raspberry-cassis ice cream sandwiches...oh yes...

Disclaimer: This recipe is AMAZING!

I have developed a new obsession...you know something to take over my mind on evenings and weekends when work is super busy and a bit overwhelming. Something that benefits me and all my lovely housemates. Benefits us in a smiley, happy, lovey way not really a super skinny healthy way...

--> Ice cream making!  Who knew it was so flipping easy! Also who knew it uses soooo many eggs... so please be sure they are FREE RANGE...and also help me come up with some interesting SAVOURY recipes to use up the dozens of leftover egg whites that now fill my refrigerator!! This obsession was ignited by the lovely Rosana of Hot and Chilli, she unloaded her ice cream maker on me and well this happened...

This particular recipe was inspired by a friend that visited New York several months ago. He came back raving about the ice cream sandwiches and said that they are something the UK is missing out on. These were definitely a sweet treat common in my childhood but I hadn't really noticed their absence in the UK. Once I was informed a craving ensued and it was essential that I attempt to make them. I could have just made them with simple vanilla ice cream but the more I thought about it the more ideas I came up with. Inspired by the tastes of the friend that had suggested them in the first place I decided to try to make an ice cream with Cassis. A recipe search gave me Raspberry-Cassis...To die for.

Raspberry-Cassis Ice Cream (inspired by Epicurious.com)

• 1 18 oz frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons Crème de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)
• 7 medium egg yolks
• 2 cups full fat milk
• 2 cups double cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

Purée raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and crème de cassis. Let stand 15 minutes. Strain purée into a bowl and press on the seeds to extract as much fruit as possible; discard seeds.

Whisk the yolks and the remaining 1 cup of sugar in a medium bowl to blend. Bring milk and cream to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Gradually whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture; return custard to pan. Stir over medium heat until custard thickens, about 6 minutes (try not to boil). Immediately pour custard into large bowl; mix in vanilla.

Place bowl of custard over another large bowl filled with ice and water and cool, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. Stir in raspberry purée.

Process custard in ice cream maker until thick. (At this stage I added in a few more crushed raspberries lightly flavoured with Cassis.) I thought it was nice to have a few actual raspberries in the final product. While this is *freezing continue on to make the sandwich bit...

*Ok...this is where I had a problem. The addition of the Cassis makes freezing difficult. After freaking out for an hour or two and tweeting that my ice cream had failed, I was told by some twitter geniuses that it just needed to be COLDER. We have a free standing freezer that is colder than the one attached to the fridge. I put the ice cream in there and in about 40 minutes to an hour it was thick enough to spread as below.... 

Classic Ice Cream Sandwich (inspired by Martha Stewart)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Divine)
• Raspberry-Cassis ice cream...not completely frozen...soft and spreadable

Directions



1. Preheat oven to 175C. Butter a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan or something flat with a short edge. Line with parchment paper, leaving a small overhang on the two shorter sides.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until combined; whisk in the egg, vanilla, and salt. Add flour and cocoa, and mix just until smooth. Spread in prepared baking pan. Bake until cake is dry to the touch and edges begin to pull away from the sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely in pan. **I had to make this twice as the first time it was overcooked. So mine actually took less than 10 minutes. You want it soft. So as soon as it is dry and the edges pull from the side TAKE IT OUT.
3. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface. With a serrated knife, halve crosswise. Place one half of cake, flat side down, on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread with ice cream, then top with remaining half of cake, flat side up. Return ice-cream sandwich to baking pan, and wrap tightly in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
4. Unwrap sandwich; using a serrated knife, cut into pieces of desired size. Serve ice-cream sandwiches immediately...or wrap and freeze. Be sure to be patient and defrost before eating, they are much tastier when they aren't too hard and cold.
















Sorry I don't have a really pretty plated final version. We ate them too fast.

They. Were. Amazing.

This is also my entry into Kavey Eats Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream May Challenge.

a lesson in espresso...by invitation

Coffee is something I love. The love began when I was about 13 and my dad would make me a cup to entice me out of bed and off to school. At first I only really liked the smell but loved to feel grown up so I loaded it with sugar to make it palatable. Then I spent a couple years flavouring it with coffee-mate amaretto creamer. However, I NEVER made it myself. I still struggle to enjoy coffee that I have made for myself ... there is something about having it made for me that my dad started many years ago. This is why I love coffee shops. During my undergrad, masters and PhD I had a specific coffee shop in each of those places that I frequented and where I was known. Now I have two coffee shops I go to most often...one close to home (Oscars, Ladywell) and one close to work (114 Tottenham Court Road). However, the costs add up and in an effort to save money I have tried to enjoy making it for myself...

Recently, I was invited to an espresso tasting. Learning more about coffee is part of the key to enjoying making it at home. It becomes more interesting and then I can make sure it is actually tasty and exactly what I like. I often enjoy espresso, but as far as knowing the differences in taste I am an amateur. The Nespresso event was an excellent opportunity to learn a bit more. The event was dedicated to the launch of Naora...their 2012 limited edition espresso which is on the verge of sell out so if you are interested BUY IT NOW! It's a late harvest Columbian Arabica...the late harvest gives it a fruitier taste. The technique they used to produce it is a new one similar to wine making in that the fruit is left on the branch for as long as possible. OK this might sound like jibberish to you...I must admit...I didn't know what they were on about with the fruit taste description until I got to taste another coffee.

The next one we tasted was a Livanto AND I really could taste the difference. Livanto is a pure Arabica from South and Central America. It is traditionally cultivated and medium roasted for a malted, caramelized taste. This was fabulous...I think I prefer my espresso less fruity and more malty. However, more experimentation is required and Nespresso has a total of 16 different Grand Crus. The Naora and Livanto were both delicious and if I had not had the opportunity to taste them together I wouldn't have been able to define the difference.

In case you are a little dubious about these capsules (like I was)...we got to look inside and have a smell. The coffee inside is protected from air and light and kept extremely fresh for up to 12 months.

To get others involved in appreciating coffees diversity in taste Nespresso is opening a boutique store on Regent Street in July. A highlight will be the coffee bar where you can enjoy their high quality espresso and compare all the flavours!

The Nespresso event also included demonstrations of their espresso machines. I was very tempted by The Pixie picture above. It is very compact and reasonably priced at £139. I could keep it in my room and wake myself up with a beautiful cup of espresso. It would soon pay for itself if I could leave my coffee shop habit...even just a few days a week. hmmm tempting ;)

The fancier ones have their benefits too...they can steam milk for a gorgeous cappuccino or latte, amongst other benefits including cup warming, hot water and volume control...

I have to say I enjoyed the afternoon and I definitely learned a lot. I now take a slightly more educated approach to my coffee drinking! Also it seems that as a company Nespresso really makes an effort to source high quality products and to take care of the producers and the environment they source from. Details of this process are well described on their website.

I plan to take advantage of the tasting bar when the boutique store opens in July. I have also discovered a machine on someone's desk on my floor!!!  I am trying to get up the nerve to get to know this person. As a freebee I got a few Naora capsules to take home. I could offer a capsule or two in return for use. If I make a new friend I might be able to buy some Livanto capsules...that's the plan...£139 saved.

Nespresso Boutique Store
Opening in London (Regent Street) in July

lesson in organic wine...by invitation

Green and Blue is a wine shop, wine bar and restaurant in East Dulwich. I have heard many good things including some great reviews of their school of wine. Unfortunately I had never had a chance to stop. Luckily, several weeks ago, owner Kate Thal, sent me an invite to a special wine and menu tasting.

Kate is a trained sommelier with a passion for real, natural wines produced by independent, small vineyards. She had set up a few specific pairings for us to get a taste for the difference in wines/champagnes that are made using natural methods by small producers. Small producers have the ability to focus on the quality of the starting ingredients and therefore don't have to put the wine through as much processing later on keeping the wine more natural. Our tasting started with an extremely processed champagne Moet and also included a completely organic wine to show the massive contrast. The other wines we tasted represented moderately processed natural wines produced by small wineries.

We started with a comparison of two champagnes. Moet is a well known, mass produced champagne. We compared that to the Larmandier-Bernier Terre de Vertus 1er Cru. This highlighted very quickly the difference between a good champagne and an over-processed champagne. Larmandier-Bernier produces just over 100,000 bottles per year compared to the millions produced by Moet. We all noticed the difference just with a sniff. The Moet smelled harsh and flat while the Larmandier-Bernier was fresh, floral and inviting. The Moet has the kick that you tend to associate with champagne, but the taste of the Larmandier-Bernier was so smooth and soft you realise the harshness isn't necessary. The Larmandier-Bernier is made almost entirely from Chardonnay grapes and very little sugar is added as is common with the mass produced champagnes. There is a price difference...the Moet retails for £25-30 while Green and Blue sell the Larmandier-Bernier for £46. However, if you are looking for something delicious, well-made and don't mind spending a bit more then this is an excellent choice.

Our next tasting included two white sancerres that can be purchased at Green and Blue. The first was a 2007 Gerard Bouley Sancerre (£19) from the Loire Valley in France and the second a 2007 Sebastian Riffault Akemine Sancerre Blanc (£19). Sebastian Riffault is passionate about biodynamic viticulture and does not use manure on his vineyards, he uses no sulphur during fermentation, and the wine in not filtered or fined before bottling. This results in the cloudy appearance seen in the wine on the right.

 
Gerard Bouley also keeps things as natural as possible and many of his wines are top rated for the region. His wine was delicious. Clean and fresh like you would expect of a good quality wine of this type. The Riffault was also delicious but in a completely different way. It almost tasted like apple juice. It took a bit of getting used to, but by the end of the evening we were all fans.  You had the feeling you could drink it all night long and have no ill effects the next morning. I struggled with it to start, it just didn't have the kick that I associate with wine. However, I am definitely going to experiment some more. It was a great chance to taste a good organic wine. Kate mentioned many people that don't know what to expect return it thinking it has gone off. This is the initial feeling because it is so different, but with continued sips you really begin to appreciate it for it's raw, fresh, natural taste.

The final two wines were Riojas. The 2005 Bodegas Palacios Remondo Crianza (£13) and the 2008 Olivier Riviere Rioja 'Rayas Uva' from Logrono (£14.50). These were both lovely. We chose a bottle of the Crianza to enjoy with our meal, but I think the Riffault really grabbed our attention for the evening.

Following the wine tasting, we enjoyed a lovely meal...

Beet root and pistachio salad. This was excellent. Several different types of beet root, fresh flavours.

The main was slow cooked pork belly in Breton cider with potatoes and salsa verde... The salsa verde was fresh and delicious and the pork belly perfectly prepared.

Finally, a Fino sherry matched with a rich and delicious chocolate pot... 

I loved the passion and knowledge that Kate Thal exuded as she explained the wines. It was an evening of learning. It's great to learn from someone that truly loves what they do. Green and Blue is a special find. A great place just to buy an excellent bottle of well-made wine, or a lovely cosy place to have a fresh and delicious meal. I was a guest of Green and Blue, but the meal would have cost about £25.

For more information on natural and organic wines, the Real Wine Fair will be held in London on the 20th May 2012. Many of the wines found on sale at Green and Blue will be featured. Tickets for this event are £20 and can be purchased from the website.

Fine Dining...Cattle Class

Everyone is familiar with the numerous voucher programs these days. Groupon and LivingSocial are the most well-known and offer tremendous discounts at businesses enticing us to make purchases we wouldn't normally consider. These vouchers are most common for restaurants and beauty/spa treatments, but are available for a broad spectrum of activities including horseback riding, holidays, rental cars and gym visits just to name a few. I have taken advantage of these discounts on a few occasions and as a result have been introduced to businesses that I now use that I wouldn't have found otherwise. In my opinion, for it to benefit the business, they should aim to provide an experience that you enjoy so much that you return and pay full price and rave to friends who might also pay full price. I usually avoid restaurant vouchers as I am worried about the quality of food if they are offering extreme discounts. However, recently, my close friend Katrina, found us a voucher for Roux at Parliament Square on TravelZoo. I am not familiar with TravelZoo but it is a website for finding discounts. She had heard great things about this restaurant and I read a positive review from the Critical Couple on their visit last summer so we were looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, our experience was far from enjoyable.

We were seated in a room toward the back of the restaurant. I wasn't too keen on the décor and it soon became clear this back room was reserved for voucher holders. The main room of the restaurant was for full paying guests. We were asked what we wanted to drink twice and in reply requested the wine menu twice. While waiting for the wine menu, we were served canapés...mini shepherds pie and beetroot cured salmon. The salmon was lovely, but the shepherds pie was cold and grisly. Like when you fry mince and leave a bit of leftover in the pan for a few hours and the fat congeals...that's what it tasted like...with some mash on top.

 

We finally received the wine menu and considered the tasting flight for £45, but opted to purchase a bottle instead and went for a New Zealand white that was not on the menu but was recommended by the waiter.

Not too long after we were served a cauliflower velouté topped with woodland mushrooms and a Gruyère gougère on the side (a pastry puff filled with cheese). The velouté was nice, light and creamy offset by the woody taste of the mushrooms. The cheese puff...very cold. I imagine it could have been delicious. The cheese filling was creamy with a nice strong nutty flavour, but I think it would have been better warm or at least room temperature.

Next up- Terrine of cornfed chicken & smoked ham hock, dandelion salad, mustard cream. The terrine was tasty, but topped with a sprinkling of very salty and not so crunchy pork scratching bits.

Next- Risotto Nero with salt and pepper squid. This was served in parley oil and topped with a garlic emulsion. The risotto was delightful. Well cooked and the flavours of the parsley oil and garlic emulsion married perfectly in my mouth with each bite of risotto. Unfortunately, the squid was horribly overcooked and chewy with soggy breading. It could have been a perfect dish, but was far from it.

This is about when the meal began to go horribly wrong. I think we had nearly an hour wait before our next course. I began to observe other diners and found many of them were having a difficult experience as well. The table near us was brought dessert THREE times and they hadn't yet received their main. When it was finally time for their dessert they had to wait nearly an hour. In addition, a woman a couple tables away had clearly mentioned a nut allergy when arriving and received her dessert loaded with almonds. Both of these tables received a complementary glass of dessert wine and an apology.

When we finally received our next course I mentioned the long wait and was told it was very busy in the other room and the chef was struggling. I felt like the implication was that the "other" room was more important.

The first main was a grilled fillet of trout, Jersey Royals and vinaigrette of sea vegetables with dill and cucumber.  The fish was lovely but I found the sea vegetables made it overly salty. This is when we ran out of wine and were never offered any more. We tried several times to get the attention of a staff member to order another bottle, but that failed. Our wait for the next main was another 30 minutes or so and we were so happy to receive it we forgot to ask for the wine...and of course they didn't come back.

This course was a roast quail with honey and truffle glaze, creamed potatoes and hispi cabbage. We enjoyed this course. Everything was done well, the mash was creamy and delicious and the sweet glaze complemented the tender quail perfectly.

We then received a pre-dessert. Apple panacotta, apple jelly and cucumber granita. I really enjoyed this. The flavours were light and fresh - very cleansing. 

The dessert was Poached Yorkshire Rhubarb 'pavlova', stem ginger chantilly topped with almonds. Despite the rhubarb pieces being undercooked to the point of being inedible this was a beautiful and tasty dish. It was a shame the rhubarb ruined it.

On a trip to the restroom, I had noticed the cheese board...it was amazing. Full of about 15 different types of cheese. When the waitress came for our coffee order we asked about the cheese. She said it was for the a' la carte menu, but if we really wanted some she could send someone over. I said I was interested. No one arrived until just after we received our coffee. He first went to the poor table next to us that had been offered their dessert three time before the main. They were still waiting for the dessert...so were probably not impressed when they were asked about cheese. He didn't wheel over the large cheese board, but instead announced to us that they had a "blue one, a goats one, a soft one and a hard one" and that we could have a plate of really small slices of each for £14. Seriously? Obviously I wasn't enticed by that sales pitch so I declined.

We had long finished our coffee while still waiting for our petit fours. Not sure the reason for the massive wait...plenty of staff members were wandering about not knowing what to do. When it arrived it was a plate with a passion fruit marshmallow and a lemon madeline that had obviously been previously prepared. We mentioned we would have liked to have them with coffee...instead of offering us a second one the waitress shrugged. The madeline was stale, the marshmallow nothing special but by this stage we were quite angry.

We had paid £45 each for this meal. Normal menu price is £70. I will say we weren't charged for our wine. However, I think this was a mistake rather than a comp as we did not receive any apology for the service. It seemed the normal freebie for all the other complaints around us was a glass of dessert wine. To be honest I would have much rather paid for this bottle of wine and another than to have sat wine-less and annoyed for so long. Our meal was a gruelling 3.5 hours long. We listed our complaints on our way out and the friendly receptionist was very apologetic. I delayed this post as Katrina wrote a letter and I wanted to see if she got a reply, but there was none.  I was appalled by the service we and every other table in the "voucher" room received on this evening. I would forgive slow service, but combined with all the other mistakes and the weird cheese situation I just don't understand what was going on. It really seemed as if the possession of a voucher had put us in the equivalent of economy class on an airline. I think that full paying guests probably receive a very different experience, but I won't be returning to find out.

lessons in fish filleting...easier than it looks

I love fish and seafood! Really I love anything that has to do with water. Rowing, scuba diving, swimming... This is possibly a bit odd having grown up in Arizona where water of any type is a rarity. I think the obsession was sparked by the long summers spent with my dad's side of the family in Seattle. I loved the fishmongers at Pike Place Market and the trips to Mukilteo to visit my aunt and uncle. My uncle had a homemade rowing boat and afternoons with him rowing on Puget Sound are amongst my best memories.

Since we almost never had fish when I was growing up, cooking it is something I have mostly taught myself. I have always been intimidated by the idea of gutting and filleting a fish. I did learn how to gut a squid in a university marine biology class, but other than that I usually get the fishmonger to do it for me.

Several months ago (it was actually in August...was slow with this post), I took a Beginner's Filleting and Cooking Fish course at the Waitrose Cookery School and learned that actually filleting fish is super easy!!

I arrived at the Waitrose Cookery School and enjoyed bubbly and nibbles (bread, olives, and cheese) while we waited for the class to start. The school is located just near Finchley Road Tube Station around the back of the Waitrose. It has been open just over a year and is a beautiful facility with a dining area, a lecture room and a large kitchen with stations for at least 20 students. After the nibbles we headed into the lecture room for an introduction and a lesson on recognizing fresh fish. This was followed by a demonstration on how to fillet a flat fish before we went off to try it ourselves.

The flat fish we were given was lemon sole to make lemon sole rolled and steamed with grain mustard.  Filleting it was unbelievable easy and I enjoyed it. Once we had the two fillets we simply spread a layer of grain mustard and rolled them up, securing them with a tooth pick and broiled until flaky. A simple recipe, but really delicious...great for a weeknight.

We watched a second demonstration on how to fillet a round fish. This was a bit more difficult. Well not really, but some people were grossed out by the need to remove the guts and rinse it clean. The round fish we were given was mackerel and once it was filleted we simply placed it on a pan with oil and salt and pepper and grilled until flaky.  It's best if it's brown and crispy on the outside.

In addition to the filleting we learned several quick and delicious recipes for different types of fish and some easy yummy sauces to accompany them.

This salsa verde was delicious and went with the grilled mackerel...

Salsa Verde
20g fresh flat leaf parsley
20g fresh mint
20g fresh basil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp salted capers, rinsed
4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice

We also deep fried some cod in a deep fat fryer at 190C using this beer batter recipe. It was served with a simple and fresh tarter sauce...

Beer Batter
125g self-raising flour
100ml soda water
100ml light beer
flour for dusting

Finally, we made simple Seared Tuna with Salt and Pepper (pictured on the left) and Sauteed Scallops with Butter and Parsley (on the right). Both took less than 10 minutes, but were delicious.

I really enjoyed this course, but did find it was targeted at those with little to no cooking experience. So if that's you definitely don't be intimidated. I am signed up to try a course at Billingsgate Market this week and hope that it will be a bit more challenging! I do recommend Waitrose Cookery School. It's a beautiful facility and the staff were great...I had a lot of fun! Plus for an evening after work it's nice if it's not too challenging.

Waitrose Cookery School
199 Finchley Road
Goldhurst Terrace entrance, (in the Waitrose building)
London
NW3 6NN

breakfast deliciousness...Kedgeree

I love a big hearty breakfast... On a sunny Sunday, I invited Katrina over and I made us some Kedgeree.  It is debated whether this dish is of Indian or Scottish origin but the typical ingredients include rice, smoked haddock, curry powder and hard boiled eggs. I have never actually had Kedgeree, but knew I would like it. I perused a range of recipes and decided to try this one.  Some had a load of different spices to add, while this one was fairly simple and I thought simple might be better rather than overpowering the fish. When planning this breakfast invite I hadn't realised my housemate was going to have a house party the night before. So this recipe was a slight challenge as I dodged empty wine bottles, half filled glasses and other post party rubbish...including leftover guests that were wandering aimlessly through the kitchen with hangovers. They were mostly NOT happy that I was cooking fish in the morning!! :-)

The result? It was very good! A lot of flavour. The black pepper and lemon complemented the smoky fish and curry powder. This was a tasty, filling breakfast and really nice served in the garden on a cold but sunny day with a cup of coffee.

For two...
1 Smoked Haddock
300 ml whole milk
bay leaf

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large Tbsp of butter
1 medium onion (finely sliced from tip to root)
2 tsp mild curry powder
175 g Basmati Rice

2 free range eggs (hard boiled and peeled)

Fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp chopped coriander
Lemon wedge

• Put 300 ml of milk in a shallow pan with the bay leaf and fish. Add enough water (not more than another 300ml to just cover most of the fish). Cover and bring to a gentle simmer. By the time the liquid is simmering, the fish should be cooked through. If not, turn the fillet over in the hot liquid and leave it, off the heat, for 2–3 minutes to finish cooking.

• Remove the fish and set aside. Remove the bay leaf and reserve the poaching milk. When it’s cool enough to handle, break the poached fish into flakes, discarding the skin and picking out any bones. (Be careful to try and get most of the little pin bones)...This is the tough bit.
  
  
• Heat the olive oil and butter a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook gently for 8–10 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, then the rice. Add 300ml (10fl oz) of the poaching liquid. Bring to the boil and then cover the pan. Turn the heat down to bare minimum and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff up the rice with a fork. Set aside with the lid back on until you’re ready to serve.

• Fold the smoked fish flakes into the rice, along with half the coarsely chopped coriander and the second knob of butter. Cut the hard-boiled eggs in half – hopefully still a bit soft in the middle. (I brought water to a boil, turned it off and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. I then rinsed them in cold water...they were great.)
  
  
• Spoon the spicy, fishy rice onto two plates or bowls, top with two hard-boiled egg halves per person, and sprinkle with more coriander. Add a wedge of lemon and some freshly ground black pepper. Serve.

Seafood Ramen...in the rain

On a really awful, rainy London day I went to Tsuru Sushi for my third ramen tasing event. These events are being held in the lead up to the opening of a new restaurant Tonkotsu Bar and Ramen (previously Tsuru Ramen). This event was Seafood Ramen...just as appropriate for me as the last, Spicy Ramen (because I love spicy and I love seafoody). Basia joined me. She had been tempted by the pictures in my Spicy Ramen blog post...she had cycled in the rain...a big bowl of ramen was exactly what we needed.

We started with the chicken kara-age (chicken marinated in soy, ginger and garlic then deep fried).  I had tasted this on my first visit and it was just as good this time. The tender chicken is perfectly fried, juicy and delicious.

We had to wait a bit longer than usual for this bowl but when it arrived it looked amazing! The ramen was topped with prawns, clams, a beautiful piece of sea bass and a soft boiled egg.
 

The fish was perfectly cooked and the egg was, as on each of my previous visits, delightful. This time, however, I felt that the broth wasn't quite as lovely. I thought it was starchy and Basia found hers was on the salty side. I had expected a light, but tasty seafood broth. Having read the post on the restaurants own blog I discover they were actually aiming to avoid a light seafood broth. Another blogger also loved it so I think this broth just wasn't to my taste.

Out of the three tasting events I have attended (I had the Tonkotsu as well), the Spicy Ramen is still my favourite...oh the bits (crunchy, spicy garlic bits)...the bits and the egg...yum. If you are interested there are still a few more planned before the opening. The seafood ramen was £15, but the rest are £10. This includes a bowl of ramen and a beverage...the starters are extra (but worth it). If you love Asahi Black like I do...they have it...it's hard to find.

The future events can be booked at We Got Tickets.

Tonkotsu Bar and Ramen
@tonkotsulondon