Djibouti - home cooking

After a good long run of restaurant visits, it was time to get back into the kitchen due to the lack of restaurants in London serving the food of Djibouti. And it wasn't difficult to decide which meal I was going to cook. Very quickly, during the minimal research I ended up having to carry out, I came across what is said to be the national dish of Djibouti. Skoudehkaris. It was also a prospect that really appealed. An easy, hearty, stodgy one-pot meal which took the best parts from a lamb stew and a lamb biryani and combined them. I was sold.

It had the makings of a simple meal from the short list of ingredients. The fundamental elements were lamb, spices, onion, tomato and rice. I started by frying a mix of ground cumin, cloves, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in ghee. Unfortunately, I was unable to track down ground cardamom and rather lazily added crushed cardamom pods instead. This was later going to taint the dish a little. After 20 seconds or so I added a chopped onion to the mix. Instantly this ended up turning everything really dry, as the spices coated the onions. Rather than risk burning the spices, I only fried this for a couple of minutes until the onions started to soften. 

I then added 600g of diced lamb, and browned the meat with the spiced onions. Thankfully, this added some moisture into the pot. Once browned, I tipped in a can of chopped tomatoes, followed by about 250 ml of water. And this is essentially the basis for the meal. Lid on and simmered for 45 minutes.

After the 45 minutes had passed, there was still a good bit of sauce in the pot. I then added 100g of long grain rice, stirred well and covered the pot again, simmering for another 20 minutes. I checked regularly to make sure the rice hasn't run out of moisture to soak up, but this never happened. In fact, if anything I probably could have added a touch more rice to help the general consistency.

But 20 minutes later, much of the sauce had been soaked up by the rice and the rice was done to perfection. It was time to serve.

Being a pot dish, this meal was clearly best served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. A healthy portion was served, leaving about another quarter of that again in the pot for afters.

As hoped, it was a lovely, filling and very flavoursome meal. The lamb was absolutely perfect - melt in the mouth soft, with much of the fat having disappeared to help thicken the sauce. The sauce itself had some fantastic flavours - a very earthy, distinctive spice to it, with a sweet tomato base. The cardamoms were annoying. Rather than pick them out before serving, I tried to endure them. They had been cooked for so long that they were definitely soft enough to consume. An acquired taste, for sure. I'm usually quite happy to eat a couple in curries, but there were a good few in this dish. It didn't ruin the meal, but it created a slight annoyance which wouldn't have been the case if I had sourced ground cardamom. Still, the cardamom flavour is important in this meal.

Generally, this was a good hearty meal with a lovely flavour. Really simple to make, and really enjoyable to eat.

Denmark - Snaps + Rye

Restaurant:  Snaps + Rye

Location:  93 Golborne Road, London, W10 5NL

Date of visit:  Sunday 11 December 2016

Time of visit:  2.30pm

At one point a visit to a restaurant was looking quite doubtful for Denmark. One option appeared to be a Scandinavian shop that maybe sometimes did some kind of sandwich. Then there was Snaps + Rye. An initial look at the website raised two questions. Was I really going to pay that much for a set menu full of food that I didn't think we would enjoy very much (i.e lots of seafood)? And secondly, was this menu particularly Danish at all?

When I looked closer, I saw that there was also a breakfast / brunch / lunch option. Still fairly pricey, but much more reasonable. Then when I looked more into what Danish cuisine consisted of, I realised that this place was right on the money.

So off we went one Sunday lunchtime a few weeks before Christmas to what was a lovely little cafe in Notting Hill. I guessed it was a good idea to book ahead, and this was absolutely the right thing to do. First of all, this place is really small. Pleasantly so. Snug and intimate. And also completely full at the time we arrived, which admittedly was ten minutes before the time we had booked. We were greeted straight away, but were advised we would have to wait. Rather than give them the inconvenience of us going elsewhere for a short while, and them subsequently keeping and empty table free for us, we gave them the inconvenience of just hanging around by the door, while another couple of diners finished their meal and got their things together!

Finally, the table was vacated and prepared for us, and we sat down to study the menu (some of which is also online). The menu is separated into "Small/Medium Plates", "Plates" and "Sides". Most of the dishes in the small/medium section were available in both sizes. There was also a specials board.

Ten minutes later, the waitress came to serve us. This was quite a feat, as she was extremely busy. To drink, Elle asked for the only bottle of cider on the menu. Of which there was none. The waitress was quick to suggest an alternative of Danish mulled wine, delightfully named "glogg". Glogg it was to be. I ordered the Tivoli IPA, from the Danish brewery.

As for food, I opted for the first dish on the main "plates" menu, titled "Sun Over Goldbourne". This is their version of the Danish dish "Sol over Gudhjem", with Gudhjem being a part of the Danish island of Bornholm known for its smoking houses. And it is smoked mackerel that is the centrepiece of this dish, with egg yolk, rye, pickled beetroot, capers and radishes on a bed of rye bread.

Elle struggled too choose something from the menu, and the waitress did spend some time with her trying to help the decision. In the end, she went for the pork veal frikadeller meatballs, served with artichoke, apple puree, sauted potato and onion.

There was a really nice Sunday vibe to this place. Busy but relaxed. No one was in any real hurry. The service was quick but attentive. This was clearly a well run business, run by a very proud team.

Every now and then toilets are mentioned in this blog. And they have to be mentioned here. I've never really seen anything like it. It was like someone's personal bathroom at home. Very comfortable. Beautifully decorated. I stopped myself from taking a photo! Only just.

After 15 minutes, the food arrived. And straight away the presentation was striking. Quite stunning.

The general, non-fussy, easy to please diner in me was quite taken aback at how small my portion seemed. Especially for the price. But the experience of eating this meal was quite special. Two strips of smoked mackerel were placed next to a lovely salad. All of this on a bed of rye bread topped with a lovely creaming dressing. The egg yolk was delightfully placed inside a ring of red onion. To the side, an array of pickled beetroot and sliced capers. This was a gorgeous meal. So many fantastic flavours, which went fantastically well together. The mackerel was fantastic. Smoked to perfection. The rye bread and dressing provided some real substance. I wouldn't say I was full after this meal, but I was certainly satisfied. It was one of the most enjoyable lunches I have had for some time.

Elle also thought, at first glance, that her portion looked quite small. But she too ended up being satisfied with the amount of food on her plate. She also mentioned the array of many different, interesting tastes. Not all particularly welcome, especially the blue cheese sauce which covered the potatoes. The three substantial meatballs were really nice though, and worked well with the apple sauce.

One thing that really did make Elle's afternoon was the glogg. Her remark was that it made her the "happiest girl on the planet". It was full of hot, juicy berries. Definitely 10 out of 10 for that. Probably just as well they had no cider.

A tiny blot on the customer service copybook is that the waitress forgot to come back and take payment after we'd asked for the bill. But that isn't a gripe in the slightest, because generally the service was fantastic, especially as the restaurant was at capacity.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience. Quite pricey. Quite different. But definitely worth a visit.

Czech Republic - Czech and Slovak Club

Restaurant:  Czech and Slovak Club

Location:  74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX

Date of visit:  16 October 2016

Time of visit:  6pm

The Czech Republic restaurant visit was always going to be another one of those cases where it was going to be difficult to find a restaurant dealing solely with Czech cuisine. This is fairly obvious, due to the formation of what we now know as the Czech Republic. By which, of course, I mean the breakup of Czechoslovakia. I'm sure there must be tiny differences, but generally traditional meals in Prague are almost certainly going to be the same or incredibly similar in Bratislava.

As such, the only real restaurant I could find specialising in Czech (and related) food was the Czech and Slovak Club. If we ever get to the letter "S", and the Slovak Republic, I reckon we'll be here again, eating the same thing!

On researching this restaurant, it was instantly clear that this wasn't any normal straightforward restaurant. This was more of a community centre. A meeting area for Czech and Slovak expats. All within a large Victorian house. Expecting it to be quite busy on a Sunday evening, I called the day before to book our table for two in the restaurant.

From the outside, the only sign that this wasn't another private home set back off a busy road was the Pilsner-Urquell sign next to the gate. Once you walk through the gate, and are able to see through the main front door, you can now tell that this is a different kind of establishment.

First impression: a house. Second impression, for me at least, was that this is a hotel. As soon as you walk into the building you are presented with various doors at both sides into other large rooms, and a small reception-like counter in front of you. After giving our names, I was asked if we wanted to dine in the restaurant. I wasn't really sure of the options, so I confirmed this and he led us past a clearly loud and busy room, with a real buzz, into a cold, completely empty, silent room with over a dozen "reserved" tables. Straight away we both knew this wasn't where we were going to spend the next hour or so.

I asked the waiter if we could eat next door instead, and he seemed almost relieved that I asked. We could eat there, absolutely. But we would have to order at the counter rather than at our table. And we'd have to order our drinks separately at the bar (avoiding a service charge). Sold! Into the busy room we went.

And busy it was. In fact, we couldn't find a free table. Although at the back of this room - which I discovered was the "Meeting Room" - were a few long tables which sat at least 8 people. We joined a couple at their table - those two at one end of the table, and Elle and I at the other. Neither of us imposed ourselves on the other.

The laminated menus - which we picked from up from reception on our way into the Meeting Room - was identical to that on the website. One side is in English, and the other in Czech. The menu was excellent. No starters, per se, but a selection of "bar bites". Plus main dishes, schnitzel and other fried main meals, meat salads, "floury" dishes (mostly potato pancake dishes), grilled dishes and several options in between.

We both ordered main dishes only, with Elle going for the "Czech Club" chicken schnitzel and myself choosing the traditional Czech dish of svickova - roast beef in a creamy vegetable sauce with dumplings. I ordered at the counter (£20 altogether) and then popped next door to the small bar to order our drinks. There was a handful of people in the bar, with about the same number of people outside in the garden (smoking area). The bar was more like a tuckshop that you'd find in a community centre or youth club. A little hatch in the wall. I ordered a glass of white wine for Elle (no options were offered - wine is wine here) and asked for a pint of Pilsner Urquell.

Back to the comparison with a community centre, the whole venue had that feel. Wooden floor. Wooden tables. A loud and echoey room. A pool table in the corner. But I was really relaxed. It feel like a really comfortable environment. We felt welcome. Not out of place at all. I was already really enjoying this experience.

No more than twenty minutes later, the food arrived.

My first impression when my meal came was one of lots of sauce and "bread" and not much in the way of meat. I was quite hungry and couldn't quite see how this was going to satisfy. How wrong I was. This meal was exceptionally satisfying and hugely enjoyable. The camera lies. This meal consisted of two slabs of thick, soft, tender and beautifully tasting braised beef. No fat. Just pure soft beef. The sauce was more like a wholesome, sweet cream of vegetable soup. Thick and creamy. I actually think a bowl of this alone would have filled me up, with hindsight! And the "bread" was actually dumplings. Soft but dense, sweet dumplings which were perfect for mopping up the sauce, the flavours of which really complemented that of the dumplings. Looking at the picture, there is an addition I've yet to describe. Yes, that is cream. It is indeed on a bed of jam. Which is actually sitting on a slice of lemon. I certainly didn't expect that, but I rolled with it! 

It's not very often that I don't finish a meal, but this was a tough talk. One of the most deceivingly substantial meals I've had in a long time. 

To the eye, Elle's meal was more familiar. Schnitzel is common across Central Europe, but each country adds their own unique twist. In this case, the schnitzel was topped with cheddar cheese and spicy BBQ sauce. The chicken itself was beautiful. Hot and clearly very freshly cooked. The coating was lovely and crisp. The BBQ sauce worked really well with the cheddar cheese, which in turn went perfectly with the raw onion and pickled vegetables on the side. The cheese and onion made the meal what it was. Elle wasn't too keen on the pickled veg, was was mostly small sliced gherkins, so those ended up on my plate! Elle's only other slight complaint was that it would have cost 50p extra for tomato sauce. She declined. The chips were chips. Good chips. Nothing special. Nothing unexpected. 

We started to realise that we actually appreciated the fact that, other than the food being brought to the table, there was no table service. This meant there was no waiting around for the plates to be cleared. No frustrating wait to pay for the meal. It was already paid for. Ideal.

Rather than leave the club, we decided to pop back into the bar and have another drink. This time we both opted for a pint of Budweiser. The proper Czech stuff. The bar is very decently priced, especially for the lager all being imported.

Overall, this visit was a lovely surprise and very unique. Highly worth a visit.

Cyprus - Kolossi Grill

Restaurant:  Kolossi Grill

Location:  50-60 Roseberry Avenue, London, EC1R 4RR

Date of visit:  17 September 2016

Time of visit:  7.40pm

Having just returned from a week in Corfu, we were expecting more fine Greek food during our next restaurant visit, as we headed for a Cypriot restaurant. There are a handful of Cypriot restaurants and takeaways in London, including a couple of Turkish establishments (of course the northern part of Cyprus is controlled by Turkey) but I opted for one of the higher rated and more authentic looking Greek Cypriot choices.

We arrived just after 7.40pm, without a prior booking. This didn't cause a problem as the restaurant wasn't too busy. That said, there was already a nice little bit of a buzz in the restaurant, which was helped by the cosy interior and decor.

We were seated by the waiter straight away and the menus came quickly afterwards. We didn't have to wait long at all before we were served. The menu itself is quite extensive, and reads pretty much like any Greek restaurant's menu would. Indeed, I couldn't quite be sure if there were any exclusively Cypriot dishes on the menu. Nothing stood out as such.

To drink, I opted - naturally - for a bottle of the Cypriot beer, Keo. Elle did the same.

For starters, I picked the dolmadakia - vine leaves stuffed with minced beef, tomatoes, rice, herbs and tomato sauce. Elle went for the haloumi (sliced then char grilled).

I asked for the lamb kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb shank) for my main dish, something I really enjoyed earlier in the month in Corfu. Elle opted, surprise surprise, for the mixed kebab. I might actually go back and count how many times she has gone for the "selection of mixed meats" option so far during this project. I reckon at least 40% of the time!

We were upsold some pitta bread too. Usually we would politely decline, but the waiter's upselling tactics, although subtle, were effective!

The interior of the restaurant was quite quirky. But seemingly authentic. Vines and hanging baskets adorned the walls and ceiling. Lighting inside the restaurant was modest - not invasive but also not too dark. Greek music played.

As we waited for the first of our two courses to come, a complimentary dish of carrots, green olives and green pickled chillis (like those you get on the top of a doner kebab) arrived at the table, which was a very nice touch.

The starters arrived promptly. My vine leaves were steaming hot and clearly very freshly prepared. The meat was beautiful and not too dry at all. The flavours were fantastic, as was the tangy tomato which was poured above and below the vine leaves. This was an appetiser in the truest sense, as I really anticipated the main meal as soon as I had finished the starter!

Elle's sliced haloumi was well grilled, which really added positively to the flavour. The texture of the cheese perfect. Not too rubbery or squeaky. No gimmicks or fancy stuff with this dish. Just four generous slices, and some fresh cucumber and tomato on the side.

It has to be said at this point the bread, which we were pitched earlier, was fantastic. Clearly freshly baked on the premises and a great addition to the starters.

To the mains. And one of the best lamb dishes I have ever had. And this was after saying the same about the same dish in Corfu just a few weeks prior to this. The lamb was incredible. Just fell off the bone into gorgeous melt in the mouth chunks. The shank is roasted for at least four hours, and you can tell. So amazingly tender. It didn't really come with any gravy or sauce, but the lamb was so succulent that there was nothing dry about this dish. The chipped potatoes on the side were also very enjoyable. Really tasty choice of potato and delicately salted, which went perfectly with the meat.

Elle's main was, as always is with her regular choice of grilled meats, very dry. Something which didn't help this was the fact that half the plate was rice. Dry rice. But the dish is what it is. The selection of meat was very good. The meatballs were very very tasty. The grilled pork was smoked and very flavoursome indeed. The small spicy sausages were excellent. The chicken kebab was standard. Nothing special. The slice of lemon with this dish was a good touch. It was certainly a very filling selection, with no surprises.

By the time we had finished dinner, the restaurant had filled quite nicely. Despite there only being one last table available, the waiting staff were in no real rush to clear our plates. With hindsight, they were probably being run off their feet. Otherwise, the service was generally excellent. I'll forgive the fact that they didn't wish us goodnight as we left!

Overall, this was a very good experience. One of the most pleasant restaurants we've been to recently, with friendly service and fantastic food to match.

Cuba - Escudo de Cuba

Restaurant:  Escudo de Cuba

Location:  20 Stoke Newington Road, London, N16 7XN

Date of visit:  29 August 2016

Time of visit:  6.30pm

With the aim of trying to build a bit of momentum again with the project, Elle and I took advantage of Bank Holiday Monday to make our next visit to an A-to-Z restaurant. This time, Cuban. Of the handful of Cuban restaurants in London, I could only find one that was not part of a chain and had an authentic menu. Escudo de Cuba was our destination.

Or at least I thought it was. The website suggested as much. As did my booking via a third party service. But a check on Google Streetview showed the previous "Escudo de Cuba" signage covered up a large "CUBA LIBRE" sign. Had the restaurant changed name? Changed hands? Was it even still a restaurant? We took the risk.

On arrival, the same menu from the website was displayed outside the restaurant, which put my mind at ease. It was a warm and sunny evening when we arrived, so some drinkers and diners were outside the restaurant. As we walked inside, we found it three-quarters full. We also found no one around to greet us or take us to a table. So, despite booking ahead, we just found the next free table and sat down.

With that said, the menus were brought to us almost instantly, so our arrival didn't go unnoticed. Shortly after that, two complimentary small bowls of fried plantain chips and green olives arrived, which was a very welcome touch.

One thing this place did have was atmosphere. You could almost believe, if you didn't look out onto Stoke Newington Road, that you were in Havana. The decor. The smells. The music. We spent two weeks in Cuba some years back, and were recognising much of the music that was being played, which helped take us right back there.

After some mulling over, we decided on what we wanted. We certainly had plenty of time to do that, and change our mind. And change our mind again. It took quite a while for anyone to come and take our order. Well actually, not strictly true. Almost always, when we go for a meal and the waiter/waitress comes to take our order, Elle is generally not ready yet and sends them away "for a few minutes". The issue with her doing that is that the waiter/waitress tends to take ages to come back to us. And that's exactly what happened here!

Eventually, we got to order. To start, we picked three empanadas to share. For mains I ordered the Ropa Vieja a la Cubana (shredded beef in red wine sauce) and Elle went for the Plato Cubanito (chicken and pork in cumin and orange marinade). To drink, Elle opted for a glass of Chilean sauvignon. I was really looking forward to a bottle of Cristal lager, after living on the stuff in Cuba. They had none. I was offered another Cuban beer, "Cubanisto", which I agreed to, as it was also on the menu as "Cuban". I was dismayed to find it was actually the creation of the largest multinational brewery in the world. It was as Cuban as a bottle of Irn Bru. Genuine mis-selling.

We already guessed that we'd be waiting a little while for the empanadas to come, and we weren't disappointed. Well, we were. You know what I mean! It was a fair while before they arrived, which made me hope that they were fresh rather than reheats from earlier. And fresh they were. Piping hot, but lovely a crisp crust around the outside. The fillings were chicken, pork and vegetable. They had a lovely spice to them, and were served with a green salad and spicy salsa. (Picture above is of each of the empenadas, and portion of salad, halved!)

Time to wait again. This time, for 45 minutes which was verging on ridiculous. The restaurant remained around three-quarters full for our stay. It certainly didn't appear to be understaffed. I also noticed that for as long as we didn't have food, no one else really did either. Then ALL the food started coming out at once, which to me suggested potential issues in the kitchen.

Additionally, for the entire duration of the visit, I noticed the bar was 90% covered with what must've been close to 100 dirty glasses and plates, that never seemed to get cleared. Leaving the barman with a tiny patch of remaining surface area to mix his cocktails and pour drinks.

Like with the starter, I hoped that the quality of the mains made the wait worthwhile. Before we even got to the quality, the temperature instantly let us down. Elle's entire meal was lukewarm at best. The meat on my plate was hot, but the rest was barely warm. This was really disappointing, on top of the general experience up to this point. We debated with each other whether we were going to raise the issue. But God only knows when we'd ever see our food again if they took it away. We opted to simply deal with it.

I have to say, my shredded beef was really lovely. A fantastic portion, with generous amounts of herby red wine sauce which added to the really juicy helping of meat. It was served with herbs, tomatoes and peppers, and a side of rice and black beans which helped mop up the sauce.

Elle's chicken and pork had good flavours, with obvious orange coming through. It was served with black beans, rice and vegetables. But she found it difficult to enjoy fully due to the now cool temperature of the meal in general.

Just after we finished our meal, the couple beside us had started to complain about how long they had been waiting for their food. They received an apology, and were told their drinks were on the house. Part of me, clearly, wished we had kicked up a fuss. But that isn't our style. We just won't be back.

Which is unfortunate, as the food was really good. It was probably even better than it seemed. But the way the food was treated didn't do it justice. There was clearly something amiss when we visited. I can't imagine it is always like that, as it is clearly a popular restaurant. But I'll be off to one of the chains next time I fancy a Cuban experience.

Croatia - Riviera Bistro

Restaurant:  Riviera Bistro

Location:  265 High Street, London, W3 9BY

Date of visit:  2 July 2016

Time of visit:  8pm

The project stalled a little in the lead up to this restaurant visit. We originally attempted to visit the restaurant over a month earlier. Admittedly, we didn't phone ahead and we paid the price for that. On arrival, the sign in the restaurant door said "Closed". We did see a couple of diners inside, so we still enquired. We were told by an older gentleman that they were about to close the restaurant as he had to fly to Montenegro! So that was that.

At various points during the next month or so we called the restaurant to book, but no answer. I was starting to give up hope, and resigned myself to the fact that the only Croatian restaurant in London may have closed. Then, finally, Elle called, a lady answered, and we booked a Saturday night slot.

On arrival, it appeared we had booked the only slot. We were the only diners in the restaurant from the time we arrived until the time we left. But what happened in-between made this one of the most enjoyable restaurant visits of this project so far...

From the start we knew the service was going to be very special. The waitress made us feel very welcome as soon as we arrived, and was quick to bring us the menus and offer us a basket of bread to start - which we accepted.

A basket of lovely light sliced bread with small blocks of butter arrived in no time. Also, on every table, there was a rather expensive looking bottle of water. Unopened. And unopened it remained. The table settings were lovely, as was the restaurant itself - decorated with many pictures and mementos of the Dalamatian coast of Croatia, the cuisine of which this restaurant specialises.

Thankfully, we didn't mull over the menu too long as we had a sneak preview of the menu online. I ordered the hladi pladanj (cold meat with olives) to start, followed by the pasticada (braised beef in red wine sauce). Elle went for prezeni kolutici odlignke (calamari) to start followed by svega po malo (mixed grilled meat). Plus a bottle of white wine to share.

Elle did ask the waitress what kind of meat was in the grilled meat platter, just to make sure there wasn't anything particularly unusual on there. Her mind was put at rest by the waitress' assurance that it was all standard meats.

With hindsight, it took some time for the food to come out. However, it certainly didn't feel that way as we spent the whole time in full conversation with the waitress who, to be fair, didn't really have much else to do anyway with Elle and I being her only customers. But the conversation was friendly, interesting and insightful. We spoke at length about Dalmatia, Croatia and Montenegro, and about the former Yugoslavia in general. We spoke out our families, we discovered that she had many children, and that her husband was the gentleman we spoke to a month ago and was currently in the kitchen cooking our dinner.

She told us about the business, and how - admittedly - they were struggling, despite having been in the current location for five years. It turns out she and her husband have ran restaurants all over London for the last few decades, and this was the first time they had owned their restaurant outright.

She seemed genuinely interested in us and what we had to say, and she certainly had much of interest to talk about in return. And then, at some point, came the food which almost seemed secondary to the experience by this point!

I rarely go for cold starters, but this one really appealed. I like cold meats, but I'm also really into olives these days after spending most of my life avoiding them. A rather full plate arrived with a very generous offering of two types of sliced salami, prosciutto, sundried tomato stuffed olives, a couple of pieces of goats cheese and very fresh tomato and cucumber. The portion size looked daunting, but it was just right. The meat was very flavoursome, and the olives were just fantastic. Fresh, firm and juicy. As was the rest of the salad selection. It was exactly the kind of thing I could imagine eating at a seaside restaurant on the Dalmatian coast.

Elle's starter portion looked less generous, but still more than ample for a starter. It was clear to see that the calamari looked beatifully cooked, light and crisp. And this is exactly how it was to the bite - spot on. The squid itself very soft to the bite. Again, with a lovely side salad and gorgeous creamy dressing.

I had high hopes for the main dish, especially on the strength of the description on the menu. All those hopes were pretty much realised as soon as the dish arrived on the table. The meat look exceptionally good. And presented on a lovely rectangular plate (worth noting again that the presentation of the tables, the restaurant and the food was fantastic). The beef was even more amazing that I thought. Three thick melt in the mouth slices of the most tender beef, in a rich red wine gravy. Garlic and cloves were pushed into the soft meat, giving it an even more distinctive flavour. It was served with gnocchi, of which I've never been much of a fan. Until now. This was beautifully soft and worked so well with the red wine gravy. This was one of the most enjoyable meals I have had for some time.

Elle is a meat fiend. As such, she often goes for whatever on the menu involves the most meat. Especially several meats. When something is offered as a "mixed meat platter" I can usually guess that's what I'm going to see come to the table. And I wasn't wrong. The only thing about that is that... meat is meat. There's only so much you can do with a grilled meat platter. Elle has chosen such a dish a few times before in this project, particularly with south east European countries. And each time it's all quite similar. A plate of grilled meat. Which is exactly what this was. Not to say that it wasn't good. It was just a little predictable. A selection of pork, gammon, lamb and beef burger. With the unexpected addition of calves liver. Served with sliced roasted potatoes, fresh vegetables and a red pepper paste. Very well presented and well cooked. The meat was almost all reshaped from minced meat. Elle left the calves liver, as she doesn't eat offal. The waitress was a little surprised that she left it, as it was - according to her - one of the best cuts on the plate. When Elle asked at the start of the visit if the platter had anything "unusual", this is where we could have avoided the wastage if the presence of offal was flagged up. Anyway, no harm done to what was an enjoyable main meal.

Overall, the portions left us absolutely stuffed. As we paid, wrapped up our conversation with the waitress, and headed for the exit, she invited us to stay a little longer and join her at the bar, at the back of the restaurant. There, she told us we had made her night, and she poured us - and herself - some orahovac, a thick, black, strong brandy made from pressed green walnuts. On the house.

A fantastic digestif after a wonderful meal, and a lovely way to end what was one of the most enjoyable experiences so far in this project.

As for how much it cost overall... I can't remember. It's not important. You can't pay for nights like this.

Costa Rica - Home cooking

Breakfast for dinner? I was quite happy with that prospect!

Due to a lack of Costa Rican restaurants in London (in fact, the only one in the UK seems to be in Yorkshire!) it was time to head back into the kitchen and cook the national dish of Costa Rica. However, it did set off a little debate in my head. The national dish is gallo pinto. Traditionally served as breakfast. Is it acceptable to serve breakfast as an evening meal, or should I be looking for something a little more suitable.

I did have a good search for a decent alternative, but in the end I broke with convention and got to work on evening breakfast. 

Gallo pinto means "spotted chicken". This meal has absolutely nothing to do with chicken. Not even the egg (pictured) as this is optional. Gallo pinto is effectively seasoned rice and beans. Anything else is additional and discretionary. 

The recipe I used calls for "black beans", so I bought a pack of black turtle beans and pre-cooked 240g of them in water, in readiness for the next steps.

Also in preparation, I cooked 250g of white rice.

While the beans and rice cooked I fried half a chopped onion, 1 chopped red chilli and 1 green pepper in some oil for three minutes. Then I added 2 chopped garlic cloves, and fried a little more.

Now it was time to add the cooked beans with no more than 60ml of chicken stock (from a cube, in this case) and brought this mixture to a simmer. Finally, the rice was added and mixed lightly. It's important to make sure you don't mash the beans at this stage. Mix gently.

After stirring in some salt, pepper and fresh coriander it was ready to serve, topped with some sour cream. 

Obviously, this on its own wasn't going to tick the box for our dinner. A common serving suggestion is to serve with a fried egg. Which I did. In fact, it was the first time I had EVER fried an egg. I am 33 years old! I decided to go all the way and fry some bacon to go with it too.

The verdict? Absolutely delicious. Surprisingly apt for a breakfast. Much lighter than you would expect. The rice took on just the right amount of spice. Not overpowering, which wouldn't be right for the first meal of the day, but definitely present. In fact, the rice alone was perfect but also went fantastically well with the egg and bacon.

As much as I love a good fry-up, I would be quite happy to wake up to this every now and then!

Congo (DR & Rep of) - The Bash

Restaurant:  The Bash

Location:  71 West Green Road, London, N15 5DA

Date of visit:  12 March 2016

Time of visit:  8pm

For the first time since this project began in 2009 we have combined two countries in one visit, for fairly obvious reasons. I have tried desperately to find out if the cuisine of the Democratic Republic of Congo is at all different from the food of the Republic of Congo. Nothing suggests that they are anything but identical. And as they both come together on my reference list of sovereign states (under C for Congo) I decided this visit would cover both.

There are a handful of Congolese restaurants in London. I settled on one of two on the same street. I actually decided to go for the option further along West Green Road, called Okapi, as they seemed to have more traditional Congolese dishes on the menu. I texted the restaurant to book a table a few days in advance, and received a confirmation. However, on the day of the planned visit I received another text informing me that due to refurbishment they were unable to open that day.

A little disappointed, and slightly suspicious, I decided we'd just go for the other, closer, restaurant on that street. Again, I tried to book a table for two on their website but never received a response.

We arrived just before 8pm on a Saturday night, and instantly doubled the number of diners when we walked in. No need to book then. The waiter saw us to a table, and quickly presented us with the menus. Straight away we could tell this guy was a courteous professional, and this remained the case throughout the visit.

The menu itself was fairly limited in variety - a handful of starters, a little more in the way of mains, and about the same choice of side dishes. The emphasis for main dishes was on meat and fish, with little in the way of sauce in accompaniment. The sides consisted of different types of potato, plantain or cassava bread.

As for drinks, I couldn't see any evidence of local African lagers, although Nigerian Guinness and Dragon stout were on the menu. Most lagers had two prices, but it was unclear if those were different measures of draft, or bottle sizes. Wine was pricey - £7 a glass.

As we looked through the menus, we took in the environs. The decor in this place was incredible. Huge faux-crystal chandeliers, detailed patterned wallpaper, silver wall decorations, elaborate fixtures and fittings. There was a Congolese music performance displayed on many TVs and pumped into the restaurant. The same performance lasted our entire visit and was actually quite entertaining. At times it was so loud we felt like we were directly in front of the stage. Unfortunately the mic feedback during the performance was often piercing in the restaurant!

We got to ordering. Elle and I both went for lager - Heineken for me, Bud for Elle. We didn't specify which size, just leaving it to see what we got. As for food, I ordered half a chicken and Elle went for the "barbecue (taba)", which was lamb, on the suggestion of the waiter. For the side dish we went for the "3 in 1" - a plate of roast potato, roast sweet potato and plantain.

The waiter left the restaurant. Then came back with the drinks. We're almost certain he bought them at a nearby off-licence. Impressive markup at a resell price £6.50 for a 660ml bottle!

Shortly after that, he returned from the kitchen to advise that my chicken would take at least 25 minutes to come. I got the impression he expected that I would just go for something else, but I was happy to wait. I was getting pulled in by the music on TV!

As we waited, the restaurant gradually got busier. It is open until 2am, so I dare say this was still very early for most. 

The toilets are worth mentioning, and that is rarely the case. You needn't miss any of the performance on the main restaurant TVs, as there is a TV in the bathroom while you sit and do your thing. Or if you are standing, doing another thing, you're also covered with a TV above the cistern. Green LED lighting illuminates this single unisex facility. Mind the remote control perched on the sink as you wash your hands...

In reality, the food took almost 40 minutes to come but this wasn't an issue. Elle's BBQ lamb came first - a large plate very full of bitesized pieces of dry lamb on the bone, topped with fried onions and a small pot of mayonnaise. My chicken was also barbecued, clearly with some kind of coating, and also topped with fried onions. The side dish of potatoes and plantain was decently sized. The waitress who brought the food returned to ask if we wanted chilli sauce. If only she knew how much we wanted this! She returned with a small pot full of oily chilli sauce. 

The half chicken was a good size, and cooked absolutely perfectly. No pinkness at any point. But absolutely not overcooked anywhere. The skin had a great seasoning and grilled taste, and the meat was succulent and plentiful. The onion topping was welcome touch, and offered a contrasting flavour. 

Elle's lamb was very impressive. The portion was more than generous, and each piece of lamb was full of meat, albeit fairly fatty. Each piece needed a good bit of attention to eat around the fat and bone, but the meat was really tasty. It's fair to say there was more than a hint of cooking fluid (read: paraffin) which infused itself in the taste of the meat, but it wasn't too off-putting! 

One of the most impressive parts of the meal was the side dish. The plantain was absolutely perfect. Not at all greasy or oily. Just beautifully done - the best we've ever had. The potatoes were done to similar perfection.

Overall, this was a really satisfying meal. Maybe a little pricey for what it was at just over £40 overall, but the portions reflected the price. The service was exceptionally good and very attentive. And the overall atmosphere and presentation of the restaurant really added to it.