You can read it via pdf on Windows with Acrobat at https://acrobat.com/#d=EqQRsSUF4o4MDB59MzW90g
Alternatively, if using Mac, iPad etc then can view via Evernote at http://t.co/QXbmeLLG
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Drinking By Numbers
My article Drinking By Numbers has just been published in Appetite magazine in Singapore
You can read it via pdf on Windows with Acrobat at https://acrobat.com/#d=EqQRsSUF4o4MDB59MzW90g
Alternatively, if using Mac, iPad etc then can view via Evernote at http://t.co/QXbmeLLG
You can read it via pdf on Windows with Acrobat at https://acrobat.com/#d=EqQRsSUF4o4MDB59MzW90g
Alternatively, if using Mac, iPad etc then can view via Evernote at http://t.co/QXbmeLLG
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tip Top - The Puff Daddy
While searching for a plastic Xmas tree to transform Singapore's equatorial climate into a cool Alpine forest, I happened upon Tip Top - The Puff Factory, in Plaza Singapura. Being English, I'm a bit of a curry puff fan; it combines two of England's national dishes into one - the crimped pastry case of a Cornish Pasty and the spicy warmth of an English curry. Tip Top goes a step further by chucking a hard boiled egg in there for good measure.
The puff is crisp yet yielding in texture, with a filling that is dense and moreish. The curry is deep hued and perfectly seasoned with the egg-citement of it's additional surprise ingredient. Some commentators have noted that the prices have gone up recently, while the size has diminished, but in my mind these are certainly the best Curry Puffs I've tasted in Singapore.
The puff is crisp yet yielding in texture, with a filling that is dense and moreish. The curry is deep hued and perfectly seasoned with the egg-citement of it's additional surprise ingredient. Some commentators have noted that the prices have gone up recently, while the size has diminished, but in my mind these are certainly the best Curry Puffs I've tasted in Singapore.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
No Senso
When the search for great food starts to feel like climbing Everest, you need a 'Food Sherpa' who's going to get you to the top of the gastronomic mountain. You need a guide; a waiter who knows the menu back to front. What you do not need is some kind of 'yes man' servant who gives the impression of lightening your load, yet allows you to fluff the directions, ending with you both perishing in a culinary wasteland...
Eating out should be an adventure. I like to be whisked away for few of hours, to a faraway place where the food, atmosphere and service seamlessly interact. Service should add to the illusion rather than detract from it. Constant re-filling of water/wine, cutlery fiddling and napkin straightening, bordering on OCD, can be seen as 'attentive' - or just plain annoying.
Good service for me is a smile, and, yes, an opinion. I want a bit of passion, not a fawning “whatever Sir desires” while I try to choose one of the eight dishes I have narrowed the menu down to. Even in 2 and 3 Michelin star restaurants you get a smile and an opinion – it's not all starch and stuffiness. Non-committal just gets my (mountain) goat.
So this is what goes through my head as I sit wincing to the soundtrack of waiters clattering my cutlery, cutting the atmosphere of Club Street's up-market Italian restaurant, Senso, like a pick axe.
Senso's opulent menu bulges with Lobsters, truffles, Barolos and Brunellos, but all I want is something a little more 'rustic'. I order the Homemade Ravioli stuffed with braised Veal shank, served with Porcini Mushrooms sauce ($26), while my dining partners get into the Lobster and truffles with Homemade Taglierini Pasta with Boston Lobster and fresh Basil ($32) and Homemade Fettuccine Pasta in Butter sauce with Italian Summer Black Truffle ($ 30).
I know the ravioli is homemade because, sadly, the pasta is too thick. It is less of a fluffy pillow than a sack made of window putty, but the sauce and filling are tasty nonetheless. The Lobster and truffle choices get a reluctant thumbs up from my table guests – it seems the non-committal response is rubbing off.
The luxurious truffle seems to permeate every corner of the menu from the fettuccine starter to the fillet beef main with it's black truffle sauce, Filetto di Manzo Australiano con salsa al tartufo nero, verdurine e Gnocchi alla Romana ($38). Over-truffling your menu, like over-attentive service, is just over-compensating as far as I'm concerned. The pretentiousness hides the sad truth that the food just isn't good enough.
I do get a glimpse of some personality from two of the waiters as they arrive with my main of Traditional Veal Ossoboccu with Lemon 'Gremolata' on Rosemary Polenta Mousse ($38). One of the guys hides the individual pot of ossobucco while the other wishes me “buon appetito” with my polenta. As I'm about to question the whereabouts of my slow-cooked veal the little joker produces the pot from behind his back with a chuckle. The joke would have been funny it it weren't for the dried up piece of veal that I'm served that has the consistency of a hiking boot.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
James Martin - Dish Of The Day
Heartthrob chef and fulltime Yorkshireman James Martin from BBC Lifestyle was in Singapore recently for a food and wine event that was less about food and wine and more of a battle of who out of the female ex-pat crowd fancied James the most.
James seemed to be used to the attention but even he appeared uneasy at audience questions that included 'James, will you marry me?' and 'James, can you fertislise my eggs please?' At least no one asked him to get out his meat and 2 veg...
 |
| StarHugs |
Although James' food was actually rather tasty, neither the home crowd of Singaporeans nor the expat contingent were eating anything. While the ex-pats were lustily necking back the wine, the Singaporean girls were busy watching their weight and staring open-mouthed at the sight of half-cut Brits launching themselves at James.
 |
| James - I wanted your plums... |
The food was matched with wines from Beringer, a company that obviously had a pretty good idea of the crowd they were catering to. Lashings of sparkling White Zin were gulped down by the waiting throng who were taken by the comforting flavours of what tasted like strawberry cordial with bubbles.
With the Asian-influenced risotto of crab and chili, Beringer's Ambassador had matched an oaky, smoky Beringer Founder's Estate Chardonnay, a marriage that was the most welcome of the evening. Notably, even the bawdiest of Brits tucked into the food and resisted the urge to blurt out any crab-related jokes.
The least adventurous of the food and wine pairings was the Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with Slow Roast Beef and Wild Mushroom with Smoked garlic pommes puree, which seemed more of a palate cleanser than a food match. While the updated Brit beef classic with it's Gallic twang showed flair, the wine lacked real personality with it's pedestrian blackcurrant flavours and smooth, yet bitter finish.
Ironically the dusted-strawberry sweetness of the sparkling zin was not misplaced as a match for the 3,000 calorie White Chocolate, Whisky and Croissant Butter Pudding with vanilla ice-cream and a second pudd, Caramelized Lemon Tart with Crème Fraiche. To his credit, James held back any compulsion to make an amusing reference to 'tarts' that might have ended the cash-cow that is his live food circuit – he knows which side his bread and butter pudding is buttered on...
However, he did manage to slip one in there - a joke of course - about Balsamic vinegar, likening it to an older women. Apparently, as it ages it 'gets more expensive and thicker'! Brilliant! The crowd seemed too inebriated or mesmerized by James' cheeky yorkshire brogue to care.
 |
| I made the effort - long trousers |
As the ladies stumbled off into the night I thought it a shame that it may have been a wasted opportunity to try James' food at it's best, and also to sample some higher-end Beringer wines that were in their portfolio. I'm sure I was the only one – everyone else seemed to be having a whale of a time regardless! The only dish they were interested in was James...
Check out the photos from Starhub right here:
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sky High Price For 1811 Château d'Yquem
The world's most expensive white wine will reside in Asia for the next 6 years, until it is opened and drunk at a special meal to celebrate the buyer's 50th anniversary in the wine business.
Christian Vanneque, former head sommelier at the Michelin starred La Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris, bought the wine for £75,000 ($150,000) last week at London's Ritz hotel, dropping by Raffles, Singapore on Thursday, with the 1811 vintageChâteau d'Yquem in tow.
Pint-sized Christian posed for photographs with the 75 cl bottle and quipped that he was attracted to a wine made during Napoleon's reign because they both shared a lack of height. In reality it was the wine's stature amongst peers that persuaded Christian to part with the equivalent of a 75 night stay in the Ritz's Trafalgar Suite.
The 1811 is considered by some to be the best ever vintage of Château d'Yquem, a wine dubbed 'liquid gold' even in less iconic years due to it's price, unique balance of sweetness and acidity, and it's potential for longevity.
It hails from the year of Flaugergues' famous comet, an event documented in art and fiction by Blake and Tolstoy, and seen as a portent of Napoleon's invasion of Russia and the war of 1812.
'Comet Vintages' also appear to provide excellent conditions for wine production, with the 1811 vintage marking a reversal of fortune for the regions of Bordeaux, Cognac and Champagne, that were previously blighted by a run of not-so-stellar vintages.
Robert Parker was star stuck by the vintage when he was asked to rate one of the few remaining bottles of the 1811 vintage in 1996. He gave the wine a perfect 100 point score, remarking that the flavour was like 'liquified crème brulee'.
Before Christian gets to see if Parker's assessment is right, the bottle will find a home in the ex-sommelier's SIP Sunset Grill in Bali. It will be protected in an air-conditioned, bullet proof case until it finds it's final resting place on the table of La Tour d'Argent at a family meal, 6 years from now.
Let's hope he is over the moon when he opens the world-record-breaking wine, and that it provides the perfect finish to this celebratory meal and his lifetime in the wine business.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Halliday Destination
Appreciating wine is not about ticking off lists of famous or expensive wines just to say you've tried them. In the same way, going on holiday shouldn't be about ticking off the places you've been just to say you've been there. Both are as much about the journey as they are about the destination...
I was at The World Gourmet Summit in Sentosa last week for a tutored Shiraz tasting with James Halliday and guests Lisa Perotti-Brown MW and Dr N K Yong. My destination wine was going to be Penfolds Grange (and boy, was it good). But along the way I was treated to some wine discoveries that made the journey just as sweet.
Shiraz has become an icon of modern winemaking, grown in all 62 of Australia's wine making regions. Although relatively low-yielding, it is an adaptable grape that survives in many different vine growing environments.
Hunter Valley, or “the umbilical cord of Sydney”, as Halliday likes to call it, is at the hot end of the scale for a fine wine producing area. For a long time the shiraz from this area was “undiscovered and undervalued”, he says , but the “recent awakening of Tyrrell's to the age of their vines” has lead fellow winemakers to follow suit, and collectively “take the game by the throat”. The 2007 Tyrrell's Vat 9 Hunter Shiraz is a great example of old vine Shiraz, made from vines with an average age of 80 years.
Hunter Valley, like the other winemaking areas represented today, has never been affected by the phylloxera louse. It is an important point to note as these vines are ungrafted, and grown on their own roots. This is extremely rare in the world of winemaking; only a few countires and viticultural areas can lay claim to this. All others have vines that are grafted on to American root stock to protect them from the louse. Ungrafted vines have a longer lifespan and can lead to deep concentrated flavours in the grapes due to naturally lowering yields.
It maybe surprising, but this, and many of the other top wines here, are sealed with a screw cap. Halliday is a proponent of screw cap technology and would choose screw cap over cork for all wines, whether they are meant for drinking young, or for ageing. It is a controversial subject, he says; an ongoing 'topic of discussion' within the wine industry. By way of example he refers to two of the Penfolds wines tasting today.
Penfolds Grange uses cork whereas Penfolds RWT has a screw cap: is this just because of consumer image and the “perception of quality” a cork brings to a wine? Halliday remarks that he would be willing to pay more for a Grange with a screw cap closure!
However, the 2005 Henschke Hill of Grace is an example of a super-premium wine that uses screw cap as a closure: a rare sight indeed at it's price point. Halliday hopes this is the way forward for all wines, and indeed it doesn't seem to have affected it's popularity.
The Hill of Grace comes from Eden Valley, just next to Barossa. It is second in line to the Shiraz throne, behind 2004 Penfolds Grange. Comparisons cannot really be made between the two as they are made in two very distinct styles.
Hill of Grace was one of the first single vineyard sites to be made famous in Australia. Halliday states that it's a single vineyard wine using “a whole mosaic of different blocks”. Halliday has tasted the grapes, juice and fermented grape juice of the different blocks within Hill of Grace and can report that the characters are “significantly different”.The individual blocks are selected for the wine depending on the character of the vintage.
Penfolds Grange is a much more intense style of wine, but according to Halliday, it “shows class through it's back palate and finish”.It is not a single vineyard wine, but a multi-region wine. However the complex blending involved is not dissimilar to the assembly of Hill of Grace's vineyard blocks of grapes.
They use a method that is unique to Penfolds to maximise fruit flavour and give longevity to the wine. They add tannins derived from powdered grape tannin for balance and structure and so exercise complete control of the ageing potential. Sounds strange, but then again, Penfolds are always at the forefront of the field when it comes to experimentation.
Max Shubert, the innovator behind Grange, came up with the idea of pressing the grapes and taking them to barrel while they were still actively fermenting at 2-3 baume. This too was unique to Grange for a while; it is now widely adopted.
The wine that has the room buzzing, however, is 2006 Yarra Yering Dry Red No.2. The company was recently acquired by Singapore's own Ed Peters, but it is the quality and style that is the talk of the table. Maintaining consistently low yields on unirrigated soils has lead to a wine that is, in Halliday's words, “most complex” and has a “unique style”. Lisa adds that she likes the “earthy” character and flavours of “dried Mediterranean herbs”. The only downside for Halliday is the cork stopper!
There is also a stalky character to the wine that Halliday say is a result of “whole bunch pressing” of grapes. This method is one of the on-going trends that he has identified in the production of quality Shiraz. It is a method used by Syrah producers in the Rhone.
The Barossa Valley 2008 Kaesler, Alte Reben Shiraz is another acquisition of Singapore-based Ed Peters, this time in conjunction with flying wine makers Reid & Bindy Bosward. The “whole bunch pressing” is evident here too, as Halliday points out it's crucial role in this wine's tannin structure. There are less than 1000 bottles of this made each vintage so it is a particularly rare wine. The fruit comes from vines planted in 1899 with the resulting wine benefiting from subtle use of French oak, and an absence of fining and filtration to give the wine it's full expression.
This is just a snapshot of the wonderful wines sampled on the journey to Grange. It is a perfect destination, just as impressive as I have imagined all these years, but the journey itself has been First Class.
Thanks to Peter Knipp Holdings Pte Ltd and all at The World Gourmet Summit.
http://www.worldgourmetsummit.com/wgs2011/english/
I was at The World Gourmet Summit in Sentosa last week for a tutored Shiraz tasting with James Halliday and guests Lisa Perotti-Brown MW and Dr N K Yong. My destination wine was going to be Penfolds Grange (and boy, was it good). But along the way I was treated to some wine discoveries that made the journey just as sweet.
Hunter Valley, or “the umbilical cord of Sydney”, as Halliday likes to call it, is at the hot end of the scale for a fine wine producing area. For a long time the shiraz from this area was “undiscovered and undervalued”, he says , but the “recent awakening of Tyrrell's to the age of their vines” has lead fellow winemakers to follow suit, and collectively “take the game by the throat”. The 2007 Tyrrell's Vat 9 Hunter Shiraz is a great example of old vine Shiraz, made from vines with an average age of 80 years.
Hunter Valley, like the other winemaking areas represented today, has never been affected by the phylloxera louse. It is an important point to note as these vines are ungrafted, and grown on their own roots. This is extremely rare in the world of winemaking; only a few countires and viticultural areas can lay claim to this. All others have vines that are grafted on to American root stock to protect them from the louse. Ungrafted vines have a longer lifespan and can lead to deep concentrated flavours in the grapes due to naturally lowering yields.
It maybe surprising, but this, and many of the other top wines here, are sealed with a screw cap. Halliday is a proponent of screw cap technology and would choose screw cap over cork for all wines, whether they are meant for drinking young, or for ageing. It is a controversial subject, he says; an ongoing 'topic of discussion' within the wine industry. By way of example he refers to two of the Penfolds wines tasting today.
Penfolds Grange uses cork whereas Penfolds RWT has a screw cap: is this just because of consumer image and the “perception of quality” a cork brings to a wine? Halliday remarks that he would be willing to pay more for a Grange with a screw cap closure!
However, the 2005 Henschke Hill of Grace is an example of a super-premium wine that uses screw cap as a closure: a rare sight indeed at it's price point. Halliday hopes this is the way forward for all wines, and indeed it doesn't seem to have affected it's popularity.
The Hill of Grace comes from Eden Valley, just next to Barossa. It is second in line to the Shiraz throne, behind 2004 Penfolds Grange. Comparisons cannot really be made between the two as they are made in two very distinct styles.
Hill of Grace was one of the first single vineyard sites to be made famous in Australia. Halliday states that it's a single vineyard wine using “a whole mosaic of different blocks”. Halliday has tasted the grapes, juice and fermented grape juice of the different blocks within Hill of Grace and can report that the characters are “significantly different”.The individual blocks are selected for the wine depending on the character of the vintage.
Penfolds Grange is a much more intense style of wine, but according to Halliday, it “shows class through it's back palate and finish”.It is not a single vineyard wine, but a multi-region wine. However the complex blending involved is not dissimilar to the assembly of Hill of Grace's vineyard blocks of grapes.
They use a method that is unique to Penfolds to maximise fruit flavour and give longevity to the wine. They add tannins derived from powdered grape tannin for balance and structure and so exercise complete control of the ageing potential. Sounds strange, but then again, Penfolds are always at the forefront of the field when it comes to experimentation.
Max Shubert, the innovator behind Grange, came up with the idea of pressing the grapes and taking them to barrel while they were still actively fermenting at 2-3 baume. This too was unique to Grange for a while; it is now widely adopted.
There is also a stalky character to the wine that Halliday say is a result of “whole bunch pressing” of grapes. This method is one of the on-going trends that he has identified in the production of quality Shiraz. It is a method used by Syrah producers in the Rhone.
The Barossa Valley 2008 Kaesler, Alte Reben Shiraz is another acquisition of Singapore-based Ed Peters, this time in conjunction with flying wine makers Reid & Bindy Bosward. The “whole bunch pressing” is evident here too, as Halliday points out it's crucial role in this wine's tannin structure. There are less than 1000 bottles of this made each vintage so it is a particularly rare wine. The fruit comes from vines planted in 1899 with the resulting wine benefiting from subtle use of French oak, and an absence of fining and filtration to give the wine it's full expression.
This is just a snapshot of the wonderful wines sampled on the journey to Grange. It is a perfect destination, just as impressive as I have imagined all these years, but the journey itself has been First Class.
Thanks to Peter Knipp Holdings Pte Ltd and all at The World Gourmet Summit.
http://www.worldgourmetsummit.com/wgs2011/english/
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Taking the Shish
Let's begin at the beginning: I like to think that I know a lot about kebabs, right? I was there during the Portsmouth & Southsea Kebab Wars in the late 80's when the phrase "buy 1 get 1 free" was invented over stirrings of chilli sauce. I've eaten TWO kebabs in one night - hey, it was a long walk home! I've eaten shawarma in Israel, in between mixing cement and cutting floor tiles, and tucked into souvlaki in Greece next to the Acropolis. I haven't been to Turkey or the Lebanon but i've been there in spirit in the restaurants of Dalston, Green Lanes and Newington Green in London. Yep, I've tried 'em all.
What I haven't tasted before is a Singapore kebab, so it is with great merriment that I skip towards Arab Street with my trusted companion, El Jacko (aka Caroline) to sample the delights of this culinary enclave.
Tonight we are to frequent TWO establishments. No, not to recreate a bygone era of drunken student debauchery: It is because the first place is so bad that we have to walk out, Gordon Ramsay style.
On arrival at Alaturka Restaurant, Bussorah Street, we are told that they are shutting early tonight because they have their anniversary party. How sweet, we say, no problem. How inconvenient, I think to myself.
"Are you celebrating with your own home-cooked food?" i joke.
"No, we are going elsewhere", comes the reply.
Little do I know that I'll want to do the same thing in approximately 25 minutes time.
We are forced to order tea from the drinks menu as there is not a beer in sight, so opt for the mint tea. Curiously, the opportunity to give us our first glimpse of authenticity is thwarted by the arrival of a pot of tea that would have looked at home in my Nan's kitchen in the 50s. Where is the wonderful, ornate teapot, fashioned out of metal and delivered on an intricately crafted tray?
I look up and notice that the "authentic tiles" on the wall are in fact laminate...
The baba ganoush turns up with all the florish of a navvy's breakfast, and the sad middle eastern salad is devoid of any discernible flavour. In fact, it seems remarkable that flavour can actually be taken away from a dish, but somehow they manage it.
In comparison with the second course, the starter is a triumph. I order the lamb chops as they are recommended by our guide book. Served on a copper platter, it says.
They turn up on a very ordinary looking plate, covered in what can only be described as cold Bisto. There are some cold vegetables too: Peppers? No. Eggpant? No. Boiled broccoli and cauliflower? Of course!
The only hot thing at the table is the steam coming out of my ears, but I wait patiently for Caroline's food to turn up. Five minutes later and still nothing. It's not that my food is getting cold - that would be impossible - If i left it long enough in Singapore's heat it might just be warm enough to eat.
So, having had quite enough, I demand to see the manager to complain that my food seems to have been mixed up with that of a bad school canteen. I find myself pointing at vegetables and gravy and saying in high pitched Ramsay-stylee, "What's that doing on this plate??"
So we walk out. I do pay the man £10 for his trouble, which is far more that he deserves.It's a kind of anniversary present of sorts.
On to the next venue we go, eagerly awaiting our next disappointment. And are we disappointed? No, it is just as bad as the last!
Sufi is the name of the restaurant, but it is largely irrelevant seeing as the standard of food here is indicative of the poor standards of the whole area.
Again we order mint tea, but this time it arrives in a more authentic teapot. Nice touch. Until we look inside. Even the first place used FRESH mint. This is a mint teabag. Oh dear.
While waiting for the food to arrive, a cockroach scurries from the premises next door, straight towards us. Even cockroaches are bemused by the standards here. One swift crunch of the flip flop and it's bye-bye time Mr Roach. It's lifeless body is the most edible thing I've seen so far this evening, certainly the freshest.
As rigor mortis sets in, our mixed meat platter turns up. Hooray! It's in a copper bowl! This is gonna be great!
As the bowl approaches, my heart sinks as I see some grilled meats lying in a Bisto gravy with brocolli and cauliflower on the side. Like the cockroach, I feel crushed, but summon the strength to tuck into what looks like sunday lunch served with rice.
In a city that loves to eat, we have discovered the one place that is culinarily deserted. As I scan the dessert menu merely out of politeness, I notice the typo error "desert". We take the hint and hail a taxi home.
 |
| "Small Doner, please" |
What I haven't tasted before is a Singapore kebab, so it is with great merriment that I skip towards Arab Street with my trusted companion, El Jacko (aka Caroline) to sample the delights of this culinary enclave.
Tonight we are to frequent TWO establishments. No, not to recreate a bygone era of drunken student debauchery: It is because the first place is so bad that we have to walk out, Gordon Ramsay style.
On arrival at Alaturka Restaurant, Bussorah Street, we are told that they are shutting early tonight because they have their anniversary party. How sweet, we say, no problem. How inconvenient, I think to myself.
"Are you celebrating with your own home-cooked food?" i joke.
"No, we are going elsewhere", comes the reply.
Little do I know that I'll want to do the same thing in approximately 25 minutes time.
We are forced to order tea from the drinks menu as there is not a beer in sight, so opt for the mint tea. Curiously, the opportunity to give us our first glimpse of authenticity is thwarted by the arrival of a pot of tea that would have looked at home in my Nan's kitchen in the 50s. Where is the wonderful, ornate teapot, fashioned out of metal and delivered on an intricately crafted tray?
I look up and notice that the "authentic tiles" on the wall are in fact laminate...
The baba ganoush turns up with all the florish of a navvy's breakfast, and the sad middle eastern salad is devoid of any discernible flavour. In fact, it seems remarkable that flavour can actually be taken away from a dish, but somehow they manage it.
In comparison with the second course, the starter is a triumph. I order the lamb chops as they are recommended by our guide book. Served on a copper platter, it says.
They turn up on a very ordinary looking plate, covered in what can only be described as cold Bisto. There are some cold vegetables too: Peppers? No. Eggpant? No. Boiled broccoli and cauliflower? Of course!
 |
| All meat, yes: but not kebabs |
The only hot thing at the table is the steam coming out of my ears, but I wait patiently for Caroline's food to turn up. Five minutes later and still nothing. It's not that my food is getting cold - that would be impossible - If i left it long enough in Singapore's heat it might just be warm enough to eat.
So, having had quite enough, I demand to see the manager to complain that my food seems to have been mixed up with that of a bad school canteen. I find myself pointing at vegetables and gravy and saying in high pitched Ramsay-stylee, "What's that doing on this plate??"
So we walk out. I do pay the man £10 for his trouble, which is far more that he deserves.It's a kind of anniversary present of sorts.
On to the next venue we go, eagerly awaiting our next disappointment. And are we disappointed? No, it is just as bad as the last!
Sufi is the name of the restaurant, but it is largely irrelevant seeing as the standard of food here is indicative of the poor standards of the whole area.
Again we order mint tea, but this time it arrives in a more authentic teapot. Nice touch. Until we look inside. Even the first place used FRESH mint. This is a mint teabag. Oh dear.
While waiting for the food to arrive, a cockroach scurries from the premises next door, straight towards us. Even cockroaches are bemused by the standards here. One swift crunch of the flip flop and it's bye-bye time Mr Roach. It's lifeless body is the most edible thing I've seen so far this evening, certainly the freshest.
As rigor mortis sets in, our mixed meat platter turns up. Hooray! It's in a copper bowl! This is gonna be great!
As the bowl approaches, my heart sinks as I see some grilled meats lying in a Bisto gravy with brocolli and cauliflower on the side. Like the cockroach, I feel crushed, but summon the strength to tuck into what looks like sunday lunch served with rice.
In a city that loves to eat, we have discovered the one place that is culinarily deserted. As I scan the dessert menu merely out of politeness, I notice the typo error "desert". We take the hint and hail a taxi home.
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