TATA EATERY SATURDAY RESIDENCY @ NEWMAN ARMS

After a successful pop up at Newman Arms last year with their rice tasting menu, Tata Eatery has once again returned for their latest March residency, this time offering an innovative all day brunch menu with a strong Asian accent.

If you read my review of it, you will realize how much I love their food and style of cooking, so I definitely did not want to miss out on this.

There was a special drinks menu available, featuring sake selected by Elyse Li from Japan Gourmet, from which we ordered the Fukuju "Yuzu Sake' - refreshing with a slight hint of acidity.

We ordered a bowl of rice and congee each to have with our dishes. I liked the short grain rice, which is one of my favourite varieties, and undoubtedly loved the congee, flavoured with chicken stock, herb sauce and topped with crispy chicken skin and dough sticks.

Congee has always been one of my favourite comfort foods, and I would have been happy having multiple portions of this, if I didn't have to make space for the other dishes to follow...

We nibbled on some snacks whilst waiting: braised peanuts with edamame and celery, and a house made fermented vegetable salad.

Both of them were really tasty and moreish.

Next up were the cold dishes. The Prawn Tartare was absolutely delicious, which consisted of juicy cured prawns with egg yolk and tobiko which added a crunchy texture and a mild salty taste to it.

The other two dishes were Shime Saba (cured mackerel, sweet daikon and soy dressing) and Tofu (steamed tofu with spring onions and soy) - both simple yet tasty.

Moving on to the hot dishes, which we also ordered one of everything (obviously), and consisted of the following:

Tata Egg - fried egg, XO and katsuobushi

Skate Wings - yeast beurre blanc and black sesame

Butifarra - pork and rice sausage, turnip tops and fried egg

Aubergine - braised with black bean sauce

All of them were really good, and I particularly liked the pork and rice sausage which was full of flavour, as well as the aubergine that had a nice balance of sweetness, and is great with rice.

We finished off with a portion of the Ricecream with bergamot and chocolate - the first mouthful was slightly peculiar, but the flavours eventually grew on me.

This Tata Eatery residency at Newman Arms is only for the month of March on Saturdays, with tickets available to book via the Billetto website, so get these dates in your diary before it's too late.

Walk-ins are also available all day. 

Check out the website for more information, or contact Newman Arms on 020 3643 6285.

The Cheekster, signing out x

POP UPS @ NEWMAN ARMS: SAMBAL SHIOK + TATA RICEATERY

Those of you who are familiar with the London streetfood scene must surely have heard of Sambal Shiok, purveyor of Malaysian delights with a modern twist. 
You must have come across her legendary satay and rendang Malaysian burgers, and mouth-watering riceboxes, and if you haven't booked yourself in for their latest residency yet, then now is the time to do so whilst you still can (!)

For SIX nights only Sambal Shiok will be showcasing their amazing Prawn Curry Laksa at the Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, alongside a selection of Rieslings specially selected by Zeren Wilson (Bitten & Written).
Hot bowls of comforting, aromatic broth filled with yin yang noodles (rice vermicelli and egg noodles), juicy prawns, beans and tofu - Laksa Nights is guaranteed to warm you up on a cold winters day. Beautiful flavours with a good spicy kick to it that will surely leave your tastebuds tingling (in a good way, of course)
 There are also sides of chicken satay ssams, dessert, wine and other drinks available to purchase on the night. 

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get a preview of the delicious laksa, so if you haven't been convinced yet, then I'm sure that you will be after having a look at these photos...

Running from 14th November to 19th December, there are two sittings each Saturday (5.30pm and 7.30pm) - seats are almost SOLD OUT, so hurry and book yourselves in before it's too late (!)
  There are also a limited number of walk-in spaces in the downstairs pub area. 
First come first serve - you know the drill. 

Another pop-up that I would recommend having a look at is Tata Riceatery, which runs on a Sunday. One of the latest streetfood traders to pop up in the London scene, Tata Riceatery has teamed up with Japan Gourmet to present you a delectable five course tasting menu (all based on rice) with sake pairing.

I attended the first event on 8th November, and this is what it looked like...

Congee Congee + Fukuju Awasaki Sparkling

Pumpkin, Rice Broth, Caviar + Rihaku Dreamy Clouds

Chicken, Rose, Rice Wine + Amabuki Rose

Fishermen's Rice + Katsuyama En

Horchata + Amami Umeshu

All five courses were nicely executed, wholesome and not overly-complicated - it was hard to choose a favourite.  
And trust me, they tasted as good as they looked.

Bookings can be made by email via tataeatery@gmail.com (bank transfer) or via this link.
The next event is on 22nd November, followed by 13th and 20th December.
If you love rice and sake as much as me, then I would recommend trying this out.

Two amazing pop-ups in a great, central location - what more could one ask for?

The Cheekster, signing out x