Foodle

Always solid @ciprianilondon 🤌🏽🔥
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Never a bad meal here. It’s one of those places that you can count on to leave you feeling full and satisfied. Irrespective of what some people may say, i find the food and service to be top quality and pretty consistent too. It’s an all Italian menu with lots of classics on there. Too many favourites to name them all, but we can start with the paccheri alla Genovese. Large pieces of al dente paccheri, tossed in a velvety smooth sauce made from slowly braised beef shanks and mountains of onions. Sweet, sticky and beefy - luscious and rich. It’s not on the main menu here but it’s one you can always order. Highly recommend. The veal piccata is my second favourite, served with rice pilaf and another delicious sauce made with lemon and veal stock. The thin slices of butter seared veal are tender and tasty. It’s got that satisfying bite but still maintains a soft texture. The rice is plain but I love those individual grains with the sauce alone. Other bits not to miss, the breaded prawns, the vitello tonnato, the rigatoni alla bolognese and the risotto salto. For dessert, their Pistachio gelato is the best in london, period. Stupidly creamy and smooth. No artificial tasting flavours and just sweet enough. The lemon meringue cake is also impossible to skip. Basic, but great #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#london #londonfood #londonfoodie #londonfoodguide #cipriani #ragu #bolognese #pasta #italian #italianfood #finedining #mayfair #eeeeeeats #rome Less

Dinner at @_planque_ @dara.klein @msjessicamw 🔥
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Lovely dinner the other night for Planque x Dara Klein. It’s a very cool spot - minimalist, neutral interiors with food that pops. Loved the grilled sausage on sourdough with pickled chillies. A nice bite of fatty spicy pork topped with sharp and punchy pickled green chillies. A very well proportioned couple of bites and a nice hum of heat. Their mozzarella di bufala was stunning too. Ultra creamy with a satisfying chew to it, topped with a velvety smooth olive oil that had a slightly spicy finish. Really fresh, seasonal plates this evening - tasty stuff. The brodo with Parmigiano was one of my favourites - a really rich and deeply flavoured broth with some nutty aged pieces of parm on the side. That hazelnut ice cream & nespole to finish though.. ufff. This was one of a series of dinners organised by @msjessicamw #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less

First roast goose in Hong Kong 🪿🇭🇰
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A quick stop in to Kam’s for their famous roast goose. Great goose here. A lot of people have strong opinions on roast goose in Hong Kong and there are so many favourites, but for me, each has its place and it’s such a subjective topic. Whether it’s Kam’s, Yat Lok, Yue Kee or one of the countless others, it all comes down to preference. At Kams, I found the goose to be quite refined and well balanced. The goose is charcoal-roasted in vertical ovens until the skin is deeply golden and slightly crispy. The result is a juicy but not overly greasy bird. I’m told the geese at Kam’s typically have less fat under the skin. The marination is a secret but it’s some mix of aromatics with soy and five spice. It’s served with a goose jus made from the drippings, soy, five spice, sugar etc and it’s silky smooth and savoury. The goose itself was tender and mildly gamey. A great balance of flavour and not overly intense. Good for first timers. Nicely presented too! On the side, I had to hit those goose dripping noodles - sounded too good and is a signature here. They were a little soft, but tasty nonetheless. This place got busy around lunch and the wait was like an hour, so go early to avoid the faff #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#hongkong #hongkongfood #china #chinese #chinesefood #duck #goose #michelinguide Less

Lunch at Mak Man Kee, Hong Kong 🇭🇰🍜
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There are lots of noodle shops scattered across Hong Kong, but Mak Man Kee is one of the classics that is definitely worth a visit. The signature here is their tiger prawn wonton noodles - a bowl filled with a rich broth, duck egg noodles and tightly wrapped tiger prawn wontons. It’s a seemingly small but mighty bowl of noodles. The broth is clear and light, made from some blend of pork bones, dried shrimp roe, Chinese Jinhua cured ham, dried flounder and aromatics like ginger and scallion. The result is rich, fragrant and wholesome. It’s not fatty or oily like ramen but has so much depth and doesn’t overpower everything else. Slightly more on the seafood side here. The noodles are made exclusively from duck eggs - higher in fat and so you’re left with a satisfyingly chewy, bouncy noodle. Super thin and pleasant to eat - they just sit on top very neatly. They taste fresh - not soggy or wet even though they’re sat in the broth. As for the wontons, these were great - I preferred them here than at Mak’s. The prawns are bigger, juicier and more liberally seasoned. A good kick of white pepper and properly juicy with a delicate wrapper. V good. Chilli oil on the side here is essential for me. Theirs is clean, no bits, with a warming spice. This bowl came in at like $5-6 #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#hongkong #noodles #wonton #wontons #chinesefood #chinese #dimsum #china #dumpling #dumplings #streetfood #michelinguide Less

Dubai does this thing where it demands so much of restaurants and their menus.

A new chef arrives in the city, and before you know it, they’re plating foams, grating truffles and curating caviar.

Last night, I went to @chefpaolarodriguez Venezuelan supper club, @maracasncaracas .

She’s recently moved to Dubai - and that might be her secret weapon. She seems to be cooking with heart, not hashtags and the menu she served doesn’t scream for attention. It nourishes you - emotionally, culturally, socially.

We ate quesillo de sarrapia from an old biscuit tin. (it’s a thing apparently, from wartime kitchens) We passed around platters of shredded meat for the Pabellón. We had healthy “discussions” on who actually invented arepas. And we all went quiet for the tres leches.

There was no gold leaf, smoke machines or rehearsed monologues. (There were unrehearsed guitars and maracas, though.)

And that’s perhaps what Dubai needs more of. That warm, mid-market middle. Not high-end theatrics. Not super cheap eats. (both of which are great) But just honest, handmade, story-filled food that remembers where it came from.

And maybe we’re seeing a new kind of “going out”, one that, in a way, feels a lot like staying in. These kind of supper clubs are filling a gap that no-one really talks about here - comfort food that lives in the warm, mid-week middle.

In a city driven with unfettered ambition, Paola’s supper club felt like a welcome rewind.

A reminder that before there were restaurants, there were cooks. And before there were customers, there were guests.

I hope the city doesn’t change her.
Maybe we change because of her. Less