Taste of London - Regent's Park

Taste of London is a mid-sized food festival that takes place each year in London's Regent's Park. It's a chance to taste small tapas sized plates of food served up by Michelin starred chefs, as well as buy artisanal produce. It's a foodie's dream. Stalls are dotted around the park, each with taster plates from dishes each chef serves in their respective restaurants. Le Gavroch (the famous Michelin restaurant started by the culinary royalty that are the Rouxs) were there serving up some of their classics like Pork Belly with Black Pudding and Tomato spiced Jus.

The festival works on the principal that no money exchanges hands. Instead you buy crowns. The value of a single crown is 50p. Dishes vary between 6 and 16 crowns so you need a good amount of crowns to get the most out of the experience. I'd say around 30 per person could work. So effectively each dish averages at around £6. It's not cheap, so it's fair to say that you have to be very food orientated to part with £6 for 4 spoons of food.

We had a variety of things but we didn't go crazy. My husband loved the White Chocolate Pannacotta from Alyn William's restaurant The Westbury. He also liked Alyd's Braised Beef Cheek, which was very rich but tender as hell. We did think the fact they said it lay on a bed of Baked Potato Foam was a little pretentious (it was just mash), however what do you expect when eating dishes from some of the worlds best restaurants?

Other things we enjoyed were the seared Scallops from Theo Randall and the Monkfish Kebab from The Savoy.

The weather was typical. It started off relatively warm and towards the end was a little windy and cold. Nonetheless it's a real experience and a joy if you want to taste food from restaurants you may otherwise not have the chance to go to.

Taste of London
10/10
Regents Park
London
http://london.tastefestivals.com/london/default.aspx

New Culture Revolution - Kings Road, London

I like New Culture because they offer reasonably priced food amidst a myriad of highly expensive restaurants. They call themselves a dumpling and noodle bar but they also serve most of the things you'd expect to find in a Chinese restaurant.

At lunch you can choose from their lesser expensive and smaller portioned menu. As expected at dinner the menu is more extensive and more expensive.

We went on a busy Tuesday night and had the Chilli Squid starter (£5.95) followed by the Beef in Black Bean (£8.90) and the Braised Beef Claypot (£8.90). The Squid was delicious, very spicy and sweet. The Beef in Black Bean was tender and sharp but to be honest I've had better at my local takeaway. The Braised Beef comes served in a Claypot with Mooli and other seasonal vegetables. The meat was tender but the broth it came in was slightly under seasoned and watery.

All in all New Culture Revolution is a good restaurant. My husband swears by it. I however think that it's nothing special, that is to say it's average food in a pleasant setting, and nothing more.

New Culture Revolution
7/10
350 Kings Road
London, SW3 5EP
0207 352 9281
www.newculturerevolution.co.uk

The Rickshaw - Battersea Square, London

The Rickshaw is a slightly more upmarket and experimental Indian restaurant. We went on a Friday night and it was packed. The decor is traditional Indian but again slightly more slick.

I always wanted to go to this restaurant because I had previously read the menu and was intrigued by the Beetroot Lamb. We started by sharing the Crisp Wheat Shells filled with Chickpeas, Potato, Pomegranate, Tamarind and Yogurt (£2.50) along with the token Popadums and Chutneys (£3.50). The Wheat Shells were interesting. I didn't dislike them but the fact they were served cold ruined it for me. I wish they had written that it's a cold dish on the menu because I would have certainly not ordered it had I known. With that said the flavour was there. 

For our main we of course had the Beetroot Lamb (£11.95). Knowing that this curry would probably be naturally sweet from the Beetroot, we asked the waiter for a hot curry to go with it. We ended up with a tomato based vindaloo type curry. It was hot, the chicken was tender and it complimented the Beetroot Lamb very well. Both curries were ones I'd order again. I loved the tender falling apart lamb and sweet yet semi dry sauce that came from the beetroot. Our dessert consisted of a Pistachio Kulfi which in effect is an Indian ice cream (£4). It was perfectly delicious with big chunks of Pistachio running through it.

There are so many other things I want to try on this menu, namely the tender Lamb Shank cooked in spices. 

Note that they are not open during the day.

The Rickshaw

8/10

15-16 Battersea Square

London, SW11 3RA

0207 924 2450

www.battersearickshaw.com

Seafood and Steakhouse - Salisbury, Wiltshire

Seafood and Steak is part of the Milford Hall Hotel but non-guests are welcome. The restaurant name is a little misleading. Yes they do offer up good quality steaks and seafood but when I hear the words Steak House it conjures up images of questionable chains serving mediocre food in a dark generic setting. This restaurant however is far from that. I can best describe it as being a fancy, semi-romantic restaurant with well dressed waiters and high quality food.

I had the Pan Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree, Black Pudding and Truffle oil (£8.25) and my mother had the Mussels, Smoked Bacon, Cider Cream, and Tarragon that came with Garlic Toast (£7.25). The Cauliflower Puree was a little watery, the Black Pudding was crispy and rich and the Scallops were slightly underdone. Overall I didn't rate it. My mother however enjoyed her Mussels. The sauce was nice and the addition of the Bacon gave it a pleasant salty kick.

The restaurant was nearly empty when we went however I was told by one of the waiters that they are usually very busy and booking is required. I'm not sure about that as we went on a Friday night.

I think I'll give it a miss next time I'm there, not because it's bad necessarily but because it required us taking a taxi to get to it (it's not walking distance from Salisbury center) and I don't think it's worth the cab fare.

Seafood and Steakhouse
6/10
206 Castle Street
Salisbury, SP1 3TE
01722 424 110
www.salisburyseafoodandsteakhouse.co.uk

Cote - Salisbury, Wiltshire

Salisbury is a relatively small and charming town. Upon researching their restaurants I came across a few that stood out. One of which was Cote. Cote is a French Brasserie serving classic French dishes and as such the menu offers things like Steak Frites, Moules Marinieres etc...

We sat outside and had the lunch special menu which consisted of 2 courses for £9.95. I must say that for the price the food was good. If it was anymore expensive however I may have found myself being a little more critical.

The Chicken Liver Pate was thick with liver and clearly well made. It came with toasted bread and cornichons. I thought the size of the dish was generous, especially considering the lunch deal. This resonated with my Chicken Escalope and my mums Minute Steak/Frites.

I'll be honest in saying that I wasn't bowled over my the flavour of my Escalope, but it was well made, simple, and perfectly fine for the price. Unbeknownst to me Cote isn't a small independent little restaurant in Salisbury as I first thought, but actually there are quite a few of them dotted around the UK. I needn't venture to Wiltshire again to take advantage of their lunch special, which will be a bonus the next time I feel like a nice and cheap meal. Check out their other locations on their website.

It's worthy of note that they also offer breakfast and weekend specials, so when they say that they are a restaurant that serves 'simple freshly prepared French food at value for money prices' they're certainly not lying.

Cote
8/10
8 St Thomas' Square
Salisbury, SP1 1BA
01722 335 164
www.cote-restaurants.co.uk

Thai on the River - Battersea, London

I went to this restaurant for lunch on my 30th birthday and I'm sorry to say was sorely disappointed. The restaurant itself is large and the decoration dated. It's main attraction is that it sits by the river, mind you you'd never know it if you were seated in the restaurant.

We ordered the Deep Fried Squid with stir fried Garlic, Chillies and Spring Onions (£6.95) and the Shell on King Prawns (£6.95) to start. I do not exagerate when I say we waited over 45 minutes for them to arrive. When it finally arrived the waiter was kind enough to offer us a starter for free. The Squid was nice, tender and crispy. I had no problems with that. The Prawns did not come with their shells on (which disappointed my mother) and they were underseasoned and chewy.

For our mains we ordered the Som Tum Eee, which is a traditional salad made from Papaya, Garlic and Peanuts (£6.95) along with the Whole Sea bass in a Red Curry Sauce (£15.95).

The salad was not good at all. It looked limp and you don't have to be a chef to see it was at least a day old. This type of salad is meant to be fresh and vibrant but this one just looked sad.

The Sea bass was so dry I could barely eat it. Its only saving grace was the sauce it came with. I ended up just having said sauce on some rice (the rice was clearly made a few days earlier as well).

All in all I wouldn't return to Thai on the River. The food was a shambles and if it wasn't for the fact it's located on the river I suspect it wouldn't still be around.

Thai on the River
5/10
2 Lombard Road
London, SW11 3RQ
0207 924 6090
www.thaiontheriver.com

The Albert - Battersea, London

Quite simply the Albert (so named because it lives right next to the Albert Bridge) is a nice gastropub with a sweet outside area and warming interior. They have games you can play while you pick on things like Pork Pies or little Sausages marinated in Honey and Mustard (both of which I've had and loved).

The menu changes because they cook seasonally. For dinner I had the Pate with Toast (£7) which was really very good. I followed that with the Fish, Chips and Pea Puree (£12). I had no issues with the crispy batter, fluffy chips and the smooth puree. I also liked the fact they clearly made their own Tartare Sauce.

The food is very pub grub in nature: burgers, chips, steak etc... That kind of food can seem simple to make but I think that to master a simple dish and execute it well can be as hard as making something Escoffier-esque. At the Albert they do it well and the fact they are directly opposite Battersea park gives you a nice reason to pig out and then walk it off.

It's worthy of note that lunch is served between 12pm and 3pm and dinner from 6pm onwards, which means you can only order bar snacks between 3pm and 6pm.

The Albert

8/10

85 Albert Bridge Road

London, SW11 4PF

0207 228 0923

www.geronimo-inns.co.uk