Viajante

Have always wanted to try out Via Jante.
With the head chef  - Nuno Mendes trained at the world's top restaurant - El bulli, it has to be good!
You have to be an adventurous eater to go there. because they don't have an a la carte menu like most other restaurants and you pick what you want to eat.
They do a surprise menu - so you won't know what you will eat until it is right in front of you.
You can only tell them how many courses you would like to have (3,6,9/12) and if you have any dietary requirement.
I think that's one of the fun element of the whole meal..  it was like an adventure :p
We kept on guessing what we were going to have next by observing the actions from the chefs and spying on our neighbours food..
We went there for lunch and picked the 6 course options - which kept us full till the next day!
We enjoyed the meal very much - everything beautifully presented and perfectly cooked.
some very interesting combinations with ingredients that I have never had before.
Every plate is composed of many different textures and flavours.

It has a very modern/casual setting with an open kitchen!
We sat right in front of it so we could observe and try to learn from all the actions by the chefs

Unfortunately Nuno Mendes wasn't around on the day 

we can see that everything was already prepared. they were just doing the final touch there before serving.

We were first greeted by 4 different canapes

Thai Explosion

- confit chicken with poached egg on top. wrapped around with crispy chicken skin.  seasoned by some Thai spices

Amaranth with sorrel

the crumbs were sweet and nutty, served with a light herb sauce

that was quite interesting. 

Girolle mushroom with red cabbage and alium

very beautifully presented

Potato with yeast and olive

- the yeasty paste was strong

the potato's texture was very interesting...

the bread was great too - potato baguette and  pancetta flat bread

accompanied with very soft and fluffy homemade butter 

I particularly like the butter on the left  - it was smoked with nuts on top

Brown butter with bacon bits on the right.

Here comes our first course : White asparagus with creme fraiche butter and crispy spiced bread. 

This was one of the less exciting course. 

Crab with egg yolk and rhubarb. 

I have no idea how he managed to deconstruct the egg.

the egg yolk was very creamy. 

Bream with dill chicory and fennel caramel

the bream was very soft and a bit raw.  It went well with the crumbs

Turbot with spring vegetables and mussels. 

Pluma with goat's curd and black quinoa. 

for a minute, we thought it's beef!!!! 

I have never tasted such flavoursome pork!!!!  - I don't know how many exclamation marks I need to add behind this to show how amazing this was :p 

I wish there were more slices of it ...

the goatcheese was slightly over powering we think

Pickled cucumber with reduced milk sorbet as a palette cleanser.

very fresh

That's called Milk 

- different texture of milk - pannacotta like pudding

some milk skin and crumbs

we were also served some frozen vanila and olive oil toffee which we had to eat right away - before i could take a photo of it.

It melt in our mouth with a texture that's a bit like the japanese mochi :p 

right... when are we going there again ?

Burger and Lobster

The food menu here is extremely short.  You get 3 options: 

- Steamed then grilled whole small lobster with lemon garlic butter 

- Lobster Brioche Roll 

- Burger

All 20 quid each 

(u can pay 10 quid extra for bigger lobster though)

In terms of value for money - of coz you should go for whole lobster :p and not the burger. 

but you will be surprised how many people there orders burger! and it does look quite appealing! 

Frankly.. it's nothing overly special about this place.. 

but it was just very pleasant... very casual and relaxed vibe.. 

it spelt - FEAST - when you see a plate like this in front of u 

Lobster roll is for the lazy people

meat in every bite :p 

It's served cold with a mayo dressing

Bailey mousse with salted caramel sauce

Mousse is very light and fluffy..  the salted caramel sauce maybe just a touch too salty.. 

yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Les Trois Garcons

Got a deal from groupon - tasting menu for 2 for 60 quid. (excl service 12.5% of original price - 15 quid + drinks)
Similar deals have been up quite a few times.. it was sold out quickly last time.
great value! so I quickly bought it while it's still on :)
We have walked past the restaurant many times and have always wanted to give it a go.

The decor is quite quirky





love this vase :) so pretty..

as soon as we sat down, we were served some bread - 2 slices of white and 2 slices of multigrain.
the bread was REALLY good - crusty top and meaty and soft inside.

   Amuse bouche - smoked salmon 2 ways
Salmon roll with avocado on a crispy bread and a crispy cup with salmon + salsa..
yum yum

Home cured foie gras with glazed cherry and caramel sauce
served with toasted brioche - warm and fluffy
This was our favourite dish.  very niceee :)
especially the little piece of pan fried foie gras on the right was perfectly cooked - crispy outside..
and it goes very well with the glazed cherries

steamed fish with basil and coriander on top, lemongrass foam and spring vegetable.

this was disappointing. the fish was overcooked. some of the vegetable was quite bitter

The duck looked perfectly pink but was a little dry

the deep fried mash potato ball was quite nice - very creamy inside

light and fluffy chocolate creme anglaise with some popping candy and raspberry ice inside. 

served with lots of raspberry coulis, rasberry jelly /chocolate millefeuille on the side

Petit four - profiteroles, lychee macaroons and chocolate mousse cup

The macaroon's shell was a bit dry

All the food was very well presented and was generally good. 

The service was good but with flaws in the system 

e.g. two waitors came around and asked if we would like  to have coffee separately.

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