Merienda & Bubble Tea @ Lakwatsa

I decided to make a special trip to Portobello Road today to check out the new Filipino cafe - Lakwatsa. Upon entering, I immediately warmed up to the place, it has a clean and chic interior where swings and cargo boxes topped with cushions serve as seats and tables are low wooden ones with natural finish. Very clever touches! The neutral colours of the wood and the walls were accentuated by a burst of pinks and purples which gave the place a relaxed atmosphere. One wall has a rough brick finish which gave a rustic contrast to the modern touches.

I found a table next to the window and chose to sit on the swing. It was unusual sitting on a swing inside a cafe and being gently swayed every time I moved, but I got the hang of it after a few minutes of sitting down. I managed to command my butt to keep still and focused on what is to happen next.

A friendly waiting staff approached me and offered to introduce the menu. I asked for their warm milk bubble tea best seller which he told me was the taro flavour. I quickly added that I don't like my drink too sweet. He agreed saying, "taro bubble tea reduced sugar". The same waiter mixed my drink from behind the bar. It's great to know that the waiting staff are hands-on to their own products.

Whilst waiting for my bubble tea, I took the chance to look at their food menu, which was short, straight forward but very interesting! Their menu is a mixture of pan-Asian and mostly Filipino favourites with merienda (snack) sizes. I was feeling hungry but I reckoned that a portion of their adobo rice balls at £3.00 and a portion of pan de sal at £2 should be filling. I was going through the list and thought that the prices are very reasonable for snack portions. Looking at the menu got my appetite going and as if on cue, my bubble tea arrived! One sip of the lavender coloured warm taro bubble tea hit the spot! I absolutely loved it! It was the right amount of sweetness and the taro flavour was yummy! Can I also just say that I'm not so much of a sweet drink drinker, I drink my coffee black, with no sugar, same goes with my teas, no sugar please, but this bubble tea did it for me.

Ten minutes or so later, my merienda arrived. I sampled an adobo rice ball first which to my great delight I managed to gobble up in one go without the rice bursting all over my mouth. It was adobo indeed wrapped in a dumpling of rice! The creator of this is a genius! I proceeded to taste the home-made pan de sal. Wow, the warm temperature of the pan de sal brought me back to the days when I would be woken up to the sound of a street vendor shouting "HOT PAN DE SAL!" I chose ube spread to go with it. And my verdict of the pan de sal? It was divine!

Half-way through bites of adobo rice and pan de sal, I was convinced that I have been sold to the products of this cafe.

I'm very impressed with the overall concept and admire the entrepreneur's take on Filipino cuisine and bringing it together to create Lakwatsa.

To conclude my visit, I received my first stamp on my first loyalty card and pinned my card on their infamous loyalty card wall.

Hanggang sa uulitin! Until next time!

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Lakwatsa
7 Blenheim Crescent
London W11 2

The cafe/lounge is off Portobello Road. Nearest tubes: Nottinghill Gate/ Ladbroke Grove

Roux at The Landau (Lived up to my Expectations!)

My gourmet partner (aka Dave) and I had a fantastic dinner at Roux at The Landau recently. We went for their 3-course menu w/ a glass of champagne offer and our meal was a great start for a Friday night out. 

For starters, I had the broccoli soup with gnocci. Never a fan of gnocci but this did it for me. Followed by a main of spit-roast free-range chicken supreme w/ garlic confit, Aura potatoes and Suffolk cider sauce.  For some reason, this dinner made me choose dishes I wouldn't normally go for, but I thought if it was a Roux restaurant then this is where I should run the test of my sometimes discriminating palate. So this time I chose chicken over pork and oh wow the chicken was succulent, one bite after the other!  

My partner had the slow cooked collar of Lincolnshire with a ragout of arrocina beans and turnip tops and it was just as divine as the chicken although I thought my chicken tasted much better :-) 

Our meal was paired with Dave's choice of Cotes du Rhone which went very well with our meat choices. 

For our desserts, I had the caramelia mousse with bitter chocolate crunch and milk ice cream whilst Dave sampled four different types of cheeses from the cheese trolley.

My dessert was lip-smacking! Dave's cheeses were absolutely gorgeous. Our beautiful meal ended with our choice of coffee and petit fours. 

The staff were friendly and were very efficient as one would expect from a Roux restaurant. 

*** Roux at The Landau is at 1C Portland Place, London, W1B 1JA 

Josephine's Filipino Restaurant, London

If you're looking for Filipino cuisine in central London, there is no better place to go but Josephine's Restaurant on Charlotte St.

With it's central location, just north of Soho, Charlotte St is a well known street in Fitzrovia, London with half of the street occupied by restaurants, cafes, bars and some night clubs.

Having this in mind, Josephine's has an interesting contrast of an unassuming facade compared to the other restaurants nearby with more modern touches. You can easily tell by Josephine's entrance and interior that the place has been here for quite some time. But knowing how long it existed and still managing to survive the times are good indications that it had withstood fluctuating economic situation which has badly affected a number of businesses in London in the recent times.

My favourite table is the one just by the window. It's the best table with good lighting during the day and cozy enough at night to enjoy your meal and a chance to indulge in people watching if you are whiling the time away.

For meat lovers, you will enjoy their lechon kawali, a Filipino version of crackling pork belly. It comes with gravy on the side and best had with rice. Though I am a little bit disappointed on their basmati rice as I would have preferred a Filipino restaurant to serve jasmine rice, the taste of the dish makes up for my rice fixation :-) And yes, the lechon kawali is easily my favourite at Josephine's!

I've also tried sinigang (traditional Filipino soup characterised by its sour taste), mixed vegetable dish, lumpia (spring rolls), and adobo among others which were all good. However, I know of some Filipinos in London who expressed disappointment with Josephine's adobo and I must admit to some extent that I too had reservations when I had it once. I seem to have not recognised the familiar taste of the traditional adobo, rather thought it tasted of braised pork in thick brown sauce. 

Adobo is the most common, if not the most famous Filipino dish of chicken or pork (or both) cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, pepper corn, bay leafs and lots of garlic. And depending on your region, adobo gets cooked in different ways. I cook mine with coconut milk which neutralises the tangy taste of soy sauce and vinegar. That said, Josephine's has their own style of cooking adobo and who am I to say how adobo should be :-)

The choice of desserts is a variety of traditional Filipino sweet treats like leche flan - Filipino version of creme caramel or caramel custard, maja blanca - a coconut flavoured pudding, and home-made ice cream. The avocado flavour home-made ice cream is my favourite! Having it was just like being back home in the sunny Philippines, eating the familiar local ice cream flavours in the streets! 

Do you have a favourite at Josephine's?

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Josephine's is located at 4 Charlotte St, London.      

Balut!

Was going over my photos today and couldn't help but smile at the photos of me with guys I met during an international forestry conference I attended in Leyte, Philippines in June 2007.

I thought I'd post it here as a reminder of that fun night when I challenged guys from Germany, Ireland and a fellow Filipino to eat the famous Fear Factor favourite - balut!

On this interesting balut encounter, where I was enjoying (hihi sorry guys) watching the facial expressions of my male contenders decipher the strange egg in front of them, and which I won't go into details here as it will spoil the fun for those who haven't tried balut yet, my fascination switched to the balut vendors who handed to me what I thought was the greatest balut accessory innovation of all time! I just finished gobbling up my balut and was fumbling for something to wipe my hands with when our balut vendor readily offered a bottle of water to sanitise my hands! And it was not just an ordinary water, it was scented water! (how clever is that? never seen that in other parts of the country before!). The water - mixed with fragrant fabric softener, effectively leaves your hands free from the foul smell of the balut!

While it was indeed fun watching some of the guys brave their first encounter with a balut, I'm not sure if my new friends found it as interesting as I did... err I am not even sure if I earned new friends after that challenge... hehe