Kew Greenhouse Cafe

If I’ve seemed distracted from my food blog, it’s because I am. There’s craziness at work (taking up most of my time), two big upcoming events with which to deal, a couple of birthdays and most distracting of all – a new bicycle! There’s also the matter of saving some money which is why I’ve not visited the restaurants on my very long list of places to eat. But really, it’s mostly that bicycle on weekends (a retro folder if you’re interested!). I’ve been perusing more cycle chic than food blogs lately – don’t worry, my heart is still with my food!

For the past few weekends, we’ve taken to our bikes, cycling about and discovering our area – quiet places where public transport won’t take us and far enough that walking won’t get us there. We’ve explored Chiswick and the neighbourhoods around Shepherd’s Bush and last weekend, we cycled down to Kew and along the river. Of course, all that cycling does build up a hearty appetite.

We parked our bikes near Kew Station and had a little wander before we settled down at an outdoor table at the Kew Greenhouse Cafe. If you’ve ever visited Kew Gardens via the tube/train station, you’ll know the place – it’s sitting at the corner and you’ll pass it on your way to the botanical gardens. Assuming you visited on a nice day, it’s the place with lovely terrace seating outside. So, we grabbed our table and then I went inside to order. Perusing the display cases inside caused me to change my order a few times!

There was a bit of a wait for everything but they’d warned us this would be the case since they were very busy (as I’m sure most cafes with outdoor seating must be when the weather is fine). After about 10 minutes, our drinks arrive – an iced lemon tea (strangely made with cinnamon – I didn’t like it but Blai did) and just some sparkling water. My slice of cake also arrived – a lemon florentine cake, a lemon cake topped with nuts and candied fruit, just like on top of Florentines. We started nibbling on this gorgeous sticky slice while waiting for the rest of our food.

It all came another 10-15 minutes later. To “balance” my slice of cake, I ordered something “light” – a cheese and chive croissant served with salad. It wasn’t particularly light. The croissant was stuffed full of a cheese mixture that was heated before serving. When cut, a molten cheesey lava flowed from the centre. This and the cake would have been the perfect sized lunch for just me (assuming that I was trying not to be too gluttonous – I mean, I really could have fit in another slice of cake). However, since I was with Blai, we split our meals.

Blai’s huge slice of steak and Guiness pie was served with a variety of vegetables, both boiled and salady. The meaty filling was quite good and tasted homemade – shame about the use of frozen carrots in there though. It was a very generous serving, however, and filled us up well. We had to do a lot of cycling to burn it off!

Our meals cost £20 total, including the drinks. For a lovely, relaxed homemade meal out on an airy terrace for an unlimited amount of time, I reckon that’s a bargain! I liked the atmosphere of the place too – it’s a good mixture of both locals and tourists, all enjoying their very British fare.

Kew Greenhouse Cafe
1 Station Parade
Kew, Surrey
TW9 3PS

 

Spam, Continued

There was quite a big response to my previous Spam post that I thought I’d round up some of the different suggestions for Spam that you came up with!

• The Gastronomer mentioned a loco moco made with Spam, foie gras, hamburger and rice at Animal in Los Angeles. I love this combo of high end and low end – like what the fashion magazines mean when they say to mix designer clothes with Primark!
• Kat of Our Adventures in Japan suggests frying the slices with soy sauce and sugar first.
• Ket shares an old family recipe: “one of my mum’s old recipe was to cut the luncheon meat into cubes, fries them till crispy all round and mix in with baked beans and boiled small cubes of potatoes. sprinkle of pepper and/or chilli powder and it’s a yummy dish with or without rice.”
• The Food Pornographer is also a fan of Spam fried rice and Spam, egg and rice but you really ought to see how she incorporates Spam into her daily bentos. You can see all her Spammy meals here!
• Liz tells of an eggy Spam bread she had as a child. Sandwich the Spam, dip both sides into beaten egg and then fry – it’s the love child of a Spam sandwich and French toast!
• travelrat of Travelrat’s Travels lists some particularly exotic offerings: Spam risotto, chili con Spam, Spam rogan josh, Spam kebabs!
• Helen of Food Stories suggests eating it straight from the tin!
• Wait, I totally forgot to mention one of my most favourite ways to eat Spam – in a hotpot! How about a spicy Sichuan hotpot or a Korean budae jjigae? I blame the hot weather for making me forget about this great cold weather eating!

I’ve also come across other Spam posts in the blogosphere:

• In the USA, Hawaii and Guam both consume the most Spam per capita. The Tasty Island documented all the Spammy treats on offer at this year’s Waikiki Spam Jam.
• Sunflower’s Food Galore shared a recipe for Spam pancakes!
• 30 Days of SPAM hasn’t been updated in a long time but it chronicled one man’s attempt (shall I say willingness?) to eat Spam for 30 days straight. Lots of ideas here!

And finally, how could I forget this?

 

Spam, Egg and Rice

Check out this tin I picked up a little while ago:

It’s the limited edition, Spamalot themed tin of garlic Spam! The tin is an absolute riot, complete with Ye Olde English instructions on the side. Now what dish was going to showcase this baby to all its glory?

Immediately, I thought of a very simple preperation. Sliced and fried with a fried egg, all on white rice – it’s very similar to the kind of food you’d find in Hong Kong style cafes.

It looked awfully plain like this and so I sprinkled white pepper and drizzled sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) over it all (a la Mochachocolata-Rita). And it really hit the spot! The garlic wasn’t very strong but I did notice it was there.

Now don’t go turning your nose up at Spam – it’s not bad! I ate loads of it growing up and in our family, it was known as the rather innocent sounding luncheon meat. Usually it would turn up as part of our Sunday breakfast – crispy-edged fried slices accompanying a fried egg over easy. Sometimes we’d get Spam sandwiches as part of our packed lunch for school – again the fried slices but sandwiched between slices of white bread with a good schmear of sweet chili sauce. Sometimes I get cravings for these sandwiches!

It was only when I’d been in the UK for a few years before I got to try the infamous Spam fritter, that battered creation that fed a nation during the Second World War. I found it on the menu of a cafe in Shepherd’s Bush that looks like it hasn’t changed since the 1950’s. And I liked it! It was quite comforting, its salty meatiness pairing well with the bland mashed potatoes and boiled peas served on the side. And Spam is making a comeback now during the recession (though I’m not sure how swine flu has affected sales lately).

Anyway, Spam is great:

• sliced, fried, and put into sandwiches.
• in Spam musubi (though I’ve not tried it yet, but I can imagine it now!).
• in kimbap.
• on top of instant noodles.
• chopped up and cooked into fried rice.
• chopped up into omelettes.
• in fritters.
• sliced the other way and served like a square burger.

Right, that’s what I can think of off the top of my head – what can you add to this list?

 

Tuna and Potato Cakes

Normally, I am absolutely terrible with leftovers. They tend to sit in the fridge where I ignore them and they go off or I just reheat them and eat a boring meal which reminds me of the meal from the day before – oh wait, it *is* the same meal. Unless I plan something in advance, I’m unlikely to grab those leftovers and make something new and exciting from them. It’s not like I don’t know what to do with them – I know that leftover pasta can be mixed with eggs to make a pasta frittata, leftover stews can go into a pie, leftover roasts into salads or sandwiches or soups – but when faced with something that needs using up, my mind goes blank instantly and I resort to heating it up and eating it as is. Dull dull dull. (Well, unless it’s a cold cooked sausage – those are nice!) How do you deal with leftovers?

But no, I will learn to use leftovers more creatively – I have managed a little in the past! Recently, I found myself with a quantity of leftover mashed potatoes from a meal of sausages and mash. The last thing I wanted was to reheat it and stick a few more sausages into it and so I actually had to think about it for a while before coming up with fish cakes. I like the fish cakes I’ve had in restaurants – surely I could make something like that with leftover mash and a tin of tuna? Call them poor man’s fish cakes if you must.

This is a very basic recipe and it’s easy to enhance it with more herbs, some chopped vegetables or even substitute the tuna for cooked salmon or chopped leftover cooked meats.

Tuna and Potato Cakes
serves 2-3.

about 600g leftover mashed potatoes
1 tin tuna packed in oil
a small handful parsley
salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
dry breadcrumbs
sunflower oil for frying

Flake the tuna and mix it and the parsley with the mashed potatoes. Season with lots of pepper and salt if needed (your leftover mashed potatoes are probably already seasoned well).

In a small shallow bowl, beat the egg along with about 2 teaspoons of water. In another small shallow bowl or plate, fill with dry breadcrumbs. Form fish cakes/patties out of the mashed potato mixture – I find it easiest to form a tight round sphere and then gently flatten it. Dip the cake into the beaten egg, making sure to coat it entirely, and then toss it through the breadcrumbs. Set aside. Continue with the rest of mixture – I ended up making about 15 from the amount I had.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and pour in sunflower oil to about a 1cm depth. Fry the cakes in batches (don’t overcrowd the pan) for a couple minutes on each side, until they’re golden brown.

Drain them on kitchen paper and serve with a wedge of lemon and salad on the side.

 

Malaysia Kopi Tiam

Malaysia Kopi Tiam has shifted locations through central London a few times now and it was only through bellaphon that I learned of its current location. Back when it was at its first spot, a number of years ago, I visited it with my brother but I think I ordered badly – some duck noodle dish that wasn’t that great. I think my brother had char kway teow served up in a hideous mini wok thing. I never returned. Since then, that location went empty and then I heard it opened up elsewhere and then it popped up on bellaphon’s blog and he’s been very keen on the food.

Blai and I found ourselves close to Charing Cross Road one weekend after some work commitments when we thought of having a quick and cheap bite to eat and I took this opportunity to give the place another try. The frontage is a bit messy with advertisements for Malaysian food, Thai food and another huge upright banner advertising Chinese hot pot (but I think this is at another restaurant?!). We entered, were seated and given two menus – one for Malaysian food and the other for Thai. We ignored the latter.

The Malaysian menu is entirely pictorial, which makes for tasty decision making. I also noticed that the duck noodle dish I had before is no longer listed – this is a good thing! Between us, we split a handmade Hakka mee and a nasi goreng. I don’t recall ever having this first noodle dish before but what arrived was pretty good. The dry noodles are tossed with a seasoning mixture involving dark soy and were accompanied by three ways with pork: char siu (Chinese roasted pork), seasoned minced pork, and a bowl of wonton soup…which had a porky filling. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really tell if the noodles were really hand/homemade as they tasted of just regular egg noodles. The porky things were all tasty enough although the char siu was scarily red.

The nasi goreng was really a nasi goreng istimewa (special fried rice), which I particularly like so I was pleased that it was not just plain fried rice. A fried egg, very delicious and peppery prawn crackers and sliced cucumber accompanied the quite tasty nasi goreng. This really hit the spot as I was craving rice that day!

While the restaurant was empty when we arrived, it was totally packed when we left. Most of the punters were native Malaysians, many of them students who are probably on budgets. And this is definitely a budget place – I think we spent a total of £12 for these two dishes. I’ll definitely be back (especially for the Hokkien prawn mee that’s only available on Sundays and Mondays)!

Malaysia Kopi Tiam
67 Charing Cross Road
London WC2H 0NE