Goodman

It may appear that I went into overdrive on the meat consumption in the past week but that is not true.  This visit to Goodman occurred about a month ago but I forgot to blog about it.  It was a balmy night in London - an Indian Summer as they like to call it - and Smee and I decided to eat at his newly crowned 'Favourite Steak Place'.  

Goodman, like other decent steak joints, offer steaks by the 100g.  The cuts and the location from where the beef is sourced can vary which ensures quality.  Upon entering the restaurant, there is a real 'City Boys Club' vibe and the snooker table, cigar lounge feel reinforces the atmosphere.  The clientele were mainly men in work suits, enjoying and entertaining (Big bonuses?  Maybe not in this economic climate) with post-work beef.  I spotted about five women including myself.  Women - don't let that put you off digging into some steak here.  

Onto the food:

I had a 400g fillet steak.  I can't remember where this cow came from or whether it was grain or grass fed.  Probably grass.  Probably Scottish.  Price?  I can't remember.  

Smee went overboard.  Wtf.  He ordered a 700g (or maybe it was 600g) T-bone steak.  I learnt something new tonight.  A T-bone is actually two steaks!  A porterhouse (bigger bit) and a fillet (smaller bit).  He actually didn't want it so big but that was the only T-bone choice available.  The funny thing was, afterwards we saw a nearby couple SHARE the steak between them.  Hmmm in hindsight maybe that's what we should've done.  No idea where this cow came from but I think it was grass fed.  Price?  Something expensive.  

Our sides.  Yummy yummy chunky truffle chips with sea salt (£5.00).  I actually preferred these over Heston Blumenthal's.  Bigger serving and nothing can beat a bit of truffle oil on crispy, fluffy chips.  Mac 'n' cheese (£4.00).  Yummy!!!  A bit more textured in comparison to Hawksmoor's due to the larger pasta but just as tasty.  We also both decided to have a slice of fried foie gras on the side (£14.00 each).  If we didn't have a heart attack tonight, then we would have to thank the glass of red for cleaning out our arteries.  

Yes Smee.  I know, I know.  We have too much food.  Yes I know.  Your steak is almost as wide as you.  

Smee is so Asian.  He made sure there wasn't any wastage.  Don't worry.  He was stuffed.  

Dessert.  Just one for me.  Smee was going to explode.  Banoffee pyramid - banana mousse with caramel and a ginger biscuit base (£6.50).  You can't lose with banoffee pie, although it was a bit weird to have it served as a pyramid.  I'm not complaining but a home-style pie would've been preferred.  

Again, Smee and I have eaten well into excess but that's just a demonstration of how much we enjoyed the food here.  If you want steak, you have to mosey on down and give Goodman a shot.  

Hawksmoor - Spitalfields

Smee is part of a (self-created) Men's Only Steak Club which has allowed him to not only explore his caveman side but also sample some of the finest steaks around London town.  The surprising-yet-not-so-surprising discovery is that we live within close proximity to a lot of excellent steak houses!  One of these beefy temples is Hawksmoor near Spitalfields Market.  Hawksmoor have three branches (so far) but Spitalfields is the original.  More pointedly, they recently opened a new branch within the Square Mile - even closer to us!  Due to some building maintenance, Smee and I weren't able to eat at their Square Mile branch so off we trotted to Spitalfields.  

Smee ranked Hawksmoor quite highly on his beef scale and I can see why.  Good quality, British steaks,  cooked to perfection, yesiree.  Flannel-shirted waiters walking around a rustic, oaky wooden pub - a pretty casual atmosphere.  

To start we had the Grilled Bone Marrow with Slow Cooked Shallots and Toast (£6.00) and Macaroni Cheese (£4.50).

Bone marrow.  You either love it or can't stand the thought of eating blood stem cells.  I am of the former opinion.  Yummy!!!  The toast was a bit burnt but I we just ate around it.  The macaroni cheese was actually a side dish and man, it was effing good.  I love cheesy, creamy stuff so I'm prone to bias but it seems that everyone is singing praises for the mac 'n' cheese.  I could definitely detect the presence of more than one cheese but not being a cheese connoisseur, I couldn't identify what they were.  Parmesan on top - yes, cheddar somewhere in there too, a third or maybe even a fourth cheese?  I'm not sure how accurate this recipe is but I might have to give it a shot and re-create it one day.  On a side note, I've heard and read many things about Neil Perry's much lauded macaroni cheese.  I've never eaten it but am keen to give it a Pooey taste test one day but with a $15 price tag compared to Hawksmoor's £4.50 (~$7.00), Neil Perry better impress us with some ass-whipping.  

Our steak and other sides: 

Chateaubriand (950g at £12.50 per 100g), creamed spinach (£4.00) and our sauces bearnaise and stilton (£2 each).  

The purpose of tonight's visit was to eat Chateaubriand.  I've never heard of the cut before but Smee had eaten it for the first time at Steak Club night and was left mighty impressed.... and yep, this steak was yummy!  Mmmm... so tender, so flavourful.  Yum!  The creamed spinach is exactly what it is.  

If you think we ordered too much food then you're correct.  It was a struggle but we got to the finish line.  If you like steak, you gotta let Hawksmoor cook one up for you.  Don't forget to order the sides too!

Poor Monopoly Man

The Occupy London protest has set up on the steps of St. Paul's and while it's now even more crowded in an ever-crowded bit of tourist/work/public space, it's good see the space is being used efficiently for displays like this:

A broke Monopoly man!  Hehehe.  Look there's even a silver boot.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

I first heard of Heston Blumenthal was while watching cooking shows in London.  In amongst the usual Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall offerings was this guy with an unusual name.  Maybe it's not so unusual in certain parts of the world, but I'd certainly never come across either his first or surname before... well except for Moses (Charlton Heston).  

After watching several of Heston's shows and seeing his slant on cooking, I was keen on eating at The Fat Duck.  Then I found out it was in Bray not London.  Aaah... too far.  Me and Smee too lazy.  So when I heard that Heston was opening his first London restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, I added it to my mental hitlist of places to chow down.  Unfortunately, it's not a replica of The Fat Duck and did not offer degustation.  Boo.  The menu was more pared down but it was going to have Heston's touch nonetheless.  The running theme at 'Dinner' is that the dishes are inspired by historical British fare and the menu lists the approximate date the dish's origin.   

Smee and I manged to dine at Dinner tonight, months after the initial grand opening frenzy in February.  Not to say it's lost it's popularity - you still need to plan ahead for a table!  Reservations dates are released on the first day of each month for the following month i.e bookings for February can be made from 1st January.  I waited on Australian soil for London time to tick over and - bam!! - made a booking online.  You could try your luck getting a reservation on the day - the restaurant certainly wasn't full when we arrived at 6.45pm - but it's best to book ahead.

Dinner officially has no dress code and suggest that diners be 'comfortable'.  Should I turn up in my pjs and slippers then?  Maybe I should wear the Snuggie blanket?  I'm pretty comfortable in that.  It's a bit of a laff when you look around at the diners who can afford a £70-80 a head dinner.  The restaurant is situated within the refurbished Mandarin Oriental hotel, opposite Harvey Nichols and steps away from Harrods.  Stop fooling yourself - no diner is turning up in a pair of thongs.  

Service was impeccable and maybe sometimes, excessively friendly tipping over to stupidly insincere.  After Smee returned from the men's bathroom, he got a 'Welcome back, Sir.'  Contrary to that, I did not receive such a greeting on my return from the ladies!  *jealous face*  Orrite enough babbling - onto the food!

Stepping into the restaurant, we're given a glass-fronted view into the kitchen.  

Smee and I spotted the pineapple spit, slowly turning, roasting the pineapple to be served with the famous tipsy cake.

Our complimentary bread and butter.  Nothing special here. 

There were several dishes on our must-eat list.  When I first watched the below video, I was fascinated by the meat fruit and was so :D :D :D to see it included on Dinner's menu.  I love liver parfait, pate, foie gras and anything else similar.  This dish was already a winner.  

How cool is that!?!?!

Another must-eat dish was the Savoury Porridge (c.1660) with Snails, Girolles, Garlic and Fennel £14.50. Her's my Meat Fruit (c.1500) Mandarin, Chicken Liver Parfait and Grilled Bread £13.50

So happy to have my meat fruit!!!  Look how real it looks!  It's a real leaf from... a mandarin tree?  Not edible, just there to enhance the illusion.  

Cutting into the meat fruit.  Yummy, yummy chicken liver parfait.  Not enough!  Give me more!

To get an idea of how much Smee enjoyed the Snail Porridge, Smee said if he wasn't in a public place, he would've picked up the plate and licked it.  It was very tasty (so much umami goodness) and I think even the most snail-averse person would've been won over by this dish.  The size was decent for a starter but like Oliver Twist, we wanted more! *smacks lips* 

We opted to share the Wing Rib of Irish Angus (c.1830) which was served with Mushroom Ketchup, Red Wine Juice and Fries (£72.00).  In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have done this.  This was not strategic eating!  We didn't sample as many dishes as possible!  Oh well.  I'll just have to come back :D

Giant rib of steak.  Can't complain.  Triple cooked chips.  Chunky, crispy and fluffy on the on inside.  Just how I like my chippies.  

I should also mentioned that we rounded it out with a mixed leaf & tomato salad.  That wasn't very exciting though.  

Smee and his lovable rib. 

We placed our order for desserts and while waiting for them, Smee couldn't help but bring out the tablet to play Angry Birds.

Dessert was a difficult choice.  So many things I wanted to eat but not enough stomach space.  

Smee chose the Lychee Frozen Ice (c.1590) with Rosehip Jam, Barberrie Granite and Red Currant (£9.00).  I couldn't go past the Tipsy Cake (c.1810) with Spit Roast Pineapple (£10.00).  I actually had to pre-order it with the starters and main because of the 30-40 minute preparation time.  

I couldn't help but be a little ho-hum about the Lychee Frozen Ice.  No doubt a lot of skill went into the dish but I've been eating Passionflower lychee ice cream for years and couldn't help being reminded of it.  My tipsy cake was so freaking awesome though. Fluffy brioche baked on top of a warm vanilla custard.  *gurgle, gurgle*  The pineapple had a crispy, caramelised surface due to the slow spit roasting and went well with the cake.  Smee was a bit disappointed with the tipsy cake (despite gobbling it down) because he thought we were meant to receive an ENTIRE pineapple!  Smee, so silly.  

All diners receive a little complimentary cup of tea after each meal.  Or is it??

No, it's cup of Earl Grey ganache!  Served with a caraway shortbread.  Tea-flavoured ganache!  A small serving but just enough to not overdo the richness.  (On a side note - it wasn't either of our birthdays).  

Well, there's not much else to say except I wanna come back dammit and eat more food.  A few other dishes which tickled my fancy included the Roast Marrowbone (c.1720), Powdered Duck (c.1670) and Brown Bread Ice Cream (c.1830).  Maybe one day, Smee and I will make that extra effort to try The Fat Duck and really gorge ourselves.  But for now, I'll just work on my return to Dinner.  

Asda Toffee Sundae

I finally got around to visiting an Asda and followed up on the suggestion that I try their toffee sundae after raving about Waitrose's version.  

First impressions - it's cheaper.  I can't remember the exact price of either, but I remember thinking that Asda cost about 40p less.  I mean, I will only make a significant saving if I eat about 100 but if that's what it takes to save £40, then I'll eat 100 sundaes!  Hahaha.

Second impressions.  Looks a lot damn like the Waitrose version.  Even right down to the packaging and the order of which the layers are... laid.  

It even has the dollop of whipped cream on top.  Just like Waitrose.  Then the toffee custard, toffee sponge cake bits, toffee mousse and cream mousse.  Omfg, so yummy.  

Here's Waitrose's version. I don't have any more photos dammit.  Might have to eat some more and take photos next time. 

Third impressions.  Wow, this could definitely pass for Waitrose's version.  If someone stuck a Waitrose sticker on it, I don't think I would have questioned it's origins.  In fact while eating it, I thought 'Hang on, are these made in the same factory!??!'  Asda's sundae pissed all over Sainsbury's version and I haven't tried Tesco's attempt so I can't comment there.  Although from what I've seen in Tesco, I don't think their sundaes have the sponge cake.  

Anyway, it's been a while since I've eaten the Waitrose sundae (difficult to find sometimes) so maybe my analysis is somewhat skewed.  I think this comparison will be best done when I can place the sundaes side-by-side.  Not sure when this will occur as the closest Asda to where I live is about a 20 minute bus ride into the ghetto.  I shall add it onto my to-do list.  

Funny Stuff

Moo and I went costume shopping today for her slutty Halloween outfit and we saw this sign.  

If found anywhere else but a costume shop, this would not be so funny.

Rock of Ages

When I heard that Rock of Ages was opening in Melbourne I wanted to go.  Understandably when I saw ticket prices, I decided to hold out until it opened in London.  It was a bit unusual that it wasn't already showing in London but maybe they didn't have enough theatres available.  

The background story is set in downtown LA in the 1980s, when The Bourbon Room, a bar on the Sunset Strip, is facing demolition from developers.  Oh no!  Two of the The Bourbon Room employees, one an out-of-towner girl chasing her LA dreams and the other a boy wishing to be a rockstar are clearly interested in each other until he inadvertently gives her the impression they're just friends.  Oh and then the typical love compliations ensue.  Listen, it's an effing shit storyline, much like Never Forget and merely a way to loosely tie the songs together.  But, Rock of Ages is more than aware of that.  

Moo and I got some £20 tickets and some nosebleed seats in the upper circle which weren't too bad actually.  We had a decent view of the stage.  

Our view of the stage.  Note the bra hanging from the chandelier.  

Some lucky theatre-goers were also given an LED cigarette lighter to hold up in the air during the ballads.  I was envious and wanted one too! 

During the intermission, someone left theirs at the souvenir counter.  It's mine now!  But then I refused to hold it up during the ballads.  Hehehe.   

Let me say this.  If you do not like any sort of 80s glam rock/classic rock/power rock ballads, then DO NOT see this musical.  You will HATE it.  The music is played louder here than any other musical I've seen and it will feel like you're at a rock concert.  So very appropriate for the cigarette lighters!  

Just an idea of how loud it is.

The woman sitting next to Moo was clearly enjoying her time and got a bit rowdy, cheering and screaming at many points of the show.  While watching Rock of Ages, I also couldn't help but think, 'Omg, I'm becoming a bogan!  I have an inner bogan in me rearing it's head!'  This show is a fun one if you can (even mildly) appreciate the music genre and it is most definitely one for the bogans.  If you're already put off by the idea of hearing these songs, then save you cash and watch something else.  

I might watch it again, but I mustn't forget my mullet wig next time.  I should also mention that they're making a movie version of this musical...... with Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx?!?!  

Eating With Moo

Moo's in town and that just means a whole lotta eating has got to be done.  On the way to afternoon tea with SEM and Leesh, Moo and J decided that they were hungry enough to contemplate pre-tea cake.  Ok guys, you go for it.  

After deciding that the Soho Hummingbird bakery wouldn't cut it, we walked in to the cafe next door and admired their cakes.  That is where Moo and J settled on a passionfruit meringue.... which J didn't end up eating after all!  It was brought to afternoon tea but we all ended up being too full of cake to eat anymore.  Soho is where I also picked up some unusually flavoured chocolate from Paul A Young.  Marmite or kalamansi chocolate anyone?  Actually the marmite one was quite naice!

Onto afternoon tea.  The venue chosen was Soho's Secret Tea Room.

It's a secret because... the sign outside is very small?  

Actually it is kinda secretive because the room is located upstairs of a very typical, grotty, British pub.  Once inside the pub, there is no obvious entry to the tearoom, instead you must notify the bar staff, who then telephone upstairs, confirm your booking and then allow you behind the bar, through the kitchen and up some narrow stairs.....  

.....into this quaint little room.  Lovely!  

We all had afternoon tea with various teas and a selection of sandwiches and cakes.  

Scones and more cakes. 

SEM slathered up a scone for me with clotted cream and homemade blueberry jam.  Yummy!  But not as yum as Fortnum and Mason's clotted cream.  In fact, well below par. 

Overall, it was a pretty average afternoon tea experience.  It wasn't outstanding but it wasn't bad and the bigger drawcard is the whole 'secret-business' of it all.  I do have the say, that the sandwich bread seemed a bit stale?  The cakes were all nice, especially the carrot cake.  Scones were warm and scone-y.  The cupcakes were nice but I think I was in sugar overload.  Hmmm, I think for now, I will stick to having afternoon tea at F&M.  Their clotted cream gives me nice dreams.  

Mooey's In Town...

.... and that means FOOD!!!!!

Yes that is a whole roast duck.  Don't worry, Smee was there to help us out. 

This Made Me Laugh

Yes, this indeed made me laugh.  I so want a dog! :D

Santa Maria del Sur

All that rope climbing and zipwire flying left Smee and I hungry, so what better to feed our muscles than a good lump of protein?  Smee had been wanting to try Argentine grill, Santa Maria del Sur for while but couldn't bear the thought of eating all that meat alone, so of course, I'm here to help.  

To share we had the Parrillada Deluxe (£27.50 pp) which includes a 14oz prime Argentine Sirloin steak, a 10oz grilled Argentine Fillet steak, two Argentine style pork sausages, morcilla and provolone cheese.  All served on a hot grill still being cooked by.. coals I think.  If your meat isn't cooked to your liking, just chuck it back on the grill :D  Don't let the cheese get burnt though.  

The meat was super succulent and the grilled cheese, well who doesn't appreciate the ooziness of grilled cheese?  Delish!  Mmm mmm mmm!!! 

Well we were definitely satisfied but I still had room for dessert.

I had the cheesecake de dulce de leche (£5, milk toffee cheesecake) while Smee had the flan casero con dulce de leche (£4.50 home made crème caramel with milk toffee).

Ok so the desserts were fairly so-so.  Smee's creme caramel was better than my cheesecake though.  I realise that I prefer my cheesecake more creamy than baked and dry.  

Santa Maria del Sur is a bit out of the way for us to get to but for a local, it's definitely worth a try.  Have a  bottle of red though - that'll help wash out the artery clogging effects.  

Go Ape

After deciding that we weren't flying out of London for the weekend, Smee and I decided to take advantage of the weirdly excellent weather and get our chimp on at a Go Ape ropes/zipwire course.  I first went two years ago and it was super super fun!  If it was possible, I would do this every day!  Smee couldn't make that occasion and had to run away on a jet place back to Oz.  His fear of heights certainly caused an excessive reaction.  But just recently, Smee had decided that Go Ape was 'easy'.  I showed him clips - 'Easy' he said.  I showed him the Tarzan rope - 'Easy' he said.  I don't disagree at all, it is easy!  But for Smee, I was a bit worried.  

We initially wanted to do the Leeds Castle course but it was booked out for the day :( so we headed back to where I first did the course at Bedgebury.  A word of warning when travelling to Bedgebury.  Give yourself a buffer of about 30 minutes 'getting lost' time because the GPS will direct you to the wrong entrance of Go Ape!  (Don't worry, the correct entrance is just a few hundred metres down the same road.)  This is what happened to us and we ended up arriving 15 minutes late to our safety briefing and understandably annoyed many of our fellow climbers.  We can also blame the extra slow service of the Park Gate Inn who took far too long to serve our food.  Nice surroundings in the pub though.  

With the harness and carabiners on the ready, we started on the first section which involved a short six metre rope walk and a zipwire with a maximum height of I dunno, two metres.  Smee initially got off the zipwire and said 'I'm going home'.  We didn't end up going home - he then decided he wanted to prove he was more manly than me! 

The second course.  So tough at the base of the rope ladder.  Smee found the rope net quite comforting.  Smee giving me the thumbs up from the ground.  

Smee's nervousness eventually gave way but only after verbally abusing the ropes.  'This is bullshit', 'Wtf', 'I should be home playing computer games'.  All lovely things to be heard by the very confident seven year old girl behind Smee and egging him on.

Smee goes across the wobbly planks.   

Hmmm.  They should probably think about replacing some of their ropes.  

There are some videos of today's adventure but they are full of expletives.  Anyway, we completed the course and had HEAPS of fun.  I got a few bruises from bumping the ropes too hard and Smee ate too much tan bark from his bumpy landings but all in all, a good day out.   More importantly, Smee is less scared of heights and wants to do the course again!  :D 

Hurrah! 

Seriously peeps, get your butt down to a Go Ape course.