Casual London

I LOVE going to London on business trips, looooooooove it! It's a great chance to see friends and visit my favorite restaurants, and we always manage to bring the sunshine! After 19 straight days of torrential rain, the sun came out on the day we landed, and I was hopeful that it was a good sign of a great week to come!

We stayed at Fraser Place for the first day, near Hyde Park. It's a neat place for long and short stays (£200 nett for a one bedroom apartment, although if you stay longer the daily rate is less), with functional one or two bedroom apartments a stones throw away from some great sights.

If you want to fit in a great load of sightseeing in one hour, pull on some running shoes and head to a park, any park! Since we arrived at our accommodation at 8am, that's exactly what I did, and it beats running Bowen Road x 1,000.

My running tour of Hyde Park: Kensington Palace - William and Kate's future residence.  Shadow art display at The Serpentine.  Royal Albert Hall and a big red bus. Lounge chairs by the Round Pond

After a quick shower, we made a last minute booking at Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental, in the vicinity of Harrods and Harvey Nics. They make a mean burger, as was evident by the number of burgers coming out of the kitchen! You have a choice of four, including a "Yankee" burger, as well as pulled pork and other options.

Bar Boulud is a chain of restaurants originating in the USA, opened by Michelin-starred celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. Now, this French American Bistro doesn't pretend to compete with Mr. Blumethal's gig upstairs, but instead is a casual place to have a nice meal with excellent service.

Their "Prix Fixe" set lunch menu is surprisingly good value at £23, and the portions were quite generous - I could have shared one menu with my mum. 

Bar Boulud's Olive Bread. Lunch menu: Rocket Salad with mozzarella and a trio of aioli, tomato and tepanade toasts. Whole bone-in Pan-Fried Sole with Brown Butter Sauce. The Yankee Burger with a side of french fries. Lunch menu: Grilled Plaice with Creamy Polenta and Basil. The AMAZING dessert with the Prix Fixe menu, and free macaroons because they took our fries away before we were finished!

Hong Kong Mother's Day fell on that Sunday, so we treated our mum to our favorite Italian in Notting Hill - Osteria Basilico. I called from HK in advance to secure a table on street level. On a sunny day with light streaming through the windows, it's much nicer than the dark yet still cozy basement level. We love this place for it's non-fussy, straight-forward and scrumptious food, not to mention at a great price.

Fresh selection at the Antipasto Buffet (only one visit) -  £8.50. I practiced my piling skills from back in the old days (Four words: Pizza Hut Salad Bar), and this was more than enough for three of us to share as a start.

Veal Milanese with rocket, artichoke and cherry tomatoes - £18.50. This dish was the only disappointment that I have encountered at Osterio, the meal was bashed way too thin, it was dry and completely uneventful. 

Fresh fettuccine, veal and rosemary ragout - £12.50. A mild and meaty sauce, one of my favorites.

Pasta special: Linguini with beef and mushroom ragout and truffle oil $12.50. The meat sauce was so flavorful, rich and tasty! A heavier option than the veal ragout, and the truffle oil aroma was a bit overpowering for my brother (mind you, he's a fussy eater)

The Monogamous Chinese

Photo from www.timeout.com.hk

When I asked my friend if she'd like to try out this restaurant for dinner, there were two immediate replies:

1: "Huh? Monogamous?"

2: "Just as long as it's not one of those really brightly lit clinical places."

Loving the crockery and glassware!

And it's true, not all Chinese restaurants can be said to pay attention to mood lighting! But this place is different - I quite like the colourful walls, the large pieces of commissioned Chinese art, the red lanterns, the soft and romantic lighting. And what better place to take a date to a place with the word "monogamous" in it's name! Goodness knows why they chose to call it "The Monogamous Chinese" but I've heard that it's because they want to remain true to Sichuan and Peking dishes - which I was particularly looking forward to, as the cuisine always reminds me of my good ol' student days in Beijing.

Our favorite of the evening - Braised aubergine and minced pork in a hot and spicy sauce (HK$ 128)  flavorful and not too oily, the aubergine was perfectly cooked.

Deep-fried Tofu with Spicy Salt and Crispy Garlic (HK$ 98) - silken tofu wrapped in a wonderful crispy batter. Although tasty, the salt level was a bit too overwhelming after the first couple of bites. When we mentioned this to the manager, he looked a bit offended! "It's supposed to be salty!" Hmm...yes, but does it have to be that salty?

Green vegetables with mixed mushrooms

Deep-Fried Blackbone Chicken with Diced Sichuan Chili and Peppers (HK$ 218) 

Deep-Fried Soufflé balls (HK$ 88) - this delectable puff ball was a nice way to end the meal. With a distinct egg-white taste, I was was hoping for an ice-cream filling rather than more of a cream filling.

The ambience makes it a really cool place to have a more leisurely dinner than most Chinese establishments, and you can tell that great care has been taken to ensure that every detail is just-so. 


The selection gives you a lot to choose from, and there are a number of vegetarian options. Dishes are not oily and don't have you leaving like you have to drink a gallon of water. There are 3 choices each of red and white wine - we opted for the pinot grigio, which for me worked quite well.


I would definitely revisit this place to try other dishes with a larger group of friends, and especially want to try the Peking Duck!


The restaurant is located below the Mid-Levels escalator, between Elgin Rd. and Caine Rd. Walk up the steps from Elgin and it is tucked away in a little side alley. There are some nice little tables in an alcove outside if you fancy some al fresco dining, although proceed with caution - when we were outside for a cheeky ciggie, I could have sworn I saw a rat the size of a ferret lurking under one of the tables! 


The Monogamous Chinese
59 Caine Road
Mid-Levels
Tel: +852 2523 2872

Dinner & Movie = Nachos & Potato Skins

This past weekend, JY&MY came over for a movie night to watch "Chronicle" at ours, and for some reason I felt inspired to emulate a sports bar experience: eating nachos and potato skins while watching something on a big screen. 

These were not to be any normal nachos, oh no. I had a tub of crabmeat in my fridge, and I intended to use it liberally - gourmet nachos, if you will. 

You will not believe how hard it is to find plain corn nachos in Hong Kong until you try it yourself! Forget the 5 supermarkets/stores that I tried (even GrEAT) and go straight to Oliver's - at least I know now that they are sold there.

We laid a layer of nacho chips on the platter, then chili crabmeat (seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder and a dash of tabasco sauce, then pan-fried lightly), and a mix of grated cheddar and monterey jack cheese. On top of the third and final layer, sprinkle a final large helping of cheese (I believe we had a 250g bag, and almost 2/3 of it went on the nachos). I put my nachos under the grill, but JY suggested that next time we bung it in the microwave instead, so that the cheese doesn't go too dry, and the nachos don't burn before the lower tiers of cheese melt. Next time!

The nachos were quite glam, and to top off the whole experience we opened the bottle of Ruinart Rosé champagne that JY & MY treated us to, thanks guys!

For the sauces, we put together my usual guacamole recipe minus the tomatoes. We also made a pretty awesome salsa, although next time I'll blitz everything but the tomatoes, then add it to the tomatoes and mash them by hand so the sauce is more chunky.

Salsa:
(this recipe will make enough for your nachos, and much more...) You'll need:

1 can of plum tomatoes
2 jalapenos or large green chilies
a generous handful of coriander, roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced
1/2 red onion, roughly diced
1 clove of garlic, roughly sliced
salt and pepper


In a food processor, pulse all of the ingredients to the desired consistency.