Lunch at Waterstone Piccadilly

[Salmon and chive quiche with chickpea salad]

I have taken the effort to think about some interesting things to write about my food experiences in Asia, but I have not been able to work with the log of pictures I have captured in my camera. There's a story idea related to Hong Kong, and one to my trip to Bangkok last weekend, and certainly there's one coming up on an island resort in Malaysia, which I'll be visiting tomorrwow, spending a long weekend of sun, sea, and savor.

As I've mentioned in my previous posts, there are several places in Europe that I've visted last year, which I've not finished blogging. So here you go, a little tip on a good meeting place in central London. A few reasons why this place is on my recommendation list, with the largest appeal being it's not too crowded (you can actually get a seat) and it offers a rooftop view of the city. Also, it bookstore location is great for killing time if your date is fashionably late. And lastly, they have a decent serving of lunch food in a classy casual environment.

Set on the fifth floor of what is coined the "largest bookstore in Europe", the cafe/bar in Waterstone's Picadilly offers a great selection of quiche, soups, and sandwiches. My picture above can attest to the quality and presentation of the food, I hope. I was told that the former tenant Simpson’s of Piccadilly was London's iconic menswear department store. The building was also the first British shop to feature an uninterrupted curved-glass frontage. (This last bit of information of course comes from my googling exercise.)

The last time I was in the city late last year. I met my auntie Christina there. We had a hard time deciding where to meet, me coming from East London and her coming from West London. We had a fabulous lunch and I was very pleased that she had a good time herself discovering some place out of the ordinary and she could do a little post-lunch shopping in the area too.

In the Know:
5th View Bar & Food
203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LE
Tel. +44 207 851 2433


I am hosting Weekend Herb Blogging for March 10-16. You can write about any herb, vegetable, or flower, and if you like, share a recipe with us. To participate, check out the rules and send me your entry by Sunday March 16. If you do not have a blog, send me an email to greenoliva (at) gmail (dot) com.

Garden-fresh runner beans

[Freshly picked purple runner beans]

Look at these beans, oozing with dizzying delectability! From the garden of T’s aunt in Sevenoaks right outside London. I was given a bagful to bring home to Amsterdam two weekends ago. Not sure about how long the beans will stay peak in my refrigerator, I “googled” and found these storing tips from a UK site advocating seasonal foods.

“Runner beans will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days but, as with all legumes, the beans' sugars start turning to starch after picking and they are best eaten as soon as possible.”

So to savor these freshly picked beans and optimizing the vitamin C and fibre it has to offer, I sautéed them in olive oil with garlic the very next day, and served them with some organic ravioli I picked up from the health store near Rijksmuseum on my way home from work. Real easy and simply healthy. Except the lustrous purple hues didn’t stay mauve when cooked. Yup, you guessed it, they all turned into the color what beans are normally known to be – green! The wonders of nature...

*This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

Foodie’s weekend trip to London

[Food stalls at London's Borough Market]

Back from my weekend trip in London and all I can say is that it revolved around food. Surely, what else can it be since I write a food blog and am obsessed about taking photographs of edible items? These images can only attest to the decadent sights and smells (not to mention cheese sample tastings) that were to offer from my Saturday morning window-marketing, if there is such a thing.

It was not really just a short get-away. More like a get-orientated-n-meet-the-family trip, T carefully thought out that the most fun thing to do would be a morning foray at Borough Market, which he deemed “a very Kelly thing to do”.

The background information carefully relayed to me in amused detail by family members D + F were that ages ago the market used to be this truly original organic farmer’s market where Londoners, high on taste, style and health, could expect to pay a reasonable price for a basketful of wholesome ingredients for an at home gourmet meal.

Today, with its repertoire evolving into a standard Saturday-morning activity for a lot of Londoners and tourists in the know, the close-knitted group of stallholders are giving room to a wide range of gourmet food offerings from every corner of Britain and spilling over to the continent. Authentic Spanish carnicera, French cheese specialists, organic Italian Parmeggiano-Reggiano, you name it. One may still expect to find artisan food products like fresh organic raviolis, smoked tofu and handmade truffles. We were poking fun at one of the organic vegetable stands, which I was told, is now ridiculously over-priced and offers dirt-covered vegetables that one, adds up a good few pennies when weighed, and two, gives the customer a dilemma about putting away carrots with dirt.

Wholesale Spanish products retailer Brindisa has a full-blown retail space to attract its customers in search of the imported queso Manchego and Arbequina olives. As the well-known supplier of Moro, one of London’s most talked about Spanish restaurant, they even stock the Moro Cookbook alongside other Spanish culinary books. (Interestingly enough, my cousin is married to one of the original partners that started Moro, along with the Clarks – current owners, and a Sainsbury heir. Years later, Jake pulled out of Moro, and started his own Moorish-inspired restaurant Cigala at Lamb's Conduit Street.)

We were supposed to try out the best cheese sandwich nominated in Britain, but the guy was not there that Saturday. No luck this time around. We did wander into nearby Neal’s Yard Dairy, with me and D taking in every cheese bit that was offered. Since we were so close, and the restaurant offered a view of the Thames, lunch was decidedly fixed at Tate Modern. The walk towards the South Bank and London Bridge has a real London feel to it: trains running overhead, views of the Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s dome looming in the distance.

At Tate, the Cornish crab appetizer was a huge pleaser and so was the fish and chips made with haddock. I can’t help but notice all the Spanish servers and their very Spanish ways. It seemed to me from my last trip to London last year that a lot of young and not-so-young southern Europeans are quite attracted to a stint in the city, I assume partly to brush up their English, which is completely applauded considering they try.

In the Know:
Borough Market
London Bridge Underground Station

Neal’s Yard Dairy
6 Park St. 44-207/ 645-3554