POP UP RESTAURANTS: WILD SERAI + KUSHI'S

So, as I'm kind of falling behind on some posts, I'm going to combine two weekend posts into one...

First up is Wild Serai's January residency at The King & Co., the Malaysian supper-club specialists who have put together a menu showcasing their favourite Malaysian streetfood dishes.
The last time I was at The King & Co. was for Donostia Social's residency which I thoroughly enjoyed - both the food and the venue. I have heard good things about Wild Serai but have never had the chance to attend their past supperclubs/pop-ups, so I was thrilled to find out that they were doing a one month residency at The King & Co.
I do often have cravings for food from back home, and there are not that many places that serve good, authentic Malaysian cuisine in London, so anything that comes close to it is always worth trying.

We popped in for lunch on a Saturday and ordered a few dishes to share. There was also a Special on the board that day which was the sharing platter, which we ordered. 

My favourite amongst the small plates/side was probably the sambal sardine puffs - light, fluffy pastry, and knowing just how much I am obsessed with sambal...

| Bloody Caesar |

- with Clamato juice and Moskovskaya vodka -

| Sambal Sardine Puffs |

- light parcels of puff pastry stuffed with sardine chilli sambal -

| Crispy Pork Belly |

- with lettuce leaf wraps, served with soy, lemongrass, sweet vinegar & bird's eye chilli dip -

| Sharing Platter |

- Malaysian grilled chicken and beef satay with tangy spicy peanut sauce; Pineapple, cucumber and coriander Nyonya salad; Crispy deep-fried wan tan parcels with sweet chilli dipping sauce; springs rolls and fishballs -

The nasi lemak, which is a signature Malaysian dish, was pretty good as well. The rice was nice and fragrant, the anchovies crunchy, and I did really like the prawn sambal.

| Nasi Lemak |

- coconut rice garnished with egg, cucumber, peanuts, anchovies and served with prawn sambal and beef rendang/Malay fried chicken -

We also obviously could not miss out on dessert, otherwise the meal just would not be complete...

Two traditional Malaysian desserts - the bubur cha cha was quite tasty and close to what I usually have back home. The cengkodok maybe not so much...

| Bubur Cha Cha |

- coconut milk, sago, sweet potato, banana and palm sugar -

| Cengkodok |

- deep-fried banana balls -

The Wild Serai residency at The King & Co. runs until the 31st of January 2015, so hurry and get yourself down there if you want to try them out!

Address: 100 Clapham Park Road, London SW4 7BZ

Contact No.: 020 7498 1971

Website: thekingandco.uk/events/wild-serai

And now moving on to Kushi's residency at Kitchenette in Ladbroke Grove - an incubator restaurant that help start-up food entrepreneurs.
Located in a beautiful setting on the canal (and much closer to work and home!), I was excited to try them out after eying some rather mouth-watering photos on Twitter.
A friend was also visiting for the weekend, and I thought that this would be a fun opportunity to introduce her to the creative food scene/concepts in London.

We started off with some house pickles, which had a nice variety. I was a particular fan of the watermelon and shiitake, both of which was the first time I had served pickled.

The Jeruselam artichoke tempura was certainly very tasty and more-ish and I could have easily devoured a few portions of it on my own. Such light and crunchy batter and nicely paired with the nori mayonnaise. The fried chicken also didn't fail to impress - delicious flavours, with crispy batter on the outside with the meat still succulent and juicy on the inside. To help 'balance out' our fried dishes, we also ordered the sprouting broccoli and roasted beetroot which was quite refreshing.

| House Pickles |

- watermelon rind, shiitake, beetroot, cherry, daikon -

| Jeruselam Artichoke Tempura & Nori Mayonnaise |

| Kushi's Fried Chicken |

- gochujang, sesame, chives -

| Sprouting Broccoli |

- served with shiso lime vinaigrette -

| Roasted Beetroot |

- with pear, wasabi horseradish crema, chives, caramel peanut crumb, sorrel -

We ordered three of the four taco dishes on the menu - crunchy tacos with a generous amount of toppings. I really liked all of them, but if I was to choose a favourite, then it would probably be the duck leg tacos. Unfortunately I didn't try the ox cheek taco as Shu is not much of a meat fan, but I'm sure that it would have tasted just as good. 

This just means that I will have to make another visit, just you know, to be doubly sure...

| Tacos |

- Cavolo nero, mizuna, shimeji mushroom, feta, schichimi -

- Duck leg, barley miso, pickled cherries, feta, coriander -

- Asahi-battered coley, jalapeno, crema, napa cabbage, red grape -

There was only one dessert on the menu, which was churros. We ordered it with black sesame condensed milk which was really tasty, or you also have the other option of a kinako and salted caramel sauce.

Overall, it was a really relaxing and enjoyable evening. Some fun and tasty dishes that you can have as a snack, or just order everything on the menu and you would then have a pretty substantial meal.
Kushi's residency at Kitchenette runs until the 26th of February 2015, so there's still plenty of time to get yourself down there to sample their food!
There are also more interesting residencies coming up in the next few months at Kitchenette which are worth checking out.
The West is after all where it's at these days, right?
 

Address: Wharf Building, 344 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5BU

Website: www.wearekitchenette.com

The Cheekster, signing out x

THE LITTLE YELLOW DOOR

The Little Yellow Door is based on a "Flatshare" concept, with 5 flatmates opening their living room to the public, for great dinner and house parties. 
The pop-up which launched about three months ago has been quite a hit in the London scene, run by the team behind TLYD whose past projects include ROXX club, Press Play immersive film nights and The Wandering Chef supper clubs.

Apart from being on the wrong side of the road (typical me), the place was surprisingly quite easy to find. Somehow in my mind I was expecting to be walking down some dark hidden alley, but it was conveniently located just along the main road.

I arrived outside the yellow door a few minutes before the doors were about to open at 6.30pm, and met some other bloggers who were just as curious as me as to what awaited us behind that yellow door. When it was time, we were greeted by the doorman and we made our way up the steep and (slightly rickety) narrow stairs.

There was a small reception desk at the top of the stairs, where we dropped off our coats, before being handed a piece of LEGO which was our drink token.

Stepping through the main entrance actually felt like stepping into someone else's front room. There were a couple of long dining tables with checkered tablecloths set out on the right, whilst towards the left was the bar where our drinks awaited us. The whole room was dimly lit, with The Big Lebowski playing in the background, projected onto the wall. Plasma TV screens are after all so yesterday, right?
 With a rather eclectic blend of decor, the room was filled with a collection of furniture, artwork and random pieces that wouldn't or shouldn't normally be placed together in the same room, yet it sort of worked. Unless of course you had some form of OCD, then this might be an issue...
A bit of like stepping into Wonderland - I've always wanted to feel what it would be like to be in Alice's shoes. Although not quite literally, as I do have pretty big feet...

At the bar, we each received welcome drink in exchange for our LEGO piece - The Libertine (Earl Grey-infused Gin, Lemon, Gomme, Egg White) served in a teacup with a Jammy Dodger on the side. This was definitely my kind of tea party. Kind of like a going through a weird transition from teenage-hood to adulthood, although some of us may have been past that stage a while ago... *secretly tries to conceal my actual age*

I sat on my comfy stool, and attempted to sip on my 'tea' like a lady as I nibbled away on my Jammy Dodger, secretly wondering if I could steal another Jammy Dodger from someone else's plate...

I do sometimes feel very much like a 12-year-old inside, or at least that's what my Health MOT thought of my Metabolic Age. I have it printed in black and white - can't argue with facts now, can we?

 (Re-)embracing my childhood, and doing things in reverse - because that's how I roll...

I also tried some watermelon/cucumber cooler concoction that was sweet and refreshing.

If you're as much of a fan as me of John Travolta, then you should make a visit to the toilet, where you will find some interesting pictures of him plastered on the wall.
Ah the days that I used to ogle at him when he played the hot leather-clad Danny in Grease...
Before he started piling on the pounds.

When everyone had arrived, we proceeded to be seated at the dining table, hungrily awaiting the feast that was to be served that evening.
Dinner is always hosted by their newest flatmate, who in this instance was Luigi, an Italian from Napoli, who had specially prepared a four course Italian feast for us.

A basket of rye crisps was passed around the table, and not long after, our sharing plates of starters arrived...
I was particularly a fan of the smoked beef carpaccio and the arancini balls.

| Antipasti |

- Burrata with Mint Pesto, Cured Tomatoes, Smoked Aubergine, Confit Onions and Rye Crisps -

- Prosciutto, Lardo, Peach, Basil & Almonds -

- Smoked Beef Carpaccio with Mustard Dressing, Crispy Capers and Salted Ricotta -

- Arancini of Mushroom and Asparagus with Truffle and Porcini Mayonnaise -

The first course was a huge dish of duck ragu tagliatelle, which was one of my favourites. I don't eat pasta that often these days, but I couldn't help myself from having a few helpings whilst trying not to look like a glutton. The bowl, or in this case, large mugs, was after all quite small, which justifies an extra helping or two...maybe even three.
I also later realized, after being told by the chef, that there was actually a lot of offal used in the dish. I don't usually eat offal, but it was cooked really well with the tagliatelle, which was so delicious that I didn't even notice!
The belly porchetta that came after was equally as indulgent - tender slices of belly porchetta with crunchy crackling.

| Primi |

- Egg Tagliatelle with Spiced Duck Ragu -

| Secondi |

- Belly Porchetta with Caponata, Pickled Baby Vegetables, Sultanas, Capers, and Pine Nuts -

We had three mini desserts each, all really tasty and was thankfully not too heavy as we were all pretty full by then. This was followed by Coffee & Cigarettes - an espresso martini with an actual cigarette and a box of matches on the side!

I obviously don't smoke, but I thought that it was pretty cool.

| Dolci |

- Sicilian Cannelloni with Pistachios -

- Pine Nut Caramel Tart with Marsala Raisins -

- Chocolate and Tiramisu Panna Cotta -

| Caffe |

- Coffee & Cigarettes (Grand Brulot, Espresso Coffee, Tobacco Gomme) -

There was also a quirky sort of room at the far end, the 'Tree House', which was a really cosy space with comfy pillows, sports memorabilia and stacks of boardgames for entertainment.

Back at the bar, we all had our cameras ready as the 'Towering Inferno' was set on fire - an impressive show, but definitely not something to try at home!

A really fun and interesting evening, and it was lovely to meet other fellow bloggers - definitely a place worth checking out.

The venue is also available for private hire, accomodating for dinners, canapé and drinks receptions, and other corporate events. 
Apparently regular visitors to The Little Yellow Door will also receive a key to the door so they can come and leave as they wish, with some extra perks on the side...
Click on the links below for more information, and get yourself booked in to experience it for yourself.

The Little Yellow Door

68, Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3HT

www.thelittleyellowdoor.co.uk

www.facebook.com/thelittleyellowdoor

instagram.com/The_little_yellow_door 

The Cheekster, signing out x

FREE BREAKFAST FROM LYLE'S GOLDEN SYRUP, WEDNESDAY 14TH JANUARY

To the lucky Londoners commuting through Victoria Station, Lyle's Golden Syrup will be treating you to a delicious free breakfast this Wednesday 14th January, from 7.00am to 12.00pm - a healthy and happy way to kick start the day and brighten up your morning commute!

Free servings of freshly made hot porridge, topped with a generous helping of the much loved Lyle's Golden Syrup - a breakfast guaranteed to set you up for the day.

For more information about Lyle's Golden Syrup, click here.

Note: BYOB [Bring-Your-Own-Blueberries]

The Cheekster, signing out x