Forking Tasty

Plaj • San Francisco

Not Noma and not IKEA but someplace in the middle. Scandinavian food is tricky. Albeit a bit of a sleeper food trend right now, the cuisine is definitely not for the main stream type BUT then again, when have we ever been mainstream. We plunged right in identifying the game meats immediately. The above rare and tender saddle of venison medallions sat in a rich and smooth sauce that had both a sweet and earthy taste simultaneously. The slow roasted cipollini onions contrasted well with the meat and the sauce making for a nice full bite. It’s always a good sign when you are looking for a piece of bread to smear across the plate once you finish the big stuff.

A small identity crisis gave the ambiance a weird feel as this restaurant is in the back of a boutique hotel that is decorated both in the modern, urban, industrial feel and the 80′s white table cloth motif. More of a topic of conversation than a draw back. The end of the night came with one small disappointment. Traditional Swedish coffee, a more strong and burnt taste, was removed from the menu because American palettes couldn’t handle it. A shame because if you’re going to try something different, and Nordic cuisine definitely is, go all the way. Hopefully Plaj brings it back for those of us looking for the full scano-experience.

Pieminister kissed my hand

This post is one I’ve been meaning to finish since my trip to London a few months ago. I figured with the opening ceremonies upon us it was a great time to pop in a recommendation for those of you Olympic bound. It was one of the last days of our trip and we woke early to make the journey out to a place I had dreamt of visiting for at least a year. I love legos and in the real world legos equal shipping containers. The simple, watertight, structurally sound, building block of a shipping container makes for unlimited possibilities when constructing things.

Boxpark is one of those amazing triumphs using these recycled and cheap containers to make a supercool shopping mecca. I could go on about the specialty shops built into the 40 foot contaner which was the base of Boxpark. I could gush over the…

Secret Tea in Camden Market

We all know the British love their tea. With the rise of the Starbucks era you might feel the age old tradition of tea time fading. At least visually speaking. As you scan the street landscape you’re more apt to find a coffee shop than a tea shop. Don’t get me wrong, you can still grab a wonderful cup of tea at any corner shop in London, just follow the builders. The difference is in how you enjoy that cup of tea. Sitting in a Cafe Nero or a Costa Coffee provides that quiet, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere “tea time” used to include. The problem is that these shops are strongly centered around coffee. From what’s in your cup to the same named cake available under the glass counter, it seems like tea is fitting in less and less with our go-go-go world. From a visitors perspective, one of the MUST DO’s when in Britain is to properly enjoy a proper cup of tea. (Take note of that double “proper”) I hunted for this but with no luck. Then I stumbled into the quintessential tea experience in the last place I ever thought possible…

Foreign No Frills

As a quick follow up to a post about my love of less options and simply designed generic products, Marks + Spencers of London has a nice approach. Not as clean as Canada’s Loblaw’s and certainly not hitting the Pathmark NO FRILLS circa 1978 gold standard but commendable.

A more modern design style with a bit more color and imagery used but it still has a clean and very direct communication of the product. In may cases the ingredients are treated with the same necessity to communicate quickly and strongly. On the jump is…

Moti Mahal vs Tayyabs

You can’t go to London without having some Indian food. It’s so synonymous with British cuisine that it’s referred to as, well…British cuisine. On this trip I hit two semi-famous local spots. They were drastically different in ever way; location, ambiance, food and price. I’m going to take them one by one to breakdown the tasty and terrible but know now they are both outstanding in their own way. First up…

Pubbed

Most of you, I am sure, are familiar with the English pub. After this past weekend’s alcoholic debauchery in green t-shirts, face stickers and tights I’m sure some of you are wishing you were not as familiar as you are. I realize Irish Pub’s and English Pub’s are different. I am not a fool. With this context in mind, American’s idea of a pub doesn’t really have clear distinction between the two. Of course, there is a big difference. For me to explain that I’d need to visit Ireland or chat with my buddy @Mulls on the nuances. For this post “The Pub”, in general, is what’s in discussion. Irish or English need not matter. @Mulls once told me that each family has a pub where they all gather for weddings, funerals and, yes celebrating saints. Much like the Italian dining rom table, the pub is like an extended living room. Adults, kids and friends are all welcome any day, any time.

I recently visited with my British pal Patrick who’s childhood buddy was also on Holiday at his house. As boys will do, we got talking about the good old days and their trials and tribulations in England. It was suggested, not by myself, that drinking was becoming an epidemic in England. Each weekend ending with trashed public property and littered streets not to mention the run on suchers and butterfly bandages at the local ER. Neither of them could pin point why this behavior has evolved to be the norm but they both agreed it has become a problem both for the general public and for the individuals personal health. The point to all this is, there is more to do in a pub than…

Borough Market Madness

If there’s one place you have to visit when in London it’s Borough Market. Yes, it’s a little touristy. Yes, It can be crowded. Despite these negatives the culinary wonders that can be seen, smelt and tasted far outweigh the annoyances. I’ve been here before. You may remember. This time it was all about a traveling snack. Having just walked from Tower Bridge and heading to Knotting Hill, I needed a tie-me-over for this uber London crossing.

The March to Fryer’s Delight

The name of this place always sounds like you’d walk into a velvet draped boudoir riddled with oil rubbed fry men being fanned by veiled mermaids. My over active imagination aside, any trip to Londontown without a stop at this bare bones chip shop is a failure as far as I am concerned. I hit it on the very last day of the trip during a long walk back to the hotel to grab my bags and head to Heathrow. Despite it being a bit dated and factory fry I enjoyed my cod and fries immensely. This was the last stop in what had been quite the afternoon eating adventure. Among my other stops in this final munch march were…

Bangered!

London called and I answered with wife in tow. A 72 hour long banger and mash crawl sent us to the far ends of London proper allowing us to discover a myriad of tasty outside of our self-prescribed sausage hunt. A few delicious, quick food joints and a small disappointment at one of London’s most famous chef’s hot spots are among the oven fresh topics. Look for the highlights in upcoming posts this week and next. We might even get to print a few words from my wife on this one. Her “Born in Britain” was in full effect and the nostalgia meter was off the chart. For now think about eating 10 sausages in 3 days. Then look close at the above image. Tasty right?

‘Wich Hunting: Pilot Episode

While in Italy I realized that there’s a lot happening around the world between two slices of bread. Anthony and I have travelled the world eating everything from Balut in the Philippines to blood sausage in Argentina. In every destination there has always been a sandwich shop. Some were good and some were bad but they all had their unique take on this ubiquitous meal. The origin of the sandwich is highly debated and we’ll dive into that on our journey as we discover, taste and debate the best sandwiches in the world.