Fino

Smee couldn't wait for me to come back to London so that we could eat at Fino together.  It is a sister restaurant to Barrafina and unlike the latter, they accept reservations (yay) so there is no need to queue for 40 minutes.  Smee had his first taste at a friend's birthday and was especially impressed with the suckling pig.  Despite all the dreams about eating more piglets, he managed to resist returning to the restaurant in my absence.

Tonight was the night and with the bucketing of rain outdoors, it was sure nice to walk into the cosy restaurant den.  We began with a nice bottle of Rioja and then waited for our food to arrive.

Pimientos de Padron.  Seasonal seafood is available daily.  We settled on squid in it's own ink, wrapped in panchetta and razor clams.  Num nums. 

Tuna tartar with guacamole.  Food blogging comes with it's risks and because I am such a duh-brain, I dropped my camera into the guacamole :-S  Grilled octopus with capers drizzled in paprika olive oil.  (I think). Mixed tomato salad.  Num nums again. 

Chorizo and aioli tortilla.  Same as the Barrafina one - nothing impressive.  The piece de resistance - suckling pig with crispy skin.  These little oink-oinks must be ordered 48 hours in advance.  We were not a big enough party to warrant ordering an entire Segovian piglet but this quarter hind was quite enough.  The little pot of piggy juice to eat with your succulent piggy meat.  NUM NUMS!!!!! 

We were full but hey, why not go all the way and have dessert too?

Leche Frita - literally, Fried Milk/Custard.  I could not resist.  My mouth waters looking at this picture.  Spanish donuts.  Well, they're just normal cinnamon/sugar dusted donuts, but when they're fresh they are so yummy.  Yummy I tells ya!  

Yep, I'll come back here.  Priced towards the moderate end of the market, I would say that the cost of each dish is still fair without feeling entirely ripped-off.  Our dinner was a little bit more than the average meal because of the piglet.  I guess I'll always have a more expensive dinner bill because when I return, I'll be having more piglet-goodness!

Bottled Boat

Those familiar with Trafalgar Square will know that Nelson's column sits in the centre with the famous four lions at it's base.  Four plinths are placed at each corner and while statues adorn three of the plinths, the fourth one has remained empty since the 1800s.  (They ran out of money hehe.)

For some years now, they have kept the plinth as a site for temporary pieces of modern art.  Recently, they allowed members of the public to climb on top of it and perform whatever they wanted.  That was pretty cool.

Something just as cool is the latest piece of art - a giant ship in a bottle.

You don't think it's cool?  Well, I think it's pretty cool.

Fortnum & Mason High Tea

When tourists visit London, they all run to Harrods which in my opinion is a bit overrated.  That being said, if you've never been you should still tick it off your list.  The Harrods foodhall is certainly impressive but in terms of buying 'English' foodstuffs (tea, biscuits, chocolates, jams etc), I would suggest checking out Fortnum & Mason's selection.  It's nice to get something with the Harrods logo but I think F&M do have a super (if not better) range on offer.  It probably also helps that it is easier for me to get to F&M rather than Harrods.

Anyway today was another day for eating.  I've been craving Afternoon Tea for some time and I was waiting for Moo to come over to London so we can do it London-style.  The last time Moo and I had afternoon was at the National Gallery.  The cakes sure were nice (courtesy of Peyton and Byrne) but the sandwiches were rather stale.  Wtf.  I wasn't prepared to have a shitty experience this time, so we opted to go to St. James's Restaurant on the top floor of F&M.

We were given a choice of three different afternoon teas and settled on the Fortnum's Estate Afternoon Tea.  The food was pretty much the same (unless you got the High Tea) but the accompanying teas were different.  Not that I am a tea connoisseur but the I liked the sound of the Goomtee First Flush.  Moo liked the sound of Yunnan Orange Pekoe.

Now for the food.

To start - a selection of canapes.  Goat's cheese tarts, sausage rolls (hehe) and salmon spread (I can't remember) on crispbread.  My fave was the sausage roll and Moo's fave was the tart. 

Bottom of the tier - finger sized sandwiches with no crusts, thank-you ma'am.  Middle tier - madeleines and scones.  Top tier - raspberry jam biscuits, ginger parkin (what? I had to google that) and cakes-a-plenty.  When the cake tray was brought around for us to make our selection, my greedy guts kicked in and I asked 'So how many can we have?'  Must.... make.... strategic cake decision! 

Mooey with the tiered stands.  Sterling silver?  Maybe.  

We were given two little pots of jams - raspberry and strawberry.  I don't mind jam but I certainly never crave it. But this was the nicest jam I've ever had.  EVER!!  Moo and I wondered what they were going to do with the jam we didn't consume, so I made sure I piled on a heap on each of my scones and madeleines (even though I don't think you're meant to eat jam with madeleines).  Do they just throw out the left jam?  *gasp*  What a waste!  Do they spoon it out and re-use it?  *gasp* That's gross!

Now, I must say some kind words about the clotted cream, that lump of yellowy goodness sitting there on my butter knife.  I think I've mainly had jam and scones with whipped cream in Oz and not the clotted dream cream which was served at F&M.  This stuff is the SHIZNIT.  I'm sure the uppercrust Brits would love to know that's how I describe it.  I couldn't stop piling that stuff on my scones and Moo thought it was rather amusing.  I understand that clotted cream could be at it's maximum 85% milk fat but what is life if we can't enjoy it?  Why can't I enjoy my fatty goodness?  Why?  Shuddup, you calorie-counting biatches!  I will enjoy it, thank-you very much!

Me and another butter knife scoop of clotted cream.  Moo eating cake.  

I actually don't remember too much about the cakes we ate.  All nice I would have to assume, as anything bad would have surely stuck in my head.

At the end of the meal as the waiters cleared away our dishes, I waved a teary farewell to my leftover clotted cream.  However, I felt a little bit better when asked 'Would you like to take your jam pots with you?'  :D  Yes please!  I considered asking for a pot of clotted cream, but I knew that wish would not be fulfilled.

Clotted cream - I shall return one day to rescue you from dieting monsters!

Waitrose Toffee Sundae

One of my favourite pre-made desserts is the Waitrose Toffee Sundae.  I first saw this dessert last year when I was in one of those weak moods and had hankering for something dessert-y.  Surveying the pre-made dessert shelf, I pondered, 'Well, I've had the profiterole dessert and chocolate sundae... Why not try this toffee sundae?'

On that particular day, I couldn't wait to dig in so I collected a plastic spoon on the way out of the supermarket and started stuffing my face.  Mmmmmmm nummy!  Toffee mousse, toffee custard, sticky toffee cake pieces and whipped cream.  So fattening but so nummy!  It totally won me over.

Anyway, my local Waitrose doesn't seem to stock the Toffee Sunday anymore :(  I looked for it at John Lewis on Oxford St but couldn't find it there either.  I got pretty upset and assumed that they had discontinued the product but I was relieved to see that was still available online.  But boo at the fact that my local doesn't stock it anymore.

As a result, I have been on a hunt for a toffee sundae replacement.  I had seen one at Tesco but it did not look appetising so I have not bothered to try it.  However, my local Sainsburys had a toffee sundae which seemed to be practically identical in it's components to it's Waitrose counterpart.  I got pretty excited, took it to the counter and gave my donation to the Sainsburys register.

It was pretty good, but nothing like my favoured Waitrose one.  Generally, the consistency of the cream, mousse and toffee cake wasn't as nice as Waitrose's.  The other notable difference was that there was too much plain whipped cream.  All I could think while eating the Sainsburys sundae was that "I am eating plain cream".  That in turn made me feel fat.  It makes no sense, but the utter deliciousness of the Waitrose toffee cream was so enjoyable that the thought of eating fatty cream didn't cross my mind.  I figure this Sainsbury sundae will suffice as a substitute though.

Still happy to try more desserts, I spotted this new Caramel Frappe sundae at my local M&S.  Ooooh, caramel and cinnamon - well that's just two of my favourite dessert ingredients.  This sundae was already half-way there for me.

I was hoping for a bit of cake in the sundae but no joy :(  It's definitely not a toffee sundae, but with it's butterscotch mousse, caramel, cream and cinnamon, it has it's own decent qualities.  The consistency of the mousse is on par to Waitrose's quality and as I've come to expect; M&S and Waitrose desserts really do kick ass over Tesco, Sainsburys and the other chains.

So, while I'll continue to hunt my Waitrose Toffee Sundae, it is nice to know I will have some alternatives.  (Sometimes, I really do eat too much.)

Busaba Eathai

Smee and I were just hanging out today and part of hanging out involves eating.  Why we settled on eating at Busaba Eathai I'm not sure but I think it was mainly due to proximity.  This is another Alan Yau contribution to the London food scene; this time Thai food.  I'm not sure if Mr. Yau has cut his ties to Busaba like how he did with Cha Cha Moon, but judging from the decent food Smee and I had today, my guess is that he hasn't.

My Guava Collins - guava, lime and coconut juice.  It was very nice and refreshing but it was served in the smallest glass ever.  All that shaking in a cocktail shaker and this is all you serve?  Don't call this drink a Collins unless you serve it in a Collins glass with the extra millilitres!  

Char-grillled duck, pandan chicken and pad see euw (I think).  All were quite nice and I especially liked the duck.  

So yes, despite the smallish drink, Busaba gets a tick from me (for now).  I'll pop by there again if I have a Thai food craving.

A Munich Walking Tour and an Airport Hobo Stint

Moo had her official business today and so I did my usual free walking tour.  For those interested, I add my observation that no there was no Mike the Hottie.  I've forgotten the guide's name but I do remember he was Irish.  Once again, it was a beautiful day in Munich-town.  Perfect for a stroll!

We were first introduced to the most overrated, boring tourist attraction in Munich, the Glockenspiel at the New Town Hall.  Yes, even the guides dislike it.

They were the ones who warned us of it's slow, uneventful crappiness!

The Frauenkirche, also known as the church the Devil built.  A cold wind surrounds the church all year long -  ooh spooky.  The story goes that in order to construct the church quickly, the builder asked for the Devil's help and promised to make it a windowless structure.  Little did the Devil know that the builder had tricked him so when the Devil came to inspect the completed church, he stomped his foot angrily and here the footprint remains.

Also within the walls of the Frauenkirche is a little plaque featuring the current Pope.  He's a Bavarian and supposedly enjoys a beer every now and then.

This gold cobblestone is located on Viscardigasse, a little alley located behind the Feldhernhalle.  The gold strip indicated the path people would take to avoid having to give a Nazi salute.  Hence the nickname, Dodger's Alley.

The lucky lions.  If you rub the noses of three, you'll have good luck.  If you rub the noses of four, you're a greedy bastard and you get nuffin.  

Inside the Hofbräuhaus, where men used to pee under the table (just unbutton the lederhosen flap) while simultaneously drink their beer.  In olden times of course.

The Jewish synagogue.  An interestingly shaped modern building.

Munich's maypole.  One certain days of the year, if one city successfully steals another city's maypole, the loser city has to throw a party for the winners.  Yay! 

My final hotdog for the trip.   

Afterwards, I met up with Moo at the Hauptbahnhof to catch our relevant trains.  I marvelled at the German efficiency, watching each S-Bahn train pull into the platform, minute after minute.  Moo bid me adieu while I began my journey back to London and she headed off to Belgium.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I boarded my S-Bahn airport train and chugged my way towards the airport.  My train would arrive 90 minutes before my scheduled flight which is a nice (though some would argue - too long) buffer.  Six stops into the journey, the train remained sitting at a station for about five minutes.  A bit odd, but I figured the train was being held back to regulate the too-efficient service.  An announcement was made in German but no one seemed bothered by it.  After 15 minutes of nothing, some people started getting antsy and began leaving the train.  Another announcement was made and more people started moving off the train but some remained in their seats.

I asked the hot guy sitting next to me what was happening.  He had been speaking Spanish on his phone but he was obviously one of those awesome, hot, multilingual, European guys.  He informed me (in his lovely accented English) that there was a problem with the train and they were unsure when it will be fixed.  (Thank you hottie European man.)

Oh f**k.  It was chaos at the station with an Oktoberfest-inflated population trying to catch buses and flag down non-existent cabs.  After flapping my arms for awhile and doing nothing useful, I decided the best option was to return to the Hauptbahnhof using the underground network (the U-Bahn trains were still functioning) and get a cab from there.

The underground was packed like how the tube is at peak hour with severe delays.  So after 1.5 hours of starting my journey, I was back where I started at the Hauptbahnhof.  I couldn't see any available cabs but then yay (!) I saw an airport bus loading up passengers and sardined my way on.  My flight was leaving in an hour and the bus journey would take 45 minutes.  Yes, I was going to miss my flight.

But the saga didn't end there.  Arriving at the airport, I was advised to queue in the non-moving ticket queue.  My patience was taken to the limit and after 50 minutes of standing in line, I cracked it.  I left the queue and tried to muscle my way to the Bag Drop-Off counter.  The woman sent me back to the ticket queue.  I hadn't asked the two guys standing behind me to mind my spot but I just gave them a pathetic face with a 'Can I pop back in here?' and they let my sorry ass back in.

When I finally got to the front of the queue, the last flight back to London had just closed and the best they could do was book me on the 6am flight the next day.  Oh and make me pay €50 for the flight change!!!!

So that's the story of how I ended up doing this in Munich airport.

I was too pissed off to consider an airport hotel.

I felt like a homeless hobo. 

A fellow hobo.  

I was hoping for a shower in the terminal but once I cleared security, there weren't any!

I did the next best thing and washed my feet in the bathroom sink.

The good thing is I can now add 'being an airport hobo' to my list of travel adventures.