Author Archives: moniqca

5 days in Edinburgh // Foodies Beware!

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My first trip to Edinburgh in 2008 was grim. The weather completely thwarted anything we could see of Edinburgh without the general commentary of “wow it’s cold”, “my, the wind is both brisk and freezing” and “raindrops on my eyelids, I can’t feel my ears, where’s the closest pub?” Sure we had fun – we gallivanted down the Royal Mile having whiskey style pub crawls racking up a right old tourist bill. Then we ventured to the tried and tested Edinburgh tourist feature – the Edinburgh Castle. Apparently it’s great when it’s not baltic and foggy, both of which slightly ruined the wonderful view you’re meant to get from the top of the castle.

grim edinburgh

Fast forward to 2012. Same cousin visits Edinburgh again, having (for some reason) fallen in love with the city those five years ago. I join her for a five day visit armed with some recommendations from a colleague who lived there for over ten years. He assures me that there are many places worth checking out – I’m dubious at first, but open minded and eager to discover what the city has to offer.

Much surprise. I love Edinburgh. A city of outstanding beauty, tiring staircases bound to keep you fit whilst you navigate the city and lots (and I mean lots and lots) of really amazing places to eat and drink. Here’s what we got up to:

Day 1: Arrive and gawp at Edinburgh in the sunshine. The castle is quite majestic in the sunlight, and we get the privilege of seeing this view in the early morning as the sun rises and as the light descends on those long Autumnal days…

edinburgh castle in the sunshine

Dinner on our first night was the Elephant Cafe – our original choice was stricken by a freak power cut and couldn’t cook anything. So, a tourist trap famed for coffee (but not for food) and the ‘birthplace of Harry Potter’ lived up to its reputation. Dinner was mediocre to bad (gristly bits in the burger) whilst the coffee was manageable. Highlight of the night was the amusing Harry Potter fan graffiti all over the ladies toilets. Couldn’t help sneaking back in to take some phone pics.

elephant cafe graffitti

Day 2: Blazing sunshine over Edinburgh – another miracle. Walk around the city and visit Calton Hill. Walk around the half finished National Monument and wonder how we missed this area completely in the last trip – great views over the city.

calton hill national monument

We start our wander into New Town – grab some coffee at Artisan Roast that left us both buzzing and head towards Stockbridge – a place recommended as a generally nice place with a large number of charity shops. Excellent. I love charity shops for second hand books. TripAdvisor recommends and sends us to a restaurant that is only open in the evening in Stockbridge, but we find another around the corner that is open for lunch – Cafe Fish.

smoked mackerel oysters anchovies in olive oil

Sublime tapas style seafood tides us over for a walk around New Town, and finally without wanting to encroach upon Day 3′s itinerary but ending our tour of New Town rather early, we wind up at Under the Stairs for a couple of rounds of cocktails at 4pm. (hey, it’s a holiday!). Their pumpkin pie cocktail (courvoisier, pumpkin butter, maple syrup, gran marnier, lemon, vanilla sugar, nutmeg) was particularly delicious and the cocktail menu unusual but the whole place smelled rather foisty.

We also managed dinner at The Outsider (the place short of electricity the night before) where we caught the remnants of a sunset over Edinburgh castle and I enjoyed a drunken choice of Pork Belly with Scallops which was fatty, but tasty.

pork belly and scallops with shallot mashsunset over edinburgh castle

Day 3: More sunshine over Edinburgh. I think this is some sort of local record for October. We climb Arthur’s Seat the wrong way round (or at least it felt like it), and tackle some steep hills up before descending down the route where we passed groups of people casually walking up where we just came down.

arthurs seat

Day 3 was also Edinburgh Food Tour day – we were the only bookings that day and had a tour 6 different venues in Edinburgh, eating and drinking from 1pm to 4pm. In hindsight, it would have been advisable not to have lunch, but having been ravenous after walking and climbing Arthur’s Seat, we did have lunch, and much regretted it afterwards.

The food tour started at Hotel Du Vin where we tasted some deep fried oat rolled herring with history of the hotel.  From then on, we tasted various wines, nibbles, meats and even dessert. The highlight was definitely visiting the Scottish Malt Whiskey Society for some single cask whiskey and haggis in a teacup. I was too full to eat more than a few spoonfuls of the haggis, but they were both delicious. I would thoroughly recommend the food tour for anyone new to Edinburgh – it was a great tour of both Edinburgh history and food.

scottish malt whiskey society single cask whiskey & haggis eat haggis and ceilidh on

Day 4: Weather forecasted to be cloudy and rainy. It was a lot gloomier, but we weren’t planning to be in Edinburgh anyway. We took a 20 minute train journey out to North Berwick, a small coastal town. We walked on the beach then found The Grange for a lunch of rope grown mussels and sweet potato chips. Yum.

north berwick moules mussels

Day 5: Another day trip out of Edinburgh – this time towards the Scottish borders. Now – it’s a long journey each way, and perhaps not one anyone would enjoy in particular unless you had your own car and plenty of time, but yes – it was worth the 2.5 hour bus journey in the end. We visited Melrose, site of the ancient Melrose Abbey. One of the largest and undoubtedly prettiest ruined abbeys I’ve seen in this country, I think that by the time I climbed the steep narrow staircases up to the top of the abbey, I was pretty much convinced that the biting cold winds and long bus journey was worth the trouble.

Melrose AbbeyMelrose Abbey from the top

Being Friday night, on our way back to Edinburgh, we debated more cocktails Under the Stairs but having consulted my notes at the last minute, we found the brilliant Divino Enoteca just next door instead. Feeling like we’d just stepped into a bit of Italy, the menu also boasted of an excellent wine tasting option. We opted for a “Combi Wine Flight” – 25 mils of 3 reds and 3 whites as well as a dish of Italian ham and breads. What can I say – both were ridiculously good value and there was at least 2 wines we both agreed would be worth seeking out after the tastings.

divino enoteca wine tasting

divino enoteca combi flight

All in all – there wasn’t much not to like about Edinburgh. The food was good, the people friendly and the city – well it’s worth visiting the second time round, if only to see it in it’s full glory in the sunshine and explore its restaurants and bars. There may yet be a round three…

The Blind Swine, York

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It was definitely going to be an epic food night. I visited the previous incarnation of The Blind Swine several months ago as recommended by Jono and decided that they made some rather nice cocktails. Now, The Blind Swine has taken to pairing interesting cocktails with food and I was lucky enough to meet up with a few friends and catch their ”SHIFT THE FOCUS” menu. In their own words, it was:

“a ticketed side project in which we shift the focus” from food and drink , to drink and food. a flight of 4 new and exciting cocktails which myself, james and chris have been working on and extremely proud of paired with some new dishes” 

Have a look at the menu here. It was sublime.

Oh yeah, did we mention that it was also amazing value for incredibly high quality food and drink at £20? There’s absolutely no reason not to try it out!

The Blind Swine
22-24 Swinegate,
York, YO1 8AZ
01904 634825

No website yet – but they do Facebook


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The Weird World of Whisky – Kill Devil Tastings at Arcadia Bar, Headingley

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Whisky is definitely an acquired taste, especially when you start talking about just drinking it neat or a tiny bit of water. I’ve always been a bit of a fan of whisky – I knew a lot of people who enjoyed whisky and learnt about whiskeys through family members who were single malt fans. So when The Weird World of Whisky came up, run by Kill Devil Tastings at Arcadia Bar in Headingley, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to expand the taste buds and learn a bit more about the drink. We were not disappointed.

Whiskey Tasting

There were 5 whiskies and 1 not quite whisky in the mix. We tasted in this order:

  • Hammer Head – a rare  20 year old Czech single malt
  • Inchgower 1982 – from a distillery that only allows 1% of its entire production to be bottled as a single malt in the UK
  • Macmyra happy hunting – a Swedish single malt
  • Chase Kentucky bourbon barrel aged vodka – the not quite whiskey (only 500 in the world)
  • Leopold Bros New York apple whiskey
  • Leopold Bros Rocky Mountain blackberry whiskey

The session included some background on each distillery, though it was quite difficult to absorb all the information by the time we got round to tasting the 62% Chase Kentucky bourbon barreled vodka. All in all though, a fun night.

To find out about the next tastings, follow @ArcadiaBar or Kill-Devil Tastings on Facebook

Dinner at Chino Latino, Leeds

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You know that slight sense of guilt where you intended to photograph food and instead you stuffed it in your face without even thinking about the camera? That sense of guilt crept over me as I sat with a full belly on the grass on one of the rare early summers day in millenium square. One of the best things that I ate at Leeds Loves Food Fest this year was at the Chino Latino stall where they grilled scallops and dressed it with yuzu aioli and wasabi peas. It was presented in a shell and looked and tasted good. No picture though, so I guess you’ll just have to imagine it.

We were quite impressed with that one dish, and hunted around for a voucher to find another reason to visit. We ended up with two vouchers, so armed with a little camera, we set off for dinner.

Starter #1 – Soft Shell Crab California Roll (£12.50)

Crispy soft shell crab California roll - Chino Latino, Leeds

The california roll was presented on a long plate with wasabi and ginger on the side. Each roll was covered with salad cream and salmon roe (ikura).

Crispy soft shell crab California roll - Chino Latino, Leeds

Crispy soft shell crab California roll - Chino Latino, Leeds

Each roll was stuffed with soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber and yellow pepper. This was marked as one of their signature dishes on the menu.

Starter #2 – Stuffed red chilli & soft shell crab Tempura (£11.50)

Stuffed red chilli & soft shell crab tempura - Chino Latino, Leeds

Stuffed red chilli & soft shell crab tempura

Great presentation from the tempura soft shell crab – there were two halved crabs skewered through a chopstick on a cucumber. There was also a tempura stuffed red pepper (I think with a cream cheese?). I wouldn’t say the two necessarily go with each other but it certainly was tasty. The best part of the tempura was a rather tasty dipping sauce (tetsusyu). Traditionally recipes of tetsuyu consisted of dashi, mirin and soy sauce. This was also a signature dish.

Main Course #1 – Sirloin steak on hot rocks, soya, mirin, garlic (£24)

Sirloin steak on hot rocks, soya, mirin, garlic - Chino Latino, Leeds

Hot rocks for the Sirloin Steak - Chino Latino, Leeds

Another dis that caught our eyes at Leeds Love Food was sirloin steak on hot rocks. We had odd sized rocks as opposed to the smooth rocks that we saw at the festival, but it definitely did not take away from the flavour. The dish was served smoking with a soy and mirin sauce poured at the table. One random addition to this dish was a cone of sweet potato chips on the side. I love sweet potato but to me, this was the only ingredient that didn’t quite fit in with the Pan Asian theme of the meal.

Main Course #2 – Seabass, black bean, shaoxing wine, choi sum (£20)

Seabass, black bean, shaoxing wine, choi sum - Chino Latino Leeds

 

So though the meal was enjoyable, the food prices here would be on the expensive side for most restaurants in Leeds. Then again there aren’t many restaurants in Leeds serving quality Japanese/ Pan-Asian food. The service was good but the atmosphere was a bit strange, perhaps being mid-week, but also perhaps being a restaurant for the Park Plaza hotel. I would definitely use the other voucher for another visit though, there’s still a tantalising sounding Lobster jungle curry, scallop, tiger prawns, aromatic jungle curry sauce on the menu and I wouldn’t mind revisiting the grilled scallops… if only for an excuse to take a picture for this blog. ;)

Chino Latino
Park Plaza  Boar Lane
Leeds, Yorkshire LS1 5NS
0113 380 4080
chinolatino.eu‎


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Sushi Experiment

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  • So I finally got round to rolling some sushi. It was relatively easy. How easy? Probably easier than getting a poached egg right the first time round. But not as easy as attempting something like this after a few rolls.

    The first few attempts were very rice-heavy. I don’t think you get a sense from watching Youtube videos or thinking about sushi how little rice you really need to have a nice rice to filling ratio.

    Finally, from a different mass noodle making session where we had sashimi we bought from Leeds Market for starters, I managed to snap some salmon we used for sashimi before they were eaten up.

Aunty Julie’s Pie-Tee

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  • Some days, I get really lucky and a tinful of Aunty Julie’s Pie-T shells and fillings is delivered to my doorstep. On a recent trip back, this happened on my second last day in Malaysia. In editing the photos and getting round to finding out exactly what bangkuang was, I can finally, (kind of) confidently present to you – the enigmatic food that is Pie-Tee! (Or Pie-T as I like to spell it).

    Pie-T consists of a crispy upside down “top hat” shell, garnishes and a filling made primarily of shredded carrots and shredded bangkuang (no it’s not a turnip, or a radish, or a swede), it’s in fact a Jicama - Mexican Yam or Turnip, Yam Bean, Pachyrhizus erosus, etc. Apparently these came to Indonesia via the Spaniards and is also the base ingredient in another popular Malaysian dish — Popiah. Use Wiki to satisfy your knowledge of bangkuang.

    Pie-T filling - Shredded Bangkuang (Jicama), Carrots & Green Beans

    Pie-T filling - Shredded Bangkuang (Jicama), Carrots & Green Beans

    There are quite a few variations on making Pie-T fillings. In this eating session, we fried off the shredded bangkuang, carrots and green beans with prawns, though I can vouch that eating the fillings fresh work equally as well.

    Pie Tee Shells

    Pie Tee Shells

    Pie Tee Shells

    Pie-Tee Filling & Garnish

    Pie-Tee Filling & Garnish

    So in the background you have the Pie-T filling now slightly browned. Though it looks like it, it’s not in fact a giant heap of Pie-T filling. My mum swears by this method of making the filling less “wet” after its just been fried and you can’t wait to eat it (in order to keep the Pie-T shell crisp as you eat it). You get a small bowl and place it upside down. Then pile the filling around and the moisture is absorbed into the upside down bowl. I’m not sure of the science behind this, but if it means I can eat Pie-T immediately, I’m all for it!

    From left to right, we have the Pie-T garnishes -chopped coriander, fried shallots (bawang goreng), fried chopped garlic and sweet chilli sauce (Linghams).

    The anatomy of a Pie-T is straightforward. Grab a shell, I like to layer the bottom with some chilli sauce, add some filling, garnish with coriander, fried shallots, fried garlic and sweet chilli sauce then munch it down!

    Pie-T

    Three Pie-T's

    All Pie Tee Ingredients

    Thanks Aunty Julie!

    Unfortunately not everyone knows Aunty Julie, so if you’re looking to make some Pie-T yourself, have a look at the recipes on these blogs here.

Lunch at Brasserie Blanc, Leeds

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One impromptu lunchtime, we decided to check out Brasserie Blanc, a place I’ve had my eye on for quite a while. They have a decent lunch time menu if you have the time to sit around for two courses. There’s a choice of a salad, haddock, beef or cod for the mains, plus either a starter or dessert for £11.50 per person. I went for the beautifully green ham and pea soup as a starter and slow cooked beef with onions & horseradish mash for a main course, he went for grilled cod fillet, poached clams & mussels. They both tasted as good as they look and both dishes were cooked to perfection.

Brasserie Blanc Leeds
Victoria Mill
Sovereign Street, Leeds
0113 220 6060

Slow cooked beef with onions & horseradish mash

Grilled cod fillet, poached clams & mussels

Cupcakes at Piazza by Anthony Corn Exchange Leeds

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A lovely little gem of a restaurant and accompanying pattiserie, fromagerie, bakery, chocolaterie and cafe, don’t forget to check out the poky little cellars on the ground floor of the corn exchange.

We were tempted by the cupcakes – I chose the Mississippi Mudpie Cupcake and it was a real chocolate treat with foam chocolate mousse with a caramel centre and soft chocolate sponge cake base.

mississippi-mud-cake-cupcake

mississippi-mud-cake-cupcake-anthonys-leeds

Here’s a dissected view,

mississippi-mud-cupcake-dissected

Piazza by Anthony – Corn Exchange Leeds


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Stroopwafel & Speculaas

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Fresh back from Amsterdam on what must have been the best-timed long weekend break ever, I brought two of my fave snacks from Holland. First up is the Stroopwafel, a thin, caramel filled pancake biscuit – sweet, slightly gooey but not at all messy.

stroopwafel-syrup-caramel-waffle

And some Speculaas – a spiced biscuit made from nutmeg, ginger, cloves & cinnamon, this one also flaked with Almond.

speculaas-biscuit