Jin Kichi

Simple is beautiful. The Japanese way of doing things.

 A friend of mine visited Japan few years back told me that he felt peckish and  had gone into a fruit  shop to buy an apple. He told me that the young Japanese shop assistant had wrapped this solitary apple in such a beautiful way that it was like a piece of art. He said it was almost a shame to unwrap it to eat. He was happy to just admire it.

The Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world. Bearing in mind that their land has suffered the radiation consequences of two nuclear bombs, I've always wondered what their life expectancy would be if their land and seas were radiation free.

But obviously their  diet is a big player in their life expectancy. If we look closer we note that the Japanese typically eat five times more cruciferous vegetables than we do in the West and  will eat about 100 varieties of food per week compared to just 30 in the average British diet. Food for thought me thinks. Well, eager to redress my deficit, such superfoods as green tea, tofu, seaweed and shitake mushrooms all deliciously came my way by virtue of a  recent visit to Jin Kichi in Hampstead, north London.



Some say that we eat first with our eyes and on that note I can say  Jin Kichi, was testament to that theory. The place is small but undeniably cute. The obvious clue that the food is top notch is the ever present  Japanese clientele who are tightly seated around the focal point of the place: the chef and his tiny tiny grill...  with an effortless and  methodical approach to manning this tiniest of  grills, what comes off is truely great. But it  takes time.

There is one main or break issue for vegetarians though. The grill is used to prepare meat, fish and any of the vegetarian options from the grill menu. This for me was not a deal breaker but I know that for some this would be a  big enough problem to give the grill a miss. Personally, I have always cynically  doubted that restaurants always segregate their utensils for vegetarians or those of other non pork eating faiths... I'm sure all vegetarians have had a sandwich which was cut with a knife that 5 minutes previous was slicing it's way through a piece of meat. So for me it's a case of what goes on in the kitchen stays in the kitchen.

There are of course other options that are prepared from the kitchen below. Platters of sushi and sashimi seem to be expertly prepared down there and the place does have an aroma of fish and sea food when entering. But I was here to hunt down the vegetarian options. Not many but I found a cool little selection on the menu and I was not disappointed. Fabulously simple spinach and shitake mushrooms were amazing. Simple but deliciously silky. The tofu or potato croquettes were equally great.

On a previous visit I'd had the best onion ever. Sounds crazy. Who would order an onion?  but only the Japanese could skewer an onion and turn it into a dish in its own right. Grilled to perfection and bathed in a wonderful sauce this onion was heaven on a stick. Equally good were the shitake mushrooms skewers. Again so simple yet superb. All this was washed down with top quality green tea.

The pricing is very reasonable. This is no place to stuff your face. It is more about sampling delicate cuisine that leaves your mouth and not your belly in seventh heaven. You will delight your   palette not  stuff your stomach. There is a joy sometimes to leave a restaurant with that 'light' feeling.

For such a buzzy place the service was very good.  Japanese etiquette is a big deal so unsurprisingly the staff were quickly on hand and even the griddle chef took time to thank customers on their way out. Nice unassuming touches like this for me sets Japanese etiquette on another level.




The place gets busy and having made it to a recent Sunday Times top 100 then booking at Jin Kichi is a must. This is no place to come en masse with friends or family. It's too small for that. Neither would I recommend this as a place to bring a date as it can be too crowded at times.  Simply it's just  a great place to have an authentic experience of Japanese food, by yourself or with a friend, before hitting  Hampstead for a bit of shopping.



73 Heath Street,
Hampstead
NW3 6UG
tel: 0207 794 6158      www.jinkichi.com

Tony Blair seems to like it here

Phoenix Palace is a large and  well known Chinese restaurant situated in the environs of Baker street. If you're going by car and you happen to find a parking space then your fortune cookie really will have  paid off otherwise the place is a stone's throw from the tube station. One thing sure to catch your eye as you make your way in is the slightly naff but at the same time fascinating collage of celebrity photos but a word of warning: if Tony Blair is not your cup of jasmine tea then look away as he seems to feature very frequently as do many other names and faces in this stir fry of  mayors and politicians and to keep things interesting, a splash of Jackie Chan.

The place itself is a hive of activity. I have been here many times and it seems impervious to  the  credit crunch. On a previous visit it was so packed that we found ourselves seated in the overflow  area towards the front of house. I much prefer to sit in the main restaurant ,which is much more pleasant.

This is no  place to  expect the personal touch from the army of waiters as you would in your local Chinese nor the Hakassan's of London with their  overly smooth servicing. The waiters are far too busy for that here and it can be sometimes hard to grab their attention. But go for the food, with a little people watching thrown in and you will leave contented. It's popular with oriental and western families, young and old couples and those of the suit and tie persuasion this is a place that suits everyone.

The menu is intriguing. Chinese cuisine as I undertand it can be classifed into 4 distinct  styles. The warming stews from the colder North, the hot & spicy Szechwan (West), the delicate and fish loving Shanghai cuisine of the East and the more well known  Cantonese from the South. Phoenix Palace seems to have a bit of everything on the menu.

You can find a soup that costs you a fiver or sadly the shark's fins soup at just under 20 pounds a pop. Some of the dishes are eye watering expensive, many  coming in at over £30. But don't let that put you off. Firstly, the portions are generous. Secondly the quality of the cooking here is excellent. And if a dish does cost £30, then there is a good reason why; either the ingredients are rare or the dish needs expert preparation.

There are many many dishes more reasonably priced and every bit as good. I have often had take out from here promptly delivered to my door  and always leaving me well satisfied and reasonably priced.

The vegetarian section is strong. Vegetarian dumplings and vegetarian  spring rolls in the starter sections are  excellent. The rainbow soup is a winter warmer as is the asparagus and sweetcorn soup.


The selection tofu on offer is great. I have many times asked for a dish to be prepared that is not on the menu.  Black pepper beancurd, spicy beancurd, beancurd blackbean sauce ..the list goes on.....are all amazingly good.








Rice is typically good though I never get the same feeling of wowness eating egg fried  rice as I do say eating Indian or Persian rice dishes. Well worth ordering a portion of vegetarian Singapore noodles here. For those who want to sample a bit of everything then there is a generous vegetarian set menu. Drinks are definitely on the pricey side. Personally speaking the food is so good I'd rather go with chinese tea and have extra dishes for the price of a few drinks.

All in all Phoenix Palace is a busy place and bordering on the noisy but it's good. Very good. It's about the only thing Tony and I would agree on I think.

Phoenix Palace
5-9 Glentworth Street
London NW1 5PG
tel: 0207 486 3515

Vibe *** Food ****  Service *** Price £££

Pizza in Hackney's Broadway market

I have been a regular visitor to Hackney since the 1990's. But never for the food. There were always rumblings that some of the best Turkish or Vietnamese food was to be had in Hackney and though I had dined couple of times down Church Street in Stoke Newington years ago, before the invasion of media-migrants, the vibe around the rest of the borough had never enticed me enough to try out the local restaurants. Hackney was not a night out destination...back then it was very much strictly locals.
What a difference now. The ever expanding overspill of young working trendies keeps seeping deeper and deeper into the peripheral boroughs of the city and it comes as little surprise that now people will frequent such areas as Dalston or Mare Street for the plethora of restaurants.

And so it was that I found myself in the Broadway Market end having pizza, Italian style..who would have thought it all those years ago. The winos are still here though...the only thing that has changed are the trendy locals....some of whom make such an effort to dress down, that I sometimes could not differentiate the winos from the trendies. Still I was able to work out that the tramp intent on hugging  horrified young ladies sitting on the outside tables was not in fact a bearded creative from one of the latest start up firm in Hoxton trying his luck.

So Bellavita was the destination of choice for an supposedly authentic Italian experience. Despite the cliched 'Italian' paraphernalia adorning the walls, there's nothing too authentically Italian about the decor in this place......pizzerias in Italy don't do decor...in my experience, they have always tended to be basic places that just serve flipping good pizza....but who cares, in any case this is London 2012...in fact it's Hackney 2012, so think more Greenwhich village or Little Italy than Napoli.

Young trendy locals filtered in and out and I certainly had to speak a little louder so maybe that equates  a good vibe.

The one thing that did strike an Italian pizzerian note was the huge choice on the menu. I have often sat in pizzerias in Italy working my way through the vast lists of pizzas to choose from...literally easily over fifty ...and all it takes is someone to distract you and you have to start again as you forget where you were and so too it was at Bellavita. The choice here is good, ranging from numerous classic and  pasta and gnocchi dishes to pizza.

Pizza came promptly which is always pleasing on a busy Saturday night in a busy place. The pizzas were generouly sized so thumbs up there. So far so good. But the proof is in the eating and that first bite was disappointingly under seasoned. My main gripe did not end there. No good having such an amazing long list to choose from if the final result is not matched by use of the topnotch quality ingredients. The olives and artichoke were straight out of the tin, nothing wrong with that some might say but the brine was so strong that the olives tasted nothing like they could and  so it was no surprise that the  toppings were lacking in flavour.

Our sparkling water was not cold and though we were given ice I could not understand why it was not from the fridge...and as for desserts I'd give them a swerve. The menu looked very similar to a dessert menu that you'd find in a local Chinese restaurant.

Coffee was good. Side note... when is a single a double and a double a quadruple? When an espresso is served in London. A single here would class as a double in Italy. A double espresso would count as coffee for 4 in Italia.

Service I must say was proper good. Saturday night was buzzingly busy yet the young friendly staff were on point from beginning to end. Impressively good.

We were in 6 and the bill came in at the £75 mark so factor in about £15 per head for a dish and a drink. So all in all, as a newbie to the new Hackney, it was a good place to sample a little  piece of Broadway market's atmosphere....but I would only visit Bella Vita  again for a pizza  if I was in that neck of the woods and those Vietnamese restaurants were full.

BELLA VITA
53-55 Broadway Market
London E8 4PH

TEL: 0207 249 4772

Vibe ****
Food ***
Price ££
Service *****

Lebanese heaven

Al Waha  75 Westbourne Grove London W2 4UL
Tel: 0207 229 0806


Apparently about 1% of the world is vegetarian. India, has by far the most (40% of the population) and in the UK we have the largest amount of vegetarians in Western Europe (6% of us). And this does not surprise me since we have, especially in London, such an amazing choice of places to eat whether you eat meat or not. And if I was ever to debate with anyone how perfectly enjoyable it is to eat vegetarian then I would simply let the food do the talking and I would take them to Al Waha in the Westbourne Grove end of Notting Hill.

This delightful restaurant sits nicely on an interesting corner of west London which is dotted with places to eat. Al Waha sits proudly as one the flagships of the area. In comparison to the noisy, somewhat tedious hussle and bussle of Edgware road where too many of the renown Lebanese restaurants can be found,  this little corner of London is a haven of quietness and eating here really feels very  pleasant indeed.

Reserving is highly recommended as each time I have eaten here the place has filled up very quickly with 'in the know' locals. There are plentiful waiters on hand, who are definitely needed judging by the amount of dishes that make their way from the kitchen  to the  hungry clientele. They'd be better looking if they smiled bit more though.


So what makes this place so so good ? The choice. Usually less is more. But in the case of Lebanese dining, one of the pleasures for vegetarians is that for once the list is endless. The menus are vast and they create vegetable dishes as an art form . You can literally be that child in the toy store. Basically the menu divides into  cold starters, hot starters, and if you have not stuffed yourself by this stage then you can go for one of the main courses served with rice. In truth, you could eat really well on just a selection of starters with one of the salads. I never bother with the main courses.  Dishes come in around the £5 to £6 mark so you can, really, go for it ! and we did !!! Once our order had been taken,  fabulous flat breads were immediately brought to the table and in minutes the cold starters started emerging from the kitchen. Come to papa.

Too many to mention but broad beans in garlic and oil, hummous, dips of grilled aubergines with sesame paste and lemon juice were just superb.

Moussakaat batinjan, (Fried aubergines with chick peas, tomatoes garlic and spices) were exquisite.
Potatoes cooked with olive oil, garlic, red peppers and green chillis (batata harra) were absolutely so delicious that  a second round were ordered. Falafels were done to perfection. Flatbread stuffed with herbs and halloumi cheese were devoured in no time. By now I have not only ran out of my space in stomach but I am also out of superlatives to describe this gastronomic feast.


Lebanese food is everything that is good about Greek/Turkish and then some. I love Greek and Turkish food but I find Lebanese that bit more sophisticated, that bit more well presented and that bit spicier. Lebanese seems to successfully push the boundaries that bit further. It's the daddy of the Eastern Med cuisines.

The meal was finished with rounds of mint tea and Lebanese coffee which is pretty much a Turkish coffee with a hint of cardamon. The bill was was very reasonable for what was ordered. I had great difficulty bending down to tie my shoelace outside. I was stuffed. This place is an absolutely favourite of mine. I love restaurants that cater for everyone....Al Waha does and it does it brilliantly.

Food  *****     Price £££    Atmosphere  ****   Service  ****

Gordon Ramsay's York and Albany

I conveniently live a 10 minute walk away from the York & Albany,  one of Gordon Ramsay's portfolio of restaurants.  This place is quite unique in that it exists as a small boutique hotel as well as restaurant. It is situated neatly opposite the north east corner of Regent's Park and more or less at the end of Camden's Parkway, which itself is full of interesting eateries. I had not eaten here for 2 years and since some of Gordon Ramsay's shows have cemented themselves on Italian television, I thought it would be interesting to take  my in laws from Italy, who were over in London for few days, and check out some of Gordon's food. 


 The interior's decor and feel certainly matches its classic Georgian exterior. Stylishly decorated, I really like the open feel. Airy in summer, cosy in winter type of place. You have, depending on how busy they are, a choice of three different areas to sit and enjoy your food: a very comfortable front bar area, or the spacious conservatory or the atmospherically low lit downstairs seating area which has an added interest in that  you can see the open kitchen in action. Each offers a different feel, all equally pleasant.

Service was as expected good. Friendly and welcoming, we were soon seated and the pleasant waiter did a good job throughout the meal bar not explaining particularly well what Spatzle were (a type German pasta we later found out). 

The menu was varied though for vegetarians definitely a bit limited. To get things rolling, I very much recommend any of the 2 starter plates of either nuts/olives + Manchego cheese or Hummus/Aubergine dips. The bread too was delicious. However, when it came to the main courses the only options on offer were the ubiquitous pasta or pizza, the latter supposedly cooked in a wood fire oven. Shame really since the other main meat/fish courses looked a little more sophisticated. Still maybe the pasta would over deliver. 

We were in four and our unofficial judging panel consisted of an Italian-American (who went for the burger and fries), a  Italian die hard pizza lover (who went for the Margherita pizza), a second more adventurous Italian (who opted for the salmon) and my good self (Orechiette pasta with broad beans, mint and Spanish artisan cheese). The choices were varied to say the least and it would be interesting  to see how well the Y&A delivered.

Verdicts: 2 thumbs up and 2 thumbs down.

The burger though visually impressive with its generously sized burger meat was under seasoned. I tried one of chunky French fries. Its consistency was unlike anything I had before. Not in a bad way just very different.The pizza was supposedly cooked in a wood fired oven but when leaving we had a peep at the room next door where the pizza is prepared and the oven looked nothing like the classical Italian wood fire oven you find in pizzarias all over Italy. The slice of pizza kindly offered to me to sample was unfortunately distinctly average.I have definitely had much better.

The salmon was by all accounts very good. The celeriac and samphire complemented nicely, though again I thought the portions were on the small side. The pasta of Orrechiette with Spanish artisan cheese was very good. It left me wanting more…much more. I wished I’d ordered the larger option instead of smaller and side salad which was disappointingly meagre and badly dressed. I wish restaurants would offer salads that actually fill a decent sized salad bowl.

                                                      

The dessert options were really tempting. So to sample, a dish of poached peaches, blueberry financier and almond ice cream made its way to our table, and unsurprisingly, was soon polished off.

And so to wrap up the meal, a god coffee and the bill sat side by side on the table. The coffe was good but the bill felt as pleasant as a kick in the nuts. Pricing is where York and Albany felt short. If they are looking for repeat custom then surely customers have to be delighted with the food and the experience. We are after all buying into Gordon's reputation. For me the York and Albany delivered but did not delight enough to justify their prices.If they are looking to fill the place then they need to increase their portion sizes or reduce their prices. Granted it was Tuesday lunchtime but we were the only ones in there bar a couple of tables in the front bar. I bet any of the other Parkway restaurants down the road were much busier. A bit more generosity with the pasta, a bigger salad and an extra scoop of ice cream would have wooed me. This is after all  probably the type of place where you might come for a treat. So upon reflection, York and Albany is a place where you definitely need to to opt for 3 courses or you will leave hungry or pissed with the bill...maybe both.


As someone stated, there are better ways of spending £100 for burger/fries, pizza, bowl of pasta and a small piece of grilled salmon especially bearing in mind that no wine was ordered and only one dessert taken . All of which makes me think that you'd eat just as well for half the price  a few yards down Parkway at any one of the other busy eateries.

Ultimately I felt we were paying for the name as well as the food … which was a shame because I’m not really into labels.

  

Pleasant discovery at the British Museum

The June monsoon of 2012. Never remember seeing so much rain and so it was off to the amazing (un)British Museum (nothing British there at all, it's all been stolen from the rest of the world) to redress the balance. What we in London can't always offer in terms of weather, we can instead boast in terms of museums. And the content there is amazing, the building, especially the grand foyer, is also magnificent. But the only problem with museums, that I have found over the years, is the lack of decent food (you either opt for uninspiring self-service buffet style cafes or get your food elsewhere). So it was an absolute delight to discover on the top floor of the British Museum The Court restaurant.

Word of warning though, you might have to queue or book.  But we turned up at 2ish which was an hour before they close their lunch service and happily waited no more than 5 minutes for a table. The open plan seating area has a mix of benches as well as tables and the kitchen is on the same level so you can see the chefs in action.  All very pleasant and easy on the eye. There is also a second work surface stationed by a lady who prepares the cold meats and other deli style platter offerings.

The menu has interesting choices with a definite Anglo-Spanish overtone. Some classics from both cuisines sit side by side. From a vegetarian perspective I'd stay away from the mains and head right into the 'Small Dishes, Boards and Bites' section of the menu.  

The bread with oil was excellent and served adequately as an hunger stifler until the fantastic Wild Mushroom on toast with manchego cheese and black truffle arrived, which was so good that I had it twice.

The lemon and oregano artichokes was fairly small in size but made up for it in terms of taste and quality. The non veggie amongst us also vouched for the quality of the food and it seemed to me that there's plenty to please everyone.

Dessert had to be sampled as we saw other guests tucking into very desirable Catalan brulee and it did not disappoint. 

They also serve afternoon tea from 3pm - 5pm though I'd say opt for a late lunch instead and enjoy this little gem.
Service was good and pricing ok. If you gave me the choice between  this restaurant or one of the downstairs' cafes, then I'd definitely say treat yourself to a top floor lunch that matches the splendidness of one London's finest museums.

COURT RESTAURANT TOP FLOOR BRITISH MUSEUM
Tel: 020 7323 8990

Breakfast at Lantana

Cult destination some said. So my Father’s Day treat was to choose a nice place to go for breakfast. I wanted to see what the fuss was about and sample my first antipodean brekkie in the foodie Charlotte Street part of town. Tucked away down a side street off of Goodge Street, first impressions of Lantana were disappointing. Space was limited and the place was full and noisy. Normally I point blank refuse to queue for a table, there are too many places in London to justify waiting whilst looking at people enjoying their food, casually chatting as you anxiously stand there silently willing them to move on. But, since the queue was just one guy, I was happy to make an exception. The guy in front was soon gone and there I stood contently waiting to be served. ‘Wait here to be seated’ it said on the sign. More like ‘wait here to be acknowledged’. Minutes annoyingly went by, before finally a laid back dude came over to tell me the obvious…there’d be a wait for table. ‘We’ll sit outside’ I said. ‘I’ll be right over with your drinks while you look over the menu?'. No you weren’t!

We sat on one of only two outside benches, and then laid-back dude brought my espresso minus any sugar and minus the teas. 'Be right back' he said. After a few minutes he was back with a bowl of granulated sugar in a pot that looked like it had been taken from his grandma’s house. Still no tea. By now I was starting to regret coming here. Laid back dude then treated himself to a coffee and a smoke just a few steps away from us. I was starting to wonder if he actually worked there. To make things worse, the waterworks company rocked up armed with a pneumatic drill and proceeded to dig up a nice patch of this quiet street right behind us. Eventually, what must have been a proper waiter finally asked what we wanted to order. Hallelujah.

The menu was interesting and not overwhelmingly long. Ranging from a basic sourdough with jam/vegemite to more complex sautéed mixed mushrooms on grain toast w poached eggs and lemon herb feta or baked eggs with roast mushrooms, spicy chickpeas and spinach served with whipped feta and toasted turkish bread.
Not fancying anything too OTT we opted for scrambled eggs on sourdough toast and Maple French toast with grilled bananas and pecan nuts. And when it came to the table I was immediately impressed by the size of the portions. So pleasing to find a place where the offerings were more than generous, and, to match, the quality of both dishes was more than excellent. The French toast married so well with the grilled banana and nuts. Everything on that plate worked together sweetly and the scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked and rested on a large chunky slice of the superb Gail’s sourdough with a garnish of rocket that could have easily made it in life as a salad. I like cracked pepper on my eggs and with no pepper on the table, I thought about looking for laid back dude then thought better of it. Also missing was the ‘is everything allright.’, ‘do you need any sauces with that.’ Nor, ‘would you like anything else…’

At £5 for the eggs and £9 for the French toast I thought Lantana gave really great value for money, which made up for the disctinct lack of service. Tea was so so but I did not rate their coffee. Would I go back? Not in a hurry. The brilliant food was let down by the lack of service and comfort. It's a shame that Lantana is not that bit bigger nor more importantly that much better with their so casual service because the food absolutely rocks.

LANTANA
13 Charlotte Place, London W1T 1SN
Tel: 0207 637 3347