Asia de Cuba

I first sampled cuisine from Asia de Cuba when I went to a Taste of London Event. I tried the Mexican Doughnuts: sweet brioche doughnuts rolled in cinnamon sugar, filled with butterscotch sauce. They were really delicious and therefore I was excited to visit the restaurant and sample the savoury dishes. I have been to the restaurant twice now, and below are some photos from my visits.   

 

Starter:

 

(Calamari Salad 'Asia De Cuba.' Crispy calamari, chayote, hearts of palm, banana, cashews, chicory and radicchio, with a  sesame orange dressing.)

 

Initially I was a little apprehensive about the combination of banana and calamari; I love both ingredients, but I was unsure whether they would work together. I should not have doubted the chef because they worked perfectly. The citrus dressing, the salad and the texture of the cashews were a perfect combination with the calamari and banana. The portion size was very generous.

 

 

 

 

On my second visit to the restaurant I decided to try a different starter: crab croquetas: jicama, mango and mirin infused slaw, roasted red pepper remoulade with a coconut, soy-lime vinaigrette. I liked the 'slaw' which had lots of interesting flavours running through it. However, I felt the croquetas were a little sweet; they did not seem to have a lot of fish in them and were tiny in comparison to my friend's starter, the calamari salad. I did have a little food envy, but she let me finish off her salad as it was too big for her.

 

 

Main:

 

(Cuban BBQ Chicken with Thai coconut sticky rice, avocado & coriander fruit salsa  and a tamarind sauce)

 

The main course was really tasty. Succulent chicken, and a lovely caramelised, BBQ skin. The accompaniments were perfect, sticky rice, and the fruit salsa, which added a sharp citrus note to the dish. The tamarind sauce brought the whole dish together as it was sweet and sharp.

 

 

 

 

The second main I had in my next visit was: Palomillo of beef, pan seared sofrito of peppers, onions and Japanese eggplant with watercress salad and  orange oil. The beef was really tasty, it had a wonderfully spiced coating. My friend commented that she felt the beef was a little chewy as it was cooked well-done, but I liked it that way, and it reminded me of a beef fast-food dish we have in Goa. All the accompaniments complemented the dish well. Both meals were delicious and it would be difficult to chose which one was my favourite.

 

Dessert:

 

(Cuban Opera: rich chocolate cake layered with milk chocolate butter cream, coffee mousse, coffee-brittle ice cream)

 

I really love Opera cakes, and this one did not disappoint. Beautifully soft cake, layered with a rich buttery cream. The ice-cream helped to cut through the richness of the cake. Really yummy and it was finished in minutes. Not sure about the presentation of the cake but that was a minor point.

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The flavours are wonderful. The Cuban and Asian influences really do work together well. The cocktails are lovely too.

The presentation is good, not to refined, but that is not a problem. The flavours, and quality of the food speak for themselves.

Service & Ambience

The service was good, the waiters are always helpful and make good recommendations.

The décor of the restaurant is not to may taste. It is modern, and for me has an unfinished look to it, although I know that that is what they were trying to achieve. I did not feel the plain décor matches the food, but perhaps the restaurant is looking for the food to be the highlight, rather than being distracted by the surroundings.

Value for Money

For 2 courses the price was £22, and for 3 £27; very reasonable indeed, especially due to the quality of the food. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough. The food really is delicious.

 

Website: Asia de Cuba

 

 

Overall Rating:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sanderson: Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea Party

I had gone to the Sanderson for a friend's birthday as she wanted to try something different to a traditional afternoon tea, hence the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea Party seemed the perfect one to try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon tea included the following:

 

Sandwiches:

-Smoked Cumbrian ham with wholegrain mustard on sun-dried tomato bread
-Cucumber and chive cream cheese on spinach bread
-Cold smoked salmon and lemon butter on dark rye bread
-Egg mayonnaise with watercress and smoked sea salt on lemon bread

 

-Daily quiche

 

My favourite sandwich was the cold smoked salmon and lemon butter on dark rye bread. It is interesting because your mind is telling you that this should taste like a chocolate Swiss roll due to its appearance. Instead, it is savoury and fishy; I really like the taste sensation.

Sweet
-Carrot meringue served on a bed of pea shoots: I loved the presentation

 -'Strawberries and cream' homemade marshmallow mushrooms; I am not a fan of marshmallows, but once again due to the appearance of the marshmallow it added further dimension to it, and hence they were enjoyable.

-'Tick Tock' traditional Victoria sponge

 -Melting mango cheesecake: This was my favourite due to its appearance and also the surprise element of the mango. Outside there was a colourful white-chocolate case, inside was a soft cheesecake with a pouch that looked like an egg yoke. Once I broke into this pouch a rich, and slightly tangy mango sauce came out which worked really well with the rich creamy cheesecake. 

- Matcha green tea and white chocolate mousse served in chocolate tea cup: Beautiful appearance.

-'Drink Me' Potion 

 

-Selection of homemade savoury and sweet scones, served with herb butter and fruit preserves with clotted cream: It was the first time that I had tried a savoury scone as part of afternoon tea. Sometimes there are too many sweet items in relation to savoury ones, hence the savoury scone was a welcomed addition. It was a olive scone, which was lovely and warm, and worked well with the herb butter.

- Jelly Wonderland: I did not sample any of the jelly- jelly and tea is a combination that does not seem quite right to me.

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food is excellent. The flavours are delicious and there are some interesting flavour combinations. The presentation adds to the flavour, it adds further depth and excitement. You eat both with your taste-buds and your eyes! Really wonderful presentation, certainly in keeping with the theme.

Service & Ambience

The service was good. Our tea was replenished a number of times, although it was a little tepid for my liking. After the fourth pot it was just right!

The design of the restaurant is really interesting. In the lobby there is a lot of quirky furniture which adds to the hip and trendy feel of the restaurant. In the middle is a wonderful bar, with a great range of cocktails. I would like to go back and try them. We were seated in the outdoor patio area, which is heated, and has a nice water feature in the middle. The sound of the water adds to the ambience.

Value for Money

The afternoon tea was £38. I felt that this was very reasonable. All the food was delicious. After a while, afternoon tea can loose a bit of excitement, and that is why I like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, it was unique, quirky and a real taste sensation.  I really recommend this afternoon tea and I would definitely return.

 

Website: Sanderson: Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea Party

Overall Rating:

Sketch

We recently visited Sketch for our end of term afternoon tea celebration. We were excited to see the newly refurbished room. The room was a wonderful shade of pink, and had beautiful features. The room was large, and as a result of the colour of the room, it was wonderful and light.

 

 

 

 I am not usually one to comment on toilets, after all this is a food blog, but the toilets were certainly unique. Oval pods which had rainforest noises and information about frogs! I really liked them, they certainly added to the quirkiness of the restaurant. The beautiful stained class window really lit up the room well with wonderful colours.

 

 



 

 

Interesting crockery.

 

 

 

The wonderful cake stand, which included the following:

-Assorted finger sandwiches: smoked salmon and Jacob’s cream with cucumber, ricotta and asparagus, mozzarella and pesto croque monsieur, egg and mayonnaise, quail egg, caviar. My favourite was the mozzarella and pesto croque monsieur; it was nice to have a warm sandwich feature in the selection. My second favourite was the egg mayonnaise sandwich- it seemed to have mustard incorporated into the mayonnaise, which I felt really enhanced the flavour of the sandwich.

- Sultana or plain scone served with clotted cream, fig and strawberry homemade jam. Of all the afternoon teas I have had the scones were the best. They were large, with a wonderful crust on the outside, and warm and soft in the middle. The fig jam was a nice alternative to the usually strawberry jam.

- Selection of sketch pastries:  old fashioned pistachio macaroon; this did not have the consistency of a traditional macaroon, it felt more doughy. I liked the pistachio in the pastry, and the filling of pistachio and raspberry.

 - Almond and berry tartlet: Rich, buttery pastry, with fresh fruit and an almond base.

- Coffee éclair: Not so keen on the coffee éclair, I prefer a more traditional éclair.

-Strawberry cheesecake in a glass: Delicious- sharp strawberries, served on top of a creamy middle selection and shortbread biscuits on the top.

-Mousse malabar marshmallows and  raspberry meringue. Not so keen on the marshmallows. I am not fond of marshmallows and I did not like the bubble gum taste of these. The raspberry meringues were lovely, nice and sharp which worked well with the sweet meringue.

- Sketch opera: This was probably my favourite cake of them all. Rich dark chocolate with a nice nutty praline.

The tea I chose was: blackcurrant and hibiscus:  Vivid, intense and lively, with a rich spectrum of berry fruits, bright supporting acidity and a sweet, perfumed finish. I felt that it was a little sharp, but it did go well with the food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food is excellent. Every item was very flavoursome, and some interesting flavour combinations. The food was very well-presented. Although I was reasonably full by the end of the meal, I was surprised to see that none of the food or tea was replenished. This seems to be what some afternoon tea venues are doing in London, but at the very least our tea should have been topped up!

Service & Ambience

In my opinion the service could have been a lot better. When our afternoon tea came to the table it was missing some items, but they were later brought out. Surely it would have been better to bring everything out at once and then explain the items? Moreover, my friend nearly had her plate taken away before she had finished and when there was food still on the afternoon tea plates.  Several waiters disturbed our conversations asking if we had ordered more tea, we would have loved more tea, but we had not been asked, nor were they for us. No one came to check whether we were okay.

I  liked the ambience of the restaurant, it is really beautiful.

Value for Money

The afternoon tea came to £39 without champagne. I did like all the elements of the afternoon tea, but the service needs improving. I enjoyed the experience, but it is not a place I would hurry to go back to.

 

Website: Sketch Afternoon Tea

 

Overall Rating:

 

 

 

 

Claridges Afternoon Tea

I have been to Claridges twice for afternoon and once for lunch. I have enjoyed all of my visits, and Claridges afternoon tea is by far one of the best I have had. The review I am going to write is about a special afternoon tea that Claridges had, which was celebrating chocolate week. The cakes were designed by William Curley. It was the first time I had tried patisseries from William Curley and they were sublime. Since then I have sampled lots of his chocolates and I have also had the 5 course dessert menu at his store in Belgravia (more about that to come in a later post.)

Beautiful scones, which had a lovely crust and were soft and warm inside. They were a nice size, so we did not feel guilty eating 3 each.

 

 

 

 

 

The wonderful array of pastries.

 

Madagascan Chocolate and Orange Dome: Madagascan dark chocolate mousse layered with caramelised oranges, Grand Marnier cream and chocolate biscuit Alhambra.

Toscano Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel Tart: Piedmont hazelnut tart layered with sea salt caramel, raspberry dacquoise and dark chocolate ganache. This one was the best of the four and after we ate this selection we were given two of our favourites to sample again.

Pistachio and Chocolate Opera: Layers of Sicilian pistachio Joconde, black cherry ganache and pistachio creme mousseline.

Toscano Chocolate and Praline Paris Brest: Choux pastry ring filled with praline, chocolate creme patisserie, and creme Chantilly.

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure I liked them.... 

 

 

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food is excellent; some of the best pastries I have ever eaten. Rich butter pastry, filled with rich chocolate, balanced well with fruits, and good textures of nuts, or sugar work. Lovely flavours, which are carefully balanced. Our plates were constantly replenished.

The presentation was superb, wonderful attention to detail; I felt that this was also the case when I visited the restaurant again.

Service & Ambience

The service was excellent. The waiters did not rush us at all. We arrived at 5.30pm and left after 10pm- a seriously impressive afternoon tea. We asked if we had stayed the latest and the waiter said he had one diner that stayed until 11pm!  We were made to feel special.

I really liked the ambience of the restaurant with the wonderful pianist and double bass player. The main part of the tea room is the best area to sit in.

Value for Money

The afternoon tea came to about £35.00 each, without champagne. As I have said previously one of the best afternoon teas I have had. I will definitely be returning for another one soon.

Website: Claridges

Overall Rating:

Launceston Place

Launceston Place was the first private dining restaurant we had been to as part of our dining club, and about five years on, I think most of us would still rank it as our favourite restaurants, both in terms of the food and the experience we had.

The private dining room was called the Chefs' Office. It was a tasting menu, that was designed by the chef Tristan Welch and included:

- Canapés Of Devilled Potato Crisps
- Rustic Bread, Homemade English Butter, Cured Herring
- West Coast Scallop Roasted With Aromatic Herbs From The Coast Line
- Breast of Pheasant, Home Cured Bacon
- Baked Lemon Sole, Coastline Vegetables
- Truffled Duck Egg on Toast- Celery Sorbet, Walnuts And Apples
- Shoulder of Salt Baked Lamb, Salt Baked Potatoes
- Pre Dessert
- An Assiette Of Launceston Place Deserts

Below are photos of some of the courses. (Slightly different from those above.)

I loved the attention to detail with the crisps-they had been 'hole-punched,' and tied with a lovely ribbon. A wonderful touch! 

 

The hot crunchy bread, with the rich soft butter and salty herrings worked brilliantly together. I think we all over-indulged with the bread, but it was worth it.

 

 

 

 

The truffle and egg on toast is one of the best courses I have ever had. A rich egg, with the earthy truffles really complemented each other well. It was light and rich, which is a difficult combination to achieve.

 

This is what you call a dessert platter!  It is a shame I had to share it with everyone else! The tarte tatin and chocolate soufflé were my favourites. The ladies were not too keen on the whisky cream that came with the soufflé, it tasted very earthy. However, that did not deter us, and the whole slate was wiped clean!

 

 

 

 

Some chocolate favours to take home- perfect.


Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food was excellent. Lovely flavours, which were carefully balanced. After eight courses we were certainly full.

The presentation is superb, wonderful attention to detail.

Service & Ambience

The service was excellent and what you would hope for from a private dining experience.

The chef's table was wonderful, great ambience in the room. It did not feel like we were in a restaurant, rather someone's house. I loved the way that after each course was cooked the chef would come out of the kitchen and explain to us how he cooked it.  At the end of the meal we were given a tour of the kitchen.

Value for Money

For the tasting menu and two glasses of wine the bill came to around £100 each.  I felt that the meal was worth every penny, it was an amazing culinary experience. I would definitely go back.

 

Website: Launceston Place

Overall Rating:

 

Savoy Grill (Gordon Ramsay)

Lunch at the Savoy was a surprise from my family for my 30th Birthday. The dining experience was wonderful. We were given the top table in the restaurant, which had a lovely view of the whole restaurant.

 

 

 

 

Starter:

Poached egg and confit of pork.

A wonderful salad; the perfectly poached egg certainly well went with the confit of pork. It was a tasty salad and I enjoyed the warm bread that went with it.

 

Main:

(Lamb with mash potato and baby broccoli)

 

The lamb was succulent, and the mash silky smooth. The sauce was rich with the roasting juices and red wine. It really was delicious, and a generous portion. I like the fact that the lamb was not fatty, which can sometimes be the case.

 

 

Dessert:

(Chocolate dome with chocolate mousse and Chantilly cream.)

A rich, decadent dessert-perfect for a birthday celebration! I like the bitter and hard chocolate shell, with the soft rich mousse inside. The Chantilly cream helped to cut through the richness of the chocolate.

My birthday plate.

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food is excellent. All the dishes we had were cooked perfectly and everything on the plate complemented each other well.

The presentation is excellent, not too flamboyant, what you would expect for a 'grill' restaurant.

Service & Ambience

The service was superb. The waiter was really friendly and added to the whole experience. They made us feel welcome and the place is not at all pretentious.  We did not feel rushed at all.

I really liked the ambience of the restaurant, it is cosy, but you don't feel that diners have been packed in.

Value for Money

I am not sure how much it cost as my family paid for it. However, they do a lunch offer, 3 courses for £30, which I think is excellent value. It is certainly somewhere I would return.

 

 

Quince

We wee excited to taste the Middle Eastern flavours at Quince; certainly a different from the cuisines we usually have.

 

Starter:

 

We ordered lots of different starters and then sampled each others. They were all very flavoursome, and carefully spiced. They got one of our dishes wrong, which we had not realised, but they did eventually and gave it to us, with another starter for free.

 

Main

Roast, spicy chicken.

Very tasty chicken, which was cooked well as it was not dry at all. It came with some very vibrant sauces, I think one may have been beetroot, which further enhanced the flavour of the chicken. Great spicing of the chicken as it was fragrant but not too spicy.

Dessert 

 

Rose and vanilla panacotta with strawberries.

 

Very fresh tasting, which is what you want after a heavy meal.

 

 

 

Quality & Presentation of  the Food

The quality of the food  was very nice. I really like Middle Eastern food, and I felt the food from Quince represented food from the region well. The spicing of the food was carefully balanced. They had some lovely Lebanese wine.

The presentation is good, not overly fussy, but I would not want that from Middle Eastern food as I feel it should be rustic.

Service & Ambience

The service was good.  The waiters were not intrusive in their service. Silvenia Rowe was there in the kitchen, which was nice to see.

I really liked the ambience of the restaurant, it is intimate and I felt it was a great romantic setting.

Value for Money

For 3 courses and a glass of wine the bill came to £80. The meal was good, although I will not be returning as Quince is now The May Fair Kitchen. Also, the meal was nice, but I probably would not have gone back as I have had similar quality food for a cheaper price.