Definitely Got Thai For That

The traditional London pub, an institution, and when you find a good local you hold onto it for dear life hoping that it doesn’t one day slip into a cocoon and completes metamorphosis into a Wetherspoons. Traditionally pubs are drinking establishments serving snacks such as Mr Porky pork scratching’s, Smiths crisps, KP peanuts and if you were lucky maybe a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie alongside your warm pint of ale. The rise of the ‘Gastropub’ in the early 90’s saw public houses concentrating on the quality of food, and gave new strength to pub culture and British dining. Pubs are now dishing out Michelin starred quality food, and have been a breeding ground for talented chefs across the country. Not only has food become an important element in determining how one views their local, the rise of craft beer has seen people becoming more aware of beer and food matching, creating a whole new pub culture with people using traditional methods and culinary tastes to create a vast range of beers, appealing to the developing pallet of London’s millennials.

Being a Londoner and also an ex professional pint puller (I was a bar wench for most of my 20’s) knowing the best pubs for friendly meet ups and gossip catch ups is as important as knowing where your local corner shop is for that emergency pint of milk. One of my favourite haunts to visit especially on a cold winters night is The Kings Arms on Roupell Street. A quintessential real ale London pub located on one of the most historic back streets of London.

Roupell street is like walking onto a film set, a picturesque Georgian terrace in the heart of Waterloo. This pub is always bustling, serving constantly changing real ales. I like to order a pint of whatever is on the pumps, and curl up by the fire with a friend and put the world to rights. The little snug round the side of the bar is cosy and instantly gives you a feeling of warmth and homeliness. When one imagines a traditional London pub The Kings Arms perfectly fits that picture of expectation. Owned by The Windmill Tavern Group, this family run pub does not feel like one of those large chain establishments, and brings up feelings of nostalgia to a time where the public house was the meeting place of the community.

In the back room you will find a farmhouse style dining area with a collection of vintage treasures strewn across the walls, and old pans hanging from the ceiling. Here is where you will find Kanchana’s Kitchen, a phenomenal little Thai secret. Now please do not think that The Kings Arms has taken traditional British pub food and put a Thai fusion spin on it. Kanchana’s Kitchen is cooking up traditional Thai food in a very British setting. I love a good Thai, the balance of flavours and freshness of the herbs and spices used has always made my palate zing. When I came across Kanchana’s Kitchen years back, it became one of my go to little spots for my chilli addiction, which I completely need to control.

They serve a mean green curry that is a balance of salty, with a cut of acid and slowly creeping heat from the spices. I would suggest if you are going here to eat you wear elasticated trousers because there is no point even setting foot in the back room if you’re not going to have a minimum of 5 plates of food, just saying. I always like to start with a pre-starter here of Khow Kiep, its sort of the locker room pep talk for my tummy. I like it to be prepared for what’s to come especially when I know it’s going to be a knockout meal. I always like a basket of these Thai-style prawn crackers for the table especially when it is accompanied by sweet chilli, and if you are anything like me and have been saving yourself all day for 10 plates of food, than these take the ravenous feelings down to a manageable level.

For starters I would suggest getting Tod Mun Pla – the spicy fish cakes which are also served with sweet chilli sauce (YES!!) They are small little patties of fish, flavoured with garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilli and give you all the aromatics of punchy Thai food. I also like the Khanom Pang Na Goong – sesame prawn toast, I always order it whenever I see it on a menu. The first time I went out to the Chinese buffet as a pre-teen, I thought my choice of prawn toast on my plate was rather sophisticated and grown up. Now I order it because I really love prawn toast, and I think I can safely say most people love it. The prawn toast here isn’t too greasy, it’s nice and crisp and actually tastes of prawn.

(Mixed Platter with Chicken Satay, Vegetable Spring rolls, Spicy Thai Fish Cakes, Prawn Rolls and Vegetable Tempura served with sweet chilli and Satay Sauces)

Next it is time to choose your curry, I normally like to order at least 2 of the 3 options on the menu. Also all curries here are served with steamed rice and you can choose from chicken, beef, prawn or vegetable. If you are only going to order two curries one of those two options should be the Gaeng Kiew Wann – The Thai green curry I mentioned before. Cooked with coconut milk, a classic green curry paste with Thai basil leaves, lime leaves and bamboo. This curry has the perfect amount of spice. It’s a low mellow heat that’s not too overpowering. If you are a curry novice and not too fond of spicy food I would recommend ordering this, as it’s a good introduction to a well-rounded flavourful curry. The Gaeng Massamun is a medium spicy red curry this is for those who are number 3/4 on the curry scale and like a good punch of spice. A creeping heat that is cut by background notes of fish sauce follows this punch.

My favourite of the curry dishes is the Gaeng Panang, which is a spicy curry. I have a very serious chilli problem, the hotter the better for me, it is like I almost get a rush from the murmuring and numbness I get on my tongue when I get a good chilli kick in the mouth. The Panang curry is an original Thai Curry cooked in thick Thai gravy with coconut milk, peppers and lime leaves. What I most enjoy about this curry is although it is spicy – the heat does not kill the layers of flavours. Its salty and sweet notes sit on the back of the heat and you also get hints of shrimp paste. I like to get this curry with beef, I feel like it sits in the sauce well and is a strong enough meat to not be overpowered by the bold gravy.

Sometimes at this stage I would normally bow out and get the bill, I’ve pretty much hit my quota of maximum dishes intake for an evening, but sometimes I like the challenge of squeezing in a noodle dish. I am a great believer in always having a Pad Thai for the table, I think you can tell a lot about the quality of a Thai restaurant based on their pad Thai. I like Kanchana’s one, as it’s clean with the perfect amount of crunch from the peanuts, carrot, spring onion and bean sprouts. A good generous squeeze of lime over the top and you would just want to bathe in noodles for a quiet hour. I also really enjoy the Pas See iew here too, thick rice noodles with egg, mixed vegetables and soy sauce. The thick noodles have a really joyful glutinous texture to them, which also take the coating of the sauce beautifully. I really love the saltyness of this dish and I think it is a great accompaniment as a different texture and flavour alongside the curry dishes.

The Gaeng Ped roast duck curry is another good one to try under the house specials section of the menu. Generous chunks of duck cooked in Thai red curry with coconut milk. I enjoy the pop of the cherry tomatoes and sweetness of the pineapple against the spice of the red curry.

There are a couple of dishes I am still yet to try which I am craving for like the Pla Chu Chee, fillet of salmon topped with a red curry sauce with coconut milk and the Pd Gra Prow stir fried chilli, basil, peppers, green beans and onions in fish sauce which you can have with chicken beef or prawns. Kanchana’s serves fantastic food with a real harmony of flavours, the staff are a dream and are pleasant, always with a smile on their faces. What I would say is be prepared to not have your drinks served to you at the table. You need to head to the bar for those, but you will be happy for the small walk as it will give you a chance to move around making more room for food. Also I would highly recommend making a reservation if you want to eat here. If you a going here on a whim and you’re feeling hungry be prepared to wait for up to an hour for a table on a busy day.

The Kings Arms is a great place for just a pint, the atmosphere and quality of ale here is fantastic. This is a great spot for a cosy night nursing an ale and doing the crossword alone. This is a spot for a quiet little one on one gossip with your best friend with a bottle of cold Picpoul De Pinet. The one thing I love most about the Kings Arms is that it is a fabulous spot for a good quality Thai dinner with the girls and a good old cackle and a gossip. If you are visiting London, make it your mission to go and visit The Kings Arms and have some real beer! Also word on the street is the do a pub quiz on a Sunday, anyone interested in getting a team together give me a shout.

This is my spot, this is my favourite place to be in London, just hanging out on Roupell street, if you do happen to visit The Kings Arms maybe you’ll find me there standing outside propped by a windowsill sipping on a pint and watching the world go by.

(Happy girls with full tummies after a big Thai meal at The kings Arms. Night cap courtesy of the Duke Of Sussex, Waterloo)

Happy Dining xx

I’ve Got Nata Nine Problems, But A Custard Tart Ain’t One!

Pastéis de Nata the humble Portuguese custard tart, and possibly one of the best dessert imports that has nestled itself comfortably in café counters across the country. I have always been a lover of natas from a very young age; my earliest memory of my first nata was in a Portuguese café on Plender Street in Camden. I used to preciously eat my tart while my father had his morning coffee on a Sunday. It was almost like a ritual – taking my time to eat my tart in slow motion in the hopes of it lasting as long as possible, as I knew I would only be allowed one.

I’m not sure if the café on Plender Street is still open, as I haven’t visited since my teens – but my gluttony for the Portuguese custard tart has grown stronger as I grow older. Unfortunately my experience has not been too good over the years. Like a magpie whenever I enter a café I seek out to see if they have a couple of Portuguese tarts sitting in their display case, tentatively looking for a warm tummy to call their home. I always purchase one if any are available in the hopes of reliving those Sunday mornings as a child. Sadly I am left disappointed, the pastry is not crispy enough, slightly floury and looking a little anemic. The custard filling isn’t smooth or creamy and tasting a little on the eggy side. And to top it off they are cold and limp which is so disappointing as this seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout the land.

That was until one very early Summer morning a couple of years ago on my way to the swimming pool, I spied a new place pop up out of the mystical fog on Endell Street in Covent Garden. The sign read ‘I Love Nata’ – I internally whispered ‘so do I’. It was far too early for even the greasy spoon near by to be open, so I made a promise to myself to explore at a godlier hour. My nata curiosity would not allow me to simply forget about my discovery. Every morning I would walk past and, nod my silent greeting to the sign waiting for the day to sample one of their Portuguese tarts.

The day had finally come! I Love Nata is a tiny nook of a café – serving only natas and hot & cold beverages. The natas sit in rows under a glass counter, looking like a glorious little art installation of yellows and browns. I ordered my nata, which is then popped into a glorious little box with a sachet of cinnamon sugar and a sachet of powdered sugar. I like mine as they are, no extra sugar required. I had a lot of expectation of this little tart and I was hoping the reality would not be like my other experiences.

I gently lifted it out of its little box and it was warm – the surge of joy that passed through me just feeling the warmth being emitted from my little tart I already knew that I had finally found the one. I took my first bite, and much like that wonderful scene in Ratatouille I was instantly taken back to Sunday mornings as a child. The pastry is wonderfully crispy and flaky and makes the most gloriously crunching noise as you bite into it. The custard filling is smooth and creamy, has the right texture and exactly what you expect from a top quality tart.

I Love Nata know exactly what they are doing; I mean you wouldn’t open up a café only selling custard tarts if you were not confident in your tart skills. They even have pairs of little porcelain natas on sale that you can fill with sugar to delicately dust your natas (I have not purchased these yet, but they are on my never ending shopping list) If you are a lover of Pastéis de Nata you need to go and get your tarts here. If you have only ever experienced a limp, soggy, cold tart then please throw that in the bin, go for a ramble and sit with a good strong espresso and a custard tart, it will totally be worth the walk. I have been going here for the odd treat since it opened, I like to buy a box of six and surprise my office with a Friday afternoon sugar pick me up at tea time.

My favourite thing to do is buy myself a tart and scuttle off home to eat it in peace with no eyes around. I always have a deep fear that one day someone is going to grab my food out of my hand while I am scoffing away on a street corner. If you like tarts I would recommend going here. If you like custard you should totally go here. Tart alone, tart in a group whatever tickles your fancy really. Just promise me when your nata craving starts to kick in you go and grab one from I Love Nata.

Happy Dining xx

‘The British Are Coming’

Nestled in picturesque Neal’s yard in Covent Garden (if you haven’t instagramed a picture of the colourful wild café, you’re not hipster enough) is a Narnia of a restaurant called Nat∙ive. I have been yearning to go and try the food here ever since I heard the murmurs of its opening. Conjured up in the wonderful minds of Ivan (River Cottage HQ) and Imogen this little place is a foodies dream.

I have heard time and again how bland, boring, unimaginative and dull British cuisine is. This place is British and I am not talking a fancy fish and chip shop that places a piece of parsley on your fried plaice, and charges you an extra tenner for the privilege. I’m talking British grub at its finest. Nat∙ive describes itself as wild British cooking, taking the country’s best wild food that is native to the UK and basically making it taste like it fluttered down from food heaven, especially to be eaten by you. This place has given British cuisine a new identity, and that identity is YUMMY! Next time a person says ‘ergh British food, I don’t want no spotted dick’ shove a plate of a Nat∙ive main course in their face, and bask in your mic drop moment.

I took my mother to Nat∙ive for her mother’s day meal this year. The menu is small and seasonal and is determined by supply, this small fact already got me excited. When we arrived we were greeted by an incredibly friendly waiting staff and the kitchen. The kitchen is in full view to the public; you can even have a seat at the chefs table, which is a bench table that spans the width of the kitchen. To give you a bit more context, this place is small and the kitchen takes up the majority of the upstairs area only fitting two small tables for 2 and the chef’s table. We were seated upstairs by the window, and extremely near to the heart of the restaurant (by now I was really excited) I mean in my head I was in chefs table territory, I just had a table and the actual chefs table in my way. I could only describe it as almost seeing a really famous celebrity, but actually only seeing the back of their head.

There is more seating downstairs but we were more than happy with where we were placed, and I didn’t even actually venture down to check out the décor. I shall do this next time I visit (yea I’m going back…. Maybe tomorrow and every day after that). The other thing I love about this place is that it doesn’t give off an air of opulence. It’s rustic and earthy with wooden tables and plants running down the staircase, it just feels really natural with its main focus being the quality of the food and its ingredients. The Menu is not at all overly complicated, you can pick between a 2 course dinner for £28 or 3 course dinner for £35 which I think is incredibly reasonable. We had the choice of 3 courses and a glass of prosecco as I had managed to find a great deal on bookatable. Each course has a choice of three meals so you are not sitting leafing through pages of menu trying to decide what you want to eat.

To start I had the Wild Boar Ragu with buttered salsify, native curds and pickled walnuts. The Ragu was melt in the mouth perfection, flavoursome and although a game meat was delicate but yet packed a punch. It basically gave my mouth a lot of feelings, which were all good. The buttered salsify was crunchy and creamy adding the perfect texture to the dish, which was rounded off nicely with the native curds and the pickled walnuts. The starter had the perfect combination of salty, sweet and sour, I was actually dancing in my chair while I was eating!

Main course I went for the South Downs Venison with English turnips & tops, pine salt, smoked potato and bone marrow crumb. Chef cooked the meat to perfection; I could cut through it like butter! virtual high five to chef on that one. The smoked potato was so smooth and creamy and complimented the venison perfectly. But the bone marrow crumb OMG! That stuff needs to be put in a bag and sold as a beer snack because it was AMAZING!! Salty, crunchy, meaty and moreish. I would not be offended if they had offered me a bowl of the stuff to snack on in between courses. The pickled turnip added the right amount of acidity to the dish, which cut through the bold meatiness of the venison perfectly, and the turnip tops added a nice texture and dimension to the dish.

My favourite seasonal food for this time of year is rhubarb. Technically a vegetable but it makes some sweet sweet puds. So you could only imagine the mouth-watering that happened when I spotted rhubarb on the dessert menu. Rhubarb and rosemary compote, meadow sweet cream and coriander honeycomb was the dessert I was going for and it was banging!! I have never thought of using rosemary in a dessert before, I have always associated it with savoury foods but surprisingly it worked so well in the compote working more as a compliment to the earthy rhubarb flavour, and almost working as a rhubarb flavour amplifier. The cream was thick and delectable and could only be described as a warm ice cream, and who doesn’t love honeycomb? This dessert makes you channel Homer Simpson’s dribbling while he’s thinking about doughnuts. The only disappointing thing about this dessert is that it was not a bigger portion because I could have necked two bowls of it.

Nat∙ive is one of the best places I have visited so far this year, and I am going to make it my go to restaurant for friendly meet ups, all those first dates I go on (like 1 a year… I’m so single) when I am celebrating my forever alone moments by going and having dinner alone. All the special occasions you can wear a hat to, basically every waking moment my stomach requires food. This is a great place if you enjoy good honest food – this place is all about the ingredients. I would recommend this place if you are having a meal as a couple it has a nice comforting huggable atmosphere. This is a great place for friends to catch up with a glass of prosecco and several plates of rhubarb compote. It’s a brilliant place to take that friend that sticks their tongue out at British food, just to give them the experience of what real British cuisine is all about. Pick up the phone and reserve a table now before it becomes difficult to do so, and if you can try and get on the chefs table, now that would be a night to remember – and if you get that table, take me too.

Happy dining xx