Buckingham Palace

Whilst serving a self-induced banishment in Rad-City, I came across something that tickled my excitement - Kate Middleton's dress going on display!  In the same way I was confused about how much I cared for the British monarchy, I was again a little confused about my excitement for Kate Middleton's dress.  The whole concept of royalty is outdated and based on battles and plundering!  But.. but... I couldn't shake off The Royal Wedding fever!  

Having lived in London for three years, it was never my priority to tour inside Buckingham Palace.  But now with the dress on display, hey, why not?  I had initially try to book tickets online on the day of release but the server crashed and I was left a bit disappointed.  Knowing that tickets are limited, I figured I missed my opportunity.  However, the drive from Heathrow to London home, passes the palace and I thought, 'Hey, I'm gonna try to get tickets again!'  Yay.  Ticket purchase successful!  Smee and I opted for the full works ticket which included access to the palace state rooms, Queen's gallery and mews.  The importance of pre-booking tickets was shown when we turned up at the palace gates.  So many other tourists were turned away as the daily quota for ticket sales had been reached.  

First stop, the Queen's Gallery.  

The Queen's stuff... for public adoration!  

Appreciating the stuff.

Next stop, the State Rooms within the palace.  No photography was allowed indoors - boo.  But it's as grand as one would expect.  Detailed decals, gold plated staircase, all that stuff.  I had the audio tour but I've pretty much forgotten everything that was said.  Kate's dress looked as it did on TV but even more impressive up close (or more like, as close as the general public were allowed).  Her shoes looked unworn and more importantly - my size!  Also on display were Kate's earrings, a replica of her bouquet and part of the original wedding cake.  The tradition is that the newlyweds keep the top two layers of the cake aside t o serve at their first child's christening.  Wedding cake can last that long?  

The only photo I was allowed inside Buckingham Palace was actually outside the palace back entrance.  

Next up, the Royal Mews.  This shows how poor my English is - I had no idea what was a mews.  In my defence, I've never come across a real mews in my life because living in Oz, they probably never built any!  Anyway, it's where the horsies and their handlers reside.  

The Glass Coach.  Wow so much history!  I'm so close, I can almost touch it!  Believe it or not, there weren't any security personnel in close range either. 

The Gold State Coach.  Even older!!  That wheel is massive. 

A brown horsey.  The youngest of them all.  *pat pat*  Smee got a lucky shot because when it was my turn to pose with the horsey, he turned around and showed it's bum.  

This is a Royal Watcher's delight but for everyone else, it's just an optional touristy activity.  For those interested in tickets, just be aware that the palace is only open over the Summer months.  As I said before, try to book your tickets at least the night before and avoid the lottery of trying to purchase them on the same day.  

Wahaca

On the other side of the world, Smee and I decided to check out the new Westfield Shopping Centre in East London.  Being a weekday and post-hype, we were fortunate enough to be not be squished among squillions of people.  It was pretty much a replica of the West-End Westfield. *yawn*

After all that mall trawling, we needed to fill our stomachs.  We'd always wanted to try Wahaca in Covent Garden (always full) so we were happy to see an outlet at Westfield Stratford.  A table for two please!

Wahaca serves Mexican street food and I had kinda been skeptical of the concept.  Mexican... for British tastes... hmmmm.  Would it be much like Wagamama (yuck!) which desecrates much of Asian cuisine?  Very possible.  With the not-so-pleasant experience of the cuisine-similar Newmarket Hotel in mind, I wanted to see how Wahaca stacked up.  

To start, Smee and I ordered:

Pork pibil soft tacos (£3.95 for three on a plate) and a Chipotle chicken quesadilla £3.85.  

Then we also added:

 MSC ceviche salad £7.95 (edible tortilla bowl!) and a British steak burrito £6.85 with Baja cheese (45p extra). 

Smee showing me the portion size.  Pretty generous! 

Ok, I'm going to discuss the tacos first only because I can directly compare them to the Newmarket Hotel.  Wahaca gave us three for £3.95 (AU$6.25, approx $2 each), whereas Newmarket served us two for AU$14-$16 (approx $7.50 each).  Taste wise they were just as tasty.  Wahaca's had a little less greenery but portion size was otherwise identical.  Eating tacos at Wahaca made me even more angry about Newmarket Hotel.  As a gross generalisation, food is better in Oz, but now Wahaca has made my world topsy-turvy.  I can't believe that London food is better than home!  The quesadilla chicken was nicely smokey and cheesy.  The ceviche salad surprisingly massive and filling.  The burrito was good too.  

Wahaca can't really be called a chain yet - it only has five outlets - but for a mini-chain, Smee and I were pretty impressed.  Whether Wahaca serves genuine Mexican fare, I can't really comment.  A Mexican person might express the same attitude I have for Wagamama - blergh!!!  All I can say that I'm happy to try more of the menu at Wahaca.  Give it a shot if you're sick of the usual British fish and chips, sandwiches and curry.  

Añada

From the disappointment of today's earlier encounter at the Newmarket Hotel comes the absolute awesomeness that is Añada.  Cheap Spanish food is an oxymoron anywhere outside of Spain but Añada's menu, specifically the tasting menu is a damn pretty good deal.

Spu, Tina, Glenda and I were adamant that we were living life to the full and decided that we wanted the $70 tasting menu.  This came with not seven, not eight, not even ten tapas/raciones but the more hearty number of 12 tapas/raciones.  Yes.  Twelve.  Ok so they were to present the 12 plates as a course of five but still... 12 plates people!

My new motto - A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.  We enjoyed a bottle of tempranillo.  

(L-R) Coffin Bay oysters with lemon.  Celeriac soup with black salt.  Joselito Jamon Iberico.  All yum and nice way to start the dinner, although they could have been a bit more generous with the jamon. 

(L-R) Rabbit empanadilla.  Charcoal grilled quail with pomegranate and freekeh.  Stuffed squid with sumac. Nice, nice, keep it coming!  The quail reminded me of that served at Barrafina.

Up to this point, we were all still a bit hungry.  However, we were about to reach the turning point. 

(L-R) Otway Ranges pork belly with fennel seed & smoky aubergine.  Gem lettuce & chervil cress with crispy garlic, barberries & 12 year old Andalusian white balsamic.  Grilled prawns with soft egg.

Mmmmmm the pork belly was simply superb and the crackling just.. crackly.  Not fatty either!  The prawns and egg went surprisingly well together.  By now, we were pretty stuffed but there was more to come.  

(L-R) Savoy cabbage and caper berry salad with walnuts and sumac.  Slow roasted beef cheeks in Oloroso with fava bean puree.  Mmmm yum but we couldn't appreciate it as much as we should have on our full stomachs.  

We were pretty glad to realise that the dessert tasting plate would be our final dish.  

(L-R) The "Dessert Tasting Plate".  This was not a tasting plate.  These were full sized!  Churros with chocolate.  Moscatel and pomegranate sorbet.  Crema Catalana.  Lemon & yoghurt sponge cake with pistachio crumb.

We really couldn't give the desserts the enjoyment they deserved but we did a pretty good job at polishing them off, leaving only the sponge unfinished.  Great value though as these desserts are usually $12 each. 

When comparing similarly-sized menus, Añada's 12 dishes for $70 comes out on top of my earlier visit to Wabi Sabi which offered eight dishes for $80 (and no bowel runs either!)  The food was all tasty without any low points.  Our waiter was awesome too and seemed to genuinely revel in our enjoyment of the meal.  The restaurant itself is fairly small but it wasn't difficult for us to get a reservation within a week's notice.  So, get to this place peeps and book a table.  My suggestion?  Starve yourself before committing to the 12 course tasting menu.  

Newmarket Hotel

When I first saw the Newmarket Hotel menu online, my mouth started to salivate.  I told Spuey 'Let's hit this place' and he obliged.  The parentals decided they also wanted a bit of food action and came along for the ride too.

The restaurant is a slick bit of space and in the Summer, the outdoor bar area would be an excellent place to sit and enjoy a jug or two of sangria.  But we were here for the food and once seated within the Mad Men-esque decor, our hipster waiter arrived to take our order.  It was suggested that we begin with a few shared starters (as I intended) and then go on to a few larger dishes to share.

Starters:

(L-R)  Guacamole with native lime salsa fresca, taro, jicama & tortilla chips $12, Soft tacos with prawns, fragrant herbs and jicama slaw $16, Crispy chicken wing tacos, cucumber slaw and spicy peanut mole $14, Pork carnitas with soft tacos, baby gem, spicy pineapple salsa and hot adobe sauce $16.  

Ok so not all of the pictures are there but I will say this.  We ordered two rounds of three different taco plates.  Each plate of 'tacos' had two tacos on it.  That's right - TWO tacos on six plates - 12 tacos to be shared between four people.  That equates to... hmmmm, each individual taco costing $7-8.  You've got to be kidding me.  When they brought the plate out, I had been expecting three, maybe four tacos on a plate given that it was priced at $14-16.  But only two?  C'mon people!  That being said, they were tasty but not $7-8 worth of tasty and especially when each taco can be consumed in one and a half bites.  

Larger dishes to share (they weren't actually that large at all): 

(L-R) Wood roasted octopus salad with chorizo, pumpkin, lime & olives $18, Today’s fish seasonally garnished - can't recall what fish it was $30-something, Spring quinoa, lemon & broad beans $9

Tasty?  Yes.  Happy?  No.  All up, lunch was about $47 a head.  For that amount of money, one should feel full from lunch.  However, what stopped me from 'becoming full by ordering more' was knowing that it would end up be about $60+ a head in order to achieve so.  Who pays $60+ a head for a 'casual' lunch which is not in a fine dining restaurant?  That's dinner prices!  

The parentals weren't complaining but I more or less felt that this was an extortion racket.  I'm not the only one who thinks so, just read a few of the more negative reviews.  I put a stop to Newmarket hustling us - no more food to be ordered!  Our stomachs were settled but for $47 a head for lunch, I expect to be overstuffed.  Service was pleasant but hipster-haters could easily be offended by the mere wannabe vibe of the whole joint.

So yeah, go if want, but I suggest going at dinner time when you may feel a bit more inclined to spend more. As we left the restaurant, Spu and I agreed 'Yeah, let's go get a pork roll.' 

Durian Cupcake

About a year ago, I bought cupcakes from The Cupcake Family.  They were moist and lovely little things but the one thing I missed out on was the Durian flavoured cupcake.  So whilst I was getting my greys dyed today, I messaged Spu with a request to buy me a one.  He succeeded.  He also got a blueberry cheesecake one too.  Good boy Spu. *pat pat*

I tell you what.  The cupcake sure smelled durian-y! Yum!

So yep, I ate it.  I am on a food mission this week.  It was durian-y but the cake base was a bit dry today.  I might have to try it again another time.  

D.O.C Carlton

Who doesn't like pizza?  What is wrong with you?  You probably fall into the same group of people who don't like fried chicken either.  Fried chicken is a unifying food and I believe it could be the key to world peace.  Ok, I digress.  Tonight's food hunt was at D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella Bar and non-imaginary guests included Spuey, Yetapee, Mischka, Kahoons and Constable.  

With six guests in tow, I thought I'd do the smart thing and make a reservation.  D.O.C told us we didn't need to book and 'just turn up' which we did.... and then we waited in a queue for a table.  Nothing to whine about as we were seated within ten minutes but hey, I could have been seated ten minutes ago!  

I'm not a fan of overly doughy Pizza Hut-style pizzas because I do appreciate the thin crust.  Well here is a place where you can only get thin crust. *thumbs up*  The other great thing about D.O.C is that it is BYO and a bottle of 2006 Langmeil Three Gardens washes down pretty well with pizza.  (It had been left in the cupboard at home and was dying to be opened).  

I made sure that I maintained the Asian stereotype by preventing everyone from eating in order to photograph their food.  Here are the delights we enjoyed tonight:

 D.O.C Antipasto platter.  Such a good thing that Yetapee doesn't like cheese.  I'll happily eat your share of the smoked mozzarella ball :D

Pizza Salsiccia - sausage with creamed broccoli and mozzarella.   Pizza ... I don't know.  Pepperoni I think. 

Pizza Tiger Prawns - with endive and chilli.  Pizza Speck - with mushies. 

A few of us underestimated the power of the pizza and were surprised to be full at the end.  Nevertheless that didn't stop three of us from ordering dessert.

Sweet pizza with belgian white chocolate, ice cream and strawberries.  Sweet goats cheese tiramisu (YUM!).  Mixed gelati.  

Yep, this place is what it is.  A decent pizza joint serving rustic pizzas.  I'll be back for sure.