Tamarind and Thyme

Earlier this month, I noticed that Twitter was abuzz with the announcement of a Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea being offered at the Sanderson Hotel for a limited time, to coincide with the launch of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland film. The menu sounded equally eclectic and adorable, with pastries designed to challenge the tastebuds, and I quickly arranged a girls only tea there. One is leaving for Hong Kong soon and what better way for one of many send offs – a surprise send off really and luckily for us, she was definitely surprised and delighted. We certainly don’t treat ourselves to proper afternoon tea often enough!

On Monday afternoon, we traipsed over to the Sanderson Hotel, located just north of Oxford Street, between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road. I didn’t even know there was a hotel here; according to reports online, GQ reported the Sanderson as being the “hippest hotel in the world” and I can possibly see why. It’s rather bling. We were shown to the covered courtyard where we were told that the heating wasn’t working that day and that they’d be glad to seat us in the restaurant instead if we so desired. But there were a few giggling ladies out there and it was far from a cold day and so courtyard it was. I’m so glad we decided that – there was lots of natural light and a fountain and a little garden and it’s all just so so pretty.

They bring us all little menus but really there’s only one thing on that menu: the Mad Hatter’s Tea. £20 for just the tea or £29.50 with a glass of champagne. And it’s the hotel’s restaurant, Suka, serving expensive contemporary Malaysian food, that’s running the tea. Hmm. Oh well, nothing Malaysian about the teas and tea offerings though.

Of the teas on offer, we immediately gravitated towards the flowering jasmine tea, which came presented in a glass goblet. I think they would have been more effective in a large glass teapot as the continued steeping in the glass made it too strong after a while but they were delightful to watch as they opened! The other teas were a bit of a disappointment, just being Clipper teabags in individual pots. I did expect loose teas (Clipper does do loose according to their website) but I guess as afternoon tea is not regularly offered here, they’d have a more limited selection than a dedicated tea hotel/place. You’re welcome to all the tea you can drink and we definitely got our money’s worth with two of the flowering teas apiece plus a pot of regular tea (Earl Grey for me).

After our first teas came our tiered plates of goodies – one for each of us! Ooooh, how decadent! The cake stands themselves are gorgeous, made with vintage crockery (you can even purchase them here).

At the bottom were finger sandwiches and scones. The sandwiches were presented on rainbow coloured bread, all coloured with natural ingredients. They’re your standard, extremely dainty, sandwiches but the standout for me was the cucumber with black pepper. I need to recreate these at home.

The scones came with beautiful soft strawberry preserves and plenty of clotted cream. These were just beautiful, so buttery and melt in your mouth good and if any more had been offered, I probably would have burst just from these alone.

The second tier was full of pastries. These were mainly ok – a little extra thought going into each of them would have made them much better.

The chocolate cup was filled with a strawberry mousse according to the menu but I found it to be more of a stabilised foam of sorts. That was gorgeous but the chocolate cup would have been more successful if it had been made of white chocolate (as originally stated on the menu) instead of the stronger dark chocolate.

The hazelnut and passionfruit tart was also topped with dark chocolate, this time in the form of the White Rabbit’s pocket watch. The hazelnut cream was delicious as was the buttery pastry but the passionfruit was only there in the form of a tiny bit of syrup. I’m not yet convinced of this flavour combination but perhaps it would work with more passionfruit or just the removal of that and the addition of caramelised nuts for texture.

The chocolate and raspberry crackle cupcake was topped with popping candy, something I always enjoy. Pop pop pop! Digging into the buttercream and down through to the cake, though, I found no evidence of raspberry. It was only when I was almost halfway through the cupcake that the single fresh raspberry emerged, buried under the mountain of buttercream. Not a bad combination but I did have to scrape aside some of that cream as there was much too much of it.

Finally, the little teacup at the top of the cake stand held two intriguing lollipops. The little chocolate one was supposed to explode in our mouths and explode it did as the thin chocolate shell was full of melted mint ice cream! The pineapple one was supposed to make our mouths go hot and cold. There was a little bit of heat in the pineapple candy while the sugary layer did have something that cooled the tongue a bit, in the way that menthol cools. While not a big show stopper, I admire the attempt at kooky!

In all, the tea things were a bit hit and miss (though more mediocre than miss really). But for us, the real treat was just having the chance to relax for a couple hours with plenty of tea and some nice treats to keep us occupied. It was really enough for dinner too – I barely ate anything after that. I really like the idea of the tea and the attempt to keep to the spirit of the Mad Hatter and his tea and do think good on them for giving the idea a go. There’s still time to try it out too – when I first booked almost a month ago, the Mad Hatter’s Tea was only available for the month of March but I just learned that due to the popularity of it, it’s been extended to the end of May. At the very least it’s worth it just to check out the fabulous lobby of the hotel. We even rode up and down in the lift with its 3D depiction of the solar system – and then, of course, we hotfooted it out of there.

Sanderson Hotel
50 Berners Street
London W1T 3NG

Call it food blogger dominoes if you will. Mr Noodles first dragged bellaphon to Little Lamb, and then meemalee paid a visit which prompted my calling up and making a booking. Then Sharmila also went, causing me to start drooling incessantly and checking each day to see if it was Sunday yet, dammit! I wanted hotpot (also known as steamboat)! If you’re not familiar with this fabulous meal for cold days, it’s essentially a big pot of boiling hot stock (can be mild, can be spicy) in the middle of the table and a whole lot of raw ingredients to cook in it. The meal becomes quite a long and very social affair in which the food gets cooked little by little (the whole lot would never fit in the pot at one time) and after all has been cooked and eaten, the broth is so lovely to drink as it’s taken on all the flavours. Of course, you shouldn’t dare drink it if it’s red and spicy, with a thick layer of oil on top!

Finally last Sunday came and six of us descended on Little Lamb on Shaftesbury Avenue, where I had reserved a table, which turned out to be a little tight for six but you know, we managed. Luckily for us, it was on the ground floor (there are tables downstairs) and next to the bar, which would prove a boon.

Like the previous foodie visitors, we opted for a huge twin flavours bowl of herbal tonic and spicy broths. And then we got to work deciding on the 30 dishes of raw ingredients we’d have between us. Yes, that’s right – 30 plates of food. For £20 a head, you get the broths of your choice plus five ingredients to toss in there. Multiply that by six and you end up with more food than your table can handle. Thank goodness for that extra space at the bar!

It’s just easier if I list everything we had: classic lamb slice, special beef slice x 3, side pork x 3, ham (really luncheon meat) x 2, prawn on shell x 2, fresh squid, cuttlefish, crab x 2, beef meatballs, fish meatballs, Fuzhou fish meatballs, prawn balls, fried fish roll, pak choi, pea shoots, potato slice, dry tofu, tofu knot, Chinese mushrooms, needle mushrooms (enoki), oyster mushrooms, Mongolian flat bean noodles, soft noodles. This may not sound like a lot but it sure looked like a fair bit.

We were particularly impressed by the lovely porky filling in the huge Fuzhou fishballs. Likewise the chewiness of the thick Mongolian flat bean noodles, the bite to the Chinese mushrooms and the slipperiness of the cooked dry tofu skins and knots were wonderful. I’m glad not to have missed the crab, which had meaty bodies and not so meaty legs. Less successful were the cuttlefish (not at its freshest) and the lamb slices (made the broth too lamby for me to drink).

And while I surprised myself by enjoying the herbal tonic broth (just a few Chinese aromatics tossed in the soup), the spicy side just didn’t have the same kick and burn as that at my local Sichuan place. Shame.

Little Lamb’s central London location is a winner though and the set menu deal is really good value. And overall, hotpot/steamboat is a great social dinner with arms darting towards the pot, chopsticks flying everywhere and everyone stinking of meat afterwards. I might take my brother there, he being a huge hotpot fan.

All the photos from the dinner are in this Flickr photoset.

Little Lamb
72 Shaftesbury Ave
London W1D 6NA

Last Saturday, we found ourselves in Kew and I dragged us over to Newens on Kew Road (just a short walk from the main entrance of Kew Gardens), keen to revisit this quaint little cafe after a long while. It really is quite an adorable little place; the building is only about 120 years old but the business was around for a little longer and then there are the Tudor origins of their most famous treats: maids of honour. The cafe is always packed at lunchtimes on the weekends (I’ve never visited on a weekday) with locals and tourists out west to visit the Gardens but it’s easy to nab a table after 2 or 3pm, just after the rush.

It’s impossible to visit a place like this and not have tea; we chose a pot of assam and then got to work choosing from the lovely treats on display.

After admiring the range of meat and vegetable pies in the display case, we opted for a slice of their chicken and ham pie. Our very patient waitress realised we were sharing and kindly gave us two smaller slices instead of the usual thick one. Big chunks of chicken and ham sit in a mosaic held together by a savoury jelly in a thick shortcrust pastry – a good start to this tea.

I was awed by the look of the sugar bun, a big choux puff filled with very lightly sweetened coffee cream and topped with coffee icing. I think I ate my cream quota for the year in my half of this bun and it was actually very very good that the cream was hardly sweetened at all. It had the right balance of sweet and creamy and puffiness – a good choice.

Finally, a maid of honour. Actually, make that two. These little sweet tarts are the bakery’s most famous product with even a plaque outside commemorating them. I may be incredibly wrong about this but they appear to have puff pastry bases, a layer of curd and then a final topping of cheese (that’s what the textures feel like). It’s easy to see the Tudor history (or at least influence) of these little treats in the combination of sweet and almost savoury (the cheese is reminiscent of cheddar); they are incredibly moreish and worth the trip there. Their fame is deserved!

I couldn’t help myself and also had two hot cross buns and a loaf of fruit cake packed up to take away. The hot cross buns were packed full of fruit (always a win in my book!) and excellent, though a little denser than what I’m used to. The fruit cake was much lighter than we expected and again packed full of fruit and topped with sliced almonds. And it was absolutely beautiful – one of the best fruity cakes (hard to compare it to a traditional fruitcake) I’ve had.

Everything (takeaway things included) came to a total of about £20. Service was fabulous – we were even thrilled to catch a glimpse of the current owner, John Newens, the 5th generation of Newens to run the place. Why didn’t I come back sooner?! I love this place! All their menus are available on their website but you’ll have to visit to see all their cakes.

Newens – The Original Maids of Honour
288 Kew Road
Kew Gardens
Surrey TW9 3DU

I think I’ve said it before but we’re not big breakfast people. Waking up is torture enough each morning and the thought of consuming something just makes me nauseous. For me, it’s just throw on some clothes, gather my things and I’m out the door in ten minutes flat (Blai can confirm this – apparently I’m not particularly verbose in the morning. I just sort of grunt). On weekends, I tend to crawl out into the living room and plonk myself on the sofa, it being a convenient and more socially acceptable substitute for the bed at 11am (I think).

But here’s the thing, though I don’t eat breakfast, I really like the idea of it. Sweet breakfasts don’t do it for me so no pancakes or waffles or even cereals. For me, it’s all about the savoury. Bacon, fried eggs, sausages, fried noodles, noodle soups, leftover pizza – that is, if I could stomach it. But once in a while, always on a weekend, I’ll strive to make some brunch – too late for breakfast, just a little too early for lunch – and we’ll feast before the day’s events.

Baked eggs are very popular in our household – I love the look of the eggs nestling in their little beds of spinach or potato chunks or stew or what have you. For brunch last weekend, I set the eggs on top of baked beans, not just any baked beans but some doctored up ones – this time with chorizo and onion. Thanks to the dish’s tinned beginnings too, it’s very quick to put together. I served them with sausages, rocket leaves and toasted muffins. A good way to start the…uh… afternoon!

Baked Eggs and Beans
serves 2.

3-4 large eggs
1 tin baked beans
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
a few slices of cured chorizo (or 1-2 cooking ones, if you have it), chopped
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco to taste
freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Heat a pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Fry the chopped onion until translucent though no harm would be done if you fry them till golden brown. Toss in the chopped chorizo and fry them until they’re frizzled. Add the tin of baked beans and stir through. Season with the Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce and let the beans bubble for a bit. Take off the heat and add lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stir well. Pour into a baking dish that will comfortably hold the number of eggs you’re using.

Make a few indentations in the beans and crack an egg into each dent. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes or longer if needed, until the whites have set. The egg yolks should have nestled into the beans, protecting them from the heat of the oven and so they should still be liquid. Serve with other brunchy things.

Pacific Plaza has been billed as the new Oriental City, a place I still miss ever since it closed almost two years ago. Last Saturday, a couple friends and I headed up to Wembley in search of it and we certainly didn’t expect to find it sitting between a number of giant bed and bath shops in Wembley Park Retail Park, located in the shadow of Wembley Stadium. It’s quite easy to get to, it being close to a number of bus stops and a short walk from Wembley Stadium Rail or Wembley Park underground station.

The main draw at Oriental City was the fantastic food court and I think Pacific Plaza has recreated that nicely on the first floor, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. As for stalls, there are SeleraMu (Malaysia), Hot Korean, NP Star Snack Bar (Malaysian/Singaporean/Japanese/desserts), Nambu Donburi-Ya, Spicy Thai, China House (dim sum and lots of Sichuan and roast meats), Sawadee Thai and Shan (Asian?).

From SeleraMu, we tried this nasi lemak (rice cooked with coconut milk and various little dishes).

This was excellent and one of the best dishes on the table. There was a good coconut milk scent in the rice, the sambal spicy but not overly sweet, and the fried chicken was dry yet crispy with moist meat. The ikan bilis (little anchovies) were not freshly fried which was a bit of a downer but overall, a very good nasi lemak.

Another winner was this takoyaki from the Snack Bar (the humourously pushy salesman in the front gave me a deal! 9 for the price of 8 – 3 for each of us apparently). If you’re not familiar with them, they’re balls of grilled tender batter filled with a chunk of boiled octopus (the tako) and topped with mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce. These were cooked fresh when I ordered and took a little while to come but they were worth the wait – hot, tender and so moreish.

This kimchi jeon (pancake) from the Korean stall also went down a treat – lots of punchy kimchi in it.

Other tasty little dishes we tried included a spicy fried chicken and bibimbap from the Korean stall (both alright) and an equally alright but I don’t regret buying it mamak kway teow goreng (Indian-style fried flat rice noodles) with lots of prawns from SeleraMu. In fact, we didn’t have any major lows on the table – everything was definitely tasty.

Not everything is ready in the food court: yet to open are a juice bar, a Vietnamese stall, a Japanese ramen stall and an Indian Vegetarian stall. There are a few kiosks still free too.

On the ground floor, there’s both the excellent Japanese tableware shop that used to be at Oriental City (now called Doki Japanese Tableware) and a new Japanese bakery called Tetote Factory. This latter is just a tiny slip of a place (most of the space is the working bakery – you can watch as they form the buns and bake them) but the smells emanating are just amazing. They’re all so friendly too and happily consented to my snapping away in there.

Loaves of various breads, little individual buns (both sweet and savoury) and cakes are all beautifully displayed on the counter. I left with one each of the two buns below (fig & orange and a curry bun) as well as a thick slice of coffee and hazelnut brioche. The buns were beautiful – lots of moist fig chunks in a proper chewy, crusty bun and the curry bun was chock full of a thick Japanese curry. Less successful was that brioche slice as it needed more egg and sugar for me.

Though it’s still quite out of the way for most Londoners and it’s smaller than Oriental City was, I reckon Pacific Plaza is still worth a visit. And it will be even better when the supermarket opens on the ground floor – and I’ll definitely be back!

Photos of all that we ate and all the shops and stalls too can be found in this Flickr photoset. There are a few great posts on Pacific Plaza also on the blog Will Eat For Money: an early visit and a more recent one here.

Pacific Plaza
Engineers Way
Wembley, Middlesex
HA9 0EG