I miss

Really Good Vegetarian Food (Don't judge.)/Seductive aromatics of freshly ground beans toying with your olfactories//Perfect Lattes to end great meals/Almond Croissants/Communal brunch setting/The Large Oak Table/Truffles.

Because simplicity is key for the frazzled. And because sometimes, a whiff of comfort can make everything better.

Food for Thought - 31 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9PR
Monmouth Coffee Company - The Borough, 2 Park Street, London SE1 9AB; 27 Monmouth Street, London WC2H 9EU

Brunch extravagance

Started the day with Brunch with S at Smith of Smithfields today and I really can't believe it took me this long to get here. Amazing atmosphere, great (real British) food - I had the smoked salmon, scrambled eggs on bagel while she had thick cut ham, 2 eggs and chips and of course a Bloody Mary and Mimosa Champagne to wash it all down :D Sunday Brunch hasn't been this perfect for a long time.








































And we spent pretty much the whole afternoon wandering the streets of amazing Eastside.

Oh, and the coffeeboard menu of BrickLane Coffee Shop read 'In Life you get 1 shot at Bricklane coffee, you always get 2'. What's not to love?

Before Day-Break

If London were personified, she'd be an enigma. I've always thought I knew London, but the London I know never fails to amaze me. Right smack in the middle of the city, sandwiched between amazing partying hotspots and the financial district is the wholesale Smithfields Meat Market. Isn't that the last place you'd expect to find a market, let alone a wholesale meat market?

Well, at the serviced apartments where I was working at, I was asked where the market was on two separate occasions. I've heard of friends going really early in the morning (because like all wholesale markets they open at insanely early hours and close by 8/9am) just to get fresh eggs and ginormous cuts of meat. Interested as I was then, the small voice in my head nagged at me to not be silly because nothing was worth me getting out of bed at 4am in the morning.

Yet, these two guests piqued my interest! Seriously, if tourists bother to make it one of the must-do activities here in London- where we are famous for so many other things and certainly not our meat, then surely I'd have to make a trip there!

So, me and shun dragged ourselves out of bed at 5 to get there and we were definitely not disappointed :) I haven't placed any pictures up because the sight of the many many carcasses weren't exactly very appetizing and could be slighly offensive. But woah, we got 2 racks of ribs (all 1.8 kilos of it) for a fiver. YES. A FIVER. 'Twas totally worth leaving the warm comfort of my bed that early in the morning.

I really want to kill that little voice in my head.

Off Duty Chefs

Living for food, living to create wonderful dishes for friends, and living to share that joy with friends. That was what connected us from the beginning and transcended from our weekly Tuesday dinners at nouveau restaurants into my living room.

Pitch was at the helm tonight, cooking dish after dish so effortlessly, flipping and tossing the pan's spicy, fish-sauced contents. Dessert was done by SH - the Korean Ho Duk! With its intriguing textures and flavours all coming together in a bite, eating it became addictive after a while.

So with the venue for our weekly gathering fixed at my place for at least the next couple of weeks, I'll say this is probably going to be one more thing I'm going to miss badly once I get home.

New found friendships, and home-cooked food in our home away from home. What's not to like?

Transit City

For so many reasons, London just seems to be a transit city. So many people have called London home, but only for a small pocket of time in their lives. Some come, lured by the opportunities the City holds, others, to etch out a better living; Or, some, in possession of the choice to pursue higher education in this crazy, yet wonderful city I've called home for 3 years.

I'll never forget returning home from summer break and hearing numerous 'Oh, it's good to have you back' everywhere I went, from people from all walks of life. It felt so strange, yet so right. London was just that. A transit city. Yet, a transit city that people somehow find each other and form friendships that may or may not outlive the future geographical distance that might span between them.

I've found great friends during my three years here. Friends supportive of what I want to do (i.e. eat all the stuff I bake- successes and failures), friends who listen to my constant ramblings and friends who are there to hold me up when I've had a drink (or two) too many. And I do hope that geography will never take its toll.

But graduating from university represents my step away from my transit city. Small steps (since LCB means a few more months here). I guess its that moment of real adulthood beckoning, so enticing, so liberating, yet so scary. I'm glad mummy came.

Pictures: Graduation Celebration Dinner at Homage (The Waldorf Hilton)

Nobu with Mum ♥

Mummy's here in London! Went to the very acclaimed Nobu for lunch today after school and I really have to say that it did live up to expectations after all :) She had the spicy seafood udon which was pretty unusual while I had the bento box. I found a new favourite in the yellowtail sashimi which (I realised today) was pretty much massacred by the other restaurants that I frequent. The miso cod fish too, was in a class of its own - the marriage of all the flavours, steeped in some darn amazing marinade for 3 days was crazily yummy.

We shared the chocolate bento box for desert and all I can say is :):)



























































O! and I really had to take a picture of this. How cute is this!! If I ever drove a car, it'd be one of these for sure!

The Elvie

So, back when I still had exams and all my flatmates were far done and happily going for afternoon teas at the Berkeley (yes. poor me), my flatmate came back one day with a little marzipan Alexander McQueen bag courtesy of the place. A quick net-a-porter check also became a reality check - at 974 pounds, I truly believe that was the closest I was going to get to the McQueen. Besides, the colour in marzipan looked a whole lot better.

But I do love the resemblance and it actually looked darn cute. And it being the closest I could get to a McQueen, I refused to chuck it in the bin (it was in my fridge for a good 2 weeks), until the same flatmate declared that it was either I ate it or he'd chuck it out.

Out it went, but I've now immortalised it.
Yay Me!

The Dark Side

I don't want to grow older.
Because I don't want to have to say goodbye to the people I love.

Dream and watch the world go by

It's a very painful feeling to have- knowing that the whole world can afford to laze on the grass while you know that while you can do that for now, you still have one more paper. The solitaire, set-way apart from the rest, the beacuse-the-admin-hates-history-students paper.

But of course, having a very hectic 3 papers before that, struggling to get the act together again and again, having various take-out meals over the past few weeks, I decided to just forget about the darn exams for the time being. To just eat well and not worry. To just dream and watch the world go by.

The Patisserie near my place dreamt up an ingenious idea- of packing tea sets in pretty bags, complete with maps of the gardens around our area. Picnic-ing without having to worry about what to bring- now, what's not to like!

The Orangery

I've heard rave reviews of The Orangery from one of the flatmates, who insists that it is a fantastic place for tea and can definitely hold its place amongst the giants right here in London. So, with the ever fickle weather ruining plans for an outdoor picnic, J and I decided that we should celebrate Pau's birthday at The Orangery!

You never really believe in love at first sight till you experience it for yourself. And I think now I'm a fervent believer. Everything made it perfect. From the charming maître d', to the unpretentious decor - simple, white and pristine, the pieces just fell in place!

And the cakes, oh the cakes. We had the traditional scone set, a banana walnut cake and a belgian chocolate cake to share. I don't believe I can ever feel the same way about cakes again.

So yes, I've finally moved on from my last obsession, to this new one. Double Yum.

food for the weary

nothing like a good ol' english breakfast to start the day!
breakfast with the flat - it's been too long.

one big mess.

i've learnt a few things over the last few weeks:

1. that you can't just decide you want what you used to have.
2. that i can never ever have what i used to have. because i gave that up.
3. that even having banana prata with sugar and curry won't make me feel any better.

and that if i still can't snap out of all this, i am going to fail badly.

did you say Korean for dinner tonight?

Yesterday being my turn to host P and R for dinner last night, I decided - since we are all almost acclimatising to R's pescetarainism - to cook (a variation of) Soondubu Chigae (Tofu Stew) and Dok Pokki (however you spell that- Korean rice cakes in sweet sauce). And since my ever M-I-A flatmate was at home yesterday, it made sense to cook bigger portions.

So 2nd attempt on the Tofu Stew turned out really well, but could do with more chili powder :D and as for the Korean rice cakes- the recipe i found online turned out to be simple and idiot-proof. We were all stuffed by the time we polished off everything and according to the flatmates, those little rice cakes kept 'growing' in his stomach. Not the most ideal dish when you are trying to go on a diet really!

Apologies for the crappy photos- my camera battery was running low, so everything had to be snappy :(

but then she's never looked at me that way before

Disney is truly wonderful. Yes. I think if there's anything that's better then baking, its disney- disneyland, disney movies, disney songs - the works. It is my happy place I guess.. it gives a hope and a chance to escape into this whole new world where maybe, true love can exist.

Dinner was with P and R tonight.. and P made the most amazing potato and mushroom pie (the photos I took didn't do it justice, so I shall have to wait for her to make another one) complete with couscous and salmon.

I've been overthinking things lately - and though I would like to attribute it to too much studying, I suspect its a combination of the weather, claustrophobia and the recent turn of events. Not a lethal combination, but still one enough to get me all mixed up inside.

It's difficult to know if you've found the one, or if you've let go of someone whom you thought was the one. People you thought you knew may suddenly pull a Jekyll-Hyde on you. Regret, in the decisions you've taken in life, may weigh and join the huge pile of emotional baggage everyone carries with them.

Deliberations, considerations, pacing between choices. Sometimes life gets tiring, but that's life innit?

But, seeing P and R (and listening to tons of Disney propaganda) tonight made me realise that love is out there and will find you somehow.

Yes, its the look in the eyes that gives everything away. Love.

Till then, I guess some re-ordering of life is in order. You never really know if you can or already have moved on, nostalgia can be pretty tricky sometimes - pulling a cover over most of the blue spots.

Maybe there's no space or time for regret. Decisions made must stay that way. So instead of longing for something long gone, or playing the blame game and being a plain ol' nasty bitch, I should just let things go. As they should be.

'And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain' - Boyz II Men

Full circle

first cake i baked in London, 3 years ago.
i think listening to disney songs makes my mind wander. a lot.
focus hocus pocus!

petit dejeuner, dejeuner et diner

You know you're in Paris when you walk into any patisserie or boulangerie and buy yourself possibly the best anything you've ever tried. The boulangerie just outside the hostel the friends and I stayed at had the most amazing financier I've ever tried.

But of course, the only reason we were in Paris (apart from disneyland, of course) was to have Macarons- arguably a Parisian invention. Having already had the Laduree macarons when I came with S two years back, it was time I tried the Ispahan at Pierre Herme that EVERYONE had been raving about.

So, after getting wrong directions from a rather cute looking guy, and a walk down an endless row of shops, I found heaven! The Ispahan lived up to every expectation that had been building up within me through my endless ploughing of foodie websites. And that's not all, the little macarons that they had were amazingly delicate with intense (not overpowering) flavours that danced and intermingled to perfection.

Oh! and of course we had to return to get an Ispahan each for the trip back home.

How the Parisians have only 3 meals a day I cannot comprehend.
If I lived there, even 5 wouldn't suffice.

existential reminders.

In the world's most romantic place, the world's #1 destination for honeymoons and the reputably the best sunset in the world, I nearly died twice.

Yes, in the gorgeous Santorini in Greece, riding that All Terrain Vehicle featured in the picture, I lost control not once, but twice. The first time left me with bruises all over my left arm and hopefully nowhere else. The second one left me shaken. Because you see, if not for the shrub on the far left of the picture, I would have crashed downwards, with nothing to cushion the crash. Down the rocks and into the beautiful, expansive sea in the background.

And all I could think about is why the hell the damn brakes weren't working.

But I shall play the Pollyanna game and find things to be thankful about. To be thankful that the shrub managed to act as barrier. To be thankful that someone up there was looking out for me. To be thankful that my parents were just concerned about my safety rather than the hefty bill that came with the wreck.

And to be thankful for still being alive.

inspiration+turning22

Jia turned 22 a couple of days back and we surprised her with cake+roshni. She was terribly un-cooperative, refusing to come by my place (when all of us were already waiting). To make things worse, she already suspected something was going on. Seriously. This is not fun at all! I'm going to start designating people random birthdays so the surprise element will always be there. Thank goodness Rosh arranged to come down a little earlier- one surprise beats none.

Was trying out various cakes throughout the week- Cake #1 was an apple crumble cheesecake- but cheesecakes and my oven really don't go together so I had to scrap it; Cake #2 was a chocolate raspberry cake with milk chocolate frosting which was gone in 2 days. Cake #2 was going to be THE cake.

But, when it came down to baking the cake on the day itself, I felt that I just didn't feel like making such a dense and heavy cake. Plus, I wanted a happy-looking cake (coz turning 22 doesn't mean you have to be all contemplative and serious ), if you know what I mean. And of course with the tiny little heaven-in-two-pink-discs as my inspiration, I just had to make the raspberry and lychee cake for her.

So, this happened.




















Happy birthday (:

Princi

Ever since Zar and I wandered into the amazing Princi on Wardour Street, I find myself craving their extensive range of food every single day. And more often then not, I cave in and then I find myself in the amazing place having their delish latte, or their lemon chibouse, or their mille feuille, or their aubergine pasta, or sometimes, a mix of everything. Yes. this is the only reason why I'm still hanging on to my gym membership.

People around me think I'm obsessed- its always an 'Again' I hear after people ask where I had my last meal. Well I think its just so difficult to find a place that does everything right, and when you find that place, why bother searching again? So i've actually never been there with the same people - because they would think i'm mad, wouldn't they. But I haven't gotten down to bringing jia there yet. I don't think she'd rave about it as much I am right now because she thinks my new obsession is (psychologically) unhealthy. Unhealthy in sugar terms perhaps, but there's always the GYM.

Needless to say, I had my daily intake of caffeine there as well today (: So you'll know where to find me in London.

























































Princi
135 Wardour Street, London, W1F 0UT

Midnight baking

With week 8/9 being essay week, I spent most of the week (as mentioned previously) in the library. But having wireless in your library is not a great idea. Because essay writing tends to be a rather slow and tedious process, and the innate procrastinator in me always triumphs somehow. Yea, so I have to do 4 essays in a week, that's doable (right?) - surfing the net for recipes to try out wouldn't take much time, non?

Obviously not, because one site leads to another site, and then another. And when you are hungry from all that thinking (or dreaming), looking at gorgeous stylised food photography is NOT the way to go.

I eventually fell in love with the idea of making the Pistachio Pound Cake (above). We had a bag of pistachios lying around in the kitchen for about a week or two now, and no one seemed to know who the pistachios belonged to. SO. into a cake it goes! Might I say that cracking those small pistachios were truly a pain, but ah, sacrifices for the greater good.

Unfortch, jia doesn't share my new fixation with pistachios, and because she was supposed to come over for supper, I decided to try a different version of the lemon poppyseed yogurt cake. I'm beginning to think that my oven has decided to be very kind to me lately- because everything came out great (i.e. no smoke emanating and no charred on the outside, squishy in the inside cakes)!

Yay! perfect way to end my non-library day. And sadly, I'll be back there tomorrow. But this time, there'd be no embarrassing stomach growling because I'll be packing these yummers there for me and P.

So take that- irritating guy-beside-me-that-looked-and-laughed everytime my stomach growled.