Mum's Birthday: Aqua Kyoto and Aline of Lebanon

Last week was my Mum's birthday and, since she was away in sunny Spain on the day, I took her off for dinner over the weekend.

 We met out the front of Liberty before going for a bit of a wander in the Spring sunshine (which translate 'sunshine with the occasional flurry/downpour of rain), popping into shops and galleries along the way.

 The Mayfair Flower Show was kicking off at Sketch so we paused for a moment to snap a photo in their doorway...

 ...Before popping into Aline of Lebanon for a quick drink. The place settings at Aline of Lebanon were just so beautiful I had to grab a snap before any beverages had even made an appearance!

 I had a banana and ginger smoothie which was just delicious (and two flavours I wouldn't have thought to put together) whilst mum had a rosewater lemonade.

 Shortly however, it was time to head to the 'main event' - dinner at the Japanese restaurant Aqua Kyoto. Located on Argyll Street, to access the restaurant we were whisked up in a lift to the 5th floor, before finding ourselves in a large space with an open sushi kitchen.

 We took our seats at the bar where we could watch the chefs slice and shape all the tasty food on offer. Before long, our cocktails arrived - a delicious 'mojito', although I can't say I've ever had a mojito quite like it - it had sherry and passion fruit in it!

 Starters swiftly followed - a beautifully presented sashimi selection and an octopus salad. Mum and I quickly established that we would share all of our vibrant food in an attempt to try as much as possible!

 Mains arrived just as well presented - wagu beef with a yuzu dressing for me and mackerel with a ginger miso sauce for Mum. The mackerel was finished with a blowtorch at table which was a fun theatrical touch. We also had rather a interesting time trying to split up the filet with just our chopsticks - I think perhaps, we may need a little more practice....

 The beef however stole the show. Deliciously tender and rare whilst the yuzu sauce was sublime - I was practically licking my plate clean by the time I had finished!

 Pudding took on the form of a Japanese cheese cake. Not usually a cheesecake fan, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed this one. For starters, the presentation was simply delightful, but I especially loved how the cheesecake topping almost had a 'mellow-y' texture, whilst the accompanying ice cream of sakura and strawberry cut through all the flavours deliciously.

 Dinner at Aqua Kyoto was a very enjoyable experience. The waitstaff were attentive, the food wonderful to look at as well as eat and the setting was vibrant. My only niggle would be that the bar was rather noisy. However, this wasn't the end of the world and we had a very enjoyable evening!

Malta: Part Six

Our final day's adventures took us off to Marsaxlokk, a traditional fishing village at the south of the island. After a fairly lengthy bus journey (and some slight confusion over stops!) we found ourselves walking along the pretty sea front of the village. 

Floating in the bay were brightly coloured, traditionally hand painted fishing boats. Many of these had eyes painted on their bows, which superstition says protects the boats from danger. These little traditional boats provide the fresh fish cooked up in the numerous restaurants spaced out along the sea front.

After wandering the length of the village, we settled down in one of these little restaurants and tucked into some of the local produce, all of which tasted wonderfully fresh! 

The village was incredibly pretty and it was interesting to see how the fishermen still used the traditional boats to catch fish. However, before long, it was time to return to our hotel and hunt down dinner!

That evening (our last evening!) we walked into the centre of St Julian's and chose a restaurant called 'Zest' which turned out to be a real treat! The menu was, as far as I was concerned, perfect. Advertised as 'east meets west', it was full of sushi, Thai curries, Japanese grills and noodle-y dishes. I was in heaven!

We ordered off one of their set sharing menus and tucked in to the mountain of food which then appeared.

Firstly, an amuse-bouche and cocktails.

Then, we started with sushi, sticky chelsea buns, chicken and lamb satay, dim sum parcels and a fantastic glass noodle salad. 

Followed by a trio of thai curries (Lu had another noodle dish as well but I can't quite remember what it was!).

And then delicious deserts which included a fiery chocolate and chilli fondant with raspberry sorbet.  

I just wish I'd had more room to eat more- by the end I was bursting!

Zest was fantastic- the food amazing and the staff incredibly accommodating. They had delivered a truly wonderful last meal on Malta. 

I had a brilliant holiday visiting Malta. Not only was the island beautiful, but everyone we met was incredibly friendly and willing to share something about the island and its fascinating history. I learnt more than I could have expected from such a short stay and I would love to return in the future to find out more! 

'Chicken Itame' - Chicken and Coconut Soup

When ever I go to Wagamama's, the dish that I order nearly every time has to be the 'Chicken Itame Soup.' That may sound unadventurous to you, but the delicious mix of mouthwatering, light, spicy flavours literally leave me begging for more. So 'more' is what Jossi and I decided to create.

We had a sneaky look at the Wagamama's website to try and work out what we could put together to get a similar result. I have to admit, ours didn't turn out quite the same, but it definitely captured the 'essence' of the dish and was a pretty good home made attempt!

Ingredients:
chopped chicken breast
noodles
garlic
ginger
lemongrass (we used a teaspoon of the powdered type, but the real stuff would be better)
can of coconut milk
one chili (we also threw in some chili flakes)
a red onion
stir fry veg- we used bean sprouts, pepper, bamboo shoots and cabbage
a couple of cups of water
a squeeze of lemon or lime
a twist of salt and pepper

Chop all of your ingredients and heat up a little oil in your pan. Sizzle the chili, garlic and ginger for half a minute of so and then add your chicken. When your chicken is mostly cooked through, add the rest of your veg and stir fry together.

Then simply add your can of coconut milk, noodles (we used fresh ones, but if you use the dried type, cook them first!) and a couple of cups of water to your stir fry and let this simmer. Pour in your lemon juice and sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Joss and I also added a few more pinches of lemon grass here as well.

Leave on the heat for 10 or 15mins just to let the flavours infuse through and there we are, one delicious (almost) restaurant quality dish, made by you!


P.S. I think this would be amazing if you added a teaspoon of thai green curry paste to your veg- if you do, tell us how it tastes!

Steak Stir Fry

In case you haven't already guessed, Jossi and I are rather big fans of Asian food. In fact, even as students we have a tendency to pop out for dinner once a fortnight to various chinese and indian restaurants around the city. They're our guilty pleasure and after, we tend to waddle home stuffed to the brim and try very hard to forget that we promised we'd go to the gym the next morning.

More recently, as the work has piled on and we've started to take our sporting commitments a bit more seriously (rowing for Joss, cheerleading for me) we've found that we don't have enough time for the leisurely stroll into town and to sit down for two solid hours of gluttony. Instead, we've taken to cooking our own. So, on that note here's (another) dish that we sizzled up this weekend!

Supplies:
two frying beef steaks
honey
soy sauce
'Kikkoman sweet sauce for rice'
a handful or two of stir fry veg (the pack I had contained bean sprouts, carrot, lettuce and some bamboo shoots)
sesame seeds
one clove of garlic
a knob of ginger
a pinch of chili flakes
one lemon

a pinch of salt and pepper
a teaspoon of brown sugar
rice

Start by cooking your rice- pop a few handfuls in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.

While your rice is cooking, chop up your ingredients, heat some oil in your pan and toss in the sesame seeds followed by the chili flakes and garlic. Let this fizzle for a bit but be careful not to let anything burn. Then, making sure the heat isn't too high, add a generous splash of soy sauce and rice sauce, along with a squirt of honey and any remaining veg. Stir in the brown sugar.

When the veg has reduced a little,  add in your chopped frying steaks- personally I don't like beef too well done, but if you prefer it not to be pink, add yours in the same time as the veg.

 To finish, add your cooked rice to the pan and drizzle over the juice of one lemon (if you heat the lemon in the microwave for a few seconds, you get twice as much juice out of it). Stir this through and then you're done!

This dish is definitely not all that high on the prettiness scale, but it's moreishly good- we both finished the whole pan that night!

Unfortunately for me,  I'm going to have to go on a shop before I can cook this again since the soy sauce bottle fell out of the cupboard and onto my head this morning, smashing all over the floor- not a good start to the day!

Home Made Sushi

My lovely friend Grace bought me a sushi making kit and so I thought I'd show you how I got on with it and what ingredients it contained so you can do it your selves. But first, let me introduce you to my best uni friend, Jossi! I pretty much spend all my waking time with her and she is wonderful! She's also experienced in the sushi making department, so offered me a hand.

If you're anything like me, you probably love sushi. There's just something about those tiny gem like parcels which begs you to eat them! However, they've always looked so artistically presented that I doubted I could produce anything nearly as divine.  I'm glad to tell you, they're not as tricky to make as you may think. Then again, I did have a champion roller on hand, so maybe I had a slight advantage?

Ingredients:
300g sushi rice
rice vinegar
3 sheets of sushi nori (the seaweed for around the edges)
a pack of smoked salmon
a couple of carrots
a cucumber (or avocado)
Bamboo mat (for rolling)
pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi to serve

Firstly take your sushi rice. (This tends to be a short grain rice and gets sticky when it's cooked- the longer grain variety doesn't stick and so is no use.) Boil this up in a saucepan with double the amount of water to rice. When all the water is absorbed or boiled off, add four tablespoons of rice vinegar. Mix thoroughly. (See how sticky?) Now leave it to cool completely.

Chop the carrots, cucumber or avocado in to thin long batons and the salmon into slim slices. 

Next, lay out the bamboo mat and place a sheet of seaweed on it. Then cover two thirds of the seaweed with the rice- pat it down quite flat.  Layer strips of  the filling just under half way up the rice. All you need to do now is roll your sushi! Make sure you role it quite tight. Seal the seaweed with a dab of water and then cut the roll into bite sized slices.

                       

Serve with some soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger for dipping. Don't forget your chopsticks!