london eats: the ledbury

The Ledbury
127 Ledbury Road
Notting Hill, London
W11 2AQ
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7792 9090
Website: http://www.theledbury.com/

Planning the places to dine at in London was a whole lot of fun and I would say, rather crazy. R & I packed our schedule full of restaurants that we wanted to try and I honestly thought that I would be sick by the end of the London leg. I was wrong cos it turned out that the current dining scene in London is extremely vibrant and with proper planning, every meal could turn out to be new and exciting! Dining at The Ledbury was a bright spark of the trip and I will remember that for a long time to come.

london eats: breakfast at ottolenghi

Ottolenghi

63 Ledbury Road

London W11 2AD

Tel: +44 (0)20 7727 1121

If you're in the area...

you can't possibly walk past this...

cos you won't be able to walk away quietly when you peer through that glass window and realise that if you walk in, you will see this...

and this...

before you know it, you will be pointing at this...

Caramel and Macadamia Cheesecake

this...

Lemon and Almond Cake with Blueberries

and that...

Quiche with Roasted Tomatoes, Caramelised Onions, Goat's Cheese & Thyme

The fun really begins when you dig in to the treats and settle in with a nice hot cup of coffee. 

And then of course, it gets better when you overhear a lady with 4 gorgeous children tell a friend about her upcoming weekend trip to Paris to see some art.

Ah.. the life...

london eats: breakfast at the wolseley

The Wolseley

160 Piccadilly

London W1J 9EB

Tel: +44 (0)20 7499 6996

Website: http://www.thewolseley.com/

 

I cannot think of a single person who doesn't love a good breakfast. I know I do and I had one of the best breakfast experiences in London at The Wolseley. 

london eats: dinner by heston blumenthal

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X7LA
Tel: +44(0)20 7201 3833
Website: http://www.dinnerbyheston.com/

 

When I told a few of my friends about my impending trip to London, most of the conversations ended up being somewhat like this...


Me: I'm stopping by London for a couple of days on the way to Paris.

Friend: Oh! Cool! Are you going to Fat Duck???????

Me: No....

Friend: Why not?! That's like the best restaurant in the world. Everyone goes or at least tries to visit when they're in London!

Me: Erm... it didn't cross my mind? And... no time???

Friend: Oh... 


Now the funny thing is since when did Fat Duck become synonymous with London? It isn't even there! But then of course I'm just being stupid and finding excuses for my "missing out" on a visit. There really just wasn't enough time since I was planning a full eating schedule in London and frankly, it just wasn't high up on my list of 'must-tries'.

love, food & europe.

I've just got back from a 3 week food experience in London and various parts of France and I must say that it's been the experience of a lifetime. It wasn't my first visit but it was the first since I've started to appreciate food in a different way (not to mention with a bigger budget). There is so much to say and I just don't know where to begin. I'll promise I'll get down to it once I need a breather from studying. There are so many things I miss and one of it is just my Parisian breakfast. This is what it looked like almost every morning.

Thomas Keller's Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Apologies for being away for this long. Over the last few months, I've been back in Singapore and got really busy with work and life. I did have a couple of memorable food experiences though which I HOPE I will get to penning down as soon as time permits. For now, I just wanted to share my new found love for grilled cheese sandwiches. Who doesn't like melting cheese on sandwich right?! Well I definitely love it but when you add butter and fry the bread in a pan, the flavours are way different! Have a go at this recipe because it tastes oh-so-good.

Caution: You might feel your arteries clog as you're preparing the meal. Eat at your own discretion.

Ingredients
ciabatta, cut into thick slices
Swiss Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced
unsalted butter, at room temperature

• Preheat oven to 170〫celcius
• Lay the ciabatta bread on your work surface and stack the thinly sliced cheese over it. Top with the remaining slices of bread.
• Over medium heat on a pan, add the butter and cook to brown. Be careful not to burn the butter.
• Add the sandwiches and cook until brown on one side for approximately 1½ minutes.
• When brown, flip the sandwiches on to the other side and cook for approximately 40 seconds before removing from pan.
• Transfer the sandwiches to a baking tray and spread about 1 tsp of butter on each sandwich before placing them in the oven for about 4 minutes to ensure that all the cheese is melted.
• Remove from oven, serve and ENJOY!

Things to note:

• The original recipe called for brioche which would have given a sweeter taste to the sandwich given the nature of the bread. I used a rustic ciabatta which worked well too.
• Ensure that you get enough cheese on the sandwich so that you're not just eating bread. Not too much though since gruyere can be pretty strong tasting but it's really your preference at the end of the day.
• Ensure you get enough butter in the pan otherwise your pan will start smoking when the bread absorbs all that butter quickly and you won't get that beautiful brown you want on your sandwich. You can always diet another day.
• Eat it when it's fresh out of the oven cos the cheese will be nice and gooey.
• I made this to accompany pumpkin soup but it probably works better with tomato soup cos of the acidity. Les Bouchons serves it that way anyway.