mouthful of delight

fundra
Originally uploaded by chowen

No one knows better than the girls about the wondrous chocolate things. The satisfying scent of cocoa, oh how it can numb your mind.

I've come across many in my life, truthfully, a well-balanced pleasure is hard to fine. They can be too dry, too sweet, too plain, too boring... This, however, is like a gem only to be noticed by the experienced. Dark chocolate coating with a firm texture that is cake and bread; centered with a soft, smooth chocolate mousse accompanied by a hint of walnut. Powered cocoa on top.

This chocolate fundra doesn't come cheap, but you must remember you're buying not the cake, but its dazzlement within.

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Baker & Spice
75 Salusbury Rd
London, NW6 6NH
020 7604 3636
Chocolate fundra: £4.50


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the real light lunch

The real Greek
Originally uploaded by chowen

This is a nice little restaurant tucked away in a corner just crossing off the busy streets in Covent garden, it's always packed and one can only envy the people inside with all the eating, clinking of the beer glass behind the see through glass window.

Finally on a quiet Sunday afternoon, served by a waitress who looked half-asleep, we ordered what we've wanted to try, the Mezedes Sharers. The 5-tier plate rack with different dipping sauces, accompanied with fresh pita bread and Greek beer; it was the ultimate brunch.

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The Real Greek
60-62 Long Acre
London
WC2E 9JE (020 7240 2292)
Souvlaki for Two and beer: £25

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Nostalgia...or not

New Taiwanese restaurant Keelung was very hyped up even before its opening, where its boss also owns a few other major restaurants in London Chinatown.

Having grown up with Taiwan night market food, and even though I know it would never be the same in a restaurant, curiosity got the better of me and I dragged a friend along to Keelung.

The menu that featured a photo of the Keelung harbour listed a mixture of typical Taiwanese market dishes and confusingly, typical Chinese dishes. There was also a star-chart of chef's recommendation v.s. how to cook your food, I did not give it a second look nor did I bother to try and work it out.

We went straight for the steam buns (siao-long-bao), fishcakes, beef noodle and rice paste. My friend, an expert in beef noodle, said it was too dry and not tender enough. Steam buns was so-so - the restaurant next door actually does it better. It was juicy as how it was supposed to be, other than that, I was getting no chemistry.

I was half-expecting the restaurant decor to pair with the down-to-earth street food but the mini vineyard near the main entrance was making a louder statement that "we are obviously targeting the non-Chinese customers"; something's not quite right.

All in all the restaurant is giving Taiwanese food a bad name, and I restlessly test and prove the theory time and time again: good food lives in the memory, and it just doesn't work when you know better.

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Keelung
6 Lisle Street, Leicester Square,
London WC2 (020 7734 8128)
Mix-match dishes with ice tea for two: £35


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fry up

English breakfast
Originally uploaded by chowen

Once in a while I find myself eating at the so-called tourist trap, sometimes on purpose, often unintentional.

Countless photos of Princess Diana taken with the cafe owner and of herself, it looked though her namesake was one of the Princess's very locals. Old style furnitures with a layer of grease that seemed to attach on just about any surface.

We went for the traditional English breakfast which turned out to be the ultimate salt experience. So the poached egg and beans were up to scratch, but you hardly need any skill to get that right.

If it weren't for the atmosphere, we would be much better off eating at home.

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cafe Diana
5 Wellington Terrace, London, W2 4LW

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