Lucha Libre, Liverpool

Strange as it may seem, it was eggs that brought me here. After seeing an image of a dish called Chilaquiles, a dish of tortilla chips, salsa, and cheese, reminiscent with nachos and cheese which we all love No?  but this dish was topped with two fried eggs. 

I realised how much I love eggs, a staple of the food world but equally synonymous with finer dishes like steak tata, eggs Florentine and souffle. 

My thoughts turned to breakfast dishes like mashed avocado on toast topped with fried egg and a dash of Tabasco, gloriously unctuous. Huevos rancheros, and my fave eggs Benedict and who doesn't love dipping hot buttered soldiers into dippy eggs? 

Then on to lunch, frittata, omelets of all descriptions, egg and chips, egg mayo sandwiches, and a picnic ain't a picnic without scotch eggs.

Classics like corned beef hash has to be topped with gooey fried eggs, same with special fried rice, bubble and squeak. I'll even chuck one on top of beans on toast. 

I could go on but lets get to Lucha Libre .......

My partner had sent me a text during the day suggesting we eat out that night and for me to choose where? I suggested Lucha Libre, I  just had to try that dish after all I was now in the mood for eggs! 

With a no reservation policy we went handy and arrived at 7pm. The restaurant was already busy with most of the tables taken. Once seated we were quickly given the menu and drinks orders where taken whilst we decided what to eat.

We drank tequila cocktails with pomegranate syrup, lemon juice, Moledo Negra beer and the obligatory Vanilla salted rim.

My drink pictured above was a Mezcal cocktail, a very smokey Del Maguey Vida, watermelon, hibiscus, lime & pacifico with an orange salt rim. 

Below Chilaquiles the dish that brought me here ! 

Chilaquiles , tortilla chips smothered in a mild salsa roja, molten cheese served with fresh coriander, jalapenos, & fried eggs.  

I'm glad to say I loved this dish it was every bit as nice as I had imagined. Fresh and crisp, the crispness coming not only from the tortilla chips but also the pickled red onions and slithers of radish, it was not over cheesed and all stuck together like you sometimes find with dishes of this kind. The eggs were the star attraction, rightfully on top like a crown. Piercing those golden yolks added that unctuous gooeyness it was divine! 

This Quesadilla was the surprise favourite. My partner not liking pineapples didn't expect to like this at all but it was a clear favourite with us both!  And now a convert to pineapples ( well hot ones anyway) 

This quesadilla called the "Gringa" was filled with marinated belly pork & grilled pineapple. A great combination of savoury and sweet wrapped in a hot flour tortilla.

Pil Bil slow cooked pork marinated in orange juice & achiote, served with pickled red onions.

Again beautifully marinaded pork but I can't say any more about this dish as by now we were both stuffed and after one bite we were beaten ! 

Sides were re fried beans and red rice, again they were hardly touched due to the extremely full bellies.

We had a great time at Lucha Libre, great food , fun environment and knowledgeable staff. Would highly recommend .  

The Goshawk, Mouldsworth Cheshire

We currently have our house on the market and looking to relocate to a village in Cheshire. We both thought it was a good idea to spend much of our free time exploring the areas we like and consequently eating at the local pubs and restaurants. The plan being when we eventually move, these areas will not feel totally strange to us. A good plan we think and we are having fun doing so. 

On one lazy Sunday afternoon drive through west Cheshire with a plan to stop off at any pub that took our fancy, we found ourselves driving through the small village of Mouldsworth and came across The Goshawk. A striking looking country pub complete with window boxes, hanging baskets, and attractive shrubbery. It was one of those pubs that makes you step on the brakes.

On this occasion we just had a drink and a look around, we liked the look and feel of the place and the menu was appealing so we made a mental note to visit and dine sometime soon. There is also a very large and new looking decking area with plenty of tables which overlooks a bowling green and fields, very picturesque. 

Last week we tried and failed to get a reservation as they were totally full but this week we managed to bag reservation. On arrival we were given the opportunity to either sit in the bar and peruse the menu with a drink or be seated right away. We were starving so wasted no time. 

The Goshawk is lovely inside, interlocking dining areas with wooden floors open log fires although not lit as its summer but this place will be a nice cosy snug in the winter. The menu which you can view HERE has a good combination of typical Gastro fare, sausage and mash, steak and kidney pies and burgers but it also has more refined dishes like Hake in parma ham, crayfish salad, lobster etc... So there's something for everyone. 

The wine list is good and in particular a good selection of wine by the glass for those who are driving. Those who like good beer will love this place too with many guest beers on offer.

We decided to skip a starter and dived straight in to the mains, we both fancied a steak. 

I ordered a 10oz Ribeye and was cooked medium perfectly, juicy and pink with a nice charred flavour from the grill, this came with the most awesome bowl of chunky chips, really crisp outsides and fluffy inside, two meaty flat mushrooms and the usual garnish of a baked tomato. I also ordered a béarnaise sauce which came in a little pot, divinely buttery with a hint of anise from the tarragon , it was so good the chips were dunked in too! 

My partner had the Surf and Turf, same steak, medium rare topped with four massive juicy prawns and was equally enjoyed. 

We were quite full after our steaks but had saved just enough room to sample a couple of puds. Passion fruit creme brûlée and Strawberries & Lime cheesecake with a citrus syrup.  

The creme brûlée was Devine and served with two shortbread biscuits. My only gripe was the custard was a little more set than I like. I prefer a more smooth thick silky brûlée but this in no way detracted from the taste and the crack test of the topping was a winner, smooth and as thin as glass, top class.

Although this looks like a large potion I was told this cheesecake was very light and tasted great. 

One other thing that stood out to me, as strange as this might seem but I loved the fact the wine glass that my wine was served in was absolutely sparkling clean, you could actually feel it when you picked up the glass. Who doesn't love a clean glass ? but it's rare. This was a large 250ml glass which they serve in a little carafe so you can top up as you need too, a lovely touch.

Service was a little slow between courses but this was not a problem. Everything came out fresh, piping hot and most importantly it all tasted great . 

We are both looking forward to making the Goshawk one of our locals.  

Duck & Waffle, London

Oh here we go, a restaurant on the 40th floor with a 360 degree view of London. 

Readers of my blog will know this place is right up my street. 

Duck & Waffle is the restaurant inside Heron Tower, Bishopsgate.

After taking the fastest lift I think I've ever been in to the dizzying heights of the 40th floor you first arrive in a very cool looking bar even from here your looking down on the Gherkin. 

 

Inside is very spacious, bright and airy with breath taking views of London. I'm already a happy bunny.

After our waiter described the menu to us and how the dishes would be served, basically not in the order we ordered but as each dish was ready, confusing at first but as the menu is small plate (tapas) style we didn't mind too much. There are plenty of small dishes to choose from or larger dishes for the table.  

We ordered a mixture of dishes to share, BBQ spiced crispy pigs ears,
Roasted octopus / chorizo / lemon / caper.
Pollock meatballs / lobster cream / parmesan.
Harissa spiced Herdwick mutton sliders / lime creme fraiche / charred tomato jam.
Spicy ox cheek doughnut / apricot jam. 

And a couple of cocktails to wash it all down with, a whiskey sour for me and a Spring Negroni for my partner.

The BBQ spiced crispy pigs ears arrived in a brown paper bag complete with red wax seal. A fun way to start the meal. 

These were lovely the BBQ flavour was good and they were very crunchy, but half way through I noticed the thin white strip of ear through the coating and it became off putting and I became a bit squeamish. My partner however loved them. 

 

The octopus was a dish my partner chose, beautifully presented. I'm not a fan of seafood in general but I did try some of this and was surprised, very tender but the octopus didn't taste of much. The flavour of this dish came from the chorizo and capers. 

 

The mutton sliders where very good but very small they were gone in three bites . I know, I know ! sliders are small but at £8 a pop they were not good value, £16 for these two little burgers ! 

 

Pollock / lobster cream / parmesan 

 

This was one of the tastiest dishes for me after the sliders, the pollock meatball itself was very subtle but the lobster cream and parmesan gave lots of flavour, I could have easily ate both of these but I was sharing. 

Spicy Ox cheek doughnut / apricot jam was a huge Disappointment.

Added this second picture just so you can see how big they were and with not enough filling inside they were too doughy and heavy, the sweet and spicy coating just didn't do it for me. Dipping it in the apricot jam made it more palatable but this was a dish neither of us could finish, we just didn't  like it enough. 

Our experience was souring as we still hadn't received our cocktails we had ordered at the beginning of the meal. We had to remind our waiter, It seems they had forgotten. The restaurant was not that busy ? When the drinks eventually arrived our waiter kindly said they were on the house.

After the long wait the drinks were not great and we had to send them back which made us a bit uncomfortable as I hardly ever send drinks or food back. But at a cost of £24 for two drinks that were unpalatable (for us ) it was the right thing to do. 
 

My partners spring negron left a really awful bitter taste in the back of your throat, very unpleasant and the whiskey sour tasted way to artificial, I 'm not a hundred percent on this but I felt the foamy top was the culprit, I think an artificial chemical emulsifier had been used to give the frothy white head. I understand lots of bars will now use this and not raw egg whites in their drinks for fear of salmonella.

It did look rather pretty like a lemon meringue but to me it was no Whiskey sour. 

 

The waiter replaced our drinks for two others but I'm afraid these were not great either. 

What we felt was although Duck & Waffle is a lovely environment to have a meal, the service was hit and miss the food although OK for most parts, is very over hyped and over priced. As you can see from the bill and this was without the drinks added.

We've eaten far better (set lunches ) at Michelin starred restaurants for the same price. 

Bone Daddies Ramen Bar. Soho London

On our recent trip to London we had decided to make dining a more casual affair. We had read rave reviews about Bone daddies and with it's no reservation required policy this fitted the bill perfectly.

This was my very first ramen experience. I had read the queues can be quite long at lunch time so waited till 15 minutes after opening time to pounce.

We opted for a seat in the window just me and my partner facing the world outside as the tables are bench like and your likely to be forced to share it with strangers, which ain't a bad thing in general but the very idea of slurping noodles in front of strangers is a bit daunting.

Within minutes of us being seated the place started to fill up the music and Atmosphere cranked up a notch it was buzzing.

Inside Bone daddies

In front of us was an array of condiments garlic and crusher, hot chilli oil, soy sauce, sesame seed grinder and eating implements chop sticks, bibs (very necessary) for first timers and hair bands for those with long hair to tie back a brilliant touch, not that I needed it.

Choice of ramen was great, we both opted for the Tonkotsu the idea of a broth made from pork bones for 20 hours was too much to pass. We also ordered an extra portion of Cock scratchings ( deep fried chicken skin ) to you and me.

Whilst waiting for our ramen we supped on Asahi's and soaked up the atmosphere. Once the ramen arrived we donned our bibs and got stuck in.

Tonkotsu ramen - With spring onion, chashu pork, 20 hour bone broth, soft boiled egg, crispy garlic, spring onions and extra cock scratchings.

I was a bit disappointed with the broth at first it seemed to lack the flavour I imagined but after everything started to mix together it became more tasty with every mouth full.
I always struggle with noodle or rice dishes as they seem to fill me up very quickly and it happened again, when I had finished it looked like I had hardly ate anything but I was truly stuffed. I was gutted I couldn't even fit in The green tea or black sesame ice cream everyone raved about and said so to our waitress. when she told us it wasn't on the menu that day I breathed a sigh of relief I hadn't missed out because of my own doing.

Feeling sorry for us she brought over this ice cream covered in sweet sesame seeds on the house ! so bravely we tucked in and I have to say it was the most delicious ice cream I have ever had.

Evidence of the polished of ice cream.

Bone Daddies was great fun, we loved it. good tasty food, great upbeat staff and the music was fab, I could have stayed all day.

MEATLiquor London

Although I love a burger as much as the next person burger joints have never featured on my list of to go restaurants, but all that could change. Street food when done well can command as much attention as the high end dining scene. It's down to the quality of the ingredients and when cooked brilliantly there will be people queueing round the block. Remember my post on Bubbledogs? hot dogs and Champagne! ( read it here ) I rest my case. Every now and then is not too bad for you, right ? 

 

The burger scene is uber cool at the moment with the foodie elite in London, so on my last visit to the capital I decided to make a burger joint my to go destination and see for myself. 

 

Recently two American Giants Shake Shack and Five guy's have taken up residencies in Covent garden but reviews are more a miss than a hit. Two other names bandied about on Twitter, Patty and Bun and MEATLiquor. also get rave reviews so I felt in safe hands there. 

After much deliberation we decided to go with MEATLiquor, leaving Patty and Bun for our next visit. I liked the story of how MEATLiquor came to be, the story of Yianni Papoutsis whom after spending a few years driving his mobile grill "Meat wagon" around London and every major festival, feeding masses of meat loving punters he decided to take up a more permanent residence in Welbeck st, Marylebone. 

Jaime Oliver showcased MeatWagon on Jaime's great britian. You can see Jaime visiting the Meat Wagon HERE.

The talk of two hour queues snaking around the block can either be off putting or intriguingly enticing. But this is Monday afternoon 15 Min's after opening time and feeling smug we walk right in. It was quite empty but believe me half an our after we were seated it started to fill quite quickly. 

With it's unglamorous position under a multi story car park the interior is much the same. 

Dark and moody, lit only by blood red neon lighting. Walls and ceilings covered in sinister graffiti style illustrations. A mish mash of bench style tables and side diner style banquettes. I fear i've pulled up a chair in the middle of a slaughter house. It is quite simply the Devils crib!

Should you need to use the W.C doors are marked Chick or Dicks !

But it works, after all you are here for a dirty burger, pretty surroundings and tablecloths just wouldn't do here.

The burgers here are big and messy. Each table provided with a whole kitchen roll only confirms you need to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in for you'll be wiping half of it off your chin. 

Menu is fun, burgers listed as Bulls, chicken under Birds, anything made from vegetables listed under Rabbit food and deserts referred to as sweet stuff.

A very good and extensive cocktail list. So much choice I had to send our waiter away 3 times till I made my decision. 

We both chose the Cheese burger, the MeatWagon original, beef, cheese, red onions, pickles, lettuce, mustard , ketchup.

Side orders of ordinary fries, fries smothered in melted cheddar cheese and onion and a portion of Slaw Southern style. 

Portions were huge and we immediately knew we had over ordered. One portion of chips and slaw would go round a few people easily.

Food images not great due to low lighting, I never use flash photography in restaurants so you will have to take my word this food looked as good as it tasted. 

The MeatWagon original cheeseburger. 

Near to perfection as you can get, juicy beef patty still pink in the middle, nice caramalisation charring the outside. A final splash of water and a couple of seconds under a closh softens the bun giving it that shiny glaze and just the right amount of condiments to not overpower the taste of the burger itself. I loved it . 

Drinks were also very good, we ordered a Space Gin Smash
Plymouth navy Gin, lemon juice, sugar, apple juice, elderflower cordial, mint and grapes.

Henrietta fizz
Finlandia vodka, shaken with fresh pear, fresh lemon juice and strawberry topped with fizz.

Could have easilly stayed for a while longer going through the cocktail list but sadly we had a train to catch.

Tom's Kitchen - Somerset house London

I love visiting London, I was born here but have lived in Liverpool my entire life so visiting London always feel special and for a foodie it's heaven on earth. My reason for visiting this weekend was to see Goldfrapp in concert, the destination Somerset house. But whilst we're here we got to eat and drink, right ? 

This trip we decided not to do our usual ritual of bagging every meal at Michelin starred restaurants and being restricted to dining at the only available times they had on offer, to the more casual approach of walking in off the street, places like Bone daddies, Ramen bar or to do the burger scene at much talked about places like Shake Shack, Five guys, patty and Bun or MEATLiquor. 

That said we did have to make two reservations. Readers of my blog will know I have a love of eating & drinking high in the sky. Duck and waffle (being the highest) was not a place we felt we could just turn up at and get lucky but more of that in another post.

Our only other reservation was made at Tom's Kitchen a chef (Tom Aikens ) who's style of cooking I love, British comfort food with French influences. Tom's first restaurant in Chelsea (Tom Aikens) achieved Michelin star status. He then opened the first of his brasserie style restaurants again based in Chelsea and more recently the second Tom's Kitchen at Somerset house, the very same place we were going to see Goldfrapp so I wasted no time securing a table.  

To find the restaurant you have to walk through the courtyard of Somerset house. We arrived straight into the bar area were we were promptly asked if we would like a drink. We declined at this point but thought it very attentive as it was a hot hot day . The Dining area is split into three rooms , we were walked through two of them to the final one nearest the kitchen and seated in the middle of the room which at first felt awkward as it's slightly raised up from the lower more comfortable looking banquets, these however were reserved for four diners. 

As we were eating early 3.30 we were given the Brunch menu. You can view this HERE.

Then promptly offered the cocktail list. Tom's Kitchen had cleverly put together a cocktail list named after all the bands playing the Somerset house summer series. I naturally chose Goldfrapp~ Black Cherry 

I would not normally chose a Bourbon based drink, but it was a fitting tribute to our visit. And ordering out of my comfort zone paid off. My partner however chose Band of Horse sticking with her beloved Gin ( Traitor ) 

 

For starter I went for Risotto of the day which was Lemon and herb. This was absolutely Divine, creamy, silky, lemony, with big shavings of Parmesan, wasn't to sure what herbs were used but I think I detected Tarragon as there seemed a hint of anise. 

My partner chose the Cesar salad and loved it. 

For mains we both chose pork belly with braised endive and pearl-barley risotto 

We both loved the pork belly, meltingly tender, the crispy crackling was so thin and crispy you could eat it like a big porky crisp. We both disliked the braised endive it was far to bitter but endives are bitter so that's not a criticism just personal taste. The only thing I would change about this dish was the sauce surrounding the risotto, it was too sweet for my taste I would have much preferred it to be rich and savoury.

I couldn't finish this dish, stupidly I thought the the pearl barley risotto accompanying this dish would be a small portion as the pork belly was the main ingredient. But there was a healthy portion of it.

I wrongly ordered.  Two Risottos, who does that ? That said this was my first taste of a risotto not made with rice and it was fantastic.

We were both too full for desert which was a shame as I would have liked to sample the full hit at Tom's Kitchen but we left very full and happy.

Good food, good drinks and Music a pretty perfect day in my book ;0) 

Rhuby Spritz the perfct summer cocktail

One of the most memorable cocktails I've had was during a visit to the OXO Tower London last summer, it was called Rhuby Spritz.  A rhubarb vodka muddled with redcurrants and charged with soda it was the perfect British summer drink. 

I say British as not only are rhubarb and redcurrants quintessentially British, the vodka in this cocktail is made by British distiller William chase, a Hereford potato farmer who brought us Terrell's crisps.

In Williams story he describes whilst travelling in the USA looking for packaging equipment for his crisps he stumbled upon a small distillery making potato vodka and thought this could be a great new chapter in his life. He reportedly sold his crisp business for £30 million deciding it would be more fun to make vodka ( have to agree there ) Chase vodka has since gone from strength to strength. In 2010 Chase was crowned the worlds finest vodka by a panel of 30 judges at the San Fransisco world spirit competition, beating the likes of Poland and Russia.

Distilling in a bespoke copper batch pot and using potatoes gives Chase vodka a natural sweetness and a much better taste than traditional methods of using cheaper wheat or rye grains.

I'm a big fan of trying to reproduce cocktails at home that I have tried and loved. Especially the classics that have an interesting story attatched to them. Although Rhuby Spritzs not in that category I loved it enough to want to make at home.

So I wanted to find out how to make this drink using the exact ingredients. 
The Mixologist at OXO kindly gave me the recipe.

Chase vodka is not cheap at £35 a bottle but the quality is amazing, and the taste of rhubarb comes through superbly.

Ingredients to make a Rhuby spritz


 

Ingredients
6-8 Redcurrants
1/2 tsp Caster sugar
15ml of lemon juice
50ml Chase Rhubarb vodka
Soda water

Glass style - Tall fluted - Highball
Method - Muddle - Shaken - Charge with soda
Garnish - Slice of lemon - String of recurrants

Method
Muddle 6-8 redcurrants with a 1/2 tsp caster sugar and 15ml lemon juice in a cocktail shaker
Add a double shot of Chase Rhubarb vodka, ice & shake
Strain into a glass filled with ice
Stir and top up with soda water
Garnish with a slice of lemon and some of the redcurrants.

Rhuby Spritz the perfect summer cocktail

Enjoy!

Random recipe challenge

I currently have 128 Cook books at home plus several cocktail books and like a lot of people who love to cook I can't resist buying them but do I cook from them all, the answer is No. 

So when I spotted Dominic Franks of @belleaukitchen throwing out a challenge to his Twitter followers to cook a random recipe I decided to give it a go. 
The rules of this months challenge was to count your cook books from left to right, stopping at number 30 then choosing page 30. Cooking what ever recipe was on that page, no cheating! 

Admittedly I prefer to cook a recipe that has a photo to illustrate how the finished dish should look so when page 30 had not one but two recipes and both without pictures I was already out of my comfort zone.

The 30th book on my shelf was "The Great Garlic Cookbook". The first recipe on the page 30 was for real taramasalata. My partner and I are not great fish eaters so didn't see the point in making something that won't be eaten.

The other recipe was for "Sorbet (sherbet) Tomatoes", again not a recipe I would ever choose to make but this is a challenge after all.  

 

 

 

After my initial thought of yuk I thought about another sorbet I had eaten recently and liked very much, cucumber and mint at a restaurant called Fraiche ( you can read my review of Fraiche here ) which was lovely, so not all sorbets are of the desert kind, saying that a Tomato is officially a fruit ! 

This recipe did not require too many ingredients or expensive ones so what the hell, in for a penny in for a pound ! 

 

The only change I made to this recipe was instead of freezing the tomato juice in an ice cube tray which would take an age ( not a patient cook) I decided to use my Sorbet / ice cream machine. Ten minutes over a couple of hours, no contest ! 
 

Ingredients

This is how I made Sorbet ( sherbet ) Tomatoes
(Serves 4)

• 2 large beefsteak tomatoes 
• Salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A generous handful of fresh mint leaves
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 10g / 2tsp of sugar
• 2 egg whites

To serve 

Sprigs of mint

Preparation

Halve each tomato horizontally, scoop out and reserve seeds and cores.

Sprinkle the insides of the tomato shells with salt and turn upside down to drain.

Smear the inside of each tomato shell with the crushed garlic and sprinkle with pepper.

Press the tomato seeds and cores through a sieve to extract the juice . 

Make up to 2/3 cup 150 ml 1/4 pint with water.

Combine the mint leaves, tomato juice, lemon juice and sugar in a blender. The mixture should not be too smooth.

Pour mixture into an ice cream / sorbet maker and churn. This only took around 10 minutes due to the small amount of liquid. 

Whip egg whites with a couple of pinches of salt until it forms soft peaks. 

Fold egg whites into semi frozen mixture.

Freeze until firm, stirring occasionally.

Pile the sorbet (sherbet) into each tomato half and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Verdict : very pretty on the plate, the tomato sorbet was nice and subtle against the stronger taste of the tomato itself. Definitely a summer dish, but felt they were a little bit large.
Too much coldness for a starter. Would prefer these a bit smaller as a palate cleanser or refresher. Nice but if I am honest I wouldn't be in a hurry to make again. 

The point of this exercise was to challenge myself, I enjoyed the Idea of  making something I would never have attempted. Looking forward to taking part again next month.