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Le Bar a Vin – French Wine Bar, Blackheath – a Review

July 1, 2014 by manjirichitnis 8 Comments

On a perfectly beautiful sunny summer evening, I made my way to Blackheath for a bloggers evening at a French Wine Bar. A first for both going to Blackheath and a French wine bar that claimed to be halfway between a pub and a restaurant.

I think I walked past the bar once before I finally understood my google map. There is something very welcoming about the simple wooden interiors and large paintings that made me want to just dump my bag and get started with a chilled glass of wine. First up we were served a Champagne Rose’ and hors d’oeuvre of regular stuff like sun-dried tomatoes – not in oil as I expected but these were nice and tangy, very dry on their own though, sweet mini peppers stuffed with cheese and served with Tapenade.

1-2014-06-17 18.39.09 (Copy)
A cute little French Wine Bar overlooking the green on Blackheath high street

Le Bar a Vin has ample seating indoors and out on street, it is tastefully done and perfect for an evening out with friends or with family to have that one glass or carafe of wine, gaze at the beautiful surroundings and drink in the ambience. Also good to grab a high stool, drink a glass of red with a date.

The sunshine and a comfy table visible outside from the beautiful big windows were too hard to resist so we moved outside to soak up some sun, there was a light breeze …just perfect to get started on wine! (Got me dreaming of the perfect Parisian evening and winding down a day of sightseeing by settling down with a refreshing glass of red at a cute French Wine Bar). Well with the 120 wines on offer with a distinctly French touch, I was all set to order my white wine, I wanted a light and slightly sweet one so on Jean-Philippe’s recommendation I got a German white called Gewürztraminer – an aromatic white which goes well with cheese and fatty gamey meat and tastes like lychees, floral and with tiny bubbles in the glass. I loved it! I could have done with some bread but thankfully didn’t have any just then as the charcuterie and cheese were yet to arrive. It was fun deciding what cheese to choose with the charcuterie.

1-17th June'14 Le Bouchon

I choose Comte  – a 24-month-old mature cheese with a nutty flavour & hard but creamy texture, Secret – a cheese I’ve never had before – its made from unpasteurised cows milk with fruity and nutty notes and last one I gave in to a desire for some blue cheese with Forme d’ Ambert – a creamy and very light blue cheese – prefect to slather onto the accompanying bread. Before our beautiful cheese and charcuterie boards reached our table, little did I expect such large portions, it was more than enough and served as a very satisfying main course.

I was seated with some very friendly bloggers and conversation flowed as smoothly as the wine.

That is a picture of my delicious cheese and charcuterie served with red grapes, pickles and dried apricots – perfect with the platter.

2-2014-06-17 19.52.10 (Copy)

L-R Starting Top left clockwise: Comte Saucisson a traditional tasty pork sausage with Comte’, Walnut Saucisson – pork sausage nutty and dry but very delicious and a pepper Saucisson 100% pork sausage aged in black pepper.

I finished my cheese off with some Spanish Red – Rioja –  intense on spices and oak, fruity with a hint of liquorice.

Travelling into Blackheath by train and walking up the high street is like getting out-of-town into a nearby modern village. Le Bar a Vin is Blackheath’s answer to an independently owned wine bar with a good selection of wine and cheese, in contrast to the many chains that otherwise easily take over the majority of the high street. It’s the kind of place you could back to many times over and even make your favourite haunt if you are a local – easy.

Looking for inspiration for an evening out in London? Why not browse through some of my other review posts? Get the inside scoop of where to head for everything from the most authentic Indian food to cracking cocktails!

Dreaming of travelling and enjoying local wines and fab food? Let me tempt you with more posts that will make you want to grab your suitcase, book your tickets and head straight to the airport!

  • Enjoy mouthwatering cichetti with amazing wines just like the locals do in Venice: Best local wine bar in Venice
  • Get a crash course on Gouda with a fabulous wine tasting experience in Amsterdam: Cheese and wine tasting in Amsterdam with Reypenaer

For some wine related recipe inspiration, check out my easy recipes here:

  • Vin Chaud – French mulled wine
  • White wine sauce

*With thanks to Jean-Philippe Tessier for the invite. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Previously known as Le Bouchon.

Le Bouchon Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Restaurant Reviews Tagged With: 24 month old mature cheese, a Review, aromatic white wine, Blackheath, bread, Champagne Rose', cheese, cheese and charcuterie, cheese and fatty gamey meat, Comte, Comte Saucisson, creamy, creamy texture, dried apricots, dry delicious, floral and with tiny bubbles in the glass, Forme d' Ambert, French Wine Bar, fruity and nutty notes blue cheese, fruity with a hint of liquorice, Gewürztraminer, hard, hors d'oeuvre, intense on spices and oak, Le Bouchon, light blue cheese, nutty flavour, pepper Saucisson 100% pork sausage aged in black pepper, pickles, pork sausage nutty, prefect to slather, red grapes, Rioja, Secret, served with, Spanish Red, sun dried tomatoes, sweet mini peppers stuffed with cheese, Tapenade, tastes like lychees, traditional tasty pork sausage, unpasteurised cows milk, Walnut Saucisson

Browsing around at Angel

April 4, 2012 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

To the bored Londoner, it’s just another tube station but to me it is a beautiful cosy place with a wonderfully modern mall, a very alive and vibrant street market, great restaurants, and plenty for the hungry soul to do, to see, to absorb and soak in and spend a few hours enjoying the best that this place has to offer.

On my recent visit to Angel, I spent time walking around, enjoying the early spring sun, savouring the street food delicacies and discovering the joy of having a lazy cup of tea and an amazing cafe called Euphorium Bakery.

I walked around the street market and ate this awesome falafel wrap, it has the most divine crunchy fried falafel balls ummmmm and very, very tasty aubergines, cauliflower, spicy chilli pickled, fried potato dusted with the most amazing sauce and what not!

If you see the two blokes in the picture, one smiley and one err well Not so smiley ;), you know you are the right place for mind-blowingly tasty falafel wraps!

The street market has a butcher, a fishmonger, several fruit and vegetable vendors, carpet sellers, lingerie stalls, even a  makeup stall! It has all sort of world cuisine on offer, right from the local jacket potatoes and fish and chips to mid-eastern falafels, African jerk chicken, Bangladeshi kebabs, Vietnamese noodles, Thai crispy prawns, and so much more and yes a generous spattering of many pubs and cafes including the famous chains like Starbucks and Costa for the loyal followers.

Though I strongly suggest landing up without having had breakfast , picking up a falafel wrap as an appetiser, then walking around taking in the vibrancy of the place and then eating to your heart’s content at any one of the many food stall, then wandering around the massive mall, indulging in some shopping  , strolling around the quiet by lanes and plonking yourself onto an easy chair in one of the many lovely local cafes and sipping away on your latte’ or Indian chai and relishing an afternoon well spent .

A view of the massive ”Angels’s wings” at the entrance to the Mall and a View of the ” Angel’s Halo” at one of the exits ….

I even managed to get a steal-deal on a book I was looking to buy for some time now from a local charity shop ( I don’t know how she does it – By Alison Pearson, a must read for EVERY woman especially if you thrive on a huge guilt conscience of NOT being able to spare enough time for your family because you have a job that you love and are addicted to !, it’s a bible for one of my closest female buddies P)

A view of a beautiful flower shop located close to the bakery.

A little rain while I was safely tucked inside the cafe dropped the temperature by a few degrees and ensured I left to get home just in time to make hubbykins a steaming hot cuppa and share a long conversation about how I spent a lovely day out.

I also discovered a wonderful Fruit called Longan, it’s like litchi in the texture of the skin and the soft watery succulently fresh white fruit hidden inside but with a twist in the form of a sugary sweet caffeine kick concealed in the fruit that explodes with every bite that you take. I managed to gobble quite a large number of them, reluctantly sharing them with my better half 🙂

This is an image of the fruit, that what remains of the LARGE bag I got home I know, I know greedy me!

I have posted some pictures below of the fruit, it’s delicate skin that can easily be peeled off and globular succulent fruit inside.

In India there is a version of this fruit called Litchi or Lychee, it has bright red or dull brown skin, and the appearance of the fruit inside looks very similar to the Longan. Lychees are more oval in shape though and very different but equally delicious and sweet to taste and also are very succulent, every bite releases a delicious sticky liquid ummmm.

Some images of the Litchi or Lychee I got off the net :

It’s at times like this that I imagine how much of effort God put into creating this planet and all that is there on the planet , it is such small everyday pleasures that make me smile.

To those whose mouth is watering after seeing those images please head to China Town or any proper Chinese shop in London and ask for Longan . If you love them as much as I did , write back to me !Please !

I have posted a few images of my day out below, hope you enjoy seeing them. Oh yes, How can I forget the highlight of the day ?! I touched a LIVE snake and that too a BOA CONSTRICTOR (screaammmmmmm EEEEEEECHHHHH,yelll, shiver shudder shake shake ..none of that happened, even little kids were touching the slippery guy who seemed to be basking in the glory of so many curious human eyes set on him !), it is called a Common Boa Constrictor and inhabits rainforests, the other two animals I saw were an African spurred tortoise and a lizard which I think is the Bearded Dragon, a word of praise here for the handlers of these animals who work with a company called the Zoofari.

These handlers were gentle with the animals , very knowledgebale and great with kids too, they also ensured each and every fascinated child and adult got a blob of hand sanitiser after they touched the animals. Kudos to them ! Good work guys and I loved the concept of a mobile zoo and how they raise funds for wildlife ,a very noble thought and deed ..Indeed 🙂

The Zoofari Van :

The crowd around the display area :

Say hello to the Turtle , it’s quite massive isn’t it ??

And now the BOA…….

Ok that was me hesitating and touching the snake after all, so scale-eee , err never mind !

Well After those animals , feats your eyes on some images of the awesome Euphorium Bakery .

And just as I had left the area the taste of chai still lingering in my mouth, I was offered a free sample of the New Almond Latte at Starbucks, worth a try I say!

I managed to stuff my camera back into my bag and dragged my exteremly drowsy self to the tube station , but had to click this last one snap as I laughed aloud and people around gave me the look as if to say ”Crazy woman laughing all alone ..grumphfh ” well you would smirk too after seeing it wouldn’t you ??

Hahaha a quirky laugh at the end of a fab day, all I needed to inspire me to get blogging again!

Filed Under: London and rest of U.K, Travel Tagged With: african, balls, boa, bread, cakes, chai, chill, China, constrictor, costa, dragon, enjoy, Euphorium Bakery, falafel, flowers, fruits, god, India, jerk chciken, Kings Cross, latte, laze, Litchi, lizard, local, Longan, Lychee, mall, photo, picture, pubs, relax, shopping, slippery, snake, St.Pancras, starbucks, station.Angel, street market, tatsty, turtle, underground, vegetables, zoo, zoofari

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry

January 23, 2012 by manjirichitnis 10 Comments

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry – Recipe adaptation from Mother, Mother in Law and a close CKP friend – Saai who loves to stir up some spicy CKP fare and generally succeeds at it 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 2 measures of Masoor Dal (Red Lentil) with their brown covers intact and whole
  • Mustard Seeds
  • 2-3 Garlic Cloves
  • Green chillies 2- 3
  • Curry leaves about 5-6
  • Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – tiny spoonful
  • Freshly grated soft white coconut
  • Goda Masala – mommy made is so much better than the one from the shops but well

(**This is a mix of various spices readily available in Asian Grocery stores it’s basically a mixture of dry coconut roasted with a mixture of at least 10 different spices, best of all it’s available to buy online at Red Rickshaw – previously called itadka.com

Refrigerate this pack to increase shelf life ,yayay so many tips from me, don’t YOU just LOVE me , if u better don’t just READ this make n slurp it all ALONE, drop me A LINE and thank meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)

  • Coriander Powder
  • Ginger Garlic Paste

(Coriander and Chilli paste – 2 small sized bunches of coriander pureed with 2-3 green chillies – freeze and use on demand, handy and 1 of my 5 “save your face” purees for unwanted guests popping in at odd hours – the other 4 are listed at the end of this recipe)

  • 3 medium sized onion red – chopped fine
  • Asafoetida(Hing or Heeng)
  • Turmeric
  • Red Chilli Powder
  • Dhania Powder
  • Jaggery

Aamsul 2-3 soaked in lukewarm water to release it’s juices trapped inside the gorgeous maroon folds – Amsul – also called kokum or Garcinia indica, a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae)

  • Fresh leaves of Coriander chopped fine for dressing

 Process ( Once a Chemistry student and a retail employee stay that way forever , instead of “PREPARTION” I choose the word ”Process” which is drilled into a Retail Managers brain like young parents making their kids rote learn alphabets)

The masoor dal can be done 2 ways for stage 1 of this process, 1st is the short cut which I love as I suddenly get an urge mid evening to cook this typical CKP recipe to appease my urges to run to Heathrow n take the next flight to my parents home in Pune ,hummmmm, so we soak the masoor dal 2 measures feeds 2 adults with a ravenous appetite and leaves some to spare.

Then soak it in water for about 20 minutes , the traditional route is to soak the masoor for about 10 minutes and pressure cook with 1 or 2 whistles so that it doesn’t go too soft as it will not absorb the marvellous flavours of all the spices we are to add in the kadhai.

Heat 2 large generous tablespoons of oil in a wok, no weight watchers tip this huh? Indeed!

Add mustard seeds and wait for them to pop but please be carefull not to burn them, one classic error here is that there are 2 types of mustard seeds, one variety is slightly big and the other one is smaller n more packed with flavour according to my mother , I dare not disagree , the only reason I use the smaller variety is that it gives me an ego boost each time I do a phodni and don’t burn them.

Then add Asafoetida, crushed garlic cloves in their skin as the skin turns a tasty caramelised brown adding to the visual delight of the process of tempering a curry or dal! then when the garlic is starting to brown add the curry leaves , green chillies , jeera and then  a generous spoonful of the fresh grated coconut (fresh from froizen is fine by me too) then , stir in the goda masala – 2 generous teaspoons, coriander powder ,turmeric , a big blob of ginger garlic paste and coriander chilli paste and stir this wonderfully aromatic mixture till it starts to brown , then add the chopped onion  and stir it now n then , let the oil work its magic in the onion allowing it to brown so that it secrets it juices and adds the typical flavour that a powerfull pungent red onion has pack3ed inside each leaf ,umm , mouth salivating isn’t it by now reading this , it should that’s the whole point my friend .

Now when this mixture is nice and ready, drain the water from the soaked or boiled par-masoor dal and toss it into the kadhai, stir in enough water to cover the lentil n then some and cook it till it almost done, when your almost done pour in the water of the soaked amsool and the dunk the amsool in along with salt to taste and bring to boil.

Season with finely chopped fresh as ever coriander and serve piping hot with phulkas dripping with ghee (clarified butter) or the plain old boiled white rice.

As you lick your fingers n the plate don’t forget to thank your daddy for giving you an internet connection which allowed you to see my divine blog n stir up this delightfull dish !aww come on now did u really buy your laptop and your internet connection on your own ! Atta girl!

Key (reminds me of my Chemistry textbook in school years)

*C.K.P stands for Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu a sub section of the Maharashtrian community in India and they generally hail from the coastal regions and hence are rather partial to freshly grated coconut and amsool in their food, not to mention their love for fresh fish and mutton, oh yeah!

*Dal used loosely to refer to the uncooked Lentil and AMTI a Marathi word meaning cooked curry.

*Coriander = Cilantro

*Jeera – Cumin (what were you thinking?)

*Aamsul / Garcinia Indica – this is typical to the Konkan region in Maharashtra

*Phodni – Marathi for tempering

*Kadhai – Hindi and Marathi for Wok, easy or what?!

*Phulkas – Also called chapattis or the delightful Indian Bread soft and fluffy and fresh off the pan has ghee smeared on it to pack some punch a many many calories 🙂

The other 4 SAVE ME NOW pastes are:

* a garlic ginger coarse paste,

* Finely grated fresh white coconut paste,

* Tomato red onion puree -1:3,

*And the best one for last aye? – few onion chopped lengthwise n lightly roasted in a kadhai (wok) with fresh white coconut finely grated till they turn slightly brown , then churned into a paste in the mixer )

Pic 1 :The saucepan contains oil heated and then the asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, then the garlic , chopped green chillies and curry leaves and last but the best one GODA masala

Pic 2 :Chopped red onion added to the mix

Pic 3: That’s the dal cooking

Pic 4 & 5: All done , the AROMA is filling my senses and transporting me into my MIL’s kitchen , I want to HUG her nowwwwwwwwwww

P.S: Will post pictures to compare the 2 sizes of Mustard seeds at a later date , I am now going to be too busy slurping my amti (dal) off the plate 🙂

Filed Under: Curry - Vegetarian, Food, Indian, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Tagged With: aamsul, allergic, amsul, amti, aromatic, asafoetida, Atyamala, birund, blog, boil, Bollywood, bread, busy, butter, calories, chillies, chukra, CKP, cloves, clusiaceae, coarse, coastal, coconut, cook, corainder, curry, dal, dance, dhania, dish, dried, easy, elastic, fast, food, food blog, garcinia indica, garlic, ghee, goda masala, green, Gujrat, heeng, Hindi, hing, hot, hug, hurry, internet, itadka, jaggery, jeera, juices, Kadhai, Karnataka, kokum, konkan, laptop, leaves, lentil, lick, link, Madame Tussads, Madhuri Dixit, maharashtrian, mangosteen, Marathi, masoor, men, MIL, moi, Murgal, Murgala, mustard, mutton, Orissa, palate, paste, phodni, phulkas, piping, pour, powder, process, Punampuli, Pune, pungent, Raktapurak, ratamba, Ratnagiri, raw, recipe, red, region, rice, Sanskrit, season, seeds, slurping, song, Tamil Nadu, tasty, tease, tempering, Tintali, tintidika, tomato, tumeric, turmeric, typical, Vrikshamla, waist, water, wax, wet, white, wiki, wok

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