Review: Kalm Kitchen Café

The Café That Does Everything

Waffles with fresh fruit, berry coulis, maple syrup and sour cream

Kalm Kitchen is the café that does everything I need a café to do. The coffee is good, the selection of teas acceptable, and cold teas are stocked throughout the year. They do breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch, and maintain a well-stocked counter of muffins, brownies and other tray bakes for the times in-between. Most items are reasonably priced (you can have a decent lunch here for £6) and the staff are always friendly and helpful (except the boss, who is friendly and helpful and scary). The place started life as Glutton and Glee, before changing ownership and rebranding to Kalm Kitchen. A brief dark period followed – the cakes on the counter disappeared and extras on sandwiches became miserly – but that period has passed now. I don’t know the story behind the takeover, but I have come to like the changes. The new owners added some counter style seats, which may not be all that comfy but it means the café (which is tiny!) can now serve more people. The elaborate cream cakes are no longer regular fixtures, but tray bakes, cupcakes and brownies have taken their place. Early on during the switch these would run out too quickly, but nowadays they seem to stock enough to keep them going till closing time. My favourites are the richer options (of course), such as the peanut butter brownie or orange cannoli. 

Review: Romulo Cafe London

A Holiday Substitute

Suman latik: fried rice cake with coconut cream,
dark coconut sauce and coconut ice cream

I've wanted to make my way back to southeast Asia over the last few years, but work-life commitments keep getting in the way. So I’ve turned to another solution: finding solace in food from the region. Queue a visit to Romulo Café, a newish Filipino restaurant on Kensington High Street. A smart, medium sized restaurant, the venue is divided into themed rooms like the Library and the Diplomat’s Dining Room, each with their unique touches of funky decor. We visited for lunch on a Sunday, and the fragrance of Filipino food wafted through the air as we sat down to our table.   

Patotim: slow-cooked duck in a steamed bun

On the left, tuna kilawin. A tune ceviche marinated in cane vinegar,

with red onion, cucumber and red pepper.

On the right, pork belly with a fried egg, pickled apples and 

caramelised shallots. 

The menu at Romulo is designed to be shared, and at the recommendation of our hostess, we ordered three starters and three mains between 4. Service was slow, in the sense that both our starters and then our mains took quite a while to arrive. However, we were brought a little something during these lulls – first bread and butter, and later pork scratchings – to pass the time. And the food that did arrive was excellent. Amongst the starters, the winner for me was the patotim: a steamed bun filled with sweet and sticky slow-cooked duck. My friends were full of praise for the pork sisig, while the tuna kilawin - imagine a spicy tuna ceviche - divided opinion at the table between those who liked raw fish and those who didn't. I loved it though, especially for the spicy-onion flavours that reminded me of salads from Bangladesh. 

Lamb kaldereta: stewed lamb with peppers, potatoes, garden peas,
slow cooked in tomato sauce and topped with parmesan

On the left, chicken relleno: roast chicken with pork stuffing

On the right, flying dish: deep-fried tilapia with dips. I ate the eye.

Our mains, while still good, had a little less star power. The deep-fried tilapia kept things simple and classic, arriving at the table butterflied and accompanied by well-chosen sauces. The chicken relleno, a dish of roast chicken with pork stuffing, was fought over by my friends. The lamb kaldereta was the last dish: a meat stew with peppers, potatoes and peas cooked in tomato sauce. It reminded me of my mom's own tomato sauce based dishes, but it wasn’t particularly popular with the rest of the table. We had two sides of garlic rice to round off our meal,  and washed everything down with nostalgia-inducing calamansi cooler. However, we didn't feel done by the end of it. Some portions, like the lamb kaldereta and garlic rice, were small, and in the future I’d much order one main per person.  

Sans rival, served with ice cream

Still hungry, we ordered desserts. My friends had the sans rival, which was nice, albeit a bit tougher than it should be. Unfortunately a number of items on the menu were unavailable, and my dreams of having halo halo were crushed. That may have been for the best, as the suman latik I ordered instead was perhaps the best part of my meal. A fried rice cake with coconut cream, dark coconut sauce and coconut ice cream, it was a delicious, moreish dessert. I am generally a fan of coconut, and I also loved the contrast between the crunchy, warm cake versus the soft, cold ice cream. 

Finally satisfied, we asked for the bill. At £101 for 4 people, this seemed like very good value for money, until we remembered we’d under-eaten. Starters at Romulo are priced £7 onward, and mains £13 onward. Add the cost of rice and drinks and you’ll easily spend £30 per head here, which is unsurprising given the Kensington location. And judging by how busy it got, this a venue for planned, perhaps special meals rather than pit stops. Staff were very friendly and enthusiastic throughout, and always on hand to refill our water or drinks. I hope that as the restaurant finds its feet, the speed of the service and the availability of menu items will get better. There’s a lot of potential here, and I would definitely like to return to see how things have evolved. 

Food: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value: 6/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: 343 Kensington High Street, London W8 6NW, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 3141 6390
W: www.romulocafe.co.uk

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Cilantro

A Rather International Menu

Inside Cilantro Dhanmondi

Cilantro has been on my Wishlist for the longest time. When they first opened, friends started posting photos of a uniquely decorated restaurant serving beautifully plated "Western" food. I was intrigued - mostly by how nice the dishes looked to be perfectly honest, while remaining hopeful that they also tasted good. Foreign food is still quite hit-and-miss in Dhaka, whether we're talking about a casual eatery or a high-end hotel restaurant. My friend's nudged my expectations downwards though, as apparently the venue was more about the look rather than the food. And while they were right, what I ate at Cilantro was nothing to scoff at, and I am glad I visited.

The Spaniard: marinated fish, battered prawn, cucumber salad
and seafood paella

The interior is an eclectic affair of exposed brick, glass bottles and a central skylight in an otherwise dimly lit space. Seating is varied between normal tables and a few lower tables, where you can take off your shoes and sit cross-legged. The restaurant's Facebook page claims it is a Latin American and Mediterranean affair, but the menu when we visited was far more international. It was also long and confusingly divided up, but I assumed that tapas were snacks or starters, and anything else was a main. They also had a specials board, and we skimmed over that before ordering two mains and two drinks. As with any restaurant attempting to cover too many bases, their dishes turned out to be inspired by their regions of origin rather than authentic offerings. This was fine with me, as everything we were served still tasted good. 

Open beef enchilada

My friend ordered the Spaniard from their specials, which was a plate of battered prawns, marinated fish, cucumber salad and paella. I'v never had anything of the sort in Spain, and there was definitely no paella on the plate. However, there was a rather nice seafood and rice concoction, and both the prawns and fish were deliciously spiced. The portion was a bit small, and their slice of fish especially should have been bigger. My order of beef enchilada, served open in layers on my plate, was more reasonably portioned. It came with generous amounts of meat and cheese. The inclusion of so much cheese was the biggest surprise - restaurants in Bangladesh are usually very stingy with this ingredient! 

Raw tamarind on the left, pink lemonade on the right

We washed our food down with a couple of mocktails - a raw tamarind drink for me and a pink lemonade for my friend. Both were nice, though I'd say my tamarind drink won out, probably due to the fresh, local ingredients. Both were very expensive though, and with drinks priced up to TK 200, this where Cilantro overcharges the most. Elsewhere prices are a bit better, with tapas from TK 200 to TK 600, and mains from TK 400 to over TK 1000 for steaks. We paid around TK 1500 for two mains and two drinks, and this felt like quite a lot for the amount of food we had. Had I not had plans to meet others for coffee later, I would have ordered more. I can easily see myself paying TK 1000 per head here for a full meal, even without opting for the expensive items on the menu. Service was a bit too chilled-out (read: slow) at the start, though staff were friendly and food did arrive quite quickly once ordered. This is definitely a place I'd go back to if in Dhaka, but it won't stop from looking for greener pastures elsewhere. 

Food: 7/10

Service: 6.5/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: 49 Satmasjid Road, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh
T: +880 1766 449912
W: www.facebook.com/cilantrobd

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Nostromo

Even More Seafood in Split, Croatia

Freshly caught squid, grilled and served wit half a lemon
Swiss chard with potatoes on the side

Nostromo is a seafood restaurant located by an open air fish market in Split. Despite the crowds and the smells nearby, the establishment itself is decidedly upmarket. Or at least, it probably is during the height of summer. When we walked in for lunch in November, frames and paintings were strewn all over the restaurant, making the place seem like a haphazard artist's studio. However, a waitress popped over to us right away, and lead us away from the discarded art and up a wooden staircase. We passed numerous photographs of famous patrons and arrived to the first floor, where the venue still seemed to be a restaurant. Imagine white walls, wood paneling and tables laid out in yellow and white cloth. A chef's jacket hung on a peg in one corner, and a large pile of menus were stacked on one of the tables. All told, it definitely felt like we'd arrived off-season. 

The interior. Apologies for the poor photo, but
someone here is obviously on a mission to cover
all the walls with paintings

Of course, there is an upside to all of this. Only one other table was busy, and we were looked after well by our waitress. She left us to spend some time with the menus once we were seated, dashing off to the kitchen. As she came back to take our orders, I skipped the simple a la carte offerings to ask about the fish and seafood sold by weight. Quite a large part of the menu was priced by weight, with better quality fish and seafood (i.e. lobster) being more expensive. She explained that availability generally depended on the day's catch, a sample of which she brought over from the kitchen in a huge tray. Sadly, my friend had her heart set on "sea fruit" risotto, and I had to hold back from ordering an interesting looking but monstrously large fish for the two of us, opting for grilled squid instead. 

Mixed "sea fruit" risotto

The wait for our food was noticeable - I suspect - due to the risotto. We had some not so fresh bread on the table to pass the time, and were charged 10 KN a head for the privilege. Thankfully, our main courses were much better. My friend's risotto came out delicious and creamy - a testament to the rice used and a welcome respite from the drier risottos we'd had in the country. The quality (if not the amount) of the seafood stood out, and the ingredients were really what made the dish special. The story with my squid was similar. Grilled just right, the tentacles were slightly charred but the bulk of the meat was soft and chewy. Each animal was properly cleaned out, something I'm very particular about, and an area where many restaurants fall down. A squeeze of lemon onto my plate, and I went on to have what was probably my best meal in Split. I'd also ordered a side of Swiss chard, which was served stirred through with potatoes, and rounded off my meal rather nicely. Beware - the portions for sides are generous, and easily shared between two. 

Our bill came to 280 KN, including our mains, a diet Coke and a small glass of house red. The risotto was priced at 100 KN, while my 300.00 g of squid cost 130 KN. The lesson to be learned - the a la carte menu is reasonably priced, and the food sold by weight slightly more expensive. It didn't feel so bad though, especially for Split, where everything is quite expensive in and around the old city. In fact, Nostromo is the only restaurant at this price range where we felt satisfied with our food, given the money we had spent. The food is simple, and the cooking perhaps nothing so special, but the fresh ingredients are what makes the restaurant stand out. 

Food: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6.5/10

Value: 6.5/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: Kraj Sv. Marije 10, Split, Croatia
T: +385 91 405 666
W: N/A

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Dubravkin Put

Seafood in Zagreb, Croatia

Elderflower mousse with white chocolate,
strawberry ice cream & edible flowers

My time in Croatia was an unexpected blessing. I had been squirreling away money over the year for a potential holiday, and off-peak prices allowed me to indulge in a short trip around the country earlier this month. All I knew about Croatia was their 1998 World Cup performance (classic story of the underdog surprising everyone!) and their beaches, courtesy of a friend who had spent a summer there. As such, most of the itinerary I put together was the result of rather impersonal Googling and Lonely Planet, but Dubravkin Put stood out as a definite place to eat from multiple sources, especially for its seafood. 

The interior. The entrance to the wine bar
next to the restaurant can be seen in the left corner

The restaurant is located in Tuškanac Park, a twenty minute stroll from Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb's city centre. We made the trip for lunch one day and arrived at a mostly empty restaurant, and were given our pick of the tables by a waiter who spoke perfect English. Language had been a worry of mine before coming to Croatia, and we were equipped with a few phrases and ingredients courtesy of our guidebook, but almost everyone we met spoke a passable level of English. Menus at most restaurants were also available in English, unsurprising given many parts of Croatia are geared towards tourism, and Drubavkin Put was no exception.

Fresh bread. Our basked included wholemeal, seeded,
tomato bread etc., with olive oil already at the table

Our waiter brought us menus as we settled in, and proceeded to recommend wine to my friend at her request. We had a busy schedule for the day and so we decided to keep our meal short, opting for mains and desserts only. Sadly most of the a la carte menu was unavailable for lunch, during which the restaurant offers a shorter and less expensive selection of dishes. However, upon hearing we were biased towards seafood, our waiter recommended trying monkfish as a main course, even though it wasn't listed on the menu. We ordered this along with another main of tuna steak, and sat back to wait for our food. A batch of freshly baked breads that were brought to our table, and we sampled the different types - I preferred the tomato bread as usual - to pass the time.  

Cake & Biskie in Soho

Review: Cutter & Squidge

Biskies: a Cutter & Squidge creation.
Think of a soft cookie & cake dessert sandwich :)

Some of the earliest reviews I posted on this blog were about cake in Bangladesh. I've written (and complained!) about dessert at many venues since, but I've never really posted about any other bakeries or confectioners. I admit I've gotten into a habit of depending on chains and supermarkets. Trouble is, while I know independents that do good coffee, their sweets are rarely worth a special mention. Cutter & Squidge bucks that trend completely. They serve amazing cake and a nifty invention of their own called a biskie - best described as a mini cookie and cake sandwich. I first found them by chance one night in Soho, when we were walking around after an early dinner in search of something sweet. This was always a normal thing to do in Asia, where cafés and the like open late, but everything shuts so early in the UK! Luckily Cutter & Squidge had the right idea, and their then pop-up was still open around 8 pm. I bought myself a huge slice of their Choc O'Berry Dream Cake, which turned out to be extremely delicious. The cake itself was rich and moist, with generous helpings of flavoured cream filling the layers and covering the outside. Fast forward a few months and they now have a permanent store on Brewer Street in Soho, which is great news for anyone with a sweet tooth. Their new store opens later than most cafés, which remains a plus, though bear in mind it's not late enough for post-dinner dessert. 

The interior, bright and expressive.
More seating than some of the other similar shops
in the area, but I can see it getting busy.

I've visited several times with friends, squeezing into the relatively small space. The venue has a few tables at the back, along with some counter-style seating by the windows. The interior, as seen in the photo above, makes me think "bright-plastic-happy", and while I realise it won't be to everyone's taste I feel its true to Cutter & Squidge's overall branding. The store operates the usual pick and pay at the counter approach, and staff will bring over your drinks or order if it's not something they can just hand you over the counter. Apart from cakes and biskies, the menu on the wall lists a small selection of hot and cold drinks, as well as a few sandwiches. Notably, they do a salted caramel matcha latte - which is great as even today there are too few places in London that serve matcha lattes. If you order one just remember to stir the drink properly, as otherwise you'll finish a rather bland cup like my friend, only to discover all of the caramel left at the bottom!

"OMG It's Green":
green tea and raspberry "Dream Cake"

Eating as a group meant has meant I've sampled quite a bit of what Cutter & Squidge has to offer, and almost everything has been as impressive as that first Choc O'Berry cake. Amongst the cakes, the Banoffee and the Chocolate and Hazelnut stand out as excellent takes on classic flavours. I've also tried the OMG It's Green pictured above, and while I liked it, I remember wishing for a slightly stronger flavour flavour. Amongst the biskies, the rich Salted Caramel Brownies or lighter S'mores are safe choices. I'm torn between what I like more here, the cakes or the biskies, but a Key Lime Pie biskie my partner once had is definitely my favourite. Imagine two layers of soft biscuit with a filling of lime curd and vanilla cream cheese, finished off a crunchy meringue topping! Unfortunately this was a special edition, and I've not seen it since. This is something to bear in mind about Cutter & Squidge - they do rotate what's on offer any given day, and not all the flavours you see online are always available at the store. 

Close-up: a S'more biskie

There is also the issue of almost Marmite-like personal preferences to the food they serve. I love my cakes to be lavished drenched in cream and frosting, but I know not everyone does. I also love the soft cookie dough texture of the biskies, along with their cream/sauce/curd garnishes. Yet I have friends who aren't fans - apparently the biskies' soft and hard textures feel odd. Just a little something to be aware of before making a visit. And speaking of visiting - a note on the costs. Biskies cost around £4.50 each and a slice of cake will cost almost £6. These prices won't come as a surprise once you experience (i.e. have trouble consuming) the generous portions, but they're still a bit higher compared to other stores. Given the quality of the confectionery, I wouldn't have minded, but prices for their full cakes online verge on the ridiculous and they lose points for that. Carry outs cost a little less, and the price of hot and cold drinks are quite competitive. But of course, you're not coming here for drinks!


Food: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value: 5/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: 4 Brewer Street, Soho, London, W1F 0SB
T: +44 (0)20 7371 7056
W: www.cutterandsquidge.com

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Britten's

Guildford Familiarisation

Inside Britten's

Guildford is a strange place. Overrun by Thai restaurants, I've found many a place where I quite like to eat in the town (village?), but none yet that I love. However, since I'm going to be spending a considerable amount of my time here over the coming year, I've decided I need to fix this particular problem. I visited Britten's as part of this mission - a restaurant I've often walked or driven past. Some quick research revealed the chef and owner to be a past Masterchef contestant, so earlier this week we dropped by for an early evening dinner with the expectation of some fancy food. 

Roasted root vegetable press, basil, truffle emulsion

And I can say fancy food is indeed what we were served. We normally dine early on weekdays, so we arrived for a pre-7pm table with the intention of ordering from the pre-theatre menu. The restaurant was unsurprisingly all but empty when we entered, though it filled up somewhat over the course of the evening. A waiter took us to our table, from where we had a good view of the ground floor as seen from the first photo in this post. The décor is minimal and clean, and I imagine this is the kind of space that works well both during the day and at night. We were handed menus before orders for drinks were taken, followed by orders for food. Decisions weren't difficult to make given pre-theatre menus are usually short, though I should mention Britten's offers a relatively generous selection of 4 starters and 4 mains despite this trend.

Review: Field Restaurant

Ending Edinburgh on a High

Sweet and sour quail with quail cannelloni 

Field is a charming little restaurant that I’m very glad we visited during our time in Edinburgh. We booked on the night at a whim – it was near Summerhall Place, where we’d just stepped out of an Energy Futures debate. We were quoted a 20 minute wait time for a table, but managed to burn through most of that during our slow, winding walk to West Nicholson Street. We arrived at what is indeed a tiny restaurant, seating perhaps 20 people at a push. The décor is black and white, and a large (painted) cow dominates the left wall as you walk in. Similarly quirky adornments are scattered around the room. Beware the slit wooden table surfaces – cutlery has tendency to fall through. A quiet buzz of chatter permeated the low lit room, creating a cozy, casual atmosphere.

Review: Thai Terrace

Car Park Luxury

I wasn’t particularly thrilled when my partner suggested dinner at a restaurant inside a car park. I immediately thought of a petrol station fast food joint, although I quickly realised my mistake as we arrived at Thai Terrace. The restaurant has a street-facing ground floor entrance, where a lift whisks you directly to a dining area above a multi-storied car park. The setting allows for great panoramic views of Guildford, probably unrivalled by any other restaurant in the town. 

The terrace, which I imagine is only open
during the warmer months

On the left, seating area by the bar. On the left, the dining space as you walk

further in past the bar.  

The first word that comes to mind as I write about Thai Terrace is grand. There's a generous footprint for the reception and bar area, which is all natural wood and Thai decorations. Beyond this is a bigger and more European dining space in brown and gold, with odd pieces of modern sculpture dotted around the room. The number of staff rushing around may be surprising, but as the restaurant filled up to capacity I was grateful for how many of them were about. There's a an outdoor terrace (surprise!), but it was closed during our winter visits. Staff at reception greeted us in a mixture of Thai and English, before enquiring about our reservation. We've always made a booking, but given the size of the restaurant I imagine you'd have a reasonable chance of getting a table without one. Expect a well dressed but rowdy, energetic crowd - couples, families as well as larger groups and office parties

Review: Yorokobi by CJ

My Local Takeaway

Beautiful, luscious bulgogi served with steamed rice

I lie. Yorkobi by Chef Jang is a proper restaurant, and I am just lucky they do a number of their dishes to take away. I've taken advantage of this fact a number of times, and dropped by for a sit down full dinner a few times as well. Located just two minutes from my front door and serving Japanese and Korean fare, Yorokobi is definitely my go-to local in Aberdeen. The town has an impressive number of restaurants, and although none of them so far have been amazing, a surprisingly large number of them have been very good. I'd even go as far as saying the local restaurant scene in Aberdeen is superior to Richmond, my last (chain-blighted) town. 

Review: The Delaunay

The London to-do list, part 1 of n

Based on what I've tried, the Delaunay is possibly the best
confectioners in London

So it seems that my time in London is coming to an end. My job brought me here two years ago and now it's moving me away again. I'm sure I'll be back - London isn't one those cities that people never come back to. I've actually kind of slacked off on reviewing London restaurants. This is partly because my schedule has meant I've spent a lot of time eating in random places that have been quite good, but not good enough to motivate an immediate review. However, over the last few months I've been trying to rectify this by trying out places that have either come to me highly recommended or are special to me in some way. As with any to-do list, it's been growing ever since its inception and I'm not sure when it's going to end, but expect this to be the theme for the next few posts.

The interior: vast, with dark wooden furniture and panelling,
white table cloth and smart service.

I found the Delaunay online while looking for a place to brunch. Central London is a bit far from Richmond though and I'd never made the trip until recently when I popped in for cake after dinner at Koya with a friend. The cakes, I have to say, were the best I've had in London and will be heavily influencing the food score for this review. The Delaunay is a great place to keep in mind for something sweet and a coffee late at night. I vowed to come back for a fuller meal, and so made plans for brunch with two other friends I'd have had to come to Central London to meet anyway. I'd made a reservation online and upon coming in we were shown straight to our table. The main interior of the restaurant, past the bar and it's few tables, is a rather grand room of gleaming wood and white table cloth bustling with people. A bit noisy, which I suppose can be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of vibe you're in the mood for. 

Review: Sora Lucia

The Underdog in Rome

Apart from booking ourselves into Imago, I hadn't actually done much research on where to eat in Rome. This was partly because I was operating in zombie mode for Ramadan, but also because I was trying to be spontaneous (!!). However, with the proliferation of WiFi everywhere I couldn't help but quickly Google restaurants before we left for lunch one day, and I found out about Sora Lucia through Katie Poller's guide to Rome in the Guardian. As Poller says in the article, Sora Lucia is a tiny tratorria run by the owner serving excellent homestyle food. From the picture above you get an idea of how cosy it is – a just few tables inside and three outside. Basic furniture, minimal decoration, but less than five minutes walk from Trevi fountain for great food. Sit outside if you can, the area is shaded during late lunch and you can watch the tourists go by. 

Ask for menus in English since they're available, but on our visit both the owner and the other staff member spoke little to no English. Thus we eschewed the specials of the day on the board as Poller recommends trying, due to our complicated combined dietary requirements (no pork for me, no fish and strange ingredients for him). If you're easier, by all means try the specials. However, we had no regrets with our choices from the standard menu – mixed vegetables and bruschetta with tomato and olive oil as starters, followed by pasta dishes for our main courses.

Review: Imago

A Panorama of the Eternal City

Settling in for the evening. Scroll down for more pictures of the view!

It seems I've turned my luck around when it comes to visiting fancy restaurants. The trip to Imago was very carefully planned: we were going to land in Rome around noon, check into our hotel near the museums, walk around the Pantheon for a while before driving to Imago to enjoy dinner and a panoramic view of Rome while the sun set around us (phew!). By the end of the evening, I very much felt it was a mission well accomplished, bar a few minor criticisms about the food itself. I should start out by explaining this wasn't the most usual of my meals. Between my dining companion and I we had quite a few ingredients we wouldn't eat – no pork or alcohol for me and no fish or seafood for him. Thus we ended up opting for the vegetarian tasting menu as the restaurant wouldn't serve two tasting menus on the same table, although I have had this service elsewhere. Thankfully, the other party seemed quite keen on the vegetarian menu so I was happy to relinquish. Imago also offers an a la carte menu, and if I was a smarter person I probably would have opted to give this a glance as well.

Amuse bouche of quail eggs,
zucchini fritters and cod roe cigars

We were asked about and brought water and an amuse bouche quite quickly, which was a nice change from the relaxed service I've suffered in some places. In the photo above you see battered quails' eggs, zucchini fritters and cod roe cigars. The zucchini was the standout piece – hot, crunchy and the vegetables melted in your mouth as you chewed.

Review: Lasan

Consistency is Key

Our poppadum dips. At the top, a unique gourd based dip I've never had before.

I've been to Lasan twice now, once in late 2012 and again now in late 2013. It came highly recommended by word of mouth. They'd won a prize on some food show by Gordon Ramsay, and apparently their approach to Indian food was incomparable to the run-of-the-mill curry house. The skeptic in me was convinced by none of this, but I decided a restaurant with so many accolades was still worth visiting. Don't be mislead by their website - the Ramsay hysteria has died down and bookings no longer need to be made very far in advance, unless you're looking for a weekend evening. 

Review: Rustico

Travelling for Work

Rustico - tucked away just off the main high street in Aberdeen

I've been fortunate enough to have travelled quite a bit for work since I started this new job. I've found myself in many different cities in the UK and beyond, living in hotels and looking for nice restaurants to eat at. Unfortunately, I've mostly looked in vain, and restaurants that have made a lasting impression are few and far in between. Rustico, however, is an exception. This fantastic Italian in Aberdeen is one of the best I have ever been to, although I will admit to not being an expert on this particular cuisine.