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You may have noticed that my location has changed from London to Hobart, marking the end of my six month adventure. Having a proper afternoon tea was something I had to do before leaving London and while high tea at the Ritz would have been nice, the budget was getting a little tight.
While scouring the internet for somewhere good, my sister and I came across a feature article on Time Out recommending more than 20 of London's best afternoon teas for a range of budgets. After dismissing ones with descriptions including 'piles of toys are a nod to the younger clientèle' and ones that sounded more like a place for old men and cigarettes, we settled on Nicole's. Time Out nicely described it as 'every size-zero fashionista's dirty little secret'.
Nicole's is a modern European restaurant located beneath the Nicole Farhi flagship store on New Bond Street. The menu offers four different afternoon teas, including a healthy option (pfft!), but we opted for the Miniature Afternoon Tea for £16.50. This gave us a delightful array of bite sized delicacies and a range of beautiful teas. The teas came first, and the blackberry and vanilla and the fresh mint were both refreshing and delicious (on a side note, once the tea was gone we put the mint leaves into our glasses of water - perfect way to finish the meal).
A short time after, six dishes arrived on the table bearing a range of savoury and sweet treats. The savouries were a selection of open sandwiches with tempting toppings of smoked salmon, crab with lemon preserve, prosciutto with grape and apple chutney, cucumber and creme fraiche, and egg mayonnaise with micro cress.
All the toppings were tasty but my sister and I were both surprised that we enjoyed the cucumber and the egg the best. The sandwiches came on both white and wholemeal bread, which unfortunately served to highlight one of the negatives about our experience. When following a white sandwich with a wholemeal one, there was a stark difference between the freshness, with the brown tasting a day or two past its prime.
The sweet dishes looked delightful and tasted accordingly. On the menu were a cherry muffin, chocolate tart, summer fruit tart and orange madeleine, plus six macaroons in chocolate and vanilla. We were starting to struggle halfway through the desserts and ended up taking the macaroons with us.
The décor was nice but oddly overcrowded. The beautiful wooden floorboards held just one or two too many tables for the room and it spoiled the feel of it. But nice touches, including a wall of mirrors near the bar and beautiful handwash and moisturiser in the bathroom helped to compensate. We finished our visit with a trip upstairs to the beautiful but out-of-our-price-range store.
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The boyfriend and I went to The Refinery on the weekend for an impromptu dinner out after going to the Tate (I'm being very cultural in my last few London weeks!). The two things that struck me about this place were the décor and the menu - both very important as far as I'm concerned. The décor was stylishly rustic with a touch of quirky thrown in, such as the old claw-foot bath filled with fresh vegetables and tucked into a corner. There were nice touches everywhere, with deckchairs and funky orange stools outside, and candlesticks and flowers decorating the tables inside. The menu was one of those rare beauties whose offerings were almost all meals that made my mouth water just reading it.
Service started off really well but wasn't so good at the end. It took about 15 minutes for the waiter to collect our plates, and that only happened after I'd asked for the bill and - after another wait - he'd returned to swipe my card. Prices were reasonable, the 12.5 per cent service charge was not so reasonable, especially after the wait we'd just had. Despite a not so good end to the meal, the food was good and the experience enjoyable overall.
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This week I ate the best sandwich of my life. Big statement and not one I'm making lightly. Like a lot things, I tend to be a bit phasey* about sandwiches; for weeks I'll love them and then for the next few months I have no urge to eat one. Before this particular sandwich I was in a definite 'I don't feel like eating sandwiches' phase and when my friend said that she wanted one for lunch I have to admit I groaned inwardly. But, keeping my mouth shut, I followed her to Birley Sandwiches, where even seeing the array of tempting focaccias and fillings couldn't change my mind.
Thankfully, the salami and brie pita that I ordered soon did. It was amazing. As well as the meat and cheese, it had rocket, tomato and - the ingredient that took it from 4 stars to 5 - fresh home-made green pesto. Now I have no way of knowing that the pesto didn't come out of a jar, but it certainly didn't look or taste like it did. If I have any complaints it would be that there wasn't enough brie, but there was loads of salami to compensate. My two friends gave equally glowing reviews of their sandwiches and an accompanying yoghurt (which looked very tasty). Birley's can be found in 8 locations around London, but I ate at the Paternoster Square store which had a lovely view of the square and St Paul's Cathedral.
*I have a tendency to make up words and while I cant use them in my paid journalism, I'm going to let them flow freely in my blog.
Despite having eaten it on the odd occasion, I've never cooked with polenta. Tonight I was making chicken satay skewers and while perusing a cookbook for something to accompany them I found a recipe for soft polenta with mushrooms and rocket. Unfortunately Sainsburys didn't have the instant polenta that the recipe called for so I had to go with their only option, a ready-made block. While I don't usually like straying from a recipe the first time I'm making it, the block seemed like an easier choice than the mash-like polenta in the recipe. Instead of having the polenta soft, it was simple to slice the block into fingers and fry them. Then once they were on the plate, I topped them with cooked mushrooms and garlic, parmesan and rocket. Very tasty.
Polenta with mushrooms and rocket
500g ready-made polenta
6 mushrooms, thinly sliced (a variety tastes best)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
olive oil
big handful of rocket
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
black pepper
1. Cut polenta into finger width strips.
2. Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat, add polenta on one side and the mushrooms and garlic on the other.
3. Cook polenta for about 3 minutes each side or until crispy on the outside, and mushrooms and garlic until soft.
4. Arrange polenta on plate, top with grated parmesan, mushrooms, rocket and pepper.
(Sorry about the lack of photo... I was so hungry that I forgot to take one before I ate it!)
Nicole's is a modern European restaurant located beneath the Nicole Farhi flagship store on New Bond Street. The menu offers four different afternoon teas, including a healthy option (pfft!), but we opted for the Miniature Afternoon Tea for £16.50. This gave us a delightful array of bite sized delicacies and a range of beautiful teas. The teas came first, and the blackberry and vanilla and the fresh mint were both refreshing and delicious (on a side note, once the tea was gone we put the mint leaves into our glasses of water - perfect way to finish the meal).
