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Well Done, Prince Charles

The New York Times wrote a great piece on Prince Charles on Thursday...the gist being that the guy has done a ton for natural food, both here and in the US.

Can This Day Be Any Better?: Le Sacre Coeur

18 Theberton Street
N1 0QX
Tel: 020 7354 2618

Date of Last Visit: The Most Beautiful Day in a Long Time, April 15th 2007

The Victims: Ben, Gerry, Julie, Renee

The Damage: Yikes! I forget!

What did I do today? I said goodbye to a great friend, I fell asleep in a park, I drank some Blonde beer in the brightest of gardens, and I had the rabbit at Le Sacre Coeur. And it was good. Very very good. And the service was even better. (Although--though I do like the Gotan Project, after the fifth time...)

The Verdict: Go.

Beautiful: The Albion

10 Thornhill Road
N1 1HW
Tel: 020 7607 7450

Date of Last Visit: The most beautiful day in a long time, Sunday, April 15th, 2007

The Victims: Ben, Gerry, Julie, Renee

The Damage: Minor. Beer and nuts!

Sunday the 15th was gorgeous. I don't think I have much else to say but that. Oh, and the beer garden at The Albion is beautiful. It would be even better if they kept the kitchen open all day. Beer and nuts does not a lunch make. And they would be even more better if the staff behind the bar on a Sunday would hussle a little bit. OK, one last thing and I'll shut up--a Sunday afternoon and out of most beers on tap? Who is their operations manager?

Verdict: I will go back for their garden.

An Aside: Dislikes

I used to think I liked everything. I was food-agnostic; hear me roar!

But then I realized I was self-editing. See, there are a number of things I don't like..as I was reminded a few weeks ago at lunch with a bunch of other food bloggers...when the dessert was...

Grapefruit. UUGGGHH. SO bitter.

(OK, it was more than grapefruit. It was grapefruit jelly. Which I had been told would be like Jello(tm), but it was more like a slushy, but then again, I wouldn't know because I didn't eat it. Proceed.)

I don't like grapefruit juice or grapefruit candy or grapefruit anything. And I felt SO bad because Howard has specifically asked if there was anything we don't eat. It never occurred to me to say GRAPEFRUIT. Because I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever even attempted to eat it.

Which got me thinking...what else don't I like? Well, speaking of bitter...

Gin. YUK! Why people like gin martinis, I will never know.

Tonic. (See above. More bitterness!)

Beets. I avoid them. (Although I did have a lovely beet soup at The Acorn House in February that got me thinking, but I still can't bring myself to buy any.)

Tomatoes: Only when they're cut up real small or made into ketchup.

Raw onions: Heartburn!

Brussel sprouts: Does anyone like them?

Avocado: Again, only in small pieces.

Bone marrow. I am afraid. Very afraid! 

Things I do like: tofu, ROAST CHICKEN, smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, broccoli, peanuts (especially dry roasted ones), cashews, pine nuts, foie gras, pesto, a good burger, GRITS!, hummous (with a little lemon), hot dogs (char-grilled, please), lamb chops, apple juice, popcorn, baked clams, barbecued RIBS!, turkey clubs on dark rye, peas, spinach--lots and lots of spinach--prosciutto, refried beans, kaesespaetzle, macaroni and cheese, corn chips, salsa, baked beans, PINEAPPLE!, Granny Smith apples, peanut butter, alioli, unagi (that's eel), blue-claws, barbecued corn on the cob, gomae (um, that's spinach again, but Japanese, with a light sesame dressing), edamame, hard salami (Boars Head, of course) cinnamon raisin toast, pumpernickel bread, DARK RYE, clementines, walnuts in the shell, taro, roasted garlic, banana nut pancakes, jelly beans, peppermint patties, mint chocolate chip ice cream...

I'm sure there will be updates...      

Chinese: Royal China

30 Westferry Circus
E14 8RR
Tel: 020 7719 0888

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, March 28th

The Victims: Niculie, Emiko, Kunal, Danny

The Damage: £30 per person or thereabouts? But we got our money's worth. We ate A LOT. A LOT, a lot. (Which, by the way, is two words. This is a pet peeve of mine. I get upset about it...A LOT.)

The Background: We headed over to Canary Wharf to have dinner with Kunal, who was in town from Chicago for a month and had been eating at Royal China practically every night. OK, maybe not every night, but often enough. Often enough that he didn't need the menu to know what to order.

As someone who tries not to eat in the same places on multiple occasions, I (initially) thought this was a little weird. Wouldn't you get bored of eating at the same place ALL THE TIME? Imagine...the same restaurant, the same waitstaff, THE SAME MENU.

But then I remembered that I do seem to have an unhealthy fascination with the Thai Green Curry frozen dinner from Sommerfields. I could eat that every night.

So Sommerfields and Royal China had me thinking...maybe there's something to be said for revisiting a dependable classic again and again. Because the food we enjoyed at Royal China was some of the best I've ever had. Ever.

The Food: Well, firstly, they bring you salty peanuts and cucumber while you're waiting. This is a nice touch. Given Kunal's familiarity with the menu, we let him order for us. And order he did! The waitress even told him to stop ordering at one point.

When the parade of food began, it became obvious why she had advised halting the ordering procedure. There was no room left on the table! Because we had...

Broccoli type #1
Broccoli type #2 (We couldn't tell the difference, except by color. One was darker than the other.)
Sizzling beef!
Chicken hot pot (my favo(u)rite)
Steamed fish (sole, I believe)
Another type of fish that escapes me, but it was almost like eating lightly fried calamari. (My second favorite dish of the evening.)

And of course, a big bowl of white rice. Well, actually, it ended up being two big bowls of white rice. I can still hear Kunal saying distantly, through a green Chinese broccoli haze, "Does anyone want more rice?"

I wish I had brought my camera to show you how beautiful the 2nd fish was...it was almost like a Thanksgiving cornucopia. It was served in the skeleton of a fish, which had been deep fried. My guess is that we could have eaten the bones...I did try some and they were very crispy. Not bad for fish bones.

And the chicken hot pot (which Kunal explained was the "special" chicken hot pot, not the regular one) was that perfect amount of hotness and so much more. Just enough to raise your temperature a bit! And super super delicious.

The Service: Brisk and efficient and always on the lookout.

The Verdict: I'll be back to Royal China soon as humanly possible.

Pizza: The Yard

140 Tabernacle Street
EC2A 4SD
Tel: 020 7336 7758

Date of Last Visit: Multiple. Most recently, Friday, March 23, 2007

The Damage: Not much! Decently priced.

The Background: I don't know why I keep forgetting to write about The Yard. Because you know, they make a good pizza.

The Gimmick: Pizza for four, served by the yard, with up to four toppings. So yes, one humongously large pizza that takes up pretty much the entire table. Personally, I think it could easily serve five. They also have pastas, but I've only ever had the pizza. I've also tried one of the starters, which is a fun assortment of little things to try like prociutto, different cheeses, hummous, etc.

The Service: Too busy for their own good. Looking everywhere but you. They do a brisk trade at lunchtime, so make sure you get your entire order in--you might even want to order two diet cokes at the same time like me--so that if you are hungry or thirsty later in your meal, you don't need to worry about trying to get someone's attention.

The Verdict: A very dependable place with good food, but spacey service.

Creating Bzz: Become a Bzz Agent

--Shameless Plug Ahead--

So when I first moved to the UK, I read the NY Times online a lot. Actually, I still do. It's how I found out about Typepad. But then one day, I read this article about BzzAgent. And it sounded fun and interesting so I signed up. Only problem was that they couldn't ship anything to the UK, so my mom in Florida kept getting all this stuff for me to review (you know I love reviewing!), and she was stressing out about sending it all to me, and it just wasn't working. So I stopped.

But this morning, I found out that BzzAgent is starting up in the UK! So I am Bzz-ing you all. Now of course, they are having a contest and the person who refers the most people to BzzAgent wins. This is a laborious process of me entering people's e-mail addresses manually, which is a pain in the butt. And to be honest, I don't really want the video iPod. So I am just buzzing you all generically.

Not really sure what a BzzAgent is? In their words...

Agents are everyday consumers who believe in honest word of mouth. In other words, they like to:

• Discover and check out new products, services, books and other cool stuff
• Share their honest opinions with people they know
• Have their input and feedback taken seriously by companies and brands
• Build social capital by being in the know and always having something to talk about

I think it's a cool concept. And there might even be some food to review in all of this. So give it a shot and sign up to become a BzzAgent today...

Italian: Wouldn't You Like to Know?

Top Secret Location
Top Secret Phone Number

Date of Last Visit: 17 March 2007

The Victims: K & A

The Damage: £60

The Background: K&A and I were doing a little St. Pat's pub crawl. A couple of beverages later (alas, the whole town seemed to be out of Guinness!), our thoughts turned to food. They suggested an Italian place--yes, perhaps a strange choice, but we were anxious to escape the massive-Guinness-hat-wearing-folks. They were everywhere. But then they quickly withdrew their suggestion and then quickly changed the subject. Suspicious! What were they up to?

As it turned out, they didn't want to take me there because I might write about it and then the whole world would know about their find and it would ruin everything.

I think K&A vastly overestimate traffic to my blog. If you are curious, here's how the last five visitors found me:

Google Search: Entrecote Steak Paris (One day, I will know their secret sauce recipe. Not that I cook.)
Google Search: Ping Pong Supplier Dim Sum (That Kurt guy is a good businessman)
LTHForum.com (My people)
Google Search: How to debone herring (I honestly don't know)
Google Search: Foot massage near London (Love the Thai place on the Essex Road!)

So I suggested they blindfold me, but a blindfold was not at hand. Instead, I think they tried to get me lost. I swear we went around the block a couple of times.

Well, I agreed not to reveal the address or telephone number or anything too particular to our experience. They did let me take pictures though! Do you know where I am?

 

The Verdict: Great decor. Great service. Lovely food. I'll be back.