Oriental Beef Shin & Oxtail Lettuce Wraps

Slow cookers are like culinary prozac in the winter. They cure depression by making life taste better – transforming tough, scraggy meat into glorious works of edible art. Without Stewie Griffin (my slow cooker) I’d be a miserable git. But with him by my side, like a mechanical version of Ratatouille, I’m happier than a pig in a cesspit.

After successful experiments with lamb breast and oriental pork belly in wrap format, I decided to try a similar approach with beef. But instead of using pancakes to cocoon the meat I decided to use gem lettuces as boats. This also made them suitable as a starter with the lettuce lending the crunch that the soft beef lacked in comparison to the crispy lamb and pork.

This makes for a fantastic, inexpensive starter to eat communally at a dinner party. Or could play the role as a main course. The beef itself would also make a fantastic filling for oriental dumplings or with some noodles and a stir fry.

Ingredients to feed 10 as a starter:

1 shin of beef
4 pieces of oxtail
Star anise
Half a jar of five spice
Knob of ginger
2 chillies
1 stick of cinnamon
300ml Chinese cooking wine
100ml dark soy sauce
150ml mirin
1 cucumber
A bunch of spring onions
4 gem lettuces

Method:

Cut up the shin into thumb sized pieces. Season. Then brown the shin and oxtail and place in the slow cooker. Do this in batches so it caramelises rather than stews.

Pour the liquids into the pan to deglaze and burn off the alcohol in the mirin and wine. Then add the five spice, star anise, ginger, cinnamon and chili to help them mingle. After a minute or two pour this mixture over the beef in the slow cooker and let it cook gently for 5 hours.

Once the beef is tender and pulling away from the tail, remove it and separate the meat from the liquid. Allow the meat to cool and then shred it.

Strain the liquid and reduce to a syrupy consistency. Add sugar to sweeten towards the end. You’ll probably need a couple of table spoons. But it depends how you like it.

Before serving slice the spring onions and cucumber thinly and wash the lettuces and take out the heart.

Arrange on a large serving plate and tuck in. The meat will be soft and incredibly tender with spicy layers that seem to love the freshness of the lettuce, cucumber and spring onion. You could do this with just oxtail, but adding shin ensures yo have enough meat to go around. The oxtail adds a silkiness to the meat and a glossiness to the sauce.

Further reading:

Chinese Oxtail with Asian greens
Bún bò Huế
Chinese Braised Oxtail Stew
Aromatic Chinese Oxtail Stew
Slow cooker recipes on The Paunch

Sichuan Sausages

Earlier in the year I had an inspirational meal at Chilli Cool. Having never had Sichuan food before, I was oblivious to the narcoleptic charms of Sichuan peppercorns which not only set your mouth on fire but numb it at the same time. I left feeling invigorated and keen to dabble with Sichuan pepper.

So I invented my own Sichuan sausage recipe. And would you believe it, the sausages are amazing. Here’s how you make them.

Mince a 60/40 mix of pork belly and pork shoulder. For 6 sausages throw in a handful of breadcrumbs. Then, in a pestle and mortar, grind 3 dessert spoons of Sichuan peppercorns to a fine dust. Add them to the pork. Then slice up a spring onion and add it to the party. Grate a whole thumb of ginger into the pork along with a a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Then sprinkle in a generous amount of chilli seeds and then as much Chinese 5 spice as you think seems right. Season with salt, or for added authenticity some MSG.

Mix the pork and spices together and then feed into sausage casings. Allow the sausage to rest for a few hours before cooking as this will allow the meat to settle and relax after the trauma of the sausage making process.

Amazingly a few wires got tangled up in the Brown kitchen and we landed up serving them with Brussels’ sprouts and carrots! The winter vegetables admirably stuck to their task. It prompted one of the funnier moments over Christmas when my Grandfather, who isn’t a fan of spice, said, “I don’t mind about the chilli because my mouth has gone numb”. There was something deeply surreal about the whole experience. And this odd situation allowed us to concentrate on the flavour of the sausages which whilst taking no prisoners, were a spectacular success.

My plan had been to take inspiration from “Dan Dan Noodles” (see photo above courtesy of scaredy_kat on Flickr via creative commons ) and cook them in a liquor of soy sauce, chillies and stock and then serve them with noodles and pak choi. They would also be great without their casings as meat balls in a Chinese broth. If you’ve got any suggestions about what to serve them with, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

And if you are thinking what wines would go well with a Sichuan sausage, then Gareth from Bibendum suggests drinking Argentine Bonarda and Fiona the Winematcher suggests a New Zealand Pinot Noir.

This is part of a series of posts about experimental sausages and a potential sausage-fest

Mussel Re:Laksa

Following on from the pun-tastic Ham Hockusai, I thought I’d stick with the Oriental theme and attack the laksa. As ever, I hadn’t really appreciated what I was letting myself in for. Laksa, far from being a simple dish, is pretty complicated. For starters there are two distinct types: curry laksa which tends to be a coconut curry with noodles and asam laksa which is a sour fish soup with noodles (and not a type of tea).

It is commonly found across China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and increasingly across Australia. It derives a lot of its flavour from ground, dried shrimps.

I decided to make a curry laksa sticking relatively closely to a very authentic recipe I found, shamefully, on Delia’s website!

I bought my mussels from Moxon’s just outside Clapham South tube station and went in search of the other key ingredients in Balham where I managed to find everything except dried shrimp paste. Bugger.

After some excellent suggestions from Lizzie, Essex Gourmet and Kelsie Mortimer decided to mash up some prawns with a dash of anchovy essence, Worcester Sauce and lemon juice. It’s clearly not ideal, but it seemed to do the trick!

Here’s how I made my mussel and prawn laksa:

Empty a kilo of mussels into a colander and run under cold water. Pull out their beards and give them a good rinse. Leave them on the side as you’ll only need them a fair bit later.
Then you need to make your spicy paste. To do this grab a handful of chillies, two stems of lemon grass, a few shallots, a spoonful of turmeric, a knob of galangal (or ginger) and your home made shrimp paste (or better still, the real deal if you can find it). Add some liquid and blitz this in a blender and you’ll be left with a wonderfully orange, fragrant, spicy paste that will be the base of your laksa.

Then toast a handful of nuts in a hot wok so that they turn golden. Remove them and then fry your paste in a glug of vegetable or groundnut oil. The aromas should almost knock the pan out of your hand. Let this sizzle for a couple of minutes and then add a can of coconut milk and the same amount of chicken stock.

Allow this to simmer for 10 minutes and then add the mussels, a pack of prawns and enough vermicelli noodles for two. When they are almost done add half a bag of beansprouts and scatter with half of the toasted nuts. Season and then ladle into deep bowls.
Garnish with a wedge of lime, some crushed toasted nuts and Vietnamese mint if you’ve got it.

It was comforting, spicy, vibrant and a joy to eat. Slurping and guzzling sounds are a sure fire sign of culinary satisfaction! I sank back in my seat and sighed. Muscle relaxer indeed.

Huong-Viet in Hackney

We had one of our most fun nights out of the year at Huong-Viet. All of our foodie friends from the North of London have raved about this Vietnamese canteen. As have Charles Campion, Time Out and Nigel Slater. It has a sense of authenticity and quirkiness that appeals in spades. Much of this is derived from the fact that the site for this restaurant used to be public laundry and baths and then became a community centre for Vietnamese refugees. It then evolved into a canteen serving authentic, inexpensive Vietnamese food to whoever was either close enough or brave enough to visit.

So when the excuse arose we pounced. With the aid of a compass, some thermals and an appropriately named Hackney Carriage we waded in on a mission to try the entire menu. With the aid of Edwin’s impressive grasp of the Vietnamese language and Jack’s sheer appetite we were soon swamped by so many dishes that we had to annex a second table!

Summer rolls were fresh, crunchy, soft, cool and fragrant all at the same time. I reckon I could eat these all day. For me they are on a par with the Paddyfield in Balham, if not better.

A Vietnamese omelette was unnecessary, given the amount of food we’d ordered, but delicious nonetheless. Stuffed with crunchy and gungy stuff it was a text book example of contrasting textures. Doused in firey chilli sauce and it really came alive.

The highlight to the first act of our meal was a plate of chargrilled squid which achieved the ultimate goal of being succulent and rammed with flavour at the same time.

Other starters such as fish cakes and beef wrapped in leaves were so good they disappeared before I could photograph them! Much to my irritation and everyone else’s mirth. The beef transported me back to a lunch time cafe in Hong Kong which I became addicted to several summers ago.

It was as if the main courses didn’t want to be outdone by the starters. My hot and spicy lamb was one of the favourite things I have eaten this year. It lived up to its name by delivering the sort of sticky, tangy heat that makes you lick your lips for days afterwards. I had to fight Jack and Anna off with my chopsticks.

Cowie’s whole steamed sea bass was good enough to prevent me from being offered any. Always a good sign. It’s just a shame they couldn’t find a larger plate. But I guess that is part of the charm. incidentally, this appears to be one of Nigel Slater’s favourite dishes.

Edwin’s impressive ordering skills resulted in a scene that wouldn’t have been out of place in an ad for HSBC! A waiter appeared holding a scorching hot plate at arm’s length and deposited it, still spitting in front of Edwin. It was a wonderful piece of theatre. And cooking too. Given the amount of burning hot oil that splattered onto the table it was essentially a healthy option.

Other dishes included a fragrant chicken curry with a plenty of lemon grass and a saucy pork curry. All washed down with plenty of Vietnamese beer and a lot of banter. If you can judge a meal by how dirty the table cloth gets, then we had a whale of a time. By the end we were trying to interpret the oily splodges around Edwin’s plate in a way that would have had psychologists raising a lot of eyebrows!

We loved the informal atmosphere, direct service, delicious food and cheap bill. Some writers have suggested that there has been a lull in quality in recent times. But that wasn’t on show when we visited. We loved it and are already planning a return trip. We just wish that we either lived closer, or that they would consider opening in Brixton or Balham.

12-14 Englefield Road
London
020 7249 0877
N1 4LS

Tsunami ticks all the boxes

Disappointment. I hate it.

When I think of the times I have been disappointed recently, it conjures up thoughts when I have been unsatisfied, frustrated, uninspired and on occasions, sad.

Despite much effort and perseverance Browny and I have struggled in vain to go out for a flawless dinner recently or even one that wetted our appetites for more. Other than our exciting and inspired trip to the Underground Restaurant in Kilburn in February, we have been let down by one thing or another, whether it’s a stingey portion, over done fish, zilch atmosphere, grumpy, inattentive (smelly) staff and overpriced food.

As I grow older and wiser it seems my palate has an increasing desire for light, delicate and refined foods yet that still deliver on taste, flavour and texture.

Rumour has it Tsunami is a firm favourite of many Clapham locals who have an affection for Japanese cuisine. As the credit crunch continues to bite, when I spotted a 30% off discount at the sister restaurant in the West End we couldn’t resist a visit.

I was concerned that on a damp Monday evening the place would be deserted of punters, but this was not the case. As we entered the funky and stylish room, we opted of the cosy snug part of the restaurant at the rear. Things were looking good; a relaxing atmosphere, a delightful waiter (who managed to smash three full glasses of wine as he directed me to the loo!), delicious champagne cocktails and fragrant light green tea.

But it was the food that really put a smile on our faces. We started our feast with standard nibbles; steaming hot and salty edamame, juicy and moreish chicken yakotori skewers and some stunningly fresh succulent sashimi. The presentation of all of it was exemplary.

The generous portion of tempura of king crab was also superb. The hunky chunks of juicy crab were coated in lightest of batters with a golden crisp. The yuzu butter and creamy chilli garlic dipping sauces were pretty special too.

However the star of the show had to be the black miso cod. I was concerned that with so much hype it would fail the test. But not abit of it. It was truly sensational, to the extent that I just didn’t want the eating moment to end! The cod resembled a large slab of stilton in shape, but the texture was so silky and smooth that the fish simply flaked apart when prodded. And the taste. Wow. Sticky, sweet and tangy all at once. I could go on, but I am rapidly sounding like Greg Green Grocer Wallace!

We left the restaurant feeling so content and our tummies very happy indeed. Tsunami really delivered where so many haven’t. Please go and see for yourself.

Chinese New Year at Leong’s Legends

Saturday was full of serendipity. Three of us converged on Chinatown to continue our search for London’s best sandwich. Given that it is Chinese New Year, the theme for February’s sandwich is Chinese. It’s been quite a struggle to find somewhere that sells Chinese sandwiches, but yet again Chowhound has come up trumps by suggesting a pork belly filling in a steamed bun. My concerns that this isn’t a legitimate sandwich were dispelled when I read Su-Lin’s review on Tamarind and Thyme.

I emerged at Leicester Square station and was amazed by the sight of a full on parade that brought back memories of the street carnivals in the Roger Moore James Bond films. I had been worried that Chinese New Year had been and gone. But this was insane!

Cowie and I met up at Leong’s Legends, Taiwanese restaurant, on Macclesfield Street having battled through the excitable crowd. As predicted by World Foodie Guide, the maitre d’, tried to bully us into settling for a substandard table, tucked away out of the action. But we stood firm and commandeered an excellent table with full view of the festivities outside and the buzz of the kitchen. His waspish behavior punctuated the experience, in a way that developed all the way from irritation to hilarity!

Cowie and I played it safe with some wonderfully fresh dim sum.

Duck and chestnut puffs were brilliant. Sweet, sticky and flaky with a slight note of nutty sesame. Luckily Cowie wasn’t interested in this one so I scoffed all three!

Cowie was far more interested in the dinky little steamed prawn dumplings which were gorgeous. The dumplings didn’t stick to the steamer and were utterly devoid of that claggy, dense feel you get from Ping Pong’s ersatz dumplings.

Some cheung fun arrived which was a bit disappointing. Whilst it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t up to the standard of the other dishes. It tasted a bit flat but was lifted by the sweetened soy sauce. Royal China’s are far better.

Some Beijing pork and chive dumplings were as delicious as they were un-photogenic and were served with a lively soy and black vinegar dip.

We devoured our sticky rice with shredded pork which had a deep gamey flavour and hint of wild mushrooms.

As we were tucking into the shredded pork a pantomine lion from the parade outside attacked our restaurant much to the joy of the staff. He slashed through a lettuce that was strung up the restaurant’s door. Apparently this brings luck to the restaurant and money to the lion dancers. It brought the whole restaurant to life and a look of glee to most of the sraff. (Thank you Su Lin for filling me in). I’ll leave the pictures to do the talking.

Just as Cowie and I were struggling with some slightly too dense siu mai dumplings when “Hollow Legs” Lizzie arrived fresh from sorting out her new flat to raise the stakes!

Cowie and I were uprooted from our comfort zone where we were happy learning to cycle with our stabilisers and launched into the exciting world of grown up Chinese food.

Century eggs with tofu arrived first looking stunning. I’ve wanted to try century eggs for some time, so this was a great opportunity. They tasted like super charged eggs. But it was their appearance that really amazed me. The dusting of chilli and spring onion set the tofu up brilliantly. I am not a big tofu fan but enjoyed several spoonfuls at well spaced intervals! That red sauce you can see lurking at the bottom of the bowl should come with a government health warning!

Slithers of beef and tripe in a incredibly spicy sauce arrived next. Again I’ve never had tripe before so this was pretty exciting. If it wasn’t for Lizzie I’d still be a tripe virgin! And you know what. It was really good. I doubt I will ever dream of eating tripe or order it that often. But I can now appreciate what it’s all about. The texture added an almost shitake mushroom feel to the dish and the aggressive chilli gave it an addictive warmth.

A steamer full of exquisite xiao long baos, AKA soup filled dumplings, took us back towards our comfort zone with a burst of scalding hot soup! This set us up perfectly for the reason we had come; their soon to be famous pork sandwich which confusingly appears on the menu as Taiwanese Kebab Bun.

It was a delicious sandwich and well worth the trip. It really couldn’t have been a better fit for Chinese New Year. Arguably the best themed sandwich so far. But to find out more you’ll have to read about it on the Londonist’s Sandwichist column.

Leong’s Legends was huge fun. It was an extremely fortunate treat that our visit coincided with the Chinese New Year parade. And Lizzie’s “out there” suggestions of century eggs and tripe have expanded our repertoire beyond the world of prawn and pork dumplings. It has cured us of the shock we had at Peninsula where we had a cultural collision with a pork hock and jellyfish dish! Leong’s was pretty good value and was buzzing with atmosphere. We will definitely return soon.

Tomoe is really very good

Thanks to An American in London (aAiL) and Londonelicious for fiercely recommending Tomoe on Marylebone Lane. Cowie and I went there today for our Christmas lunch before heading home to our separate families for the festive period.

Everything they both said was spot on…

Cowie was worried it was going to be empty, so we were delighted to be welcomed into the warm atmosphere, buzzing with a mixture of Japanese diners and westerners. From our perch at the bar we sipped on a perfect cup of tea whist formulating a plan of attack. The miso soup that followed the tea was great. I love watching the cloudy broth as it billows carelessly…

We followed some recommendations from aAiL which started with a chirashi sushi bowl. What struck us first were the colours. Vibrant. A chorus of freshness.

It goes without saying that the fish was immaculately fresh and the rice was perfectly at room temperature. Succulent tuna, bright orange salmon and sweet gorgeous eel. I could barely keep Cowie’s chopsticks out of my bowl.

Our assorted sashimi was impressive too. Very fresh and generous for £10.

Dynamite sushi rolls were pretty fierce. The first one I had was warm. So Cowie thought things were safe and tucked in. Tears started streaming. Sweat rolled. Water was gasped for. It turns out that the first one that I had was very tame as the rest were “scorchio”. I guess it’s a bit like the Spanish “Russia Roulette” peppers.

Tempura prawn maki rolls were fantastic. They were all about texture. The cucumber crunched and the avocado squidged. The prawn was sweet and the tempura was every so slightly crispy. I am going to order every time I see them from now on!

We loved our lunch and are planning to return again with some sushi virgins. It feels like the kind of place to induct newbies to the world of sushi because it is reasonably priced and very good quality. Thanks Londonelicious and An American in London for the recommendation.

Cowie’s Birthday: Peninsula

Fresh on the heels of a wonderful night at Trinity, I wangled a day off from revision for Cowie. Eating on Sundays normally means 3 things for us Brits. Either a solid fry up for breakfast, a slap up roast or a blinding curry. But one of the best things to eat on a Sunday is dim sum.

Cowie and I had a wonderful time feasting on dim sum in Hong Kong. We love their little parcels of joy. It’s interesting that dim sum literally means “to touch the heart”. It;s a bit like the concept behind the Cadbury’s Gorilla advert… it’s all about the sheer feeling of joy. Uninhibited euphoria.

I met Lizzie from Hollow Legs at the Trusted Places blogger meetup. She’s great fun and recommended that I should take Cowie to an obscure dim sum restaurant in a Holiday Inn somewhere in the region of North Greenwich. I drunkenly made it home and woke up realising that Lizzie had answered my long search for what to do for Cowie’s birthday. Lizzie you’re a genius.

Bravely Cowie and I ventured off to the back of beyond.. in search of the ideal dim sum birthday lunch. The whole of North Greenwich was deserted. Acres of car parks. Miles of dual carriageway. Like a scene from 28 days later… there was no-one. Anywhere,

But then we arrived at the very impressive Holiday Inn Express. Resplendent in its green and blue livery.

And we saw people. Lots of Chinese people wearing very smart clothes… all piling into a very municipal looking building with hilarious concrete lions guarding the entrance.

We queued for around 20 minutes, surrounded by loud and eager customers. Some more irascible than others. One enormous Indian gentleman landed up having a row with the brusque gentleman in charge of queuing before we’d even sat down. That takes some doing… and explains why any review you read of this place will mention the aggressive service. Charm isn’t a word that’s understood at the Peninsula!

We were shown to a comically large table and presented with what can only be described as a cross between a computer accessed driving test paper and a nationally lottery ticket. After a while we realised that we needed an English menu and proceeded to transfer our choices across to the dim sum ballot paper.

Cowie, went with the safety first option… but I was keen to test out the menu with a little more recklessness. This wasn’t wise. The pork knuckle I bravely ordered arrived first in the form of thin, salami esque strips of cold meat… topped with what looked like sauteed onions. Wrong. One weird mouthful later and realised that the onions were actually jelly fish! When can you say you’ve ever accidentally eaten jellyfish as the first thing you put in your mouth on your birthday! After this brief bout of culture shock things soon got much more palatable. All of their dumplings were brilliant. None of them stuck to the bamboo steamers like you find at places like Ping Pong. In particular, the cheung fun was extraordinary. Almost worth the trip on its own.

It was a truly brilliant experience and we can’t recommend it enough to anyone who wants to step out of their comfort zone for a mind opening experience. We’re definitely adding dim sum to our list of Sunday must dos along with squash, The Observer, bacon sandwiches, lie ins and curries from the Holy Cow.

This is a great list of the top 10 places to go for dim sum. I’m keen to experience the joys of dim sum in Chinatown next. If anyone’s got any recommendations please let us know.

Delicious Dinings

I’d read about Dinings in the Metro ages ago and suggested to Ed that he should go there with Erin. So when the opportunity came up to go to Dinings with Anne I got very excited.

It’s hard to find, which is the mark of a good Japanese restaurant according to Jay Rayner, tucked away on Harcourt Street at the business end of York Street in Marylebone/Edgeware Road. Close enough to work to be feasible but also far enough away to be relaxed!

We sat downstairs in what felt a bit like a smart concrete bunker. Concrete screed covers the floor and plain wooded latice divides the closet sized space up. Warm sake made us hungry whilst the edamame made us thirsty. Clever!

We chose wildly hoping that if we through enough mud at the bare white walls that it would stick. None of it disappointed. It all clung to the walls as it were…

Tuna and avocado rolls were beautifully simple. King crab sushi was heavenly. Shrimp tempura was brilliantly light and crispy, but also enormous! Sea bass with yuzu and ponzo dressing was the highlight. Really light and delicate. Tuna tataki was great and the sea weed salad was refreshing.

Not an off note to be heard. I got chatting to the co-owner who was charming. They’ve been open for 18 months and have been far more successful than they had ever hoped. Ever since Fay Maschler wrote a glowing review they have been busy almost every night. And rightly so.

It’s got a great atmosphere, is unpretentious, approachable and very stylish. I can’t wait to go back to try out even more of their menu! Thank you Anne!

Pre Valentine’s Day Roka Extravaganza

I had promised to take Cowie to Tsunami in Clapham for our pre-Valentine’s day meal. But I never booked it. Instead I was really sneaky and booked us into Roka which we had wanted to go to for ages.

We’ve got a history of trying to surprise each other but we normally either get too excited and spill the beans too early or the we see through each other and guess! But not this time. I managed to get Cowie hook line and sinker.

We met on Charlotte Street and went for a casual drink in a pub next to Finos and guzzled down some wine that meant we saved a few quid rather than paying through the nose in “Tsunami/Roka”. The more time passed the more itchy Cowie’s feet became until it was pretty obvious we couldn’t make it to Clapham in time for our booking at Tsunami.

I smiled at Cowie and explained my surprise, but before I could say where we were going instead she had guess it! That’s the closest I’ve got to surprising her properly!

We pottered up to Roka with a very bouncy spring in our steps: partly to do with the booze, a bit to do with the excitement of the surprise and also because we had been dying to go to Roka ever since we heard of it.

You can always tell it’s going to be a good meal when we ask to move seats and are plonked in the best spot. This time we were moved from the goldfish bowl seats by the window to prime real estate at the central bar overlooking the chefs doing their BBQing. It’s a great site to see such amazing chefs cooking live in front of you. It must be a great way of getting people to buy extra things just because they see them being cooked! Flames. Action. Food porn!

After gasping at the price of the set menu we soon realised that we would be better off going off piste and constructing our own meal. Who needs vegetarian dishes when these guys are so good at fish and meat.

We kicked off with some yellow fin tuna tataki which was light, fresh, zingy and beautfiully textured. The only question mark we had next to it was the way it tasted very strongly of the kind of bad pre-ground pepper you got at school.

Then came some well salted edamame and otoro tuna sashimi which was delicious. By far the best I’ve ever had. I love the feel of it as it almost disolves in your mouth. Who needs teeth when you’ve got otoro!

Cowie’s miso soup with scallops was a great success too. Warming, delicately flavoured and very subtle. It’s a great broth that is as full of unami as it is lacking in colour. Pale and unasumming. But very pleasant indeed.

Things got really exciting when our grilled quail with a tart plum compote arrived. The meat was beautifully charred and almost raw. There’s nothing quite like a bit of medium rare poultry to divide opinion. In this instance it was sensational. But I know a lot of people would have complained. The plum lifted the sweetness of the quail and cut through the oily skin leaving your mouth craving more. What a shame quails are so small!

If we thought our quail was good, the salmon teryaki took us up to another level. It was only £10 but was the best thing we ate. The salmon flesh was almost raw and fell apart at the very sight of a chopstick. The teryaki sauce was rich, dark and deep. The skin was crispy and a shinning example to the entire world about how to cook fish skin. There are few finer tastes than properly cooked fish skin. Gorgeous.

Beef and asparagus skewers were very vanilla. Perfectly fine but Wags do them just as well for less. And yuzu soy tuna was a bit dry but I enjoyed my first experience of yuzu. Kind of like tangerine but a lot more expensive!

We boycotted the wine and instead had green tea which meant that we spent well under £100 and left feeling perfectly full, deleriously happy and super keen to come back.