quiet eating

I’m not one to comment on the dress of staff usually but I think this at Cocochine, this deserves a word.  Not that the staff were dressed in a threadbare or unkempt way.  In contrast, they were smartly suited up.  Instead, the second part of that usual turn of phrase is where things were not to be expected.  They were not booted.  As they were wearing white sneakers.  White sneakers!  When the…

Noko – sounds somewhat Nordic.  In Japanese which I think is what they are going for it means child or comfort.  In the same ways that my kids look on a blank sheet of paper with wonder and mischief in their eyes, I try to do the same to an empty plate.  Thinking about what delights may come soon. It is a blank canvas that anyone can draw on.  Sadly on occasion at the end of the meal, the…

Simplicity is sometimes best. Think of needlessly complicated seemingly endless stream of words used to embellish something. Then the disappointment when reality did not live up to expectations (whether food or dating).  I think that often if the product is as good as people say, let that speak for itself.  No need to pad things with unnecessary verbiage.  That’s what you have AI for. Although…

With the tag line – when every bite is legendary, I was suitably warned. Searching in vain for deep fried solace, when I came across this place, it seemed to promise fulfilment.  A place that deep fried many things, be it pig, cow, chicken, fish, potato.  It would all go in the breader and then deep fat fryer.  However, they went through some prep first, pounded so flat, that they could compete…

I have been to Plaza before.  I barely survived the original incarnation.  So it my masochistic frame of mind, I felt I was honour bound to try the second coming. To provide some context, Plaza does not dumb down their spice level.  Walking in, it was particularly promising as not as tight as the first version.  I could actually get to my table without apologising numerous times for brushing…

I have a particular weakness for deep fried food.  When I was living in Japan, I found that sushi and sashimi was only the tip of the Japanese food hierarchy.  Now I laugh when people mention that they want to eat Japanese food – on the mistaken assumption that it is healthy.  There is so much oil filled goodness there, tempura (fried in vats of oil), kushiage (fried in vats of oil), tonkatsu…

I had no idea what Kurdish food was like, Nadine was going to change that.  In my ignorant ways, I guessed it would be similar to Turkish (they sound similar). So Nadine was bustling, warm and inviting.  So, the opposite of how I present usually.  Rustic wooden tables, busy staff, happy customers.  These are things which I like to see even if it is so far from my natural demeanour.  As the…

I am one of those annoying people that often think that you need to be the archetype person to prepare food from that particular country.  Starting with a safe example in this day and age, I have found (based on my South Eastern heritage) that people that cook Chinese food who are not from that locale seem to get something wrong.  Not that people from that specific places actually get it right of…

I admit that I have not been in the best of moods over the last few days due to sleep deprivation.  This is not due to work, like it was in my young and free days.  Instead it is because of home requirements with two particularly demanding clients.  They don’t seem to understand that food goes in the mouth, isn’t used as decorative tools or makes for interesting texture when it ends up on the…

If you listen to much of my moaning (not wise), you know that my eating choices have been sadly constrained by circumstance.  That is entirely my fault though and was easily foreseeable.  It just leads to more of a challenge and I am never one to back down from that.  So in my hunt for Asian food in my local area, imagine my surprise (and happiness) to find out that there was a Malaysian place…

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Neither should you do the same for a door at restaurant. Likewise you should be careful listening to a hypocritic.  Do what I say, not what I do.  Such was my self talk as I first entered, noticing the red plastic flaps (i.e. lack of door) leading into the kitchen.  Against my initial inclination, I thought to see this as atmospheric, rather than cheap. …

With opportunities to go out and savour food outside sadly curtailed by current circumstance, I have been snatching more than usual coffees.  These are things that can be enjoyed in rather compressed time frames. On the other hand, recent events have also driven me to other actions.  Here I am talking about my recent acquisition of an expresso machine, so I can have cup of Joe without having to…

As I was reminded the other day, desperation is a bad colour to wear.  So when I had a severe hankering for Chinese food combined with laziness meaning I wouldn’t go far, I didn’t have a choice. I was fortunate though in that there was a place within acceptable circumference from my house that at least looked decent. As in it wasn’t the usual Chinatown eatery where your feet would stick to the…

Life (well at least mine) is an exercise in being constantly surprised. I’ve never been to Streatham.  I was more out of my depth than usual.  I didn’t choose this restaurant, it chose me.  So with these many excuses in hand, I arrived at SW16 in more than my usual state of clueless bewilderment.  Due to my current circumstances, I have had very little chance to sit down and eat food without…

A simple thing a pizza is.  A little bread of flour, a dollop of oil, yeast, flour and salt.  Not to be confused with saying that a little sleep, a little slumber and a little folding of the hands and poverty will be on you like a robber. There was a debate between myself and my fellow diners about where the best pizza could be found.  As with most things that I discuss with people, on conclusion…

An izakaya is maybe not the first place I would think to bring underaged guests. However, I was desperate to get out of the house and this looked like somewhere half decent which was within walking distance. After having arrived and admired the dried flower arrangement, I thought it was time to eat.  I could only hope that the food would be as tasty as the floral piece or perhaps I really was…

M Manze, a famous pie place.  I get suspicious when people label a place as great because it is “an institution”. That’s like saying that somewhere is famous. My problem is that this can apply both positively and negatively.  They can be positively bad, institutionally rubbish or famously inedible.   So when the several reviews applauded M Manze as being something old and storied, I that to mean…