WINTER GARDEN AT THE LANDMARK HOTEL

I've always wanted to visit The Landmark Hotel after admiring some beautiful images of the stunning architecture, so what better time and excuse to visit than to celebrate our second girls reunion this year. Now that the three of us have settled in different parts of England (Newcastle, Birmingham, London), London seems to be the most strategic location to meet up - which definitely gets a thumbs up from me (!)
 
 Awarded 2 AA Rosettes, the Winter Garden is an all-day brasserie that is situated in the heart of the soaring eight-storey glass roof atrium. I do love places with high ceilings and natural light, and the palm trees gave the feel of being back on a tropical beach resort - now if only the temperature outside would warm up a bit ...

Upon being seated, we were welcomed with chilled glasses of bellinis and warm bread with butter.

For my starter, I went for the warm terrine of slow cooked pork and black pudding. The pork was really soft and tender, and I liked the black pudding which gave a bit of texture. The smoked salmon ballotine was very vibrant and a lovely starter as well.

I ordered the roasted breast of maize fed chicken as my main which was served on a bed of tomato fondue, puy lentils, roasted cauliflower and broccoli. I found some bits of the meat a bit dry, but otherwise the vegetables and combination of flavours were quite nice. I also had a cheeky taste of Sarah's and Chloe's dishes. The pan seared fillet of seabass had a crisp skin and the slow cooked barbecue beef was deliciously succulent and flavoursome with a creamy mash.

I was quite happy with my choice of dessert, which was a light sponge of white chocolate and lime cream topped with refreshing blood orange sorbet. I am generally quite partial towards chocolate, but unfortunately the warm chocolate fondant was a bit dry and average, and could have done with a slightly more refined presentation ...

And because we were also celebrating Chloe's birthday, they brought out a sweet little cupcake with a candle after our desserts. A birthday is after all never quite complete without (more!) cake ...

On the whole, we all had a wonderful evening with lovely food, and the staff were really professional and attentive as well. If you've been tempted to experience this for yourself, then I would also recommend booking via this Bookatable Star Deals link, which includes a complimentary champagne cocktail with your 3-course meal - who doesn't love a bargain!

I enjoyed my experience there, and would love to return again in the future, maybe to try out the afternoon tea, because one can never have too many afternoon teas ...

The Cheekster, signing out x

PERUVIAN BRUNCH @ PACHAMAMA

It has been a while since I visited Pachamama, a Peruvian-inspired bar and restaurant in Marylebone, back in the early days when they first opened (2-ish years ago?)- it was not the most memorable experience, but I was convinced that things had improved since then. 
 
 We booked in for a relaxing Sunday brunch and were seated at a nice table towards the back where natural light shone through from above.

The cocktail menu looked rather tempting, and the three of us ordered the Miraflores from the list of 'Mama's Cocktails', a sweet and fruity cocktail named after their favourite area in Lima where you sip cocktails by the beach. Now if only there was some way to transport ourselves to somewhere exotic, if only just for the weekend...

We started with a selection of snacks to share which included the sweet and tender pork belly chicharrones and brown crab and yuca churros which were really light and moreish.
I could never miss out on padron peppers that I could happily snack on all day, and I also liked the crisp peruvian fried chicken with a side of hot sauce.

We also had a selection from the Lunch Plates category, which included a couple of ceviche dishes: house sea bass and samphire ceviche, and salmon tiradito with beetroot and avocado, both of which were tasty and refreshing, as well as being vibrant and appealing to the eye.
This was followed by a couple of meatier dishes: quinoa waffles with yacon syrup and bacon, and 'Duck on Rice' which was one of my favourite dishes (I do have a certain affinity for rice dishes...must be an Asian thing!). I was not too fond of the crispy lamb belly which was a bit on the dry side.

I would also recommend ordering some sides, from which we ordered the aubergine with smoked yoghurt and pecans, and the plantain with feta, black olive and yacon syrup.

To finish off, we ordered coffee and couple of desserts to share: a refreshing blackberry and sorrel 'Suspiro de Limena' and a contrastingly rich and delicious torta de lucuma and peach.

Overall it was a pleasant and satisfying brunch, and a much better experience compared to the first.
The place was not particularly busy which I prefer especially if you're looking for somewhere to relax on a weekend.

The Cheekster, signing out x

 

FISCHER'S, MARYLEBONE

 I don't often leave dinner plans to the last minute, but on this rather rare occasion I decided to try out the Uncover app and browsed the list of restaurants with dinner time availability. Many of the venues had really late slots, but thankfully Fischer's seemed to have my preferred time of 6.30pm, and a few finger taps later we were booked in, an email confirmation swiftly arriving in my inbox.

I have always wanted to visit Vienna, along with my long list of places to travel that will hopefully be ticked off the list in the next year or so. But for now this is probably the closest that I can get without having to jump on a plane. Fischer's is an informal neighbourhood cafe and konditorei which is designed to depict the evocative feel of Vienna in the early years of the twentieth century.

Our table was situated in the corner at the back, with a pleasant view of the vast room. The walls are decorated with distressed wallpaper and tiles, with rows of portraits of distinguished-looking individuals. The room is furnished with plenty of dark wood and brass fixtures, and leather banquettes. From the ceiling above where some natural light shone in, hung a large clock which reminded me of the ones that you usually see in railway stations.

The menu is pretty extensive and thankfully I had Stef to help explain some of the more traditional dishes, saving me from doing Google searches on my phone.
For starters, Stef had the grapefruit cured salmon served with horseradish cream and nordic bread, which had a fresh, zesty flavour to it. My fickle-minded self eventually decided on the white onion and gouda tart - warm, cheesy and delightfully hearty, presented on a lightly dressed bed of salad consisting of lambs lettuce, curly chicory and thinly sliced radish. 

 We both went for individual small portions of the Wiener Schnitzel, which I personally think is a big enough size (so you can save space for dessert! - a crucial element to consider during every meal...). It had a nice and even, golden breadcrumb coating, and inside a well-cooked thin and tender veal cutlet. This was served in a pool of jus parisienne and half a lemon wrapped in muslin for extra tanginess. We also ordered a couple of side dishes - spätzle (a kind of soft egg noodle or dumpling) that Stef recommended, which was buttery and very moreish, and some sauerkraut.  

After looking hungrily at the endless list of desserts and sweets, we settled for the apple and cinnamon strudel and a Franz Joseph Kaiserschmarrn - another one of Stef's recommendations that I attempted to pronounce (rather badly I must say!). I think I shall stick to pointing at names on menus... 

The pancakes were deliciously light and fluffy and came with a plum compote and a pot of cream. The strudel was undoubtedly just as good, with a lovely puff pastry crust and stuffed with sweet slices of apple.
The two men at the next table who had started making small talk with us halfway through our meal gasped at the amount of food that we ordered (which really wasn't THAT much...).

Overall we both enjoyed our meal and I do like the warm ambience of the place. I would definitely be tempted to come back again and try more from the menu, and maybe even pop in for a coffee and order some of those tasty sounding konditorei and biscuits! Everyone knows my weakness and love for sweet things...

The Cheekster, signing out x