The London Foodie Goes to Peru - Arequipa

May 1, 2014, 12:30 am

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The city of Arequipa, in the south of Peru, lies in a valley at the foot of El Misti volcano, a perfect snow-capped cone almost 6 km high. It has been occupied since pre-Columbian times, by the Aymara Indians and finally the Incas, before the Spanish colonials re-founded it in 1540.

There are no buildings remaining from pre-Columbian times, but the Spanish architecture is very fine, constructed from white volcanic sillar stone. Declared a Unesco World Heritage site, it makes an excellent place to stay for a few days.

At an altitude of 2,400 metres, it is also a good spot to acclimatise before ascending to Puno and Lake Titicaca at twice its height.

At the heart of the city is the Plaza de Armas, with its fine central garden, surrounded by arcaded buildings on three sides, and the cathedral on the forth. It is said that the facade of the cathedral was built especially high so as to block the view from the square of El Misti and its neighbouring volcanoes, which had spiritual importance for the indigenous population.

Much less touristic and commercialised than Cuzco, Arequipa is a great place to spend a few days, taking in the sites and getting immersed into the local culture. Spreading out in all directions from the Plaza de Armas, the city of 1 million inhabitants is graced by numerous fine churches, convents and markets, and offers a wide selection of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops.

Where to Stay

The Libertador Hotel Arequipa

Recently renovated, the Libertador Hotel Arequipa is located adjacent to a large park, 10 minutes walk from the Plaza de Armas, in the oldest part of the city.

The hotel has 88 rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, and well tended gardens with animals including llamas and an enormous turtle over 120 years old.

A popular spot for tourist and business travellers, it has elegant public rooms including a cocktail bar, a lounge and business centre, fully equipped gym and spa.

Our twin room was spacious, and simply furnished in Spanish colonial style with solid wooden furniture. The room was quiet, and overlooked an enclosed garden courtyard. It had all that would be expected of a 5 star hotel room including complimentary WiFi, cable TV with BBC World and an iPod docking system.

Breakfast is served buffet style, and is generous. There is a great selection of ripe, sweet fruit which was a highlight. There are also excellent pastries particularly croissants and the local bread, hams and cheeses, as well as cooked-to-order options including huevos rancheros (fried eggs with onions, tomatoes and rocoto chillies) which was very good.

The Libertador Hotel Arequipa is situated a little away from the busy city centre, which means it is not in the hubbub of the old town, but also that it is in a very peaceful spot. There seems to be little concept of noise pollution in Peru, and central city areas are noisy day and night. Taxis are plentiful and cheap, with journeys in the centre costing little more than £1.

Where to Eat

Chicha

Chicha was opened by Gaston Acurio (owner of Astrid & Gaston in Lima), in a fine historic building opposite Santa Catalina Convent. It serves local dishes with some modern touches.

We started with a Chicha Platter (£15.50 ) - this was a selection of popular Peruvian dishes served as appetisers which included deep-fried pork belly (chicharron), a deep-fried pastry with stir-fried beef (tequeno of lomo saltado), and mashed potato dumplings topped with trout and crab (causas). These were good and well presented, particularly the succulent pork belly (hidden underneath the onion salad).

Next was Cuy Frito- stir-fried guinea pig with fried quail eggs, fried plantain and quinoa (£12.50). Guinea pig has for centuries been part of the staple food of Peru, most commonly flattened, then grilled and served whole - head, legs and all. Chicha's version was more sophisticated, with crispy fried fillets of guinea pig, served on top of another Peruvian staple, quinoa. It was a very delicious dish - the meat was richer than chicken, very fatty but not as meaty or succulent as pork.

With the guinea pig, we had Ocopa - fried fresh cheese with aji amarello sauce (Peruvian yellow chilli sauce) and boiled potatoes. This was well flavoured, but in my opinion was not improved by being served cold (£4.50).

With our meal, we had a bottle of Senetiner Malbec 2012 from Argentina (£22). This was well priced, hugely fruity and straight-forward.

Tipika

Tipika is situated a 10 minute walk south of the Plaza de Armas, and perhaps as a consequence gets very few non-Peruvian visitors. It is, however, a very popular, partially open-air restaurant in beautifully gardens, and on the afternoon we visited it was packed with Peruvian families of all ages.

We started with Antecuchos de Corazon (£4.50). These are slivers of beef heart marinated in an intense seasoning of aji panca (dried red chillies), oregano, and cumin among other ingredients, grilled on skewers over charcoal and served with golden potatoes, creole sauce and corn. Antecuchos are a national dish, and the version at Tipika was very good.

To accompany them, we had Yuquitas Fritas (£3). These are deep fried wedges of cassava, a staple also in Brazilian cooking, cassava tuber makes fantastic chips as is more starchy making a good alternative to potato chips. Tipika's yuquita fritas were disappointing though - not sufficiently crispy and some were not even cooked through.

For main course, we had a Tacu Tacu - a dish native to Lima and Ica (£10) consisting of fried rice and beans topped with meats or fish. In this restaurant, it came with huge chunks of Tipika's slow-roasted pork and crackling. This is a signature dish of the restaurant, and was excellent - amazingly succulent and flavoursome pork with very crispy crackling. The rice and beans were fragrant, and flavoured with olive oil.

Our second main was Malaya Dorado (£8). This is a typical Arequipeña dish, of slow roasted beef brisket with roast potatoes and a salad of tomato and red onions. The beef was well flavoured, having been marinated in red wine, rosemary, parsley, and oregano. However, the roasting and lack of a more liquid sauce meant it was a little fibrous and dry.

We shared a dessert - Queso Helado or frozen cheese (£1.50). This was an ice cream based on condensed milk and cinnamon, with a good flavour but poor texture, as it was full of ice crystals suggesting a lack of churning while freezing.

We drank local Arequipeña beer with our lunch, which was crisp and refreshing.

What to Do

Arequipa is a very attractive city, with numerous distinguished colonial houses, churches and convents, and it is easy enough to cover most of the old central part on foot. To get your bearings in the city, it is possible to take a bus tour, but we decided instead to take a 'free' walking tour.

Free Tour Downtown Arequipa

These are organised by the Municipality of Arequipa and the University of San Agustin, and start at the Tourist Office in the Plaza de Armas. They occur at 10am and 3pm, and last 2 hours and thirty minutes. The sites of the city are explained in English.

We walked all over the centre of Arequipa, seeing many churches and historic buildings, and learning more about the city from a native. I thoroughly recommend this as a way to get your bearings in the city, and the suggested donation is around £5 per person.

Visit Convento Santa Catalina

Founded in 1579, the Santa Catalina de Siena Convent is a stunning building, and is a must-do for any visit to the city. Constructed from white volcanic sillar stone, the convent is considered the most important and impressive colonial structure in the city.

Santa Catalina de Siena Convent - a City within a City

Women entered the convent to serve as cloistered nuns, never again to return to their homes and families. They were normally the eldest daughters of rich and prominent Spanish-Peruvian families, and for this reason, the convent was very well guarded, looked after and provided for over the centuries.

A Novice's Room

After a powerful earthquake which destroyed large areas of the convent, the families stepped in, reconstructing the convent, by building self-contained houses to accommodate their daughters and accompanying servants.

These strict rules were somewhat relaxed by Pope John Paul II when he visited the convent, and today the number of nuns has fallen from nearly 400 to 20, who still live in a part of the convent that is closed to the public.

Communal Laundry Area

The convent is huge with various streets, courtyards, gardens, and other communal areas. It is a fascinating place, often described as a city within a city, the Convento Santa Catalina is well worth a few hours of exploration.

Well and Baking Room

The Communal Kitchen

I suggest hiring one of the female guides who are within the entrance of the convent to take you around - ours was very friendly, spoke perfect English and had recently finished her university degree in tourism so had very interesting insights about the lives of the nuns who used to and still live there.

I can't believe this being a very busy confessionary!

Highly recommended. Entry costs £10 per person.

Visit the San Camilo Market

The San Camilo Market, just a couple of blocks south of the Plaza de Armas, is a very busy market and good spot to see local life.

There is everything from fruit and vegetables, meat and fish to household items and Shaman paraphernalia.

  

Visit the Colca Canyon

The Colca Canyon is said to be deeper than the Grand Canyon, and is on many visitors' itineraries because it is a good place to spot the Andean Condor. A visit there takes two days from Arequipa, and can be arranged by the Hotel Libertador, or by any of the numerous travel agencies in town.

Travel Essentials

Libertador Hotel, Arequipa

Plaza Bolivar s/n

Selva Alegre

Arequipa

www.libertador.com.pe

Rooms are available for around £70 per night.

Chicha

Santa Catalina 210

http://www.chicha.com.pe

Tipika

Luna Pizzaro 407, Vallecito, Arequipa

www.tipika.com.pe

Convento Santa Catalina

http://www.santacatalina.org.pe/index.php/en

A Cruz del Sur overnight bus ticket from Nazca to Arequipa costs £14 per person including dinner. It was surprisingly comfortable, and we slept all the way to Arequipa!

http://www.cruzdelsur.com.pe

And It is Bye Bye Baby Alpaca!

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Yauatcha - 10 Years On

May 6, 2014, 12:30 am

≫ Next: French Glamour & Sticky Rice – A Weekend in Paris

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Name: Yauatcha

Where: 15-17 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 0DL

Cost: Set lunches & dinners including dim sum are £45 to £60 per person, with a Taste of Yauatcha Set at £29 available from Monday to Thursday from 2-6pm. The à la carte menu has dim sum from around £4 to £11 per portion, steamed dover sole or halibut around the £30 mark, and beef, pork, duck and chicken dishes from around £12 to £20. Desserts are £8.50.

About: Yauatcha is the only 1 Michelin starred dim sum restaurant in the UK, opened in 2004 by serial restaurateur Alan Yau. Best known for founding Wagamama, Yau was also the man behind Hakkasan, Busaba Eathai and Cha Cha Moon. Alan Yau has since then sold off his stake in the group.

Yauatcha specialises in dim sum and other small eats, and also features an excellent range of Chinese and Indian teas and French patisserie. Being tucked away between Oxford Street and Soho, this makes it a great place for afternoon tea after hitting the high street. I've been to Yauatcha numerous times over the years, but took this opportunity to sample its menu and write it up.

The restaurant is open seven days a week from noon until 11.30pm, (10.30pm on Sundays). Set on the ground floor and basement, the seating and decor is swish and contemporary, with few allusions to its Asian origins. The atmosphere is vibrant with a constant stream of diners coming and going making it also a perfect place for people watching.

What we Ate: I wanted to sample a broad range of options, and so we chose from the à la carte menu.  We kicked off with roast duck pumpkin puff with pine nut (£5.80). This is a lovely signature dish from the sister restaurant Hakkasan, and one I always order. Yauatcha’s version was just as good - crispy on the outside with a lightly sweet pastry and meat filling.

The Chinese chive and prawn dumplings (£5.70) came in a beautiful jade-green and very delicate rice pastry case, and were fresh and delectable.

The cheung-fun of striploin beef and enoki mushrooms (£9.80) was intriguing - the enoki mushrooms were wrapped in very finely sliced beef, fried and then encased in cheung-fun rice pastry – very creative and with varying textures.

The chicken Shanghai dumplings (£4.90) were good, although I thought the rice pastry could have been a tad thinner.

Spicy soft shell crab (£13.50) was served on flaked almonds, dried shrimp and kaffir lime leaves, as well as being a visually stunning dish, the batter was light and crispy, and the crab well flavoured.

The sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf is another favourite - stuffed with chicken and dried shrimp (£ 5.20), Yauatcha’s version did not disappoint.

The main course was a steamed Dover sole with black bean sauce (£28.80). Served skinned and filleted in slices, this was expertly cooked and deboned, and served with shiitake mushrooms, red chilli and chives. The black bean and chilli sauce imparted a rich and intense flavour to the dish.

To contrast the delicate sole dish, we opted for a feisty stir-fried, double cooked pork belly in chilli sauce (£11.60) which was meltingly tender.

For our accompanying noodle, we opted for a beef Ho Fun (£11.20) - stir-fried at high temperature to impart a delectable smoky quality to the beef, noodles and dish as a whole.

For vegetable we had a combination of spicy aubergine, sato beans, okra and French beans with peanut (£12.20). This was really good, with tender aubergine and with the sato beans adding a rich texture and complex nutty, slightly sulphurous flavours.

For dessert, we had the St Honoré (£8.50). I thought this was utterly exquisite - perfect pastry filled with ice cream infused with rhubarb, ginger and vanilla, then delicately latticed with white chocolate.

We also had the Guava Dome. With guava, passion fruit, tropical salsa and a Sable Breton (£8.50), this was also very good but could not rival the magnificent St Honoré.

What we Drank: The drinks menu is extensive, well thought-out and surprisingly good  value.  Alcoholic cocktails cost £10, and house wines are available by the glass at £6.40 (white Malvasia) or £7.10 (red Portuguese Alentejo). By the bottle, whites start at £26, reds at £29, and there is a good selection under £35. There is an excellent range of Champagnes at prices extending right up to the Dom Pérignon Rosé 2000 at £464.

The restaurant offers two wine flights, available to accompany lunch or dinner.  The Fine Wine flight includes three 125 ml glasses for £35 - a Taittinger Champagne, Chablis 'La Jouchéré', Domain Laroche 2012, and Pinot Noir, Astrolabe 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand. There is also a £20 wine flight, which includes 100ml each of a Spanish Malvasia, a Greek rosé from the Peloponnese, a Mencía Roble from Spain, and a 50ml glass of LBV Quinta de la Rosa to match dessert.

We were tempted by one of the wine flights, but after discussion with the knowledgeable sommelier Stefano, we opted for a bottle of The Navigator 2009, Alpha Domus, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£40).  A Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, this had good blackberry fruit with balancing tannins, and a long spicy finish enhanced by the Riedel glasses used at Yauatcha. It was an excellent partner to the gutsy meat dishes.

Likes: Stylish venue, central location between Soho and Oxford Circus, open all day for dim sum, patisserie and teas, extensive cocktail, wine and Champagne list. The dim sum are consistently good, and unusually for a Chinese restaurant, the fine French desserts like the St Honoré (given an Asian twist) are outstanding.

Dislikes: The restaurant is perennially popular, and gets packed to the gills which does not make for the most relaxing of places.

Verdict: After more than a decade in business, and having received a Michelin star from the start, Yauatcha remains in my opinion one of the best dim sum destinations in London. With also some excellent main courses, exquisite desserts and a very good wine list, it delivers a great restaurant experience. Highly recommended.

French Glamour & Sticky Rice – A Weekend in Paris

May 8, 2014, 12:30 am

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Words & Photography by Greg Klerkx and Luiz Hara

Paris is a city of many charms. The food, the views, the history, the culture: all sublime and justly famous. Paris is also a city with manifold ways to part you from your hard-earned cash, and when it comes to lodging, the City of Light is equally famous for hotels that are cramped, overheated, noisy of infrastructure and thin of wall, and often blindingly overpriced…a summary experience that can leave the gentle traveller feeling as if he or she had been expertly mugged, albeit with Parisian panache.

This can be true even for higher-end Paris hotels, in the €300+ per night range, and in which one might reasonably expect clean sheets, hot water, and walls that don’t resound with the dissonant symphony of creaking pipes. Top-end luxury hotels can invariably cure such malaise, of course, and in Paris one can easily spend €1,000 or more per night. But if you haven’t the resources of minor royalty or a globetrotting celebrity, yet demand more than a shoebox to sleep in and stale croissants for petit dejeuner, there is Hotel La Tremoille.

Situated on a quiet street in the 8th arrondissement, Hotel La Tremoille radiates charm, luxury and elegance. Its location is classic Paris: a credit-card’s throw from mega-bling shopping on Avenue George V, close to the Champs Elysses and Avenue Montaigne, and within eyeshot of the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. A dreamy walk along the Seine starts a mere five minutes’ stroll from the hotel’s front door.

Hotel La Tremoille was built in 1883 as a private residence and converted to a hotel in 1923. Architecture buffs will immediately note the hotel’s distinctive Haussmann façade: wrought iron balconies, elaborate cornice work, and almost hypnotic lines of symmetry. Both the hotel and the street are named for Louis II de La Tremoille, a Chevalier in the French army during the Renaissance. In the 1960s, Hotel La Tremoille was a semi-famous jazz hangout, documented in Paris Match as a meeting place for Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

The hotel re-opened in June 2002 following a €24 million investment and 18 month’s renovation, during which its interior was modernised so that it retains a regal elegance yet feels pleasantly chic, in which sweeping palatial staircases meld gracefully with original Art Deco quirks. The result is a ‘palace’ style hotel where a jacket is very much optional, and where service is efficient yet relaxed.

We stayed in a rather beautiful corner room on the fourth floor that was remarkably spacious, having not one, or even two, but three floor to ceiling French windows along its street-facing wall. Even with the windows open at night the room was luxuriously quiet, the darkness rich and lulling behind ultra-thick curtains. We didn’t hear a peep from any other guests or service staff, and slept the sort of refreshing deep sleep that’s hard to find in a city centre.

Every box on our luxury checklist got a resounding tick: the muted colour scheme of plums and browns; the delectably comfortable king-size bed; the plush armchairs; the marble bathroom with rainforest shower; the frequently changed linens and towels; and the delicious box of fresh macaroons left on our coffee table alongside a note of welcome.

We enjoyed a drink in the bar on our first night, sinking into deep leather sofas in front of a crackling wood fire and sipping pink champagne and a rather potent house cocktail. By night the bar is velvety as a nightclub, but by day it offers privacy and comfort for business meetings.

Breakfast at La Tremoille is served in the ground-floor restaurant, which extends seamlessly from the bar in the shape of an ‘L’. A fulsome buffet included fresh pastries and breads, sliced and stewed fruits, pressed juices, and yogurts displayed in an ice-bowl. For those with healthy morning appetites there were cold meats and cheeses and a selection of hot foods: eggs, bacon and flavourful mushrooms. Fresh coffee and tea were made to order.

Hotel La Tremoille is a terrific example of understated Parisian luxury: no comfort was neglected, and no request was too much for the friendly staff. The hotel is also close to many top restaurants and bistrots catering to every taste and price range.

The hotel’s rack rate for a standard double room including continental breakfast starts at €596, including taxes and service charge. However, the hotel participates in numerous Web-based promotions and we have found promotional rates for Hotel La Tremoille as low as €330, so do check online for the best rates.

For more information, visit Hotel La Tremoille's website here.

Hotel La Tremoille

14 rue de la Trémoille

75008 Paris

Tel. : +33 (0)1 56 52 14 00

reservation@hotel-tremoille.com

Lao Lane Xang Restaurant

102 Avenue d'Ivry, Paris

The Lao Lane Xang restaurant in the far southeast of Paris, just inside the Peripherique in the 13th Arrondissement's Asian quarter, offers a range of cooking from Laos, as well as Vietnam and Thailand. The owners are Laotian, and the restaurant is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one of its kind in Europe.

The cuisine of Laos is often confused with that of the northeastern Thailand, known as Isaan. That part of Thailand was once Laotian, and to this day there are some dishes common to both countries such as laap, made from raw fish or meat and chopped herbs. Laos’ cuisine has also been influenced by the French colonists, with baguettes and coffee featured on most menus. These and many other factors make Laotian food really interesting and varied.

One translation of the word Laos is 'sticky rice eaters', and this wonderfully pure product is at the heart of any Laotian meal.

Having spent a wonderful time in Laos (see my posts on Luang Prabang here and here), whenever we are in Paris we head to the Lao Lane Xang restaurant for our fix of Laotian dishes. We started with some delicious Laotian prawn rice pancakes (£5), with an aromatic crispy rice salad which we wrapped up in lettuce and mint leaves (£6.50).

Our main course was crispy duck with red curry, basil and tamarind sauce (£9). The duck was richly tender, and enhanced by the deeply fragrant sauce, complemented by a refreshing green papaya salad (£6.50), and the obligatory Laotian sticky rice (£2.30).

We enjoyed a bottle of spicy, perfumed Hans Schaeffer Gewurztraminer Reserve 2009 from Alsace, which was a real steal at only £15.

Few would think of going Laotian when in Paris, but if you have been lucky enough to visit Laos and try the cuisine, a trip to Lao Lane Xang in Paris will undoubtedly bring back some very fond memories. Highly recommended.

Peruvian-Nikkei Cuisine Comes to London!

May 13, 2014, 6:24 am

≫ Next: The London Foodie Goes to Peru - Lake Titikaka

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Name: Lima Restaurant

Where: Lima (Peruvian) - 31 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1JH
                 Maido (Nikkei) - Calle San Martín, 399 (esq. calle Colón), Miraflores, Lima, Perú

Cost: Set lunches and the pre-theatre menus in Lima (London), available on weekdays, cost £20 for 2 courses, or £23 for 3 courses, plus £4 for a glass of red or white wine. From the à la carte menu, starters cost from £9 to £14, mains from £20 to £29, and desserts are all priced at £8.50.

About: Lima opened in 2012, the third restaurant of Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez, whose Central Restaurant in Miraflores, Lima I visited recently (to be reviewed soon).  After a degree in law, Martinez studied at Le Cordon Bleu in London, and trained at restaurants in New York and Catalonia, and was executive chef at Astrid y Gastón in Lima before opening Central in 2010. Central quickly hit the San Pelligrino's 50 Best Restaurants in the World list, and in the latest 2014 list is ranked number 15.

That's quite a pedigree, and so perhaps it is not surprising that within months of opening, the menu devised by Martinez and delivered by Robert Ortiz at Lima was awarded a Michelin star. The menu at Central focussed on authenticity, local ingredients and seasonality, and this is also the philosophy at Lima, where a number of dishes developed at Central are also featured.  Most of the produce at Lima is from the UK, but it is supplemented by a range of native products from Peru's hugely diverse landscape.

Virgilio Martinez & Pia at Lima, London

This special event was to introduce Peruvian-Nikkei cooking to London. Nikkei is the cooking of the Japanese diaspora, adapting the produce these migrants found in their adopted countries to traditional Japanese culinary techniques, creating their interpretation of Japanese dishes with a local twist. This cuisine is very dear to me because as a Japanese-Brazilian, it is what I ate growing up in São Paulo, cook at my home in England and occasionally serve as part of my Japanese Supper Club menu in Islington.

Nikkei Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura at Lima, London

Nikkei cooking can be found wherever there is a Japanese migrant community; these communities are significant in Brazil, where the largest Japanese community can be found outside of Japan, and also Peru, home to the 2nd largest community.

It is in Lima that arguably this style of cooking has reached its highest expression, pioneered by Nobu Matsuhisa and his colleague Toshiro Konishi, followed by the next generation of outstanding Nikkei chefs like Mitsuharu Tsumura (known as Micha). Micha's Maido Restaurant (Latin America's 11th Best Restaurant 2013)  in Lima is another wonderful spot I visited on my recent trip to Peru which will be reviewed shortly. Micha has written an entire book on Nikkei cooking published last year "Nikkei es Peru" and is undoubtedly an authority on the subject.

Nikkei Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura at London Lima

I met and interviewed Toshiro Konishi and Micha while I was in Lima, and so was very excited to see Peruvian Nikkei cooking featured in London, and to have the opportunity to see him and Virgilio once more on home ground, as well as Virgilio’s partner and head chef Pia.

Arturio Gaston of Astrid & Gaston (pictured left)

What We Ate: The menu was structured with Pia, Vergilio and Micha’s dishes to show a wide range of Peruvian native ingredients, as well as Nikkei techniques and flavours by Micha.

  

To kick off proceedings, a platter of appetisers was served, which included Micha’s octopus with botija olive tofu and black quinoa, porcon mushroom with squid and wakame, and a steamed bun with fish chicharron (deep-fried battered fish) and zarza (or salsa) criolla made from onion, lime and coriander.

Pía cooked langoustine and huarango tree, a native tree from the desert in South Peru and whose sap tastes sweet like maple syrup, while Virgilio presented a dish called 'corn diversity', one of his creations at Central with four types of Peruvian corn including choclo (soft white fresh corn) and chulpi (dried and crunchy), presenting myriad flavour and texture contrasts.

We were then presented two takes on Peru’s national dish, ceviche.  Micha’s version was one of the most beautiful interpretations I have encountered, served in a striking purple sea urchin shell, combining rock fish and clams, sea urchin, tobiko eggs and yuyo (an Andean cooking herb), and topped with tempura(ed) samphire.

Virgilio's ceviche was also outstanding, with scallops, chia seeds and tumbo (a Peruvian passion fruit). This was refreshing and zingy, with delicious acidity.

Micha’s selection of nigiri-zushi came next - scallops with an emulsion of maca, cushuro and chalaca - featuring some uniquely Peruvian ingredients, like cushuro  (aka Andean caviar), a freshwater alga that grows only above 3000 metres. Rich in protein, it looks rather like the spherified chlorophyll beloved of molecular gastronomy, but is a naturally occurring foodstuff. Maca is another native of the high Andes, grown for its nutritious and allegedly healthgiving root - some even joke that maca is the Peruvian natural Viagra!

Silverside fish, with nori and leche de tigre emulsion was another Nikkei nigiri-zushi. Leche de tigre (tiger's milk) is a typically Peruvian sauce used in ceviches and tiraditos, which in its purest form is simply the juices of the lime and fish marinade.

The last nirigiri sushi featured very tender skirt beef with ponzu dressing (Japanese citrus dressing) topped with a fried quail egg. This was deliciously flavoursome, and visually quite stunning.

The main courses, titled 'Diversity' included a wagyu short rib nitsuke with potato cream and purple corn from Micha. Nitsuke refers to the Japanese technique of simmering fish or meat traditionally in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake. The short rib was yieldingly tender and delicious, and served with an intense and glossy reduction. Purple corn is ubiquitous in Peru, and is used to make the hugely popular chicha morada (a purple corn soft drink).

Virgilio’s main course was a dish of avocado, Andean pseudocereals and tomato tree. Grown between 2000 and 4000 metres, Andean pseudocereals including quinoa and amaranth, are noted for their high anti-oxidant content, and worked a treat in this dish, imparting a nuttiness and crispy texture to the creamy avocado, making a fabulous dish.

To wrap up our Nikkei lunch, we were served two desserts - Micha’s ice cream of bahuaja nut (native to south-eastern Peru, and similar to Brazil nut), with crispy bahuaja nut and mango while Virgilio served 'Hoja de Coca' Jungle, or coca leaf jungle – both were creative, using intriguing and unusual Peruvian ingredients that were a delight to discover in this part of the world.

What We Drank: Lima serves probably the best Pisco sours this side of the Atlantic, and we enjoyed a couple of those as aperitifs. We also drank some fine Clos des Andes 2007 by Bodega Poesia, from Mendoza in Argentina.

Likes: Sophisticated Peruvian-Nikkei cooking, with some truly unusual and delicious native ingredients from the Amazon and the high Andes. The sea-urchin ceviche was truly outstanding and for me the highlight of the meal.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: Lima is a wonderful restaurant, fronted by Virgilio Martinez, one of the most talented young chefs in the world.  I cannot think of a better place to introduce Peruvian-Nikkei cooking to the UK and to discover on our very doorstep why there is such excitement about Peruvian cooking throughout the world right now. Highly recommended.

Nikkei Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura and Hosting Chef Virgilio Martinez at Lima, London

The London Foodie Goes to Peru - Lake Titikaka

May 15, 2014, 4:37 pm

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Having spent a couple of days acclimatising to the 2,300m altitude of Arequipa, we took the 7-hour bus trip up to Lake Titikaka, at the dizzying altitude of 3,800m. Titikaka is the highest navigable lake in the world, and covers more than 8,000 square kilometres.

Beyond that, it is a magical location, with clear skies at night revealing myriad stars and galaxies, and calm crystal clear waters reflecting the sky above during the day.

It is a tranquil place to visit and relax, and has a unique Andean culture to soak up, as well as a multitude of aquatic and other birds. Because of its elevation, many people suffer from mild altitude sickness for the first day or two, so it is best not to plan many activities in the first 24 hours.  While the lake is stunningly beautiful, it must be admitted that the main city on Lake Titicaca - Puno - is anything but. So rather than stay in one of the many hotels there, we opted to stay at the Titilaka Lodge, a 45 minute taxi ride away from Puno.

Where to Stay

The Titilaka Lodge is a luxury all-inclusive hotel with only 18 rooms, all of which have magnificent views of the lake. The Lodge was thoroughly refurbished in 2008, and subsequently accredited by Relais & Chateaux in 2013. Coming from the dusty and unattractive nearby town of Puno, through unpaved and unmarked country roads, on arrival the Lodge is both a very pleasing surprise, and an oasis of tranquility and beauty.

The public and guest rooms are tastefully decorated using a mix of local artefacts and state of the art contemporary design. It has striking colours and plenty of natural light, with stunning views of Lake Titikaka.

The experience of staying at Titilaka Lodgeis rather like being invited to a country house. There is no TV in the rooms, and so after a day of excursions, guests tend to gather in the ground floor reception rooms.

To encourage this, complimentary afternoon tea and biscuits are also served, as well as a happy hour for drinks and cocktails in the early evening. This means that guests tend to meet and chat about their activities that day and plans for the next, which makes for a sociable experience not commonly found in top flight hotels.

Entirely by coincidence, it turned out that Tuanny and his wife Winnie, who both visited my supperclub in January 2014, were staying at the hotel at the same time as us. We had a great time chatting with them, hearing about their travels in South America, and their plans for when they return home to Sydney after 7 years in London at the end of this trip.

The lovely Winnie and Tuanny, a very nice surprise at Lake Titilaka Lodge

Our room had a stunning view of the lake, through windows as wide as the room itself. It was simply but elegantly furnished with white linen sheets against a backdrop of colourful Peruvian fabrics and tapestries.

The bathroom was also spacious with a large bathtub that overlooked the lake.  This was one of the most serene and naturally beautiful places I have ever stayed in.

Where to Eat

One of the attractions of Titilaka Lodge is its remote location, which makes it a great place to relax and switch off from the outside world. To facilitate this, all meals and drinks at the dinner table are included in the hotel’s rates.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the dining room, which has wall-to-wall glass on three sides, overlooking Lake Titikaka. It was light and airy with high ceilings, and was beautifully designed.

The kitchen is headed by local chef Maria Fé Garcia. Her cooking is well made and flavoursome, making use of local ingredients such as quinoa and trout from Lake Titikaka. We enjoyed a number of popular Peruvian dishes including Lomo Saltado (a Chifa or Chinese-Peruvian dish) and also her take on French soufflé using native quinoa.

Breakfast is generous, and includes a buffet serving fruit, yoghurts, hams and local cheeses, as well as breads made in house and served warm in beautiful clay pots.

Freshly cooked items include a selection of eggs cooked any style, such as Benedict and Florentine. We went for “huevos rancheros” – poached egg served with a lightly spiced tomato salsa, and the quinoa pancakes, which were both excellent.

What to Do

The main activities around Lake Titikaka are, besides relaxation, appreciating the landscape on foot, boat or bicycle, as well as the natural plant and birdlife, and the local archeological sites. It is a place to commune with nature.

Titilaka Lodge offers a wide variety of 2-hour excursions in the basic room rate. These include kayaking, sailing, rowing through the reeds to view aquatic birds nests, walking tours along the shores of the lake, cycling through the fields of Plateria, and observing the night sky (weather permitting).

In addition to this, there is a variety of half-day tours available at extra cost. Some of these are similar to the popular tours on offer from the many agents in Puno, but start directly from Titilaka Lodge and so avoid the crowds and extra journey time to Puno.  For example, tours are arranged to the floating Uros Islands, and to Taquile Island, and to the Chullpa Towers at Sillustani dating back as far as 1000BC.

We spent quite a bit of time just relaxing in the hotel, soaking up the peace and calm at Lake Titikaka's edge. However, we also took one of the hotel's half-day trips. This started with a visit to the bartering market in Acora, about 4km southwest of the hotel.

This was a great opportunity to see local farmers in their element, speaking neither Spanish nor even Quechua but Aymara, the local language.

On Sundays, there is a conventional food market where items are purchased, but also a smaller section where fresh and smoked fish, vegetables, clothing, alpaca wool and other items are bartered for other items rather than hard currency, in a manner practised by the Aymara people for centuries.

Our minivan then drove to the shore of the lake, and bicycles came from the back of the van for us to start a cycling tour of the region.

This was fascinating and beautiful, and we were lucky enough to see many birds along the route.  These included Andean coots, the Casanova woodpecker (aka Andean flicker), a pair of burrowing owls, American kestrels, Puna teals, and lots of common moorhens.

We stopped along the way for an excellent picnic provided by the hotel at the edge of the lake. It was a long day of intense cycling over dirt roads, but it was exhilarating.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Titilaka Lodge, and visiting the stunning scenery around the lake. Despite having come from Arequipa where the altitude was already high, we suffered from mild altitude sickness throughout our two days at the Lodge. We were told that it would have got better after 48 hours. I would recommend you take plenty of paracetamol and ibuprofen to help with the headaches. However, this was a small price to pay for the beauty of the region.

Another nearby town is Juliaca, where there is a small domestic airport flying to Cusco and Lima. It was from there that we made our next trip to Cusco.

Travel Essentials

Titilaka Lodge

Chucuito

Peninsula Titilaka

Puno

Peru

www.titilaka.com

A double bedroom with full board including wine, cocktails, a free minibar, and any hotel activity lasting two hours or less, is advertised at £165 per person, per night (i.e. £330 per couple per night).

The 'comprehensive' package, including full board, all hotel activities, excursions and transfers, costs £284 per person per night, although this is reduced to £245 per person per night if a stay of three nights is booked.   

A taxi from Puno to the hotel costs around £15. A taxi from the hotel to Juliaca airport costs £35.

Cruz del Sur bus ticket from Arequipa to Puno costs £13 per person, and takes around 7 hours.

Momo Memories...

May 21, 2014, 4:48 pm

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Name: Momo

Where: 25, Heddon Street, London W1B 4BH, + 44 207 434 4040, http://momoresto.com/restaurant/london/momo/restaurant/

Cost: Dinner Set Menu £52 per person includes a Momo Special cocktail, a selection of 4 starters to share (meze), 1 main course and 1 dessert. From the à la carte menu, starters cost from £6 to £11 while mains vary from £17 for a vegetarian couscous to £24.50 for the fish of the day. Tagines are priced £18.50 for chicken, £21 for fish and £22.50 for lamb.

About: Opened in 1997 by Parisian-Algerian restaurateur Mourad Mazouz, Momo has, over its nearly 20 years on the London restaurant scene, become a bit of an institution for those looking for North African cuisine in the UK.

Momo was the first London restaurant to draw the attention of critics and diners alike to serious Moroccan cuisine. Today, it has sister restaurants in Paris, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Beirut.

My first taste of Moroccan cuisine was at Momo in 1999, and I remember falling in love with the cuisine there and then. I was struck by the combination of slow braised meats, dried fruits, preserved lemons, olives and myriad spices in the tagines, or over the lightest of couscous - two of my favourite foods today.

It was with some trepidation that I returned to Momo this month – would it live up to my fond memories? I should not have worried - our latest meal at Momo, 15 years after I first visited it, did not disappoint. Head-Chef Philippe Agnello is doing an excellent job, delivering North African food that is still unrivalled in London.

What We Ate: We started with a selection of 4 meze dishes all brought to our table at once. One of our favourites was the assortment of Briouats - small filo pastry parcels stuffed with cheese & mint, chicken and seafood that were crispy, flavoursome and very moreish.

The baby aubergines with labneh cheese, pesto, broad beans and lemon confit were good and beautifully presented, as were the seared scallops with aubergine chutney and yellow beetroot. Although well cooked and seasoned, I thought one scallop per person was a rather meager portion.

The pastilla of wood pigeon was delicious - chunks of sweet and spiced wood pigeon, were laced with almonds and cinnamon, wrapped in filo pastry and fried. Served with orange marmalade, Momo’s pastilla was a great example of one of Morocco’s national dishes.

And then we were onto the mains. One of Momo’s signature dishes, highly recommended by our waiter, was the “Couscous Momo”. This included a very tender and succulent lamb shank, charcoal grilled lamb skewers and merguez sausages. The selection of meats was generous and beautifully cooked but it was the accompanying couscous that transcended this dish to another level.

Possibly the best couscous I have ever tried, it was wonderfully fine and silken and being cooked in a couscousiere over steam (the proper way to do it), it was also airy and deliciously light. As tradition dictates, the couscous was served with a meltingly tender stew of vegetables cooked in a rich broth. This was a magnificent dish that warrants a return visit to Momo soon!

The chicken tagine, another classic of Moroccan cuisine, was also outstandingly good. Cumin-scented chunks of chicken breast were served in a clay tagine pot in a heady, saffron-flavoured broth with preserved lemons, olives, potatoes, onion compote and coriander.  I loved this dish and the wonderful combination of flavours, but would have loved it even more, had chicken thighs been used instead.

Dessert was a fine selection of Maghreb pastries including a rather clever pastry wrapped creme brûlée and a refreshing sorbet of mango served with Moroccan mint tea.

What We Drank: The wine list is extensive, featuring both new and old world bins. The entry level wines (vin de pays) are priced £21 (red) and £25 (white). We had the Momo Special cocktail which is included in the £52 tasting menu, made with Ketel One vodka, mint, lemon juice, sugar and soda water. It was refreshing and well-made, tasting rather like a Cuban Mojito. Cocktails are mostly £9, but some are £15 if champagne-based.

We shared a bottle of 2012 Castelmaure Corbieres 2012 (£31) from the Languedoc Roussillon region - a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. This was a robust wine that went particularly well with the slow braised lamb shank and spiced chicken tagine.

Likes: friendly and efficient service, the best couscous I have ever tried, the chicken tagine with preserved lemons was also very good.

Dislikes: the outside terrace where guests drink and smoke does not make for a very enticing entrance, and together with the basement night club, the ambiance feels somewhat like a bar and club, which is a pity for a restaurant serving food of this caliber.

Verdict: 17 years on, Momo is still serving some of the best Moroccan food in London. Fantastic couscous and tagines, great cocktails and an extensive wine list. Recommended.

Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester

May 25, 2014, 3:50 pm

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Words & Photography by Florentyna Leow and Luiz Hara

Name: Afternoon Tea at the Dorchester

Where: The Dorchester, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K1QA

Cost: Afternoon tea is priced at £45 per person, £55 with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Brut NV Champagne or £59 with Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne.

About: Afternoon tea – the mere mention conjures up women in frilly dresses on a garden patio, tiers of little cakes and sandwiches, and the sound of tinkling teacups. Never mind that afternoon tea for most Brits is usually a mug of builder’s tea, and if you’re feeling posh, a rich tea biscuit. In any case, afternoon tea is one of those quintessentially English things that you have to experience. So I was delighted to have the privilege of experiencing the Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester. You can’t get much posher than that!

Thankfully, afternoon tea at The Promenade is far more relaxed than its opulent surroundings would suggest – no ties or suits required, and there were guests in jeans and polo shirts. The 2 ½ hour window is ample time for guests to enjoy a leisurely afternoon nibbling on endless rounds of finger sandwiches and buttery scones.

What We Ate:  The finger sandwiches, made with artisanal bread, were impeccably made. When the waitress arrived with a tray and asked us if we wanted seconds, we couldn’t say no to more chicken and mustard, smoked salmon, and tomato-mozzarella sandwiches. If we hadn’t had dinner waiting for us, thirds, even fourths, would definitely have been possible!

Next was the cream tea – warm, crumbly, buttery scones which we smeared with generous dollops of Cornish clotted cream and their homemade jams, including a very seasonal rhubarb and angelica jam.

We were also presented with a selection of adorable French pastries. In general, these were top-notch examples of patisserie, but two in particular stood out for me.

One was the vanilla panna cotta with a tangy rhubarb centre, which was incredibly light and fresh, almost cloud-like. The other was a passionfruit chocolate tartlet, unexpectedly tangy and delightfully mousse-like.

What We Drank: I tried two Laurent Perrier Champagnes. The Brut NV is delicate in style, with notes of apples, lemon and slight toast, a really elegant wine.  The Brut Rosé comes in a beautiful embossed bottle, and is one of the few rosé Champagnes still made by the traditional but (for the vigneron) hair-raising saignée method which involves leaving the skins of the red grapes in contact with the wine until it is precisely the right shade.  If it is left a few hours too long, the whole batch turns red and has to be discarded.  But the benefit is that the wine keeps a highly expressive bouquet. Made from 100% pinot noir, it has intense notes of red berry fruit and black cherries.

Besides the Champagne, they also offer a generous selection of teas. There’s a tea for everyone: single estate, house-blended, black, caffeine-free, Chinese and Japanese teas. We tried their house-blended Darjeeling and their Paris blend. Both were wonderfully fragrant and delicious.

Likes: I was very pleased with the selection of teas, and the variety of pastries on offer. Service was friendly and attentive. The Champagne was superb, particularly the rosé.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: This is one of those rare animals – a delicious afternoon tea in a beautifully posh yet relaxed setting, whose pleasure is optionally heightened with a glass of lovely Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Highly recommended.

JW Steakhouse Revisited (And It is Still a Treat)!

May 27, 2014, 3:48 pm

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Name: JW Steakhouse

Where: The Grosvenor House Hotel, 86 Park Lane, London W1K 7TN

Cost: An average of £75 per person plus service. From the standard dinner menu, starters range from £8 to £27, main courses from £16 to £44 (for the Tomahawk rib eye steak), and desserts from £7 to £14 (for the fabulous cheesecake).

About: Having visited JW Steakhouse in October 2013 (reviewed here) and thoroughly enjoyed my meal there, I looked forward to returning a couple of weeks ago to try their new seasonal menu.

JW Steakhouse opened in 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair's Park Lane, and is one of the few restaurants of its kind in London featuring grain-fed American USDA certified beef from Creekstone, as well as grass-fed Aberdeen Angus from Macken Brothers of Chiswick.

The menu, not surprisingly, is focussed on steak. The restaurant is situated on the ground floor of the hotel, which opened in 1929, and after extensive renovation was opened as a JW Marriott hotel in 2008.

Despite its fancy location on Park Lane, the restaurant has a rather casual and laid-back feel about it akin to an American Steakhouse. It is frequented by hotel guests and Londoners alike and on the night we were there, the place was full.

The restaurant has one of those super-duper Montague Legend Radiant Grills that sears meat at 650°C, giving a perfect and even seal and juicy steaks with fantastic flavour.

What We Ate: I rarely mention a restaurant’s bread basket in my restaurant reviews but I could not let the JW Steakhouse’s Parker House Rolls go unreported. These feather-light, buttery rolls with a crispy shell and crusted with sea-salt were utterly delicious. They date back to the 1870s when they were invented at the Parker House Hotel in Boston, where they are still being served.

Knowing that we would be having a very meaty dinner, we opted for the Seafood Platter for 2 (£28) to get things going. With a selection of rock oysters, jumbo shrimp and lump crab, this was a delicious and refreshing starter, accompanied by a delicately sweet Mary Rose sauce made from tomato chutney and mayonnaise.

For the main course, we decided to compare grain-fed American versus grass-fed British beef. We chose the American USDA Porterhouse Steak (£59 for 800g – a serving for 2) that came with a very well-made Béarnaise sauce. The steak was excellent, thick but tender, well-marbled and richly flavoured, the meat was cooked rare just as requested. This was a fantastic steak.

We ordered the British Rib-eye (£32 for 400g) with an optional topping of Oscar lump crab, asparagus and Béarnaise (£8 extra). This was again very good and beautifully cooked, but in my opinion, it lacked the richness and intense savoury qualities of its American cousin. We would have been completely happy with the British Rib-eye had we not just tried the USDA Porterhouse though.

The magnificent lobster mac ‘n cheese which we had at our last meal at JW Steakhouse (and probably one of the reasons for our return visit) was unfortunately not available on the night. Instead, we shared a Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese (£6). The texture was just right - neither watery, nor too dry, and with plenty of nutmeg.  The only pity was that, for my palate, the cheese used to make the sauce could have been a bit more robust.

We also had the Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese and Crispy Bacon (£9). This was delicious, with salty blue cheese & bacon contrasting so well with the refreshing lettuce.

With our steaks, chips were just too tempting to miss. So we ordered a portion of Fries with Truffled Salt (£5). These were excellent and crispy although the flavour of truffle was not totally obvious to me.

For dessert, there was no doubt in our minds but to go for the restaurant’s signature Cheesecake (£14). Described in their menu as “the best cheesecake this side of the pond”, this is indeed no exaggeration. This heavenly creation is a must-have I remembered from my previous visit. It is magnificently creamy and rich, but also light due to the use of soured cream that gives it a refreshing acidity. The cheesecake is for 2 people although it is far too much to eat in one sitting. The staff are well used to that and have specially designed carriers for diners to take the cheesecake home safely to enjoy for breakfast.

What We Drank: We shared a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Les Jalets 2010 (£38).  This was a very good match for the beef, with powerful blackberry fruit flavours and plenty of tannin. Given that it is available from The Wine Society for £15, a mark-up of only just over 2 fold for a Park Lane hotel seemed very good value. The entry-level red wine is £34.

Likes: Excellent quality USDA and British beef, expertly cooked. The most delicious cheesecake I can remember. Great wine selection, with a very reasonable mark-up.

Dislikes: Having a TV constantly showing sporting fixtures was the only downer. Prices are on the steep side.

Verdict: Top notch steaks, a fantastic wine selection and excellent service make JWS one of the best steakhouses in London. A perfect meal for me here would be their USDA Porterhouse steak, the lobster mac 'n cheese, followed by the signature cheesecake - all unmissable. Very highly recommended.

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The London Foodie Goes to Peru - Cuzco (Part I)

June 3, 2014, 7:33 am

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The Magnificent Ancient Capital of the Inca Empire

Cuzco is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, which at its height extended north into Ecuador, east into Brazil, and south through Bolivia to northern Chile. The city is thought to have been founded around 1100 AD, and today besides being a major tourist destination, it is also the only base from which a visit to Machu Picchu is possible.

Almost every street in the centre of town has remains of Inca stonework, arches and doorways, and in many cases colonial or modern buildings are constructed on top of massive Inca foundations.

The city has around 300,000 inhabitants, and it is striking that many, if not most, still speak the Inca language Quechua among themselves, in preference to Spanish. The centre of Cuzco, around the Plaza de Armas, contains most of the sites of touristic interest, and is easily explored on foot. Cuzco makes an excellent base for a stay of a week or so, being interesting in itself, and also a convenient spot for journeys into the Sacred Valley and of course Machu Picchu.

Having thoroughly enjoyed staying at the magnificent Residence Phou Vao, one of the Belmond Hotels (former Orient Express Group) in Luang Prabang, Laos (reviewed here), I was delighted to discover that they owned two historic properties in the heart of Cuzco. Finding it hard to choose between them, we stayed at both! They are situated next door to each other on the beautiful Plazoleta las Nazarenas.

Where to Stay

Belmond Hotel Monasterio

The Belmond Hotel Monsterio is a stunning building, just a few tens of metres from the central Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, and it was a great privilege to stay there. It was built in 1595 on the site of the Palace of the Inca Amaru Qhala. In 1598 it was founded as a seminary to train catholic priests. It was seriously damaged in an earthquake in 1650, and when it was restored a beautiful Baroque chapel was added, with magnificent paintings by Cusquenian artists.

It continued as a seminary until 1965, when it was converted into a hotel. It was taken over by the Belmond Group (former Orient Express) in 1999, and remains a national landmark protected by the National Institute of Culture. The heart of the hotel is a central courtyard with an original fountain, and a 300 year old cedar tree surrounded by gardens and peaceful stone cloisters.

Belmond Hotel Monasterio's Private Chapel

Our room was a junior suite, and was a duplex with a large double bed and bathroom on the lower floor, and a living room on the upper floor complete with an electrically operated Velux window, cable TV, minibar and butler service.

Probably the largest and most comfortable bed I have ever slept in at Belmond Hotel Monasterio

Magnificent views of ancient Cuzco from our room at Belmond Hotel Monasterio

The bed also had a large TV at its foot, which niftily appeared from its cabinet at the touch of a button. Best of all though was the stunning view of ancient Cuzco and its rooftops through the window, and the beautiful original artwork throughout the room. It was originally a priestly cell, but today is luxurious and atmospheric spot for a 5 star stay in the town.

Hotel Monasterio has two restaurants; Illariy for breakfast and lunch, with a wonderful view of the hotel's largest courtyard and gardens, and the more formal Restaurant Tupay for dinner.

The "Lobby" with its cocktail bar looks like no hotel lobby I've ever seen, being a stunning baroque reception room, and we enjoyed some excellent Pisco Sours there.

Pisco Sour Class with Belmond Hotel Monasterio's Head-Barman

Breakfast is a magnificent affair at the Belmond Hotel Monasterio, with a massive buffet with a huge choice of freshly made pastries, breads, cakes and puddings, along with hams, cheeses, tropical fruit, juices, yoghurts and the like.

There is also a range of items cooked to order. The setting is stunning, and we opted to take ours in the beautiful courtyard to the sound of a live guitarist.

Belmont Palacio Nazarenas

Next door to Hotel Monasterio, the Palacio Nazarenas is an equally magnificent property consisting of 55 suites set around six interlocking and rather intimate courtyards, each with a tranquil garden at its heart. Erected shortly after the Spanish conquest as a private home, it was acquired by the Jesuits in 1644, and for most of the next 300 years was used by various religious orders for charitable and educational purposes.

It was acquired by the Belmond Group (former Orient Express) in 1999, who spent 10 years developing the design of the hotel, followed by restoration and construction. The hotel opened to guests in June 2012.

Belmond Palacio Nazarena's Private Chapel

Today, the Palacio Nazarenas is glorious, blending original features including Inca walls and colonial frescoes with the latest technology for the rooms and common areas.

Each suite has a personal butler 24 hours a day, as well as a supply of top quality Piscos and Rums in each room included in the room rate. Our butler rustled up a couple of excellent Pisco sours for us before dinner.

Butler Rustling Up a Couple of Pisco Sour at our Room at Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

Belmond Palacio Nazarenas has a heated swimming pool (unlike Hotel Monasterio), with a poolside restaurant and bar. There is also a beautiful library, and a business centre complete with full-sized billiard table.

Gorgeous and Heated Swimming Pools at Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

Our suite was spacious, with a private balcony overlooking the swimming pool and the rooftops of Cuzco.

View from our room at Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

With plush carpet underfoot, and heated bathroom floors (Cuzco can get pretty chilly), as well as elegant furniture and armchairs, it was a luxurious spot to return to after a busy day of sight-seeing in the city.

Our own Pisco Sour Station at our room at Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

Breakfast was taken in the cafe/bar overlooking the swimming pool or at our own room, and included a generous array of breads, juices, yoghurts and made-to-order items, as well as excellent coffee.

I thoroughly enjoyed the freshly baked bread, the sweet and beautifully presented platter of fruits and honeys and cold meats. Belmond Palacio Nazarena's Eggs Benedict were however the highlight of our breakfast!

Possibly the most beautiful and tasty eggs Benedict I have tried!

Decisions decisions!

We found it very hard to decide which hotel we preferred, and both were outstandingly good. I felt that there was a slightly greater sense of history and that the rooms kept the spirit of the monastic rooms they once were at the Hotel Monasterio. The restaurant overlooking the courtyard with its massive and ancient tree at its heart was spectacularly beautiful. One the other hand, the Palacio Nazarenas had more generously sized rooms, private butler facilities and a swimming pool, and their restaurant has just been taken over by Virgilio Martinez from Lima’s Central, one of the hottest chefs on the continent. I think whichever you choose you won't regret it. For hotels of this quality standard, they are good value for money too.

Where to Eat

MAP Café

Just across the square from the two Belmond hotels is the MAP Café, situated in a glass box in a courtyard of the Museo de Arte Precolombino. This is considered one of the top restaurants in Cuzco, and the Head Chef is Manuel Cordova (who unfortunately was not working on the lunchtime of our visit). The café also has a well-regarded pastry chef, Rebeca Delgado.

The menu offers a range of traditional and Novo Andino dishes, and we opted for the Tiradito of Seabass with Aji Mirasol (dried Aji Amarillo) and Tumbo (similar to passionfruit) (£10). Tiradito is a Nikkei adaptation of ceviche, in which the fish is cut and served sashimi-style, rather than in the traditional cubes. MAP Café's version had the fish-stock and lime-based "leche de tigre", peanut praline, and crispy sweet potato. It was excellent, with perfectly fresh fish, a nice zing from the citrus, and satisfying crunch from the praline and sweet potato.

We also had what was described on the menu as "Crayfish River Stone Ceviche" (£10). Served on sizzling river stones, this was a mixture in fact of sautéed fresh water prawns rather than crayfish, yucca, red onion, and aji amarillo (yellow chilli pepper). Despite being served prawns for crayfish, the dish was delicious, and I really enjoyed the addition of aji amarillo to the traditional ceviche dressing.

For our main courses, we had Pork Adobo and the Ayaviri leg of suckling lamb. The pork (£15) is a classic dish from Arequipa, in which the meat is first marinated in aji panca (dried rocoto pepper), laurel and white wine vinegar, then simmered for 8 hours. The meat is then covered in Panko breadcrumbs and deep fried, and served with sweet potato, goats cheese and Amaretti-filled ravioli, with a sauce made from aji panca and Inka beer. The sauce was magnificent, rich and concentrated, although sadly the pork was dry and crumbly from over-cooking.

The suckling lamb (£15) was better, having been seared then slow-roasted, served on Lima bean purėe with coriander pesto, and garnished with green salad, basil and mint, cinnamon and slivers of dried tomato confit. Again I thought it just a little overcooked and so not as tender as expected, but otherwise it was delicious.

Overall, the cooking at MAP Cafe was a little uneven on our visit and some of the dishes served were not as described on their menu which I find very frustrating. I am told that the Head Chef is usually present for dinner, which might be a better bet.

"Opera Dinners" at Hotel Monasterio

Dinner is served every evening in the Tupay Restaurant at Hotel Monasterio, and for two evenings per week, these are accompanied by live music. On the evening we attended, there was a pianist, a flautist, a tenor and a soprano, performing a variety of classical works including Mozart and Schubert during the dinner.

We started with a 'solterito arequipeño' salad - shrimp, sweetcorn, fava beans, soft Andean cheese, tomato, onion, olive and chilli (£15).  This was very flavourful; although I found the corn and beans were a little firm.

Next came grilled shrimp with quinoa, roasted yellow chilli and citrus foam (£15), which was delicious.

The main courses were marinated suckling pig, and a leg of lamb.  The pork came with a mandarin and ginger reduction, sweet potato millefeuille and fennel bulbs (£26). The pork was wonderfully tender and very well seasoned, although the dish could have been better had the skin been a little crispier.

The 'Ayaviry' lamb leg, with oregano and grilled aubergine topped with creamy goats cheese (£23), was excellent.

To accompany, we shared a fine bottle of Malbec Padrillos, Argentina 2012 (£50).

The Opera Dinners at Belmond Hotel Monasterioprovide an interesting opportunity to experience the splendour of a monastic dining room restored to full glory, with live music. The food is very good, and prices are in line with those in the UK.

Senzo Restaurant, Palacio Nazarenas

When we were there in March 2014, there was a great sense of anticipation, because the hotel's Senzo Restaurant was being refurbished in a modern design ready for the arrival in April of the new 'superstar' chef Virgilio Martinez. His Central restaurant in Lima which I had the great pleasure to visit whilst in the Peruvian capital, figures among the top 10 restaurants in Latin America while in London his Lima restaurant garnered its first Michelin star within months of opening (reviewed here).

It is likely that the menu will change substantially, but when we were there, the kitchen was in the very capable hands of Chef Veronica Rojas, who trained under Virgilio. We decided to have the £60 per head tasting menu - Diverse Terrains. We kicked off with Anato bread - a sweet potato bread with crispy cereals, and a delicious, herb-infused amuse bouche of dried mushroom and beetroot shoot broth.

The first starter served was Trout with Leche de Tigre presented tiradito-style with cushuro (a high altitude alga in spherical shape). The trout was tender, very fresh, and the alga delicately flavoured but delicious.

Next came a dish described as Sweet Roots, Sprouts, Garden Vegetables, Mushrooms, Crispy Beetroot, Red Onion. I found this a little problematic - the cream was too sweet for me (potatoes and orange puree), and too heavily flavoured with orange. It was not unpleasant, but reminded me of baby food.

The fish course was Arapaima (a fish native to the Amazon), with Aji Amarillo. It was served with onions, the Peruvian cocona fruit, mushrooms, beetroot noodles and a black 'charcoal' made from mandioca soaked in squid ink. This was delicious, the fish having a lovely dense texture, although again I found the sauce a little too sweet for my palate.

The main course was Malaya (skirt steak - cooked sous vide), with potato mash, crispy onion, lake herbs, served with a demiglace, Chaco edible clay with Eucalyptus honey. The beef was well cooked and tender, the demiglace glossy and flavoursome and the clay, indeed very edible.

For dessert, we had sweet mullaca - a sorbet of sweet passionfruit, cacao and highland jungle fruit. This was delicious, with rich and bitter chocolate and a delicate, refreshing fruit sorbet.

The cooking at Senzo restaurant was innovative and well-exectuted making use of some native ingredients. It is likely to step up a notch further during 2014 as Virgilio Martinez gets a grip on the new kitchen. This is definitely the place to watch food-wise in Cuzco.

What to Do

Loaf around in the ancient Inca capital, and arguably the finest city in Peru

There are many wonderful sights in and around Cuzco, and it is a great place to explore Peru's Inca heritage using the discounted tickets available from the Tourist Office. You can read more about this in Cuzco (Part II).

However, the city is at 2,500 metres of altitude, and it is a good idea on arrival to take a couple of days relaxing and exploring the many bars, restaurants, shops and squares in town. We enjoyed window-shopping and cocktails at Macondo, a gorgeous shop and bar in the old town with a fantastic range of tasteful art-work and gifts.

The Fallen Angel, just around the corner from Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, was also an interesting experience for its wacky decor as well as strong and well-made Pisco Sours.

Attend a Cooking Class at Hotel Monasterio

We attended a class with the Head Chef of Hotel Monasterio. This started with a tour of the San Pedro market, but unlike many such tours I have done over the years, on this one we got to cut open and taste a wide variety of local fruits and vegetables, which was a wonderful experience.

Belmond Hotel Monasterio's Head Chef taking us around the market giving a thorough explanation of myriad ingredients, he went well beyond the call of duty on our visit, thank you Chef!

We tried lucuma, with its creamy texture and complex flavours of butterscotch, coffee and chocolate, tuna (a cactus fruit), and tumbo, which looks a bit like a banana but inside is full of seeds like passion fruit. We also tried chirimoya and grenadilla - like a very sweet passion fruit.

Delicious and creamy Lucuma fruit

We had our first sight of the strange moraya, which we were to taste later at Central in Lima.  This is a dried potato, which has been in use since pre-Inca times as a light and convenient source of carbohydrate for armies.  It can be rehydrated, cut into pieces and fried in oil to make Revuelto de Moraya, or eaten fresh.

Dehydrated potaotes - Moraya

There are over 3860 potatoes native to Peru, and we saw a few dozen different varieties in the market, as well as Andean mushrooms, and Maca powder, a local energiser also known as the Inca Viagra!

Maca powder, the Inca Viagra!

Cui or Guinea Pigs are one of Peru's delicacies

There was an array of native Peruvian Ajis(chillies). These included Aji Rocoto red coloured and rather hot, which can be eaten stuffed as in Aji Arequipeño. Aji Limo, which is red and long and with citrusy tones, from Lima, and used for ceviche and tiradito. Aji Amarillo is yellow, less spicy than Limo and is also the most popular ajis in Peru, it is used to make a variety of sauces and is part of many dishes including the wonderful Aji de Galina, and when dried is known as Aji Mirasol. Aji Panca (dried aji rocoto) has a rich depth of flavour that underpins the marinade and sauce that is used to make Anticuchos de Corazon (beef heart skewers) that are a traditional street food in Peru.

Aji rocoto, aji limo and aji amarillo

Aji Mirasol (dried aji amarillo) and Aji Panca (dried aji rocoto)

We also saw muña - a herb used to preserve potato since Inca times, and now used used by Novo Andino chefs, and ate a delicious Cusqueno tamale - sweet and sour with pork fat, crushed corn and sugar.

Enjoying a glass of chicha with the locals

At the end of the market visit, we returned to the hotel's dining room for the class, learning how to prepare ceviche of grouper, the Peruvian national dish adapted from Chinese immigrants -  Lomo saltado (stif-fried beef fillet), Revuelto de Moraya, Quinoa risotto and a dessert of local fruit.

Overall the class and market visit by Belmond Hotel Monasterio were an excellent experience, and provided a very useful insight into the ingredients used in Peruvian cooking.  I found it very helpful to refer back to my notes from this class when dining in Lima and elsewhere, and would highly recommend this experience for anyone wanting to learn more about Peruvian cuisine and ingredients.

The man is on fire!

Travel Essentials

Belmond Hotel Monasterio

Calle Palacio 136

Plazoleta Nazarenas

Cuzco, Peru

http://www.monasteriohotel.com

The junior suite we stayed in is advertised at the rack rate of £288 per night.

Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

Plazoleta Nazarenas 144

Cuzco

Peru

http://www.palacionazarenas.com

Our junior suite is currently advertised at a rack rate of £353 per night.

MAP Cafe

Museo de Arte Precolombino

Plazoleto las Nazarenas 231

Cuzco

Peru

http://www.cuscorestaurants.com/map-cafe-por-coque-ossio/

Macondo

Cuesta San Blas, Cusco, Peru

+51 84 229415

http://macondoincusco.com

Fallen Angel

Plazoleta Nazarenas 221, Cusco, Peru

Phone:+51 84 258184

http://www.fallenangelincusco.com/wordpress/

Flights

It is possible to take a very slow train (around 10 hours) from Lake Titicaca to Cuzco, and there are numerous coach companies that will do the trip stopping at several tourist spots on the way, and taking 6-8 hours.

We were keen to make the most of our limited time in Cuzco, and so took a flight with the Chilean company Lan Airlines (www.lan.com) from nearby Juliaca airport to Cuzco for £88 per person.

Bar Shu - The Heat is On!

June 6, 2014, 12:30 am

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Name: Bar Shu

Where: 28 Frith Street, Soho, London W1D 5LF, http://www.barshurestaurant.co.uk

Cost: Appetisers range from £6.90 to £12.90, with an appetiser platter for 2 costing £24.90. Vegetable, fish and meat dishes to share are priced from £9.90 to £32.90 for lobster with sizzling spices.

About: The first of a quartet of Sichuanese restaurants in Soho opened by restauranteur Shao Wei with consultancy from Fuschia Dunlop, its sister restaurants include Ba Shan (reviewed here), Baozi Inn and Baiwei (reviewed here). Bar Shu, at the busy corner between Frith and Romilly Streets, is the flagship of the group, with quality of cooking and prices to match. 

It has a restful aesthetic of varnished wood floors and tables, with flashes of bright red from the lanterns, paintings and even the bottles on display behind the bar. There are huge plate glass windows across the full width of the restaurant, giving excellent views of the hustle and bustle of Soho.

Bar Shu serves food from Sichuan in southwest China, characterized by fiery spiciness, with liberal use of chillies and lip-tingling Sichuan pepper. Bar Shu offers a menu of seductive 'fish fragrant' combinations of pickled chillies, ginger, garlic and spring onion, as well as 'numbing and hot' flavoured dishes, and the refreshing tones of 'ginger juice' sauces.

What We Ate: Sichuanese meals traditionally begin with a set of cold appetisers, designed to arouse the senses as our waitress explained. With that in mind, we opted for a range of appetisers to explore hot, sweet and spicy aspects of the cuisine, as well as a range of textures from crunchy to glutinous. 

As is typical of the region, all our appetisers were served at once. They included Northern Sichuan Pea Jelly - strips of peastarch jelly in a sauce made from black beans, chilli oil and vinegar (£7.90). A famous Sichuanese snack, the jelly is neutral in flavour, but soaks up the lovely umami flavour from the black beans, while peanuts give a nice crunchy texture.

Sweet and sour spare ribs (£8.90) were also delicious - served cold, they had a touch of ginger, with sweet and sour undertones making them very refreshing.

The cloud ear fungus with coriander and chillies (£6.90) consisted for crunchy black fungus (akin to mushrooms), served with a delicate sour and hot dressing and laced with sliced fiercely hot red chillies.

One of my favourite appetisers were the thinly sliced pork rolls with finely julienned carrots and daikon in a spicy garlic sauce (£8.90).

The Man-and-Wife Tripe dish, named after a couple of Chengdu street vendors of the 1930s came highly recommended by our waitress and it did not disappoint. This consisted of mixed beef tripe with peanuts in a rather spicy sauce (£7.90).

I love smacked cucumbers (£6.90), and Bar Shu's version had preserved mustard greens, garlic and sesame sauce, and were delicious.

The sliced whelk with green Sichuan pepper (£10.90) were served with fresh red and green peppers in a delicious wasabi dressing. The slivers of finely cut raw celery gave a good crunchy texture and made the dish quite refreshing and well balanced.

For our main course, we went for the signature dish of boiled seabass with beansprouts and sizzling chilli oil (£28.90). A spectacular dish of tender fish and aromatic spices, with dried chillies and Sichuan peppercorns, this was an excellent centrepiece for our meal.

The custom is not to eat the chillies, and our waitress removed them before serving. The seabass had wonderfully fragrant, tender flesh with citrus flavours entirely from the Sichuan peppercorns.

Our second main course was Gong Bao prawns with cashew nuts (£18.90). Mildly spicy with garlic, chilli, Sichuan pepper and celery, this dish had huge prawns that were very meaty but meltingly tender. It was delicious, and definitely a crowd pleaser.

To accompany our fish and seafood course, we had three vegetable dishes:

Fish-fragrant aubergines braised with minced pork (£9.90) is one of my favourite vegetable dishes to eat in Sichuanese restaurants.  The term 'fish-fragrant' used to describe Sichuanese sauces is a technically a misnomer because there is no fish in it, but it refers to the spices used to cook fish. With vinegar, ginger and very mild chilli, the aubergines had a refreshing flavour, while being tender and luscious without disintegrating. A real winner.

The dry-fried green beans (£9.90), cooked with minced pork and ya çai (a preserved mustard green from Yibin in Sichuan) is another classic of Sichuanese cuisine. Bar Shu's was very well made with the beans blistered from a very hot wok, but still crunchy. I use ya çai (known as zacai in Japan) in my Japanese cooking, and I love the crunchy texture and savoury quality it brings to dishes.  With the minced pork and beans, it made a great combination of textures and flavours.

Finally mabodofu, or "Pock-marked Old Woman's Beancurd" (£9.90), consisted of little cubes of tofu with minced pork in a fiery Sichuanese pepper sauce which was rich, sweet and sour at the same time. This Sichuanese dish is hugely popular in Japan, where a much more delicate version is usually seen.

What We Drank: We share a bottle of 2011 Alsatian Gewürztraminer by Domaine Gocker (£34.90). This was a very quaffable Alsatian wine with a perfumed nose of lychee, and on the tongue had flavours of peach and apricot. It went particularly well with our spicy dishes.

Whites and reds wines start from £23.90 (the house red and white are a Merlot and a Sauvignon Blanc, both from  Reserve de Rafegue, Languedoc, France). There is also a range of Chinese wines and sakes. Champagnes include a very reasonably priced Drappier NV for £49 and Veuve Clicquot for £69.

Likes: Delicious Sichuanese food, cooked with skill and finesse. The serving staff are truly knowledgeable about the food and can help select a very well balanced Sichuanese menu if asked. I enjoyed every dish we sampled, and would be hard-pressed to fault any of them.  Tap water is freely available and frequently topped up.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: Probably one of the best Chinese meals I have eaten in recent years, Bar Shu is my new favourite Sichuanese restaurant in London. Very highly recommended.

Coya - Discovering Peru in the Heart of London's Mayfair

June 10, 2014, 12:16 pm

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Name: Coya Restaurant

Where: 118 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 7NW, http://www.coyarestaurant.com

Cost: Set lunches are £26.50 or £29.50 for 3-4 courses, with a tasting menu for £75. From the a la carte menu, antecuchos, ceviches, tiraditos and small dishes cost from £4.50 to £16.50. Main courses are priced from £12 to £72 (for a rib of beef for 2).

About:Coya Restaurant and Bar sits on Piccadilly, facing Green Park in a prime but until recently rather quiet area of Mayfair. The modern Peruvian restaurant is in three sections in the basement of a fine Georgian building, with the members-only Coya Club on the ground floor. The restaurant is sleek and features a stunning Ceviche Bar, an Open Charcoal Grill area and the Central Kitchen.

Opened in January 2013 by entrepreneur Arjun Waney, who also owns Zuma and Roka, Coya is the first in the group to offer Peruvian-inspired cooking.

Head chef Sanjay Dwivedi spent sometime in Peru, travelling and learning the ropes at Lima's famous Astrid y Gaston Restaurant, and has managed to put together an impressive menu. Besides being the head chef for the Rolling Stones, his track record of cooking at Michelin-starred Zaika, The Ivy and Le Caprice is admirable.

Whether Sanjay Dwivedi’s cooking at Coya is as authentic as one would find in Peru is open for interpretation – a lot can be argued about this man’s cooking but anyone who has eaten his food would most certainly agree – his dishes are well thought-out and bursting with flavour!

Peru, like Brazil, has had many influences from other cultures including Japan and China, and its cuisine reflects this. I was pleased to see a great number of Peruvian-Nikkei and Chifa dishes on Coya’s menu and having the Zuma and Roka connection may have facilitated this.

Designed by David d'Almada, Coya’s attractive dining room blends antique Peruvian furniture with contemporary decor and colonial furniture, and discrete low-level lighting.

What We Ate: We opted for the tasting menu for £75 per person.  This started with a beautifully presented platter of 3 ceviches, 1 tiradito and a beetroot salad over crushed ice.

The classic Peruvian ceviche was “Lubnia Classico” made from sea bass with red onions, sweet potato, white corn and a well flavoured leche de tigre (literally translates as “Tiger’s Milk”, this is the marinade juices of lime and raw fish).  We also had ceviche “Dorada Criollo” with sea bream, cream of aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chillies), crispy corn and coriander. These were as good as anything we had on our recent trip to Peru, and fine examples of their kind.

Alongside, we had a Chifa take on the Peruvian’s national dish “Ceviche de Atun Chifa” made with prime yellow-fin tuna, soy sauce, sesame-seeds and shrimp cracker. Chifa is the Peruvian word for Chinese-Peruvian cuisine/restaurants and this ceviche encapsulated the blending of these two cuisines.

We really enjoyed tiraditos in Peru – tiraditos are the Japanese-influenced adaptation of ceviche using raw fish sliced sashimi-style, rather than in the traditional cubes, and with little or no raw red onion. Coya’s Peruvian-Nikkei “Tiradito de Cobia” used cobia fish (from the seabass family), with dashi, truffle oil and chives. Deliciously creamy, it had wonderful umami elements from shiitake mushrooms, yuzu-ponzu sauce, dashi, soy-milk and truffle. I really loved this dish.

Accompanying the ceviches and tiradito, we had “Remolacha” - a deliciously refreshing salad of golden beets, aji amarillo (yellow chilli), goat's cheese, hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds.

Following on, we were served 3 dishes from Coya’s open charcoal grill including “Anticucho de Pollo” (barbecued chicken skewers) seasoned with aji amarillo and garlic, these were very well-cooked and succulent.

The “Anticucho de Setas” (barbecued forest mushrooms) had a lovely smokiness from the aji panca and cumin used in the marinating sauce – these were meaty and very moreish.

The 3rd charcoal grilled dish was “Pulpo al Olivo” (Josper grilled octopus) served with pureed Peruvian olives, potatoes, and grilled charred cherry tomatoes – it is always a joy to eat well cooked octopus (something I hardly make at home) and Coya’s was no exception – it was meltingly tender and beautifully seasoned.

Accompanying our grilled selection, we had “Ensalada de Maiz” (corn salad) – this contained soft white corn, crispy corn (chanca), and sweet corn, red chillies and finely chopped onions as well as plenty of contrasting textures and flavours.

My favourite dish of the meal, the “Arroz Nikkei” of lobster, lime and chilli was to die for. Made with short grain rice (the preferred rice in Japanese cooking), this was wonderfully creamy, with generous chunks of lobster meat and intensely flavoured bisque containing dashi, mirin and soy sauce, lifted up by a refreshing zingness from the chilli and lime. Truly sensational.

The “Lubina Chilena” or Chilean seabass had been marintated for 72 hours with white miso, sake, pisco and aji amarillo – this was sweet, delicate and delicious although the aji was not very pronounced in the flavour profile.

We also shared a “Solomillo de Res” (Beef) – this was a lightly spiced beef fillet seasoned with aji rocoto and heady star anise served with crispy deep-fried garlic. It was beautifully tender, richly flavoured and cooked medium rare just as ordered.

Accompanying our mains, we had a generous portion of sprouting purple broccoli, griddled in chilli and garlic butter and a sprinkle of sesame seeds which was spot on.

For pre-dessert (love the idea of pre-desserts!), we had“Chicha Morada”, the ubiquitous purple corn of Peru used to make one of their national soft drinks. I tried this whilst in Peru but felt it was rather sweet and lacking in acidity. Coya’s chicha morada dessert was a delightful combination of flavours and textures of granita, jelly and ice cream made from this corn - it was refreshing (rather than cloyingly sweet) having been flavoured with rhubarb, orange shortbread and various spices including star anise, clove, and cinnamon.

The dessert was a sharing platter containing, not one but 3 different puddings – “Parfait de Arabica” was a coffee parfait, coated in Kiwicha (similar to quinoa), over caramelised bananas, chocolate and Zacapa 23 year old rum. We also enjoyed “Caramelo con Chocolate” and “Frambuesa Sorbete”– these were salted caramel ganache with peanut brittle and raspberry sorbet with jelly & fruit, and a deliciously alcoholic pisco raspberry sauce. I really could not think of a better ending to this meal!

What We Drank: Cocktails range from £11.95 (for a Pisco Sour) to £14.50.  The house white is an Argentine Torrontes for £28 per bottle, with red wines also starting at £28 for a Chilean Carmenere. All the wines on the menu are either Old World or from South America.

We kicked off with a well-made Pisco Sour (£11.95) which went down well with the guacamole and tortillas we were served on arrival.

To accompany the ceviches and lobster rice, we enjoyed a couple of glasses of an excellent Chablis (chardonnay) by Domaine des Marronniers 2011 (£65/bottle).

With our mains, we had a glass of 2011 Argentinian Barda Pinot Noir from Bodega Chacra (£55/bottle). This was soft, with red berry fruit, gentle tannins, and somewhat sweet on the finish.

Likes: the Nikkei tiradito was exceptional as was the Nikkei lobster rice and the desserts. The ceviches were fresh and bursting with flavour. Excellent value tasting menu.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: Few restaurants have excited me as much as Coya lately – Sanjay Dwivedi’s cooking and his understanding of Peruvian flavours have truly impressed me. The tasting menu at £75 is great value and I cannot wait to return. Very highly recommended.

**Win 1 of 2 Sponsored Seats at My Japanese Cookery Class with spogo**

June 16, 2014, 2:04 pm

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I have teamed up with the good people of spogo to offer readers of The London Foodie the chance to win 1 of 2 sponsored seats (1 seat per winner, and a total of 2 seats/winners) to my Japanese cookery class on Sunday, the 6th July 2014.

We’re constantly hearing about growing obesity and diabetes levels, so we know we should be making an effort to get healthier and do more exercise. But it’s not always been easy finding the right activity and where to go.

spogo, the smart new way to find local sport and fitness activities, is a Sport England lottery funded online platform designed to bring together over 121,000 sports venues, facilities and clubs, leisure centres, personal trainers and events, in the same place for the first time, all at the touch of a button.

We all know that Japanese cuisine is one of the healthiest there is with an excellent balance of fish or meat, vegetables and rice with very little oil or fat. So I was chuffed to have been approached by spogo to promote healthy Japanese cooking by offering two seats to my Japanese cookery class on Sunday, the 6th July 2014.

During the class, I will be demonstrating a Japanese set-menu of 6 favourite dishes from my Supper Club. I will provide detailed written recipes for the menu as well as a thorough explanation of all Japanese ingredients used and where to purchase them. Participation will be highly encouraged and after completing the class, you should feel confident to replicate the entire menu for a Japanese dinner party for family or friends.

Classes are normally priced at £75 per person and this cost will be sponsored by spogo.

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

To enter, all you have to do is register with spogo in the widget below (this is mandatory for entry and takes less than a minute). You MUST complete the full registration for your entry to be complete.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To get an extra entry, you can follow @thelondonfoodieon Twitter or Instagram and tweet about the giveaway using hashtag #spogogoesjapanese. Why not leave a comment below as well to tell us what new sport you would love to try.

The two winners will be announced in The London Foodie on Tuesday, 23rd June at midday.

Good luck!

Thai Cocktails and Nosh in Über-Trendy Hoxton

June 24, 2014, 5:13 am

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Name: Busaba Eathai

Where: 319 Old Street, London EC1V 9LE, http://www.busaba.com

Cost: Dishes are for sharing, and vary in cost from £3.90 to £12.50.  The average food spend is around £20-£30 per head.

About: Situated on a busy corner of Old Street in the heart of Hoxton, this is one of 10 restaurants in the group opened by restaurateur Alan Yau around 15 years ago. I used to love visiting their first branch in Wardour Street when it opened in the late 90s, it was one of the most innovative and forward-thinking London restaurants at the time.

There are plans to expand the Busaba Eathai group to 20 restaurants over the next year, including new branches in Manchester, Leeds, Cambridge and possibly Scotland, among others.

With Thai Executive Head Chef Jude Sangsida overseeing the whole group, there is a reasonable degree of consistency of cooking across different branches. The restaurant aims to serve popular Thai dishes for the UK market and palate. Like the other restaurants in the group, all the dining tables in Old Street are shared, with benches rather than chairs, making for a relaxed, informal experience.  There is a separate bar area with high stools and tables for those who just want to enjoy a cocktail or share a bottle of wine.

What We Ate: Like in Thailand, the dishes were served all at once at Busaba Eathai. Rather than starters and main courses, the dishes are divided into salad, soup noodle, wok noodle, stir-fry, grilled curry, rice and side dishes, which together make up a Thai meal. The flavours and textures of these different dishes, complement each other – a refreshing salad is ideal to go alongside a more fiery curry, while rice and vegetable sides should be eaten with the remaining dishes.

We started with a well made and deliciously tender Thai calamari served with ginger and peppercorns (£6.50).

Som Tam salad is one of the national dishes of Thailand and can be found both on the streets as in restaurants and homes across the country – made from green papaya, dried shrimps, cherry tomato and peanut (£6.90), Busaba’s som tam was authentic with some very fresh Thai flavours.

For noodles, we opted for a very flavoursome Pad Kwetio served with Sen Yai noodles, smoked chicken, prawn and shiitake mushroom (£8.60). This was delicious and one of the highlights of our meal.

I loved the rich aniseed aromas and flavours from the sweet basil and chilli and the chunky but tender prawns in the Chilli Prawn Stir-fry (£8.90).

The Red Beef Curry (£10.50) had perfectly tender slivers of beef, both Thai and pea aubergines, as well as kaffir lime leaf and chilli all in an intensely flavoured curry sauce – excellent.

To accompany our dishes, we shared a portion of coconut rice (£3.30), and a lovely vegetable dish of morning glory, with yellow bean sauce, Thai garlic and chilli (£5.90).

What we Drank: Wines range from £19.50 to £24.50, and all are available either by the 175ml glass, or in 500ml flasks, or as a full bottle. There are just 3 white and 3 red options, along with one rosé and 5 beers.  For sparkling wines, there is the Prosecco di Valdobbiadene at £29.50, or a Lallier 1er Cru Rose Champagne at £52.50.

Besides wine and beer, there is a choice of mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) priced from £2.70 to £3.30, while cocktails at the Old Street branch are priced at £7.50. There are plans to make these cocktails available across the whole group by the end of 2014.

We sampled 4 cocktails with our meal.  The Nam Thang Mo (rum blended with watermelon, kaffir lime, guava and chilli) was delicious and very tropical. Personally though I preferred the Lao Kong, made from green tea infused with whisky, with pineapple, honey and cinnamon syrup. Unsurprisingly, I’m a sucker for anything that features green tea.

The Citrus Negroni was sensational - made from the usual trio of gin, Martini and Campari, it was spiced up with a slug of tamarind syrup, and served over a whopping sphere of solid ice the size of an orange. It had a real kick and was as strong as I expected it to be.

Last but far from least, and actually in my opinion the best of all, the Thai Martini was made from gin infused with lemongrass, Thai basil and birdseye chilli tincture. This was a magnificent, fragrant and stimulating cocktail, and I can’t wait to try it again.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the cocktails we tried – they were well made and cleverly thought out and at £7.50 are also excellent value at trendy Shoreditch/Hoxton areas.

Likes: The superb cocktail menu at this Old Street branch is a big draw. The food is both reasonably authentic and affordable, and the restaurant is in a very happening part of Hoxton. Service is fast and friendly, and the wine selection is small but good value and well chosen.

Dislikes: Shared tables work in a supper club setting but I am not sure they do at a restaurant. I don’t mind sharing, but it can be awkward if others do!

Verdict: Busaba Eathai in Old Street is a great place for some cocktails with an Asian twist in über-trendy Hoxton, and a fix of fast Thai food in a relaxed, friendly setting. Recommended.

Peruvian-Nikkei Cuisine at Chotto Matte London

June 26, 2014, 12:30 am

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Name:Chotto Matte

Where: 11–13 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4RB, http://www.chotto-matte.com

Cost: There are three 9-course Nikkei sharing menus, priced at £40, £50 and £60 per person. A pre-theatre 3-course menu is also available at £25 including a glass of Prosecco. Average spend from the a la carte menu is around £40 per person for food only.

About: Chotto Matte, opened by Kurt Zdesar (the man who brought Nobu to the UK), is one the first London restaurants serving the still relatively unknown Peruvian-Nikkei cuisine. Born from the Japanese diaspora living in Peru, Peruvian-Nikkei cooking is much more than just a trendy fad – it was born out of necessity in the early 20th century as most Japanese immigrants lacked the necessary ingredients to cook their home fare. Instead, they resorted to using the fantastic produce of Peru, from Pacific fish and seafood to the high altitude vegetables of the Andes, and the fruit of the Amazon. Today, Peruvian-Nikkei cuisine is very much part of the mainstream diet in Peru, with dishes like Tiradito and Maki Acevichado being just as popular as ceviche or causa.

I love bringing Brazilian-Nikkei dishes and flavours into my Japanese Supper Club menus and have been observing with interest the emergence of Nikkei cuisine in Europe – Chotto Matte, Sushi Samba (reviewed here) and UNI in London as well as the fabulous Pakta in Barcelona, opened by Ferran Adriá. At Peruvian restaurant Coya (reviewed here), I was surprised to see a large number of Peruvian Nikkei dishes on their menu.  Recently, Mitsuharu Tsumura of Maido, the Peruvian-Nikkei restaurant in Lima which is number 11th in the San Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants of Latin America, was hosted by Virgilio Martinez of Lima, the only Michelin-starred Peruvian restaurant in London (reviewed here).

Opened in September 2013, Chotto Matte’s menus and kitchen are under executive chef Jordan Sclare (former head chef at Aqua Kyoto and Nobu) and head chef Michael Paul. Chotto Matte is a large, beautiful restaurant and bar set over three floors.

On the ground floor, there is live music for much of the day as well as a vast, UV-illuminated mural created by Tokyo-based graffiti artist Houxo Que.

If the sun is shining, and you are lucky enough (as we were) to get one of their coveted outside tables, it is a fantastic place to while the hours away, sipping Pisco Sours, munching on some freshly made sushi and most importantly - people watching!

What We Ate: The kitchen has a number of stations, including a sushi and ceviche bar as well as a Japanese Robata grill area serving barbecued dishes. There is also a bar menu of small eats (tostaditas) with a variety of toppings for those who fancy a few snacks with a drink.

We started with some delicious and wonderfully blistered Padron peppers with sweet den miso and sea salt (£4.50). Den in their menu refers to dengaku miso, a paste made from miso, sake, mirin and sugar commonly used for grilled aubergines (nasu dengaku), one of the favourites in my Japanese Supper Club.

We also had a cone of cassava and sweet potato crisps, with an accompanying yellow tomato salsa and guacamole (£3.25).

To follow, we had two Nikkei dishes which were for me the highlight of the meal. First came a Nikkei sashimi of yellowtail with cherry tomatoes, jalapeño chillies, black salt, yuzu juice, crispy purple potato and truffle oil (£9.95). This was a magnificent dish.

Next we had the seabass ceviche - seabass sashimi, with sweet potato, Peruvian crispy corn, coriander, lemon juice and chive oil (£7.25). This was delicious, with intense chlorophyll colour from the chive oil, and a satisfying crunchy texture from the cancha crispy corn.

To accompany these fish dishes, we had the Paperthin Vegetable Salad - beetroot, daikon and butternut squash cut very thinly and teased into rolls, served with broccoli, quinoa, physalis fruit and lime, and red onion (£4.95). This dish was very refreshing, and I really enjoyed the richly flavoured vegetables, although I thought the sauce was a little sharp and would have been improved by a touch of sweetness.

The next course was grilled octopus, marinated in rice wine vinegar, from the Robata grill, with yuzu and smoked purple potato purée, and antecucho sauce (£9.95). This was utterly delicious - wonderfully tender octopus with a smoked flavour from the grill, and also from the antecucho marinade which is made from smoked dried aji panca.

To accompany it, we had Yuca Frita  - cassava chips with smoked aji panca dipping sauce (£3.25). The cassava was nice and crisp on the outside, but a little too firmly textured inside for my liking.

We also had  Ensalada Peruana -quinoa salad with aji amarillo sauce, pomegranate, coriander and Peruvian crispy cancha corn (£3.25), which was delicious with a combination of sweet and crunchy elements, and heat from the aji.

Alongside this, we had Mazorca de Maiz - a dish of Peruvian corn with chilli butter and coriander (£4.25). This was a more refined version of a dish we ate often in Peru – the corn was soft and a little sweet, and given a lovely lift by the chilli and fresh herbs.

We then had the Pollo Peruana - grilled chicken with crispy cancha corn, onion, coriander and edible flowers (£11.75). This was a well-made dish, with toasted crunchy skin, succulent tender flesh, and perfect seasoning.

We also had a selection of blowtorched sushi - tuna with yuzu butter, salmon with black garlic butter, turbot with antecucho butter, and aubergine with dengaku miso sauce and white sesame seeds (£10.50). I was very impressed by the sushi - the rice in particular was well made and fresh, as was the choice topping for the Nigiri sushi and the richly flavoured, savoury butters.

For dessert, we had the chicha morada brûlée - pineapple in chicha morada (black corn) syrup, with vanilla ice cream and coriander. This was like a very good pineapple crumble dish from school days, with the Peruvian twist being the intense purple colour and savour from the black corn, which is ubiquitous in Peru.

To finish, we had the Trio Nikkei - white chocolate foam, miso mousse, lime and lemon sorbet, and taro. This was a very refined combination dessert, beautifully presented. The miso mousse was reminiscent of dulce de leche, with a refreshing lemon and lime sorbet, and a good texture from the crumble. This dessert was clever, well-conceived, and a good ending to the meal.

What We Drank: Cocktails are priced between £8 and £10.50, Champagnes start at £49 per bottle.  Entry level whites are £23, and include an organic Torrontes from Michel Torino, and an Argentinian Viognier from Casa Montes. Reds start at £23, including a Peter Lehmann Art Series Shiraz, and an Argentine Malbec, Dona Paula.

We had a couple of very well made Pisco Sours (£8.50), and a glass of Organic Torrontes, Michel Torino Cuma 2013 (£23 per bottle). With the chicken, we had a glass of Argentine Chardonnay from Pulenta Estate VIII 2012 (£29 per bottle).  For dessert, we had a Mio Sparkling Sake - a 5% alcohol wine, this was refreshing, off-dry with gentle stone fruit flavours (£13 for a 300 ml bottle).

Likes: Great service, cool setting and some mean Pisco sours. The highlight dishes for me were the Nikkei sashimi of yellowtail and the seabass ceviche. Desserts are spectacularly good.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: Chotto Matte is a great place to discover Peruvian-Nikkei cuisine in the heart of London. A facet of Peruvian-Japanese cooking still relatively unknown in the UK, it is rapidly gaining momentum thanks to places like Chotto Matte. Highly recommended.

The London Foodie "Meets the Michelins" at Selfridges

July 4, 2014, 9:55 am

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I am thrilled to announce that The London Foodie has teamed up with Selfridges, my favourite London department store, to report on a series of fantastic dinners named "Meet the Michelins" taking place at The Corner Restaurant & Champagne Bar at Selfridges Oxford Street.

I will be taking over Selfridges' social media via Instagram and Twitter for all Meet the Michelins Dinners in July and August 2014, so expect plenty of mouthwatering foodporn in the next few weeks. I will also be reporting via The London Foodie's own social media accounts (Twitter: @thelondonfoodie / Instagram: @thelondonfoodie) as well as a full weekly low-down of every dinner on this site.

The dinners are unique opportunities to sample inspiring signature dishes, from the Home Counties' most talented and creative chefs, that you wouldn't find anywhere else in London.

Starting at £75, these unique ticketed evenings will entitle diners to between 5 and 10 courses and an optional Wine Flight (from £35), carefully selected by Selfridge’s Head Sommelier. Dinners are on every Monday in July and also on the 18th August 2014, and start at 6:30pm for dinner at 7pm.

To book a place at one of these exclusive evenings, call The Corner Restaurant and Champagne Bar on 0207 318 3898 or book online (here). Online booking fees apply.

Monday 7 July 2014

Matt Gillan - 1 Michelin Star

Head Chef, Matt Gillan at The Pass, South Lodge

Dinner menu: £75 (dinner plus wine flight: £120)

Monday 14 July 2014

Olly Rouse – 1 Michelin Star

Head Chef, The Avenue, Lainston House

Dinner menu: £75 (dinner plus wine flight: £120)

Monday 21 July 2014

Richard Davies – 1 Michelin Star

Executive Chef, The Bybrook, The Manor House

Dinner menu: £75 (dinner plus wine flight: £110)

Monday 28 July 2014

Conor Toomey

Head Chef, The Restaurant at Storrs Hall

Dinner menu: £75 (dinner plus wine flight: £110)

Monday 18 August 2014

Michael Wignall – 2 Michelin Stars

Head Chef, Michael Wignall at The Latymer

Dinner menu: £95 (dinner plus wine flight: £140)

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A Glorious Journey Through The Pass at Selfridges

July 11, 2014, 4:00 am

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Words & Photography by Greg Klerkx and Luiz Hara

We all know that the UK is a global epicentre of culinary excellence; we, or many of we, probably assume most of that excellence is based in London. Over the coming weeks, Selfridges is challenging that notion in a rather elegant and special way: by bringing five Michelin-starred chefs – all based in the Home Counties – into our fair capital for an evening of culinary wonderfulness.

Meet the Michelins is part of an eight-week Selfridges foodie blitz called Meet the Makers, which features an array of pioneers working at the frontiers of culinary excellence (many of which are currently the subject of Selfridges always-inventive window displays.) There is truly something for every kind of foodie, whether your thing is bespoke gin or the emerging art of bug eating.

Meet the Michelins offers a particularly unique opportunity for diners to experience excellence that might otherwise seem too far-flung to engage with. Then again, if every Meet the Michelins experience is as stunning as the kick-off evening devised by Chef Matt Gillan, food lovers should soon be flocking to the Home Counties in droves.

Gillan is head chef at The Pass, based at the South Lodge Hotel in West Sussex, which under Gillan’s leadership earned its first Michelin star in 2011. He describes his approach to cooking as playful and, perhaps unusually, highly collaborative: during our Meet the Michelins evening, both Gillan and members of his team were front of house engaging with the diners and describing dishes.

All of the Meet the Michelins experiences feature a tasting menu with optional wine flight, prices for each evening varying slightly. Our evening’s 10-course menu was priced at £75 with matching wine for an additional £45. Considering the quality of food, drink and service, this was very good value.

The menu moved from rustic to sophisticated to playful and back again. We began with a dish called Scratching/bacon/parsley, a generous twist of crispy scratching topped with reduced bacon and apple compote that was relaxed and delicious, particularly with a cool glass of Truffler Cider.

The Scratching was followed by a lovely dish titled Beetroot/egg/lime – when oh when will this trend for linguistically Spartan menus end? – in which the creamy saltiness of a perfectly judged egg yolk played nicely with a zingy lime reduction and earthy beetroot tartar.

This dish in particular demonstrated the skill and boldness of Selfridges sommelier Dawn Davies, who paired it with a thick, almost tinny Intellego Elementis (£26.99, Selfridges), a so-called ‘orange’ wine due to the practice of leaving it long on the grape skins to produce a ringing minerality and unusual colour. Alone, the Elementis was something of a puzzle; with the Beetroot dish, it became an essential part of a small, lovely symphony.

From here the menu shifted into its fish-meat phase, mostly with success.  Langoustine/pea/mint was a favourite dish of the evening, the langoustine tender and moist and the pea and mint balancing perfectly.

Pork belly/goat’s cheese/pear (which also featured roasted hazelnuts and slightly spiced puffed rice) would have benefitted either from more pear compote or, perhaps, a light jus: it was just that bit dry, though it worked well with Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett (£20.99, Selfridges.).

The Halibut/celeriac/honey course saw my halibut slightly overdone, but happily this was offset by the rich celeriac puree and passion fruit honey, splendidly complemented by an unusual German Pinot Noir (F Becker, Estate Spatburgunder) that retained the expected Pinot spice but was lighter, softer, and juicier.

The evening’s final savoury was Corn fed chicken/Jerusalem artichoke/madeira, which was gorgeous, moist and balanced. It paired beautifully with one of the evening’s nicest wines, a Vins d’Orrance ‘Cuvee Anais’ Chardonnay, oak-rich yet relaxed with distinct notes of apple and vanilla. Gorgeous.

Cote hill blue/apricot/pumpkin seed functioned nicely as a combination cheese course and palate cleanser: paired with a glass of Camden Wit Beer (£2.80, Selfridges) with its strong notes of lemon and bergamot, the result was calm and convivial, a gentle and pleasant trot towards the finishing line.

Lemon/oats/honeycomb – zesty and refreshing – led the way to an indulgent finish: Chocolate/caramel/peanut, the latter being in ice cream form and the whole tasting not unlike an decadent, elegantly deconstructed Snicker’s bar, in the best possible way. An accompanying glass of Yalumba Museum Reserve Muscat was so dark, nutty and treacly that it sailed very close to Porto, but kept its balance in concert with the rich malt syrup dressing the Chocolate.

There are four more Meet the Michelins evenings, all Mondays: 14, 21, 28 July and 18 August (note: the 18 August event, with Chef Michael Wignall, is currently sold out.) For more information or to book, visit their website here.

The Corner Restaurant is a light and airy dining environment, and the whole experience is a delightful and, in truth, good value treat: a culinary holiday, without needing to board a plane or fight the motorway hoards.

A Bastille Day Celebration - Parisian Flare in the Heart of Pall Mall

July 13, 2014, 5:11 pm

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Name:Boulestin

Where: 5 St James Street, London SW1A 1EF

Cost: Bastille Day Menu for 3 courses is offered at £37.50. The Prix Fixe Theatre menus are also available at £19.50 and £24.50 for 2 and 3 courses respectively, and also for Saturday lunch. From the à la carte menu, hors d'oeuvres range from £9 to £17.50, fish dishes are from £19.50 to £27.50, and meat dishes range from £23.50 to £29.50. Desserts cost from £7.50 to £9.50, with French cheeses including a selection of 4 for £16.75.  

About: Marcel Boulestin (1878-1943) was a French chef and restaurateur, who opened his eponymous restaurant in 1927 in Southampton Street, Covent Garden. He was also the world's first TV chef, appearing in 1937 on the BBC. After his death, the restaurant continued under various managements until it closed in 1994.

In September 2013, restaurateur Joel Kissin (co-founder and managing director of Conran Restaurants, now known as D&D London) opened Boulestin in St James as a 60-seat restaurant with a private dining room, an outside courtyard and the bistro Café Marcel. It specialises in the sort of classic French cuisine Marcel Boulestin popularised in the UK, led by Head Chef Andrew Woodford (ex The Wolseley, Colbert and Rules).

The restaurant is at the southern end of St James Street, next door to Berry Bros & Rudd's Wine & Spirits Shop. With a black and white tiled floor, starched white linen tablecloths and green leather chairs, set in a dining room flooded with natural light from the skylight, it's an elegant spot for lunch or dinner. It is only a stone's throw from Fortnum & Mason, Burlington Arcade and the luxury shopping area of Bond Street.

What We Ate: We started with the Jambon Persille, a terrine of ham hock and parsley, this is a specialty of Dijon in Burgundy of which Boulestin’s was a fine example.

We also had a magnificent Octopus Salad which included samphire, tomatoes, potatoes, olives, capers and lemon, this was a delicious dish reflecting the Mediterranean coastline of France, with a generous serving of tender octopus and fragrant olive oil.

For mains, we had one of the restaurant’s signature dishes - Tete de Veau - calves head, tongue and brains, with carrots, potatoes and celery. The Tete de Veau took me straight back to my Cordon Bleu days – classic French cooking at its best. A highly complex dish to assemble and cook (best left to the professionals), Boulestin's appeared effortlessly put together with tender calves’ head meat accompanied by a delicate but intensely flavored broth.

Dr G opted for the Roast Rabbit, served with mustard sauce. The rabbit was attractively presented with Girolle mushrooms, the saddle cooked in a balotine in a water-bath, perfumed with tarragon then wrapped in carrot slivers, and served with a fine mustard sauce, gherkins, capers and parsley. It was tremendous, and a reminder of just how fine a meat rabbit can be when expertly cooked.

Before dessert, we opted for the platter of 4 French cheeses, all from nearby Paxton & Whitfield (£16.75). This included Brillat Savarin, Beaufort, Foure D' Ambert and Mothais-Sur-Feuille. The cheeses were of excellent quality, and perfectly ripe.

For dessert, we had the cinnamon doughnuts and a fruit tart. This was a French tart of crème pâtissière, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry and blueberry, with a perfectly crisp and crumbly short crust pastry base.

The doughnuts were light and airy, with a delicious coating of cinnamon and sugar.

What We Drank: Impressively, the house Champagne is the "R" de Ruinart Brut, available for £14.75 by the glass, or £70 per bottle.  Wines have a strong French influence, but there are also options from the rest of Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Americas. They are priced from £19.50 for whites, £20 for reds (both from Pieno Sud, Sicily, a Trebbiano and Sangiovese respectively).

Our choices on the evening were guided by the friendly and knowledgeable sommelier Alessandro Talento, we couldn’t have been in better hands. We kicked off with an Americano (£12), a cocktail made from sweet vermouth, Campari and a splash of soda.

The vermouth was a Cocchi from Torin, a magnificent sweet, boutique vermouth made from the moscato grape, unlike the big brand vermouths usually made from Trebbiano.  The Americano was a superbly refreshing, and appetite stimulating start to the evening.

With the starters, we had an Albariño 2012 from L&L, Rias Baixas (£42).  With vibrant peach and tropical fruit characteristics and balancing acidity, this was a very good partner to both the ham and the octopus.

To enjoy with the veal and rabbit, we had a glass of Saint Aubin 1er Cru Derriere la Tour 2011, from Domain Jean Claude Bachelet (£59.50).  This was a classic example of pinot noir, with elegant redcurrant and raspberry fruit, light tannins, and great complexity and length.

With the cheese, although we were considering the selection of fine Ports on offer, Alessandro recommended a glass of fine aged Colombian rum - La Hechicera. Aged in sherry casks, it had none of the sweetness or caramel flavours that we usually associate with rum, but instead had nutty and dried fruit flavours, rather like an Armagnac. This was an unusual suggestion to partner our cheese platter, but it worked really well, balancing out the rich (let's be honest, fat) French cheese with a clean but complex spirit.

With the doughnuts, we had a couple of “After Dinner” cocktails. These included a glass of La Pommier, with fresh apple, vodka and eau de vie. With the fruit tart, we had a Sauternes de Luxe cocktail, made from fresh orange, home-made vanilla syrup, bourbon whiskey and Sauternes. Both expertly made and excellent pairing to our puddings.

To finish, we had a small tasting of two Italian artisan amaretto spirits and a fine drink created by Alessandro himself to demonstrate some of the flavours of his loved Italy – with Amaretto, Frangelico, sugar, ginger and cloves. A very fine end to our meal.

Likes: Great cooking, friendly service and a fantastic bar headed by Alessandro Talento.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: Boulestin serves classic French cooking in an elegant setting in Pall Mall, and from the 14^th July 2014 for one week, the Bastille Day menu priced at £37.50 will feature a selection of great dishes from the restaurant's repertoire. Highly recommended.

The London Foodie Goes to Peru - Lake Titikaka

May 15, 2014, 4:37 pm

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Having spent a couple of days acclimatising to the 2,300m altitude of Arequipa, we took the 7-hour bus trip up to Lake Titikaka, at the dizzying altitude of 3,800m. Titikaka is the highest navigable lake in the world, and covers more than 8,000 square kilometres.

Beyond that, it is a magical location, with clear skies at night revealing myriad stars and galaxies, and calm crystal clear waters reflecting the sky above during the day.

It is a tranquil place to visit and relax, and has a unique Andean culture to soak up, as well as a multitude of aquatic and other birds. Because of its elevation, many people suffer from mild altitude sickness for the first day or two, so it is best not to plan many activities in the first 24 hours.  While the lake is stunningly beautiful, it must be admitted that the main city on Lake Titicaca - Puno - is anything but. So rather than stay in one of the many hotels there, we opted to stay at the Titilaka Lodge, a 45 minute taxi ride away from Puno.

Where to Stay

The Titilaka Lodge is a luxury all-inclusive hotel with only 18 rooms, all of which have magnificent views of the lake. The Lodge was thoroughly refurbished in 2008, and subsequently accredited by Relais & Chateaux in 2013. Coming from the dusty and unattractive nearby town of Puno, through unpaved and unmarked country roads, on arrival the Lodge is both a very pleasing surprise, and an oasis of tranquility and beauty.

The public and guest rooms are tastefully decorated using a mix of local artefacts and state of the art contemporary design. It has striking colours and plenty of natural light, with stunning views of Lake Titikaka.

The experience of staying at Titilaka Lodgeis rather like being invited to a country house. There is no TV in the rooms, and so after a day of excursions, guests tend to gather in the ground floor reception rooms.

To encourage this, complimentary afternoon tea and biscuits are also served, as well as a happy hour for drinks and cocktails in the early evening. This means that guests tend to meet and chat about their activities that day and plans for the next, which makes for a sociable experience not commonly found in top flight hotels.

Entirely by coincidence, it turned out that Tuanny and his wife Winnie, who both visited my supperclub in January 2014, were staying at the hotel at the same time as us. We had a great time chatting with them, hearing about their travels in South America, and their plans for when they return home to Sydney after 7 years in London at the end of this trip.

The lovely Winnie and Tuanny, a very nice surprise at Lake Titilaka Lodge

Our room had a stunning view of the lake, through windows as wide as the room itself. It was simply but elegantly furnished with white linen sheets against a backdrop of colourful Peruvian fabrics and tapestries.

The bathroom was also spacious with a large bathtub that overlooked the lake.  This was one of the most serene and naturally beautiful places I have ever stayed in.

Where to Eat

One of the attractions of Titilaka Lodge is its remote location, which makes it a great place to relax and switch off from the outside world. To facilitate this, all meals and drinks at the dinner table are included in the hotel’s rates.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the dining room, which has wall-to-wall glass on three sides, overlooking Lake Titikaka. It was light and airy with high ceilings, and was beautifully designed.

The kitchen is headed by local chef Maria Fé Garcia. Her cooking is well made and flavoursome, making use of local ingredients such as quinoa and trout from Lake Titikaka. We enjoyed a number of popular Peruvian dishes including Lomo Saltado (a Chifa or Chinese-Peruvian dish) and also her take on French soufflé using native quinoa.

Breakfast is generous, and includes a buffet serving fruit, yoghurts, hams and local cheeses, as well as breads made in house and served warm in beautiful clay pots.

Freshly cooked items include a selection of eggs cooked any style, such as Benedict and Florentine. We went for “huevos rancheros” – poached egg served with a lightly spiced tomato salsa, and the quinoa pancakes, which were both excellent.

What to Do

The main activities around Lake Titikaka are, besides relaxation, appreciating the landscape on foot, boat or bicycle, as well as the natural plant and birdlife, and the local archeological sites. It is a place to commune with nature.

Titilaka Lodge offers a wide variety of 2-hour excursions in the basic room rate. These include kayaking, sailing, rowing through the reeds to view aquatic birds nests, walking tours along the shores of the lake, cycling through the fields of Plateria, and observing the night sky (weather permitting).

In addition to this, there is a variety of half-day tours available at extra cost. Some of these are similar to the popular tours on offer from the many agents in Puno, but start directly from Titilaka Lodge and so avoid the crowds and extra journey time to Puno.  For example, tours are arranged to the floating Uros Islands, and to Taquile Island, and to the Chullpa Towers at Sillustani dating back as far as 1000BC.

We spent quite a bit of time just relaxing in the hotel, soaking up the peace and calm at Lake Titikaka's edge. However, we also took one of the hotel's half-day trips. This started with a visit to the bartering market in Acora, about 4km southwest of the hotel.

This was a great opportunity to see local farmers in their element, speaking neither Spanish nor even Quechua but Aymara, the local language.

On Sundays, there is a conventional food market where items are purchased, but also a smaller section where fresh and smoked fish, vegetables, clothing, alpaca wool and other items are bartered for other items rather than hard currency, in a manner practised by the Aymara people for centuries.

Our minivan then drove to the shore of the lake, and bicycles came from the back of the van for us to start a cycling tour of the region.

This was fascinating and beautiful, and we were lucky enough to see many birds along the route.  These included Andean coots, the Casanova woodpecker (aka Andean flicker), a pair of burrowing owls, American kestrels, Puna teals, and lots of common moorhens.

We stopped along the way for an excellent picnic provided by the hotel at the edge of the lake. It was a long day of intense cycling over dirt roads, but it was exhilarating.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Titilaka Lodge, and visiting the stunning scenery around the lake. Despite having come from Arequipa where the altitude was already high, we suffered from mild altitude sickness throughout our two days at the Lodge. We were told that it would have got better after 48 hours. I would recommend you take plenty of paracetamol and ibuprofen to help with the headaches. However, this was a small price to pay for the beauty of the region.

Another nearby town is Juliaca, where there is a small domestic airport flying to Cusco and Lima. It was from there that we made our next trip to Cusco.

Travel Essentials

Titilaka Lodge

Chucuito

Peninsula Titilaka

Puno

Peru

www.titilaka.com

A double bedroom with full board including wine, cocktails, a free minibar, and any hotel activity lasting two hours or less, is advertised at £165 per person, per night (i.e. £330 per couple per night).

The 'comprehensive' package, including full board, all hotel activities, excursions and transfers, costs £284 per person per night, although this is reduced to £245 per person per night if a stay of three nights is booked.   

A taxi from Puno to the hotel costs around £15. A taxi from the hotel to Juliaca airport costs £35.

Cruz del Sur bus ticket from Arequipa to Puno costs £13 per person, and takes around 7 hours.

Meeting the Michelin Olly Rouse at Selfridges

July 21, 2014, 4:33 pm

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Words & Photography by Florentyna Leow and Luiz Hara

Week 2 of Meet the Michelins– a Selfridges project featuring culinary stars from the Home Counties – saw Olly Rouse take the stage at The Corner Restaurant on Monday evening to whip up a dazzling 7-course menu. All of the Meet the Michelins experiences feature a tasting menu with optional wine flight, prices for each evening varying slightly. This week’s 7-course menu was priced at £75 with matching wines by Selfridges' head sommelier Dawn Davies for an additional £45 – decent value, especially considering the top-notch drinks accompanying the food.

Rouse is the head chef at Michelin-starred The Avenue at Lainston House in Winchester. Describing himself as ‘extremely hands-on', he would emerge from the kitchen between courses to introduce each dish, chatting with the diners, all the while sending out tasty and meticulously plated dishes.

His eye for detail was evident in little flourishes such as the feather used in presenting the menu, the beautiful cast-iron teacups used for serving the house-fermented kombucha (yeast enzyme tea), and even the dry ice in the teapots of kombucha, which lent a lovely theatrical touch during service.

The onion cracker was a stellar example of his attention to detail – his take on pork crackling contained not a whiff of pork, but was instead made of dehydrated and deep-fried tapioca sheets infused with onion stock and liberally salted. Crunchy and utterly moreish, it went down a treat with the Selfridges' own Prosecco label, and was a highly promising start to the evening.

Selfridges sommelier Dawn Davies worked her magic again this evening – her choices were often bold and unusual, but generally spot on and occasionally even sublime. Her expertise particularly shone through with her choice of the Gaia Estate ‘Thalassitis’ Wild Ferment Assyrtiko for the first starter. Tasted alone, it was brash and almost too assertive for my taste, but acquired a beautiful roundness and minerality when sampled with the crab.

Our first starter and one of the highlights of the evening, the soft shell crab, was a gorgeous medley of textures and flavours. The crab was juicy and succulent within and satisfyingly crunchy without; with the mildly bitter grapefruit, tender artichoke and radish, rocket, tomato and pea salad, it came together as a dish greater than the sum of its parts. It was a tremendously enjoyable starter.

Herring, the second starter, was served alongside pickled purple carrots, roasted shallots and mooli, and blobs of apple-vanilla and parsley purée. The young German Kabinett Riesling (Oberhauser Leistenberg) chosen to accompany this starter, undercut the oily richness of the fish with much-needed freshness and acidity.

Our third and final starter featured a surf n’ turf combination of Pig & Prawn. The confit pork belly was a little dry and not fatty enough for my liking; the raw Sicilian prawns and smoky aubergine purée were, however, phenomenal. Together with the light, juicy chilled Portuguese red (Pardusco Vinho Verde Tinto), the prawn half of the equation shone.

Onwards to the two mains: Rouse’s take on roast chicken and lamb. The roast chicken was served with a medley of accompaniments including pine nut crumbs, smoked corn stuffing, a horseradish and lemon cream and red-wine pickled mooli; individually, they were novel and interesting but when tasted together, rather confusing. The Pinot Noir (Massale, Kooyong) accompanying the chicken, however, was deliciously fresh and juicy, with cherry notes – a testament to the talented Australian producers of the wine.

Similarly, the accompaniments for the lamb tasted nice individually, but puzzling altogether. The marinated tomatoes accompanying the lamb, for instance, were flavourful, but would have been much  better chilled. The gently robust Le Soula Rouge, however, was a good pair with the lamb.

Thankfully, Rouse’s menu ended on a splendid note with the puddings. ‘Lemon’ consisted of moist, dense and intensely lemony squares of cake with basil-infused white chocolate, honey jelly and lemon sorbet.

It went down a treat with a Japanese yuzu sake (Ume No Yado Yuzu Sake), an intensely citric liqueur which stood up perfectly to the vibrant lemon dessert.

‘Raw Jersey Dairy’ showcased locally made raw cream in an indulgent crème brulée, with strawberry tarragon consommé, sabayon biscuits, meringue and strawberry salad – art on a plate, and a masterpiece on the palate.

Overall, dinner was a delightful experience. While Rouse’s approach to meats was to my taste rather conservative, he is clearly a talented chef who is willing to experiment, and who can work wonders with seafood and produce from the garden. The Avenue in Winchester should be well worth the trek out of London!

Come and Meet the Michelins at Selfridges - Olly Rouse

With two more Meet the Michelins evenings – all Mondays – left on the 28 July and 18 August (although the 18 August event, with Chef Michael Wignall, is currently sold out), don’t miss this opportunity to try some of the best cooking in England at Selfridges. For more information or to book, visit their website here.

The Real McCoy of Teppanyaki Experiences at Matsuri

July 25, 2014, 5:53 am

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Name:Matsuri

Where: 15 Bury Street, London, SW1Y 6 AL

                 www.matsuri-restaurant.com   

Cost: There are three set menus, priced at £65, £100 and £145 per person. From the à la carte menu, starters cost from £5 to £10, with sashimi platters from £14 to £68, sushi platters at £29.50 or £39.50, and teppanyaki from £23 to £68 for a whole lobster.

About: Matsuri is a long-established Japanese restaurant in London's plush St James district, home to many venerable gentlemen's clubs, as well as St James' Palace and Chatham House. It is also a stone's throw from royal grocer Fortnum and Mason's, Paxton and Whitfield's cheese shop, and the bespoke shirt makers of Jermyn Street.

Matsuri offers Japanese style teppanyaki dishes. Teppanyaki (teppan meaning iron plate and yaki grill or fried) refers to dishes that include meats, fish and vegetables cooked on a very hot iron plate, which imparts a lovely char-grilled flavour to these ingredients.

There is always an element of theatre when eating at teppanyaki restaurants - guests sit around a station while a chef rustles up their dishes. Matsuri is among the most upmarket teppanyaki restaurant in the UK, with dishes, standards of cooking and prices similar to those in Japan.

Owned jointly by the Japanese food giant Kikkoman and JR (Japan Railways), the restaurant is adorned with photographs models of the Shinkansen (Bullet) train and other tasteful artifacts.

What We Ate: We started with a platter of white fish sushi and sashimi (£27).  This included seared yellow tail maki rolls, with nigiri of seabass with yuzu kosho, turbot with yuzu plum and sea bream with spring onion. The platter finished with a sashimi of scallop, yellowtail and king prawn. The centre piece was the head of the king prawn served tempura style in a magnificent blue crystal bowl.

The tempura course included jumbo shrimp, jumbo shrimp head wrapped in shiso leaves, and squid wrapped in shiso leaves. I found the batter a little thick, but the quality of the seafood was excellent, the squid was meltingly tender (not an easy texture to achieve when deep-frying squid) and I enjoyed the addition of shiso in this tempura.

The teppanyaki course was wagyu beef with white and green asparagus (£75), and black cod marinated in ginger, soy sauce and miso (£26).

I enjoyed the black cod being cooked this way (miso is the usual marinade but it does not quite work with teppanyaki).  The ginger gave it a deliciously spicy, savoury quality to the dense fish, and the skin became crispy and crunchy from cooking on the hot plate.

The wagyu beef was wonderfully rich, tender and flavoursome, and was served with some magnificent garlic fried rice, one of the very occasions when garlic rice is served in Japan i.e. with grilled steak. To accompany the beef, two sauces were offered – the wasabi cream, which was hot and creamy, and the special 'wagyu sauce' made with red wine, mirin, chilli and soy sauce. This was rich and spicy, a little like a Korean bulgogi sauce. Personally I thought the latter rather overpowered the wagyu beef.

Alongside the Teppanyaki, we had a red miso soup (£3.50), with nameko mushrooms, wakame seaweed, tofu and spring onions. I loved this  – red miso makes for a rich, beefy-tasting broth rather like a posh Bovril, while the nameko mushrooms with their slimy texture (not a great way to describe this mushroom but I cannot think of a more befitting word), were a great addition, I haven’t had them since my last trip to Japan.

For dessert, we opted for the restaurant's signature Fire Ball Ice Cream with mango (£6.50). There is a nice sense of theatre about this dish as the mango slices and ice cream are quickly flambéed over the hot iron plate before being served.

We also had some delightful wakamomo (baby stoneless peaches), with lychee sorbet and Mio sparkling sake (£8), served in a Champagne flute. I love wakamomo, so this was a great treat - refreshing and palate cleansing.

What We Drank: While the teppanyaki meal we had at Matsuri was very good indeed, the highlight for us was the restaurant’s fantastic wine cellar.

We entrusted our wine pairing to the Head Sommelier Tommaso Riccardo Guzzardo, and he did not disappoint, choosing a selection of rare and unusual Italian and French wines that tickled the curiosity and palate while still maintaining value for money.

The cocktail of the month when we visited was London Sky (£12) - Nigori Ginjo sake with fruits and elderflower. Served with a sprig of mint, this had a touch of sweetness and a savoury notes from the sake. We also sampled the Miss Kubota cocktail from the Signature list - sake, lemon juice and lychee liqueur, decorated with physalis (£12). This was very refreshing from the citrus fruit, and aromatic from the lychee liqueur.  There was a comprehensive list of cocktails priced from £9 for a Negroni to £13 for a Champagne-based Nashi Royal with Asian Pear.

With the sushi and sashimi, we had a glass of Tiefenbrunner, Kirchleiten Sauvignon 2012, from Sudtirol, Alto Adige, Italy (£58 per bottle). This comes from volcanic soil giving a delicious minerality, and was rich, elegant and with crisp acidity and a long finish.

With the tempura, we had a glass of Pouilly Fumé 2012, Domaine Alexandre Bain, from Pierre Precieuse (£53 per bottle). This was a biodynamic wine, unfiltered, with just a hint of oxidation. Golden in colour, and slightly opalescent, it had lovely green apple on the palate.

With the teppanyaki, we had a Sicilian red, I Vigneri (£89 per bottle), from 100 year old pre-phylloxera vines.  Made from rare Nerello Cappuccio and Nerello Mascalese grapes, the vines were grown in goblet formation on volcanic, lava soil. Foot pressed, and matured in oak casks, this was a very elegant wine with red berry fruit.

  

With dessert, we had a glass of sweet Umeshu plum wine, served unfiltered and with a heavy sediment. Having been left on the stalk until the fruit was botrytised, this had a rich sweet almond nose, and sweet plum flavours on the palate.

As a digestive, we opted for the 21 year old Hibiki Suntory Whisky, in a very beautiful bottle that looked more like a decanter.  This was a top quality Japanese whisky.  

The restaurant offers a wide selection of wines and sparkling wines by the glass, from £9 to £23. In bottles, white wines start at £37 (for an Italian Blanc de Morgex et De La Salle), and reds at £39 (for a biodynamic Faugeres from Languedoc-Roussillon), and escalate rapidly from there.

There is an extensive sake menu, as well as a “Sake Course Menu” for £40, offering 5 glasses of sake.  There are two wine flights, priced at £44 and £60, each offering 5 glasses including a Champagne, white, red and sweet wines. 

Likes: The white fish sushi and sashimi platter was superb, and reasonably priced at £27. The Wagyu steak was excellent. The wine selection, chosen by sommelier Tommaso Riccardo Guzzardo, was original and interesting. I would strongly recommend one of the wine flights.

Dislikes: Prices are steep but these reflect the quality of the ingredients and the location. It would be nice if a more affordable teppanyaki menu option were available, not necessarily including wagyu beef or black cod.

Verdict: Matsuri offers the real McCoy of teppanyaki experiences in the heart of London’s Mayfair. A fantastic wine cellar and an expert sommelier made for a very special evening. Recommended.