LYLE'S THE GUEST SERIES x LEANDRO CARREIRA

Lyle's has been on my list for a while, and I was excited to be able to attend the first of The Guest Series that kicked off on 15th September - a one-off dinner collaboration between Head Chef James Lowe and Chef Leandro Carreiraa (formerly of Viajante and Mugaritz).

The menu consisted of a fixed six-course meal, showcasing some of the best British seasonal produce.

We were served a basket of sourdough bread and some small snacks to start with. I particularly liked the blood cake, damson and potato crisps.

 

| Mackerel Broth |

Mackerel is best from autumn through winter. Two clean cut pieces of mackerel in a lovely broth. A very clean dish, and it didn't taste too fishy.

 

| Spiced Cabbage | 

The rolls of cabbage were filled with a shrimp paste and some cobnuts on the side. Not quite one of my favourite dishes, and there were a few mixed opinions around the table...

 

| Squid, Potato & Nasturtium |

Now THIS, I really liked - nicely presented with lovely vibrant colours, and of course it tasted really good as well. Nice peppery taste from the nasturtium which is apparently one of the tastiest edible flowers - great for dressing up plates, and also high in vitamin A, C and D. Healthy eating, sorted.

 

| Hebridean Lamb, Beetroot & Plum | 

Lamb was tender and a nice shade of pink, with a thin, juicy layer of fat, accompanied well by subtle sweet flavours of the beetroot and plum.

| Cardo, Pear & Honey |

I love cheese, so naturally I liked this dish. I can't really remember what the bits at the top were made from, but it tasted like Weetabix to me... well, the texture at least. Another dish with some mixed views around the table, and I offered to help eat up Prowler's portion - just doing my good deed for the day...

 

| Fig & Lemon | 

Dessert was very cooling and refreshing - simple yet tasty.

And some more snacks to finish off the meal - those brown butter cakes were REALLY good, I wished that I could have taken home an entire box...

 

The portions are generally quite small, so those with larger appetites might still leave feeling a bit hungry. I left feeling rather satisfied, taking into account that I had already indulged at The BackBench at Koya just a few hours prior to coming here. Eating is hard work, I know.
Overall, a pleasant dining experience, and somewhere that I would gladly visit again.

The Cheekster, signing out x

Address: The Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ

Tel. No.: 020 3011 5911

EMIRATES AIR LINE, SHOREDITCH, & MISSING FOOD!

I am currently cooling off with my tiny tub of Haagen-Daz Secret Sensations creme brulee - my twin pack has obviously been intruded upon leaving a single lone tub in the freezer, I have a feeling I know who has eaten it...again.

I'm really not one to get too bothered about people eating my food as long as they ask for my permission.

List of missing food items to date:

1. can of sweetcorn

2. pack of yoghurt

3. 1L carton of juice

4. half a bottle of rose wine

5. mini tub of Haagen-daz Secret Sensations

...do people not know/remember what they bought?...or probably just being plain ignorant.

I don't really feel like voicing out my annoyance just in case I sound too petty, so I've decided I'm going to start taking some desperate measures...by putting my name on them (!) there is after all no excuse for illiteracy - this is even worse than house/flat-sharing in university.

Ranting aside...today I went to try out the Emirates Air Line (also known as the Thames Cable Car) which opened just over a couple of weeks ago. It runs between the two new terminals Emirates Greenwich Peninsula by the O2 and Emirates Royal Docks.

The fare was £4.30 single-way and the journey lasted 5 minutes, or probably less which was much quicker than we expected! We were busy snapping pictures and before we knew it we were landing.

You can either purchase a ticket there and then...or be a street-wise, true Londoner, and make sure you have enough credit on your Oyster card so you can skip the unnecessary queues for the ticket counters like we did!

Off we go!

O2 Arena

Hurry take a picture before we land!

We have just landed...on the other side of the river

We had lunch at O2 Arena Slug & Lettuce as the half-price offer was on til 3pm - yes always looking for a bargain! We both shared the Fisherman's Platter and a bottle of Rekorderlig cider. That sharing platter was definitely enough to have as a main meal for two!

Next stop - Shoreditch.
Has a browse around Brick Lane and the markets - I just LOVE the atmosphere here, it's one of my favourite hang-out places. I don't think my dressing would ever reach their level of...'cool-ness'...if such a word exists, but hey, it's all fun and games!

I was still kind of full from lunch, but was tempted by a nice slice of carrot cake from this little stall at Old Spitalfields Market, served by a friendly young man ;)

Note: The brownies are de-lish.

And as always the shopaholic in me has an eye for pretty things...like this cute lace dress and gold bangle to add to my collection!

Cute lace dress made in Korea

There wasn't a changing room available so we both were just pulling the clothes over ours in a corner of the stall. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a man was smiling/staring at me trying on the dress - I wasn't sure if it was because the dress looked pretty on me or if it was a look of amusement...I'll just assume that it was because of the former ha!
And we had the comfort of a 'portable' mirror a.k.a. the salesgirl who was trying to multitask balancing my clothes and holding the mirror steady for us!

Today's arm candy, plus my new addition - 'Moving forward never looking back'

I'm going to get back to my final book of the Fifty Shades trilogy - I WILL finish reading this...eventually.

I've got a date tonight - with a glass (or two) of rose wine...

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Hope you all had a good weekend x