Nobu Old Park Lane London

Nobu Matsuhisa, the well known celebrity chef who's famous for his fusion of classic Japanese cooking with Peruvian ingredients, has nearly as many Nobu restaurants as the beloved Colonel Sanders. But KFC, unfortunately haven't gained a michelin star as of yet for any of their establishments (bullshit i know).

I nearly fell over taking this picture, it was so windy.

When we turned up, i did feel like i was in the MIB entrance but a little friendlier. The staff all like to whisper which is nice, but makes everything rather hard to understand. They took our coats etc and we made our way up stairs and were greeted by a lovely painting of Nobu. This brightened up a terribly miserable british day, that or i was drunk off the pint of guinness i'd just downed.

Kinda felt like i should of got a picture posing with my right hand showing the peace sign. Nobu is coming across as a serious cutie. 

The menu was so big we spent about 30 minutes looking over it, i also spent 5 minutes showing my mother how to use chopsticks. She settled with a knife and fork, dont be afraid to ask.

*Hot miso chips* With tuna & Scallop 

At £12 you'd hope they tasted amazing for the size, which they did. I'd definitely get them next time. The texture of the chips with the raw fish is perfect. 

I can only describe the salad as awkward. Kind of like going to a party and not drinking, you're there.. but why? to look pretty? Because you have to be? 

...I gave it a go at least.

Shiso pimms. Good choice. Refreshing, fruity and light. Far too expensive though, at £13.

I always eat something before i take a photo. The food comes out minutes after your plates been taken. We had the soft shell crab roll (cut) and the spicy tuna roll (cut). Be-a-utiful.

Signature dish at Nobu. Black cod in Miso.

The waiter whispered to my mother and i that the black cod had been marinating for 3 days. He said a few other things, god knows what. My hearings pretty accurate, just so you know. Priced at £42 you're going to want this to mean business, but it was mothers day (day after) so it was a special occasion. 

The fish just fell apart, it was incredibly sweet which is why the lemon wedge was there. It kind of reminded me of pork in a way. The sweetness and the soft tender texture. It was really lovely, but i just found it too sweet.

Dover Sole with black bean sauce at £32. This was seriously delicious, both the fish where cooked so perfectly and delicately. I enjoyed the presentation and we shared both, with a bowl of steamed rice each. It was a perfect amount. 

Very rare im spoilt for choice on the dessert menu..

Warm chocolate santandagi (doughnut) with caramelised pistachios and almond ice cream. My mum loved it but found it too rich in the end and left half the pistachios there, but it was kind of a given really. Still, she loved it and would highly recommend it.

I went for the I-pple as the menu reads.

Manuka honey ice cream, green tea & olive oil sponge, yoghurt mousse & green apple compote (beetroot reduction)

Lets start with the beetroot reduction... pointless, i dont really get it. Apart from that the dessert was beautiful, elegant, refreshing and well presented. I loved the colours and flavours. Big fan.

Wafer thin... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJZPzQESq_0

All in all, i'd go back over and over again. I love Nobu and im glad where ever i go in the world, i can eat at a Nobu.

Thank you and good night.

http://www.noburestaurants.com/london/experience/introduction/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobu_Matsuhisa

Mishkins Smishkins...

E.Mishkins "A kind-of Jewish deli with cocktails"...

Okay so there's several things that attracted me to eat here, one being that i enjoy Jewish and american food and two GIN! As i turned up for a lonesome lunch for one at half 12 on a Monday, i read on their front window's divided into 3: SALT BEEF / GIN / MEAT LOAF.
Those are the kind-of words that light my young New Zealand fire, but sadly E.Mishkin's slowly extinguished that fire...

GIN

Cheese schmear. I lol'd. I'm sorry.

The menu.

Gin Ricky. Made with soda water, should of had a G&T.

Chicken Liver with Schmaltzed radish. 

Okay so when this arrived i thought okay cool, rustic, smells good, warm toast and enough of it. This should be okay, but there was a huge piece of onion skin poking out of the pate as soon as i dipped into it. Now i know it's clearly meant to be rustic, but that's not what i wanna be chewing on. It was a bit too rich and i got kind-of bored. The bread was nice. 

Meatloaf, soft egg & mash.

Let's start with the mash, first of all too much butter not enough cream or seasoning and secondly, no gravy? this better be the juiciest meatloaf in London then if no sauce/gravy is needed (no sauce at all was offered). It wasn't that bad but a few mouthfuls into it and i really did need some gravy or something wet to moisten this dish up and add another flavour to it all.

The plate was chipped like this in two other places on the same plate. During my experience as a chef, this would have been sent back. To some this may seem like nothing, but to a chef who would never serve someone food on a chipped plate, this means a lot. I think they're taking this rustic thing too far...

The egg centre. This was actually quite yummy.

"Rustic" I felt like i should empty the can and leave my change in there at the end...

Totally wasn't worth it. I'd rather go to The Diner instead for meatloaf, they might be a big chain but it's better (Ambience, style, music) and as for a place to eat salt beef in London?... Brick Lane, and no where else. A man ordered the salt beef beside me and was telling his friend how it wasn't very good, and for a tener i'd expect it to be RAD.

Meh.

http://mishkins.co.uk/

Viajante

A michelin star restaurant serving ultra modern cuisine in Bethnal Green!? Yep, I'd assume you're more likely to pick up heroin or pay cheaper rent rather than stumble across a restaurant of this calibre, but this is where they've chosen the location for Nuno Mendes' amazing Viajante. A team of dedicated chefs from all over the globe working with Portuguese born Nuno and his modern molecular gastronomy menu.

Viajante means traveller in Portuguese and they like to show this in the array of ingredients, styles and cuisine used in their menu. The restaurant is situated in Town Hall Hotel, within walking distance from Bethnal Green station. I walked through the hotel entrance to see what the place was about about saw some interesting items...

The bar, the first place i'll go if they've got one. Had to kill some time whilst i waited for my mother, today was my birthday and what better present than a 9 course tasting menu.

Me being the geezer i am, ordered a Rosie Posie. Anything with gin in it and im happy. Very nice cocktail & very friendly barman.

The best seat in the house. The guy on the left was possibly the hippest waiter i've ever met. The man with the beard is Nuno the head chef. This kitchen is the place where they put it all together, the actual cooking is done in another kitchen. Plating kitchen, if you like.

'Shiso lovely' we had several of these. Amazing, refreshing & a little sweet.

Thai Explosion. A canapé of crab, egg & chicken skin. So yummy, great start. 

Amaranth with sorrel. Kinda like a breakfast bar with a sorrel puree. The white stuff is popcorn powder. Really needed the popcorn powder. It was strange to say none the least but i did enjoy it. It all went together and was interesting.

Cuttlefish with leek and almond.

We had a tiny green olive soup now but i forgot to take a photo, it was really delicious. Tiny portion at the bottom of an iced glass. Was cute. This here is 'Potato & yeast' which was really tasty, with a black olive powder. The yeast spread tasted of a strong cheese and the layer of what i think is fat tasted like ham.

Bread and butter. Smoked butter and burnt butter with bacon bits. 

Turnips with dill granita and mussel valve ju. Fresh, palet cleansing and tasty.

Squid with pear caramel & sunflower.

Squid and pear work. I've had this dish stuck in my mind since eating it, i think that's saying something.

Brown crab. My mums favourite dish of the day.

Asian flavours.

Confit halibut, seaweed sofrito & seafood and rice broth. 

Again Asian flavours. Only just found out what a sofrito is and it was nice. 

Langoustine & pork tendons. Again Asian inspired and lovely. The pork tendons are an odd choice and very very sticky. Tasted great though.

Cod tripe and onions. Only one i couldn't finish, because of the onions being so rich and intense. Not an onion fan im afraid. 

This knife is fucking slick.

Charred presa, tomatos and adobo.

Nuno served this to us himself explaining that it was inspired by a popular Filipino dish he ate on his travels. A deconstructed version. 

The tomatos where cooked in calcium, creating a crunchy crust around the outside and leaving it juicy and full of flavour on the inside. Great technique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobo_(Filipino_cuisine)

  

First dessert.

Cucumber with reduced milk sorbet.

Cucumber jelly, lemon & lime granita and reduced milk sorbet. Beautiful dessert.

Walnut and goats curd.

Goats curd ice cream (possibly) with a chocolate & walnut crumb. Very yummy.

A signature dish.

'Milk'

A technique using milk and calcium powder to create a thick skin on the top (usually frowned upon and thrown in the bin). They then use a dehydrator to turn the skin into crisps.

Amazing experience. And that's what is was, an experience, a tasty experience.

Friendly staff, all dishes are explained at the table and most of all amazing food.

www.viajante.co.uk