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

 

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

 

Market by Jean-Georges

This is my last post about Vancouver and then it’s back to food in London! As Father’s Day is coming up, I thought I’d take my father and brother out for dinner in Vancouver as I won’t see my father on the actual day itself. It was a toss-up between West (considered to be the best restaurant in Vancouver) and Market by Jean-Georges (a newcomer to the Vancouver restaurant scene but run by Jean-Georges Vongerichten) but in the end, Market won out, mainly because my wallet had been hit so badly the previous week.

Market bills itself as a “destination” restaurant – I found this very cheesy but went along with it anyway – why not? It’s located in the new Shangri-La hotel in Vancouver and is the first Vancouver restaurant of Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The restaurant is separated into four different areas: the terrace, the cafe, the bar and the formal dining room. When I booked, I was only given the option of the cafe and dining room – I suppose the terrace was already fully booked. Anyway, I chose the dining room.

We arrived about 20 minutes early to our reservation that night. Though the dining room was half empty, we were told our table was not ready and would we like to sit at the bar? Sure, we would!

[Break for humorous story. Two very skimpily dressed girls entered the restaurant just before us - I mean, looking like they just threw shirts over their bikinis and walked in. I entered the waiting area just in time to see an older couple ask the hostess what the dress code was for the restaurant. The hostess reassured them that what they were wearing was very suitable for the restaurant's business-casual code, which they were. The lady replied, "Oh, I was asking because..." and then waved her hand not-very-subtly towards the two young ladies. I almost burst out laughing. End humorous story break.]

At the bar we ordered a few drinks off the bar menu – a cherry yuzu soda for me, a Thai Rye for my brother, and a glass of a red wine that I’ve forgetten for my father. Along with the drinks, the barman brought over small bowls of rosemary popcorn and glazed nuts. These were topped up when we’d munched our way through them (how did that happen?!). My soda was alright.

When our table was ready (actually, it was ready when we arrived – I guess they were hoping not to overwhelm the kitchen with orders), we were brought to it along with our drinks and snacks. After being seated, we waited a good 5 minutes before menus were brought to us – very odd for a restaurant appearing to aim high. Luckily, it didn’t take too long for us to decide what we wished to eat.

My father started his meal with three Oysters on the half shell, Mignonette ($3 each). When he sees oysters on the menu, he’s sure to order them. The Mignonette turned out to be a shallot vinaigrette; a cocktail sauce was also served on the side. Three different oyster varieties were brought to him and he enjoyed each and every one.

For their appetisers, my brother and father both had the Dungeness crab cake, ginger-lime jus, marinated cucumber ($14). A large crab cake chock full of crab meat was served with slices of mango and the cucumber. The bite I had was quite good and they both cleaned their plates.

I started my meal with the Foie gras brulee, Meyer lemon-pineapple jam, rose seasoning ($16). A disc of foie gras pate sat on a circle of toasted brioche and its top was sprinkled with sugar and caramelised. Its rich creaminess paired well with the sweet-tartness of the jam. The rose seasoning was dusted onto the plate but I wasn’t sure what it added to the dish.

My main course was the Slowly cooked Arctic char, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas, truffle vinaigrette ($23). My large fillet of tender char was cooked to medium (the waitress explained when I ordered that this was how the chef rolled) and sat on top of an equally generous serving of smooth mashed potatoes. The truffle vinaigrette was drizzled around the mound in the middle and while it was too strong by itself, it paired nicely with the char and potatoes.

My brother, who loves fish, went with the Pacific halibut, snow peas, almond broth, chili oil ($25). A large bowlful of fish in a creamy white broth was brought to him. I couldn’t taste the chili oil but I only had a small bite. My brother did enjoy it and would have drunk the broth too if it hadn’t been so rich.

My father, who loves beef, chose the Soy glazed short ribs, apple-jalapeno puree, rosemary crumbs ($22) for his main course. He liked it though the bite I had was a little chewier than I expected for something that flaked so easily after its long slow cooking.

In case there weren’t enough vegetables, my brother also ordered the Grilled asparagus, lemon juice, olive oil ($7) on the side. I loved the char on these stalks but I found the asparagus itself a bit flavourless – possibly due to being picked a long time ago? I am spoiled by the lovely asparagus from my farmers’ market!

My father dislikes dessert and anything else sweet and so skipped dessert. My brother who similarly dislikes sweet things surprised us by ordering the Warm chocolate cake, Tahitian vanilla ice cream ($8). I can’t remember much other than it was chocolatey.

I chose the Butter cookie, coconut cream, raspberries ($8) as so many seemed to be passing me throughout dinner – it was very popular! However, while everything was just about perfect (perfect crumbly/crisp butter cookie, perfect frosting-like coconut cream, perfectly ripe raspberries, lovely raspberry coulis in the centre), there was nothing novel about this dessert. It’s just a cookie, with fruit and some cream.

There was nothing really wrong with any of our food but I’ve never been so underwhelmed by someone of whom I had great expectations. I’m not thick – I don’t expect Vongerichten to actually be cooking in the kitchen – but I do expect that there’s something in the makeup of the dishes that makes me sit up and really pay attention. I recently happened upon a review of Jean-Georges (the restaurant in New York) at Dos Hermanos and was very surprised to see the same dishes (the foie gras and the halibut) at that three-star (Michelin) establishment. I’ve had much better and more interesting food at La Trompette and even Wild Honey in London (both one star) and overall better service too.

Market By Jean-Georges
(In the Shangri-La)
1128 West Georgia St
Vancouver, BC
V6E 0A8
Canada

 

Kam Gok Yuen in Vancouver’s Chinatown

This trip back to Vancouver was a bit of a wander down memory lane, with my taking the time to slow down and reminisce each time I revisited someplace familiar. One of those places is Kam Gok Yuen, an old-school Hong Kong style restaurant located in Vancouver’s Chinatown. My parents favoured this joint for ages (my father still does) and I remember eating there since I was young. One of the waitresses still recognises me even though I now return only once a year – she’s seen me growing up throughout the years and I think she too has a daughter about my age. The restaurant itself used to be located near the library, I think, but relocated to its current position sometime since I moved over 10 years ago.

How about a feel of the place? Splitting the two large windows in front is the main entrance: on the left hand side, you can see all the Cantonese style roast meats hanging while on the right, a man boiling noodles and dumplings is just visible through the steamy window. These are the two strengths of their menu and really the only dishes we eat there! When you enter, you’ve got to wind your way around the scrum at the counter (they’re paying for their meal and/or ordering things for takeaway) and grab a seat at one of the tables or booths lining the left hand side. This last visit, I got a booth (score!) with my father but most of the single diners tend to grab a seat at one of the large tables in the middle (they end up being communal tables). Actually, look around the large room on a weekday lunchtime and you don’t feel like you’re in Canada anymore.

Every table is set with soy sauce and their homemade chili oil – the latter is absolutely fantastic with loads of aromatics in the mixture.

Chinese tea is complimentary and the table setting is complete with chopsticks, Chinese spoons and small sauce dishes. This sauce dish is essential for you to mix together your favoured combination of soy, vinegar and chili oil (I like their chili oil neat) and allows for double dipping – why don’t London restaurants offer them?

A menu will be offered to you but if you’re a regular, you’ll already know what you want. I almost always go for their sui kau mein – large prawn, pork and black fungus dumpings wrapped in wonton wrappers served in a noodle soup. Their noodles are beautiful – thin, yellow and with a good bite. There are no soggy noodles here. Don’t forget to eat it all with that magnificent chili oil!

My father, having recently had their sui kau, opted to have wonton noodle soup instead. These were almost all prawn and though smaller than the sui kau, you do get more in one order. Again, delicious.

When my brother visits, he always orders either char siu (barbequed pork) or siu yoke (crispy roasted pork) or both on rice. These roast meats on rice can either be ordered in a bowl or on a plate – the latter is a larger portion but we’ve found that the bowl is enough for one person. Each order is drizzled with a delicious soy and roast meat juices sauce and you can ask for extra on the side.

The bill will be delivered to your table sometime during your meal and when you’re ready to leave, you take that bill to the counter (join the scrum) to pay. Service at the restaurant is curt but I’ve never found them to be deliberately rude – they’re just very busy!

What my family has been doing for a while is ordering the roast meats to takeaway – like most places in Vancouver, these can be ordered by weight (does any restaurant offer this in London?). Having tried a lot of the Chinese roast meats throughout the city, this place serves the best, we think. The char siu is tender, not fatty, and yet so flavourful and the siu yoke is meaty, again not too fatty, and topped with very crunchy skin. The noodles can also be purchased as well as jars of their heavenly chili oil. With these three things, kon lo mee, a dry noodle dish served with the roast meats, can be had at home (I’ll have to blog this one day!).

Kam Gok Yuen
142 E Pender St
Vancouver, BC
V6A 1T3
Canada

 

Phnom Penh Revisited

Every trip back to Vancouver means a visit to Phnom Penh in Chinatown. I’ve never had a dud meal there and my last meal there was no exception. My father, brother and I rocked up on a weekday evening and found no trouble in obtaining a table for 3. I do believe this is not the case on weekends.

I wanted to shake things up this time and so instead of ordering our usual fried chicken wings, I ordered a small portion of spicy garlic fried squid. The squid came in quite large pieces but each was perfectly fried – tender inside and crisply battered – and it came with a bowl of their gorgeous lemon pepper dipping sauce. A good scattering of lightly fried garlic and chopped chilies finished the dish. Make sure to get all your dining companions to eat that garlic too so you’ll all stink wonderfully!

Because we love fried things, we placed an order of fried spring rolls too. They use the more Chinese spring roll wrappers (as opposed to the Vietnamese rice paper ones) but they’re still tasty crunchy morsels. Each roll was chock full of pork, mung bean threads and vegetables and I ate them wrapped with the accompanying lettuce and dipped in the nuoc cham. I was surprised to see the rice vermicelli on the side but was glad that one could just make a meal of this plate.

My brother and father cannot visit without ordering their Trieu Chau fried rice – a very very delicious fried rice with lots of oil and Chinese sausage. Don’t be alarmed by the oiliness: I’ve found that the best fried rices are all quite oily!

With all the wedding stuff going on, I only managed one visit this time; if I had my way and a few extra stomachs, I’d try to eat at Phnom Penh every other day (but uh…perhaps not only ordering the oiliest things on the menu!). Now that I think about it, there was no time for banh mi in Vancouver either – hopefully next time.

Phnom Penh
244 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC
Canada