The Adamson (St Andrews)

Remember Scott Davies?  For those that didn't glue their eyes to the television the whole of last winter watching BBC2 in the evening, he was a finalist on Masterchef Professionals, and he's the head chef at The Adamson in St. Andrews. 

As if that alone wasn't exciting enough, amongst the smart and contemporary decor, the restaurant has an open kitchen where you can see the man himself carefully preparing your food, and yes, I sat as close to him as possible. 

"Classic brassiere cooking with a contemporary twist" the menu has a strong Scottish influence with an abundance of beef, seafood and an exciting vegetarian selection, which is always nice to see.  With the daily set menu priced at £14.95 for three courses and £11.95 for two, it is definitely one of the best places for lunch in town. 

With the a-la-carte menu you're looking at about  £25-30 for a three course meal, which is still excellent for the quality of food you're getting

From the starters I chose pea mousse with crab, pea shoots and caper dressing.
A fresh crab salad speckled with bright green peas and peashoots and a lovely little ball of pea mousse nestled in the middle under the hot crisp potato croquette.  Pretty as a picture, a great balance of textures and colors, just a shame it was over-salted, especially as when you reached the mousse, you were reaching for water at the same time.

Steamed River Fish with Ginger (清蒸鲈鱼) & The Hutong Review

It's been a long while, I'm sorry.  It's been a mixture of laziness and stress and apathy, perhaps not the best way to start the year. 

So let's talk about January.  January was mostly spent in Beijing, where it was cold, sunny and "foggy".
 
I went to a cooking class over at The Hutong, which is a Chinese cultural center for foreigners.  I learned to cook Chinese New Year specialties, and this is one of the recipes that was taught: steamed river fish with ginger.  We like to eat whole fish. Fish is like the lucky mascot of Chinese culture.  It's often eaten on New Year's because the word "yu", fish in Chinese, sounds the same as the word for "surplus".  So we'd say may every year have surplus.

Mio (Beijing)

Mio is an Italian restaurant in the Four Seasons, and it's actually quite good, in fact I'd arguably say that it's the best Italian restaurant in Beijing. There are very few good Italian restaurants in Beijing, even though I'm pretty sure there are around 100 of them.  Mio's not your traditional Italian food, it's all modern with foam and gels and all that -- which is reflected in the prices

The restaurant is beautiful, and it's got an open kitchen, which for me is always a plus.  The head and sous chefs are both Italian.  They're talented, imaginative and very friendly, so feel free to chat to them if you're there. 

The meal started off with beautifully crisp bread and fragrant olive oil. 

 Tuna and fish roe. 

The Rug (Beijing)

Very few brunch places do scrambled eggs well.  It's always so disappointing to eat it overcooked and rubbery and slice-able with a knife, so you can imagine my surprise and excitement to find proper scrambled eggs in a restaurant in Beijing. Of all places. Beijing, despite having thousands and thousands of restaurants, few Western restaurants are really that good.  At least if you want the quality to match up to the price.  The Rug gave me hope in this city.

Their brunch menu is beautiful and extensive.  Pages and pages of items with scrambled eggs (like fishcakes, shrimps and avocado, toast, bagels with other toppings), poached eggs (on bagels, toast but also with mashed potatoes and stew or Thai curries), fried eggs (on hash-browns, and shakshuka is also on the menu).

We had the scrambled eggs with shrimps and avocado along with roasted tomatoes and a side salad.  Gorgeous, with silky scrambled eggs on top of fresh avocados and rich prawns.  The roasted tomatoes are cooked perfectly with side salad that's also seasoned to the right amount. 

Their take on the shakshuka was great.  With roasted peppers and tomatoes and bread to dip into those bright egg yolks. 

Yamyam (Berlin)

Korean food, in most parts of the world, is shamefully underrated.  It's spicy, it's fresh, and it's exciting.  There are stews, barbeques, sushis, pickles, noodles and rice.  Don't confuse it with Chinese or Japanese food as they have their own unique blend of condiments that form the basis of all these dishes.  It is no doubt one of my favorite cuisines in the world.

When I was in Berlin this summer for two months, I had a constant craving for Korean food.  I don't know if it's because I was having too much German bread and cheese and sausages, which I love by the way, but I just really felt like eating Korean food.  Berlin is amazing for many reasons: the nightlife, the art, the music, the young people, the life -- but for me, obviously, the food in a city really matters, and Berlin is amazing because of the restaurant scene.

So let's talk about this Korean restaurant.  I went to three in Berlin, the others were not as good and not as memorable, I don't even remember which ones they were.  This one definitely tops the list in terms of the food, the price and the atmosphere. 

The restaurant's situated in Mitte:  a humble setting with simple tables that are all squashed together, and most of the time it's just full of people and it's loud and it's fun. 

I've eaten there many times and I'm usually obnoxiously taking photos of everything I eat but surprisingly enough this is the only picture I have.  I suspect that the food was so good that I couldn't wait to take photos of them. 

Caxton Grill (London)

If you're in the UK and you're remotely interested in food then you probably watch Masterchef and you probably know of Adam Handling - the finalist on the last Masterchef Professionals.  Only 24 years old and he is the head chef at Caxton Grill.  Actually, he was a head chef at Esperante at the St Andrews Fairmont Hotel in 2011 when he was only 22.  That's when I first met him, hell, he could've been head chef there at age 19 for all I know.  Talk about a way to make you feel inadequate, right?  24 and his food is amazing.

I'm just going to boast about him a bit more before I get onto my dining experience -- the other great thing about him is that he's humble.  He's humble and down to earth and will chat to you if you're at his restaurant, if you like his food, and if you're a nobody with the dreams of becoming a chef like him.  He's nice, and I like food cooked by nice people.

Now I can go onto the dining experience.  The restaurant's lovely.  Everything was pleasant, service was good, the atmosphere was nice, nothing extraordinary but things were lovely.  

So you're first greeted with three types of breads served with two types of butters - "gingerbread" and "olive".  The gingerbread is interesting, though not my favorite.  The olive was amazing.  Both made in the restaurant.  The breads were also fantastic, there was rye, focaccia and brioche, but they were the only things not made in the restaurant.

 Adam Handling said that his favorite things from his menu are the starters, and boy was it difficult to choose. 

Cafe Slörm (Berlin)

Good honest coffee, good ambiance, and good people. What else do you need from a café? This café, situated in Prenzlauerberg, Berlin, faces Danzigerstrasse, with small wooden coffee tables, chairs and stools outside - hard to miss because you’ll always see a few people there reading a book, chatting with friends, or just there enjoying the coffee. Despite facing a major road, it’s very quiet. Small and dainty, inside is filled with gorgeous vintage furniture like 70’s bar stools. It’s.. hipster but unpretentious. Both the baristas and the diners are down to earth people. It’s a place where you can chat with the baristas, and my goodness they’re good people.

Once I went, and upon paying, I couldn’t find my wallet. I told the barista, Stefan, that I would run back home and grab it and that I would be back in 10 minutes. The barista looked at the ready-made coffee and insisted that I drink the coffee first, as it would go cold. I could have just run away afterwards, but no, I left the coffee home and ran back home. I ran back in the speed of light but after 10 minutes of turning my house inside out I could not find my wallet. I ran back to the café and the barista was there with my wallet. “We tried to get in contact with you to let you know you left your wallet here but there was no number inside or anything.” My jaw dropped. See, I’m Chinese and Italian, I come from populations that are used to robbing people blind. If this was in Italy or China, the barista would have kept the wallet and that was that.  Plus he's cute as well, which is always a plus. 

 This place has one of the best coffees I’ve had in this town. It has a very relaxing and friendly atmosphere, with few things on the menu so the point is coffee. They have cookies, scones, cupcakes and some sandwiches, that don’t appear to be particularly enticing, but looks can be deceiving.

Zia Maria (Berlin)

You're in Berlin. So many Italian restaurants, so many pizzerias, so difficult to choose. Well, if you happen to find yourself in Prenzlauerberg, I strongly recommend this place. Thin crispy Roman pizzas with a range of choices when it comes to toppings. Sold by the slice, the menu is neatly divided into meats, seafood and vegetarian pizzas. With slices ranging from 1.50 to 3.50, you would usually eat 2 to 3 slices for a meal as they’re quite large. They also have 4 different salads that come with the most amazing rosemary flatbread. They also have a child- and waistline-friendly fruity tiramisu that’s caffeine and alcohol free with the custard as a mixture of mascarpone and yoghurt. Havent tried, but it’s intriguing.

They have two branches in Prenzlauerberg. It's a very casual restaurant with simple decor and a relaxed atmosphere. They sometimes do art exhibitions there or have live music, altogether with long wooden tables that you share with others and a good pizza, it's a good place for a meal.

District Mot (Berlin)

I have never been to Vietnam, but this is how I had imagined it to be.  Bare wooden tables with bright colored plastic stools right on the streets.  On the tables - utensils in recycled cans, sauce bottles in cheap baskets, toilet paper in plastic boxes which you use as napkins.  The service is awful as, amongst many reasons, the waiters don't smile.  Yet despite all this you don't mind.  District Mot is bringing you the streets of Vietnam.  As soon as you enter the restaurant - no actually, as soon as you approach the area, you're hit with the most intoxicating olfactory experience.  Spices, meats, oils, herbs - you just can't get enough. 

The menu is filled with exciting dishes like grilled chicken feet, fried silk worms, and "everything from the piggy stewed in coconut milk" if you're feeling adventurous, and some more tame things if you're not.  You do see the conventional phos and rice paper rolls but also dishes that don't often appear in Western Vietnamese restaurants like stir-fried sweet corn and deep-fried sweet potatoes.  However, perhaps the BBQ dominates as the most popular dish.  Bright vibrant ingredients laid out on a bamboo basket, and you're given a small grill to cook yourself. 

Via Lattea (Berlin)

There are almost 20,000 Italians in Berlin - that makes them the third largest immigrant group in Berlin, after Turkish and Polish.  Other than the bad driving and the loud chatters, the Italians have also contributed to the Berlin food scene - there are Italian restaurants and delis and shops everywhere.  It's fantastic, and it's not just your general pizzerias and trattorias, you get authentic regional foods.  Via Lattea, for instance, is a Puglian restaurant.

Momos (Berlin)

I love vegan organic places and there are plenty of them in Mitte in Berlin.  This area is hipster central with a ridiculous number of organic shops and restaurants.  Many of these places just rob you blind, but Momo's is a cute little vegetarian (but with vegan options) organic restaurant serving Nepalese dumplings, aka momos, that's reasonably priced.

The place is quite small, as it says, it's more of a takeway.  It's got a couple of seats inside that would probably seat about 10, 15 people, and now in the summertime when you can enjoy a meal outdoors without your water turning into ice, they have some tables outside too.

Sun Day Burgers (Berlin)

Most carnivores will frown upon the following statement... I prefer veggie burgers to normal burgers.  There, I said it. 

A juicy beef patty with plenty of garnish and sauces all sandwiched between two fresh buns can be excellent, but I've had much more exciting veggie burgers.  Patties made with beetroot and rice, eggplant and mushrooms, lentils and veggies, together with spices and herbs and sauces... They're fantastic. 

Sun Day Burgers is a little street food stall in Berlin specializing in vegan burgers.  I had the fortune of having one of these on a sunny day in Mauerpark.  It's a big flea market with lots of music and grass and activities,  filled with couples, families and friends having picnics.  I love picnics, I love being in the sun and I love food so together it's the perfect combination for me.  There were lots of food stalls, but that Sun Day Burgers caught my attention.  They had a big pink hippie van.

With no choices on the menu, it's just one burger and a choice of 3 sauces.  I like it better as it made decisions easier, and it meant that they served one thing well.  I never trust a 10-page menu.

NYC Bagel and Coffee House

Going to a restaurant is 70% food, 30% service and environment.  Frankly, if it's astonishing food, I can tolerate a waiter being rude and inefficient.  Obviously up to a certain point - if the owner's an a**hole he doesn't deserve any business.

Going to a cafe is 50% food, 50% service and environment. 

I expect good, simple food - but it's got to have things on the menu that distinguishes it from other cafes.  It has to be unique.  Equally important are the service and environment.  Friendly and comfortable, that's what you're trying to achieve. 

So let's put New York City Bagel and Coffee House to the test.  

In a nutshell
Address: 29-08 23rd Avenue, Astoria, NY
Opening times: 6-10pm everyday
Wifi: Yes 
Food: bagels, sandwiches, sweet and savory baked goods.  10/10
Drinks: coffees, juices, smoothies.  8/10
Service and Environment: 10/10

One of the best cafes I've ever been to.  

Newly opened and already it's showing a lot of promise. 

Dans le Noir - An Unhappy Belly Review

An unhappy belly indeed.

It's been 5 days, and I'm still complaining about the place.

Dans le noir has an incredibly good concept - eating in the dark so you can heighten your other senses when appreciating your food.  Eating without sight, if done right, should incorporate different textures, temperatures and flavors.  Contrast is the key.  You're relying solely on your nose and taste buds.  No. If done right you should be able to hear the crunch and the crackling and the pop.  The concept has such great potentials. Yet this place failed miserably.

Dans le Noir can be found in Barcelona, New York, Paris, St.Petersburgh, and London.

I went to the NY one. 

Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Co.

Excuse me for the lack of posts - when I'm in a new place I like to eat out and experiment with new local ingredients in recipes.  The latter should provide more posts, but I've mainly been eating out here in NYC.  Although, I love the huge array of Central and South American ingredients, like cassava and different chiles and thus will cook with them soon! 

photo from http://eatupnewyork.files.wordpress.com

Tupiniquim (Edinburgh)

Happy Belly Review

Location: Edinburgh
Overall: 5/5

Fernando serves Brazilian crepes out of a green police box right by Quartermile in Edinburgh. 

He has sweet and savory gluten-free crepes, and on Saturdays he has feijoada.  In addition to all this, He also serves good coffee.

The portions are big with generous fillings, and the filling choices are fantastic.  I got a vegan one with butternut squash, walnuts, sauteed greens, jalapenos, chili sauce and sun-dried tomatoes.  You can also add goat cheese or cheddar at no extra cost!