You Can Take The Girl Out of South East London...

It turns out you can't take me anywhere.  As it was my birthday yesterday I was treated to a surprise lunch at The Gilbert Scott, Marcus Wareing's new restaurant at The Paddington Hotel.  I wasn't sure what to expect as somehow this place was completely off my radar but I was very pleasantly surprised.  The bar as you enter is welcoming and the buttery, peppery popcorn moreish. I could have taken a bucket of it home.

As we were led into the dining room after our cocktails we bumped into the man himself which I liked; it made me feel confident that the food was going to be amazing.  I wasn't wrong either. There was plenty of choice and it all sounded delicious.  We started with an English sparkling wine which really was lovely although I thought it smelled like Heinz Vegetable Soup (see blog title).  My starter was:

 Artichoke Tart

I wouldn't often choose a tart for a starter but this was recommended by a colleague of C's who'd been in the past couple of weeks.  It was absolutely gorgeous; light fluffy pastry with a creamy artichoke filling.  I've not eaten much artichoke in my lifetime but I really need to eat more-gorgeous!  A nice sized portion too-none of that itsy bitsy foamy nothingness.

 Soles in Coffins

Another recommendation.  I've since seen other reviews of this that suggested it was bland but I couldn't disagree more. Beautifully cooked sole with a vermouth and shrimp sauce. This, however, was the source of my massive faux pas (refer to title again). You see the coffin lid (giant crouton on top of the fish)?  Well I managed to make it fly onto the floor as I tried to cut it.  That was embarrassing enough but as I tasted the little bit that hadn't soared onto the floorboards below I realised that I wanted the rest of it (it tasted so good you see). So as I had already picked it up and put it on the table next to me I decided to eat it.  Off the floor. I ate something off the floor of a potentially Michelin starred restaurant.  The shame.  I really hope no one saw me but I can never be sure... 

Eccles Cake with Cheddar Ice Cream

I liked all of the dishes but this one really was special. A nice savoury edge to the ice cream but not properly cheesey (thankfully) that went perfectly with the eccles. They even birthday-ed it up for me. I loved it. If you get a chance to go here then do it!

On Sunday I had this again:

Antipasti

Not too heavy in readiness for another birthday meal, this time at Babur in Forest Hill. Not your regular Indian restaurant, we started with:

 Poppadoms with a Range of Dips

 Complimentary Potato Thing

 Soft Shell Crab

Light and crispy with a chutney thing on the side, some of which was too sweet for my taste but otherwise a nice dish from their East Coast special menu.

 Chicken Chettinad

This came with a wrap thing rather than rice and it was really tasty.  There was a slight spiciness to the curry but it wasn't overpowering.  A large portion of tender chicken meant that I had to share some around the table but I was very happy with my choice.

 Mango Creme Brulee

Overall an enjoyable meal with good service but there was one gripe. We had forewarned the staff that we were celebrating three birthdays and when we first arrived there was a massive fanfare and the music changed to Happy Birthday for another group along with some kind of free dessert.  A nice, if a little embarrassing touch.  This left us thinking that we would receive the same treatment but when they offered us the bill we realised this wasn't the case. After a little prompting we were given a free cocktail but we couldn't help but feel a little neglected.  Where was my fanfare?!

Little Venice Company Chocolate Cake

A double dessert day but it was worth it.

Other thing I've eaten:

Pizza Hut Pepperoni Pizza

Consumed yesterday after The Gilbert Scott (see blog title)

 Poached Egg on Toast

Tuna Toastie

I really am going to try and eat healthily this week...

Little to Report

I haven't eaten anything inspiring in the past couple of days so this will be a bland report.  I am, however, off to Babur in Brockley tonight for the first time and hope to come back with a good review.  We'll see how it goes...

Tuesday:

Burger and Wedges

I wanted a venison burger but quelle surprise, Sainsbury's didn't have them.  Why do they do this to me?

Wednesday:

 Ham Roll

This was some posh Italian expensive ham but it tasted pretty standard to me...Perhaps I needed to eat it on its own to truly appreciate it.

 M&S Sushi Snack Pack

I was starving so had this on the train home.  Not the easiest to eat in transit.

 Lamb Kebabs and Greek Salad

Quick and easy dinner after playing squash.  I really like having this in the summer.

 Chocolate Biscuit

C got this for free from some exhibition.  It tasted like a BN if anyone remembers them (do they still do them?).  I wish there were more of them.

Thursday:

 Ham, Cheese and Mustard Roll

Jazzed up after the first day's disappointment.

 GBK Habanero Burger

I don't believe I've ever had GBK before although C insists otherwise (he's wrong). I went for this as I like spicy food(don't warn me it's hot waitress-I can read thanks!).  A little disappointed the sauce was sweet-if I wanted sweet chilli I would have had the Sweet Chilli Burger!  Amazing onion rings though.

 Starbucks Coconut and Raspberry Slice

They accidentally gave Green Tea with Peppermint instead of plain Green.  Tasted like toothpaste. Took it back.

Friday:

 Pret Prosciutto Baguette

 Italian Chicken and Bean Stew (again)

Bit too salty this time but still good.

 M&S Chocolate Swiss Roll

Saturday:

 Bacon and Egg on Granary from Toads Mouth Too

This was really good but I although this was reasonably priced, I felt that some of the other things on the menu were over-priced. A full English for example was £8.75 and you had to pay 50p extra for a sausage!  Surely a sausage is a standard part of an English breakfast...

Antipasti

Bought this stuff on a whim after sitting in the sun for a few hours.  I need to go to Italy.

Lasagne

Sticking with the Italian theme...

Come Dine With Me Anxiety

We had friends round for dinner on Friday night. Cooking for other people automatically puts pressure on me but as these were our former competitors in our own version of CDWM it was very hard to get out of competition mode. I didn't go all out this time but I did feel a bit like I was going to be marked.  This is probably why my first pavlova turned out like this:

Disaster Meringue

Typical.  So despite my forward planning and making this the night before I had to make a new one.

The rest of the dinner was:

Nibbles

Instead of a starter I made some crispy pitta things and a cream cheese and pesto dip as well as some goats cheese and figs wrapped in parma ham.  Not too much effort but still nice.

Italian Chicken, Pancetta and Bean Stew

This was really easy to make and very tasty-I think we'll have it again. I served it with a Jamie Oliver tomato salad which was really nice despite my reservations. Salting the tomatoes really worked!

Final Pavlova

This was much better than my original but having lazily bought extra thick cream I had the disaster of it being so dense that it broke the meringue. It turned out ok but next time some old fashioned whipping needs to take place.

My other weekend eatings were:

Courgette and Sweetcorn Burger

This was at the newly opened New Cross House and was really rather nice. I never go for the veggie option but this was a winner. I'll definitely be back to sample some of their pizza from the wood fired pizza oven!

Chinese Takeaway

I wish I could say I was healthy and just had this soup but I actually just gobbled the rest up without taking a picture. Perfect Eurovision food!

Dipping Egg

Dinner was at The Anchor in Hullbridge:

Lobster Bisque

The croutons were too salty but otherwise a nice dish.

Roast Chicken

Nice enough but I wish places didn't substitute their normal menu for a Sunday Roast one. Not everyone's that traditional!

Grand Desserts

We almost didn't have a dessert-what a mistake that would have been! A lovely selection of mini desserts with the Sticky Toffee Pudding outshining the rest for me.

M&S Ham and Egg Roll

Babybel Light

M&S Chicken Thing and Potato Things

Quick and easy.  Tasted alright.

Jacket Potato with Tuna Mayo and Olives

Working from home today so I could make a half decent lunch. I was still hungry though so I had:

Kripbread with Butter on one and Boursin on the other

Bit random but there's not much in the house. Hopefully the big shop tonight will bring some treats for the week ahead!

Lazy Cook

I've eaten pretty badly in the past week and I haven't cooked much. This is due to a mixture of being very busy and very lazy but also because as much as I love cooking, I also love eating out. This week however, mainly due to final countdown to payday, I'm going to try and be a bit better and cook more (except for tonight as I'm getting an M&S meal deal because of zumba and Thursday as I'm going out for dinner...).

So last week's culinary delights included:

Vegetarian Samosa from The Raj Blackheath

Lamb Karahi (as above)

There was a bit of a disaster here as they accidentally delivered me a korma instead of karahi. I would normally settle for what I was given but I absolutely cannot eat korma as its essentially dessert. Luckily they offered to deliver the correct order and all was right with the world again. It turns out I do still like lamb so maybe it's just shanks I have a problem with. Unsurprising really as shank is the most unappealing name for food.

Starbucks Croque Monsieur (shared)

M&S Sandwich Selection

Perfect for the indecisive...

Wotsits

Drifter

Only 99 calories (because it's tiny!).

Asparagus Risotto

Decided to make a Parmesan crisp with this on a whim. Nice except a fly landed in my food again!!!

Strawberry

Poached Egg on Toast

Ikea Meatballs

The main reason for visiting Ikea.

Toffee Crisp (see Drifter)

Sainsbury's Meal Deal Pasta Thing

We were going to make a lovely tuna nicoise but a bargain got the better of us! It was alright.

Profiterole (made the deal worthwhile)

McDonald's Cream Cheese Bagel

Poor cousin to the Sausage and Egg McMuffin.

Sainsbury's Pasta

Overpriced and disappointing.

Japanese Soup

Tuna Sandwich

I don't normally eat white bread but it's all they had. It seems to last longer than brown but perhaps it's because it has loads of unhealthy chemicals in it.

Venison Burger and Wedges

Very tasty and healthier than beef. The plastic cheese probably wasn't the best but I like it!

Pret Chicken and Asparagus Baguette

Ok but the asparagus was under cooked. I like it with a bit of crunch but this was practically raw!

Strawberries

Picante Quesadilla

I'm keeping this place in business!

Chilli Con Carne

Toast

Roll with Cheese and pickle (plus Boursin on Krispbread)

This was all meant to be posted yesterday but Blogger was playing up for me...