Browsing Tag:

lunch

Food

Disfrutar Barcelona

November 22, 2016

You may not always associate Spain with some of the best chefs in the world as that title is usually associated with the French. However, the Spanish specialize in something truly unique: molecular cooking. A sort of culinary science experiment, expect things to look, taste and feel different than you would imagine.

So, on a recent trip to Barcelona when we heard about the recently opened and award winning Disfrutar (Spanish for enjoy) we knew we needed to stop by. Started by three chefs who trained at elBulli and later opened their first restaurant Compartir in 2012, Disfrutar is a no fuss approach to truly creative food.

From the clay tiles to the underwater feel in the bathrooms, the Michelin-starred restaurant is meant to reflect the Mediterranean. The food does as well, with a menu dominated by fish. Come hungry because Disfrutar only offers a choice of tasting menus, grand or regular, classic or ‘festival’.

We chose the grand and proceeded to eat for several hours.

Foie Gras

Below are a selection of food photos. My favourite dish was the carb free ‘mac and cheese’ which was made with a jelly pasta and cream sauce. None of that pesky wheat, but enough cheese to clog even the largest of arteries.

This was actually tied with the deep fried runny egg which would probably be my perfect meal combined with bacon.

There was even a green juice. I didn’t choose this basic life, it chose me.

The below was tough for me to eat because I hate eating things when they look like they did when they were alive.

Cotton candy on a cotton tree (4 of the cotton balls were edible).

Chocolate filled chilies.

Pigeon.

You had to rinse your hand with whiskey before the rabbit broth chilled with a pressure frozen, perfectly clear ice cube.

Those little dangle things above are actually pasta.

The below was a bit fishy for my tastes and quite difficult to eat while keeping hold of your dignity.

The below was a kind of dry gazpacho.

Giant corn with avocado on a cracker.

Freeze dried beets. These were sweet and reminded me of special k red berries (in a good way).

The tiny fishes on this dish reminded me of several meals we had in Japan. This baby fish is salty and a bit creepy, so I suggest eating with your eyes closed (see my Japan food guide here).

Barcelona has such a rich foodie culture and a welcoming atmosphere. I’d highly recommend it if you are looking to travel with your stomach in mind.

Disfrutar

Barcelona

http://en.disfrutarbarcelona.com

Food

Sexy Fish London

November 8, 2016

Stephanie

Sexy Fish. Not two things you usually associate with each other, but when you have a look at the amazing interior, I can see why they chose the name. I’m not usually into hype and there’s been no shortage for Sexy Fish but the Japanese restaurant pretty much lives up to it.

And yes, I know it’s annoying to have to book a month ahead of time. I actually had a reservation when Sexy Fish first opened but had to cancel. However, this Saturday, we just walked right in and sat at one of the high tables near the bar for lunch. TIP! You can also go by 6pm during the week before all the hedge funds let out and try to get a seat at the bar and you’d probably do well.

Anyway, the atmosphere and service were fantastic. This restaurant has style. From the paper fish lighting, to the art deco feel and the oldies music playing, walking into Sexy Fish immediately made me forget all the passive aggressive honking going on outside.

We ordered a range of food from their menu and, although primarily a Japanese fish restaurant, there are items on the menu for picky eaters including chicken salad and sticky pork ribs.

BEWARE: this restaurant is not cheap. In fact, it’s really expensive, but we knew that going in. So, now that that’s out of the way, onto the food!

We started with the Wagyu and Truffle Gunkan which, at £7/piece, you really need to savor. It was absolutely delicious though and easily my favorite dish we had.

The Yellowtail Sashimi was good but unremarkable, as was the sushi. Great quality fish, but there wasn’t anything that special about it.

The prawn gyoza was crazy hot. Might want to let it sit for a few minutes before you tuck in or risk burning off all of your taste buds.

The salt and pepper squid was pretty good. I loved the sauce, but the lime it was served with was super dry.

I highly recommend the beef skewers. They came with some asparagus and were very tender. Had we known that, we may not have ordered the extra asparagus, which was tasty, but essentially just grilled asparagus.

If cost isn’t an issue, I recommend giving Sexy Fish a shot. The food is tasty, although some of it isn’t necessarily anything special. That opinion may be clouded by the fact that we have so many amazing Japanese restaurants in London (you can check out my review of Roka here).

What to wear: Something chic, although I showed up in jeans and flats after a Friday night out and they still let me in.

What you’ll see: Lots of mermaid boobs, and if you go at the right time, a celebutante pretending to eat.

Sexy Fish

1-4 Berkeley Square,
Mayfair, London
W1J 6BR

020 37642000

www.sexyfish.com

Food

Smack Lobster Roll

June 28, 2016

Stephanie

I have walked by Smack several times and several times I’ve been with someone who wasn’t as into eating their weight in lobster rolls as I was. Then finally! The fates were looking favorably upon me in a moment when I walk by alone and I was famished.

It was linner (lunch and dinner. It’s not a thing, I checked on twitter, but I’m making it a thing) and my original destination, although only a block away was too far. So, I ducked into Smack and out of the rain. Created by the wonderful magicians at Burger and Lobster (you can read my review of them here) Smack is everything you want in a lobster roll without having to wait. However, a tad pricey at £12/pop + £3 for sweet potato fries (obviously), it’s still less than Burger and Lobster.

I put my order in for a California Lobster roll (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado mayo, with lime and chives) and it was as delicious as it sounds. Smack also has the original Burger and Lobster recipe (try this first if you’ve never had one, if only to have a bar to judge everything else in your life against) as well as a Seven Samurai Japanese inspired lobster roll.

There were also salads on the menu, but seriously, if you go into Smack and order a salad instead of a toasty buttery brioche roll full of delicious lobster, you need to start examining your life chooses. I was also tempted by their brisket roll offerings, at £8 each, but I had an event later than evening and didn’t want to have to explain my food baby.

I added sweet potato fries, or as I like to call them, diet fries, because they were the only carb based side, strong choice Smack. I know waxing lyrical about sweet potato fries is such a basic bitch thing to do, on par with ordering a flat bread appetizer and just below taking pictures of pumpkin spiced lattes whilst wearing Uggs. You know what, judge all you want, sweet potato fries are delicious and they are fried to within an inch of their life.

You can take your spoils away or eat on one of the many benches available, either way you are in for a treat.

Come one, come all or order online! And Smack, can you add a few more options, please? I vaguely remember seeing that you once offered a Mexican lobster roll, although that could have been another one of my food dreams.

What to wear: I was between meetings and wearing a business casual dress. I saw a guy walk in with a newspaper pirate hat though, so I think anything goes.

Smack

58 Dean Street London W1D 6AL

smacklobster.com

Food

Farmacy

May 23, 2016

Stephanie

1 Comments

Brunch! The most basic habitat of a basic girl. Unsurprisingly, I love finding new brunch places, so when my friend invited me to Farmacy (not to be confused with Damien Hirst’s Notting Hill restaurant, Pharmacy, which closed in 2003) in Notting Hill on Sunday, I was intrigued. Is it brunch at a former pharmacy location, clever marketing for farm fresh food, or are we just going to go get the morning after pill and a green juice?

Turns out, it was just a good name. This tasty vegetarian spot on the corner of Westbourne Grove opened in late April. I do wonder why they haven’t branded themselves as fully vegan as there’s only one item on the menu that isn’t, and it’s only because it contains an optional egg. Normally, I roll my eyes at vegan places or those that proclaim themselves to be, gluten, dairy and meat free because, not only does it have the potential to bring the most annoying people in the world together, what do they serve? Usually, very expensive carrot sticks. However, I was pleased to see Farmacy has plenty of (still expensive) options and it was all very flavourful.

We ordered a bunch of stuff to share, which I recommend in order to try the large variety they offer. Farmacy has everything from pasta and pizza to ‘earth bowls’ (think quinoa and veggies) and ‘syringes’ containing cannabis oil, which I sadly didn’t try. But, I’m glad the pharmaceutical theme found it’s way into the menu without being creepy.

Opened by Camilla Al-Fayad, the daughter of former Harrods owner Mohamed Al–Fayed, Farmacy is, according to their web site, “not just another food and beverage play. It’s a game changing lifestyle brand. A positive lifestyle choice which connects people to source, self and community through healthy and holistic eating”. I don’t know what that means, but they have plant-based burgers and nachos that are ‘healthy’. Even the coffee came with a vegan twist, only offered with almond milk and coconut sugar. Because everything coconut is healthy, right?

Many of the ingredients had quotes around them, which made me wonder what was actually in it. Not enough to ask, mind you. I didn’t want to be the ravenous carnivore at the table and offend anyone. Although, delicious, it did make me think twice while digging into the ‘sour cream’ on my nachos.

The nachos were really tasty, if a little sparse to share and low on toppings. Insiders tip: dip the remaining tortilla chips in a side of hummus.

The hummus! No exaggeration, it was probably the best I’ve ever had. It came plain, so, had we not ordered the mixed potato sticks (more on that on a second), I’m not entirely sure how we were supposed to eat it.

So, what made me giggle the most was ordering the mixed potato sticks with aoli. I knew some quinoa and beetroot wasn’t going to fill me up, so I was looking for a heavy carb fix and the mixed potato sticks was my contribution to the group order. Then it arrived….

Chips. I’d ordered chips. Sniffing out the only unhealthy thing on the menu is pretty much the most me thing I could have done at a healthy vegan restaurant. They were good.

We ordered 3 earth bowls: the green eggs bowl (which actually came with a single egg) reminded me of Dr Seuss which is why I suggested it. It contained kale, broccoli, avocado and a poached egg. From my understanding, they ran out of eggs as I heard someone else was unable to order it so I’m not sure if it was supposed to come with just one.

The middle east bowl (above) was probably my favourite. The baba ganoush was fantastic, although I’m not sure exactly what an ‘activated seed’ is.

Which also brings me to the ‘activated quinoa’ in the macro bowl. I couldn’t tell the difference between the macro bowl quinoa and the green eggs bowl quinoa, which was apparently not activated.

What to wear: I came from Yoga (that basic lyfe) so my hair looked like ass and I was wearing ripped jeans. But to be fair, a lot of people in there looked like they’d come straight from yoga.

I’m definitely going to make my way back to this place. Be warned though, it’s quite pricy (£20/girl for brunch with no booze) and there is a bit of a wait list. We put our names down and went to have a juice for 40 minutes while we waited, so I recommend making a reservation. It’s surprisingly good for a veggie/vegan haunt. If they can figure out eggs benedict like The Good Life Eatery has (more about that here) and combine that with the nacho offering, Farmacy would be my new favourite healthy brunch place!

Farmacy

74 Westbourne Grove

London

W2 5SH

020 7221 0705

farmacylondon.com

Food

PizzaBuzz

May 4, 2016

Stephanie

Pizza is one of my favourite foods. I love it so much, that it’s what I demanded for my birthday meal last year. So, when I was invited to try out the new London pizza joint, PizzaBuzz, I was both excited and nervous. As a blogger, you always want to love the place you’re going to eat for free, but as a pizza lover, I know I’m an unforgiving b*&ch (case in point: my post on Pizza East can be seen here).

I was very pleasantly surprised! PizzaBuzz is a millennial focused pizza brand. With their pop art walls and emphasis on the individual, it was honestly a restaurant experience like none other. The most impressive part for me was that they have simplified the ordering process. Ever get annoyed when you’re at a restaurant and they don’t come take your order for ages, or not there when you want another drink and even worse, never bring you the bill? They have an app for that. Along with a delivery option on most food service apps like Deliveroo and Jinn, they also have Flypay, an app that can bring your food right to the table without having to flag someone down.
They are also the solution to that annoying friend you can’t go anywhere with because they are everything-intolerant. You get to make your own pizza anyway you want, including gluten free bread and you don’t have to suffer through listening to them complain that there’s nothing for them on the menu.

The hubs and I walked in and grabbed a table with the other bloggers and then went up to create our masterpieces. I was so glad he came with me because I really couldn’t decide what I wanted and one of the best things about getting married is sharing food. I ordered the verde base (pine nut basil pesto, mozzarella and Parmesan), while the hubs had plain old margherita.

Next it was toppings. Oh the toppings! You have to be careful, because although the pizzas start at a very reasonable £4.25, if you add absolutely everything (like I tried to), it can add up. I added ham, pancetta, pepperoni (yes, basically every kind of pork they had), pecorino, chestnut mushrooms and olives. But even with all of that added, my pizza only came to £14.40. To put it in perspective, I tried to build the same pizza at Domnios (small size) and it was over £20 and they didn’t even have pecorino. Hubs added chicken, veal meatballs, goats cheese, green peppers, chestnut mushrooms, red onion and courgette.

They were both delicious! And actually fairly large. I took a third of mine home and had it the next day. There wasn’t too much sauce (my pet peeve) and because you see them make the pizza, you can ask for as little or as much as you want. It’s also ready insanely quickly because they have some kind of magic oven that can cook the pizza in 90 seconds. Yes that’s right. They can cook a pizza quicker than my microwave can do popcorn.

If you aren’t into pizza, we can’t be friends but you can still eat at PizzaBuzz. They have salads and some delicious burrata. If you’re on a diet and can’t stomach eating like a rabbit, PizzaBuzz also has a 500 calorie pizza offering which isn’t just cutting the center out of a regular pizza (rolling my eyes in your direction Pizza Express). There’s almost too much to even add in this blog. Love ice cream? They have their own brand that includes almond milk, goats milk and regular old cows milk. I had the goats milk mint chocolate chip, which was surprisingly delish.

My only suggestion to PizzaBuzz would be to add some dipping sauces. In America they have ranch dressing to dip pizza into and although may seem weird at first, it’s magical. Add that and along with the bottomless booze offer for £29.95 – yes, that is a thing and it includes bubbles – and you have a great casual night out.

PizzaBuzz

Alphabeta Building

2b Worship Street

London

EC2A 2AH

www.pizzabuzz.co.uk

Food

Goat

November 2, 2015

Stephanie

Goat has a special place in my heart because it’s where I met my husband. Back then, however it was a dive-y pub called The Goat and Boots. Goat, as it stands now was refurbished a few years ago and has become a neighborhood favorite.

It was a lazy Saturday when we went ad Chelsea was playing. Goat was one of the few places not full of rowdy blue jerseys so we went to have a bite. I’ve eaten there several times before and my favorite thing on the menu for a light bite is the black quinoa salad. The portion size is actually quite decent for the starter, which means I usually pair it with something less healthy, like the truffle mac and cheese.

The mac and cheese, however, is a fairly small portion. We were a fairly large group drinking and eating so we shared everything and this didn’t go very far. So we added the antipasti platter and calamari.

Antipasti was really good, particularly the fried artichokes. The calamari was very small and came with legs, which I hate, although the fried courgette was a nice touch.

One of the great things about Goat is the secret speakeasy. I’ve been there for drinks on several occasions and because the space is fairly small, it’s perfect for intimate private parties. However, ladies beware. They place candles in very dangerous places and my friend’s hair started on fire as she stood near a shelf that had a poorly placed candle at head height. When we spoke to the manager about it, he didn’t seem to think having a candle there was a big deal because it had only happened twice before. Listen, if a girl sets her hair on fire once because you have a candle burning in a bad spot, that’s one time too many. Sort it out.

Great for: quick bite and then head upstairs. It’s one of the only pubs in the area still open until 1.

Watch out for: Candles and drunk Chelsea supporters on the street.

Goat

333 Fulham Road, SW10 9QL

www.goatchelsea.com

020 7352 1384

Food

The Good Life Eatery

October 8, 2015

Stephanie

1 Comments

First off, it should be called the F%$king Great Life Eatery because that’s how good the eggs benedict is. I went to meet my friend right before my wedding for a catch up breakfast and my only requirement was healthy. In my world, healthy is any food that doesn’t contain cookies or cake, so our options were pretty open. I’d been dying to go to The Good Life Eatery for a while but heard there were lines and I couldn’t be bothered to fight a yummy mummy after her yoga class with an insatiable need to get her chia seed on.

It was raining, elbows were thrown but eventually I got somewhere near the front of the line and ordered their skinny royale. If I’m honest I expected it to taste like cardboard because that’s how most health food tastes to me. I picked the real bread (gluten free is code word for filled with plastic and shit I can’t pronounce) and we sat at the counter near the doorway, which my friend was passively aggressively guarding with her life.

Imagine my surprise when this plate of deliciousness showed up.

I don’t know what’s skinny about it because this was probably one of the best eggs benedict/royale I have ever had in my entire life. If it will put less junk in my trunk I vote we permanently change the standard recipe to this (eggs, smoked salmon, yogurt and saffron sauce mmmmmmm).

Although they have a vast selection, I didn’t have a smoothie. I’m just not into avocado, vanilla and almond milk mixed together. I’d like to keep my yummy benedict down thankyouverymuch.

Then I went back a few weeks later with another set of girl friends for our first (of hopefully many) breakfast club at noon (One of us had yoga. It obviously wasn’t me). Imagine my horror when I was told that they don’t serve eggs after 11:30am because eggs aren’t for the afternoon. Whoever decided this is missing out on LIFE. Anyway, after the shock wore off I ordered their chicken club which was also delicious, but not to the epic level their royale was.

I was also hung-over as f%$k so I asked the staff if they had anything that would cure it and they pointed me in the direction of a delicious juice called Melrose sunset. The food arrived promptly and we chatted as a weirdo sat at the spare seat at our table and devoured a huge and incredible looking piece of red velvet cake.

I highly recommend The Goof Life Eatery but politely request that you contact me before you go so you can save me a place in line.

The Good Life Eatery

www.goodlifeeatery.com

59 Sloane Avenue

London SW3 3DH UK

Stephanie Wahlstrom

Hey! Cute top! Flattery gets you everywhere, right? Seriously, though, I like what you've got going on over there. Anyway, my name is Stephanie and I am a Canadian writer living in London. I like to eat, travel and make people laugh. The Accidental Socialite is the name of my debut novel and this blog where you'll find tales of my mishaps and far too many references to bacon. Enjoy!