Foodie BLISS!

Today i went up to London with The Hubster for a business meeting. While he dealt with the business i wandered around Fortnum & Masons for an hour and ended up leaving with this bounty lol

 

The “Kitchen Linen” is an apron. I really needed one, or so I’ve been telling myself since i got home 😉 I love F&M…its up there with Libertys as one of my favourite shops in London.

Im still on the hunt for my Anchovy Butter so i bought this…

 

In the hopes that if i mash it with butter it’ll give the same effect….i’ll let you know…

Then it was off to Burger & Lobster in Soho for dinner (The Hubster now having finished his meeting) and then back to Piccadilly for a trip round the Japan Centre (a fantastic place, even if you don’t know what half the stuff is used for and can’t read Japanese).

Of course, a trip up to Piccadilly just wouldn’t be right if i didn’t pop into Waterstones (especially if you have a money off voucher burning a hole in your pocket). Their cookery book section is incredible and I’m always spoilt for choice…but i ended up with Harold McGee’s Keys to Good Cooking.

So thats my bedtime reading sorted for tonight 😉

Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium

Spent a lovely morning with my friend Janet at Lady Dinah’s (which if you haven’t heard about is a new cafe in Bethnal Green where you have your tea and cake with a family of cats!). Here’s a selection of pics 🙂

Adam took a shine to us, or was it Janet’s tuna sandwich?

Hamster wheel for cats!

Cat gym bookcase.

Rose flavoured icing.

I loved the mismatched pretty china, the cats (a mum, her kittens and sister, all rescue cats), the decor and the menu (homemade cake!). I didn’t like the fact that we weren’t given the option to sit downstairs (there’s a comfy area with sofa’s down there), that I had to ask for a teaspoon which never arrived (I stirred my latte with a pen in the end) and that you don’t get a receipt or anything when you pay (it would be a nice touch to have something to take away…they didn’t even have a business card I could take).

And as for the cake…

I had the Rose & Citrus which was covered in Rose petals….ooooo, gorgeous!

Anchovy Butter?

It was date night last night, so The Hubster and i went up to London to see a play and have dinner at Brasserie Blanc in Charlotte Street. Im a huge fan of Raymond but i’d never been to one of his new Brasseries…i wasn’t disappointed.

In intimate little Bistro type place with booths for guests, brown paper on the tables (i liked that, The Hubster didn’t) and a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. More Cafe Rouge than Le Manoir 😉

My Chicken, Prune and Almanac Confit was meaty, melt in the mouth but lacking a taste of Almanac (which was probably a blessing for me lol).

And i was shocked to find Kidneys on the menu, braised in red wine. They were served with “smooth mash” that was a bit lumpy but at least they didn’t come rare (something I’m really not keen about when it comes to offal).

 

For dessert i had an Apple Tart with Salted Caramel Ice Cream…ha ha ha…or so i thought… But one mouthful of the ice cream made me realise it was vanilla, so whether they had forgot, or run out? Still, it would have been nice to have told me lol

 

But the highlight of the evening, and something that will have me going back to one of the Brasseries is the Anchovy Butter…Oh my, where do i start? I didn’t take a picture because really, it was just this small unnasuming bowl of pale butter, but when you spread it on the warm bread that came with it…WOW! I seriously wanted a bowl to take home! 😉

Great food, great play, great company, great night…roll on the next one 🙂