Gourmet-Chick's Qype profile

Opened just around the corner from Polpo, Polpetto is literally housed in the upstairs room of a pub. The place is tiny, half the size of Polpetto and without the bar area. Our waitress told us Polpetto won't take bookings for dinner but will take peoples names and mobile numbers so they can have a drink at the pub downstairs while they wait for their table to turn up. Cue gold mine and the sound of cash registers ringing for the downstairs pub. Although smaller, Polpetto has the same look and feel as Polpo with dangling unadorned lightbulbs, a pressed tin roof and brown paper menus that serve as place mats.

Polpetto offers the same style of food as Polpo, Venetian chicheti, small plates for sharing, but offers a whole new set of dishes. Chilli and garlic prawns (£7) had been helpfully shelled and were swimming merrily in a tomato sauce with a chilli kick so good that MTV boyfriend and I were scooping up the sauce with bread long after the prawns were devoured. Chickpea and anchovy crostini was complimentary and tasted almost like a chunky hommus with the added richness from the anchovies.

Pics and more details on my blog

These are hands down the most amazing cocktails you will ever taste. Forget the same boring old cocktails and try ones with rhubarb in and the most fantastic attention to detail you will see behind a bar (eg misting spray over each cocktail before serving). I sampled these at a Qype event at the Cobden club and am now dreaming about ever being able to afford to host a party and have these guys behind the bar.

Ici vous avez sincèrement les cocktails les plus géniaux que vous n'aurez jamais l'occasion de goûter. Oubliez les cocktails ennuyeux et essayez ceux à la rhubarbe et vous verrez l'attention la plus minutieuse aux détails derrière le bar (par exemple, de pulvérisation buée sur chaque cocktail avant de servir). J'y ai goûté lors d'un de ces Qype Events au club Cobden et maintenant je rêve d'avoir un jour les moyens d'organiser une fête avec ces gars derrière le bar.

This is Tom Aikens new place on the terrace of Somerset House. Given the size of the kitchen the menu is short and sweet, limited to snack type foods that are just the sort of thing to soak up a few drinks like dips, burgers and steak sandwiches. There is nothing too challenging here and it is clearly the sort of food that Aikens feels comfortable his chefs can replicate when he is at his Chelsea restaurant and not manning the terrace BBQ. The wine list is equally concise and offers lots of beers, cocktails, white wines and rosés reflecting the summery feel of the whole place.

Pics and more details here: http://www.gourmet-chick.com/2010/05/toms-terrace.html

Consider the humble samosa. A meal at a Pakistani or Indian restaurant is almost incomplete without it but I had never stopped to think about what went into making these deep fried packages of goodness. After my recent meal at Chilli Chutney in Streatham I have discovered that the samosas are a lot more complicated than they first appear. First of all the dough, Chilli Chutney flavours its samosa dough with a variety of spices to give a more complex taste. Then the filling which is a pre cooked mixture of fragrant minced lamb and peas or chunky spiced potato. Finally the construction of the samosa, rolling and stretching the dough into thin half circles and then expertly bundling the filling inside before frying it to a golden crispy hue in some sizzling vegetable oil.

Great samosas and try the chicken achaari as well.

For pomp and ceremony you can't go past afternoon tea at The Lanesborough. Service is charming and the key is to book in for the 4pm sitting so you get to linger over your scones and tea until 6pm - making this two hours of unlimited eating and tea drinking (which makes the £35 charge a bit easier to bear)

También me encantó Mama Shelter. Hay que ir a ese sitio. Hotel súper chulo a sólo 108 euros la noche (fue un fin de semana) lo cual está muy bien para ser París. El diseño del lugar es fabuloso, los detalles extra como los cosméticos Kiehls que me quedé y la gran pantalla Apple para internet, TV y DVD's son una pasada. También comí en el restaurante, que tenía una comida excelente y camareras muy amables. Comida francesa simple, clásica, como el pollo estofado, la fuente de queso e incluso caracoles. La única pega que está lejos, pero como ya se dijo, también eso tiene ventajas.

J'ai moi aussi aime Mama shelter. Vous devez sejourner ici. Hotel super cool pour seulement 108 euros par nuit (et j'y etais pendantle weekend) ce qui n'est pas mal pour Paris. Le design de l'endroit est fabuleux, les petites touches extra comme les produits de toilette Kiehls sur lesquels je me suis ruee, et l'ecran geant Apple Mac pour Internet, TV et DVDs sont des bonus. J'ai aussi mange au restaurant, qui offrait de la cuisine excellente et des serveuses tres sympa. Cuisine Francaise simple et classique comme du poulet braise, plateau de fromage et meme des escargots. Le seul point negatif c'est que ce soit loin, mais comme Sickboyyed a dit - ca a aussi ses avantages.

I went to a brilliant Qype event at the Coach and Horses last night where head chef Henry Herbert showed a group of us how to make the Coach and Horses famous scotch eggs. If I don't say so myself our eggs were a revelation, no more pre prepared cold motorway scotch eggs. These soft boiled babies had a deliciously seasoned porky wrapping and crispy breadcrumbed exterior. I think I am a convert.

Henry is an intuitive cook who doesn't really use measurements in his recipes but I have tried to put an approximation of his brilliant scotch egg recipe on my blog: http://www.gourmet-chick.com/2010/01/how-to-make-scotch-e... - Enjoy!

This is my favourite budget Thai restaurant in London - they don't lessen the the heat or taste down for Western palates like most Thai restaurants in the UK seem too. Prices are cheap and they also do delivery if you can't make the trek to the Ladbroke Grove end of town.