ZOE'S GHANA KITCHEN, THE KING & CO.

I have never had Ghanaian food before, so I was intrigued to finally try Zoe's Ghana Kitchen, the latest in the series of kitchen takeovers at The King & Co.
 
A little bit about Zoe's Ghana Kitchen...

Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen is not just a ‘pop-up’ restaurant — it’s a food event: creating a look and feel from its Ghanaian roots that merges with a contemporary dining experience. 
Zoe’s journey began in the Hackney supper club scene before taking her modern homespun twist on classic Ghanaian flavours to pop-ups across London, Berlin and Russia. She has also showcased her critically acclaimed street food at prominent venues including Bestival, The Feast Collective at Camp Bestival and Diesel’s pop-up store on Regent’s Street.

And now onto the food...
There was a good selection of Ghanaian beers - I don't drink beer, but I could see that the majority of the rest round the table who drank did enjoy them.

We sampled some of the vegetarian options - my favourite was the okra tempura which was really tasty and more-ish, served with shito, a traditional ground prawn and chilli dip.
The cassava croquettes were also pretty good with a nice, crisp batter. Unfortunately I was not a fan of the spinach and agushi (ground melon seed) stew - probably one of those dishes that require an acquired taste!

Okra Tempura w/ Shito

Cassava Croquettes

Spinach and Agushi (ground melon seed stew)

We were also served some of the side dishes from the menu - plantain chips which I really liked, jollof rice, and a scotch bonnet and chunky heritage tomato salsa which had a nice spicy kick to it.

Kelewele Chunky Plantain Chips

Jollof Rice

Scotch Bonnet and Chunky Heritage Tomato Salsa

Next up were the mackerel fillets and the jollof chicken skewers - I particularly liked that dip that accompanied the chicken skewers. The pork belly was juicy and tender, and there were some delicious chunks of sweet plantain.

Mackerel Fillets in Chilli Lemon & Garlic

Jollof Chicken Skewers

Pork Belly w/ Sweet Plantain Jus

And my favourite dish of the evening, as I'm sure the majority would agree as well, was Zoe's Signature peanut butter stew with mutton. I LOVE peanut butter, and have had plenty of peanut butter desserts, but never in a savoury dish. The stew was really smooth and thick, and the mutton was really tender. 

A must-order dish! - unless you have a peanut allergy...

 

Maybe peanut butter is more versatile than I thought it was. 

Like sambal, that goes with everything. I love sambal, mmm...

Zoe's Signature Peanut Butter Stew w/ Mutton

And to finish off, we had the Chin Chin Banofee Pie, made with Chin Chin which is a popular West African snack food.

For those of you visiting on the weekend, Zoe will be offering a range of hearty brunch dishes like spiced black eyed beans with fried eggs, sweet plantain pancakes, and a signature ZGK breakfast burrito; alongside a lunch “Chop” bar menu that gives the opportunity to sample a selection of Ghanaian classics in a single platter. 
Zoe’s unique Sunday roasts are also not to be missed, such as tender Lamb Palaver (a five hour slow cooked hoggat shoulder with baby spinach and ground melon seed stew).

Get yourself down there whilst you can to try this contemporary twist on traditional Ghanaian flavours.

Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen’s residency at The King & Co will run from Monday 30th March until Sunday 31st May 2015, during the following kitchen hours:

Monday - Friday: 17.00–22.00
Saturday: 12.00–22.00
Sunday: 12.00–20.00
To book a table or reserve an area, please email hello@thekingandco.uk

Address:The King & Co
100 Clapham Park Road
London
SW4 7BZ

"It's Ghana Be Tasty!"

The Cheekster, signing out x

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

DONOSTIA SOCIAL CLUB @ THE KING & CO

A bit of a late post, but definitely news worth knowing about!

The newly opened The King & Co, is an independent neighbourhood pub serving quality drinks, and has started a series of pop-up residencies, bringing in passionate streetfood traders and chefs to run their kitchen. For those of you familiar with the London streetfood scene, you must definitely have been acquainted with and sampled the great Donostia Social Club. Donostia Social Club serves extraordinary Basque-inspired pinxtos and tapas - a unique fusion of the best of Northern Spain and French cuisine.

If you have not tried them, then now is your chance to do so!

The following photos were taken from when I attended the pub's opening party and the launch of Donostia Social Club's three month kitchen residency on the 11th of September.

We had a preview of the brand new look of the pub, and an exclusive taste of Donostia Social Club's specially designed tapas menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bar also has a great selection of beers, ciders, spirits, and wines - plenty to quench your thirst whilst you indulge in the mouthwatering food that Donostia Social Club has to offer.

 

 They have a delicious selection of cold and hot pinxtos which are great for sharing, AND there will also be lots of exciting specials and sharing plates...what's not to like?

A delectable experience not to be missed.

The Cheekster, signing out x

Address: The King & Co, 100 Clapham Park Road SW4 7BZ

When: 12th September - 30th November 2014