Comments for An American in London

Comment on My Old Place, Spitalfields by American in London

American in London — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:11:02 +0000

Andy, Gourmet San and My Old Place do, indeed, share owners. I agree with you that the quality of dishes on the menu varies enormously. Part of the problem is that the menu is (too) huge.

Comment on Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France by American in London

American in London — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:09:35 +0000

Hi Su-Lin, I haven’t eaten at enough socca places in Nice to tell whether Chez Rene serves the best version, but I do like it better than at the place around the corner on Place Garibaldi, which also gets a lot off press. Chez Rene has a chill atmosphere, and the socca seems (to me) crispier than it is around the corner.

What I really want to do is learn to make it at home – always nice to import a little French Riviera sunshine these days.

Comment on Kai Restaurant (Chinese), Mayfair by Dragon Castle, Elephant & Castle « An American in London

Dragon Castle, Elephant & Castle « An American in London — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:06:41 +0000

[...] just eaten at the Michelin-starred Kai earlier that week, I was especially astounded by how inexpensive all of Dragon Castle’s menu items were. Jon [...]

Comment on My Old Place, Spitalfields by Andy

Andy — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:43:28 +0000

Hm… as far as I’m aware, Gourmet San and Lao Di Fong (My Old Place) are both run by the Pakistani/Chinese couple

I remember when Lao Di Fong just took over the lease from “Thai Thai” restaurant, the chefs hadn’t quite got the hang of cooking Dongbei cuisine instead of Thai, lol

I’m still leery of some of the dishes, but the chinese peeps i’m with just devour the stuff

Comment on Kei Matsushima (Nice) & Le Pre Catelan (Paris) by Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France « An American in London

Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France « An American in London — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:16:20 +0000

[...] in love with socca, which is chickpea flour in its most evolved form (a crispy pancake), and we had a good dinner at the restaurant Keisuke Matsushima. So last weekend, when we found ourselves in Nice again, we [...]

Comment on Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France by Su-Lin

Su-Lin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:02:58 +0000

Oooh, socca! I’ve always wanted to try it but will need a trip to South France for that. Is this considered the best place in Nice for it?

Comment on Dining on the French Riviera: From Socca to (Michelin) Stars by Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France « An American in London

Chez Rene Socca and Restaurant Saison, Nice, France « An American in London — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:07 +0000

[...] On our last trip to Nice in May 2007, we fell in love with socca, which is chickpea flour in its most evolved form (a crispy pancake), and we had a good dinner at the restaurant Keisuke Matsushima. So last weekend, when we found ourselves in Nice again, we decided that rather than try something new, we’d seek out Chez Rene for socca, and then we’d drop by Restaurant Saison, the latest restaurant by Monsieur Matsushima. Chez Rene Socca in Old Nice [...]

Comment on Shilpa Indian Restaurant, Hammersmith by Sush

Sush — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:58:13 +0000

Hi,

This looks really interesting. I had no idea that London had some place as tempting as this one. I wonder if there are equally interesting hotels for stay in London!!

Comment on India Day 2: On the Road from Jaipur to Agra by Leake

Leake — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:52:35 +0000

You do get points for being generous about your travels in India. It can be hard travel – the stuff of Orwell. All the same they are great merchants and negotiators, especially once they know where you are from… Local prices are usually 1/5 of any western price, so there you are. But how the extra margin gets spread around is really interesting – your driver/guide gets a cut, the hotel gets a cut, the booking agency gets a cut, etc. So the practice works in reverse – up the chain, not down to the children, etc. who produce. The best thing you can do for the children is to leave your hotel on foot with bags in hand until you find an independent taxi company – negotiate directly with them and proceed on your way. Give the children you meet in the streets something directly, and avoid the scamming shoe shine kids who flick manure in the air to make them foul.

Comment on Koba, Soho by 3hungrytummies

3hungrytummies — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:46:36 +0000

hey been cooking some korean food too if you are interested check this out

http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2009/10/korean-bbq-gogi-gui.html

http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2009/10/bibimpap.html

Comment on Restaurante Jose Maria, Segovia, Spain by everythingaviation

everythingaviation — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:04:03 +0000

My gosh, I am going to get on a Delta flight to Spain and get that suckling pig. Amazing!

Comment on La Petite Cuisine, Cassis, France by An American in London

An American in London — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:32:38 +0000

Jen – I just read your post on your visit to Cassis 13(!) years ago, and of course given how old the port is, I am unsurprised the town looks the same today. I don’t know if La Villa Madie was around in 1996, but its interior looks very new, and I read somewhere that the chef-owner, Jean-Marc Banzo, opened La Villa Madie *after* the success of Le Clos de la Violette in Aix.

Mr. Noodles – Good eye. The French do have a thing for all things Japanese, so throwing in Chinese wouldn’t be a stretch (and it is the country that gave us Chinoiserie, of course).

Comment on Restaurant Pierre Reboul, Aix-en-Provence, France by funthyme

funthyme — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:35:38 +0000

Thanks for clearing that up, I would never have guessed. That is a truly ridiculous plate of food but at the same time it makes total sense and I desperately want to eat it.

Comment on Restaurant Pierre Reboul, Aix-en-Provence, France by American in London

American in London — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:40:53 +0000

funthyme – You have an eye for detail. Indeed, there was a petits pois “creme brulee” that our server lit on fire to create a crackly sugar crust. Beneath the crust was a bit of mashed potato and peas. It wasn’t bad, but mostly it was there to be a temperature and texture contrast to the petits pois ice cream on the lollipop stick.

Comment on La Petite Cuisine, Cassis, France by Mr Noodles

Mr Noodles — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:20:22 +0000

It looks like I missed the chance to become rich by investing in Chinese soup spoons. They seem to be all the rage in the South of France popping up in your dessert here and also in one of the courses at Pierre Reboul.