Eating Across Europe (Part 2)

Madrid, Madrid, Madrid. To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Madrid—one of the factors being that it was so modern. Whenever I travel, I like to be in cities or towns where I can feel and see its history and culture. Madrid felt too similar to a generic western city. Sure, you can spot bits of history here and there, but the architecture doesn’t scream individuality to me (like Lisbon did). With all that being said, it is still a very lovely city and, to my surprise looking back, I ate a lot of wonderful food! I actually have to write an entry on Madrid alone because I have so many pictures just from this city!

One of the first restaurants I had the pleasure at eating at was Fatigas del Querer. One of the guys working at our hostel (“Way Hostel” for those who wanted to know) recommended it and I’m glad he did. The price was decent (€6-7 for an entrée) and everything was served in a generous size. I think the dishes were meant to be eaten family style, but Samantha and I didn’t know that at first. I had the huevos estrellados con jamon, which was basically two sunny side eggs over cured bacon and a heap of fries. I didn’t expect the fries. As tasty as it was, it was extremely rich and heavy. I didn’t do my arteries any favors that night. Samantha had a chicken dish with thick cut bacon on top and a salad on the side. Although the restaurant gave us a breadbasket and olives, we were wary about having any because of our past experience in Lisbon and being charged. Our last meal was also eaten at Fatigas and we shared a paella and tuna salad. The paella was okay. The chicken was overcooked and hard and the seafood wasn’t particularly fantastic, but the rice itself was cooked well. The restaurant’s environment was really nice though and I loved the tile work on the walls.

Enough talk about decently priced food and let’s move onto cheap food! My friend, Jessyka, took Sam and me to El Tigre for some tapas and sangria one night and everything was only €5 per person! WHAT?! I’m talking a giant mug of sangria and three large plates of tapas. I got my fill and the sangria, which was my first ever, was fantastic. It wasn’t that boozy, which I actually appreciated. The place was packed and rightfully so.

Another savory place I visited was Charcuteria Desde, which Sam and I passed by on our walking tour. There’s nothing really special about the place other than it’s 176 YEARS OLD! I just snagged a simple baguette sandwich with chorizo ‘cause I just wanted to say I got food from such an old shop. What’s really cool about Madrid is that there are plaques on the ground honoring restaurants and shops that are more than a hundred years old and Desde is a proud owner of one.

Our last savory stop is someplace I didn’t eat. It’s Mercado de San Miguel! This fantastic market is bursting with fresh food, especially seafood. I didn’t eat here ‘cause frankly everything was out of my price range, but maybe in the future I’ll be back. It’s also a fun place to be to see the hustle and bustle.

Now for something sweet! Good ol’ Jessyka took Sam and I to Café de la Luz after El Tigre. This lovely café is kind of hidden, but that’s what makes it THAT much more special. The atmosphere is cozy and cute with an array of seats and couches. I love the gigantic blackboard they had where people just doodle. There are also weird-but-awesome paintings scattered here and there. We all got wonderful chocolaty drinks, but I think the winning drink had to be Jessyka’s bon bon drink which consisted of espresso and condensed milk. I got a thick hot chocolate, while Sam drank a hot chocolate that she got to make herself (as in she got to decide how much cocoa to put in). We also shared a lovely warm carrot cake that didn’t make the picture cut ‘cause frankly it was a blurry picture (I try to only show the nice ones). The waiters at the café were also extremely sweet (pun not intended) and I’d actually like to give a shout out to Paula! Hola!

Another place I got some lovely thick hot chocolate was at Chocolatería San Ginés. This joint is known for their chocolate con churros and Sam and I decided to try the fat churros rather than the skinny ones we’ve been eating every morning at our hostel (no joke, that’s what Way Hostel calls “breakfast”). As messy as it was, it was great. The fat churros reminded me of Taiwanese yo-tiao’s (fried batter that is typically eaten with breakfast). I finished the hot chocolate as well. No one should leave that much chocolate to waste!

I saved my favorite for last: La Mallorquina! This shop is a pastry lover’s delight (so of course I loved it). Right when you walk in, you see shelves of pastries on display. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Some are garnished in nuts, other in sugar. It really doesn’t matter because everything looks delicious. Samantha and I decided to try three of them in one sitting, so we had a Pepitos de Crema, Negritos, and Napolitanas de Chocolate. My favorite out of the three had to be the Pepitos de Crema because I love custard. It basically tasted like a sugar donut filled with rich custard. The Negritos wasn’t that good, but it looked impressive ‘cause of all of that homemade marshmallow inside. Sam personally loved the Napolitanas de Chocolate and it tastes like a chocolate croissant… with more chocolate. On our last day, I also got a Torrijas (while Sam had another Napolitanas de Chocolate). It looks like cinnamon French toast and kind of tastes like it, but I think there was less bread or pastry and more custard. Very good, but very filling and fattening.

If I got to stay in Madrid any longer, I would have caused future-Cindy a lot more health problems. I think the great food made my stay better and I’m so grateful for having other friends studying abroad (yeah, I’m talking about you, Jessyka). After this, I have one more entry about food outside of the UK. I only have three more weeks in lovely London, so I better make the best of it. 

Eating Across Europe (Part 1)

So when I said I was going to blog all about my foodie fun when traveling Europe, I didn’t realize that I had so many pictures. I thought I could fit everything in one entry… silly me. Not every meal was something worth remembering or photographing (one night I just had strawberries for dinner… yay to poor college student living!), but many were. I mean, c’mon you’re in a foreign country and there’s new goodies to be had. So I’m covering half here and then half later, so deal with it ‘cause I have to (you have no idea how much I want to just blog everything at once so I’m all caught up).

Edinburgh, Scotland:

I have a lovely friend, Hannah, who’s studying abroad in Edinburgh and so Samantha and I decided to visit her. Two big things I wanted to check off my list when I was there were: 1. Eat Haggis and 2. Drink Whisky. And yes… both got done! Before I go into that, I want to highlight two places Hannah took us to. First off is The Elephant House. This great café was “the birthplace of Harry Potter” (as they so coyly advertise on their windows, shirts, and business cards). Nevertheless, it was a great café. The food was tasty (got me a brie and bacon jacket potato) and the chai tea was awesome. I may have gone back two more times later. Despite being pretty crowded, it is pretty chill and a great place if you want to write (wink wink) or study—though they don’t have free Wifi. Bummer. The girl’s bathroom has Harry Potter references (one of my favorites was that a toilet had “This way to the Ministry” written on it) and thank you notes to J.K. Rowling scribbled all over it. Pretty awesome. I can’t say the same for the boy’s bathroom ‘cause I didn’t dare to peek inside, but I’m sure it’s just as awesome.

Later that night Hannah took us to Ciao Roma. It’s a cute Italian restaurant on South Bridge and it has pretty spectacular desserts. We all individually got a sundae (mine was new on the menu—popcorn sundae) and Sam and I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. It was MASSIVE. The “gelato” tasted more icy and not as creamy, but I can’t complain. You get this massive decadent tower after all! That was our dinner for that day.

And finally for the haggis and whisky… so I had haggis and tatties (that’s what they call mashed potatoes with boiled potato bits on top) at a local pie shop in Grassmarket Square. The place was cheap and it had haggis, so why not! I have to say, haggis ain’t too bad. It’s like peppery ground meat. Maybe I got lucky. As for the whisky, I stopped by a café that served whisky right before my train back to London. After talking to the server (she kind of laughed when I told her it was my first time drinking whisky), I got 25 mL or Jura whisky. Oh my goodness. The alcohol hits you like a wall… a wall of fire. I can’t say I enjoyed it. It was so overwhelming. I’m glad I tried it though (I had to eat carrot cake in-between sips to make the whole process better… barely better). I can say I had whisky in Scotland! Aw yeah. But never again… (enjoy the sequence of pictures of my reaction).

Wales:

So I got to a wee bit of Welsh food (I took a bite out of my friend’s faggot—that is the name of a minced meat dish), but not much so I don’t have any fun pictures to show other than some from DeGrey’s Café, which was a little afternoon tea spot we stopped by during our drive to northern Wales. I had a strawberry-mango tea with Shropshire Apple Cake, which was just a simple apple and cinnamon flavored cake. The café was cute and all the waitresses were dressed in old-fashioned outfits. The décor was quaint and traditional too.

Lisbon, Portugal:

I love Lisbon. I wish I got to stay longer. It’s such a beautiful city full of color, art and history. Anyways, I’ll blog about it more on my personal blog… this one is for food! So I believe Portugal is known for their pastries. Sam and I shared Brisas. A woman at a bakery recommended it to us and it basically was like a donut, but with this interesting glaze on top. It was thicker than what is typically on an American donut and there was this yellowish coating between the glaze on the pastry bit. I wish I could have tried more, but I can’t live off pastries (or can I?).

Another delectable pastry is Pastéis de Belém! SO GOOD. It’s like custard in a pastry cup, but this simple description doesn’t do it any justice. There’s a similar Chinese dessert that has a more eggy taste, pronounced dan-ta. Pastéis de Belém is much creamier and its pastry crust has this lovely crunch. To add more pizzazz, shower the beautiful dessert with powdered sugar and cinnamon. I had two… I wanted more. It was so cheap too! Just over one euro. Only three people know its original recipe… I want to be number four!

As for food and liquor, at 10:30 am I had a shot of cherry liquor called Espinheira. No, I’m not a drunkard (I have two shots in my hands because I’m holding Samantha’s). On our walking tour, our guide Goncalo thought it would be a good idea to get everyone awake and friendly. It wasn’t too bad! It tasted like cough syrup and there was a surprise sour cherry at the bottom of the cup.

And lastly, let’s talk about Portuguese food as a whole. I got to have two simple but delicious dishes. The first was a calamari dish at Bacalhoeiro and the beef dish was at this little joint hidden in an alleyway (sounds sketch, but we were told those restaurants serve authentic homemade dishes). In general, it seems like Portuguese food is simple, flavorful and healthy. I loved it! Out of all the European countries I traveled in, I have to say that Portugal has the most healthy options.

Oh! One last tip… if you got to Portugal or Spain, do not assume that the bread or whatever appetizer the waiters put at your table is free. They actually charge you if you touch and eat it. I learned the hard way, but I can’t say it wasn’t tasty.

Anywho, Life is calling. I have to apply for internships (sob)… Until next time. 

Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya

Well it was just a happenstance that I went to two nifty breakfast joints before my travels through the rest of Europe, hence the title. I decided that I’d leave all my other food adventures for the next entry and keep this one short and sweet.

So let’s start with Bill’s! On the chilly morning of April Fool’s Day, my friends and I decided we wanted to go see Peter and Alice, a play starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw. Now we expected a crazy line and we knew there were only a few day tickets (for all you non-theatre going folk—which use to be me so I know this little tidbit is helpful—day tickets are tickets you can get in the morning on the day of the show for cheaper) so we got up really early. We left campus at 5:30 am. Oy. After getting our tickets (we were first and the line soon grew crazy long after us), we decided to reward ourselves with an American breakfast. Thalia, a USC friend I made here, suggested Bill’s and I’m sure glad she did! Bill’s is a hipster restaurant nestled near Oxford Street (I later learned that there are multiple Bill’s after spotting one in Cardiff). There were dried peppers dangling from the walls and the furniture all looked beautifully worn down. I had Bill’s Breakfast which included Cumberland sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, and toast! Talk about hardy. One of my friends got the vegetarian option and another Eggs Florentine. I also got Bill’s raspberry, peach and mango juice ‘cause I stayed there for another couple of hours journaling. I have to say the service was EXCELLENT. Super friendly servers who gave me a larger drink for free. There is a shop attached to the restaurant, but there’s nothing much there. Bill’s really focuses on good quality products (yup, I’m talkin’ about the big O—for organic!) and everything was quite tasty (admittedly anything is tasty when you’ve been waiting more than four hours in the cold for theatre rickets). As I mentioned earlier, I journaled here and that’s ‘cause I loved the environment.

As for The Breakfast Club, my friend Karisa brought this place to my attention. We’ve been planning on meeting up all semester (she was on a different program with the British American Drama Company) and finally got to it! There are multiple Breakfast Clubs in London, but we went to the one is Soho. We got half an hour after it opened so we didn’t have to wait to long to get seated (well… we waited like half an hour, but that’s relatively short seeing that a long line formed right after we arrived). We got served by two guys—one was sweet and the other more rushed. The service was okay, but the food spoke for itself. I had the All American, which included pancakes, eggs, sausages, fried potatoes, bacon, and maple syrup (which is oddly hard to find in London). Karisa got vegetarian version. To top it all off, we also had Affogato, which is espresso with vanilla ice cream. The food was delicious. If you don’t take my word for it, you can read thank you notes tucked away in the drawers of the tables and on the walls. Karisa and I left a little note and haiku with a drawing too. They didn’t quite get the American pancake fluffiness right, but I can’t blame them ‘cause UK pancakes tend to be flat and thin. I loved the Affogato and have been wanting to try one, so you can imagine I leapt out of my seat to order one when I saw it was available on the menu. The potatoes were crispy and lovely seasoned as well. I plan to go back before I leave, even if it’s just for another Affogato.

Oh, how I love breakfast. I was never a big breakfast person growing up—I think it has to do with being Taiwanese and the fact that Asians don’t really do big breakfasts—but once I hit college, I saw it’s beauty and possibilities! If you’re ever in LA or San Diego, I have multiple breakfast joints to suggest. Maybe I’ll do an entry in the future featuring SoCal breakfast joints. Only time will tell. 

Eating Out: Taste v. Environment

By golly, do I have a lot to write about. I apologize for the lag (as usual). I’ve been busy with papers and exams for the past couple of weeks and although I tend to procrastinate work by blogging, I was trying to be a good girl and focus. Luckily, my classes are over! I have a couple of papers to complete this week, but I’m not too worried. Let the food blogging begin (or rather continue)!

Needoo Grill is an Indian joint recommended by eat.shop london that’s nearby Queen Mary (where I currently am studying) so I thought I should pop in. I had the lamb korma and needo peshwari naan (which was recommended by the book). Both where pretty good. I’d say the lamb dish is a bit oily, but the meat was tender. As for the naan, I didn’t expect it to be sweet! It wasn’t a great accompaniment with the lamb, but a nice kind of dessert with its golden raisins, yellow sweet paste, and nuts on the top. Sometime I crave that naan. Ooh, and the mango lassi was awesome. A jug of the mango lassi was around £10, which was enough for five of us.

Rotunda is a restaurant that USC paid for after we visited The Guardian’s office. Nice environment next to a canal (great view), but I can’t say the food was fantastic. The set menu was clearly overpriced. I mean look at the mussel appetizer. Disappointing amount of mussels. As for my main braised beef on mash—it was dry. There wasn’t enough beef stock for the dish and the potatoes tasted a bit like the “mash” you buy at Sainsbury Express. All in all, a good place for a date if he/she cares about presentation but not taste.

After that sad review, here’s a happy one for Mother Mash! I hadn’t had bangers and mash in London yet so I had to have this staple and Yelp helped me find Mother Mash. It’s located off of Oxford Street in a little hidden area that has plenty of other restaurants, bars, and shops (like Fornata, which will be talked about later). The price is relatively cheap and the food is excellent. You can choose from two sausages (they have a long list of different kinds), a type of mashed potatoes (again, a long list to choose from), and gravy (another list!). I got lamb & mint and pork & leek sausages with Champ Mash (traditional Irish mash with milk, butter, cheddar cheese and spring onions) and Farmer’s Gravy (red wine, onion, smoked bacon and mushrooms). The menu is fantastic. The mashed potatoes are silky smooth (you can also get a lumpy option) and the gravy was lovely with it. The lamb sausage wasn’t my favorite just because I’m not a huge fan of the gamy taste of lamb, but both sausages were yummy. The whole meal was filling, but Samantha wanted to get something sweet so we shared a ginger bread pudding with vanilla ice cream on the side. Although I couldn’t taste much ginger in the pudding, it didn’t matter because it was so good and gooey.

Fleet River Bakery is a great place to spend an afternoon working and sipping on homemade chai. It’ s just so cute! There’s also free wifi and plugs everywhere, so that’s a plus. Luckily my friend and I got there before a crowd rushed in, but it’s pretty packed. I got a slice of the hummingbird cake, which was lovely—banana and pineapple cake with a light lemon butter cream and she got a gingerbread cupcake.

 

Oh boy… the Borough Market… my favorite market in London. So much food! I’ve already gone there three times (these are pictures from my first visit when I did a food crawl) since I made this collage. The market is huge and it’s great to wander around and try samples of everything before settling on buying dishes. Although I’ve had plenty to eat there, I’d like to highlight the raclette and apple-pear-elderflower cider. In case you didn’t know, raclette is basically a dish with potatoes and melted cheese on top. However simple it sounds, it’s not simple to make. You need one of these special cheese melters that has a base for the cheese to sit on and a top iron bit with fire just flickering at the top. It melts the cheese and makes it bubble and crisp as well. Then the cheese (after melting a bit) is scraped off of the cheese wheel and onto boiled potatoes. So good and filling. As for the cider, it’s the best I’ve had in my whole life. Sadly I can’t find the cider stand the last couple of times I’ve been, but nevertheless I will talk about how delicious it was. So whenever I have cider, it turns out to be just heated up apple juice or too sour. What I loved about this cider was that it was perfectly sweetened and there was apple and pear’s pulp (I know oranges have pulp, but what do you call other fruits’ body?) that reminded you that you were drinking real fruit juice. The combination of pear and apple with elderflower was great because it elevated the usually simple drink. It made it more sophisticated and I wanted to savor it as long as I could. There’s plenty of other food at the market that I didn’t mention (I had fresh oyster the last time I went) and it’s a good thing I don’t live nearby the Borough Market because I would be much heavier than I am today.

Brick Lane Market is also a great place to get a variety of food. I’d say Borough Market is great for quality of food while Brick Lane is good for different ethnic foods. Brick Lane still has quality food… but it’s not quite up to par with Borough (I found out that people have to intensely audition for Borough to get a stall). I enjoyed Ethiopian food to Chinese to “Mexican” (let’s be real: there’s not going to be legit Mexican food in London).

Moving away from market food and to Notting Hill, there’s Ottolenghi. My friend Vera brought me here and I’m glad she did. It’s basically the Lemonade (a restaurant in LA) of London. That means it’s fresh quality food, but expensive. I had seared sesame crusted tuna with pineapple, sesame, ginger and chili sauce with roasted squash with date molasses and lemon sour cream with red onion, ginger, coriander, and sesame, and… braised fennel with buttered pine nuts, chili, ricotta, lemon, fennel sees and rocket. How do you like that for description? We also shared a fruitcake, which was nice. It’s a great place for health nuts that have fat wallets, so I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

I also got to go to the Chocolate Festival in London a week ago. It’s relatively small, but there’s still a lot to see and taste. What was also nice was that there were classes for only £20. Sadly I had papers and exams to prepare for, but I’m glad I just got to visit. The highlight of my visit had to be the sea salt caramel chocolate crepe with chocolate whip. Need I say more?

And if you’re looking for a fun place for a birthday party, I’d recommend Barrio East (apparently it’s a chain because I saw another “Barrio” near Oxford Street). I went for my friend’s 21^st birthday and the environment is fantastic. I love the quirky designs with bright pops of colors. The food was nothing special though. I think I actually got food poisoning from the ceviche (which is disappointing because it was the tastiest thing I had that night), so that was disappointing.

Yumchaa, which is also a chain, is a cute café with organic loose leaf teas. To be honest, I didn’t have anything here. My friend had chai (in that cool pitcher that filters out the leaves when you press its bottom against a cup), but I just had a boba so I wasn’t in the mood for another drink. I did have a whiff of their various teas though and I’m sure they are all fantastic. I just love the quaint environment (and I love how people were playing chess in the corner). It’s a bit stuffy and small, but if you can get a seat you should sit there awhile and have a nice cuppa.

And lastly, Fornata! I’ve been wanting to go to this Italian restaurant ever since I laid eyes on it. It’s ADORABLE. It has this rustic Italian vibe with a bit of a diner spin off and I love its choice in colors (punchy cherry reds upstairs and warm yellows and grays downstairs). The food was nice and light as well. I had the Pizza Quattro Stagioni: mozzarella, proscuitto, artichokes, mushrooms, and olives. It’s not a typical pizza I would order, but it had nice flavors and it was the only pizza that I wanted to dig into on the menu. I’m glad I went and got to just soak in the quaint warm atmosphere.

That’s the one thing about restaurants. Food quality and taste is vital, but so is the environment. I mean can you imagine yourself fully enjoying a pizza in a toilet? Not so much. I found that a lot of times restaurants focus on one or the other and it’s quite a shame. Also, those who have both good food and environments tend to charge a ridiculous amount, which also puts a damper on the experience, don’t you think? If one day I am so lucky to have my own café or restaurant, be assured it’ll be a full experience—good food, good environment, for a good price and most importantly... with good company.  

Ich spreche nicht Deutsches

Hello from Fleet River Café! I’m sitting in a pretty swanky café right now off of the Holborn tube stop and mooching off free internet while enjoying a hummingbird cake (banana and pineapple cake with a lemon butter cream) and homemade chai latte. Yup, life is good.

So I figure that I should write another food blog before I forget, wait another month, and then post a bunch of blogs at once. I tend to do that. So, as I mentioned in the last blog, I went to Frankfurt, Germany! To honest, Frankfurt wasn’t on my “places to go to while studying abroad” list, but my friend Sam (who’s been featured in a few pictures on my blog) has a cousin getting her masters there… so why not?! Free digs and my first out of UK experience. The thing to know about Frankfurt is that it’s actually a pretty small city. It’s the financial capital of Germany and one of the most international cities in Germany as well (luckily Sam’s cousin spoke a bit of German, but Sam and I could get around and order things off menus by pointing), so people speak English if you ask. The day we arrived, Sam and I had been traveling for 8 hours. Now it’s only an hour and half flight from London to Frankfurt, but we dealt with a lot of craziness and waiting around thanks to Ryan Air.

Now to get to the food… I have to start with my favorite place: Kleinmarkthalle! Translation: small market hall. Oh my goodness, I love farmer’s markets and this was a good-sized indoor market filled with sausages, cheeses, flowers, bread, pastries, nuts, olive oils, and more! I was so excited to see all the wursts hanging in stalls and free samples (who doesn’t love free samples? I mean that’s one of the draws to go to Costco, no?). The first time I went was with Frankfurt on Foot (walking tour) and Sam and I got streusel and a gingerbread cookie. When we returned the next day (‘cause we had to… I was not satisfied with the mere 30 minutes from the day before), I got to eat my first wurst (pork sausage—incredibly large in diameter)! I also had a soft pretzel and some other carbs. Oh boy, do I love carbs.

One night, we had a really late dinner at Adolf Wagner, a well-known German restaurant known for their traditional food. The atmosphere was fantastic, probably because it’s what you’d imagine if you were to go to a German restaurant. Glass pitchers with blue decorations lined the walls (what Frankfurt is known for) and there were long dark-wood tables and benches for seats. Everyone looked like they were sitting together and one big party. As expected, there were glasses of beer as well as apple wine at every table. I got to try apple wine and was actually delightfully surprised. I’m not a big alcohol fan (probably because I haven’t had much experience drinking and just started in January—whoo 21!) and typically have a hard time downing anything that doesn’t taste fruity, but apple wine is quite nice. It kind of tastes like beer, but not bitter and actually a bit sour. Oh, and it’s a bit bubbly! As for food, I had my first schnitzel! At Adolf Wagner, the cook hammers out thin cuts of pork and then sandwiches cheese between the piece of pork and thinly-sliced ham. Oh, and the potatoes at the side were perfectly salted and roasted. Sam had a beef brisket with green sauce (typically made from hard-boiled eggs, oil, vinegar, salt, sour cream, and generous amounts of seven fresh herbs, namely borage, sorrel, garden cress, chervil, chives, parsley, and salad burnet). The green sauce is a Frankfurt specialty and was highly recommended by our Frankfurt on Foot tour guide Dave. It’s creamy, yet surprisingly refreshing and was great with the brisket and I even lopped some on top of my schnitzel. You can’t go wrong with comfort food anywhere abroad.

And on our second to last day in Germany, Sam’s cousin took us to Heidelberg. It’s a cute town and known as the most beautiful town in Germany. Before we left, I got to eat a buttermandel-kuchen at a nearby bakery and café. Hmmm… how to describe it? Imagine custard on a fluffy pastry showered with almond shavings. How does that sound? 

At Heidelberg, we all shared a milk chocolate ballen mit nußschokonugatfüllung (that’s a mouthful). For some reason, the taste of it reminded me of this Taiwanese rice-crispy-like snack. It was okay, but really difficult to eat. We had to smash it on a curb to break it apart! I also had a hot cocoa that day (70% cocoa), but other than that… I survived off Haribo gummies. Yup. I decided that to be super frugal and sacrifice my well-being to save some euros for the next day. I basically ran on sugar that whole day.

And thus summarizes my food adventure in Frankfurt and Heidelberg! I have so many papers due in the next few weeks, not to mention a bunch of internship applications I have to turn in. But don’t worry, all this craziness won’t stop me from going out and eating good food (I mean, that’s the whole reason why I’m in this café). I have more food stories to tell and I’m even going to Borough Market later today (famous food market)! Auf Wiedersehen!  

Fahrenheit to Celsuis

Measuring by weight rather than cups? What is this business?! Baking in the UK can be a bit difficult. As to no surprise, I joined the baking society at Queen Mary, University of London (if ya didn’t know, that’s where I’m currently studying). I walked into the society fair (society = club here) and that’s the table I gravitated towards. So for the first meeting, we had to bring our “signature dish.” I don’t have one… or at least I don’t think I do, but I brought cookie dough cheesecake bars ‘cause I got really great compliments for those back home (see ‘Hug from Inside’ blog entry). Despite being a wonderful country full of art, culture, dry humor, and scrumptious chocolate bars (Crunchie bars are the BEST)… they do not have graham crackers! Oh the horror! As an American, I can’t imagine anything else for the crust of a cheesecake. Luckily malted digestive cookies are a decent substitute. However, they aren’t as aromatic and sweet as graham cookies. Shucks.

For the next club meeting, our theme was “healthy.” First of all, I have to say, WHAT THE HEY?! If you’re going to be healthy, don’t bake. ‘Nof said. Baking is about BUTTER and SUGAR. There are healthy recipes, but baking is not for people on diets. Being a student and not wanting to spend money on too many ingredients here, I decided to work with what I had and made a red and yellow plum tart. I used the basic recipe for a tart crust (very similar to a pie crust recipe) and then cooked the sliced plums with cinnamon and brown sugar. I also sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on the crust (yeah, really not going for the healthy theme) to give it an extra crunch. It turned out good, but it was a bit too sour for my taste (I tried to not add too much sugar into the filling), but other people liked it. The filling is really based on your taste (no precise measurements here). If I had more ingredients, I’d probably add corn starch to the filling and maybe other fruit.

Oh! And I got to take a chocolate truffle making course! For the “cheap” price of £49 you can sign up for a chocolate course with ChocolateDelight. Now, this is actually a cheaper option because the other courses from other companies look questionable and dinky and yet charge more. There are also two day courses that go more in-depth, but they are much more expensive and who has two days to kill for chocolate making (I wish I did…). Truffles are fairly easy and it’s all about temperature. I did learn a bit about chocolate history, which was pretty cool. I also got lost and showed up half an hour late (yeah, my map skills are nonexistent), but I didn’t miss much. You can watch a cute and crazy video the instructor made if you’re curious about the general process (musical style!). Also, one fun and simple recipe  I learned was for chocolate crisps (at least that’s the name I’m giving it ‘cause I don’t remember what they are called). Take tempered chocolate (which will cool hard) and mix in a bit of mint extract (or any other flavor you want) and coarse brown sugar. Spread the mixture evenly over parchment paper on top of a slab until it’s about the thickness of the sugar grains. After it hardens, use the back of a knife and run it along the chocolate to break up the sheet. Then crinkle up the parchment paper and the chocolate pieces will easily peel off. This is great for snacking and with tea and coffee.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get really comfortable and use to baking here, but it’s a start! I just have to make sure I convert Fahrenheit to Celsius so I don’t burn anything. Oh, and lastly look out for Delia Smith’s home cooking lessons online! They come out February 28^th and should be wonderful (I went to a recording of the Graham Norton Show and saw her!).

More Than Fish & Chips

I’m in London! So it’s my bad that I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been too caught up with exploring the city and going to plays and events that I haven’t had much time to sit down and write. It also doesn’t help that they have great TV shows streaming here (boy do I love Channel 4—you should check out ‘Black Mirror’, ‘My Mad Fat Diary’, and ‘The Undateables’), so if I’m not out and about, you might find me curled up on my bed watching shows.

So rather than boring you with loads of writing, I figure I should just overload on you lots of pictures (with bits of writing, but I tend to ramble so let’s hope I can keep it short). I mean let’s be frank, you don’t really read all of it do you (and if you do, please let me know so I can bake you something scrumptious)?

First off, let’s talk about a couple of restaurant meals that USC has graciously paid for (well… it’s part of my tuition, but I like to think that USC is actually doing me a favor for once and paying for something). Wagamama is great! Decently priced Japanese-fusion food. Their Wagamama Ramen was delicious and filled with goodies. You know you’ve had a good ramen when you don’t run out of veggies and meat. And then, on USC’s expense, I had a ginger cheesecake (candied ginger pieces were in the cake) with a cappuccino.

Next USC paid meal was a Joe Allen. A set menu. YES! I started out with the mushroom and leek tart with a lovely poached egg on top and Hollandaise sauce. Lovely. The best thing I had on the menu really. I guess tart equals crispy pastry in this country (I was imagining a quiche originally). And I have to say that was the best poached egg I’ve had. Great texture overall (smooth and creamy and crispy). The chili con carne was aiiight. I wanted something hearty and got excited by the fact that there was going to be guac (missing my Mexican food here). And lastly, the dessert wasn’t on the set menu, but I had this peach and berry cobbler. Except it wasn’t a typical cobbler or should I say American cobbler. Rather, it was like a scone placed on top of some stewed fruit. Still good, just not what I expected.

Moving on from USC meals, I got to go foodie exploring here. What I mean by that is I got to use my handy dandy eat.shop london book (I love the eat.shop books! I have one for LA as well). First stop: Rock& Sole Plaice. This is the third oldest fish and chip shop I believe. I had cod and chips (shared it for like £16, but it was a large and you can choose a smaller and cheaper option). It’s not cheap, but it’s the best fish and chips I’ve had since I’ve been here. Not to oily, crispy, the fried batter stays on the fish (I can’t tell you how important that is) and it came with a great sharp tarter sauce. Oh, did I mention the décor is fantastic?! It’s underwater themed and it’s just so fun and tacky. LOVE IT.

 

And there’s the Radisson Edwardian Grafton Hotel. No, it’s not renown for it’s food, but I got an excellent discount (only £10!) for afternoon tea. Typically afternoon tea is somewhere between £20 to £40, but I found this website that alerted me on discounts. One thing I forgot to do was print out the deal (makes sure to do that if you ever use the site so that the restaurant knows what you’re talking about), but thankfully Samantha brought her smart phone with her. There weren’t any fancy teas nor was there champagne, but plenty of finger sandwiches, scones, and mini pastries!

And lastly, Look Mum No Hands! So sadly, I didn’t actually have a meal there (hopefully I will sometime soon), but I did have a good latte. The environment is just so hipster and adorable. It reminded me of LA actually. What is really cool about this restaurant/café is the fact that it’s partly a bike repair shop. The owners incorporated that with their décor and have fun painted gears hanging from the ceiling. There’s also free wifi, so it’s a great place to study. I wish it was closer to my school though! So much effort to get there (when the temperature is as low as it is in London, getting out of your warm room takes a lot of will power).

I’ll be posting more frequently from now on. I figure I shouldn’t let these accumulate. I’ll have an entry about baking and truffle-making soon and I also need to talk about more London food adventures (I literally just got back from having a wonderful Indian meal in White Chapel) and Germany. Ah! How I love food.