STAX DINER, CARNABY

Difficult times call for some self indulgence, this time leading to comfort eating at newly opened Stax Diner in Kingly Court, serving up good 'ol American food.

With a slightly later opening that day at 6.30pm, we perched ourselves on the stools by the windows to have a drink whilst waiting. WK had the "Black Cow" which was an A&W classic root beer, vanilla ice cream float, whilst I had the "hard" version with the added vodka.
I haven't had a root beer float in ages - the best ones I've had were from my childhood visits to A&W back in Malaysia. Oh those were the days, when life seemed so simple and carefree!

 

 

When it was finally time, we requested to be moved to a proper table inside, with a space much tinier than I was expecting. We were sat just opposite the kitchen, which was so small that the fridge/freezer was located outside of it next to our table - not quite the most convenient location as I tried to avoid from being knocked each time someone came to obtain ingredients from it.
Short of time, and feeling rather hungry, we hurriedly placed our orders before the rest of the crowd were seated.

 

| Cajun Onion Blossom |

 - Cajun spiced battered onion blossoms served with epic garlic dipping sauce - 

It looked pretty awesome, and the batter was nice and crispy. It was however quite hard to break apart the pieces without the batter falling out, and I feel that the onion itself could have been cooked a little bit longer. My memories of a great onion blossom still go back to the time I had it at Chili's Bar and Grill, a really long time ago...
I do think that with a little bit of tweaking, this dish would then definitely be 'A Must Have'.

| Cajun Popcorn Shrimp Bucket |

A nice little side snack to nibble on.

 

| Apple Poppyseed Coleslaw | 

The only veggie side dish that we ordered, just so to balance it out...
I liked the little bits of poppyseed and it was overall a tasty coleslaw.

| Bring Home the Bacon |

- Stax burger with your choice of cheese and maple glazed beef bacon -

We were tempted to order 'The Chickadee', but thought we would give one of the beef options a go instead, for variety.
 Not a bad burger, but not that great either (maybe needs slightly more seasoning?)...and could do much better in terms of presentation and a slightly bigger portion of the burger patty.

 

| Chicken and Waffles |

- Buttermilk fried chicken breast and thigh with buttermilk crispy waffle with maple syrup - 

 Delicious crispy fried chicken, and nice, light waffles. Anything with buttermilk fried chicken is a winner for me.

| The Duffin Sundae |

- Famous buttermilk and nutmeg duffin with French vanilla ice cream, butterscotch and fudge sauce, whipped cream and cherry on top -

Okay, now that I look back on it and re-read the description, I've just realized that something must have gone wrong with our order...
We placed an order for a Duffin Sundae (which took quite a while to arrive, but the waitress kindly apologized and went to look into our order again when she saw us still 'dessert-less'), but what we ate was a deep-fried brownie...? I've never tried a duffin before, but now that I've had a look at a picture and description of it...what we were served definitely was not it.
Guess it must have been mixed up with a Dough-Bro...
Oh well, we were probably too full by then and weren't quite as alert.

 

 Service was a bit slow and not quite as smooth sailing just yet, but then again it was their first official opening day, so things will hopefully improve from then on. It can get quite stuffy and warm inside, especially with the warm(ish) weather lately, so the window seats would probably be a better option next time.

Address: 1st floor, 1.7 Kingly Court (Carnaby), London W1B 5PW

Tel. No.: 0207 734 3190

Currently in their soft-launch phase until the 18th of June, they operate a no-reservations policy, so you should know the drill by now...

The Cheekster, signing out x

ARTISAN, NEWCASTLE

I very rarely make trips up north these days - London seems to have a certain pull on me that makes it hard to leave, even if it is just for a weekend. However, sometimes a little getaway is essential, and it helps to know that I will be in the company of family.

My brother is just as much of a foodie as I am (it must run in our genes!), so I left the decision making to him on where to have lunch that weekend.

Formerly known as David Kennedy's Food Social, the restaurant was re-launched as Artisan this year - a modern restaurant that serves British inspired menus using the finest regional and seasonal ingredients. It is located in The Biscuit Factory; the UK's largest arts and craft and design gallery, which plays a role in influencing the atmosphere and the food that is served.

The place wasn't as busy as I was expecting it to be - I guess that I am just so used to expecting restaurants to be full on weekends as most places are in London. The place was rather spacious with a contemporary interior, yet it still had a warm and welcoming feel to it.

 

 

 

The set lunch menu had a choice of two or three courses, at really reasonable prices - the three of us all went for the three courses of course.

 

 

 

| Chef's salad |

A lovely mix of fresh greens, beetroot, apple slices and walnuts.

 

| Mushroom soup, truffle oil & chives | 

Me and Earn Hui ordered the soup which was deliciously rich and creamy. And the lovely aroma of the truffle oil...

 

| Crispy pork terrine, celeriac, apple, hazelnut | 

I had a little nibble of my brother's starter - nice and crispy on the outside and tender meat on the inside.

 

| Marinated skirt steak, roast potatoes, wilted lettuce, peppercorn sauce | 

An obvious man's choice, my brother went for the steak which was cooked a lovely medium rare.

 

| Beer battered haddock, double dipped chips, tartare | 

I do love a good fish and chips, and a really large and generous portion it was. Golden and crisp batter and the haddock was very fresh. Chips were pretty amazing as well, but unfortunately too much for me to finish.

 

Already quite stuffed from the starters and mains, but who can resist ordering dessert...we ordered all three so that we could share and taste all of them!

| Sticky toffee pudding, salt butter caramel, vanilla ice cream | 

Sweet and sinful, with LOTS of caramel - which my brother greedily scooped up every last drop.

 

| Selection of homemade ice creams & sorbets | 

A simple and refreshing mix of vanilla ice cream and raspberry and blueberry sorbet - yummy.

| Lemon & elderflower posset, marinated raspberries | 

Smooth, creamy and not too sweet. A nice way to finish the meal.

 

Great food, service and ambience - definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

Address: The Biscuit Factory, Stoddart Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1AN

Tel. No.: 0191 260 5411

The Cheekster, signing out x

OBIKA COCKTAIL MASTERCLASS

Just in time for the weekend, I received a surprise notification that I had won two places at Obika's Cocktail Masterclass at the Poland Street branch. I say 'surprise' because I never quite remember what I have entered, and it's always more exciting when it comes unexpectedly.

Accompanying me for the evening was Marcin, dance buddy, and now newly appointed drinking buddy.

When it was time, we were brought downstairs to our table in front of the bar. And of course the usual flurry of photo-snapping took place before we started as each of us winged out our smartphones and cameras to take photos whilst everything was still in order!

 

 

 

We were treated to some refreshing aperitivo to start with - Aperol Spritz, one of my favourite cocktails, a classic Italian summer aperitif.

Settled down in our seats, we introduced ourselves round the table and were briefed by the lovely Mario about the bar equipment laid out before us on the table.

Mario demonstrated how to make each cocktail behind the bar before we had a go at each of them in our pairs. We also tried and tasted each others concoctions to compare flavours.

| Negroni |

I do love negronis - it's hard to go wrong with it, for which we used one part Bombay Gin, one part Martini Rosso, and one part Campari, on the rocks.

| Basilico | 

Not quite used to handling the cocktail shaker, we did end up making a huge sticky mess on our side of the table...

But we added more vodka to compensate, so I guess it worked out alright (!)

| Smoked Martini |

Marcin had a little play around behind the bar, and in his excitement, may have gone a bit heavy-handed on the smoked brine...

 Not quite the type of drink that I would normally order, but I became more used to the taste after a few sips.

| Valentina |

My favourite cocktail of the evening - sweet, fruity, and who doesn't love strawberries?

Perfectly paired with a luscious spoonful of chocolate mousse.

 

After we had finished making all four cocktails, there was a little quiz, and the birthday guest of the evening who answered correctly had a whiz at concocting his own cocktail behind the bar.

 

A really fun interactive cocktail session and alcohol-fueled evening amongst fellow cocktail lovers.

And many thanks to the superb Mario, Rob, Jane, Olga and all the kitchen staff for all their hard work.

May our (alcoholic) paths cross again sometime in the future!

The Cheekster, signing out x

HUTONG, THE SHARD

After a couple of failed attempts, we finally managed to get a lunch reservation on the Bank Holiday Monday.

We arrived about five minutes just before our reservation at 12noon, and were told to wait outside of the building until it was exactly 12 o'clock... 

I mean, if they take reservations from 12noon onwards, surely they should at least let us enter and take the elevator up instead of leaving us standing outside in the cold...

Anyway, ranting aside, up we went and we were seated in a cosy little corner. Probably not the best weather to take a nice photo. Cloudy skies and rain splattered glass - just another day of temperamental English weather.

 

 

We ordered some cocktails to start with - Comfortably Numb and Chinese Lantern.

 

We were served three appetizer dishes. I really liked the scallops and razor clams which were very fresh, but wasn't quite a fan of the spring rolls. Nice, crispy skin, but I prefer my spring rolls to be fatter and juicier.

| Chilled spiced razor clams |



| Chilled sliced scallops served with pomelo segments |



| Vegetarian spring rolls |

Two seafood dishes, which I enjoyed. Delicious soft shell crab, but such a shame for so much chilli to go to waste...
The Dover sole was one of my favourite dishes, although not quite the prettiest looking dish. Loved the sauce, and I wished that there was more to go with our fried rice.

| Crispy soft shell crab with Sichuan dried chilli |

| Boneless Dover sole braised in coriander-vinegar sauce |



| Sichuan style stir-fried lady's fingers with minced pork, dried shrimp and chilli |

I don't often eat fried lady's fingers, as I usually have them steamed or in some sort of curry. I did still enjoy it, really fragrant.

| Egg yolk fried rice with diced chicken and shrimp, spring onion and tossed with golden garlic |

| Crispy de-boned lamb ribs |

| Dessert |
- Golden sesame dumplings filled with apple paste and cinnamon -
- Red bean glutinous rice dumplings in sweetened ginger soup -
- Mango pancake roll - 

Not the most creative selection of desserts - nice, but probably something you could easily get in Chinatown that would taste just as good, at much more economical prices...

 

Overall, food wasn't too bad, although rather expensive for typical Chinese food...
Then again, dining at sky-high places such as The Shard always comes with premium prices. It is after all, mostly about 'the experience'. 
Another negative is that they have a 1.5 hour seating policy - it's not followed too strictly, but the fact that they reiterate it to you when you are first seated at the table kind of makes you feel a bit conscious about the time. Not great considering that the food does take a while to be served.
That's another place ticked off my list. 

Address: Level 33 The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9RY

Tel. No.: 020 3011 1257

Opening hours: 12:00-14:45 (lunch) ; 18:00-22:45 (dinner)

The Cheekster, signing out x