Waterside inn

I went there for lunch with my hubby the day after our wedding :)

of course... we have to go for the best of the best :p

so here we are :) the first and the only 3 michelin star restaurant outside france that manage to retain the 3 stars for >25 years!!

Everything was flawless... from the food to service. 

Perfectly cooked and beautifully presented traditional French food.

Starting the meal off with a bellini and canapes 

We were quite hungry so we quickly consumed the first round of canapes at the bar ..

then after we got seated to our table, they brought us another plate :p 

They were all soooooooo yummm .. of course we have to say yes when they offered seconds! 

plus it's rude to reject :p hahaha

I guess the difference between 3 stars vs 2 stars restaurant could very well be that.  haha

from the bottom, we have cheesy shortbread with creme fraiche and hazelnut, rabbit patties, Steak tartar and Squid tempura with wasabi cream

The bread offered are the good old traditional baguette, white/country roll

simple but brilliant

We went for the tasting menu :)  - aka le menu exceptionnel

Flaked Devon crab and marinated seabass served on a delicate carrot jelly lightly infused with ginger, Oscietra "Royal Belgian caviar"

Light and sweet. it also comes with a little savoury madeleine

Pan-fried escalope of foie gras Grenoble style with a caramelized slice of orange

This is our favourite dish :)

the slice of orange has been "brulee"-ed so it's crispy on top! 

The foie gras just melt in your mouth, with those little buttery crouton/ candied orange.

Poached fillet of sole flavoured with tarragon, crayfish tails and morels, "vin jaune" sauce

cream

Keith and I both agree that we need a few more pieces of pasta to go with it. 

The little pasta at the bottom was really good!

For the main - there's a choice of duck/lamb so we had one each :) 

 

Duck was good but the lamb was REALLLLLLLY amazing. 

mega tender and it has a nice smoky flavour.  

lime blossom sorbet with honey/elderflower sauce

This was a good palette cleanser.. 

light and clean flavour.  

Hazelnut florentin with a white chocolate mousse and passion fruit

Rhubarb souffle with raspberries coulis

light and fluffy..

a little extra mini opera cake :p which we had to share lol 

so one bite each! 

moving onto the lounge for petit "four" and coffee

(

there are definitely more than 4 :p 

EVERY SINGLE ONE of them were so PERFECTLY made... 

we were offered a refill :p but we were just wayyy tooo full :(

I wish I had a back up tummy for it :p haha 

We were so full that we skipped dinner + lunch the next day! 

Keith asked if there's anything special that we could do and they said we could rent a boat to go along the river lol 

but it was just WAYYYYY too windy and cold! 

It's supposed to be summer by now :(

Fino Restaurant

Round 2 :p 

went there with two other friends so we get to order a few more different tapas. 

I have also brought my camera with me so better photo this time! 

The food in general was brilliant... as always... 

The environment is relaxed.  

We saw a very appealing spiced grilled pork belly last time so we wanted to order it this time.

However, it requires to order in advance!!!! 

will need to remember to order that next time.

Cold meat platter - with chorizo, lomo iberico and ham in the middle

Prawn croquette and ham croqutte

Cod fritter

bread & olive oil

Fino serves the best croquettes everrrrr!! esp the ham one! 

creamy mash potatoooo and crispy crust

These grilled quails were divineeeeeeeee

veryyyy juicy with crispy skin. served with sweet pepper on top

Chicken Wing & GIANT King Prawn

Chicken Wing was flavoursome -garnished with some chilli and herb on top

the king prawn is sweet and meaty!

Arroz Negro - so goooood

it has some chopped squid mixed with the rice  quite garlicy

Chocolate Lava Cake from Little Paris Kitchen

HEAVENNNN

from little Paris Kitchen





I would add extra salt onto the salted caramel sauce
you have to be patient and focus when making caramel.
I burnt the first round :p coz I was sorting out other stuff while doing it :p

http://www.saturdaykitchenrecipesearch.co.uk/rachel-khoo-chocolate-lava-cake-the-little-paris-kitchen

INGREDIENTS
For the caramel filling
150 g sugar
150 ml double cream
1 tsp salt (course sea salt)
For the chocolate sponge
large bar of dark chocolate (150g? min. 60% cocoa solids)
85 g butter
cocoa powder
170 g light brown sugar
85 g flour
6 eggs

MAKE THE CARAMEL FILLING
1. Sprinkle enough sugar to cover the bottom of the medium sized saucepan
2. Cook this until it melts and begins to go golden brown then add the rest of the sugar
3. Cook all the sugar until it reaches a cola colour
4. Add 150 ml double cream (be careful at this stage – stand back – it does boil up)
5. add 1 tsp of salt
6. Cook until it reaches 108 deg or it coats the back of a spoon
7. Pour into a bowl and carefully place in the fridge to cool (this is piped into the chocolate sponge later so its got to stay runny)

MAKE THE CHOCOLATE SPONGE
1. Put water into a saucepan and bring to a simmer
meanwhile
2. Break the chocolate bar into a bowl
3. Add 85g of butter
then
4. Place the bowl over the saucepan to melt the chocolate and butter (stir occasionally)
meanwhile
5. Grease ramekins
6. Coat the inside of the ramekin with cocoa powder
7. Mix 170g of light brown sugar with 85 g of flour in a baking bowl
8. Then add the melted chocolate and butter and mix through
9. Crack and blend six eggs
10. Add the eggs to the mixture in the bowl and blend thoroughly
11. Ladle the mixture into the ramekins filling about three quarters full (leaving room for the caramel sauce which gets added later)
12. Chill the filled ramekins for about an hour in the fridge

13. Squeeze the caramel into the chocolate mixture using a piping bag
14. Bake 180oC for 15min
15. Enjoy :)

Benares

We bought a £50 quid voucher - with a value of £100 food from the telegraph's select (a group buying site)
The head chef, Atul was on Great British Menu a few years back. His food looks good so we have always wanted to try it out.

on the whole the food was average and unmemorable.
It's not cheap - on top of the voucher.. we have to top up another 60 quid.

Poppadom with homemade chutney

Passion Fruit Chutney Martini

This is a drink that has been created with a bit of help from our Chef, Atul Kochhar. A combination of house made passion fruit chutney, Wyborowa vodka, fresh lemon juice, sugar and a dash of passion fruit juice.

- very nice and refreshing! 

Starter

Quail Kebab

- very average. nothing special 

Hand Dived Scottish Scallop in the Shell, Broccoli Puree & Lentils

Main

Venison loin with spiced apple and foie gras mousse

Seared Gressingham Duck Breast

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tube, Jaggery Cake, Cumin Marshmallow and Sugar Cane Ice-Cream

Star Anise Apple Tatin with Fennel, Vanilla Ice Cream, Salted Butter Caramel

- that was quite disappointing.. can't really taste the spices and the tart tatin is very average 

no chewy caramelly pastry... 

Jasmine rice pudding with candied orange, mandarin, mint and berry sorbet

This was a complementary "pre-dessert" - but guess they forgot to serve it .. so it came as a "post dessert" instead. 

I am never a fan of rice pudding.  It was quite ordinary I thought

Petite "three" :p 

Melody's Ramen :p with Japanese Braised pork

Bought some fresh ramen when we were in Japan
so I made my own Japanese braised pork (Buta kakuni) and marinated "soft" boiled egg to go with it



Japanese Braised Pork
I used the recipe here:
http://www.justhungry.com/buta-no-kakuni-japanese-braised-pork-belly
I melod-ize it by adding extra ingredients like garlic, onion to make the stock even more flavoursome :)
It's a very easy and yummy recipe :)




Buta no kakuni (Japanese braised pork belly)
About 450g / 1 lb pork belly
2 Tbs sugar
1 piece of leek (about 6 inches / 15 cm long or so. You can use the green part too.)
1 large piece of fresh ginger
1 star anise
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. sake
2 cups water

Cut the pork into cubes about 1 inch / 2cm or so square. If the skin is still on, leave it on. Heat up a large pot with a heavy bottom. Sauté the pork belly cubes, without any added fat (you don’t need it…) until browned.

When the meat is browned, scrape it to one side and put the sugar in the fat that’s accumulated on the bottom, and stir around until it’s a bit caramelized. Stir and toss so the meat gets coated by the sugar.
Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer and lower the heat. Put a lid on and let it simmer gently for about 3 hours, turning occasionally.

To serve, dredge the pieces carefully out of the very oily cooking liquid, and peel of the thick layer of fat that’s on the skin side of the meat. Drizzle a little bit of the cooking liquid over the cubes.

I then made Heston's Soft boiled egg, and marinate the egg in the braised pork sauce over night ...
My eggs were a little overrrr.. but still yum :)
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston-blumenthal/soft-boiled-eggs-recipe

Method
Place the eggs in the smallest pan available and only add enough cold water to cover them. Put the lid on the pan and place over the highest heat possible.
When the water comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and wait for 6 minutes.
After the time has elapsed, remove the lid and carefully remove each egg. Cut the top of each egg before serving in egg cups.

Roast & Conch

I was attracted by the smell of roasted cocoa bean at the front of this hotel chocolat shop. 

going downstairs .. there's this little cafe called Roast and Conch 

They sell coffee like espresso/cappucino using cocoa bean instead of coffee bean!

you could choose both shoot using cocoa bean.. or 1 shot coffee and 1 shot cocoa bean. 

That sounds interesting... but there's always a reason why it's not readily available already...

That's because it's not actually nice... at all 

We had a "cappucino" and "macciato" made with 2 shots of cocoa

I was expecting something a bit like hot chocolate.. 

but it didnt taste much really... 

we were also served a little slice of chocolate crepe to try

and it tasted pretty average

on the whole it was quite a disappointing experience.. 

they display some chocolate making machine downstairs though 

The Conch

Japan Day 10 - Kyoto - Our friend's wedding

One of the main reasons why we went to Kyoto is to attend our friend's wedding :)

As pre-wedding lunch, we went to Man Kame Rou
http://www.mankamerou.com/
A 2 michelin star traditional Japanese restaurant 

My friend and I dressed up in Kimono for it :p
http://www.yumeyakata.com/kimono/index.html
We got there just after 10 and it was SO PACKED already as it was the first Saturday since the opening of sakura.

Here's what we had to do 
- beat the crowd and picked a kimono we like - the outer layer, inner layer (with floral print on the collar) and the belt.
- we then moved onto the room next door to have our hair done.  There were 6 standard kimono hairstyles to choose from


- then we moved onto he changing room - where there were two people dressing us up at the same time.

It costed us 2500yen to hire the kimono (discounted) and an extra 1050 for setting the hair :) not bad huh. There are many other optional extras e.g. hair accessories/ prettier belt etc

 Here's the end product

Kimono is not very comfortable and you couldn't walk fast with it!
To ensure the belt doesn't drop down in the middle of the day. They tied it up AS TIGHT AS possible.
Also, you couldnt lean back while sitting down since it would ruin the pretty bow they made at the back.

We had Japanese setting for the lunch - where we have to kneel down throughout the whole meal and ate from the mini serving table in front of it!!! That was hard! :p couldn't feel our feet after a while.. We ended up going to the loo every 10 min ..hahaha... just so that we can get up and walk around.

Some marinated octopus as the first course

Sashimi 

Pretty basket

tadaaaaa 

a lot of nicely marinated vegetable and seafood.

so pretty and colourful. 

everything perfectly cooked.

frankly.. i couldn't really tell what some of the stuff are... but they are all delicious

being a little picky :p I didnt finish the whole basket off and I got told off by the waitress :( 

tofu fish soup

Jelly - very refreshing :)

The ceremony took place at one of the UNESCO World's heritage site - Shimogamo Shrine 下鴨神社

It was a Shinto style wedding

Before the ceremony, we sat down together with the bride & groom and their family in a little room where the staff explains what's going to happen during the ceremony and had a little rehearsal.

We were served - sakura tea (it's a bit salty with gold leaves! tasted more like a broth rather than tea) and a little red bean mantou (steamed bun)

We had a tour around the shrine.. then went into the ceremony room.  

 It was quite interesting .. It includes the exchange of  many cups of sake and spinning a twig.  

  

Pretty and very expensive kimono

Around the shrine

Strawberry mochi :) 

On the way to our friend's wedding, we saw this restaurant that looks very cute!!! so we thought we could go back afterwards for dinner. 

However, after looking at the menu - which is all burger/ steak! 

we've decided to go to the restaurant next door - serving katsu! 

I had katsu with plum

Keith had DOUBLE PORTION of Katsu with japanese curry.. 

very greedy...