Shame on me...

Shame on me, not posting...

I know, I know... bad me.

Last 2 weeks in Paris, restaurants to eat, friends to see, places to visit and most dire of all, wedding venues to sort out.... bugger.

The interesting bit:

To hog roast or not to hog roast.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the question.

Picture taken from : Essex Hog Roasts

La Langue Française (or the French Tongue...oh la la)

Those of you who have come here hoping to pick up tips on French kissing or to learn more about the French language, be prepared to be sorely disappointed.

I was at Carrefour the other day, picking up groceries for the week when the boy foolishly left me alone by the delicatessen counter. In the glass display a huge pan caught my eye. I leaned in for a look. It was tongue in vinaigrette. I had to have some.

I also strolled past all the glorious hams, dried saucissons and other delicacies when my eye fell upon another display. This time, it was a very pretty display of gelatin containing three cross sections of tongue. Had to get that as well. And also the one beside it, with smaller cross-sections of tongue dotted with pistachio nuts.

To her credit, the lady serving me behind the counter didn't blink an eye when a Chinese girl approached, asking for a single thin slices of both types of tongue along with a small potion of tongues vinaigrette.

Luckily they all came wrapped in little white plastic bags and the boy could not see what folly had befallen me.

Although outraged cries of "This isn't HAM!" and "You mean you didn't even buy ham or anything normal for me at all?!?" were heard loud and clear when sandwich fixings were required.

Contenting himself with a piece of cheese, the boy peered at the tongue studded with pistachios. "Isn't it so pretty?", I asked, to grunts of annoyance. "It's almost like art!" I continued, knowing full well the miserable time he had at the Pompidou Centre last week looking at modern art.

Aside from annoying the boy, I also tasted all tongue-y concoctions.

First up was the tongue in vinaigrette. This was quite tasty but not very "vinaigrett-y", may do well with more marinating. I was surprised to find that the texture was softer and had less of a "chew" than the ones I enjoy in my spaghetti with tomato sauce in Cha Chan Tengs in HK (Cue: Westerners, gag now).

Next, I tasted the long tongue cross sections in gelatin. The French enjoy jellied meats and vegetables as a dish in the summer, served with a side salad. I never really understood it as the texture of the food preserved in the gelatin always changed and tastes mushy to me. In the case of the tongue, it didn't change the texture too much and I would say it had more of a 'chew' than the vinaigretted tongue. I'm not sure whose or what animal's tongue this was. I'm still guessing pork (i.e. the magical animal who keeps on giving).

Finally it came to the prettiest one of all, the one with pistachios. This one was quite mild, with almost no chew, with a texture more like ham. The pistachios were an interesting touch and was nice with the tongue. I liked the look of this one best but overall I did prefer the vinaigrette tongues best.

I'm not sure if French pigs are just lazier and don't exercise their muscles as much but I still find that overall, the tongues didn't have the same texture or chew as the ones I've had previously. Perhaps they've been treated to make the tongue softer to suit the local palate but I still prefer the ones I get back home. MMmmm, can't wait for a big ole plate of tongue on spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Thai Good Lah!

I wandered around the neighborhood one day before my Bikram yoga when I stumbled across a small Thai restaurant. Being relatively early (for France) in the day, it was closed. I squinted and pushed my face close to the glass to take a look inside when a small, very friendly Thai woman appeared at my shoulder, causing me to jump back in guilt. She said hello and asked if she could help before unlocking the door. I smiled and said I was fine and looked curiously at the menu before trudging my way to another, sweaty yoga class with scantily clad men who were obviously disinterested in the female half of the population.

I have to admit, I went because of the Thai woman. She was most definitely Thai so the food must be somewhat authentic and so friendly I felt that I needed to visit. So of course I dragged the boy.

The restaurant was small but immaculate and it felt like lots of care had gone into the decor which had modern Thai touches, including a shrine over the kitchen door. The restaurant was manned by what seemed like a Thai couple and their son, who were all very friendly, sending over complimentary amuse gueules when we moved to a different table to accommodate a party of three. It consisted of a bite sized deep fried pastry with minced chicken and vegetables. Inoffensive but forgettable.

We ordered the lunch special, priced at a reasonable 15 euros for an entree, a main and an side dish. The menu seemed varied with authentic dishes, with entree choices including a green papaya salad and Tom Yum Kung and side dishes of rice, fried rice, glutinous rice or vegetables. We also ordered a Pad Thai at a horrific 13 euros but which would satisfy a craving.

Our entree of spicy Thai beef salad arrived, very prettily plated with perfectly cooked meat that was still toothsome and rare in the middle, the sauce was fabulous but not spicy in the least but very tasty with the perfect mix of tart, sweetness and kick from the herbs. It was a generous portion and so moreish and tasty, I quickly dug in, even munching the onions which had been marinated long enough to lose its normally harsh bite.

Not long afterwards, our Pad Thai arrived, looking quite gorgeous in its 'shell' of thin egg crepe with two prawns resting on top and a carrot tower on the side. I was happy to see the dried chili powder and sugar in the corner, for diners to sprinkle as they see fit.

I enjoyed the Pad Thai. Not having had too much experience, I really couldn't vouch for its authenticity. I can happily say, however, that I am quite there was no ketchup in this version!!

Our Thai green chicken curry with glutinous rice came after these two dishes were cleared. I was delighted to find the little 'eggplant' pods, bitter with a great texture in this version, which was not spicy but deliciously flavorful, wonderful with the sticky glutinous rice. The pretty vegetables were cut in very similar sized finger sized sticks, complete with lacy, wavy edged zucchini.

All in all, I loved the food, thought it was made with obvious care and attention to detail.

The restaurant was clearly a work of love, with the tables wiped down until they shone and pretty carafes of water with huge sprigs of mint inside.Mild enough for the French but tasty enough for me. I admit I also fell in love with the soft-spoken, always smiling Thai family, a component that is complimentary but so often missing with meals but which keeps me smiling all day long.

Suan Thai

41 Rue Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie

75004

Tel: 01 42 77 10 20

Closed Mondays

What Other Bloggers Eat

I just don't get it.

For someone who loves food as much as I do, I am a dreadful cook.

Most people don't believe me, thinking I am being modest or even that I'm lying.

I can assure you, as can the boy for that matter, I am a truly awful cook.

So I dream. I eat out, I dream, I try (hey, that counts, right?) and I always end up falling back on stuff that I know well enough how to do.

However, being frustrated and with a bit too much time on my hands, I decided this week to attempt cooking something new.

There was no doubt in my mind what to cook. It had to be Jaden's Persian Sour Cherry Saffron Rice (Polow). It had been taunting me day and night. I "visited" the recipe every day since I've seen it, absolutely certain that despite it being cherry, it would be the perfect combo of tart, sweet, salty and comforting. My favorite combo.

I know that to the accomplished cook, this would be an easy dish. You don't understand. Whenever I step into the kitchen, it's like I step into the twilight zone where I become an absolute idiot.

Case in point. I didn't melt the butter.

I melted half of it in the pan at the beginning, then, when layering the rice, cherries and saffron water, I panicked and quickly melted the remaining 1/4 cup and stupidly dumped it OVER the cherries.

Yep, I'm an idiot. Luckily the recipe still worked and was very delish although totally ugly (I stirred too much...) and unphotographable. THANK you Jaden. I will make it again and again and again. I kept sneaking bites throughout the night despite my distended belly.

I then decided, mainly because I had bananas languishing, all soft, mushy and unwanted in the fruit bowl, to make the banana cake Orangette posted about. No oil and no butter needed. Just the thing.

And what did I do? Well............I left out the chocolate chips, the vanilla essence and I substituted cassonade for half of the white sugar because I ran out. OH, and I also cooked it for over TWICE as long because it was still so incredibly gooey inside. I have no idea what happened but I blame it again on the shroud of incompetence that descends on my head every time I step into the kitchen.

Dang it but the cake turned out fine. Slightly too burned on the outside but perfectly moist and chewy inside. And from the boy's quick demolishment of it, it was still good enough to eat.

So please, don't go by incompetence and try the fabulous recipes out there by wonderful bloggers out there. Next I want to try Umami's rice salad, even though I am highly skeptical...

On the Island in the middle of the Lake in the middle of the Park

The boy and I had planned to go to Bois de Boulogne for a picnic so I packed a few sandwiches, snacks (including the last of the See's Awesome Nut and Chew bars) and we set off in the car to the woods, zipping past the Arc de Triomphe's horrifically confusing roundabout.

We arrived and parked near the lake and walked down near the water, where I spied a boat charging an outrageous 1 euro 50 for the short ride across to the island in the middle of the lake. I was just commenting on the money fleecing nature of the boat when the boy walked up and hopped on. Incredulously, I followed. The man on the boat asked if we were going to the dine at the restaurant, Le Chalet des Iles on the island, to which the boy replied yes.

I thought perhaps the boy misunderstood so I told him that he should tell the truth and pay up as he might know if we didn't go to the restaurant.

"But we are going to the restaurant", the boy replied.

"Are you crazy or something? We packed a lunch, did you already forget? You even put the bananas in there!", I said, exasperated.

"I made a reservation there... as a late surprise for your birthday", he said calmly.

I was suitably shamed and followed meekly but excitedly at this point.

The restaurant itself is very prettily set high up in full view of the water, with tables spilling out throughout the terrace and the lawn.

We were seated and placed our order, happily enjoying the view and each other's company when the bread and wine arrived. I reached for a roll when I looked down into our bread basket to find half a roll, a bottle cap and a cork. We had gotten the remains of someone else's breadbasket. As we waved a waitress over, we notice that a horde of pigeons and swooped onto a neighboring table, recently emptied and were in the midst of energetically pecking at all of remaining food. I must admit, this was less than appetizing. Especially when someone who had visited the washroom came back to discover his bread half gone.

In any case, we were soon distracted by our appetisers of beef carpaccio with raspberries and broccoli, and brownie foie gras. The latter turned out to be simply that. A brownie plated with foie gras, drizzled with dark chocolate. The combination, for me, didn't work at all. The chocolate sauce was much too strong and made only the texture of the foie gras as opposed to its lovely richness stand out. The brownie also, I can only guess was a play on textures as it was very crumbly and dry, tasting like a stale thin slice of brownie.

We did better with the mains. Of which we ordered three. Hey, we were hungry! Also, we couldn't pass up "posh mac n' cheese", which we ordered as a dish to share. This was on menu as a gratin de macaroni au fromage . We were surprised to find it come as a meticulously plated huge spiral of macaroni pasta, with a thin crust of cheese and a flurry of rocket on top. It was decidedly moreish with a nice peppery bite of rocket balancing out the rich cheese and pasta. Very fun to eat too. Especially if you eat it spiral by long spiral like I did.

I ordered the lightly seared salmon served with an "Asian" salad, with this latter consisting mainly of bean sprouts and julienned carrots. By the way, can someone please tell the world that including bean sprouts does not make a salad "Asian"?? In any case, the salmon was delicious, succulent, perfectly cooked and very, very moist. The salad was forgettable.

The boy's beef tartare was a bit more disappointing. Although it was a generous portion, it tasted a little too much of mayonnaise and was a little too well minced, making the texture somewhat mushy. These were served with crispy fires, not homemade but still decent.

With the three mains, we were more than stuffed and could not manage dessert. Instead the boy offered to row me around the lake so I could have a snooze. Unfortunately the counter for row boat rentals was closed by the time we got there, lazily wandering around the island exploring.

Although the food was not memorable in and of itself, the restaurant is lovely, romantic and a nice little getaway from the city.

Most of all, I will it remember it because it was there that the boy asked me an interesting question...

...to which I replied, yes.

Le Chalet des Iles

Porte de la Muette

Lac du Bois de Boulogne

75016 Paris

Tel: 01 42 88 86 74

Do you...?

Do you love Hong Kong?

Do you love traditional street markets?

Do you love the old pushy woman clothed in blue who elbows you out of the way to get to the best bit of the wintermelon?

Do you love the slippery slide of the squished fruits and veg between the stalls?

Do you love talking to shopkeepers who advise you what to put in your soup to make it more nutritious?

Do you love going to the market to gawk at the different types of fruit and veg that you've never seen before? (Fresh wasabi root anyone?)

In short, do you want to save the street market in Central?

If so, click here to vote to save the Central street market.

If you want more info, please also click there to read more than this questionable post has to say about it.

PS. Brought to my attention by the wonderful blog, EatingAsia.

A Fruitful Experience

One of the last stops of my Canada trip was to Toronto, where my brother was going to move in a month's time. We decided to drive from Montreal, about a 6 hour drive.

I'm not the best passenger, constantly asking for toilet breaks and snacks and of course, endless rounds of "Are we there yet???". So my brother, in order to pre-empt my complaining, tried to make the journey as fun as possible by telling me that we are going to go "fruit-bowling".

Fabulous, I thought, what fun this will be!

What? What? You don't know what fruit-bowling is? Well neither do I. I had visions of knocking down pyramids of fruit by bowling oranges or something but instead I got this:

Yep, that's right, its a freaking big orange! We drove up to this huge orange to have something to eat before heading off.

(Apparently, my brother's girlfriend was telling me, rumours are that inside the top of the big orange is a brothel. Hmmmm... who the hell says, "I'm bored. What shall we do? I know! Let's go to the big orange and get ourselves a nice piece of a$$?" I mean honestly!?!)


Feeling very much like I was in a low budget North American, made for TV film, we walked up to the diner in a haze of thick grease to order from the cheerily dressed waitstaff, a poutine and their famous orange julep, which is dispensed through a big clear vessel, glooping thickly into the cup.

It tasted like a really thick, creamy orange milkshake without the overtones of dairy. It tasted ok but not something you would get to quench your thirst. In fact, I had to go straight back and order a proper drink in order to wash down the thick drink.... oh, and my poutine!!

Haha, couldn't leave Montreal without clogging up my arteries with cornstarch thickened gravy half melting cheese curds over deep fried potato sticks, could I?


In any case, the novelty value over, we left and began the drive to Toronto, stopping at Tim Hortons for some coffee along the way.

I thought that was it. My brother wanted to cheer me up and took me to see a big orange. Ok, fine. I get it. I will behave myself.

Luckily for me, it appears that he had another treat in store for me. In the form of:

That's right, folks! It's a big freaking APPLE! Not content with merely taking me to see a big Orange, my brother thought, as an additional treat, to take me to see the big Apple. Why he couldn't just have bought me a round trip, first class ticket to New York, I don't know.

In any case, it was actually a pie making factory, with a variety of pies and other forms of weird tatty souvenirs for sale.


Well, we couldn't leave without trying a pie, could we? We bought a piece of pumpkin pie to share and a mumble crumble pie, a pie with a crumble topping.


The pumpkin pie was ok but the mumble crumble was way too sweet and commercial tasting.



We were waved off the premises by the scariest looking freaky apple whose eyes swerved left and right. To what purpose, I know not. Perhaps it was to root out those infidels who were heard mumbling about the substandard pie substances served.

Go only if you are driving by. And if you're bored already of the world's largest ball of string.


Restaurant Orange Julep
Boulevard Décarie
Montréal, Quebec
H4P 2H4, Canada
Tel: (514) 738-74867700


The Big Apple
Colborne, Ontario
The Big Apple also has a mini go-kart racing track and a petting zoo. And a huge carpark for tour buses. All of which were desserted when we went.

Stampede to Breakfast

The day after the Stampede, our friend, who lives permanently in cowtown, decided that we needed, or rather, our stomachs needed, to experience the Stampede breakfast. And so we went.

We joined the long, snaking queues of people for our free breakfast, accompanied by a stage with live country singers as well as impressive hoop dancers. There were pony rides for the kids (I'm still annoyed they wouldn't let me on one of the bigger ponies), as well as a faux cow milking contest).

It was very much a community thing, with everyone from the lovely Little Miss Calgary helping us with our plates;

to the knee slapping cowboys flipping our pancakes;

to the weird, pseudo clown/cowboy... I have no idea what he was doing.

In any case, once we got our plates of food, we milled around in front of the stage and enjoyed our two pancakes, sausage and drink. It was great fun and definitely worth doing if you're in Calgary during Stampede time.

Yeee HAW!

Fair-ly Good Food

I'm back from my Great Canadian Escape!

Well, you'll be happy to know, or rather my belly was happy to know that I ate all the junk food that I listed on my last entry. My wonderful friend picked me up at the Vancouver airport, whisked me off for a bowl of "cart noodles" and it was off to Superstore to purchase said junk food.

As I didn't have much access to the Internet, I will not bombard you with descriptions of ALL I ate but I did have much good food. Mostly a lot of the Asian food I was craving.

However, as most people know, one of my weaknesses is junk food. And for this, what better way to describe to you what I ate at the Calgary Stampede?

Ahhhhhh.... Fair food, how do I love thee? There is nothing like it to bring you straight back to your childhood and, for many, while the memories may be fond, they are also mixed with disgust at one food in particular, which brings with it memories of vomit. For some, this may be the venerable candy floss, or, as the French charmingly call it, "barbe a papa". My father has never had a beard of candy floss but to each their own. Many have overindulged, many have also violently expelled the strongly colored spun sugar after a few too many rides which jostle the stomach.

Luckily I was always one to be careful where jostling of stomachs are concerned. I was always much more concerned about fitting all the foods I wanted to eat in. And so it continues.

I began with a refreshing Sno-Kone (as irritating as that spelling is, 'snow cone' just looks too respectable for this dubious treat). I chose blue flavored, having determined early on that the only difference in flavors is the color. Sno-Kones are tricky little devils, consisting of shaved ice with syrup, housed in a flimsy waxed cone that starts to drip impossible to get out dye. I choose blue wisely as I was wearing blue that day.

It is extremely refreshing but almost impossible to eat without getting it all over your nose and your shirt. It also begins to taste like the Kone wrapping towards the end, right before you have to throw it out.


To please my friends by getting something else more share-able, I decided to ask for a stick of candy floss. The man ended up handing me a stick of something the spitting image of Marge Simpson's hair!

In horror I looked at it and asked the man if he couldn't have given me something more manageable when he broke into hysterical laughter. Days serving pimply nosed rat faced teenagers will do that to you. I backed away slowly.




My friends had gone off in a different direction and gone for the mini-donuts. You know the ones, either plain or sprinkled with an excess of sugar and cinnamon. Fresh, warm and so moreish they were selling them by the bucketful. We were conservative and only had a packet of 16 between the three of us girls.


After the rodeo, I felt a bit peckish, mainly for something savory after all the blue sugar I had consumed. Lo and behold, what did I see?? RIBS!! And not just any ribs, bison ribs! It was fate calling me.

It was delicious, full of meaty flavor... just the thing to get me back in the game!

As my friends wimped out and went for the "Big Suck" aka a large slurpee, I went to the Old Dutch promotion stand and paid up for a bag full of snack sized chips, including my favorite of Ketchup and Dill Pickle. Oh yeah, Canada rocks.

I rounded off my day at the stampede with a healthy big old fried up corn dog. I couldn't not have it... after all, I wasn't having any candy apples nor corn on the cob... it was my civic duty to have my corn dog. Which I did. Before going out for Thai food.

Ahhh, the pleasures of holidays.

Ah Canada!

I am 'on leave' to Canada as of Monday the 2nd of July... for 3 weeks! I am not sure I will have the ability to post while away although I will try.

Before leaving you, I thought I'd list out the junk that I've missed while away and will be eating whilst in the land of the maple leaf.

- Cheerios - PLAIN ones please, not multi-grain and definitely NOT honey nut
- Old Dutch Ketchup Chips, my love of which was the subject of this post
- McCain's Deep and Delicious chocolate cake.... ar ar ar ar arrrrrrrrrrr
- Oh Henry Bars.... they have the OH in the name for a reason
- Homemade rice crispy treats - why on earthy do they not sell rice crispies in France??
- Plain animal crackers - since the demise of the McDonald cookies, these have become a favorite plain cookie - all the ones sold in France are covered in chocolate
- Coffee Crisp - wafery, coffee, chocolatey goodness
- Tim Horton's iced cappuccino chili and - a favorite on road trips

In case you think its only me, check out this article...while I don't agree with all of it, namely the Nanaimo bars (too sweet), the rest is quite spot on.

So hopefully I'll post while away, if I can tear myself away from the junk food long enough to tell you all about the yumminess I'm injesting straight into my belly!

Happy Happy Summer Holidays!

Ribouldingue - The yucky bits

I had been waiting to try it.

Ribouldingue was renowned for serving up innards. And I love innards. It could be the Chinese in me but after eating innards for as long as I can remember in noodle soups and the like, it does not faze me in the slightest. I never made any dishes containing innards but this was mostly due to my incompetency in cooking rather than any squeamishness.

But when Susan arrived, I knew this was the place for her. This is a woman who ate turkey balls in front of her boyfriend, although hopefully not stabbing at them viciously, knowing how men seem to hunch over at the slightest hint of pain to their nether regions.

And so we went. I even convinced the boy to go. He was willing, especially after the aperitif of absinthe he delighted in finding on the menu.

The menu is priced at 27 euros for three courses with additional costs for some of the selections. I debated between the rognons blanc and the ravioles de queues de boeuf but when for the beef tail ravioli when the boy chose the white kidneys. Susan went for the lamb's brains, which turned out to be perfectly pan fried with a lovely crust.

My beef tail ravioli were beautifully presented but I felt they were a bit boring and not as intense as they could have been, assuming they were cooked whole with the bone in so as to extract as much flavor as possible. I may also be biased, given my father's ox-tail stew is legendary with complex flavors that linger in the mouth. The boy's veal kidneys were tender and delicate and I have yet to find out what animal it came from.

For my main, I dithered between the ox tongue (continuing on the tip to top theme) and the tripes but on the recommendation of the waitress, went with the ox tongue. Again, I was a touch disappointed. My favorite, and most ghetto way of eating ox tongue is on spaghetti. Tomato sauce spaghetti the Chinese way in Cha Chan Tengs... with lots of Tabasco. So I was expecting a different preparation. Don't get me wrong, the tongue was tender and beautifully prepared to maintain the texture but the sauce was bland and a touch plain. I was expecting something a little bit different rather than chopped root vegetables. Susan's lamb sweetbreads were very rich and creamy while the boy's onglet was finished before I could snag a taste.

For dessert I chose a chocolate and ginger mousse with mango coulis and shaved young coconut paired with an airy meringue. I love all the flavors separately but together it was too much and didn't work altogether.

It seemed much like a disappointing meal but I was not in fact disappointed. I think my expectations were high due to the innards I had eaten before. I came expecting to eat innards prepared differently but found that the French preparation lacks the punch of the Chinese way. I enjoyed my meal and liked the restaurant itself. For adventurous eaters, this is a good option. For the Chinese, I say wait until you get home, much like I will!

Ribouldingue

10 rue St Julien le Pauvre

75005

Metro: St-Michel

Tel: 01 46 33 98 80

5 days, 7 meals, 8 ice creams and one Susan

It started innocently enough.

Susan was coming for a visit.

Of course I was under pressure. I had a "rep to protect", as they say.

Yes, it was Susan Jung, Food Editor, coming to stay with me.

"I have no plans", she said, making sweat beads as big as the ones on Anime characters pop out on my forehead.

I ran through my list of usual suspects, crossed my fingers and started making reservations for her arrival.

Luckily, she is one of the most easy going and loveliest people I've ever had the good fortune to meet.

So, what did we eat?

Well she blew into town with the force that is Meei, one of her friends who commandeered the day and so tea at Ladurée followed by a "simple" aperos and food at Bellota Bellota in Lafayette Gourmet before her train that evening.

The next day, I took her to my favorite lunch place in the city, the wonderful couscous stall at the Enfants Rouge Market (soon to be blogged, not to worry), followed by my favorite dinner place in town, A La Biche au Bois. Please note that I did manage to cram about 4 scoops of ice cream (Berthillion, of course, and the Roboppy approved Deliziefollie) into Susan in between lunch and the huge but delicious dinner of veal kidneys.

On day three, we set out resolutely for Pierre Hermé , where be bought canneles, to be consumed after lunch at Le Comptoir du Relais, where we admired our neighbour down a three course meal and a whole bottle of wine on his own. After our canneles, Susan heroically returned to Pierre Hermé for a fortifying Miss Gla Gla (macaroon biscuits with ice cream), before an evening of shopping and dinner at L'Os a Moelle. By this time, I had to beg out and left her to dine with a friend while I tried to rest my horrifically distended belly at home.

Day four was market day at Bastille which could not be missed, following which I set my guest at work whipping up a delicious mayo and dining on brie de meaux, artichokes, andouillet charcuterie, St Marcellin cheese, fresh gorgeous vine tomatoes and radishes, pate de campagne, liver saucisson and Vourvray wine.

Following which a trip to the incredibly nice and talented Jacques Genin was made in order to pick up 2 kilos of delicious, tender caramels, before heading back to Pierre Hermé, where after a slight altercation (which they called a 'misunderstanding and I call plain rude), we managed to emerge with Miss Gla Glas and a Kouing Aman. Of course right around the corner was Poilâne, which we couldn't resist popping into, and La Grande Epicerie of Bon Marche, before going to dinner at the wonderful Ribouldingue.

On day five, L'As de Falafel couldn't be missed and more ice cream from Berthillon and a walk up rue Mouffetard and St Germain to many of the chocolate shops. Patrick Roger's reception was icy cold and unfriendly despite our smiles and calls of "Bonjour", while at Jean Charles Robouchoux, we had a warm reception, placing our orders for the Saturday fresh fruit chocolate specials and a large order as gifts for Susan's return. Finally a last dinner at La Regalade before finally coming to a rest back home.

Reviews of Regalade and Ribouldingue to come... as well as a week of light eating and rest. That Susan may be tiny but she does the foody world proud!!

Bite me

A few weeks ago, we went on a museum crawl as part of the wonderful Nuit des Musees. We went with friends of ours to Musee Carnavalet, Petit Palais (with a fabulous garden and lounge chairs), Invalides and Musee Rodin.

We went to the Invalides, where we visited the very strange tomb of Napoleon, on a raised platform in the lower floor, looking mightly big and impressive indeed for such a little man. The boy and I found it a little creepy and strange to have such a massive building work dedicated to the tomb of Napoleon but to each their own.

My friends decided to pop into the cafeteria for a hot drink and a warm up when I noticed this near the cash register....

Sucette Napoleon!

Yes, that's right kids! Instead of just visiting the tomb of Napoleon, you can now buy your own figurehead and lick and bite it as much as you want! Out of respect, of course. Because all dead leaders deserve their own sucette.

F-odd: Overheard

Overheard at Borough Market in reference to the picture on the left...

"Mommy, is that a birthday cake?"

The mother turned around shuddered and pulled her little boy away.

My question is, what kind of birthday cakes are kids getting these days anyhow?

London on a Noodle String

On a last minute trip to London last weekend with the boy, I managed to fit in a few of the obvious to-dos, such as exploring the gastronomical delights of Borough market, shopping on Oxford street (where I found Primark, which ruined me for the other shops due to their shockingly low prices), catching up with friends over dim sum, and of course a Broadway show (Avenue Q, which I enjoyed immensely)

The first thing we did after dumping our bags at the now defunct Hotel 167 (we found out it was closing two days after we stayed there), we went straight to Borough market to indulge in, amongst other things, a venison burger, cheese from Neal's Yard, dried sour cherries from Cranberry, and the most delicious (and deadly) sandwich from the Spanish importer, Brindisa, which consisted of chorizo, fried in olive oil then grilled and split before being put into an olive oil drizzled bap, topped with meltingly soft roasted red peppers and some kicky rocket. It was heaven in a mouthful.

Although we were only in London for a few days, we found time to visit a good friend who is currently studying to take over the world in Cambridge, where we were very lucky with the weather and went punting, which was a LOT harder than I had thought.

My friend, who had warned me that Cambridge is a food wasteland, recommended a safe bet for dinner, Nando's, a chain of peri-peri spiced chicken restaurants. I rarely order chicken at a restaurant as it has a tendency to become overcooked and is generally boring, I really enjoyed this one for the spices, especially as I had never tried peri-peri before. The chicken could have been of better quality but for 25 pounds between the three of us, with enough food for 4, we were more than pleased.

For lunch before hoping on the bus back to London the next day, we grabbed a bowl of noodles at the ubiquitous Wagamama, a favorite with many for their flavorful Asian-inspired soup noodles. I had the Chicken Kare noodles in a coconut based spicy sauce. It was ok. I felt that it could use a lot more punch to the soup base and the noodles were soggier than I would have liked. However, it was fine for a quick lunch stop.

I was however, much, much more impressed by Jen's cafe, which boasts handmade noodles and dumplings, which are wrapped by two pleasant ladies in front of a show window corner. I had the spicy pork noodles (jia-jiang mien) and a bowl of Beijing dumplings (jiaozi) to share with the boy before sneaking back on my own another day for another taste of those toothsome, deliciously springy noodles. It was my definite favorite find of the trip.

One of the great joys of travelling is the different tastes and finding pleasure in new things to eat, even if it is just in a chain restaurant.

Unfortunately I don't remember the exact address for Jen's cafe but it can be found at Newport Place in London's Chinatown.

Vive la French Directness

Many have looked at me with envy, jealous of all the fabulous French food I have been consuming by the bucketload. All the French cheeses, the brains of baby cows, the coq au vin, and other glorious foodstuffs that the most romantic and food obsessed place in the world has to offer.

However, it comes with a heavy price.

And when I say heavy, I mean literally.

Consider the following scenario....

Last week I was at the local H&M, looking for some nice summery things to wear and once I have selected some bits and pieces, headed for the dressing room queue to try them on.

While I was daydreaming (probably about food), one of the girls working the dressing room passed me by with armloads of clothes to return to the racks. Upon seeing me, she stopped in her tracks and says "Vous avez priorite" (you have priority).

I was surprised to hear that, seeing as there were two ladies ahead of me in the queue. Sensing my confusion, she decides to clear things up.

"Parce que vous etes enceinte"

In horror, I said, "No, I am NOT pregnant".

Now stop for a second and consider this scenario. If you were the (wretched) girl, what would you do?

You would think you would apologize and backtrack, wouldn't you?

Nope. This being France, land of stubborn people refusing to believe that they are ever in the wrong, she decides instead to say, nodding at the general direction of my belly,

"On dirais qu'il y a un bebe la dedans"

Not enough with insulting me with the pregnancy comment, she digs in more by saying that you'd think I had a baby in there before sauntering off with her arm full of clothes.

As I turned beet red, I couldn't help but instinctively look down at my belly. Upon looking up, I noticed that the two ladies behind and two ladies in front were also checking out my belly.

Yep, humiliation at the hands of the H&M dressing room girl is a hard, hard pill to swallow. And even more painful to digest.

A little bit of Malaysia

Surprisingly, despite Paris being an international city, some of the more international foods are done not quite right.

For example, the boy's favorite back in HK, wonton noodles, which here in Paris, are sometimes made using Shanghainese flour noodles.

That being the case, and wanting to make the most of my time here and for fear of "wasting stomach", I have rarely wandered out for Asian cuisine, beside a bowl of heart warming Pho now and again.

However, when Umami told me about the Malaysian cultural fair a few weeks ago, I had to go. For the food.

I had satays, nasi lemak and even pulled tea. It was lovely but it was more this sight which pleased me more than anything. It could have been anywhere in South East Asia but the fact that it was in the back garden of the Malaysian embassy pleased me especially.

My Malay friend even told me that the oil they used to grease the roti is Malaysian!

Loire Valley Round up

I blame the lack of food posts entirely on my friend, with whom I have been having entirely too much fun, raiding castles and pillaging wine. Ok, so not quite but close enough.

The Loire valley was glorious! Blue skies, and an average of two castles a day, punctuated by visits to local food producers (tapped pears anyone?), degustations in vineyards, ending in wonderful restaurants (except for one evening where the meal was so depressing, we ended up eating cookies in bed in a fit of discontent). A perfect mix of my favorite hobbies ... travel, photography, castle-ing (yes, I count it as a hobby) and of course, wining and dining. Throw in shopping in there and I'd be in heaven. As things go, it was pretty much a perfect holiday.


But you're here for the food. Ok, ok, got it.



First night we had a fabulous dinner in Blois, at a great little restaurant called Le Bistrot du Cuisinier, where you were allowed a choice of 2 courses for approximately 23 euros (I forget exactly, I blame the wine). I started with an absolutely delicious "Terrine de canard et pistaches, oeuf de caille poche sur un moelleux de beaufort, sauce moutardee a l'ancienne". It was fabulous. Other interesting starters included and iced cream of coco beans, smoked duck breast and crushed coconut. As you can see, the chef is not afraid of being adventurous.

My main, I regretted the second I saw my neighbors' huge piece of foie gras with chicken breast. I had ordered the tete de veau en sauce ravigote, seeing as it was the specialty of the house. I really shouldn't have as I think the best was probably the one at the Grand Venise. However, this restaurant is highly recommended if you're doing the Loire Valley this summer. Lovely staff, great salmon rillettes to spread on the bread and a great view of the castle.

The second night was in the village of Chenonceau. Surprisingly lacking in charm, the village is very close to the rail tracks, which can be heard rumbling from time to time. Go to the castle then get the hell out of there. We shall never mention our horrific dinner nor the scathing comments cards we left at the horrific Hotel de Roy restaurant ever again. Simply avoid the restaurant, hotel and all.

After picking up the boy, we had dinner in Tours, the biggest city we visited on the journey. We had to go in order to pick up the boy, who was joining us for the second half of the trip. We chose to eat at the Bistrot de la Tranchee, where I had a fabulous meal for the shockingly low sum of 17 euros for 3 courses. The boy and my friend went for the higher priced market meal at 23 euros, which was still a bargain when we saw the carefully prepared and beautifully plated meal. Our amuse gueule was the most visually pleasing, with its white and black "boudin" or blood sausages, on a vibrant beet sauce which was neither cloying nor soapy.




The next day, we were spending the night in "une des plus beaux village de France", in Candes St. Martin. One of the definite favorites of the villages, the restaurant, Auberge de la Route D'Or was fabulous. In the little square in front of the village church, St. Pierre, the food and service was friendly and absolutely delicious throughout. I had the local specialty of eel, which while not beautiful to look at was thoroughly yummy, without the rubberiness that eel sometimes has, but the subtle delicate flavor of a soft fleshed fish. You will understand how much we enjoyed the food when I tell you that over the next two days, we chased down the "Affineur" for more of the cheese in the cheese plate and visited the vineyard to purchase over 30 bottles of the wine which we enjoyed that evening.



The last restaurant of the trip was a bit of a tourist trap. I knew it going in but wanted to taste "foues", hot little breads which were a specialty of the region, and this restaurant apparently had one of the best. Located in Montreuil Bellay (My absolute favorite village of the trip), La Grange a Dime had costumed gentlemen, a set menu of 23 euros including (a standard swill) wine, rillettes, a cassoulet type dish, salad, goat's cheese, strawberries and a chanting of dirty poems. Ok, not quite dirty poems but very suggestive ones using French play on words.

The foues were.... delicious! Prompting the boy to uncharacteristically say "Keep the little breads coming, French dude!". Exhorted to stuff the hot little pockets with "plein de buerre au fleur de sel", we did just that, burning fingers to shove huge slabs of butter in between, to melt into the hot bread. Arguments over whether it was more like pita or naan raged on over the course of the dinner, which was forgettable besides the bread.



While you might all think it was fun and games, let's not forget that I was made to pay for my greediness by lugging a 63 bottles of wine back to our fourth floor walk up. That's not including the other goodies I collected along the way.

Now go eat and be merry.



Le Bistrot du Cuisinier


20 quai Villebois-Mareuil

Blois

Tel: 02 54 78 06 70



Bistrot de la Tranchee

103 avenue de la Tranchee

37100 Tours

Tel: 02 47 41 09 08

Auberge de la Route D'Or

Place de L'Eglise

37500 Candes St Martin

Tel: 02 47 95 81 10

La Grange A Dime

Rue du Chateau

49260 Montreuil-Bellay

Tel: 02 41 50 97 24