Luica’s Blog

I had a relatively quiet weekend after the dim sum fest and lots of Vodka shots with Tony and Albane. We somehow managed to spent over £100 pounds on 32 dishes of dim sum between four of us at Ping Pong! The food was very nice but by the end of that meal, we couldn’t even think about food an hour later.

Next, it was Tony’s mission for the day to try the fizzy Vodka drink at Revolution. Unfortunately or fortunately, they had stopped serving it, so we switched to the Vodka sticks. After two rounds of those, we had come to a conclusion: my favourite was chocolate orange; Brad’s was raspberry; and Tony’s was probably not the chilli one, which was crazily hot and was not recommended unless you are super drunk or a masochist.

I walked past Gerry’s Off Licence over the weekend and saw this girlie looking bottle in the window - chocolate orange cream liqueur for sophisticats - sounded interesting, but £2.75 per bottle was not cheap. It was like an orange flavour Baileys™, but even sweeter - not sure if I would buy it again unless it’s for a girlie night in.

Gerry’s Off Licence is one of the most interesting shops in Soho. They don’t open on Sundays and don’t open late, but when they are open, it’s always busy with people browsing and pointing at a random, strange bottles. I can’t think of anything alcoholic that they don’t stock. It’s handy for turning up at parties with the most peculiar spirits.

Konditor & Cook has always been my favourite cake shop. I miss the shop in Waterloo which was five minutes away from my previous office. Its latest cafe is at the Curzon Soho cinemas on Shaftesbury Avenue. What could be better weekend entertainment than watching a high quality movie, followed by a slice of the delicious Curly Whirly double-layer chocolate cake?

My mum and Lisa were visiting us in the U.K. so we decided to treat them to a week in Italy. Within the seven day trip, we visited Roma, Firenze, Siena, Castiglione del Lago, Perugia and Orvieto. Despite a previous bad experience in Firenze (including a cigarette burn to my eyebrow and staying with a horribly dirty host family for a month), I was able to re-discover this beautiful city.

We had some gorgeous food during the holiday. However, when it comes to choosing a place to eat in Italy, it is not always that easy to tell a ristorante (restaurant) from a trattoria or osteria. A trattoria is normally a cheaper version of a restaurant; there are no menus, the service is casual and the prices low. An osteria is more of a wine bar that offers a small selection of dishes with a verbal menu. A pizzeria serves pizza but usually has a trattoria-style menu. Brad and I had some nice panini from one of the alimentair (grocery stores) for just a few Euros.

Roma

Our first dinner in Roma was at a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet Italy Guide, called La Cicala e La Formica, which is a little restaurant with some delicious simple dishes. My mum and Lisa seemed to enjoy their Carpaccio. I forgot how laid-back Italians are especially when it comes to food - they spend hours in restaurants relaxing and chatting with friends until midnight - not so profitable for the owners I guess, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Firenze

We liked the reasonably-priced fast-food from the covered food market near Piazza San Lorenzo. It is a perfect place for lunch especially after an exhausting shopping trip along the open-air market for leather goods (jackets, leather-bound books and everything you can think of in leather). I managed to find my way back to the famous food stall just outside the covered market - they do the most amazing beef tripe rolls and they were as good as I remembered from my student days in Firenze. I wonder if Ellen can still remember the taste.

Perugia

It was at Osteria II Ghiottone (Via Caporali 12) that we had the best homemade pasta we’d ever tasted. Tagliatelle con funghi mistie e porcini was the starter for the set menu of the day and the texture of the tagliatelle was perfect - chewy but not too soft or too hard. It also went well with the simple mushroom sauce (although I don’t like mushrooms). I also had the best starter here - its Antipasto dela Ghiottone was gorgeous. I loved the Prosciutto and Salami, as well as the many other small dishes. It costed €12 but was big enough for four hungary people like us (three tiny women and a tall person).

On our last night in Perugia (also our last night in Italy), we bough some dried meat and smoked cheese from a supermarket called PAM, took them back to our hotel along with a bottle of €1.99 red wine, and chatted our way until midnight on our balcony. We were all surprised by the quality of such a cheap wine. It was a fun evening - Lisa was definitely merrier than usual.

A Greek snack bar opened a few months ago on Long Acre and it is certainly a great location near Covent Garden. The decor is simple and comfortable; the high ceiling helps create an airy atmosphere; and the staff are friendly and cheerful. Behind every sofa seat along the walls there are large windows to see and be seen. Most passers-by could smell the food and see in from outside.

I liked the saucy chicken souvlaki and refreshing little dolmades with pine nuts, but wasn’t sure if I would pay a tenner for the tiny little portions very often. I think most people would need at least two souvlakis and two mezedes for lunch. The peach frozen fruit daiquiri was okay.

I may go back for the comfortable atmosphere when I fancy a lazy, relaxing afternoon with some friends, but I would definitely have some lunch beforehand.

We had a lazy Saturday morning and had a late lunch at this traditional Pie and Mash shop called G.Kelly. Having lived in the area for almost three years, I had only been to the shop once to get a take away pie for my dad.

It was an interesting experience to eat in - sitting on the wooden bench, next to the ceramic wall. I ordered a minced beef pie and mash, with parsley sauce (also called ‘liquor’, even though it is entirely alcohol free) for £2.50. Apparently, they also sell jellied eels, which may be a bit too much for my stomach.

Roman Road market was as busy as ever. It was far too cold to wander around outside, so we just had a ‘Churro’ (Brazilian donut) from one of the stalls for dessert and headed back to the flat.

Dim Sum with Vanessa at the new Chinese restaurant - Yauatcha - was good fun. Originally, we were planning to have cake and Chinese tea at the café on the ground floor, but somehow our table was reserved at the restaurant downstairs.

We decided to stay in the restaurant for Dim Sum after we saw the nicely decorated interior (with a long and narrow aquarium at the counter and comfortable lighting, apart from the spot light at the middle of each table to highlight what everyone is eating) and smelt the delicious food at the nearby tables.

We ordered five Dim Sum dishes and shared some hand-pulled noodles, which we both really enjoyed. Vanessa’s chopstick skill was improved after the couple of Chinese meals we’ve had. It’s also worth mentioning the excellent dessert - sweet black seasame balls, in which the outside is made with glutenous rice flour. I will definitely go back.