Eat Like Ushi

My goodness - looking at the Franco Manca website today I realised the place has spread like wildfire. During my time in London there was only one or two of these stores, and the mothership was in Brixton Market and the main reason for taking the Northern Line all the way down south.

Although the menu is only small, the pizzas are cheap (£5-7 each) and well known for the slow-rising sourdough base. The result is a complex masterpiece of soft gelatinous dough, a gently crisp surface and some nice toppings. Realistically the star is the dough and a Franco Manca pizza was the first one where I enjoyed eating the crust at the end moreso than the topping part.

Great toppings require excellent ingredients. Great dough requires outstanding skill.

I've tried the dough recipe from the cookbook. It uses yeast rather than sourdough starter (more due to availability than anything else) and although the taste doesn't have the same sourness, the texture comes close. It's definitely the best home version I've had.

With the recent stint of The Fat Duck in Melbourne (and my inability to win a place, although the price was a little ridiculous), I have been reminiscing about my own adventure at the mothership.

I remember anticipating this meal greatly. I was going to finally book the #2 restaurant in the world for one of the meals of the century. During a short term contract in northern Tasmania, I made the phone call one late evening. I wasn't particularly keen to use my mobile to ring the UK, but the work phone operator was only too happy to connect my call through. With only a few available dates, the 1/10/2009 was keenly booked, and then it was only a short two months before the day.

The restaurant isn't all that conveniently located. It requires an overground train to Maidenhead, then a taxi to the restaurant in Bray. Of course all the taxi drivers know it - it probably contributes more business for them than anything else in the area. The unassuming building stands like a old tavern. The fine dining inside and the French-accented staff elevate the mood to elegant.

Green olives with subtle flavour and fantastic bread with crunchy crust with spreadable salted and unsalted butter start things slowly. Then comes the procession of overwhelming sensory load.

Amuse Bouche
- Lime Grove (nitro poached green tea & lime mousse) - mousse bathed in liquid nitrogen then sprinkled with green tea. Cleansed the palate.

Entree
- Red Cabbage Gazpacho (pommery grain mustard icecream) - mustard-flavour icecream with a sweet cabbage sauce;
- Fat Duck Film - a delicate film which gives a mint/oak flavour to your tongue in anticipation;
- Jelly of Quail, Crayfish Cream, Chicken Liver Parfait & Truffle Toast (with oak moss) - water is poured over the oak moss to create a mist of oak scent flowing over the table. The moss flavours the air whilst you eat the parfait and truffle toast.

Main
- Roast Foie Gras (president plum puree, braised konbu & crab biscuit) - delicately soft foie gras. The alternative (for my friend) was a sublime piece of aubergine;
- Mock Turtle Soup c. 1850 "Mad Hatter Tea" - hot water added to the golden medallion of dashi/konbu broth surrounded by gold leaf. This tea is added to a bowl consisting of layered beef & fat, tofu (i think) with mushrooms, a few cucumber and pickles and thus mock turtle soup is born;
- Sound of the Sea - seashell with an iPod playing ocean & beach soundtrack, sashimi of yellowtail, mackeral & halibut, sand of tapioca and fried baby eels, foam of seaweed and vegetable stock, added sea jellybeans;
- Salmon Poached in Liquorice (artichokes, vanilla mayonnaise, golden trout roe & manni olive oil from Tuscany) - exquisitely cooked and flavoured salmon, better than Nobu's miso cod;
- Powdered Anjou Pigeon c. 1720 (blood pudding & confit of umbles) - perfectly cooked pigeon.

Dessert
- Taffety Tart c. 1660 (caramelised apple, fennel, rose & candied lemon) - the tangy candied lemon syrup with the blackcurrant sorbet is a whole new level of iced desserts.

The Not-So-Full English Breakfast
- Parsnip Cereal - chips (similar to almond slices) with parsnip milk poured on top. I adore cereal, but this tops them all for sweetness and flavour;
- Nitro-Scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream - an 'egg' is cracked into a pot. liquid nitrogen is poured in. they stir... and bacon-flavoured ice cream that looks like scrambled egg is formed;
- Hot & Iced Tea - a drink of sweet lemon tea that is hot, before a hit of ice cold tea in your mouth.

That tea is followed up by an enormous menu of actual tea, should you fancy.

Apres
- Chocolate Wine "Slush" c. 1660 (millionaire shortbread) -  chocolate and delicate wine mixed and aerated. Rich chocolate, a layer of caramel, crisp shortbread base;
- Cheese platter selection;
- Wine Gums (historic trade routes of Britain) - 5 wine gums of mead, cognac, madeira, sherry, rum.

Finally a bag is handed to you with a small selection of designer sweets to take home. Added in is a printed copy of the menu.

"Like A Kid In A Sweet Shop"
- Aerated Chocolate (mandarin jelly);
- Coconut Baccy (coconut infused with an aroma of black cavendish tobacco);
- Apple Pie Caramel with an Edible Wrapper;
- Queen of Hearts (white chocolate with fruit compote).

It is unlike anything I've experienced before. With the passage of time, I think I've had meals with overall flavours that I've enjoyed more, but the multi-sensory journey that this brings is still unparalleled.

The menu itself was £130, but added onto this was the price of the arrival drink, cheese, service and the trains. Altogether it came out to £190 or so. Considering these days the UK Fat Duck charges £180 and the Australian one was $500 per person, I think my time was a bargain, and at the height of its powers. I count myself lucky for that opportunity. I don't know if I'll dine at The Fat Duck ever again, but I will return for Dinner (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/dinner-by-heston-blumenthal-london-03-2012).

As the first Michelin star gastropub in London, this was always going to be on the essential eating list. British pub food with an exceptional rating - how can you not? The slight deterrents are that it is a little out of the way to get to and the quality tends to mean needing to book and plan in advance. Both things that aren't terribly difficult to negotiate, but that's why it took 1.5 years until the last 2 weeks of my London time to finally commit to getting there.

Maybe because it was a Sunday evening that they had a special of roast. With traditional English fare on the menu such as deer, pork and lamb, it may seem a little disappointing to have ended up with a Sunday lunch meal for a dinner at a Michelin star venue, but it was sublime.

- Seasonal roast partridge - my first taste of this beautifully cooked game bird;
- Treacle cooked smoked salmon, pickled apple whiskey jelly, smoked cod's roe and watercress - thick slices of fish with some chew and good flavour;
- Belted Galloway wingtip roast beef and short rib, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, smoked bone marrow - this was a real wow dish. The wingtip with rare to order with meat and bones to gnaw on. The short rib was a succulent fall-apart piece of tender flavour and some of the best beef I've eaten in my life. Potatoes were perfectly crisp and perfectly moist. Yorkshire puddings were filled with meat gravy. It was spectacular;
- Poached and fresh heritage apples, spiced mead and set cream - a simple apple dessert that sweetly ended the meal.

I wouldn't wait so long to go back again. British food at it's finest.

Next time I would order anything here with a same penchant for roasted meats and offcuts. Heart, ribs and cheeks would be my typical go-to if they happen to be serving it.

It's interesting. American burgers are so well reputed. To be fair I do recall a surprisingly tasty burger from In & Out in San Francisco, eaten right before an enormous banquet meal at The Slanted Door. Shake Shack is supposedly the darling of NYC and the one that people rave about (other than the hidden burger joint) - I didn't get a chance to try either when I was there, basically because there were so many other food experiences I preferred (eg. Momofuku, Eleven Madison Park, lots of pizza etc). With great interest Shake Shack opened in the middle of Covent Garden in July. Covent Garden is one of my favourite places to go. I don't go for the shopping, I only go to wander through the market, to see some buskers, have drinks on a Saturday afternoon or to visit MEATmarket.

Months of hype lead to me Shake Shack on opening evening. After a solid 60min wait snaking through a line I finally got to the front. The staff were handing out Evening Standards to help keep us entertained.

- Shack Stack (cheeseburger & mushroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce) - a relatively simple tasting burger. Satisfying but not all that special;
- Stick Toffee Concrete (vanilla custard, chocolate toffee, paul a. young chocolate chunks, salted caramel sauce, malt powder) - a dessert with lots of sweet and salty powers which was quite good;
- fries - crinkle cut is different. Quite crispy exteriors, insides a bit mushy;
- Shack-Cago Dog @ Dubai airport (German all-beef hot dog, Rick's Picks Shack relish, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper, celery salt, mustard)

MEATliquor is different and better for both burgers and hot dogs. Tommi's is more comparable (with a similar type of burger) and much better. I never tried Patty & Bun but my friends rate that around MEATliquor level. Shake Shack just doesn't stack up at all. Five Guys is supposedly even worse. London burger quality has certainly taken over.

Next time I would order from MEATmarket just across the way. It's not a bad option if in Dubai airport (the only other place I've tried it) since there isn't anything similar other than McDonalds/Burger King, but it's more expensive.

Over a manly discussion about ribs (coincidentally at Porky's in Camden), my mate told me about some kind of bbq meat contest he went to in London earlier that year. Apparently for a small fee, ribs and alcohol were served at 10 different competitors, of which you were entitled to try all 10. Sounds like a great idea - I'm disappointed I missed it. His favourite was from Blue Boar, a smokehouse in a rather fancy Westminster hotel the InterContinental. It definitely wasn't the expected setting for some grimy ribs, but a birthday occasion and upmarket cocktails brought us there.

After a couple of hours sitting at the bar with a variety of £12 cocktails, we were ushered into the main dining room and their big cushy booths.

- The Blue Boar Ribs - served lovingly in a cup, they were crispy, meaty and finger-loving. More BBQ flavour than Pitt Cue Co. Not necessarily better, but different;
- Pulled Lamb Shoulder - lovely and soft although the flavour wasn't very strong. I probably liked the pickle the most on the tray.

It is a far way to go for ribs as the other dishes had trouble keeping up with them in terms of quality. Given the location (not the most convenient for a lot of people), the higher prices and such, you'd probably be better off going for ribs at Pitt (if they ever bring them back) or somewhere else. But if nicer mood and dirty food is on the cards, this place is probably the only one.

Afterwards you can wander through the hotel and see the absolutely incredible display of (what looks like) silvered toys, from X-men, Masters of the Universe, Transformers to Pixar.

Next time I would order ribs, ribs and more ribs. The main dishes were good, but everyone agreed they didn't compare to the ribs (including pulled pork, pulled lamb and the tiny serve of chicken main).

I went to several B&L chains. The first was the original in Mayfair when during a quiet weekday lunchtime I sampled the lobseter roll, chips and salad. It was definitely good although I did feel having a whole lobster to yourself would be more exciting than a roll. This was slightly put askew when I tried the whole lobster the first time and it wasn't so succulent as hoped.

After a few more I came around. In particular, I sought out the branches that had the massive sharing lobsters (Soho and Bank). 8-10 lb lobsters are an expensive delight, but chewing through the enormous claw and tails was such a happy experience. The unlimited supply of fries and salad is a bonus too.

Grab some friends, select the biggest lobster available, enjoy.

PS. I still can't figure out why you'd come here for a burger, even if it is Goodman steak...

My friends and I had spent a good part of our two years in London trying nearly all the available burger places. We'd have discussions over our favourites and disagreements. It started off with the grimey MEATliquor, had extended to Honest Burgers in Brixton, Lucky Chip in Broadway Market, various Byron Burgers, an unexciting visit to GBK (other than the free peanuts), the new Shake Shack, the rumours of Five Guys, my own experience near Shoreditch with a pop-up of Burger Bear, and most recently my friends' recommendations of Patty & Bun, and the one I never managed to get to in Dirty Burger. Gee that's a lot.

On our final burger expedition before they left London, we decided to try Tommi's which was reputed to be Icelandic burgers. None of us knew what that meant, but my friends who had been to Iceland said it was the home of their favourite hot dog. So how bad could the burgers be?

There was a short queue for seats in the tiny place where the food is visibly cooked from the ordering counter. The menu is short, very short and there's no need to ponder too long on the items that they must therefore do easily and well.

The cheeseburger amended to an "Epic Double Decker" £10 is outstanding. I wouldn't normally order a plain cheeseburger as I like other fillings for contrast but the beautiful beef patties where the beef is the prime ingredient and flavour is something that sounds silly but is extraordinary. 

It's a different type of enjoyment to the green chilli cheeseburger at MEATliquor but something great on its own. Maybe cheeseburgers are my way of the future, but tasting the pure beef patty in a burger really came alive that evening and it became my favourite in London.

Some friends were visiting from Melbourne and it seemed a perfect opportunity to try a new place. London's Japanese cuisine was still flagging behind much of the world (with the exception of the burst of ramen bars) and a venue that brought Japanese and Peruvian (think Nobu) was a welcome addition to the area.

The downstairs bar area is chic with electric graphics to keep you interested whilst ordering pre-drinks. The upstairs has a more refined atmosphere but still exudes cool and sophistication.

Nikkei tasting menu II
- Taco selection (tuna spicy miso, snow crab yuzu, miso vegetables);
- Scallop tiradito (scallop sashimi, coriander, jalapeno, black salt, lemon & lime juice);
- Seafood ceviche (prawn, scallop, seabass, sweet potato, peruvian corn, coriander, chive oil, citrus sauce);
- Ebi harumaki ponzu salsa (prawn spring roll, shiitake, yuzu, shiso, ponzu salsa);
- Bacalao negro aji miso (black cod, yellow chilli miso);
- Chuleta de cordero ahumada (lamb chops, quinoa, coriander, peruvian chilli miso);
- Maki rolls (lomo saltado);
- Sushi (tuna, salmon, yellowtail);
- Salted caramel chocolate fondant (with orange compote, vanilla ice cream).

Of all the dishes, the most memorable for me was the spring roll. It sounds unbelievable considering I never order them and find them quite ordinary but it was universally agreed that these were the best we've eaten. And we have some aunties who make excellent spring rolls.

I actually had a bit of difficulty finding this place. But the allure of a 20" pizza all to myself from (yet another) recently converted food van made the searching worth it.

I had a half-half - Pork belly, chimichurri, smoked onions vs. Caprese, bone marrow with spring onion & watercress. The base is thin and crisp and the pizza toppings are unusual (to say the least) but nice and creative.

Somedays are personal pizza days.

 I've never been as much a fan of udon as ramen. Even in Japan, any udon place I ventured never compared in terms of flavour, complexity nor satisfaction. For that same reason, I wasn't particular interested in trying Koya, except that so many reviews had extolled it as one of the best noodle venues in London. Like a trooper, I decided it best to know firsthand.

- 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.