HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY KUA 'AINA

So most of you are probably familiar with Kua 'Aina just off Carnaby Street that opened in 2011, but did you know that they have a branch on Goodge Street too? Well, I didn't, until I was invited to celebrate their 1st birthday on Goodge Street where I go to sample their new menu and Christmas specials. 

In the last 12 months since it opened, Kua 'Aina in Goodge Street has served up 11,548 signature Avocado Burgers: chilled, pulled and poured 9,245 craft beers from Hawaii's Kona Brewing Company, and stacked 16,936 sweet and savoury all-day American Pancakes (!) - now that's definitely worth celebrating.

 This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the original Kua 'Aina on Hawaii's North Shore which was started in 1975 by terry Thompson.

I remember first visiting Kua 'Aina almost three years ago with my friend, Lili, who mentioned that it was a favourite of President Barack Obama when he's back home.

Well, if it's good enough for him... 

The Goodge Street branch is much larger than the one off Carnaby Street, and is spread over two floors. After a warm and welcoming 'ALOHA' at the entrance, I headed downstairs where I was greeted with a multicoloured Hawaiian lei slipped onto my neck before being served a huge goblet of "Juicy Red" Hawaiian Punch, a U.S. imported world famous canned drink. 
Upstairs at the bar, we were able to get a taste of some of their cocktails. I love avocado, and I ordered the Avocado Wave which was blended with rum, mango, orange and lime. It was thick and creamy unlike some other places that I have tried that are sometimes too watery.
If you love avocado as much as I do, then this is the cocktail for you.
I'm also a huge fan of lychee, and the Lychee Collins just happens to be one of the customer favourites, also a new addition to the drinks list. 

We then proceeded to the kitchen area where all the delicious food is cooked and prepared: burgers, chicken, fish and veggie dishes grilled over lava rocks to lock in moisture and tenderness, producing a smoky, rich flavour together with exclusively homemade marinades, rubs and seasonings. The temperature of their lava rocks apparently can go upto 380 degrees - I kept a safe two-feet distance away from it to avoid any mishaps.

Freshly prepared dishes were laid before us: Longboard Beer Battered Onion Rings, Salt and Pepper Squid, and Coconut King Prawns with Sweet Chilli Sauce, all made in-house from scratch. I have tried their popular sweet potato fries in the past, and now there happens to be a new dish, Chilli Cheese Fries which is said to be just as good.

I tried a bit of the Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich and Beef Burger which were both really tasty. I don't really eat burgers that often, but I did enjoy this. Their juicy burgers are 100% grass-fed aged beef from their butcher in Devon, made to Kua 'Aina's recipe of premium cuts without fillers or preservatives, and hand-pressed in two sizes (1/2lb and 1/3 lb). They are served on semi-brioche seeded buns which are freshly baked daily from Paul Rhodes Bakery.
I missed trying the Avocado Burger, but I've heard that it's pretty amazing.

Moving on to the sweeter dishes, I sampled some of their Fluffy American Pancakes which was served with maple leaf syrup and topped with crispy bacon, which seems like a great breakfast or brunch option. 
I don't usually order milkshakes at restaurants, but I couldn't resist trying the Real Banana milkshake, alongside some shots of the Coconut, Pina Colada, and MINCE PIE milkshakes. Anything with mince pies has my name written all over it.

New additions to their dessert selection included the Eton Mess with Pineapple and Passion Fruit, Spiced Apple Crumble Pot, and Warm Hazelnut Brownie - all three were tasty but my favourite was probably the Spiced Apple Crumble Pot, as I really love apple crumble.

For those of you who work in the area, Kua 'Aina do a breakfast menu all week until noon which includes scrumptious options such as the Aloha Lava-grilled Breakfast, Fluffy American Pancakes with a choice of different toppings, and even porridge for those looking for something lighter. 

And as Christmas is soon approaching (less than a month away!), why not check out their Christmas Specials such as the Festive Burger, Turkey Sandwich, Eggnog Cocktail and that amazing Mince Pie milkshake (made from real mince pies, mmm...)
The Kua 'Aina Christmas Luau, three-course set menu is also available for groups of 10 or more until 24th December. Check out their website for more details.

Their unique cooking method, mouthwatering seasonings and flavours and friendly vibe makes Kua 'Aina a great place to visit for some non-fussy and unpretentious good valued food. 

Mahalo Kua 'Aina for a lovely evening, and I look forward to returning soon.

The Cheekster, signing out x

HOPPERS, SOHO

Moti Mahal, Bombay Brasserie, and now Hoppers. I don't really indulge in Indian cuisine that often, and now it seems that I have somehow visited three within a single month - not that I'm complaining.
Hoppers on Frith Street in Soho is the latest venture from the Sethi family (Trishna/Gymkhana - both of which I appallingly have not been to yet), centrally located at the site which was once the much-loved Koya. 

I had made a mental list of what to order whilst we were waiting outside in the cold for them to open for dinner service - yes, I was 'one of them'...
One of those new-opening/no-reservation situations where you can either choose to wait for 20 minutes before opening time, or over an hour whilst staring at people eating through the window. I definitely know which I'd personally prefer.

Once we were seated I fired away with our order and sat waiting in anticipation whilst we sipped on warm and comforting Sweet Frothy Kaapi, a South Indian filter coffee, served in a stainless steel tumbler. This was placed within a 'dabarah' which is meant to help cool it in, but as I seem to have lips of steel when it comes to hot drinks, I didn't make use of it. The cup was quite small so we also ordered the Sweet Dilmah Metre Tea. Both drinks were really sweet and tasty, but best consumed in small quantities - don't want to end up having a sugar high or diabetes...

Having tried the Cashew, Cassava & Ash Plantain Fry, and the Bone Marrow Varuval with Roti on my first visit (both of which I would recommend), I ordered the Mutton Rolls, Chicken Heart Chukka, and the Duck Roti this time, which I had heard good things about. 

The Mutton Rolls were really crisp and coated in golden breadcrumb batter, containing steaming, hot and flavourful mutton filling. The duck roti was equally as moreish and I would definitely order it again on my next visit. I was initially quite hesitant to order the chicken hearts, which actually didn't taste too bad. I still feel a bit queasy about certain foods, but there was a lot of onions and spices going on that it sort of distracted me away from the thought of it...

We had an Egg Hopper each, a Sri Lankan food made from fermented rice and coconut batter, with the little pots of Pol Sambol, Seeni Sambol and Coriander Chutney on the side. 
Just as we were about to order the Black Pork Kari, we were informed that there was a special kari available, which was the Whole Crab Kari. We both love crab so we both pounced at the opportunity to try it - so deliciously spicy, and one of the best curries that I've had in a while. Surprisingly, I didn't really see many tables order it whilst we were there, but I would definitely recommend it.

 

We were quite full by that stage, and then the waiter came towards our table with another huge tray of food. At first I thought that it was a mistake, and then I remembered that in my state of hunger, I had also greedily ordered the Ceylonese Spit Chicken with gotukola sambol and pol roti. Clearly I should not be left to be in charge of the ordering when I am hungry. The chicken was really well marinated with lots of spices and tender, and I was a bit sad that I had to leave some leftovers as my stomach was pretty full to the brim - one of those days where my tummy is not quite so bottomless. We both weren't that much of a fan of the pol roti, which is a coconut flatbread, but the pennywort salad on the side was refreshing and had a nice sharpness that cut through the richness of the food.

I had my eyes on the milk hopper with kithul treacle, jaggery and durian ice cream, but was slightly disappointed when the waitress informed us that they had run out of milk hoppers (at 6.30pm - rather odd?!). Thankfully I still managed to get my durian ice cream fix - it was only a small scoop, but the taste was satisfying enough.

Service was really quick and the whole meal cost us about £38 each (including service). I was sad when Koya closed for good a few months back in May, but I am now glad that the site has been taken over by Hoppers which offers something quite different and exciting. 
Great food, good value, and the perfect location that will surely become one of my regular haunts. 

The Cheekster, signing out x

TASTE OF LONDON 2015: THE FESTIVE EDITION

It has been over a year since I last attended Taste of London at Regent's Park - twice during that weekend, which was really fun especially with the good weather that summer.

Having missed the Summer Edition this year, I thought that it would be nice to see what The Festive Edition would be like - a four day food and drink extravaganza at Tobacco Dock

Our first stop was the Extra Special Festive Lodge where we were welcomed with glasses of fizz and checked out the impressive looking Edible Christmas House. The UK's first savoury and sweet edible house was created by renowned artist Miss Cakehead and a team of ten over 84 hours, constructed using 1200 mince pies, 30 lobsters, 75kg of parmesan, 30kg of maple smoked salmon, and 300 sprouts, all from Asda.

Asda is committed to reducing food wastage throughout its supply chain and has ensured that the edible Christmas House was made up entirely of test produce provided by suppliers as well as ingredients that were at sell-by date.

A garden patch created from cabbage and broccoli, lobster flower decorations, a sausage roll wreath hanging above the door, and clouds floating magically above created from award-winning Black Forest Alaskan Bombe desserts...

And dd I mention that there was also a Prosecco wishing well? - I could do with one of that.

Check out the timelapse video below that they created.

There were some cooking demonstrations going on as well and we managed to sample some of the delicious delights from Asda's Extra Special range.

We also visited the AEG Taste Theatre where they hosted some of the country's best chefs, cooking seasonal recipes on their latest appliances. We managed to catch two of the sessions that evening: Steve Groves from Roux at Parliament Square, who made a delicious souffle with banana and peanut butter ice cream, and Tom Kerridge from The Hand and Flowers.

And of course we pin-pointed some of the dishes that we wanted to try from the different restaurants. We had the Truffled Potato Croquettes from Terdwell's and Truffled Macaroni Cheese from Tom's Kitchen - both smelled and tasted really good, which helped to warm us up. We also visited the Club Gascon stand where Chef Pascal Aussignac served us the Cappuccino of Chestnut and Truffle Chantilly (MORE Truffle...) and Black Forest Macaroon.

We both tried a 5 Star Kebab from the Action Against Hunger stand: Sheepa had the vegetarian version by Francesco Mazzei, whilst I had the crispy duck kebab by Dan Doherty.

Realizing that the day was coming to a close, we made a beeline for The Dessert Bar where we had been eyeing the tantalizing display of eclairs from Maitre Choux. The display case was almost empty by the time we went back (!), but thankfully we managed to grab the last of their Festive Eclairs (Coconut Snow and Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate), as well as a coffee and raspberry one. A sweet way to end our evening.

Four hours sure flew by really quickly, and there were plenty of activities going on throughout the evening. And I splurged my last few Crowns on Joe & Sephs popcorn, because you can never have too much popcorn.
I didn't manage to make a second visit during the weekend, but I look forward to checking out the summer edition again next year.

The Cheekster, signing out x