Die, die, must try! -- Eating outside Singapore

[eriond]

I was in London over CNY and rediscovered Kam Tong along Queensway.

We were attracted by the £18 lobster noodle (whole lobster!)

but the roast duck was outstanding. Not too oily and deboned on request.

Would you say the roast duck/pork at Kam Tong is better than Four Seasons and Gold Mine?

[jhm]

I really like Barrafina too (the tortilla is one of the best I've had - semi-liquid egg oozing out when it's cut) but I hate the no reservations policy (eat very early or very late or be prepared to wait a long time). Otherwise, I like Cigala in Bloomsbury - the food is nowhere as good as Barrafina but on a summer evening it's a nice part of London.

[9V-SIA]

Thanks for the update.

I was in London over CNY and rediscovered Kam Tong along Queensway.

We were attracted by the £18 lobster noodle (whole lobster!)

but the roast duck was outstanding. Not too oily and deboned on request.

Egg tart also good.

Had early dinner one night at Barrafina before watching Les Miserables.

Excellent too but no bookings. We were the first in at 5pm!!

Les Deux Salon was also nice for classic French dining

[jhm]

Thanks - will keep that in mind if Tesco runs out of horsemeat!

[milehighj]

I stumbled upon a great new Italian macelleria in South Kensington last month.

Maxela (http://www.maxela.co.uk), opened recently, is the first UK branch of the Italian chain (http://www.maxela.it/inglese/index.htm).

[jhm]

Just an update on my few favourite eating places in London:

* Sushi Tetsu in Clerkenwell (mentioned above) - opened last year and clearly the best sushi in London (possibly Europe so I'm told). The 7 seats are booked out 2 months in advance, e.g. they will take reservations on 1 April for the month of June and most/all slots that month will no doubt go in a few hours. (The only possible challenge to Sushi Tetsu may be Araki which is a 3-Michelin star sushi bar in Tokyo (I've not been) which is planning to move entirely to London (!) and open sometime this year. I heard that they plan to fly in all of their fish from Japan which will no doubt mean somewhat hefty pricing.)

* The Shiori in a side street in Bayswater - opened in December, Kyoto kaiseki, rave reviews from newspapers, e.g. 5 stars from Fay Maschler in the Evening Standard (one of only 4 restaurants she's given that to in 20+ years) and the latest yesterday in the Guardian.

* Hedone in Chiswick (SW London) - I think they have the best seafood in London. Opened in 2011 by a Swedish ex-lawyer with no previous professional kitchen experience (although he has eaten widely) and he managed to get a Michelin star within one year of opening. He's obsessed with getting the best ingredients and the dishes highlight that, e.g. a dish of some slices of Cévennes onions with a few pear shavings. Some people just don't get the food there but others do and rave about it. It's still a work in progress - the chef says he still has many areas for improvement. He wrote a well respected blog which he's just revived:

It was hard to decide whether we deserved all the good reviews since I did not know when most of the critics had been. We were shit some nights but doing pretty good food some nights. It was a struggle getting good enough produce on a daily basis and to find kitchen staff, me having no real connections in the British trade and no kitchen track record when we started. Sometimes I was dead tired and I could work for days with a constant headache.

* The Quality Chop House in Farringdon - this opened in 1869, has gone through various owners and guises (including the last one as a meatball joint) but reopened last December under new co-owners (one of them is the son of the FT's wine critic (mum) and the FT's food critic (dad) and the other was ex-GM of Heston Blumenthal's Dinner and the niece of the owner of a well known London/HK fine wine wholesaler, Farr Vintners). The decor is the original one including narrow tables and hard wooden benches (now with padding thankfully!) - it's listed, i.e. protected by law and can't be removed/changed. The food is modern British - the dining room only has a daily changing evening menu of 4 set courses for £35 and that's it; and there's a bar menu next door. The wine list is really interesting such as a 1944 Rivesaltes available by the glass (only about £10 so well worth enjoying). They usually on Monday evenings open a bottle of something special and sell it by the glass to whoever is interested, e.g. like this one. Plaudits from various newspaper critics, e.g. the Independent:

the Quality Chop House is probably best suited for people who really care about what they eat and drink, and want to do it in the company of others who feel the same. This isn't the place to come and order a Diet Coke or a glass of pinot grigio, and the no-choice dinner option isn't going to suit the faddy. But the charm, and the general sense of ease and generosity make it the perfect synthesis of the ancient and the modern. It may not be strong on comfort, but the whole place is an absolute joy.

[9V-SIA]

To me, the movie was entertaining on many levels.

Without wanting to spoil it for others to enjoy:

• The long (hilarious) training to be a sushi chef.
  
• How he sources fish from Tsukiji
  
• How he cooks the rice and his loyal rice supplier
  
• In Jiro's opinion, toro is not the best cut of tuna

Truly a must watch for fans of sushi

[B727]

Thanks jhmOn a similar (sushi) topic, I just got back from watching "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi" at the cinema.

A beautifully done documentary on Jiro, the oldest 3 star Michelin chef at 85 years old.

Highly recommend watching it ( on a full stomach )

Hey, I just watched this on my HA 11 yesterday. It was featured on the A330-200 AVOD program.

I felt full just looking at the parade of nigiri sushi! I thought the reaction of the Japanese guests at the restaurant after the service was polite, but only the food critic was gushing about Jiro.

Anyone else noticed that the younger son, Takashi, was not mentioned in the end credits of the documentary? I thought it was interesting that the younger son looked like the senior Jiro in his younger days when he had hair and was considered a maverick. The older son seemed to have taken on the father's aged personality.

And I thought all the mention of Joel Robuchon turned the documentary somewhat into an Iron Chef-esque food program geared at an American audience.

[jhm]

But if you do want to go...

I don't mind, worth it to try Jiro's Symphony - will ask a Japanese to book.

You need to eat with a Japanese speaker.

[jhm]

I don't mind, worth it to try Jiro's Symphony - will ask a Japanese to book.

Fine if you want to pay (from accounts) a curmudgeonly old git to look down on you ... but not for me.

http://www.andyhayler.com/show_restaurant.asp?id=481
(someone who I've met and who has at various times eaten at every single 3 Michelin star restaurant in the world!)

The service was another matter. This is a restaurant that you can only make a reservation at if you are eating with a fluent Japanese speaker. The person I went with has lived in Japan for six years and teaches cookery; he also felt the sushi to be good but not the best he had eaten. However from the moment we sat down, the old gentleman who runs the place, and the chef who served us, regarded us with barely concealed contempt. They spent their time glowering at us throughout.

Also, e.g.

http://gourmettraveller.wordpress.co...iyabashi-jiro/

he works at lightning speed and we felt terribly rushed – as each piece of sushi met our lips, another was set on the lacquered slab before us. 25 minutes and our JPY30,000 (£230) a head lunch was done. Of course the fish was as fresh as they come, the sushi expertly made, and being served by such a legend was certainly awe-inspiring. But service was hurried and joyless, and aside from the spectacular uni the 18 pieces of nigiri alone weren’t life-changing enough to warrant the hefty price tag.

Two days later we lunched at Sawada in a ritzier part of Ginza. The private beautifully fitted 6-seater restaurant boasted a far lovelier atmosphere and we were served just as many pieces of equally fine nigiri as well as an array of exceptional sashimi for the same price. The meal was enjoyed at a much more leisurely pace (the husband and wife team take only one sitting for lunch, and turns over once at dinner) and Chef Koji Sawada took time to introduce each fish, even cracking a few jokes with his limited English.

[Kyo]

Vivid city or plaza singapura. ¥30000 for 20 pieces of sushi!! You can't get into his restaurant unless you're Japanese. He will direct you to his younger son's restaurant in Roppongi.

I don't mind, worth it to try Jiro's Symphony - will ask a Japanese to book. Don't want to try the Roppongi Hills

[9V-SIA]

Vivid city or plaza singapura. ¥30000 for 20 pieces of sushi!! You can't get into his restaurant unless you're Japanese. He will direct you to his younger son's restaurant in Roppongi.

[Kyo]

I watched it via *ahem* alternate means, as I didn't know it was even screening locally. Where is it screening, incidentally?

(and yes, I'll have to make the pilgrimage there, one day, as a result of watching the movie)

[9V-SIA]

Thanks jhm. One of these days I'll have to try sushi in London.

On a similar (sushi) topic, I just got back from watching "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi" at the cinema.

A beautifully done documentary on Jiro, the oldest 3 star Michelin chef at 85 years old.

Highly recommend watching it ( on a full stomach ).

Limited run in Singapore ending Wednesday, I think

[jhm]

I tried a new sushi bar in London (Clerkenwell near Farringdon) yesterday night called "Sushi Tetsu". It was only the 6th day they've been open (during this first soft opening week) [...]
My feeling is that Tetsu will - once word gets out, e.g. newspaper reviews appear - be rammed with customers.

About a dozen visits from me over the past month and a half and now the first newspaper review came out today. For a while, it's going to be very difficult to get a seat (but I am prepared )...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...ew-sushi-tetsu

Classic, unpretentious and dizzyingly good… London's tiny Sushi Tetsu is a shrine to the best of Japanese food [...]

There are cheaper places to eat sushi in London, and there are noisier, hipper places too. But right now I honestly don't believe there is any better place.