Trafalgar Square: Eat Tokyo

This place is pretty much as authentic as you can get here in London when it comes to Japanese food.

Where?

On Whitcomb Street, a stone's throw away from Charing Cross underground station.

What?

This place not only boasts authentic Japanese food, but it has an almost mind-bogglingly huge choice of it, too.

Good thing I came with friends to we could order a whole bunch of stuff and share.

I don't eat prawn so I got to watch and laugh as my two friends struggled with this one!

The thing in the photo above looked frigging amazing in person, and was called something like 'dragon roll sushi'. At least, it definitely had the word 'dragon' in it, and it definitely looked like a little dragon on a plate.

We got a mixed sushi platter, salmon sushi, yakitori and agedashi tofu, too. It was all delicious.

Sushi rainbow!

The Japanese tea was lovely, too. I made quite an embarrassing gaffe: when we were ordering drinks, I blurted out 'a Chinese tea, please.' My friends and the waitress went silent, and the waitress narrowed her eyes.

"Japanese tea," She corrected me. You could actually hear the bold, italic and underline in her voice when she said 'Japanese'. My face went very red, I think.

Embarrassment aside, if you love things like sushi, bento and katsu curry, come here! You'll be blown away by the choice, so if you can, come with friends so you can have a bit of everything.

Chinatown: Longji

Or Long Ji. The character for the 'long' part I know is 'dragon', but I wasn't so sure about the 'ji' part. I looked it up and apparently it's 'remember' or 'note down', so maybe 'longji' means 'remember dragon'? 'Dragon's memory'? Please tell me if you know.

This is where Vicky and I went before visiting the Golden Gate Dessert House.

Where?

Chinatown, London, 47-49 Charing Cross Road. Nearest station is Leicester Square.

What?

Formerly Cafe de Hong Kong until relatively recently, It's a Hong Kong café that offers various noodle-based and rice-based one plate meals, as well as many fun icy drinks like bubble tea and ice red bean drink (the latter of which I had this time).

What, no bubble tea this time? I've actually mentioned this place before in previous posts, and usually to say that they do the best taro bubble tea (which is, as you may know by now, my favourite flavour for bubble tea). However ice red bean drink happens to be one of my favourite fun iced drinks, so I'll just as often order it instead.

Ice red bean's basic ingredients consist of red beans boiled until tender, then served with a glass with plenty of ice, along with sugar syrup and a milky substance (often evaporated milk- which is what I got here). Plenty of versions have coconut milk and/ or condensed milk instead, though. Sometimes it's mixed with cendol (the actual cendol, not the whole dessert), sweetcorn, other things... but then with a lot of other stuff it becomes ice kacang.

Longji is awesome in terms of portion size verses what you pay (and it's one of the more affordable places to eat in Chinatown). It's not haute cuisine, but don't forget you're in a café rather than a fancy restaurant. In any case, it's a good place to sit down and grab a bite to eat. Back to portion sizes though: usually I order their ho fun noodles, but I knew that having ice red bean drink along with a main would kill me (there are beans in ice red bean drink. Beans are pretty filling, y'know.) So I went with an appetiser.

Sticky steamed glutinous rice parcels with chicken.

Even the portion size of this appetiser was quite substantial! I was quite happy.

I was a bit of a noob and tried to eat the leaf wrapping at first. Don't eat the leaf wrapping.

These tasted amazing, sort of like a chicken baozi but with sticky rice instead of a bread bun. With two of these parcels it was more than enough for me, along with the ice red bean drink. Vicky went for the ho fun, and even without a fun iced drink it nearly defeated her.

Don't be caught offguard by the 10% service charge added onto your bill- I've seen one review where someone's been incensed by it and gotten into a hot disagreement with the staff about paying. Personally I think it is a bit awkward to say it's an optional charge but stick it on anyway (which would instantly make you look like the bad guy if you wanted to opt out): then again, I always tip anyway unless service is actually bad, and I've found the staff of Longji nothing but helpful. Maybe it's also because I used to be a waitress, and I know what I long-houred, messy, exhausting and often thankless job it can be. Also, a lot of places put on an automatic service charge on the end of the bill, so it's not just Longji. I'm not saying it's right, but I'm not saying it's unforgivable.

I recommend this place because the food is decent for a café and not too pricey, there's a great selection of Fun Iced Drinks (which I shall capitalise from now on since I seem to be constantly going on about them), and I've always found the staff to be pleasant. It's probably more of a lunch-y place, but I have no problem with going there for dinner in the evening (as I did this time).

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I'll be doing some Japanese food posts soon, for a change!

Chinatown: Rasa Sayang

If you didn't already know, I'm half-Chinese, and my Chinese family lives in Malaysia.

Where?

Chinatown London, 5 Macclesfield Street. Nearest tube station is Leicester Square.

What?

As you can see, it's a Malaysian/ Singaporean restaurant-slash-café. Malaysian eateries are harder to find in London than Chinese, Thai and Japanese places for instance- quite sad for me, since one of this things I love most about visiting Malaysia- aside from seeing my family of course- is the food.

Enter Rasa Sayang. It kills two birds with one stone for me: it offers popular Malay dishes, and scores points on affordability too (a much-prized quality when it comes to eating out in London).

For the main course, I had nasi lemak:

Chicken curry, coconut rice, peanuts, peanut sauce, various veggies and little fried fishies.

This was delicious. It was also really, really spicy. The kind of hot and spicy that makes your nose run and your face steadily go red. In other words, it was perfect. The chicken curry was just like what I remember from previous visits to Malaysia, and the portion size was quite generous- that potato in the far right doesn't look like much, but in real life it was almost the size of my fist (I have really small hands, in case you think this is a bit far-fetched).

For dessert, I had ice kacang (possibly an obvious choice, given that ice kacang is partially known for its colourfulness):

Ice kacang is ice shaved so fine it's like snow, and it usually has all sorts of flavoured syrups and toppings. Rasa Sayang's ice kacang is flavoured with rose syrup and evaporated milk, and also has a rainbow of toppings (well, not really 'toppings'- more like 'bottomings'): creamed sweetcorn, palm seeds in syrup, grass jelly, red beans and cendol (read more about cendol in my Australiafiles post).

Just to recap briefly, cendol is a bit like pasta, flavoured and made green with pandan leaf extract, and often looking a little bit like green worms. It can also be served as its own dessert with ice, coconut cream and syrup.

Rasa Sayang, along with Longji, is definitely one of my go-to places for a cheapish meal when I'm about in the area. Something I keep meaning to try is a drink called a 'Milo dinosaur', made with the malted chocolate Milo drink- anything associated with dinosaurs has to be good, right?

Chinatown: Golden Gate Dessert House

I'm quite backed up on entries and I should really do some of them first before this one, but... dessert house! A place dedicated to dessert! Writing about it straight away is a no-brainer for me.

Where?

Chinatown London, 110 Shaftsbury Avenue. Nearest tube station is Leicester Square.

What?

My friend Vicky was visiting from Germany, so we hit Chinatown this evening and had dinner at Longji (entry soon), and then came here for dessert. Cake. Heaven. Not just cake- Chinese desserts, bubble teas, snow ice, ice cream cakes...  it was so difficult to choose what to have.

So I chose two. (The third belonged to my friend Vicky.)

Good thing I hadn't eaten much for the rest of the day, beforehand.

Vicky (eventually) chose the white one, a yoghurt cake:

Whilst I (also eventually) settled for a pandan layer cake:

... And a little taro mousse cake:

Because purple food is awesome.

They were all delicious- the sponge was like eating sweet and fluffy clouds, the pandan jelly was delicately flavoured and not too sweet, and the taro mousse was gorgeous. It was mostly mousse, but had a thin layer of white sponge buried underneath.

After a bit of digging I put the camera away to enjoy the cake.

They also do a few savoury things, like toasts and sandwiches, in case you're in a group of people and not everyone fancies something sweet- but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who isn't at least a little bit tempted by Golden Gate's rainbow array of cake!

You can also buy large, beautifully decorated celebration cakes, which you can see displayed at the front window:

I think this place is affiliated with Golden Gate Cake Shop on 13 Macclesfield Street (also in Chinatown)- not just because of the shared name of Golden Gate, but also because they seem to sell the same celebration cakes. The Cake Shop's a good place to get buns, but that'll be another entry one day, no doubt.

I used to be a bit scared of visiting the Dessert House- I've known about it for some time, but there was a review a few years ago about the staff being so rude they were borderline mean, so I always bottled out of trying it. I'm pleased to say the ladies there were lovely.

So. If you, like me, love dessert, and happen to be around here, try the Golden Gate Dessert House- just be prepared to spend some time choosing which beautiful confection you want!

Vicky and I got a little bit hyper on sugar, read this entry on my other blog for a short story.

The Australiafiles: Part 6- Kangaroo BBQ

There's nothing quite like sound, smell and taste of lightly charred meats sizzling on a smoky grill

The sixth and final instalment of the Austaliafiles: an Ozzy barbie. With kangaroo. *Insert slight guilt here*

On the final evening of our stay, my Australia-living aunt and uncle put on a barbeque. Barbeques are almost ubiquitous in Oz, even found in parks for anyone to use if they manage to nab it for the day. There was beef steak, chicken wings, chicken satay, baby octopus and, intriguingly, kangaroo steaks and kangaroo sausages.

But why the guilt? Well you see, literally the day before I went to a wildlife park and was practically cuddling them ('You weren't really cuddling them, you were just sizing them up for later', joked one of my cousins). Fraternising with the food, and all that. I'm also an ex-vegetarian, and was veggie for a good eight years. To cut a long story short I wanted to be a vet at school, but felt like it was wrong to cure and eat cows at the same time, for example. When I discovered I'd be a pretty rubbish vet because I'd cry every time I had to put someone's pet to sleep, I started eating meat again. That, and because my hair was starting to fall out because of anaemia. Anyway, I've developed the logic that if you eat meat, you should know exactly where it comes from and the processes through which it ends up at your table- it's a harsh truth, but it makes you appreciate it more, and at least a little more respectful.

I quite liked kangaroo meat- the steak was just a lean, red meat with a juicy texture (and oddly a little similar to ostrich- although this doesn't help at all if you've never eaten ostrich), and the sausages had a soft, almost spongy texture. My cousin's weren't as keen on it- it does have a slightly different mouthfeel and taste to your regular beef steak- but we concluded that often it's just a matter of what you're used to.

That concludes the Australiafiles! One of the things I enjoy most during a holiday abroad is the food (not the only thing, I hasten to point out!), so you could say I had a pretty awesome time in that respect (many thanks to my aunt and uncle who took us to brilliant places whilst we were there). My next trip abroad will probably be to Malaysia, which is where another aunt and uncle live, along with my jia po- so expect to see a Malaysiafiles next year. Until then, I hope this food log has inspired people to go out and enjoy some new foods, and in the meantime I will continue with my food conquests here in old Blighty.

Happy eating!

~Fin~

Tha Australiafiles: Part 5- Baozi

Remember that I mentioned that it was nearly lunchtime in the previous post? This is where we went for lunch a little while after.

There was so much choice of buns and dumplings: chicken, beef, prawn and pork (the latter two I can't have, being Jewish and all- always awkward when you're half Chinese), but mum and I settled for vegetable buns and custard baozi. You order at the counter, and then you're given this strange gizmo here:

Apparently we have these here in the UK too, but I've never seen them.

You go sit down with your receipt and gizmo, and when they're ready for you to collect your food the gizmo goes bananas, red LEDs flashing and buzzing like an angered hornet. Pretty neat, huh? It saves you from hanging around like a lemon and blocking up the walkway.

Nice buns.

The buns came in two separate bamboo steamers, one on top of the other (and a lid on top, which I took of before photoing). On top were the veggie ones, and beneath the custard buns.

Three veggie, two custard

Lots of spring onion, egg, garlic and Chinese mushrooms

Chinese custard buns usually have a thicker custard than the West is used to

It was a bigger than average lunch for mum and I even sharing between us, but I think being on holiday makes everyone a little bit crazy when it comes to food. Was it worth it? Hell, yes.

The Australiafiles: Part 4- Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

A chocolate bar. A café for chocolate. What respectable glutton with a sweet tooth could stumble upon this place and not go in?

Situated in the Piazza area of Castle Towers shopping centre, this place is part café, part dessert bar and part chocolate shop: AKA my kind of place. My mum and I were pottering around the shops and it was nearly lunchtime- but I had to go in.

This guy Mr. Brenner clearly loves his chocolate. When I walked in there was a huge vat of melted chocolate churning away in a machine, and I was confronted by a cabinet of chocolate desserts and a counter of cakes, some of which were sliced as big as bricks. There was quite an extensive menu of more chocolatey things on the wall, including ice cream and waffle-based things, and a large variety of hot chocolates made with (of course) real chocolate.

'Ergh, calories', said mum, scrunching up her nose. It was my cousin's wedding in a couple of days' time and we wanted to look our best: but I didn't want to miss this opportunity, and I knew I probably wouldn't have time to go back to this place. So I compromised, avoiding the enormous cakes and large desserts, and settled for a little cupcake and a dark hot chocolate (and bribed mum's company with a cup of tea).

I loved how even my humble cupcake was dressed up with melted chocolate on the plate! The mug the chocolate came in was also quite cool (the 'hug mug', which you also have the option of buying in Max Brenner's gift shop- also situated on-site). I'll be brutally honest now, and say that the hot chocolate was disappointing- it was thin and weak compared to some of the better hot chocolates I've tried in other places here in London. It was alright- certainly miles better than hot chocolate made from powder- but not as good as I was expecting from a dedicated chocolate place. The cupcake was nice and fluffy and with good flavour though, so that (and the presentation) appeased me.

This is Smidgen by the way- I've had this little rainbow rabbit since I was a baby, and he's travelled everywhere I've travelled, from Scotland to Spain to Sydney. Every new country I go, Smidgen goes with me.

As well as actual chocolates, the gift shop also had a number of cool chocolate-related paraphernalia. I particularly like the fondue-for-one pot. They're a bit pricey, but if you have the money they'd make great gifts.

This time around I didn't really take advantage of the menu- if there's a next time, I'm going to make a point of having a 'dessert for lunch' day, and have one of the amazing-looking and enormous desserts that I saw other people ordering.