For some good standard Italian staples, Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria & Cucina inside The Shops at Crystals.
- Calamari "Fritto", Garlic Aioli, Lemon, Paprika
- salad of lettuce, tomato, pistachio, parmesan
- bread with prosciutto, asparagus, rocket, parmesan
- Pappardelle, mushrooms, parsley
- Linguine, Steamed Clams, White Wine-Garlic Sauce
- 4 pizzas
- gelato & biscotti
One of my favourite things to do in each city is to visit the markets. Food markets are the only ones I frequent, loosely browsing at fresh items but more often looking for ready to eat items for a snack, a picnic or a quick social gathering.
Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid is one of my favourite in the world. It only occupies a small building, but the excellence of items and its central location next to the Plaza Mayor make it worth a visit.
My favourites are the jamon iberico bellota reserva, including cheaper versions such as floss, salchichon (sausages) and paleta (front legs), the freshly shucked oysters and pinxtos served on bread. There is also a lot of cheese, olives, sweets, icecream and fresh fish.
There is something for everyone.
Away from the Old Town, the other areas of San Sebastian are worth leisurely exploration. Gros is known for a more private beach area, and probably if nothing more, just another part of town to see.
Finding food here has more limited options and sometimes you just need to trust in the quality of the town. I think San Sebastian is very safe for that. Senra had a small number of pinxtos available on the counter and a full a la carte menu, as well as the distinct lack of English.
- Arroz con almejas (rice with clams) €20 - strong clam-flavoured rice porridge;
- Pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus) €18 - I always forget what Galician-style octopus is (boiled, served with olive oil & paprika) until I order it again and remember why I shouldn't. This was a good version with tender meat. I just don't prefer it.
A recommended place for a stop when in Gros.
- Kakuni (braised pork belly with cider) - a few pieces of pork belly, slightly chewy but with ok flavour;
- Buta Miso Udon - a tiny bowl of udon, a small amount of pork floss rather than pieces, and an expensive £2 egg on request. Flavour was ok but extortionate pricing and not very satisfying.
I didn't think the flavours were outstanding, and the serving sizes and prices were well off. How could anyone choose this over the nearby ramen venues? It is beyond me. I ended up filling my stomach next door at Mooli's afterwards.
Next time I would order the Tempura Udon or one of the Hot Pots. They are more expensive but hopefully better value for moeny. Better still, go to Tonkotsu or Bone Daddies.
Rounding out the trio, I visited Shoryu for an early weekend dinner. The menu is certainly more extensive than Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu, offering a greater deal of ramen types and starters compared with the other two. I suppose this is good for variety, but only if the main ramen focus was maintained up to scratch.
Some of the reviews of Shoryu have been mixed. The most frequent complaint is the excessive heavy-handed wasabi in the Wasabi Tonkotsu to the point of it being inedible. I would never have ordered that anyway, but it's good to know.
- Matcha latte - sweet green tea latte, which London has been missing;
- Char siu Tonkotsu (rich tonkotsu pork broth with bbq pork, nitamago egg, kikurage mushrooms, beansprouts, spring onion, sesame, ginger & nori) - a generous serve beautifully presented and satisfying, but seemed to lack the deep rich flavour found in Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu;
- Chicken kara age - simply cooked, needed more seasoning;
- Pork belly Hirata Bun (steamed buns filled with shoryu spicy meat, greens & kewpie mayo) - quite an unimpressive version with heavy bun, ugly lettuce and only a thin slice of pork belly.
I'd come back to Shoryu only if other people wanted to come here to try it and/or eat the side dishes. It isn't bad, I just feel BD and Tonkotsu are better. Shoryu does have a more extensive drinks (including alcohol and the abovementioned Matcha latte) so maybe that might tip you one evening.
Next time I would order the Char siu Tonkotsu for a safe dish, or branch out creatively to Dracula Tonkotsu (deep roasted tones from caramelised black garlic mayu, balsamic vinegar and garlic chips), Sapporo Miso (miso pork broth, bbq pork, nitamago, nori, sweet corn, seasoned beansprouts and spring onion) or maybe just their simpler signature Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu (tonkotsu & miso broth with added spinach & garlic).
The triad of London's ramen has arrived with many people debating which is the best of them - Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu or Shoryu. I greatly enjoyed Bone Daddies, with friends telling my Tonkotsu had better kara age but not as good ramen. There is no better reason to try it than to form a healthy debatable opinion.
- chicken karaage (horrible photo) - simple flavours, although I felt the chicken pieces had a bit too much fat layer;
- pork gyoza (horrible photo) - simple, juicy, nice;
- Tonkotsu ramen (rich, sea salt-based pork stock and thin noodles topped with slices of melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, half a seasoned soft-boiled egg, menma, bean sprouts and spring onions) - generous amount of beautiful fatty broth with excellent toppings;
- Mochi icecream (yuzu, salted caramel, black sesame) - chewy, cold interiors, sweet to finish.
I liked the Tonkotsu ramen better than Bone Daddies, but not the karaage. People will disagree.
Next time I would order Tonkotsu ramen again - no need to mess with the winning original and namesake formula. For a change, Tokyo ramen with lighter broth of chicken & pork with soy would be worth trying.
Hakkasan is often rated the world's best Chinese restaurant outside of China/HK. It's the only one (Hakkasan Mayfair) outside at least that ever features in the San Pellegrino list last year just scraping through at #100 in 2012 (and #60 in 2011).
Unfortunately I haven't found anyone with the time and dedicated bank balance to accompany me there to try their £130 signature banquet. Gladly the restaurant group opened HKK in 2012, as a more degustation menu, and from recent reviews is thought to be better value for money than the mothership.
8-course lunch costs a reasonable £48, while a 15-course for lunch or dinner is £95. There is no tasting menu listed on the website, so I assume it changes slightly quite frequently.
- Bai hua prawn (no photo) -
- Dim sum trilogy - lobster siu mai topped with caviar, fried daikon, vegetable & mushroom. The brush is to paint on soy sauce.
- Poulet de Bresse & ginseng soup with silken beancurd - healing chicken & ginseng soup with goji berries, radish and flowers. Good for my sinuses;
- Cherry wood roasted Peking duck - a wonderfully cooked Peking duck, crispy skin and a tasty layer of fat that sits underneath it. Served with hoisin and a little sugar;
- Gai-lan, shimeji mushroom & lily bulb in XO sauce - tasty vegetable intermission;
- Jasmine tea smoked Wagyu beef with water chestnut - amazing soft delicious beef and an equally phenomenal sticky rice ball;
- Mandarin jelly with pandan sorbet & jasmine meringue - great in combination. Pandan sorbet was my favourite component;
- Pineapple fritter, salted lime jelly, vanilla icecream - kataifi pastry delicately surrounding a warm sweet pineapple core. Excellent.
Next time I would order the 15-course tasting menu. The a la carte items also sound worth trying, and using ingredients like crab, lobster, scallops, abalone and pork belly, you'd expect as much. On to Hakkasan next time.
Despite San Sebastian's reputation for exceptional high-end gastronomy and similarly experiential tapas bars, sometimes a meal in the middle is what you are looking for. On this occasion, it was coincidentally a Monday which is when most restaurants and even a large number of tapas places are closed. Luckily Egosari (which has a pinxtos bar upstairs and a restaurant downstairs) was available, and my memory of eating here back in 2009 reaffirmed it as the chosen place for the evening.
They specialise in seafood as reflected by the majority of a la carte items available.
- Tepid salad of spider crab, prawns & scampi (ensalada de txangurro) €17.4 - sweet spider crab meat picked into mounds, served with salad, peeled prawns and a decorative scampi;
- Donostiarra's fish soup €6.2 - rich creamy fish soup with intense flavour;
- Casserole of anglerfish & hake with clams & shrimps (cazuela de rape) €18.4 - tender hake chunks and small clams served in what seemed to be the same soup as the above.
Each dish was delicious. My only slight gripe was both dishes with the soup seemed to be the same base - not disappointing from a flavour point of view, but rather it would have been nice to have been informed so I could choose something with more variety.
Next time I'd order the Crab Salad and try the cazuela. If the cazuela had a different base, I'd have the fish soup also. I didn't see any of the items under the 'seafood' header on the night, but I'm sure they'd be good too.
Picking a dinner venue in Cambridge was difficult. Going on a Sunday meant a lot of the recommended gastropubs (The Oak, Cotto) were closed. That left the choice between St. John Chophouse and Dojo. In the end I decided upon Dojo, an Asian noodle cafe with a good reputation in quite a few lists of the Cambridge's choice budget eats and the also as an Asian place a level above the Clocal norm (the other being Yippee or Zhonghua).
Having been a little disappointed with London's noodle houses and given the wintry cold, I thought a bowl of Dojo's noodle soup would be best. One thing that did impress me was the Dojo manager responded to all the Tripadvisor reviews, often recommending the house specialty of udon.
Dojo Udon consisted of a very large bowl of housemade noodles, chicken, char siu pork, crabstick, prawn and vegetables. The broth is a very simple dashi, but seemed to lack the complexity I prefer in soups. I suppose it was partially my own fault as I'm never overly impressed by udon dishes and would have been much safer with some of their other selections - Laksa, Ramen, Tom Kha - and would go back to try this.
Next time I would order either the Laksa or Tom Kha. The appetisers sounded inviting too but given the size of the noodle bowls, it would be wasteful to order it without a few people to share.
Fitzbillies seems to repeatedly get mentioned for the Chelsea buns - spiral pastries of dried fruit, cinnamon and sugary spice glaze. Richly and intoxicatingly sweet. Go past and try one. Remember to have clean hands to pick it up and lick your fingers at the end.
