Little Social, Mayfair

One of the best lunches I have been to in the last few years was at Pollen Street Social.  The food was beautiful and interesting, and I loved the idea of their Dessert Bar.  My favourite part was their special touch – when you arrived they gave you a key, which you presented to one of the barmen at the end of the meal.  They then unlocked a little drawer behind the bar, and inside was a box, with a little bag with 2 tiny and delicious almond cakes and their home-made tea bag, for your afternoon tea.  A really playful and memorable attention to detail.

Pollen Street Social’s Jason Atherton is expanding his collection of restaurants in London, including Little Social (across the road from Pollen Street Social) and Social Eating House (in Soho on Poland Street).  On Friday, we went for a work lunch to the first, which is French-ish bistro influenced.  It’s cosy and very charming inside (I especially liked the old maps on the stairs), and the menu was one of those lovely ones where I would happily eat most of the choices.

From the starters we tried the crab, tomato and radish salad with miso tomato dressing and marinated beetroot – it had sweet crab, with fresh crunchy little cubes and great tomatoes.  There was also a spring green pea and broad bean risotto with peppered bacon and mint ricotta, and beetroot-cured sea trout, with Cheltenham beetroot (a special sort apparently, after a little Google research) and shallot dressing.  There was also lovely warm bread with great butter – the little things do make a difference.

From the mains the beef burger was a good example of the classic, with bacon, cheese, caramelised onions (divided opinion), pickles and French fries.  I was intrigued by the roasted halibut BLT (obviously an excellent sandwich) – which consisted of a tomato sauce, a little slab of chunky golden bacon and sweet griddled lettuce, with perfectly cooked fish and incredibly flavoursome Portobello mushroom. The roasted cod with Provençal salad and saffron aoili (from the set menu – 2 course for £21), was a little two fennel heavy.  We could have done with some sides for the fish main courses – maybe we were just being greedy, but they seemed a little small.

We just shared one dessert of apple and blackberry crumble – it came out as a bowl with the mascarpone and cinnamon ice-cream and lovely apple.  A mini copper pan was then presented and sprinkled over the crumble with more fruit.  It was big and a fantastic example of a crumble (even if I am sometimes a little dubious of ‘deconstructed’ kind of crumbles).  We also had some lovely squidgy, darkly cocoa-rich chocolate truffles.

They brought the bill in a cute little brown envelope with travel stamps – another nice touch, but I wasn’t quite as blown away as Pollen Street Social even though the food was all expertly done (it is more relaxed, with a more affordable bill).

I want to try Social Eating House now, which has a similarly priced menu (starters around £10, mains around £20).  The menu there also looks great, and the bar on the top floor sounds promising, with fabulous sub-£10 cocktails and booze-absorbing snacks such as pork belly sliders and duck fat chips with aoili.

www.littlesocial.co.uk/

The Quality Chop House, Exmouth Market

There are apparently 37,450 restaurants in London.  The city has so much choice, but I invariably end up eating in places near work or home.  There are lots of great places on the doorstep of the new Clerkenwell flat (Polpo, Hix, St John, Burger & Lobster), which is perfect if public transport is just that bit too much effort.

A few Thursdays ago I went to the Quality Chop House up the road, just at the edge of Exmouth Market.  You’ve been able to eat there since 1869, when you could apparently get "a plate of meat, bread and half a pint of ale for six pence”.  It’s recently been re-done, with the seasonal, British menu changing daily.  There’s a Dining Room and Wine Bar, which both have a short a la carte menu at lunch, with a 4 course set menu in the Dining Room (£35), and a separate Wine Bar menu in the evening.

We were in the Dining Room, and it was a nice change to have no choice for the menu.  We started with a few nibbles of slow-cooked venison that was shredded, breaded and fried until crisp, smoked ox heart and beetroot, goat’s curd and pennywort (foraged ingredients seem to feature a lot on the menu). 

The next course was Cornish cod with lovely crisp, salty skin, served on a blob of vibrant nettle puree and monk’s beard (a little like samphire).  The main was tender Longhorn beef cooked pink, with ramsons (wild garlic), morcilla crumbs that were a little greasy, charred spring onions and a fresh and crunchy celeriac remoulade on the side. 

We were feeling greedy so paid an extra £3 for some great goat’s cheese, before a delicate and pretty dessert of meringue, blood orange (none for me, due to my irrational orange hatred), a delicious alexander (a plant that tastes a little like celery) and gin jelly, cream and cobnuts.

You can buy the wines in the shop next door (for £10 less a bottle), and there are some really interesting glasses and bottles, including those from affordable small producers.  We tried a different glass for the courses, including a menzanilla sherry, some light red wine and a beautifully dry sparkling Spanish wine (they could apparently call it cava, but choose not to).

They take reservations for the Dining Room in the evening but not the Wine Bar, and at lunch they take bookings in both rooms.  At lunchtime they even apparently offer a hot takeaway sandwich for £4.50 too – as a lover of things sandwiched between bread, it’s a very tempting idea, especially as it’s so close (you do need to go inside to experience the wonderfully clashed Grandma crockery - just have a look at the photos).

http://thequalitychophouse.com/

Coconut Ice-Cream

There is a lot of faddy eating out there.  There seems to be an increasing number of those going wheat/gluten/dairy/sugar/anything delicious-free.  I’m all for healthy eating, but everything in moderation is a little more realistic, and much of this cutting out seems to be for the sake of doing so.

Saying all this, I therefore felt a bit hypocritical when I told people I was cutting out dairy.  I read a few articles saying how it can be bad for your skin, so in the name of vanity I decided to try a dairy (i.e. cow milk based products) free diet for a few months.  I definitely haven’t been completely stringent and have been eating sheep and goat’s milk, butter and cheese (apparently it can just be the hormones in cow milk – feel free to correct me on any of the science).  But all good desserts and sweet things have butter and cream, and sometimes you just don’t want your porridge and honey to taste rather goat-like at 7am.

Coconut milk is an excellent alternative, and I had an experiment at making coconut ice cream yesterday.  There were a couple of leftover egg yolks from making my favourite macaroon recipe, so I used these along with honey and desiccated coconut before topping the finished scoops with dark chocolate for an excellent Bounty effect, and sprinkling with toasted sesame seeds.

The What Joanna Ate parental household seems to have every kitchen gadget possible (grapefruit segmenter or pineapple corer anyone?), but surprisingly no ice-cream maker.  This worked pretty well nonetheless with a little stirring and blending, but would be even simpler with a machine.

Other flavours would be delicious in the ice-cream – a little vanilla extract or vanilla pods, crushed cardamon pods or lime zest would work well in the mixture.  Topped with sticky roasted mango, a smattering of passion fruit or a glug of dark rum, this makes a delicious pudding – and completely dairy free if anyone else is interested in that.

Serves 2ish (4 or so scoops – easily doubled, I just had 2 egg yolks left)

2 egg yolks

50g honey

1 tin coconut milk

50g desiccated coconut

• Whisk the egg yolks and honey together until a little thicker, before whisking in the coconut milk and desiccated coconut
• Transfer to a saucepan, and gently heat for about 8 minutes until thickened a little (it should coat the back of a soon), and be careful not to let boil
• Pour into a shallow plastic container and leave to cool completely
• If you have one, churn in an icecream maker according to the maker’s instructions, and if not, put the lid on the container and put in the freezer
• Mix with a fork once every hour for 3 or so hours, until frozen solid
• Break up the frozen mixture into the food processor, and blitz until the mixture is smooth
• Eat straight away, or re-freeze ready for scooping

What Joanna Ate Facelift

If any of you have come across What Joanna Ate before today, it would have looked rather different.  When I decided to set up the blog, I spent one chilly November Sunday last year taking rather a lot of photos of a saffron poached pear.  After about 50 different variations, I decided on one particularly lovely golden pear to be the header, and had a play around on Google Blogger to set up the rest of the template.

Since then, I have been cooking, writing and photographing away, and thinking of new ideas.  I decided that my photos and design were not quite what I wanted to convey the blog and I, and after seeing the work of a fabulous illustrator Rachael through a friend, enlisted her professional help.

After a rather vague brief, Rachael came up with the fantastic illustration above – you can check out all her great work below, and do get in touch with her for any commissions:

http://rachaelnilsson.com/

Regency Cafe, Pimlico

My Dad isn’t quite my go-to person for the hottest new restaurant openings.  He does, however, know London very well and occasionally suggests great long-standing London gems that I should try. 

He’s been saying I needed to visit the Regency Café ever since I started the blog, and a few weeks ago we made it to this Pimlico institution.  It was established in 1946, and is a bit of a café design classic - it was used in the film Layer Cake and the Vogue shoots taken inside are put up on the walls.  

The menu offers any kind of traditional fry-up you could want, alongside home-made pies, sandwiches, and my favourite kind of British classics like ham, egg and chips.  They also have daily specials, including curry and fish on a Friday, all washed down with mugs of tea.  Diners order at the counter before sitting down, and collect the food when it’s ready – announced with a gentle booming across the room.  It’s the perfect system, with the steamed up room full of a mixture of people from civil servants to kids on the rainy Friday, but only a short wait for the food.

My Dad went for a delicious mushroom omelette, chips and beans (a great stodgy combination), while I had the perfectly cooked cod with crispy batter, golden hand-cut chips and good old mushy peas.  It’s a bargain – my lunch was the most expensive thing on the menu at £7, with lots of dishes around the £4 mark.  It would be the ideal fry-up destination, and I will definitely be back.  If a traditional British café like this is as good as the Regency Café, it shouldn’t change a bit.

Chinese-style Lamb Dumplings

Chinese potstickers, Japanes gyozas, Russian pelmeni, Argentinian empanadas and Italian ravioli.  Everyone loves dumplings, with the little parcels filled with something delicious.

Asian dumplings are my favourite, and I love squidgy steamed ones, or ones that are then fried until golden and crispy, dunked into a spicy dipping sauce.  Whenever you order in restaurants they seem one of those things that are a little complicated to recreate at home, but apart from a bit of assembly, they are pretty fool-proof. 

Last week I came back from one of the Asian supermarkets in China Town with some mysterious vegetables, great fresh red miso paste and a packet of dumpling wrappers, so decided to have a little experiment in the kitchen.

I was using up bits I had left, including some minced lamb (from my version of lahmacun, the Turkish lamb pizza with lots of herbs, lemon and sumac) and some curly kale (a rather more British ingredient).  I added some cumin, coriander seed, soy sauce, chilli flakes, chives, black sesame and red onion, and after steaming, fried a few and served with a tangy dipping sauce.

The important point is not to put too much filling in each dumpling, as you want to be able to seal easily with no splitting.  The dumpling wrappers also freeze well, if you want to make a smaller batch. 

Dumplings (makes around 18)

1 tsp flavourless oil (I used sunflower)

1 red onion, finely chopped

50g curly kale

150g minced lamb

2 tsp ground cumin seeds

2 tsp ground coriander seed

2 tsp sesame seeds (I used black, but white would do)

1 pinch dried chilli flakes

2 tbsp soy sauce

Small bunch chives, finely chopped

Dumpling wrappers (my packet was 18)

Dipping Sauce

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp chinese rice vinegar

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

• Gently fry the red onion for 5 minutes or so until soft and translucent, before adding the kale and cooking for a couple more minutes
• Add the onion and kale to the lamb, spices, sesame seeds, soy sauce and chives and mix until well-combined
• Take a dumpling wrapper, moisten the edges with a finger dipped in water, before putting a small teaspoon of the filling in one half of the wrapper, with a gap for the rim (see picture above)
• Fold the wrapper to seal, before crimping with your fingers
• Place about 5 or 6 in a bamboo or normal steamer, with greaseproof paper on the bottom, and steam for around 8 minutes (until the wrapper is translucent all the way through)

• While they are steaming, mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce together
• You can fry once steamed for a different texture – just heat a little oil over a moderate heat, and fry on one side until golden and brown

These are a few of my favourite fillings that also work well:

• Raw, de-veined and de-shelled prawns, chopped and mixed with lots of chopped spring onions, and a generous slug of sesame oil
• Minced pork with finely shredded Chinese leaf, chilli flakes and chopped water chestnuts

I’m not sure how authentic any of my combinations are, but dumplings like this are a great example of how you can turn a few leftovers in the fridge into something rather more exciting.

Ceviche, Soho

Soho is one of my favourite parts of London for eating.  It’s full of great places, often tucked in next to the neon-lit seediness, and always feels vibrant and busy.  But lots of the good restaurants are often so busy that you either need to eat at 5.30 or 9.30 in the evening, which can be a bit frustrating.  Especially when lots of the places don’t take bookings, and the only choice is to turn up hopeful, with a back-up plan.

I’ve read lots about this no-bookings trend, and I’m not going to debate whether I think it works or not, but it does make it tricky to go to new places if you turn up around 7pm.  A few weeks ago L and I tried to go to Flat Iron, as I’d heard good things about this £10 (no-booking) steak place.  There was a waiting time of 2 and a half hours – not good if you’re hungry.  Then to Pitt Cue Co (fabulous pulled pork) with their bar also crammed with people waiting, and then the same story at Spuntino (delicious shoe-string fries and truffled egg and cheese toast).

We ended up at Ceviche rather un-optimistic, but were given a table straight away.  It’s a cosy spot on Frith Street, with a little bar at the front.  My recent trip to Coya introduced me to Peruvian food and the wonder of pisco sours - those at Ceviche were smooth and citrus sharp, with a number of different types on the menu (including a lovely passion fruit one).

The menu is made up of small plates designed for sharing, which we studied while munching some of their Cancha, a crunchy Peruvian corn that’s a little like un-popped popcorn, but much nicer and rather less teeth-shattering.  We then shared dishes that included good cassava chips (a bit like woodier potato), cheese and chard taquenos (little crispy parcels, molten inside), and a quinoa salad that was interesting, but in a dressing that was a little sweet.

Ceviche is typically raw fish marinated in citrus and chilli, and it felt only right to try a few of the namesake dishes.  The Don Ceviche was seabass in Amarillo chilli tiger’s milk (the ceviche marinade), limo chilli and red onion, and was fresh, tart and tangy.  The mushroom and sweet potato ceviche was less successful, but maybe ordering any non-fish ceviche just isn’t the best idea.  I was surprised that the more wild-card choice of beef-heart was my favourite dish.  Grilled with a lovely smoky char, this was tender and full of beefiness without being offaly, and a great match with the spicy anticuchera sauce and giant choclo corn.

We shared a dessert of cinnamon sponge soaked in pisco syrup, with creamy dulce de leche ice cream.  The bill (including a couple of pisco sours each) was around £70, so it’s not the cheapest, but definitely an affordable option if you don’t go mad with ordering (it’s easy to get carried away in ‘small plate’ places).  It’s a fun, colourful restaurant (my photos make the inside and the food dingier looking than in reality), and feels a little piece of Lima in the middle of a rather greyer London.  

http://cevicheuk.com/