faema machine but disappointed to see the hopper in the coffee grinder filled to brim so the likelihood of getting stale coffee was very high. I was also the first person to order coffee for the night and my espresso wasn't particularly pleasant, oh wellos :(

Pitt Cue Co

Buoyed by our visit to "no-reservations" Meat Liquor, we started feeling cocky and decided to see if we could grab a bite to eat at the other hot table in town, Pitt Cue Co. 

As we walked past, we could see that the place was already packed but I decided to pop my head in anyway and ask if they had a free table. Luckily for us they did (some 2-tops had placed their names down and never bothered coming back) and we got to eat straight away.....on a Saturday afternoon no less! Pitt Cue is absolutely tiny - only around 18 covers in total, the place is so small that we had to share our table with another couple.

The menu is pretty brief - on our visit, there was only a choice of 4 meats on offer which are served with your choice of a side. We both went for pulled pork and I chose grilled hispi cabbage for my side. We also ordered an extra portion of hot wings to try. Pretty tasty BBQ but not sure why we had to wait so long for it - I assumed that all the meat was already pre-prepared and that they weren't BBQ-ing to order?? Also, it would've been nice to have the option to try all the meats on offer like the BBQ Shack in Brighton. Have to say that Pitt Cue has superior BBQ than BBQ Shack; I'm glad I finally had the chance to try their food but the thought of queuing is putting me off a repeat visit so will probably put it off until I get some serious cravings :)

Meatliquor

JD and I have been wanting to try Meat Liquor for a while but we have been put off with the idea of having to queue for a burger, surely nothing can be that good? We happened to be in town at an "awkward" time for eating (ie. think late afternoon/early evening) so decided to try our luck. No queue, yay! The dining room was much larger than I had expected and despite it not being full, it still took them a while to sit us. We finally discovered the secret of the queues for Meat Liquor - it's not because they are ultra-busy....more like they are disorganised.

Food was pretty good - we ordered burgers, chilli fries and onion rings and it was all delish. I only wished that I could've seen what I was eating as opposed to eating lunch/dinner in light that was more suitable for the Bottoms Up Club. One thing that would put me off from a return visit was the fact that staff who were on break could sit next to the customers. It's not such a great deal but was a bit pissed off that there were seats around the corner which they could've sat at rather gossiping right on top of us.

Lovely burgers but beware the lighting and the staff...

 The light in which you will be eating in

Giaconda Dining Room revisit

Ever since our first meal there, we had always planned on going back to Giaconda Dining Room but haven't managed until now. This was due to a few reasons:

1. I was working out in the burbs until quite recently and was too lazy to come back into town for dinner.
2. Giaconda is only open from Tuesdays - Fridays so no option for weekend dining.
3. It is also widely popular and has a small dining room so booking ahead is a must and there have been times when we wanted to go but haven't been organised enough to get a reservation ahead of time.

As it happens, I now work just around the corner from Giaconda giving us the perfect excuse for a re-visit :)

The menu has not changed much since our last visit but still packed with dishes that you want to try - solid cooking at bargain prices! Our dinner was very enjoyable, perhaps the only gripe was our rather gruff waitress who was more interested in being efficient rather than welcoming. Bad service really does stick out like a sore thumb, eeek!

Salad of beetroot and leek vinaigrette - full of flavour and lovely, zingy dressing over fresh salad greens. Perfect start to a meal. 

Roast rack of lamb with gnocchi alla romana - the lamb laid on a bed of ratatouille which was a little too sour for my tastes. The dish was to serve 2 people; it is adequate but fatties like ourselves might find it a little on the small side.

My dessert for white peach vacherin - the scoop of peach sorbet was originally perched on top of the meringues but slid to this position once placed on the table. Tasted great but this picture just reminds me of something lewd instead! (The remnants of a public school education, haha!) 

JD's pud of Délice Joconde

Whirlwind stop in Brussels

After watching the Ronde van Vlaanderen, we needed to head to Brussels for a rather convoluted trip back to Blighty that did actually required trains, planes and automobiles!!! I had a couple of hours before boarding the Eurostar so headed into the centre to pick up some biscuits from famed shop, Dandoy :)  

Dandoy is locate just off La Grand Place in Brussels

Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

This is going to be one of the very rare non-grub posts on this blog but I had a great time at this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen so here's a few words about it. For as long as I've known him (and longer!), JD has been an avid follower of professional road cycling. This has taken him to the Alps and beyond for a couple of cycling holliers with his chums. It is thanks to him that I have started to begin to understand the intricacies of race strategy and developed an interest in watching Le Tour every summer :)

My fav pro-cyclist is Fabian Cancellara, a time trial and Classics specialist. He had a particularly "purpley" patch in his career in 2010 where he won Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris Roubaix in the same year! Of these 2 races, Ronde van Vlaanderen is the more interesting for spectators with more varied viewpoints from where to watch the race. We managed to bag a top notch spot by the railings on the side of the cobbles at the Oude Kwaremont. This was all within the fan's enclosure area so we also had a fine view of the race on a large TV during the times when it was not passing by.

It was a great day out and seeing the peloton riding in front of you is very special. I had bought a bell (Swiss, to show my allegiances, haha!!) especially to cheer the peloton on so was ringing like mad the first time they passed and only just managed a glimpse of Fabu....actually it was a case of spot the dude with the large Swiss flag on the back of his jersey :)

The parcours changed this year and the cyclists would be going up Oude Kwaremont 3 times!! Didn't take any pics since I figured I would see the cyclists another 2 more times and pre-race, Fabu had already been mentioned as one of the top contenders for the win. Alas, it was not to be......whilst going through a feed station, he got knocked off his bike by a stray water bottle (??!!), fell heavily, broke his collarbone in 3 places and had to abandon the race. To say I was gutted was an understatement.....such bad luck!!! But as JD kept telling me, that's racing. I spent the rest of the race "in mourning" :(

Aside from that, the race was actually quite exciting and everyone around us was mega-happy as home favourite Tom Boonen took the win....actually the whole enclosure pretty much erupted when he crossed the finish line. Great day out - the people of Flanders really know how to put on a great race (I know, they have had years of experience doing it!), we will be back to see Fabu win again some day!! :)

Roadside fanclub :)

Gridlock 1k out from Oude Kwaremont!

  

 The kiddies race, which took place before the pro-race. Great spectacle and lovely to see kids being so enthusiastic of the sport. My favourite part of the trip was seeing one of the kids struggling with the cobbles and was pushing his bike up the steep slope. Then, in a stroke of genius, he did a running start and jumped back on his bike again. Needless to say, he got the biggest cheer from the crowds! :)