Wednesday, August 31, 2011

a look back - Ben Shewry, WGS 2010


Finally, a break from London. I still have tons to write about Europe and I'll get there. Eventually.

So I've always wanted to write about this dinner I had at Singapore's World Gourmet Summit last year. It was nothing short of spectacular and virtually everyone whom I've spoken to about fine dining at some point had already heard me go on and on about how excellent it was. As usual, this fell into my backlog. That's besides the point anyway since I'm here now writing about it.

Friday, August 05, 2011

london eats: harwood arms

The Harwood Arms
27 Walham Grove
London SW6 1QR
Tel: +44 (0)20 7386 1847
Website: http://www.harwoodarms.com/index.htm


When R & I were planning the trip, we made sure that we had a variety of places that we could dine at. We knew that we couldn't leave London without trying the food at a British pub. So The Harwood Arms came into the radar and onto our itinerary. The Harwood Arms is the only pub in London to have landed themselves a Michelin Star and is co-owned by Brett Graham of The Ledbury fame (see my entry on The Ledbury here). Located in the Fulham area, it is nestled among residential housing, out of the usual touristy areas and doesn't look like a Michelin Star recipient from the outside if I'm being honest. Step inside and it is abuzz with chatter and a great amount of warmth. Have a taste of the food and then you'd realise why it is most deserving of an accolade. If pub grub was as good as this back home, I'd have pub grub any day of the week!

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

london eats: restaurant gordon ramsay

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
68 Royal Hospital Road
London SW3 4HP
Tel: +44 (0)20 7352 4441
Website: http://www.gordonramsay.com/royalhospitalroad/


A month or two before R & I set off for our trip, we started watching Ramsay's Best Restaurant in hopes to find a couple of restaurants which we could dine at when we were there. The restaurants on the show were divided into different cuisines and the winners in each cuisine category had to battle against each other. There were a few that caught our eyes and we did try the winner of the Spanish category, Fino in the end but the rest were out of London and hence, out of the itinerary.

Visiting a Ramsay restaurant wasn't part of the plan in the beginning. It was only whilst watching the show and seeing the contestants cook and serve in Ramsay's flagship 3 Michelin Star restaurant did I realise that I HAD to get the "Ramsay experience" that he's always been so proud of. Hence, a few adjustments to the itinerary later, we got ourselves a table for lunch!