And so we headed to Mishkins, a non kosher Jewish Deli, a
strange choice maybe, given the relationship between the Lebanon and
Israel. But hey ho, it’s only food!
The food here is what your mother would make if she was
Jewish, all time classics that most people are familiar with, meatballs,
reubens sandwiches, salt beef, pickles, chicken soup etc.
It was half empty when we arrived and just as well, as the
service was quite show, I don’t think they could have coped with too many
more. We were not in a hurry, but I
could imagine how annoying a twenty minute wait would be if you have a short
lunchtime. You would not get away with
it where I work is all I am saying!
I had three meatballs, lamb and pistachio, with two sides of
salad and cauliflower slaw. It was all
really flavourfull, but the slaw was the star.
I must get more inventive with slaws.
The Americans do such a great variety of them, and I constantly get
asked to make boring old coleslaw. Time
to stop giving the customer what they ask for, lobbing mayonnaise onto cabbage
and carrots. This one had a light vinaigrette,
cauliflower and red cabbage, crunchy and light, yummy. OH had the duck hash, fried egg and liquor,
another good plate of food. The liquor
was a small jug of duck gravy, very nice indeed. The coffees were terrible, a see through
glass of dishwater, so I sent them back even though the waitress said that’s
what they always serve! A nice room
though and I could hang around at that cocktail bar if I did not have lots to
do and so little time!
A word on coffee in London – it is universally terrible, too
big in amount, too small in flavor. Each
time I get handed a half pint of liquid when I ask for a coffee I groan quite
loudly. Is this just coffee made by a
tea loving nation? I always order an
Americano, which to me is one shot of espresso with some extra hot water added,
which should add up to just under an old fashioned tea cup full, about 6 fluid
oz. And please, clean you equipment
regularly so we get some crema! And when
I order it to have inside, I want it in a proper cup, not cardboard.
I should run courses.
The following day we were invited to Coq d’Argent by my nephew
in the city. Everyone should have a
nephew in the city to take the old Aunt to lunch, and by now most of Ireland
does! He was suitably suited and booted
to make Aunty proud, and I had to stop short of pinching his cheeks and telling
him what a nice boy he is.
Tablecloths, lots of waiters, nice glasses, the surrounding
were a step up, how good would the food be?
We had the three course set lunch, with no wine as I hate drinking in
the middle of the day. It just sends me
to sleep. The wine list looked
impressive though, and I would love to have another look at it.
Goat cheese starter followed by the pork cheeks, then crème
caramel for me, a mushroom parfait, the cheeks and a beautiful rhubarb cake for
OH. It was all really beautiful to look
at, tasty and flavourful. The cheeks
were soft and tender, lightly covered in sauce and served with a truffle mash
and roasted root vegetables, (well three pieces of veg placed artistically on
the plate). Service was light, no
constant running back to the table and allowing us time to chat. The place was heaving when we arrived and
cleared out by the time we had our excellent coffees, admirable that they can
happily feed a full restaurant in so short a time. Nephew picked up the bill, swished us through
the door way, showed us the magnificent views of London and disappeared in a doorway back to work. I have wiped from my mind all those hours of
babysitting him, worth it all!
A quick visit to the site for the Olympics, then it was time
to meet a friend , have a light dinner and go to Wicked the show. Kavey had recommended Hunam which looked good
when we checked it out but events conspired against us, (really it was the
drink after work that turned into 2 or 3 ), so we grabbed a quick burger at the
Sports Bar and Grill at Victoria Station (very good) and headed in to the
Apollo for the show.
Thanks to everyone for their recommendations and here is a
link to that discussion for anyone interested in trying out other suggestions.
Glad you liked both Beirut Express and Mishkins, as I said, I recommended both on strength of feedback from others I trust, having visited neither myself... yet!
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And now I have a great list of other place to try too when I next get over to visit my friends. There were some other very exciting paces to try on that list. Its is great to have so many foodie friends who will give me the 'heads up'
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