60th b-day Paris Brest

A celebration cake of sorts for JD's folks :)

To be honest, it was all a bit touch and go as my choux failed miserably when I had made it in casa Chan last week. Whilst this batch was by no means perfect, they were a big improvement, which was a huge relief! (A big "merci beaucoup" to my friend Won for coming to the rescue yet again!!!!)

My preference was to have a golden cake board (to match the blue and yellow ribbon on the side, in honour of the Premier County!!!) but alas, had no luck tracking that down :(

The good news is the cake was warmly received and everyone who had a taste liked it a lot, mission accomplished :)

Perfect lunch spot - lomitos @ Bondiola :)

Paulie's Pizza

JD and I walked past Paulie's PIzza last weekend; having read good things about the place, I made a note that we should try it out some time soon. The resto is not the biggest so it's best to make reservations before you go; they are also closed at lunchtimes so you can only go for dinner. One final point, they can only take reservations for the day which you want to dine so best to call around 4pm on the day. Pretty yummy food, shame they don't serve beer as it would've been a perfect accompaniment to my pizza on a warm summer's evening.

Loving the signed Diego jersey in the corner :)

Starter of pork belly - super good!! Even better than Pizza East!

 Pizzas - not bad but they definitely do not pass the Ba Chan test of "no black stuff on the bottom" - think Pizza East would have the edge here..... 

Panna cotta with fruit compote - tasted good but a little on the firm side. Portion was also too big after an already generous meal of pork belly and pizza.

Glazed Madeleines

One of the things which I miss about Paris was the delicious glazed madeleines that were sold at Blé Sucré. I have never managed to figure the best consistency for the glaze so you can imagine my exicitement when I managed to find THE recipe on the net here. (there's a also a nice video demo en francais here too)

Here's my attempt at re-creating those tasty mouthfuls - they look OK (bar, the odd batch being a little too brown, still yet to master Ma Chan's oven) but am going to need a bit more practice if I'm aspiring to the original :)

The Butcher Grill

JD and I decided to venture out for a bite to eat mid-week this week after a late-ish finish for him at work. Rather than heading into town, we stopped by Ranelagh and had wanted to try out an Italian resto I had read about called Antica Venezia which had OK reviews. Upon arriving, the menu and outside didn't look all that tempting so we didn't bother and eventually stumbled another resto nearby called The Butcher Grill. There was no problem getting a table but the resto was 80-90% full, pretty impressive for the middle of the week (I didn't know until later, when it first opened, it was very difficult to secure a table). The menu is predominantly steak; it kind of reminded me of Hawksmoor and whilst the steak was good, it wasn't as good as what we have experienced in the big smoke. Nice resto and tasty food; definitely not cheap so won't be visiting regularly.

Queen scallops on toast with crab mayonaise - a delicious and generous starter with tons of crab meat, yum!

Surf 'n' turf - OK but not great. Prawns had not be de-veined which is pretty sloppy if you are charging around 30 yoyos for the dish. 

Lunch at Mr Arepas

I had first heard of arepas from one of my Spanish teachers who said they were one of her favourite things to eat and if we ever get the chance, we should try them. Arepas originally come from Colombia and Venezuela (and can also be found in some other countries) and sadly, I have not visited either country and cannot tell what the original arepa tastes like. Surprisingly, there is place in town that serves arepas which seemed like a great lunch idea.

Mr Arepas is a hole in the wall joint in Temple Bar serving arepas. It looks it caters to takeaway orders mostly but there are a few seats for people wanting to sit in; bit of a godsend as it was peeing down with rain outside when I arrived.

I plumped for the Pabellón which was an arepa with shredded beef, black beans, plantains and cheese. Not much of a looker but very tasty and super filling. The arepa tasted like a cross between grilled polenta and cornbread to me, yum! If I had one tiny criticism, it would be that parts of the arepa will a little burnt. Still, its hard to be for 5 yoyo which 

includes a can of soft drink :)

 

Bear

The last time we were back in the Emerald Isle, we had popped into Crack Bird and Jo' Burger for a bite to eat and were impressed by both dining options. Since then, Joe Macken has gone from strength to strength and has now established a mini empire of eateries in the capital. Probably the most high profile of those is Bear, thanks partly to it being co-owned by an Irish and Leinster rugby player. 

I had a passed by the resto on one of my days in town so suggested that perhaps we try it our for an early Saturday dinner. Despite being around 7pm, the resto was pretty full (note to self: irish folk dine early) Service was polite but our waitress didn't exactly explain the cuts of meat to us very well (for example, meat is either tender with not so much flavour (fillet) or has more flavour and not so tender (rump) - it cannot be both). JD kept on having another waiter bump into him thanks to the tables being so close together which got a little irritating. Finally, our bill was tallied up wrong but was rectified by none other than Mr Macken himself (only figured who he was after we came home). Despite the service not being perfect, the food was pretty tasty and portions were generous. A real shame that having had such a nice meal, there was no desserts or tea/coffee options. I do not have a very sweet tooth but our meal just felt unfinished. A case of a chef who has focussed too much on the first 2 courses and does not care/possess the skills required for anything sweet, a real shame.....

 

Flank steak for 2 with chips, buttered leeks and beets - delicious! 

Cup of coffee and something sweet to finish would make this pretty perfect.....