A Wong - Restaurant review

DIM SUM EXPERIENCE

Before my visit to A Wong I had only tried Dim sum once before and on this occassion I wasn't impressed at all, to be fair my first experience took place in one of the most frightening restaurants I have ever set foot in, it was a massive restaurant in China town that looked like something straight out of Rush hour 2 , it was more mafia cover up than cheap and cheerful China town restaurant, and when I say it was frightening I'm not talking about the the mafia set up, I'm talking about the food borne bacteria that circled the room on serving trolleys, they were being pushed by people that looked like they indulged in the trolleys 'delights' and was about to peg it. I didn't want to go the same way. I gagged as put the one of the more scary looking pieces of Dim sum in my mouth - my stomach instantly sensed danger, it the worst texture imaginable and the taste was rancid, I was done and didn't need to experiment any further. 

A WONG  

('Three sauce crisped Canniloni')

Time passed and I figured it was only fair to give Dim Sum  another go outside of the human trafficking mafia den and what better place than the highly spoke of A Wong on Walton Street Victoria. Andrew Wong is a highly regarded chef who took over his fathers restaurant and is bringing Chinese cookery into the modern restaurant scene. All the top restaurant reviewers love this place so I must mention in comparison this review may seem bizarre and biased on a matter of my taste and feelings towards Dim Sum. (I'm saying this to protect myself from backlash)

I genuinely wanted to have my mind changed.

Me and a friend visited at lunch time to try the Dim Sum menu, I had read lots of glowing write ups about A Wong, lots stating its great 'value for money'. 

(Shanghai steamed bun)

We choose the following, Sweet and sour ribs, 63 degree 'tea egg, wild mushroom and truffled steamed bun, 'breakfast in a causeway bar', Fois gras bun, Shanghai steamed dumpling , three sauce cannelloni, clear shrimp dumpling and bean fritters. There may have been others that I can't actually remember.

Other than the Fois gras bun which tasted good but sadly had no more than a smudge inside its streamed bun , the other dim sum items all tasted the same, none of the fillings stood out, the more interesting sounding items were the more disappointing, the clear shrimp dumplings are just much to similar to testicles for my liking, that's of course no fault of A Wong, just my own personal issue.

Prices ranged between £1.50- £9.00 per piece and most items are sold as one piece. When using expensive ingredients high prices are completely warranted however I couldn't help but feel that (when spending your own hard earned cash, not getting invited for free) it all just felt a bit stingy. 

There is no denying the skill of the kitchen when making these delicate pieces, the presentation was great but the hit of flavour ,for me, just wasn't there, It speaks volumes when you're struggling to remember what you even had for lunch, if anything was that good I wouldn't have stopped thinking about it to this day.  

 I must mention that my dessert of Star anise poached strawberries with iced coconut and jelly was massively satisfying. The best thing I had all lunch. 

On a positive note the restaurant does have a cosy atmosphere and a pleasant service, the kitchen is open (always a good thing isn't it?) also the wine list is has a good selection with many fair priced bottles to choose from. We had a French sauvignon which was only £20.00 as tasted bloody lovely.

The 'value for money' lunch at A Wong came to just over £90.00 for two and I left the restaurant still feeling hungry.

 Could it be that we just made all the wrong choices? But then why would all this items even exist on the menu if they are so mediocre?

(I must mention A Wong does offer an A la carte menu and does not only offer Dim sum). 

A Wong and Dim sum lovers will probably think I'm a complete penis after reading this review.          I wanted to be another reviewer raving about it, I really did. So A penis I may be must I can whole heartily say I will never be putting another over priced bollock in my mouth ever again. Soz. 

McDonald's will do

Lazy

(my birthday) 

Well, one year later and I have finally mustered up the energy to create a new post on my blog.
If there were prizes for the laziest shit of a blogger I would win hands down.I'm sure many of you will relate; between full time work, heavy drinking sessions and watching ridiculously addictive but at the same time ridiculously crap reality TV I massively struggle to find the energy to get my reviews up, but today is the day the abandonment comes to an end! Over the last year I have eaten at many brilliant and equally depressing restaurants which I will be posting reviews on over the forthcoming weeks ahead.

Chiltern Firehouse

Been longing to eat here for some time now, I've actually cancelled two bookings to date. Before you gasp in horror, let me tell you I am not that important or well connected to have managed three decent bookings at Chiltern firehouse! I had merely managed to secure the lamest of reservation times, one being 5:30pm on a Wednesday and a 1:30 on a Saturday with only 1.5 hour seating. Didn't happen.

So I'm sure like many other fellow 'foodies' venturing to Chiltern Firehouse I couldn't give two vagina's about how many times Rita Ora has warmed up the booth leather or which A list stick of self importance has graced these seats either.I like everyone else just wants to know is it bloody worth it.

The fence that you enter the restaurant through (there's no obvious entrance- to clarify you don't actually walk through the fence there is a gap) is manned by two smooth looking dudes that I assume are the greeters however they look more like semi-rich guests. Lovely stuff.
 As we manoeuvre our way through we are greeted by the host, she puts me in the mind of someone........who is it....yes!that's it! - the alien queen in Men in black!, ah ha just googled her ... Serleena!!although I must say the hosts cloak is actually more intimidating than the Alien queen. So now I'm thinking perhaps Chiltern Firehouse is run my some Illuminati cult of extra terrestrials and that's why all the A-lister's flock here! I've only gone and done it,I've solved the bloody mystery!YES ME!You lot have been pondering over this one for months, I just figured it out within 5 minutes of being here! ;)

Moving on.....

The host 

Serleena proceeded to show us to what I would say is one of the worse tables in the restaurant ,we are situated under the kitchen (unable to see the chefs) and my friend opposite has a nice big pillar at his side obstructing any freedom to turn, well this is what you get when you're not part of the cult, why would little ol me get a booth. I sound bitter that's not attractive. Fuck the booth.

 I get to see a menu at last! you may have noticed they don't have menu's online. I had to do a Google image of Chiltern Firehouse menus to get a peek, turned out to be a pointless exercise as the menu bar a few items was completely different to what I'd seen.

To start the 'snacks' we order THE Crab doughnuts and Cornbread fingers. I've heard a lot about these crab doughnuts. I love crab and I love doughnuts, sounds like a winner to me! They are just the right amount of sweet, fried but not greasy, soft tasty little bites with delicate lightly seasoned crab inside, however they are diddy, so for £6.00 I would suggest not bothering.The fried corn bread fingers are also very alike to a doughnut, they would have been more suited on the side of an ice cream, that said I love doughnuts so whatever, again £6.00 for the pleasure. That's £12.00 done already on unsubstantial nibbles, feels worth mentioning, if you're looking to avoid a high bill, this is where restaurants get you.

My starter of Sea Trout was served raw as a ceviche ,highly welcomed. The menu didn't actually specify how the dish would come cooked, or not in this case. I perhaps wouldn't have been so keen on a lack of description in my less adventurous days but now I think its quite clever. If you don't have a pre-conceived idea of how it will be you are more open to enjoy the chefs choice,surely?
 The thick sliced chunks of  bright orange Sea trout came marinading in what tasted like pink grapefruit and pineapple juice, Salmon roe was generously sprinkled over the raw fish - popping  in my mouth with every bite adding a pleasantly fishy taste, thinly sliced pear and coriander complimented the whole dish perfectly. Best Ceviche I've ever tasted.

Sea trout starter

For main I had the Sea bream, which my dining partner informed me, is very similar to sea bass and may sometimes be used in restaurants as a replacement when no bass has come in, most people wouldn't know the difference without looking at the fish before its final hour, he wasn't wrong It tasted exactly the same to me, perhaps more fleshy than the sea bass I've had, but the taste well you'd have to be a pro. Pan fried in butter my crispy skinned piece of loveliness sat on a bed of cima ri rapa, perhaps some cabbage and I'm sure some grapefruit was in there, the bitter (cima di rapa) sour (grapefruit) sweet (shrimps) and buttery well butter - all combined resulted in an exceptionally pleasing dish.

My side dish of al dente green beans come in this dressing that, I wish I could explain to you better, its a creamy/yogurt taste with sprinkle of mild onion rings and I think sumac, really tasty. I love green beans and would love to try them like this at home. While I'm on the subject may I mention something I read today about Chiltern's food; a negative Trip advisor review .. I quote

"Main was un interesting over-herb-encrusted salmon and uncooked beans". 

My appreciated uncooked green beans 

The salmon well I can't comment, I didn't have the Salmon. But lets talk about the uncooked beans, yes they weren't boiled to death the classic English way, the way that successfully put myself and many other English folk off green beans for decades, we are only now recovering thanks to the kind restoration of the beans dignity. With chefs giving us new ways of eating beans! If you're not big on trying new variations of food, may I suggest not leaving the house or maybe we should give Nuno a call see if he's got any spare time to pop round yours on a Sunday to get some bean cooking lessons?! 

And so that's the beans dealt with. 

Moving on to dessert, strawberry sundae, doesnt come in a sundae glass, shame I thought,but then if I'm expecting a sundae glass I'm getting just as bad as the beans lady. 
It is (excuse my immature description) soooooooooooooo yummo. MMMMMMMMM The milk ice cream,( I love milk), the strawberry sauce, caramel and biscuit perfect amounts of everything, not to sweet, not at all sour just creamy and brilliant. 

We finished up with Cocktails at the bar, I went off menu (I'm like to think I'm cool when I do that, I know a cocktail that's NOT on the menu and its not Sex on the beach! maturity right there) so now I'm classy and mature I like to order an Amaretto sour which I must say besides Donnys in Sidcup, version which was the most generous amaretto sour I've ever had - this one was the absolute ultimate in taste.Topped with foamy egg white and a twist of lemon - not that foam and rind will get me drunk, but still absolutely marvellous. He didn't take long either, its all well and good ordering a fancy cocktail but sometimes the wait is enough to make you wish you had a pint of Stella instead. 

The bill came to £214.00 for two people, three courses , 'snacks' , bottle of wine, cocktails and service. They charge a 15% service (most restaurants in London charge 12.5%) so we didn't even leave a tip.My theory is the extra 2.5% goes towards the staffs uniform cleaning bills (there are loads of them) of course not forgetting Sheelnas cloak of doom .Or maybe it goes towards the A listers free drinks fund.Who knows. 

To conclude: 

Atmosphere: Bored rich people, american bloggers (reading bad reviews of chiltern outloud at the dinner table) smug business people and ladies who lunch. Collectively quite dull, but thats not all Chilterns fault. 

I feel like I've heard moans about all the wrong things. 
The staff are not rude and I found all the food to be really and truly quite perfect. The atmosphere not bad, not electrifying but all in all I had a good time, plus should I have had a booth and an 8pm booking maybe it would have been more so.

They may have stepped up their game since reading previous bad reviews, I can't really comment on peoples experiences, but the food- could it be that inconsistent that one day its perfect and the next its 'inedible'?! as one trip advisor review read.On the flip side I can appreciate the wait for the reservation may not seem worth it as such - you can get food just as good without waiting two months for it, so I'd suggest looking forward to it, but get it out of your head that you will not be sat on a the table next to Madonna laying eggs while a flame throwing chef flambees your pancakes. Its not THAT special.


DO NOT COME HERE IF: 
You are not prepared to spend £100.00 per head 
You are obsessed by the 'hype' 
You are not that interested in the food. (obvious it would seem)
You have to travel miles to get here. 
You like vegetables to be boiled to death. 

COME HERE IF: 
You have the time to work around the booking you've managed to secure
You are passionate about good food 
You have a fair bit of spare dosh. 


.Have fun xx

http://www.chilternfirehouse.com/

Bleeding heart restaurant - London

Have been wanting to eat at this place for a while, I was once shown inside the crypt which can be hired for weddings and private dining - Henry the 8th married his first wife there! Need I say more, I was never much interested in history at school, but Henry the 8th and his beheading of wives was just gripping.

I would love to tell you more about Henry's wedding feast but that would mean researching to ensure I get the all facts right,which evidently means you waiting another few weeks for this review to be posted and I quite frankly can't be arsed. 

Moving on to my review of  the Bleeding heart, I'll begin with the menu, it comprises of classic 'french' dishes - Which I really wish they could now just be called English considering we have too now proved ourselves to be more than capable of making a dinner comprising of fish/meat and vegetables taste good. 

The wine list is long, we went for a bottle of the white Rioja which was a £40.00 bottle, well worth it, I was practically downing it. I did  just notice this below though , its a webpage selling this wine at £40.00 for 6 bottles. Fuck sake - not begrudging it , I know the drink mark up is where the money is made in restaurants, just wish I had six bottles of it.  

http://www.vinissimus.co.uk/en/vinos/blanco/detalle_vino.html?id_vino=izabl13

We walked through a large dining room and was led to a smaller part of the restaurant which was much more cosy, the table is the corner where we sat was nice and snug. 

The restaurant has been restored with care, its not come far away from how what I would assume it once looked like in the 16th century. 

Its very Romantic... if you take your woman here it would win you some serious brownie points,sorry that sounds lame- you'd get lucky that night put it that way, unless of course she doesn't like food, wine and old stuff. 

Bleeding heart 

After eating some complimentary bread which was tasty but the Olive bread didn't have enough olives and the butter would have been better salted but that make me sounds like a fussy bitch so I'll move on .... starter was slightly odd yet still perfectly edible. I had the Venison with Crisp Cumbrian ham. The Venison comes raw, seared and thinly sliced with accompanying black pudding beignets, which I loved the sound of - I was under the impression Beignets was French for doughnuts but these were just nuggets of black pudding in crumbs, fine but not what I imagined, the dressing with the crispy ham was tasty I just found all the elements together didn't quite work, nothing married although separate they were fine. 

My partner had the crab starter which went down well even though he's not a massive fan of Avocado, seems to be a man thing? What happened between man and Avocado in our history? something must have went down. 

For the main I choose Halibut and he had the Vension. Both were as delicious as each other, my Halibut was cooked perfectly  as was the pomme cocotte (to us English people that's pretty shaped potatoes) - Don't get me started - with Savoy cabbage and a champagne sauce. Only complaint here is not enough sauce it was too good to only have that amount on the plate, I understand not wanting the plate's presentation to be ruined so perhaps a jug of it on the side would work. 

The Venison was rich and filling, really hearty plate of grub, it came with plums and MASH POTATO. It was devoured at almost the same rate as my wine. 

When the waiter poured the last glass which I didn't even know existed I actually screeched 'YES! I thought it was all gone' with as much grace and femininity as Henry's wifes reaction when he first got his fat arse out in front of her.

The dessert of chocolate bomb and salted caramel ice-cream was likable, not mind blowing but tasty none the less, the passion fruit was definitely needed on the dish, without it would have been too sweet. 

The staff here are really good, I felt very welcome throughout which sometimes seems somewhat a rarity in London even if we do have an amazing amount of fantastic restaurants, the service mostly fits into robotic, too cool for school (and you the customer) , too laid back and just too stiff. 

This was none of those. 

It wasn't perfect but it wasn't trying to be, just a romantic well staffed enticing , history rich restaurant with no sign of Henry's fat arse although I think I may have left there with a extra pound on mine. 

BILL CAME TO £144.00 FOR TWO PEOPLE FULL COURSES, ONE DESSERT, BOTTLE OF WINE , TWO LIQUORS AND SERVICE. 

FOOD: 7.5/10

SERVICE: 8.5/10

ATMOSPHERE: 9/10

VALUE FOR MONEY: 7.5/10

http://www.bleedingheart.co.uk/

As usual I have been a lazy arsehole and not posted my latest reviews...
You have on there way.....

Ibiza reviews 

Tapas 43
Home Loo's
Atlantica
Le Bar
All Cafe
Ushuaia hotel
Hotel Jabaque
Space nightclub


London reviews 

Roux at the Landau
Bluebird Chelsea

Asia De Cuba

Asia de cuba - St Martins lane hotel
(Morgans hotel group)

I have not been to ANY restaurant in London three times, okay maybe the local curry house but besides that I haven't been to no London restaurant has had the pleasure of my appearance as much as Asia de cuba has.

My boyfriend had been banging on about this place for some time, he has been years ago with his then company, he couldn't actually remember much of the evening but remembered that the Tuna was amazing. That was enough for me, when the opportunity finally arose I booked us a table to celebrate his birthday.

Asia de cuba has this contagious energy about it, fruity salsa music plays through the speakers and the design gives the room a warm , bright, welcoming feel. I felt more like downing cocktails and showing off my dodgy salsa moves than eating, apart from the grinding that's exactly what I did.We shared a punch bowl to begin, and let me tell ya they are not tight with the booze .So Already in love and I have yet to eat a thing.
We also had a bottle of wine of the table which made me feel really good about life. I'm already giggling and generally being a bit of an irritating tit and we are half an hour in. Yes me. Yes punch-bowl.

We ordered the taster menu , which for £60.00 each included the signature dishes of Calamari salad, Tuna with Wasabi mash, Cuban chicken and coconut rice and trio of desserts.
Very glad we went for this. Well worth it. The Calamari salad was like no salad I've ever tasted before. It comprised of  Frisse, Radicchio , Palm hearts, nuts and banana (which worked a treat), this was all generously topped with the crispy coated ,tender Calamari.
   Next came the Tuna which gave me an actual orgasm, I know that sounds gross and you may feel I'm being over the top however please do believe me, this is a true story. I actually groaned out loud as the waiter topped up my wine. It meh-ellllts in your mouth. I dream of this Tuna all the time ..... *drools*. The accompanying Wasabi mash was creamy with just the right amount of heat from the Wasabi to compliment the sex tuna.

The Cuban chicken which is cooked in coffee was almost as dreamy, with its crispy skin and tender meat the coffee is not at all overpowering , more like a char, the accompanying rice wrapped in banana leaf is fluffy as it should be and you get a nice portion of it too. I was starting to feel extremely full at this point. Making the Trio of desserts a tough ask to get in after this feast but I managed and I'm glad I did. The doughnuts deserve an award, or atleast a heavy pat on the back.

My other visits to Asia de cuba were once with a friend at lunch time... we had the lunch deal which was again all cooked to perfection, the place was empty though so missed out on the atmosphere, which you realise is a massive part of this place, like with anywhere I suppose.The other visit was a group of friends, we got really pissed, had some fantastic drinks, a huge glass dispenser of cocktail arrived, it has a pourer and sits proudly at your table side.Pouring your own drinks at the table and not having to wait even a minute is a dream come true for me.This truly is the way forward.Now maybe it was the excitement,( I find it hard to calm down and act like an adult when I'm with company) but I didn't enjoy the food as much, don't get me wrong it was all still to the same standard it was just the portions seemed smaller?!
It was like we got less on the plates as a group, as the plates are sharing (I should have mentioned that before) your server will suggest how many are needed,which we followed but we didn't really have enough. Not going to hold that against them, we could have ordered more and hey I was more concerned with my drink anyway.
Still a great night.

This is a little creepy I know, but before I finish I need to inform you that the toilets in Asia de cuba are perfect.You will start to notice after time that I have bit of a luxury toilet obsession and Asia de Cuba's up there with the best of them. I might do a top ten of London toilet's, so watch this space. Wouldn't want any one missing that.

Now for me to stop rambling and wrap this up.

Verdict:
ASIA DE CUBA IS F**KING BRILLIANT.

LIES UNCOVERED

Lies uncovered -

P.R PINOCCHIO

This is my new, much needed addition to the blog. 

I'm sick of all the P.R  pumping of crap venues, I'm standing up for the people! In-particular the misinformed tourist's visiting London.Put your Time Out magazine in the bin!!! Stop reading all the drivel these PR managed web pages are shoving down your throat. I vow to never to paid off to suck the ass of the people of the industry.

Of course everyone has their different opinions, but at least here you can trust an honest one. 

VAUXHALL 

I will begin with a post I read in Timeout last week, it had a feature on Vauxhall  informing us of why we should all go there.

 Ranking 29th on the poll of most polluted roads in the UK (and that poll was done before they demolished a Sainsburys superstore and began building the American embassy I'm sure). Vauxhall the forgotten shit tip has lots more to offer than pollution don't you worry, there's also plenty criminal activity to keep you amused too.

 Vauxhall residents won't be shocked to see men in butt- less chaps at 8am when the clubs kick out and there is always plenty of wide eyed teenagers roaming the streets looking confused and ashamed on your Monday morning commute into work , I must admit that dig was partly jealously.. I'm going to work - they are still getting nutted.But still.Shocking. 

Put this all aside folks, we always have Brunswick house in which we can hide away from all the madness and black dust of Vauxhall. Try a crappy cocktail for a mere £10.00 or just just go in for the treat of Brunswick house signature scent, it smells like an old Pig and not in a pork scratching way, more so in a abandoned abattoir way. 

I must note the last time I went was last year, hopefully its all different, smells nice and the twerp that made me a cocktail with slobby egg white in has been booted out for good.

So if crap cocktails. aren't your thing you can always head on to the strip of old local- yokel Italian andTurkish restaurants under the arches.Where you are not really welcome unless you're one of them, like old country pubs where they look at you funny as you walk other the theshold.They know you're new without even turning around to look at you. They smell the freshness.  

I visited one of the Italian restaurants once, I wont mention names... I had vinegar wine and some melon with Parma ham which was pleasant but the pervy customers were not. Its like being transported back to Italy in the 1950's, you know, where a dame shouldn't be dining alone..., I must say they did all look pretty gangsta in that pretend Ive watched all the Sopranos but haven't been home to Italy in 25 years sort of way. Not selling it to ya? Well you could always head to Aqua on the Thames front where I once ... wait for it.... had a pube in my cabonara!!! YES! that was the best! What a treat, I even had to chase the waiter to get him to talk to me, yes, with the pubey pasta in hand. So got some much needed exercise that day too! Bonus! 

I am in all fairness being a complete negative Nigel here, so Ill lighten this up with a few good things about Vauxhall, to start the gyms good on St Georges wharf. Although be warned if you keep leaving your shit in the locker they will put it all in a bin liner to be collected, I give up after the third bag. 

I know this makes me sound like a cock but there's a brilliant little fruit and veg stall inside the train station that sells seasonal fruit and veg and its cheaper than the supermarket, grab some fruit and some snacks from the shop and head to the Thames for a great view of parliament for a more peaceful area than further-down the river at Southbank. Also the Young's pub which is called Riverside (on St Georges wharf) is actually quite nice for a chain pub the staff are lovely and the grubs not bad. Good wine too, and outdoor seating. Be warned they let people reserve the outside tables so on a sunny day at 5pm you may struggle so beat them to the punch and reserve one yourself. Oh and the transport is great.(I'd still advise not listening to estate agents )That really is it though.Positives done, forgive me if I've missed something. 

I appreciate I am leaving myself open for abuse from loyal residents and business owners in Vauxhall here however I have lived and worked in Vauxhall and this is my experience. I don't wish to offend anyone, Sorry Vauxhall, but Timeout's Vauxhall was just more PR Pinocchio. 

   

http://www.ukcrimestats.com/Constituency/65825