Notorious Foodie

Excellent as always @mountain.restaurant @tomos_pp @joseanbalotin 🔥🤝🏽
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Love coming here. Lunch or dinner, it’s food, wine and service you can count on to impress. Mountain is so much more than ‘just another Basque restaurant’ and it shows in the creativity of the menu, approach to cooking and the variety of top-tier ingredients they use. There’s always something new that I love on the menu and this time it was those incredible beef short ribs - cooked like a steak, charred over Woodfire and rested till pink. Tender with a subtle chew and a deeply smokey flavour. The jersey beef rib was also well cooked - a glistening crust, blushing cross section and tender bite. Had to order two plates of the raw sobrassada with honey - it’s been one of my favourite bites in London for a long time. Sweetness, acidity and heat all in balance. The culatta di montagna with yellow peaches and almonds was perfect too - sweet, salty and crunchy in all the right proportions. Also loved the raw scallop and cured monkfish plate. Delicious. The menu here is stacked, so I would recommend going as a group of 4+ so you can try it all. Back again soon. Less

Omakase at @kigo.dubai @evgenykuzindxb 🍣🇯🇵🇦🇪
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A first look at DIFC’s new sushi omakase and kaiseki spot, led by chef Akinori Tanigawa with sushi master Daihachiro Ebata from Kyoto at the counter. Just 10 seats for omakase, with a few tables behind for kaiseki. Ebata-san started the 20-course journey with a fatty bluefin tuna and pickled daikon temaki. This smooth, crunchy hand roll really set the scene as he moved through pristine nigiri, each made with precision and poise. He uses two types of shari here, adjusting the vinegar depending on the fish - every individual grain warm, well seasoned and melting on the tongue. Standouts for me were the Japanese glass shrimp nigiri (delicate and sweet with just a drop of soy), straw-seared bonito (super Smokey and buttery soft), the flounder nigiri (too clean, ordered one more at the end), the bafun uni gunkan (creamy, sweet and fresh), and a yuzu ikura that was so fragrant and flavoursome. The finale? An iced matcha better than anything I’ve tried before. Fluorescent green, ultra creamy and perfectly sweetened. Ordered two of these, so good. The staff here are as good as the produce! A beautiful new addition to Dubai’s omakase scene. Can’t wait to return for the kaiseki.
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#dubai #dxb #mydubai #visitdubai #dubailife #sushi #omakase #kaiseki #difc #japan #japanese #japanesefood #tuna Less

Dinner at @apollothepalm 🌴☀️
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A few snaps from dinner at Apollo, the new all-day bistro on Palm. The menu here is comfort-food driven, but with a lifted touch on the classics - think steak frites au poivre, vodka calamarata and veal Milanese. Dishes you can count on. Beyond that, plenty of playful plates too, like duck Arayes, pastrami on crispy rice and fried chicken waffles. The vodka calamarata with stracciatella was solid here. Bouncy pasta with a really well balanced, creamy vodka sauce that had just enough sweetness and heat. The tuna nayyeh was top too - spiced tuna tartare served on grilled and buttered flatbread. Delicious stuff. The chicken tikka skewers were thoroughly seasoned and smokey, but the standout for me was their ceviche. Sharp, clean and perfectly balanced - a good ceviche is hard to beat in my eyes - a whirlwind of flavours and textures. When you’re in the mood for comfort and creativity, this is the spot. Need to go back for the club sandwich. Less

Lunch at @middlechildmiddlechild @alserkalavenue 🇦🇪♥️
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A lovely new spot in Dubai. Part eatery, part grocer and part book shop - this casual little shop is already a new favourite of mine. The menu is clean and un-fussy, with lots of light plates on the there from fresh dips, salads and crudo’s to steak, sandwiches and pasta. It’s far from the standard dishes you would expect though, everything is done with their own style and finesse. To start, the onion dip with ritz crackers was knockout. I hope they keep this one on as a permanent feature - creamy, sweet and balanced. The sea bass crudo was clean and sharp - a tasty dish which I would love even more if it had some heat. The steak tartare was tasty too - well seasoned, cubed tenderloin with all the usual accompaniments. The grilled strip loin with jammy onions was my favourite main - a nice idea that I’ll definitely be iterating at home. Loved the deep onion sauce and the blushing pink strip. Pappardelle bolognese was rich and well prepared too albeit a little soft on the pasta - love that they sell the bolognese sauce in the shop though, nice touch. Finished off with the banoffee pie and soft serve - both excellent. These guys are off to a great start! #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#dubai #mydubai #visitdubai #dubailife #dubai🇦🇪 #uae #dubaifood Less

My favourite glass noodles @kilnsoho @meedu_saad 🔥🌶️🇹🇭
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Pretty much every time I eat here, I leave with a new favourite dish. And I’ve eaten here alot, 20+ times at least! Of course, there are some of the classics that never leave the menu, such as the incredible clay pot baked glass noodles with Tamworth pork belly, the cull yaw / lamb and cumin skewers, etc - both of which are solid. This time though, it was the pounded barbecue beef with blood orange that blew my mind. An amazing dish of beef short rib, charred, glazed and served with a bright wedge of blood orange on the side. This thing was super rich and perfectly glazed. Smokey, sweet and beefy. Pounded tender and perfect with the citrus and side of chewy sticky rice. Had to order it twice, absolutely knockout. In joint first place though, was the @flourishfarmshop plums and freshwater fish sauce salad - sharp, sweet and so fresh. Worked beautifully with all the spice and heat in the other dishes. This is one of the only restaurants where I don’t feel the need to add spice. I love a kick to my food but the kiln team really know how to balance. Proper heat, proper acidity and lots of punch in every plate. Always a good time in here. Back soon! Less

Lunch at @canteen.310 is always a good idea @jessicafilbey @harryhillskitchen ☀️🤝🏽
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Best seats in the house here gotta be at the counter. A little warm in front of the woodfire ovens but you get a good glimpse into everything being made and can see all the fresh produce on display. A mix of super seasonal Italian fare on the daily rotating menu here. Had lots of highlights this visit, but to start it was their rosemary and fresh mozz pizza (which I had to make at home the next day in the @gozney - will post it up soon). Ultra thin pizza, with just EVOO, rosemary, mozz and sea salt - simple, fresh and beautifully cooked with a crispy, supple, well seasoned base. The beef carne cruda with horseradish and tomato was a great looking plate too - some more salt and acid would be welcomed though. Prosciutto and melon was great, perfectly ripe and super juicy! For mains, the cacio e Pepe and their veal ragu with fettuccine. Both pastas carefully cooked with super flavoursome sauces clinging to the chewy pasta. Good to see and taste lots of black pepper in the cacio. For dessert I ordered a bunch of stuff but they sent out the most insane fig and Marsala ice cream - loved this one the most. Too good. A solid spot in Notting Hill. #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less

Feasting at @74dukemayfair 🍔🇫🇷
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These guys are serving up one of my favourite burgers in london at the moment. The classic cheeseburger at 74 features a thick-boy patty, made from a blend of English Wagyu brisket and chuck, with American cheese, dijonaise and a thick slice of white onion rested on the bottom bun. All the right elements here whilst keeping things simple. The patties are grilled and well rested for that perfectly pink and juicy centre. Would love some smoke worked into the beef and it could definitely take some more age but it’s v good as is too. Other favourites from the menu, the warm baguette and butter (simple, but delicious as so many places don’t get this right), the bluefin tuna tartare and the grilled king shrimp with cognac butter and that filet de boeuf au poivres. Chicken was just ok, but their rigatoni with morels was more than ok - really tasty. Second time having this and it was better than I remembered - al dente pasta and a super glossy sauce. Make sure you save space for dessert as there are lots of good ones here, but the brown butter and chocolate cookies with banana caramel ice cream is hard to beat. Good food, good service, good vibes #notoriousfoodie Less

An excellent dinner @angelina.london @usmanhaider097 🇮🇹🇯🇵
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The new Italian-Japanese in east London really knows what it’s doing. The menu here is Italian at its core, but layered with Japanese ingredients and technique. I started with a run of crudo and small plates: kombu-cured bream with smoked butter, akami with wasabi mustard, some truffle hamachi and a crispy cod cheek karaage. Each crudo was sharp, punchy, and perfectly dressed. The karaage was spot on too, but Usman’s tomato salad might have been the most refreshing and addictive plate of the night. The pastas are a bit of a highlight on the menu. The truffle + kombu tortellini came molten and creamy at the centre with a perfect bite – a dish that reminded me a lot of the tortellini from Torissi in NYC. The tomato rigatoni was another standout; deceptively simple, yet the sauce was rich, sweet, and smoky with real depth. On the grills, the aged Angus ribeye delivered, but the dish you need to order is the Brixham skate wing. Binchotan-fired, golden and charred on the outside, tender and flavour-packed within - the flesh just slid off the bone. Easily the star of the show. Desserts closed strong too, with the black sesame Basque-style cheesecake stealing it for me. Clever, layered, and memorable. A seamless operation here from start to finish. Bold, confident cooking and easily one of the most exciting openings in london right now. #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less

Home Cooking Sessions with @ninjakitchenuk : Korean-glazed baby back ribs with charred pineapple. Full recipe below! 😍🔥 AD
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1. Grab yourself a rack of baby back ribs and remove the membrane. Brush the ribs with some mustard or neutral oil to act as a binder.
2. Next, sprinkle generously with your favourite BBQ seasoning. I used equal parts gochugaru, brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Add one scoop of wood pellets to your Ninja Woodfire Pro, then using the app, select the smoker function and set the temperature to 120c. Click ignite and wait till the smoker is ready for use.
4. Add your seasoned baby back ribs to the smoker and close the lid.
5. Leave these to smoke for about an hour whilst you make your korean-bbq glaze. For this, simply add 4tbsp unsalted butter to a pan and bring up to a sizzle. Once sizzling, add in 1 clove grated garlic, 1 knob grated ginger, 2tsp gochujang paste, 1tsp honey, 1tsp mirin, 1tsp light soy, 1tsp rice vinegar, 1tsp worcestershire sauce, 2tsp brown sugar and 1tsp salt - mix well.
6. Leave this to simmer and thicken for 3-4 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
7. Meanwhile, dice up your pineapple into bite-sized chunks.
8. Carefully open the lid of the Ninja Woodfire Pro and brush over your korean-bbq glaze, then close the lid and leave to smoke for another hour.
9. Remove the ribs after an hour and give them a finishing brush of the glaze, then allow to rest.
10. Using the Ninja app, switch to grill mode and set the heat to high.
11. Once it’s hot, add on your pineapple and allow to char for 1.5 minutes per side.
12. Slice up your ribs and serve with your charred pineapple + anything else you fancy on the side. Garnish with finley diced scallions and sesame seeds.
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The Ninja Woodfire Pro is a great little appliance for when you want really smokey, wood fired flavour without all the hassle of a traditional BBQ. The app also makes things super easy to control and monitor for the perfect cook every time! Less