Pollen Street Social

Still going strong

6 months later after the outstanding tasting menu (That oyster ice cream was truly work of art!) at the ever popular Pollen Street Social, here I am again for the fourth time at Jason Atherton's flagship London restaurant. Jason is pretty much the man of the moment right now having just launched Little Social on the other side of the road and Social Eating House at Poland Street, I returned to Pollen Street Social for lunch as I love the relaxing atmosphere and great food combination.

I went for the lunch menu this time around and as usual, I ordered a cocktail to start off with. The cocktail menu changed a lot compare to my last visit, very avant garde with much use of bespoke infuse spirit and syrup on the list. I ordered a "Silver Screen" popcorn washed Woodford Reserve bourbon, PSS cherry bespoke cola, orange oils, bitters with popcorn. This was pretty much a Manhattan with a modern twist but an interesting presentation which added a playful element to it. The standard of cocktail craftsmanship is rising in London and I was very excited to see how far Pollen Street Social's cocktail had develop compare to the early days.

Silver Screen

Helene Darroze at The Connaught

Not your average brunch

This is my third visit to the double Michelin starred Helene Darroze at The Connaught, I had the excellent value lunch ( One of the best lunch deal in London) and the smashing 9 courses signature menu (Can barely walk afterwards!) in my previous two visits, this time I headed for their Saturday brunch on a lovely sunny afternoon. Along with Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley and The Ledbury, these are my three favourite London restaurants so I had high expectation for the brunch as it has been something I wanted to do for a while now.

The Connaught Hotel

We were kept in the Coburg Bar next door while they were setting up our table, I ordered a glass of Don the Beachcomber's Mai Tai while I was waiting, it was nicely mixed as expected, in fact I thought it was done better than the Connaught bar when I was there last Christmas, which was bit of a surprise consider The Connaught bar is regards as one of the best cocktail bar in London. The orgeat syrup and lime level was spot on, a really solid Mai Tai!

Coburg Bar

 Mai Tai

Seven Park Place

Classy and elegant

Tuck inside a beautiful boutique hotel: St James Hotel and Club in Mayfair, it is William Drabble's Michelin starred Seven Park Place, an intimate and elegant fine dinning restaurant. It has always been on my to go list as the venue just has that charming old fashion British aura around it which is rare these days in London as it has becomes such a multicultural city.

St James Hotel and Club

Seven Park Place

Byron

Tasty Comfort food

Byron might been around in London for a while but I never had the chance to try it. But after a recent meet up with some close friends and they cant stop raving about how good the burgers were, well... there is only one way to find out!! Off I went to one of the Byron in Soho to try their famous burger.

Arrived on a busy evening but managed to get a table pretty quick, ordered a craft IPA before my food order, good beer + burger = the perfect comfort combo! I really appreciate some restaurants are putting on a good menu of craft beer because trust me, the different to your everyday mainstream larger is massive. You just get so much more malt, hop, flavours and aroma, I think it is well worth it for the £1 different.

Maui Brewing big swell IPA

So on to the food, I had the classic Byron burger with Dry cure bacon, mature Cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion and Byron sauce while my friend had a seasonal roquefort burger. Gosh the medium rare Byron burger was outstanding! The bun was nicely done, the Scottish beef was packed with meaty goodness, moist and juicy, the sauce and salad dressing was at the right balance, unlike Meat Market which was like a burger version of the Titanic sinking in the deep sauce.... 

Byron burger

Medium rare:p

Mahdi

A rather disappointed affair

Mahdi is an Iranian restaurant in Hammersmith serving traditional grilled Persian food, it was never on my agenda to try it but one of my friend had dinner there the other evening and he told me it is well worth a try. I wasn't sure what to eat for my Friday lunch so I headed down to Mahdi based on his suggestion, and gosh I will never take advice from him when its come to food again...

Foxcroft & Ginger

Sit back and enjoy

Foxcroft & Ginger is an all day causal dinning spot in the heart of Soho, I went there for dinner on a Friday evening and what an interesting found, the dinner menu is all about sharing here, small tapas sides using fresh & local ingredients. This is becoming an emerging trend in the British culinary scene, not only you are getting the freshness and all the essence from the ingredients, you are also supporting the local farmers and the sustainability of our environment... I can go on about this topic all day but the fact is:
The quality of raw produces is the foundation to any plates of good food.

Anyway back to Foxcroft & Ginger, the food here are mostly British with a European twist. First we had a fennel and carrot soup with sourdough crumbs, a classic combination making good use of the mild sweetness from the fennel and carrot, nice hint of spices aroma came through from the fennel. The soup wasn't overly thick and it worked well with the crunchy sourdough crumbs to add another layer of taste and texture, a good execution of classical favours.

 fennel and carrot soup with sourdough crumbs

Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Whisky heaven

Scotch Malt Whisky Society is global whisky society with venues around the world, they buy casks from distilleries around the world but mainly from Scotland to bottle their own whisky. All their whisky has to be single malt, single cask and cask strength to ensure the full flavours of the liquid.

Islay whisky tasting

Sketch Lecture Room & Library

A funky and artistic experience

Sketch is a collection of 5 different restaurants and bars on the edge of Mayfair, just a few yards away from the excellent Alyn Williams at Westbury. Sketch has to be one of the most expensive restaurant ever created in London, over  £10 millions was spend including hiring renowned interior designers and sculptors, the whole building is full of artistic elements, I felt like stepping into an art gallery while I was there.

The Glade

The Gallery

I went to Sketch for a very good values treat of gourmet 3 courses lunch with half bottle of wine and coffee in the 2 Michelin starred Lecture Room which oversee by the legendary Pierre Gagnaire. Which at £53 per person, I must say it is not a bad deal at all! It was such an experience even just on the arrival, the front of house greeted and told us he has been expecting us, took us for a small walk and briefly explain the concepts behind sketch before opening the door to the grand looking Lecture room.

Lecture Room and Library

101 Thai Kitchen

Great value authentic Thai food 

Not to mistaken with One O One in Knightbridge, (Which is a wonderful seafood restaurant) 101 Thai Kitchen is a small family run Tai restaurant on the edge of Hammersmith. I eaten there so many times and I can say it is one of the most authentic Thai restaurant in London, providing quality Thai food at a very good price, which trust me, it is not easy to come by in London these days.

We had a selection of different items from the full menu this time around. Kicked off with a sharing platter of "101 ways to heaven" of spring rolls, chicken satay, sweet corn cakes, pigeon legs and prawn on toast. The chicken satay was grilled at just the right level, however can't say the same for the spring rolls and pigeons legs, it was a bit dry and lack flavours.

101 ways to heaven