Cinnamon Kitchen 4 course feast

 After Rick Stein last week, we have moved on to Vivek Singh's Cinnamon Kitchen. Their 4-course feast at home is £120, but we thought we would indulge.  The package duly arrives in the morning of the agreed day, and we begin unpacking. One of the sauces has spilled a little in transit but it's not a big deal. Items for each course are labelled with a coloured sticker. There are also cooking instructions for each. 

The first course is Bhel papdi chaat. There are three packs for this - some spiced potatoes, a pack of little popadums and other bits, and another pack of shredded things. The instructions say mix the cracked wheat, spiced potatoes and puffed wheat, so we mix the three together, with tamarind sauce and coriander chutney. It then says to sprinkle with chickpea vermicelli, which we don't have - or more likely have mistakenly already mixed in. Anyway we end up with an amorphous mixed bowl of stuff rather than the layered version in the picture. It's a huge portion, so we just have half. It tastes just fine, but not as good as the version you'd get in the restaurant, no doubt due to our error.

We decide that the portions are too large for one sitting, and think it better to leave the shrimp second course until tomorrow, moving straight on to the lamb shank roganjosh.  The lamb has to be boiled in its bag for 25 minutes, and biryani rice for 15.  There is also simmered lentils (black dhal). The instructions call for the lamb to be fried for 1-2 minutes at the end, but we skip this step.  There's a ginger and onion garnish, and an evil-looking pink raita chilli and garlic. 

It is very tasty indeed, rich oozing, spicy, with a lot of other subtle flavours going on too. The meat falls off the bone easily, and again we leave half for another day. 

The next day we eat the other half of the bhel, and then cook the Madras shrimp pepper fry.  This needs frying for 2 to 3 minutes and then its sauce added (described as a "crust" but it doesn't come up crusty for us).   There is a garnish of fried curry leaves and a vivid yellow curried yoghurt pot. This is also a very tasty and spicy dish, a slightly more modest size, so we manage to eat all of it. 

Then we turn to the dessert - ginger and garam masala toffee pudding. Again, the dish is warmed through in boiling water, before covering the pudding with the toffee sauce and nutmeg custard. It's very sweet, though the spices do shine through, the nutmeg especially.

So our £120 has paid for two full meals each, and we still have some lamb left. It would easily be enough for four people, probably better as you'd get all the different courses.

So: top marks for flavour; over the top portions; some complications in the cooking instructions; not as much washing up as Rick.  

Sea bass menu from Rick Stein

After the success of our French Table meals, we've decided to try out more of the restaurant delivery options. Rick Stein deliver anywhere in the country for around £8, and their three-course menus are a reasonable £50 - £60, so rather cheaper than TFT - the sea bass option was just £50.

The impressively packaged box duly arrived, and was unpacked with some ceremony. A couple of the sauces weren't labelled, so we had to work out which they were. It then dawned that this was more a load of ingredients and cooking instructions, rather than fully formed dishes just needing to be warmed up. The array of pans required was considerable too.

Anyway, B knuckled down and set to work. The first course was mussels with black beans, garlic and ginger.  We had the inevitable debate about what to do about open or closed mussel shells. On the mussel bag it said to "tap" the mussels to close them before cooking, but not to eat ones that didn't open afterwards - Rick's instructions said that didn't matter, and you could just prise them open. The sauce had to be fried briefly first, then the mussels and stock added and cooked for 3 minutes. Finally coriander and spring onion was added.  Luckily all the mussels opened so we didn't have to worry.  There was a whole kilo of mussels, so this made a substantial first course. The mussels were very sweet and tasty, and the sauce was interesting too. There wasn't as much stock as I might have expected, but mopping it with bread was very nice.

We took a little break before the main course. Again this was a good size portion - four large fillets of sea bass between us; two huge bok choy. That needed to be cooked first, while rice was cooked in the microwave.  It needed a very large frying pan to cook the fish, which was supposed to have a crispy skin - that proved difficult to achieve.  To accompany the fish there was a pre-prepared hot, sour and sweet sauce which just needed warming and pouring over, and a sprinkling of crisp shallots and cashew nuts. 

It was all very good indeed. The fish firm and full of flavour, with interesting toppings. Bok choy I can take or leave, but made the dish looked interesting. It was also very filling, so we decided to leave the dessert for another day. 

The dessert was pots of white chocolate topped with mango puree, and accompanied by cardamon shortbread. No cooking involved here. This was good, not as sickly sweet as it might sound. 

B told me to emphasise the amount of washing up that had to be done aftewards!  Overall it was a very good meal, though most of it you could do just by buying the ingredients and following a recipe. The pre-prepared sauces were something that would be harder to replicate, and you'd probably not bother with the fiddly shallots and nuts, which would be a shame as they did add texture. 

Take-away from TFT

 Regular readers will know how taken we are with our local French Restaurant, The French Table.  We'd just managed to squeeze in a visit before lockdown in November.  They had been offering take-aways, but in limited numbers so we weren't able to get anything arranged over Christmas. So as soon as they opened up again this month, I rushed to book us one.

The take-away is their 5-course tasting menu at £42 a head. No delivery, pick it up between 4pm and 5pm, full re-heating instructions included.  Extra bread and petit fours included (as they would be in the restaurant).  It's all very attractively packaged too,  numbered so that courses are clearly identifiable.

The advantage of the take-away is that we can set our own pace. We start with the amuse bouche around 6pm, and don't finish the dessert until 9pm. The amuse is mushroom and chestnut velouté, which arrives in pyramid-shaped pots, and just needs 90 seconds in the microwave. It's lovely, with truffle oil glistening on top, and plenty of chunky pieces of chestnut. 

The first course is terrine of duck, foie gras, and prunes, which comes with fruit and nut bread for toasting.  The green peppercorns give it a fairly hot sensation, and the various elements of the terrine are clearly visible. Full marks, a cut above the usual. .

This is followed by a cold Devon crab roll with leek fondue and samphire, supported by a mango puree and soy dressing. Simply delicious, the roll element being very light, just acting as a vehicle to hold the crab and leek together, and all the other flavours bright and sharp. 

The fish course was, typically, hake as it nearly always is when we've eaten in. It comes with tagliatelle and something called "forkweed", which Wikipedia tells me is algae, and needs just 5 minutes in the oven.  It's the least successful of the courses, being rather salty, though the fish itself is firm. 

The meat course is venison, served sliced, slightly pink with a parsnip purée and a black peppercorn sauce. 8 minutes in the oven. It's served with something called potato darphin, which we'd also never heard of, a sort of French waffle-shaped hash brown, and some pickled vegetables. It all works together perfectly, the venison itself so tender and tasty. 

Dessert is coconut and white chocolate slice with grapefruit.  The balance of sweet and acid is very fresh, and not at all heavy.

We drank Mussel Pot Reserve SB with the early courses and Waxed Bat Cab Sauv led blend with the venison - both from Sunday Times. 

Throughout the distinct flavours have been super, and it has been a very enjoyable meal. I won't comment on the service and ambience (!) - but it did work well as a meal at home.

Pre-lockdown return to TFT

 We had booked into The French Table later in the month for our anniversary, but with the news of the lockdown I rushed to see if we could get in ahead of time. Normally they are closed on Tuesdays, but when I rang they said that exceptionally they would be open, so gleefully I booked us in.

After the usual temperature checks we were shown in to our table. It was pretty busy again, with the upstairs room being used too - others must have had the same sort of idea.  We had suspicions that not all the other tables were from one household, but one can't be sure.  We ordered our usual Viognier at £28 and settled down to choose between the 5-course tasting menu or the a la carte.  We've always done the tasting before, as it is not much more expensive, but this time we opted not to.

That meant I could choose the special starter - a marmite of mussels and cod, with broccoli and celery under a puff pastry top. It looked very impressive - bigger than I expected with beautifully browned pastry. Inside the contents were swimming in a delicious yellow (saffron?) sauce - plentiful and tasty. B chose the crispy tempura prawns and plaice, which was very good - large prawns, plaice full of flavour.  We'd turned down the roasted hispi cabbage with soya and ginger dressing, but it appeared at the table next us, looking very impressive - and collapsing dramatically when attacked. 

After some discussion about the difference between the terrine of rabbit, ham hock and foie gras on the a la carte and the ballotine of the same things on the tasting menu (and why they had different recommended wines), we turned to our mains.  After some dithering, B had chosen the pork belly with salsify, hazelnuts and hazelnut puree. The meat was topped with an intricate and delicate pommes dauphine web, and there was also a pork croquette to accompany it.  She thought it was very good, though the hazelnut puree was a bit redundant.  

I'd gone for the roast lamb, which turned out to be three round slices, glazed with rosemary sauce. It came with spatzle (German egg noodles - I had to look that up), some cavelo nero and a few rather chewy strands of greenery.  Both dishes score very high marks again.  There had been an option of a side order of vegetables which we had declined - at other tables they looked like huge portions. 

I was pretty full, but B pressed on to order a mille-feuille with poached figs and pistachio ice cream. The cream with the mille-feuille was infused with Earl Grey, and the three layers of pastry very crisp and flavourful.

Service was a bit less chatty this time - they were busy and the PPE doesn't make for intimacy. We discussed whether a straight 3-courses was a better option than the tasting (it didn't come with an amuse bouche), and decided there wasn't much to choose between them. Larger portions make the a la carte a more recognisable lunch, but the tastings have always been well judged in their portion sizes too. With 12.5% service and a second bottle of wine, the bill was £136. Not cheap, but we won't be eating out for the next month (at least) so well worth doing.  

Maple Road tapas

Surbiton Farmers' Market re-opened last Saturday, so we went along to check it out. It was fairly busy even at 12, with a new one-way system to help with distancing. We found some interesting stalls, notably one selling game - the Madras wild boar sausages were amazing. Also good were steak and kidney pies from another stall, and the chorizo bread from The French Tarte. 

Right by the exit is Gordon Bennett!, which is open lunchtime at the weekend only, so we took the opportunity to call in.  The waiter recognised my name (from the Track and Trace) as Welsh - he was from Dolgellau - and persuaded us to have a bottle rather than two glasses.  They do a Brunch menu up till 1pm, but then change the menu to a tapas-based one. It looked very interesting so we resolved to come back the following week.

This we duly did. The place was nearly empty, so not having booked wasn't an issue. If this was a typical Saturday crowd, the it's not surprising they don't open for lunch during the week. We were greeted by a very jovial chap, who brought the bottle of Slovenian sauvignon blanc (£22.75) quickly enough. Turned out that he was Nepalese. They recommended 2/3 dishes per person, so we chose 5 altogether, 3 fish and meat.  Our waiter tried to upsell us some fries, but when we resisted persuaded us to have some padron peppers. They are clearly trained in upselling! 

My compatriot brought the food, attractively presented in a variety of dishes - rounded triangle plates, hot-plate, tin bowls and a small kilner jar.  The soft-shell crab with Asian slaw was good, with enough crab flavour breaking through the batter. Prawns (5) wrapped in filo pastry I thought should have had a chilli dipping sauce, but B enjoyed them. The crayfish and avocado escabeche - in the kilner jar - was excellent. On the meat front we had steak bulgogi - slices of steak in a sweet sauce - which was much better than it sounded; and duck croquettes (also 5)with a plum sauce, which were very meaty indeed. Only one of the peppers, out of a large collection, proved to be at all spicy.  

We cleared all the plates, and resisted the waiter's attempt to sell us dessert. The one we fancied was "off" anyway. So we just settled for a second bottle. 

The tables and chairs were an assortment of old wooden furniture, giving the place a rather dark pubby feel - the menu seems a bit surprising for such a place. The only negative point was the background music, which was both a little too loud and an odd mix of poor covers and ambient jazz. 

The bill came to £83. We were pleasantly full, and had enjoyed everything, so that was pretty good value. Clearly going to become a regular weekend haunt, though Surbiton is coming up trumps with its interesting range of options.  

Chinese in Thames Ditton

It's been some time since we've been out for a Chinese meal. There weren't any good places around Purley, and London has been off limits. Now, after spotting it on a few walks, we are to try Han Fu, in Thames Ditton.  We exchanged emails about bookings, and eventually settled on 7.30pm on a Wednesday. It's a bit of a walk so we needed to be sure the weather was OK. 

As we arrive we see there are a couple of Chinese ladies sitting at the window table. It turns out they were there for take-away. Otherwise there are no other customers in the place. We get shown to a nice enough table - surrounded by perspex screens, it surprisingly feels like a very personal space. 

After a little confusion about Cab Sauv vs Sauv Blanc, we get our wine at £18. The young waitress admits she's only been there are couple of weeks. She brings free prawn crackers and chilli sauce.

The menu is interesting with a range of house special dishes. There are the usual staples too.   So we start with pork dumplings and king prawns in salt and pepper. The dumplings are big, gloopy, with a slight peppery tang. The prawns are also large, with a light batter and good chilli sauce. 

For mains we've ordered pepper chicken and dry-pot beef, supported by Singapore noodles. The head waitress checks that we like hot food!  Both dishes come covered in red chillies - but at least they are easily identified and put to one side. The pepper chicken is a bit dry, with (as you'd expect) peppercorns. The dry pot beef, despite its name, is more moist and tender. Both are tasty. The noodles come filled with ample shrimps and chicken pieces. 

There have been no other eat-in customers, though there has been a reasonable stream of people coming in for take-aways.  But we haven't been rushed through our meal - as Chinese places can tend to do - and the two waitresses have joined us for a lively chat at the end. Decor is simple - "Surbiton grey". Portions have been generous, enough for us to have a doggy-bag. I have it for lunch a couple of days later, and it is still very good.  With a second bottle of wine, and a genuine at discretion tip, it comes to £83. Very good indeed. We'll be back. 

Two more places in Surbiton

 We'd got into a routine of Saturday being "curry night" at home, including some very nice ones from Cook!  But this week we decide to try The Gurkha Kitchen at the Ferry, a local pub.  We'd been in for a drink once before, and it seemed like a place full of locals. It's an odd combination of drinkers' pub and tables laid up smartly surrounded by semi-luminous paintings of Nepal. 

This time the proportion of smartly laid-up tables is higher and all of them duly fill up, though the small number of local drinkers are making most of the noise, at least until they move outside.  The house Shiraz at £18 is very reasonable, and they bring complimentary pappadums and pickles. 

The menu is very wide-ranging, with lots of unusual Nepalese dishes. After a little thought, we choose the special platter to share as our starter.  This comprises two large portions of chicken tandoori, some chicken tikka, one tandoori king prawn and lamb sekuwa - grilled lamb pieces.  It's very tasty, and not at all dry as I might have expected. There is a subtle kick to the lamb and to the tikka, and all the chicken has good flavour. 

For mains we have "Everest Lamb", which is in a thick garlic and ginger sauce, and a very attractively presented "Fewa prawn", which four butterflied king prawns in a lobster-shade tomato, yogurt and chilli sauce. Both dishes are very good, though the lamb, despite being "slow-cooked" is a little on the chewy side.  We also order a black dhal (a B favourite), which is a bit disappointing - I even wonder whether they'd given us the ordinary dhal instead - and mushroom rice. 

With a second bottle - most of which we take away - the bill comes to £83 without service charge. Service has been very efficient and as friendly as you can be when masked up. There has been a nice warm vibe to the place, and the dining tables have been full throughout with a second round of diners. Certainly worth another try to experiment with the wide range of unfamiliar dishes.

At the bottom of our road is the Thames Ditton Marina, which is home a new bar/restaurant called Hideaway, a new venture related to No 97 and Cento Uno in Maple Road. It's in a gorgeous location, with a terrace right alongside the river. We'd been a couple of times for drinks, and it's been very pleasant and welcoming. The menu didn't look especially appealing at lunchtime - more brunch than anything - but the evening was more a "small plates", tapas-style option. 

I've emailed and left a voice message to book a table, but no reply as late as 5pm. They are shut on Monday and Tuesday lunchtime, so that's just about understandable. So I ring again and get a rather harassed response - they can't do 7.30 pm but could do 8 pm. They can't guarantee seats on the terrace either - first come first served. It's been a lovely warm day, but we are warned to bring something to wrap up with as it gets cold (here by the river). 

There's no-one seated inside when we arrive, and outside looks pretty full. But we do get shown to a table for 3 outside, though it's not directly overlooking the river and more by the marina. We order the house white Trebbiano at £23 - having been stung by £32 for SB on a previous visit - which arrives promptly. As we mull over the menu, the manager comes out and asks us if we would mind moving as he now has a table for 2 by the river, and he has a group of 3 just arrived. Fine by us. It's a lovely spot as the light fades and ghostly lit boats drift by. 

We order 5 dishes, which are going to be a struggle to fit on the small table. It's not a huge menu, so the decisions aren't too hard - just 12 proper dishes. Garlic prawns was always going to be a choice - this version comes with roasted corn as well as the garlic and chilli, which are quite modestly represented. Crispy cod comes with a tomato sauce slapped across it, and is a bit limp and uninteresting.  The lamb skewer is fine, if a bit small, with the peri chicken livers being the best of the bunch - not heavily sauced as they often are, but with a neat hit of chilli in the peri-peri sauce.  The final selection was courgette fritter which comes, not like Italian zucchini fritti, but in a great wodge of fried, grated vegetable - quite good though. 

The setting remains super, and it doesn't get too cold. We are a bit distracted by a guy alone at the next table who wants to share his problems with us, but eventually he orders food too (burger and chips) and is then distracted. Service is attentive - and we order a couple more glasses to enjoy the view. Total bill is a reasonable £77 (incl 12.5%) , but although the five dishes have been filling enough, the food itself has been a bit disappointing.  As the nights draw in and the weather turns colder, the setting itself will lose its charm, and unless the menu becomes more interesting we may not want to go then.  The tapas menu would be fine for lunch perhaps, otherwise I fear for their prospects.