Brat

Basque-inspired cuisine 

Whole turbot

If you ask me what is my favorite type of cuisine, Spanish would be high on the list and food from the Basque Country, the northern part of Spain is what I consider the temple of high-quality cooking. From rustic pintxo bars to high-end fine dining restaurants, I just got nothing but love for Basque cuisine. Brat by Tomos Parry is a Basque-inspired restaurant opened in early 2018, and it has already gathered plenty of love from the food critics, and judging from the menu online, it does appear plenty of the items can be related to Basque and I was interested how does it compare to the real deal.

The Flitch of Bacon

Essex's finest

mackerel, dill, mustard

Where do I start with The Flitch of Bacon... If you have been following my blog, you would know I am a massive fan of chef Tim Allen's cooking. First, at Launceston Place in Kensington, followed by The Wild Rabbit in the Cotswold, both pretty much gained Michelin status instantly thanks to Tim and his wonderful team. The Flitch of Bacon is his very first owned restaurant in Essex, which happened to be pretty close to where I live. So of course, a visit to support The Flitch of Bacon was high on my agenda. The restaurant spit into a bar and dining area, with a back garden that also has its own bar and BBQs, which make it a far-cry from Wild Rabbit's super posh setting. The dining room currently only offers a la carte menu, but we were lucky to be offered a special tasting menu to sample some of Tim's latest creation.

Stem by Neo

Experimental flavours

Grilled Large Black pork chop, Romano pepper and Cornish mussels

Stem is a brand new restaurant by Mark Jarvis, a chef, and restaurateur who also owned Anglo in Farringdon and Neo Bistro in Mayfair. Personally, I am a big fan of Neo Bistro, which is just down the road from Stem. I enjoyed its simplicity approach, using fine British ingredients with a modern but a rustic feel to it. The presentation of the dishes are not fancy but they deliver bags of wonderful flavours. Stem, however, is a totally different beast, the pricing is more up-market and the approach is far more creative and experimental. It has a tasting menu, as well as a pretty small a la carte menu with some fairly ambitious ingredients combination.