Birthday Dinner at Tom Aikens

Another year passes as I edge towards 30. It has been another great year, and anxious to see what the next year has installed for me. To mark this milestone, we had a last minute detour to the 1 star michelin restaurant Tom Aikens situated near Sloane Square. We were very impressed with the restaurant surpassing our expectations and has our personal ranking above some 2 star michelins. The food was all well balanced with complex flavours to tantalise the palette and the service attentive and friendly. Our menu consisted of;

Starters: Roast langoustine, braised pig cheeks with ginger sauce; Pan fried foie gras with roast apples

Mains: Roast turbot, sorrel leaf, samphire, confit of chicken, chicken and olive oil sauce; Seasonal game of venison with beetroot risotto and shallots

Desserts: Warm rice pudding with poached pear; Jasmine brulee with chocolate mousse.

You can see by the menu, we were stuffed by the end and had to take our petit four on the doggy bag. Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us to share some of the experience.

Quiet Weekend

It was a nice sunny London saturday and with no specific plans for the weekend, we enjoyed a late lunch at Sloane Square. The area is always so poshy, mothers in Range Rovers, chauffeured Bentleys and today we saw a SLR McLaren.

On a different note, we did our usual supermarket run and Trent found a potato almost the size of his head! Check this out...

Amsterdam

After a overnight pitstop in Brugge to stock up on some chocolate truffles...mmm... we drove up to Amsterdam. We ticked the box for all the must see things but maybe not did everything we saw... hmmm... We went to the Van Gogh or pronounced Van Gockkk museum, Anne Frank's House, ate poffertjes, saw the tranny's, girlies, and dirty old men in the red light district, saw the coffee shops that strangely did not seem to sell coffee, went dutch on the bill, and tried the dutch oven, plus even had time to see some windmills on the way back to Calais. Too much to report, but here are a couple of pics as it is now 1am in the morning before the start of another work week.

The Square

I was enticed to try 2 star restaurant The Square after having seen their signature dish "Lasagne of Dorset crab with a capuccino of shellfish and champagne foam" on Masterchef: The Professionals. The signature dish was delectable!!! Even with the 3 course option, there were so many palette cleanses that we were absolutely stuffed at the end of the night. For me, I had mixed feelings of being stuffed from the food, buzzing from the chocolate fondant, and happy from the accompanying wines for each of the courses. Chocolate Fondant and a glass of Pedro Ximenez is a winner!

1 Year Anniversary in London

1 year has elapsed since we first set foot in London. In reflection, both of us can say that it was definitely worth it as it has opened us up to more experiences and changed our perspective on life. So, 1 year gone, how many more to go? Only time will tell...

My new toys

We have recently upgraded our compact Canon IXUS 60 to the Powershot SX200 and the Nikon D40x to the Nikon D90. I love my new 24-70mm lens, but I feel the 50mm prime does a better job for my foodie pics.

Anyways, I think its time for some lessons!

Michel Roux Jr, La Gavroche

As Nick & Mel's stay comes to an end, we dine at our last michelin restaurant, La Gavroche. Michel Roux Jr, the son and nephew of legendary Albert Roux & Michel Roux Snr. After several french restaurants, the smell and taste of his Grouse surely left a memorable experience for Nick & Mel. =P