On a Side Note...

I have been perusing some of the tastes of London in the past couple of weeks, which seemingly has been in a lot of pubs!

Adam and I recently attended the Prince of Wales pub on Lillie Road in West Brompton - which looks slightly glamourous from the outside and appeals with its sign stating 'beer garden out the back'.
Henceforth as it was a rather sunny afternoon and we had only just arisen from a large night out we decided to try this food quarter out. The menus appealed and looked nicely presented. I was after mushrooms and tomatoes (one of those hangover cravings) and decided on the fully cooked breakfast (although I was rather tempted for the roast). Adam went for a good English pub classic; Bangers and Mash, and we sat outside in the sunshine eagerly awaiting our food. My mid afternoon breakfast arrived complete with eggs, baked beans (slowly becoming a fan of though I hate to admit it), one soggy hash brown, two pieces of extremely well buttered white toast (ugh!) and a horrid sausage with one rash of bacon, SANS mushrooms or tomatoes... which is why I chose the meal in the first place! I was mortified and asked the waiter where the rest of the meal was - he shrugged his shoulders and went to ask the chef - he then came back with a boiled half tomato and said they were out of mushrooms. In my hangover state I was not happy but ate the meal with disgust as I needed something to fill the itching in my stomach.

I was left feeling I would have rather got the roast having it been better value for money especially if they didn't have the two items on the plate that I was wanting... damn waiter should have said something.  Adams bangers were not banging as such, but very processed and the gravy was average - potato was tasty though.

So all in all - Prince of Wales - you suck - too costly for both meals for a rubbish job! Sort your bangers out!

We also recently Guanabana restaurant in Camden for my birthday dinner where Jerk Chicken and Goat Curry were devoured. Jerk Chicken - absolutely delightful and many of us struggled to eat the whole thing, the Goat Curry on the other hand tasted similar to lamb and looked like goat poo. See pictures below!

One more thing to note... our lovely friends who live in a Munster Road abode invited a group of us to the local pub The Durrell (featured in my First Roast Experience). On a pleasant Sunday evening the group of 10 of us devoured x8 Chicken Roasts (you get a half) x1 Lamb Roast (I finally managed to fulfill my craving for one) and x1 Tuna Steak (non-roast). We were graced with four whole chickens in which two men took up the role of carving them in half. A few massive plates of roast potatoes, brocolli, parsnip, carrots and a huge yorkshire pudding each. To top this off, our friends had a 50% off card which made the roast £6.50 each!

The Durrell and Munster Road Flat = You rock my socks off. We shall return again with more board game playing and plenty more roasts.

Delish!

Gustocissimo

Gustocissimo means 'very tasty' in Italian, according to the Rome waiters who served us free choc-mint martinis to attract customers to their ristaurante... free martini? I think yes!

Italy's palate consists of two of my most favourite foods; pizza, and of course pasta.

During our one week consummation of three cities in Italy, George and I managed to devour: x5 spaghetti's, x2 fettucine's, x1 gnocchi, x1 risotto, x8 pizzas, (with the help of friends of course!) needless to say after one week of this I am awfully tired of pizza and pasta... however, it had to be done!

Some foodie things that stood out to me in Italia were:

•  They put corn on pizza and in salads as a norm
•  Pasta sauces tend to be simple i.e tomato and onion
•  They don't use garnish... I would normally have beautified my meal of tomato pasta with basil leaves - they did not do this anywhere!
•  The black olives were not as good as the green olives
• White pizza consists of pizza without the tomato base - its more likely to be cheese or oil mmm
•  A cooked breakfast is non-existent - you will have to suffice with a coffee and a croissant!
•  Pizza does not come sliced - you will need to specifically ask for this to be done (tourist alert!)
•  The bread most ristaurantes will serve you with your meal is insanely crusty... so crusty in fact that it is a struggle to eat!
• I am now addicted even more to olive oil, and balsamic vinegar with fresh bread (not so good for the waistline!!!)

I will now leave you with an assortment of my favourite tastes of Italia - Enjoy!

First stop in Europe : Roma, Italia!

Rome welcomed my friend Georgina and I with open arms. It's delightful paved streets and beautiful atmosphere is exactly how I pictured Italy.  With numerous ristorante's and trattoria's (less formal than a ristaurante) to keep the mouth watering... it was hard to pick just one for a meal! My first taste in Italy was at a cute ristaurante in the Piazza del Popolo (a main tourist destination).  It consisted of pasta and pizza - in traditional Italian style! And a small antipasto of meats to share with George.  Salami, parma ham, olives and artichokes made up the antipasto which we devoured with the complimentary bread (in most ristorantes they will bring out courtesy bread when you order so do not fall into the trap of ordering it first!). I would rate this about 3-5 again. Still on the search for the perfect antipasto!

Our first experience of pizza and pasta in Italy was divine.  The chosen pizza : Capricossa, a tomato base topped with parma ham, mushrooms, olives, artichokes and a hard boiled egg.  And the pasta : All'amatriciana, a simple tomato bacon and mozzarella sauce spaghetti. Both Italian specialties left us eager for our next meal! All of this was washed down with a beautiful bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the South of France, which went down way too easily. 




Despite the joyous occasion of our first night out in Italia, we soon realised that after the bill arrived that we could not live a life of luxury on our two week adventure around the Med!