Monday, 26 September 2011

The Corner Room

The Corner Room, Bethnal Green

The Corner Room is the sister restaurant of Nuno Medndes’ Viajante. I had been dying to try this place out since it opened in May this year. With most of the travelling out of the way, I was able to visit this lovely restaurant not once but twice last month.  The restaurant has a ‘no phone, no email, no bookings’ policy, so I was very lucky to get a table right away on both occasions. I heard waiting can be long during the weekend, so if that’s the case, or you have time before dinner, I suggest you head to the Viajante bar for some fabulous cocktails.

I had two friends visiting from Thailand, both are big foodies. They wanted something different and causal, so the pressure was ON. I had to work on that day so I had to find somewhere close to the City. I was thinking that I had such a great dinner in The Corner Room a week before (unfortunately I forgot my camera...), why not take them there for lunch? I am pleased to say that I made the right decision, they totally loved it!

We arrived at 12pm at the restaurant reception. After passing through several doors and corridors, we found ourselves standing at the hotel lobby. The Corner Room is situated on the first floor above the lobby, at the south east corner of the building. It is a bright and cosy room, decorated with hanging lamps and an ornamental spiral staircase, absolutely stunning.


The menu was simple, consisting of five starters, five main courses, and three desserts. Sea bass ceviche, confit duck, crab salad... I wanted to order all of them!


Devon crab with pickled apple and cucumber - It was a beautiful picture on a plate. The apple and cucumber went very well with the subtle taste of the crab meat. A refreshing start to the meal.


Confit duck with girolles and egg – We all paused for two seconds when the dish arrived, followed by ‘Wow’ when we cut the duck egg open. It is a much richer dish than the crab salad. The duck was tender, and the duck egg was rich and creamy. I have a thing for runny egg yolk, it is just so good... certainly one of the best dishes I have had this year.


Iberico pork and Portuguese bread pudding - The Iberico pork reminded me of the Kagoshima kurobuta I have eaten in Japan. They are both very high quality meats, and the dark red colour is very different from the normal pork meat we get from high street shops.

I had never tried rare pork before, the flavour was rich and intense, like eating aged beef but sweeter. The bread pudding was made from brioche, some people may find it too sweet in a savoury dish, but I really enjoyed it. I cannot imagine ordering any other main course if this is still on the menu next time I go.


Cod with chowder – It was not a soup, it was a piece of perfectly cooked cod fillet on a bed of sweet corn and clams.


Dark chocolate and peanut butter ice cream – The ice cream was surprisingly light, somewhere between a foam and a mousse. There was the familiar dark chocolate 'soil' I had previously tried in the Viajante restaurant, it was nice to see it appearing in a totally different dish. The cubes of caramel were soft and chewy, exactly how they should be.


Who would have thought about putting rare pork and bread pudding on the same plate? But the chefs at The Corner Room manage to make dishes like this work, resulting in happy customers returning again and again for their innovative dishes.


Corner Room on Urbanspoon

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Taipei Hao Chi

Taipei is one of the most popular weekend break destinations for Hong Kong people. It is famous for its night markets, where you can find anything from sugar coated tomatoes to sizzling steak. I was in Hong Kong for two weeks during August, so I took the opportunity to visit this nearby city for a couple of days.


It was a very special trip for me, because I had never been away with my oldest friends before, it was the first ever overseas trip we’d had together. We knew each other from school, and now one of them has a very cute four-year-old daughter! We were there just for the weekend, so we had to make the most of every minute. After a one hour flight, our non-stop eating trip had officially begun.

First stop - Shida night market. It is one of the smaller night markets in Taipei, but since it is right next to the National Taiwan Normal University, you will find quite a few young fashion clothes shops in the area. Good for both shopping and eating :)


Lee's stinky tofu - This is fermented tofu, and it stinks. The cafe is in a little back street, it was quite hard to find but don't worry, you can smell the tofu from two blocks away. The tofu was cooked to order, which together with the spicy sauce and pickled vegetables, made this the best stinky tofu ever!


Hue's dumplings - This is one of the must-try delicacies in the Shida night market. The skin was thin, just thick enough to hold the dumpling together, and you can eat it in just one bite. There were so much juice from the meat, it was sensational.


Lantern food stall - You get a basket, pick your favourites from around 20+ prepared ingredients, and then give it to the “head chef” to cook it in a boiling secret soup. There were mushrooms, tofu, udon, pig’s ears, goose wings… everything really!


Clockwise from bottom left: Salt and pepper chicken stall, Squid/Duck soup stall, Drinks stall, Bull Demon King’s steak


On the second day we went to a little café called ‘3 Gu Pu’ off Ximen. It specialises in Xian Cao, also known as grass/herbal jelly. We ordered the best seller, which is a mixture of Xian Cao, red bean, taro, mochi and crushed ice in sugar syrup. It was not too sweet, but not too herby either. It was very refreshing, perfect on a hot summer day.


Next it was time for bubble tea! Originating in Taiwan, bubble tea is known locally as ‘Pearl milk tea’. The drink contains small elastic balls made of tapioca powder. You can add the balls to most non-fizzy drinks and call it a bubble tea. The most popular ones are milk and green tea.  I highly recommend this cafe at the basement of the Xinyi Place Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store. The bubbles here are smaller than the normal ones, around 1cm diameter. I ordered a jasmine favoured milk tea with extra bubbles, which took me more than 45 minutes to finish. Check out the size!

Chun Shui Tang

We wanted a light dinner because we were planning to visit another night market later in the evening... but it didn’t really work out that way! Out of all the restaurants we could choose, we opted for a heavy and meaty sukiyaki set menu in a Japanese restaurant.

We shared a set menu for four between six of us. There was assorted sashimi to start, followed by yakitori skewers, and then sukiyaki of beef and pork, plenty of vegetables and desserts. Considering the quality of the food we had, served in a private room with the staff cooking the meat right in front of us, £20 per head seemed very reasonable.


After dinner, we headed to the Raohe Street night market. It is one long street packed with food stalls, and there is much more variety than the Shida night market.


From left: Mini Japanese pancake (okonomiyaki) stall, sugar coated tomatoes, stinky tofu stall


Fuzhou original pepper pork bun - This stall was situated towards the end of the street, and the pork buns here are amazing! Each filled with heavily peppered minced pork and vegetables. The pepper flavour was strong with a kick, but not overpowering. They are cooked in a tandoor style barbeque. So juicy, highly recommended!


Other highlights…
Tofu dessert


Grilled squid


Peanut caramel sweets


For the last meal of the trip, we went to a well-known Japanese style barbeque restaurant chain called Kanpai. I love Japanese/Korean barbeque meat, and rice is the perfect accompaniment, along with a cold beer!

The meat menu


Charcoal barbeque on the table


Left to right: Slices of marinated beef, cubes of marbled beef


I cannot remember how we had managed to stuff so much food into our tummies in just two and a half days. Even the four-year-old gained about a kilo after the trip… Taipei’s night markets are truly amazing, with the new and the traditional food stalls gathered together on the same street, all run by friendly people. It was certainly a good introduction to Taiwan, I wish to return to explore the rest of it in the near future. And to try more food!



Saturday, 10 September 2011

The Met restaurant

The Met restaurant, Venice

The Metropole hotel is a short walk from the famous St.Marks square, where - as it happened - Sting was performing as a part of the Venice Jazz Festival on the night we had dinner in the Met restaurant. The atmosphere in the square was amazing.

The Met restaurant is the only two Michelin starred restaurant in Venice. It is situated on the ground floor of the hotel. The dining room itself is decorated with Venetian antiques, which together with the cream and gold decor and modern fireplace, created a very elegant setting for the diners.


We were soon presented with the famous water menu at the table, showing what minerals are in the water, as well as their pH levels. I think it is pretentious and over the top but it didn't bother me, it was a fun talking point. We chose the Dolomia spring water, which tasted exactly the same as the tap water from our flat in South London :)


Moving on to the proper menu - each dish on the menu has a year written next to it, to tell you when it was originally created. The menu we chose was called 'Since 1992'.

I always have the problem of stuffing myself with bread before the meal even starts, especially when the bread is so nice. The squid ink one was the best by far, it was slightly salted, warm and soft. The amuse bouche was a very enjoyable tomato and basil consommé.


Sea bream with tomato, mint, lemon-grass and coconut (2002) - I particularly enjoyed the coconut broth, it was light yet creamy.


Adriatic scallops injected with their own coral, Jerusalem artichoke puree, Sevruga caviar and violet crunchy nougat (2007) - Perfectly cooked scallops. Caramelised on the outside, the coral inside gave an extra punch to the flavour. Didn't understand the violet sugar-work, it didn't go with anything on the plate.


Mille-feuille of goose foie gras, smoked and grilled with basil, pear and "Corallo" coffee sprinkling (2006) - One of my favourites of the night. The combination of pear and coffee syrup worked really well together.


Soup with squid dumplings and ginger, with veal sweetbreads and tuna botargo (2009) - I had never eaten sweetbreads cooked this way. I thought it would be soggy but it turned out to be tender and mild, didn't overpower the other delicate ingredients in the soup.


Cuttlefish "fettuccine" (1996) - The signature dish. The cuttlefish was lightly cooked before being cut into long, 2cm wide strips. They were then tossed with egg, bacon and cheese sauce, and piled on top of a sheet of fish stock jelly. Head chef Corrado Fasolato has managed to recreate the familiar flavours with a new ingredient, and beautiful presentation.


Wood flavoured loin of venison (2000) - I went 'hmmm~' when the waitress opened the steamer. The smell of the meat and herbs had instantly increased my appetite! The venison was very tender, given it has such a rich flavour, the wood flavour still came through nicely.


Grilled boned pigeon with smoked eel, lychees and chocolate shavings (2009) - I loved the pigeon, lychees and the smoked eel, but I didn't know what to do with the chocolate shavings. They were thin and bland, and not really necessary.


Rum and tabacco (1998) - It was an interesting dish but unfortunately the execution was bad. There was far too much tabacco - every mouthful you would get a bitter taste and numbness at the back of your throat. It was quite interesting at the beginning, but after a while it was just bitter, as the tabacco taste does stick around for a while.


The menu was certainly full of surprises, even though I was not so sure about a couple of the dishes. The Met restaurant is definitely worth trying if you want the fine dining experience in Venice, especially if you are open to original combinations of flavours. We will certainly remember our dinner for a long time to come.


The Met Restaurant