London - Eating, Drinking, the good and the bad

So, since I have spent the last month in London I thought it would be ideal for me to do some mini reviews of all the places I went to eat and drink. There has been lots of both, especially since I have been working in Soho which is full of SO many restaurants. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me so I was unable to take any photos.

DINNER AND DESSERTS

Pho - Wardour Street, Soho
We went to Pho after a failed attempt at getting to Shoryu Ramen (See later). It is a Vietnamese Noodle restaurant and has 7 branches in London. I shared the pork fried spring rolls to start and they were delicious. I had one of the classic Pho noodle soups for my main and was slightly dissapointed. It really lacked in flavour and hardly rivalled Itame, my favourite noodle soup from Wagamamas. However, the atmosphere inside was nice and in the hot summer weather a seat next to the open windows was very welcome!

Joe's Southern Kitchen - Kings Street, Covent Garden
This restaurant re-opened during my time in London and was formerly known as Navajo Joe's. I actually ate here twice as I enjoyed it so much the first time. On my first visit I had the chilli beef brisket to start and really wished they did it as a main. It was delicious!! Then I had the burger which was also pretty good. They have an extensive cocktail list - a huge tick from me! I had the Clockwork Orange, a delightfully juicy cocktail with Stoli Oranj Vodka. Nom Nom! The second time I ate there I had the chicken wings to start (share them! you get loads!) followed by Joe's Southern Fried Chicken. I was all chickened-out and ended up taking most of my main home with me in a goody bag!

Pierre Victoire - Dean Street, Soho
Pierre Victoire was my favourite dinner during my time in London. It is very unassuming and after walking past it most days I was surprised by the good reviews. It isn't cheap but its good value for money since the quality of what I ate was brilliant. I had mussels to start but they were presented like snails in a small hole-y dish smothered in garlic butter! I then had duck breast for main. I don't usually get duck because I find it quite hit and miss but this was super moist and yummy! You can also go for the set menu with lots of options on it for £12.90 (two courses).

L'Eto Cafe - Wardour Street, Soho
This small cafe is an easy one to spot on Wardour street as the windows are lined with beautiful cakes, muffins, brownies and all sorts of sweet treats. So me and a few friends went here after dinner one day. I had the best chocolate cheesecake I have ever had in my life! At first it looks expensive but is no more than a dessert in a restaurant. They do lots of different food and seems like a great place for brekkie as well.

Shoryu Ramen - Soho
I saw this place online and thought it was the perfect place for my friends and I as they were offering all their main courses at half price! I couldn't quite believe it to be true with most main courses at £4.95! However, we didn't make it in the first time we went as the queue was so long, so I thought this would be a sign of good things to come. However, we couldn't have been more disappointed. The three of us all had soup-based noodles. Mine were overly salty and otherwise tasteless while I don't think my friends enjoyed theirs much either. The restarant was so crammed we were shoved on a table next to 3 other people. I know this happens a lot at these kind of place like Wagamamas. However, this table wasn't long and spacious like the Wagamama ones but cramped and barely fit the three of us on! On one of the hottest days of the year the whole experience was not very pleasurable.

SNOG

This place is pretty well known with branches all round London. I went a few times as I am a sucker for Frozen Yoghurt! Nom! At Snog you can pile your Yoghurt high with fruit, nuts, and other goodies. I don't understand the chocolate toppings as I think they taste weird with yoghurt. I'd go for raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry toppings, plus passion fruit flavoured yoghurt is a must!

BARS

21 The Print Room - Covent Garden
This little bar was so cute and overlooked Covent Garden square area, the perfect spot for watching the performers below. The outside terrace was perfect since the temperatures while I was in London were soaring! I loved the prosecco cocktails and my fave was the Carosello 21 with lemon juice, basil and aperol. There happy hour was also pretty good with certain cocktails at £4.50.

Freud
This place was a find! I had read that Freud did pretty cheap cocktails (by London standards) so we went to check it out. It was down some dingy stairs and then opened up into this hip basement. I felt a little too uncool to be there :S However, the cocktails were delishh! Great for a cool drink with friends.

Be At One - Soho and Covent Garden
This is part of a chain of bars and they have a ridiculously large cocktail menu! It was too tricky each time I went to choose so I pretty much always got the same thing! They do a brilliant happy hour with buy one get one free most nights. However, its gets really busy so if there are more than a couple of you I would book a table!


LUNCH

Wasabi Sushi - Soho
Another chain, Wasabi sell fresh sushi in small, medium, and large boxes. I love places like this for a quick bite and had to try it since it reminded me of mine and Demi's fave place in Newcastle, Nudo. The sushi was pretty good and not overly expensive.

Jumbo Eats - Soho
Jumbo Eats is the place to go when you are hungry! They have about 150 different options of wraps. I had grilled chicken, avocado, halloumi and pesto. Oh my, it was gorge!

Joe's Juice
Having spent the morning reading about juice diets I wanted to try and have a Joe's Juice for lunch. I went with Flo and I ordered one with apple and raspberries in it. It was quite filling but I find fresh juices lack substance and it was a bit too sweet. The juice also had a high price tag at over £4!

Covent Garden Food Market
Flo told me about this great food market in Covent Garden so we went to check it out. I think it runs every Thursday to Saturday. There were so many yummy goodies from pulled pork, to polish kebabs. The first time I went I tried the polish chicken kebab which was filling and tasty and the next time I had a gourmet burger. I think it was actually one of the nicest burgers I have had!

Cheap Sushi Places - Soho and Piccadilly
The first sushi joint, another one I was introduced to by Flo, was down Berwick Street in Soho. The sushi was ridiculously cheap. I'm talking £1.88 for 6 pieces! It definitely wasnt the best sushi I have had but it was still good value for money. The next sushi place was one I had heard the girls in the office chatting about, The Japan Centre. I went on my last day and boy, what an experience! Sushi lined the huge shop walls from sashimi to maki and californian rolls, nomnomnom! I opted for some terayki beef that was so deliciously raw it was almost mooing!

Hummus Bros
Hummus Bros was right near to where I was working and I had read some good reviews online. However, don't underestimate the portion sizes. The first time I visited I opted for a regular humous with two pittas at £4.95. I got through about a third of it before I had to stop. If you are going for a regular lunch just have a small one and buy an extra pitta if you want to be really full! You can choose from toppings like mushrooms, chickpeas, and guacamole.

I hope this little list helps if you are visiting London in the future!

Alex xxx

Fifty and Fabulous

So whilst it has been some time since I last blogged, I felt that I wanted to wait until I had something worthwhile writing about. I know it is considered rude to ask a woman her true age or even disclose their age for that matter. However, this blog post is dedicated to my wonderful mum who just reached this remarkable milestone of 50 years of age a few days ago.

Although she seemed to be experiencing a slight crisis about that number, all around her (especially me), were determined to make it a memorable birthday. As a lot of my friends will know there are many celebrations within my immediate family this year, so instead of a massive blowout party we have decided to go away together at Christmas to mark the end of a big year for all.

However, this does not mean to say that these occasions, when they do occur, should go unnoticed, and yesterday was certainly no exception! I made the trip down yesterday with my Dad and we had planned to go to a lovely restaurant in Nottingham called Hart's, which I had been fortunate to dine at once before for my best friends 21st earlier this year.

The food was delicious, presented beautifully and the surroundings of the restaurant were sophisticated. For starter, I had the organic salmon ballotine with creme fraiche and to follow I had the Cornish lemon sole with vegetables and saffron hollandaise. Other photos are to follow of what other members of my family chose. We arranged some champagne and balloons beforehand which was a nice surprise (although my mum was a little embarrassed by the massive '50' balloon sign!).

 

My grandad and brother raising a toast to the birthday girl

Crispy Salt & Pepper Calamari with Chorizo 

My starter of organic salmon ballotine

 Lamb rump... yum!

 My brother and dad enjoyed pepper sirloin with triple cooked chips and a peppercorn sauce





Now here a few photos of mi familia! Plus... the lovely present we had arranged as a surprise?!?

The boys!

 The parents and me

Family photo

Flowers always go down a treat with my mother

 SURPRISE!!!

Finally, yes so Happy 50th Birthday to my lovely mum! It was a lovely occasion and it has got me excited for my birthday now (3 months and counting)

Enjoy xo 



The Jesmond Breakfast Club

So, this morning Demi and I thought we would get the day started and ready for revision by going for a nice breakfast with our friends Freya and Claire. Arlo's lies in West Jesmond and is perfect for a good start to the day. Since today is the hottest yet this year (in chilly newcastle), we sat outside with coffee and sunglasses on. We made friends with the cutest dog who sat with us while we ate! Take a trip to Arlo's when you are around and be sure to have a slice of the tiffin or brownie, very yummy!

Poached Eggs Royale (With Hollandaise Sauce and Smoked Salmon) YUM

Demi with her granola and croissant (HEALTH HEALTH HEALTH)

The Cutest Dog Ever

Claire and I

Freya

Alex xx

How To Cook The Perfect Steak

As my friends know, Bonnett Family Friday Steak Night is a bit of a tradition in my house. Mum and Dad are in charge of the funding and purchasing of the steak while I am the chef for the night. If I may say so myself, I think I have become a bit of a steak master so I thought I would share with you my guide to what I think is the Perfect Steak.

1) BUYING THE STEAK
Personally from the most common four steaks you can buy in the super market I order them like this:

Fillet (The Best)
Ribeye
Sirloin
Rump

However, due to the fact that fillet is ridiculously expensive my parents tend to buy us Ribeye. Look for a piece with some nice ripples of fat throughout.

2) PREPARING THE STEAK
This is the bit most people leave out. They think that plonking the steak in a pan with some fat will taste just as good but believe me preparation is SO IMPORTANT.
Firstly, make sure you cook your steak from room temperature. Cooking straight from the fridge can dry out the outside and take longer for the heat to hit the middle.
Secondly, you need to tenderise the meat with something like a meat mallet. This also evens outs the steak to make it the same thickness all over so that it cooks evenly. Just go a bit crazy on either side of the steak and beat it until you feel satisfied.
Then, put a little pile of olive oil and salt onto the steak and give it a good massage to flavour and tenderise it a bit more. I like to put the oil on the steak instead of in the pan to make sure everywhere is coated and to spread the salt about.

3) COOKING THE STEAK
In my opinion, cooking a piece of steak anything longer than medium rare just destroys it. All you chickens who can't stand blood then please don't waste my beloved steak. Why eat something if you aren't going to eat it properly?
The absolute key to steak cooking is to get the pan (preferably a griddle) as hot as can be. I leave mine to heat up on high heat for nearly 10 minutes. I also only ever allow one steak per pan as I don't want the heat to be shared.
Slap your steak on and don't be tempted to move it around, let it sit so you get the nice cooking lines in it.

If, like me, you like yours rare (or blue) then just cook for 2 mins either side but if you want it pink in the middle then I flip it the minute you see any pinkish juices coming out the top side then just cook on the other side for 2 minutes.
Serve with garlic or sweet potato chips and a salad. Also try with horseradish sauce for something a bit different.

Who knew there was so much to cooking steak!? But trust me, its worth it! Happy Steak Cooking!

Alex x

Street Spice Newcastle

After a toughly won netball match on Saturday morning my friend, Charlotte and I decided some good food was in order. I had heard about a three day street food festival being held in Newcastle at the Life Centre called Street Spice. Being the foodie that I am, it was a must do on my list to attend. I just wish there was more stuff like this in Newcastle!

They also had cooking demonstrations

Charlotte and I spent about 40 minutes doing several laps trying decided what to eat but we both settled on a bread bowl with pulled pork, bbq sauce, cheese, cajun fries, and coleslaw. YUM! We both resisted the amazing cupcakes and bought half a pint each...lad lad lads.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of these gastronomy events in the future and might convince Demi to take a trip next year with me to the food show!

For some funny reason the sun had been out in Newcastle all day so we finished off out chilled saturday with a few drinks in Jesmond. Fab day all round!

Alex xx

The Hoxton Grill

I know our posts have been very food based recently so I'm sorry to do another one but I am sitting on the train back to Newcastle and couldn't stop reminiscing about last nights dinner. I was in London for an interview and my dad was there for a meeting so Mummy Bonnett tagged along to make a whole day of it. We ended up at The Hoxton Grill restaurant which is part of The Hoxton Hotel about 20 mins on foot from Liverpool Street.

The interior was full of dimmed low hanging ceiling lights and american style red leather sofa booths. After being seated I was excited to see the menu. They do very american grill type food as you would expect; burgers, ribs, salads etc. We decided to get a house board to start, which had three mini starters on it. I chose Nachos, Chicken Wings, and Fried Calamari (mmm...healthy). It was sooooo yummy. The calamari was the best I ever had accompanied with a garlic mayo. My dad (Mr. I just lost 7 stone) sneaked most of the chicken wings since he didnt want to eat anything else but I got one and they were pretty incredible too.

For main, I had a rack of beef ribs and stupidly ordered sweet potato wedges, which were yummy but I couldn't eat. SO FULL! The ribs were delicious, perfectly stringy and falling off the bone. My mum had a burger, perfectly pink in the middle, and my dad had jerk chicken salad, which he said was lovely.

I'd definitely recommend The Hoxton Grill if you are ever in that part of London for a quick dinner that isn't too expensive for London prices.

Here's a link to their website: http://www.hoxtongrill.com

Alex x

Homemade Christmas Gifts: Chilli Jam

As a big foodie I'll take any opportunity to cook so when thinking of a cute Christmas gift for the grandparents I decided I was going to cook it!

This chilli jam is so easy to make and goes well with plenty of different cheeses, meats and would also taste great on salmon.

You can find the recipe here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8257/sweet-chilli-jam

Also google "food gift recipes" for plenty more ideas from truffles, to chutneys, and even marinated goats cheese (interesting...)

Alex x

Cheese and Wine!

Being the massive foodies that we are, Demi and I came up with the brilliant idea of having a Cheese and Wine Party for us and our friends. Everyone loves a bit of cheese, and of course, a glass of wine! We had enough cheese (and wine) to feed an army and still managed to consume it all. We also did a secret santa since it's now December and (almost) acceptable to get into the Christmas spirit.

See some photos of the yummy cheese below. My favourite was the Pié d'Angloys, which is like an extra creamy camembert. 

Tips for hosting your own cheese and wine party

• If you are all big eaters get a cheese per person
• Add little touches like flag labels and explanations
• Make sure you have enough bread for everyone to fill up on
• Have a varied range which includes a few common cheeses and some interesting ones
• Be sure to buy some chutneys and grapes!