Hungry Tiger Thirsty Dragon

Review: Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea @ Sanderson Hotel, London

Jen — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:51:07 +0000

Looking for a sophisticated, quirky afternoon tea in Central London? Then I’ve got just the thing for you.

Set in the sun-filled atrium of the Sanderson Hotel, this Alice-in-Wonderland-theme afternoon tea was just what the doctor ordered for nine mildly hungover girls celebrating a friend’s engagement. To the soothing sound of the atrium fountain, we mulled over a choice of tea-infused cocktails or a glass of Laurent Perrier. The majority opted for the ‘Vivid Hour’, an earl-grey-infused vodka cocktail [...]

Continue reading Review: Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea @ Sanderson Hotel, London

Restaurant Review: Min Jiang, High Street Kensington

Jen — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:33:35 +0000

The Royal Garden Hotel is as swish inside as it’s ugly on the outside. Given its hulking boxy concrete exterior, that makes it rather swish indeed.

I felt decidedly underdressed as I step out on the 10th floor and was faced with all the polished surfaces of hotel fine-dining decor. Having high-tailed it over straight from yoga to make it in time for our 6pm booking (the only time-slot available at short notice on a Thursday evening), I somehow ended up compensating for [...]

Continue reading Restaurant Review: Min Jiang, High Street Kensington

TigerBites: Young Turks @ The Ten Bells, Spitalfields

Jen — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:49:16 +0000

We are young and ambitious, have worked in some of the best kitchens in the world, and now we want to do things our way.

~ from the Young Turks website

Who are the Young Turks? Put simply: a ‘collective’ of a few young chefs, currently cooking dinner in the upstairs room of the Ten Bells pub near Spitalfields Market.

Latest news is that this pop-up (yes, let’s all have a collective ‘urgh’ at the word) has now been extended to the end of April, thus making it worth a write-up.

[...]

Continue reading TigerBites: Young Turks @ The Ten Bells, Spitalfields

Learn to Make Bread with Hungry Tiger

Jen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:39:36 +0000

It’s been a long time in the works, but it’s finally here. May I please present Baker & Loaf — Artisan Bread Making Classes in London:

Why learn with Baker & Loaf?

The Geek Factor — Bread making has very few major variables (flour, water, yeast, salt) but there’s a heck of a lot you can do with them. I didn’t want to teach people to make one single loaf of bread, following a recipe, then go home with no idea [...]

Continue reading Learn to Make Bread with Hungry Tiger

TigerBites: MEATliquor, Marylebone

Jen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:59:07 +0000

The Dead Hippe Burger -- no oil painting....

Eating in a restaurant has been likened to buying a slice of lifestyle which doesn’t necessarily belong to you. For example, book dinner at any of London’s overpriced overstyled “it” restaurants and feel like an oligarch for the evening; as long as you can pay the bill, no one has to know otherwise.

In a similar vein, cult burger joint MEATliquor is so overtly, drippingly, jaw-achingly cool that you’re automatically cool by [...]

Continue reading TigerBites: MEATliquor, Marylebone

Foodie Read of the Week: The Trade in Adulterated Olive Oil

Jen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:48:53 +0000

Interesting article of the week:

Slippery Business – The Trade in Adulterated Olive Oil by Tom Mueller (The New Yorker)

via the Guardian’s Word of Mouth Blog.

I’m a huge fan of good quality olive oil, spending what might reasonably be called ‘ridiculous’ sums of money (by those who buy the mass-produced stuff) on freshly-pressed olive-y goodness. It irks me that as we turn increasingly to buying smaller amounts of better quality foodstuffs, certain cynical producers are cashing in on our tastes.

All the more reason to buy your food from an easily [...]

Continue reading Foodie Read of the Week: The Trade in Adulterated Olive Oil

Restaurant Review: The 10 Cases, Covent Garden

Jen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:17:10 +0000

It’s hard not to love the concept of The 10 Cases – Bistrot à Vin.

10 whites, 10 reds, 10 cases of each. When the cases run out, that’s it, and a new wine comes in. Simple daily-changing menu, featuring three starters, three mains and three desserts — plus a small board of specials and appetiser tidbits.

We had the anchovies, twice. Once as a starter, once as dessert — though this may be over-selling them, as their choice as [...]

Continue reading Restaurant Review: The 10 Cases, Covent Garden

Book Review: Shark’s Fin & Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop

Jen — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:10:07 +0000

Book v2.0

You know you’re reading a good book when, having accidentally left it on a bus during rush hour (along with your favourite scarf and cotton shopper bag), the first thing you do when you get to your desk is log onto Amazon and order a new copy.

You know it’s a really good book when, even though you’re only a third of the way through when you lose it, you’re so inspired by [...]

Continue reading Book Review: Shark’s Fin & Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop

Restaurant Review: José, Tapas and Sherry Bar, Bermondsey

Jen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:05:35 +0000

There are times in life (usually involving some form of ex-relationship) when you look back and think: “What on earth was I thinking?” In a similar but less emotionally-draining context, I look back at my recent wisdom teeth operation and my rather over-booked calendar immediately afterward, and wonder how I’d completely failed to predict the unrelenting stabbing pains in both sides of my jaw, the need for a constant cocktail of painkillers and my resulting inability to think straight for more than three seconds.

Add to [...]

Continue reading Restaurant Review: José, Tapas and Sherry Bar, Bermondsey

Anatomy of a Real Food Blogger

Jen — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:18:32 +0000

2004. The year I wrote my first ever blogpost. At the time, most blogs I knew were online diaries. A way to talk to the world about whatever the hell you felt like. And by ‘world’, I mean a small group of friends and voyeuristic acquaintances, who read your blog because no-one had heard of Facebook yet. It was public, yes, but personal too.

In 2009, I started a food blog about learning to cook Japanese — something not many people were writing about, at least in English. It was the perfect project; I adore [...]

Continue reading Anatomy of a Real Food Blogger