Graffiti, Hotel Felix, Cambridge

My girlfriend and I went to Cambridge this weekend for our anniversary and stayed at the excellent Hotel Felix, a modern, elegant hotel on the outskirts of the city. Graffiti, the hotel's restaurant was equally modern and elegant with attentive service. We'd booked it well before I found out I was gluten free, so this was going to be the first test, and I was very impressed. The menu had a star next to all the dishes which were suitable for coeliacs and a diamond against those that they could adapt to make gluten free. The menu wasn't restrictive with the majority of dishes already gluten free.

The menu was also very inventive. For starter, I had Baby Squid stuffed with Chorizo on a bed of Tomato which had real tasty Spanish flavours. My girlfriend had Ballotine of Goose with Roast Pear, Port Syrup and Goose Scratchings which was equally as good. The main courses were the real highlight. I had Roast Breast of Mallard, Confit Leg Boudin, Potato Rosti, Brussel Sprout Chiffonade and Plum and Orange Jus. The breast was cooked perfectly and the Leg Boudin (a duck sausage) was sensational, absolutely packed with meaty flavour. The Rosti was all caramelised on the outside and had a great texture. My girlfriend had Fillet and Braised Blade of Tilbury Beef, Shallot Tart Tatin, Crisp Bone Marrow and Cavalo Nero which received equal plaudits. The only let down of the dish was the Bone Marrow which was a crispy nugget, lacking any real filling. Neither of us could resist the Bitter Chocolate Delice with Rapsberry Ripple Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce which tasted as fantastic as it looked.

The restaurant clearly seemed to have a gluten-free influence and with an increasing number of people eating gluten free they're on to a winner. Providing me with a gluten free bread roll was real attention to detail and the bread is probably the best wheat free bread I've tried!

Links

Hotel Felix
Graffiti

Read More

Gluten Free!

So, last weekend I finally took the decision to go gluten free. I have been recently diagnosed with coeliac (or celiac as it's spelt across the pond) disease, an intolerance to gluten. When most people think of gluten, they think of the obvious things like bread, pasta, etc. but it's in a lot more than you think! Checking packets of crisps, I can eat plain Pringles but not prawn cocktail and at restaurants, sauces can be difficult as they are often thickened with flour. The blog, therefore, is probably going to have a bit of a change of direction. It gives reviewing restaurants a whole new dimension - how accommodating to a gluten free diet are they? 

When you make most things from scratch, gluten can be easily avoided, and my girlfriend has already bought a variety of gluten free flours such as potato flour and even coconut flour (see www.goodnessdirect.co.uk). In some respects, my diet has probably become more interesting, lunches especially. No longer is it a sandwich everyday! The majority of recipes are gluten free anyway and most are easily adaptable. They're also perfectly suitable for anyone on a normal diet because you'll get more than enough in everything else you eat. 

One of the foods that I would say I'd miss the most is pizza. My girlfriend and I frequently visit Pizza Express but unfortunately their menu is somewhat restrictive for me now. However, my girlfriend made a great gluten free pizza last week and you couldn't tell the difference. The base was a little lighter but tasted great and the tomato, mozzarella and pepperoni topping was a delicious classic. She cooked it on the pizza stone I got her for her birthday which cooked the base evenly and gave it a crisp finish.

Gluten Free Pizza Base

We didn't have any dried milk but it didn't really need it, she just added a little extra flour to get the right consistency.

Read More

Roger Hickman's Restaurant, Norwich

I've been keen to dine at Roger Hickman's restaurant in Norwich ever since I began to use the website, trip advisor. Based on 48 reviews it has an average of 4.5 stars and out of 175 restaurants, it's Norwich's no.1. Now on day 5 of my girlfriend's birthday (don't ask) we sat down with high hopes and expectations.

The restaurant is small, but tastefully decorated, the large tables and crisp white tablecloths ensure you don't feel cramped and the size ensures a very attentive service. I noted that our waiter served my girlfriend's Gran first, attention to detail which is often overlooked.

The attention to detail was equally apparent in an incredibly high standard of cuisine. We all started with a curried parsnip soup amuse-bouche, which had a smooth, rich, creamy flavour, with a kick that really awakens the palette for the rest of the experience. I then opted for the Roast Scallops with Pork Belly and Shallot Purée, which was fantastic. The Scallops were some of the best I've ever had and the Pork Belly beautifully cooked. The Shallot Purée was the perfect accompaniment, with a real rich, caramelised flavour which brought the two components together. The Wild Duck Breast with Foie Gras Mousse, Plum Purée  and Crispy Egg also received excellent reviews.

My main course of Braised Beef Cheek with Horesraish Pomme Puree with wilted spinach and confit garlic was a real winner as well. The Beef was beautifully slow cooked ensuring that it was tender and succulent and I loved the confit garlic which was a deliciously sweet side. The only criticism would be that the horseradish was not quite strong enough for me, but I think this is very much down to personal taste and the overall balance of the dish was excellent. My girlfriend had the Roast Partridge with Pear Boulangere, Roast Parsnips and Chestnut Sauce. The Partridge was unfortunately rather tough, which let an otherwise good dish down. This may have been down to the meat itself, rather than how it was cooked since everything else had been cooked perfectly. She did mention this to the waiter who, having spoken to the chef, offered us a port or liquor on the house, which was a nice gesture.

Before desserts were served we were each given a pre-dessert which was a very clever pallet cleanser - a passion fruit egg yolk. No egg is actually used in it, but the passion fruit has the exact texture and look of an egg yolk and when you taste it, it bursts in the mouth providing a a real refresher. Although there were some tempting dessert choices, I decided I couldn't resist the cheese board, and it was quite a spectacle. Cut at the table, there were eight cheeses available, each explained by the waiter and not being able to choose, I went for a little of each. Both the Poached Rhubarb Tart with Vanilla Crème Brulee and Orange Sorbet and the Chocolate Fondant with Tonka Bean Cream and Hazelnut Ice Cream with secret popping candy were hits and looked fantastic.

 

Overall this is a top class restaurant and from what I've seen, merits the accolades it has received. Roger Hickman's definitely met those high expectations and is definitely somewhere I would go back to for a special occasion.

Read More

Birthday Meal!

So on Monday it was my beautiful girlfriend's birthday, which meant it was my turn to cook! I enlisted the help of my girlfriend's mum for the dessert and I was to do the starter and main. My girlfriend has a huge folder of recipes from various food magazines so I used this for my inspiration.

We kicked the meal off with Sticky Pork-Stuffed Peppers, which were a real hit. The Romano peppers roasted in the oven were sweet and juicy whilst the filling was flavoursome and full of different textures. Personally, I'd have liked a bit more of the sweet chilli and soy flavour and if you're following the recipe I'd suggest doubling this if you like a real hit of flavour, but these were perfect for my girlfriend's gran who was even asking for the recipe!

Moving on to the main, I chose Jerk Spiced Ribs as my girlfriend is a real fan of ribs. The ribs were slow cooked in stock for 2 hours before draining and adding the marinade and then roasting. The slow cooking process meant the ribs were tender and succulent, with the meat practically falling off the bone. However, I probably wouldn't do the jerk marinade again. The cloves and allspice were a little over-powering and it lacked the kick of a decent jerk marinade. The cooking process was perfect though so next time, I think it'll be a case of smothering them in BBQ sauce before roasting for the perfect BBQ flavoured ribs. I served the ribs with sweet potato wedges and coleslaw. I just cut the sweet potato into wedges and dusted them with a mild chilli powder, salt and pepper, drizzled over olive oil and then roasted for 45 minutes. The outside has an awesome caramelised effect but keeps the sweet potato soft and packed with flavour on the inside. A friend makes a cracking coleslaw, and this is her recipe: chop some white cabbage, then using a vegetable peeler to get strip of carrot, dice some onion and then heaps of mayonnaise and drizzling in some balsamic vinegar and season to taste.

The dessert was a real show-stopper, raspberry meringue pie! Served warm the raspberry filling had the same tartness of it's lemon counterpart and the meringue was perfectly crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle. Honestly, I haven't had too many better desserts, although it did cost rather a lot in raspberries so you'd be advised to wait till they're in season!

Links to the recipes


Jerk spiced ribs
Sticky Pork-Stuffed Peppers
Raspberry Meringue Pie

Read More

The Last Wine Bar

The Last Wine Bar in Norwich is currently celebrating it's 20th anniversary, but if the service we experienced was typical, it'll struggle to celebrate another 20 years. Michel Roux has recently had an excellent show on the BBC (Michel Roux's Service) where he said that if you can serve ok food with excellent service you've got a good restaurant, but if you serve great food with poor service, customers won't go back.

The food in the Last Wine Bar was excellent, we sat in the bar where you can choose from a more sophisticated evening menu, as well as a bar menu. The informal setting creates a relaxed atmosphere and the décor is that of a tasteful brasserie. To start I had marinated wood pigeon breast, with celeriac purée, roasted baby turnips and vanilla oil which was perfectly cooked, with beautifully complimenting flavours. The vanilla oil really elevated the starter from a good restaurant dish to something a bit special. The king prawns in kateifi pastry with hoi sin dressing received rave reviews and I stole a taste of the duck and fois gras terrine which was equally moreish. To follow, I opted for the char-grilled sea bass with brown shrimp and caper butter and new potatoes which was really well done. I shared a side of roasted butternut squash and beetroot in a chilli dressing with my girlfriend, who also had nothing but praise for the rib eye steak ordered from the bar menu.

However, as hinted, the excellent food was let down by poor management. As we arrived, the restaurant had just seated a table for 25, which seemed to take the entire waiting team to serve. This ultimately lead to us having to wait well over an hour to even order starters. Our waiter was apologetic and did everything he could to try to ensure we had a positive experience but he was let down by a rude manager who seemed unconcerned with the service they were delivering. We would have liked to have sampled the desserts, but we were informed these would take at least 20 minutes and it was already 10.30pm, so it being a school night, we decided to call it a day.

I've heard some really good things about this restaurant, so hopefully this was a one off, and the waiter did discount the bill and take my details to see 'what he could do' with my feedback. The food definitely meant that this restaurant merits a second chance, where hopefully the service will be what is expected of a restaurant celebrating 20 successful years.

Read More

Japanese Feast!

Wagamama's is a fairly unique restaurant in the UK. Not many restaurants would get away with seating you on long, Victorian school dinner tables whilst serving you courses 'when they're ready', but you can certainly excuse it when the food is as tasty as Wagamama's. However, it's not everyone's cup of sake, and a great way of having the food but without the novel experience is to 'do it yourself'.

Since we got the Wagamama's cookbook for Christmas my girlfriend has made some great Japanese food. Last night, we had home made Cucumber Maki Sushi and Chicken Miso Ramen which were both delicious. The home made sushi tasted fantastically fresh compared to the supermarket versions and the soup was full of flavours and textures.

Girlfriend's Chicken Miso Ramen Recipe

Stir fry chicken (2 breasts, thinly sliced) and garlic (1 clove finely chopped) for 4 minutes. Add a large handful of beanspouts, 2 to 3 chopped pak choi for a final 2 minutes and add a splash of soy sauce and chilli oil. Meanwhile,  make up 320ml Miso Soup (2 sachets, you can get them in supermarkets) and add 500ml chicken stock - bring to the boil and add 2 bundles of ramen noodles (blue dragon from www.theasiancookshop.co.uk), until cooked. Put the noodles in bottom of a large bowl, ladle over the hot broth and top with the stir fry. Add sliced spring onions to serve.... ps. I like mine with a little kick so you can add chilli oil to taste after you've served it!

Read More