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Review – Notting Hill Kitchen, London (Permanently closed)

May 20, 2014 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

What: Dinner with fellow Reviewers courtesy Zomato

Where: Notting Hill Kitchen

Weather: Brilliant and Sunny

As I walked past posh residential building painted a pristine white I was sure I had lost my way inspite of Google Maps egging me to continue walking along Kensington Park. This is just minutes away from the hustle bustle and lively Notting Hill Market famous for its antiques.

It was an exceptionally warm summer evening and I was welcomed with a chilled glass of white -Quintaluna 2012, though couldn’t manage more than a glass as it was a bit tart for my taste.

First up was the Mac Silva a mini cod burger which was really delicious and I could have popped all of them into my plate had it not been for my equally hungry companions. Sea Bass Ceviche made with Peruvian aji Amarillo mild chilli, fennel corn,tomato ,coriander and lime was moorish,loved the fresh cherry tomatoes in there just wish it had a more generous squeeze of lime!

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Undoubtedly the star of the evening the Spider Crab Mousse was fabulously delicious , served in a mini doughnut the secret flavoursome ingredient was dehydrated mussels,the sea food lover in me was completely satiated , I have found a new obsession Spider Crabs!These reminded me the deep fried soft shell crab starters I tasted at Tenshi, a Japanese place at Angel, deep fried in a delicious light batter these are to be eaten whole! They look a bit spidery though so don’t think of that just gobble them up whole)

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Did you know that Spider Crabs found in Japanese waters also called tall footed crabs have the largest leg span of any arthropod?!Upto 3.8 meters long – thats a massive 12 feet!

Moving on from our science class back into  to Notting Hill Kitchen enter Tiborna Alentejana – a combo of Pata Negra,Bone Marrow,Cured Papada,toasted sourdough,truffled yolk – described by Martin as the bridge of meat – so apt huh? The cured papada was crunchy and the bone marrow delicious but the Pata Negra literally meaning black hoof popularly known as  Jamón ibérico or carna negra – is Iberian ham, it  was not something I fancied much, maybe blame by taste buds so used to Parma Ham. Pata Negra is a type of cured ham  produced mostly in Spain, but also in some Portuguese regions where it is called presunto ibérico and is made from iberico or black pigs or cross bred pigs.Washed down with a glass or two of Spanish Blend – Malacapa Rioja 2012 which was definitely many notches up compared to our white.

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Topping my list for comfort food on the menu was Jamon Croquetas made with caramelised onion…. mummmm, lemon beetroot and parsley viennoise, such a fab way to mask beetroot and so very delicious!

The starters were fabulous and I could have kept on going if it wasn’t for a delicious portion of Chef Yossi’s Acorn fed pork neck with red cabbage,lentils and lupin cous cous. Funnily though the lentils were very simple to the Indian dal vada though the centre of this big circular fried lentil I could taste the wet lentils .The cabbage was salty but very delicious and must say held its own even with pork as the main actor in this presentation.This went down really well with our Portuguese Red –  Quinta de sao jose touriga nacional 2011  , a complex fruity and fruity with spicy undertones with a rich purple red colour ,this red was also my favourite wine of the evening.

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Served with sides of an Asparagus and Saffron Risotto and a rather out of place portion of fries with mayo and paprika, the patatas bravas left me wanting .

Much foodie banter and impromptu exchanging of places to chat up with all the foodies at the table and the time seemed to have evaporated much more swiftly than I expected. It was great catching up with Leyla,Le Binh,Reema and Shak. Interesting conversation about our mutual much hated sport cricket -yes – boooo , with Frankie and some serious conversation about food blogging with Mehreen, several plans to catch up with these like minded folks were hatched. A rather enthusiastic bar tender got us all a round of exotic cocktails and entertained us with his banter while naughtily gulping down some delicious coffee cocktail with banana ummm.My espresso cocktail gets 4 on 5 ,its what I’d like to call a proper alcoholic end to a meal – bitter coffee notes ,chilled to perfection for the hot summer evening.

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Our sweet plate with vanilla ice cream, frozen sour bits of ice was served a Ginginha shot – a strong liqueur made with sour and Morello cherries.

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Le Binh rang in her birthday with this cute little birthday cake – its cute isn’t it!

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I have never been to a Portuguese Tapas bar so the fab dishes that were served up to on that fabulous summer evening will always be special and the menu has loads more to offer. Am especially tempted to return and try the Octopus Rice – a traditional Portuguese red rice in a red wine gravy with chorizo and the Berlengas Pink Swordfish – Hot Smoked in Azores black tea & pan fried creamed carolina rice ,fresh coriander piso,miso crumble  – sounds terrific doesn’t it ?!

What can you expect: Delicious Tapas Portuguese style but the bill runs steep so an average of £70 for 2 on a night out.

*With thanks to Zomato Uk and the staff at Notting Hill Kitchen  for  fun foodie evening.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Restaurant Reviews Tagged With: arthropod, Asparagus and Saffron Risotto, Azores black tea, Berlengas Pink Swordfish, black pigs, Bone Marrow, caramelised onion, carna negra, Chef Yossi's Acorn fed pork neck with red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, chorizo, complex fruity, coriander, cross bred pigs, Cured Papada, fennel corn, food and travel blogger, food writer, foodie in London, fresh coriander piso, fries with mayo and paprika, fruity, Ginginha shot, Google Maps, Hot Smoked, Iberian ham, iberico, Jamon Croquetas, Jamon Iberico, Japanese waters, lemon beetroot, lentils and lupin cous cous, lifestyle blogger, lime, Mac Silva, Malacapa Rioja 2012, Manjiri Chitnis, Manjiri Kulkarni, mini cod burger, miso crumble, Morello cherries, my favourite wine, Notting Hill Market, Octopus Rice, pan fried creamed carolina rice, Parma Ham, parsley viennoise, patatas bravas, Peruvian aji Amarillo mild chilli, Portuguese Red, Portuguese Tapas bar, presunto ibérico, Quinta de sao jose touriga nacional 2011, Quintaluna 2012, read sliceoffme, read travelsfor taste, red wine gravy, rich purple red colour, Sea Bass Ceviche, slice of my life, sliceoffme eats London, sliceoffme recipes, Spanish Blend, spicy undertones, Spider Crabs, spour, strong liqueur, The Notting Hill Kitchen, Tiborna Alentejana - a combo of Pata Negra, toasted sourdough, tomato, traditional Portuguese red rice, travel writer, travels for taste reviews London, travelsfortaste, truffled yolk, zomato reviewer, Zomato Reviewers Dinner

Tasty and Quick Pasta for two from ”nothing”

September 25, 2013 by manjirichitnis 21 Comments

We all have those days when we realise that all those reserves we had stowed away in various places – the fridge, the cupboard are well..not there and you are hungry and it’s too late to step out.

Panic not! There are ALWAYS a few things here and there which can be thrown in to make something superb! I made some very tasty and quick pasta yesterday and it was such a satisfying experience I cannot tell you how pleased I was with the outcome.

Please feel free to throw in stuff that you have, that needs using up.Waste not want not I say!

Ok so here goes.

Ingredients:

  • Pasta – whichever type you have left enough for 2 people – used tagliatelle and generally 2 rolls are good for one very hungry adult 🙂
  • Sea salt (basically just regular salt)
  • olive oil or regular vegetable oil 1 tbsp
  • Tomato puree/ 1 large tomato sliced and diced fine (I scraped off some leftover tomato puree in a can that was at the very back of my fridge  – just in time !
  • Chilli flakes as per taste)
  • Chorizo – again I have a small portion lying around and it packs a punch in the taste department!
  • Spring onion finely chopped, I had a small bit left over from a bunch and it tasted awesome with the chorizo
  • Dried herb mixture – 2 tsp (or use fresh herbs off your kitchen plants – my dried herb mixture is a bit of left over artisan mix from one of the many food fairs I go to 🙂 it has garlic,parsley,chilli,sun dried tomatoes,salt and basil)
  • 2 – 3 cloves garlic sliced very fine and deep fried to give a superbly crunchy deep taste
  • Some cheddar cheese, I had 2 different packs tied with a rubberband and lying quietly in a small corner of my fridge door – ha! perfect find for pasta I say!

Method:

  • Boil the pasta in a saucepan with a sprinkling of sea salt and drizzle some olive oil as it nears the point when it’s cooked completely, this will ensure it does not get sticky and stodgy.
  • As soon as the pasta is on the boil, in another saucepan,heat 1tsp olive oil or sunflower oil and fry the garlic until it is crisp, to get them to crisp slice them superfine,as much as you can manage to without slicing off your fingers;)
  • Then throw in the chorizo slices and as they cook they release a lot of oil and it really can add a lot of flavour and you don’t buy propecia want to waste that so quickly chuck in the chopped spring onion and the tomato puree,stir and cook this mixture for about 2 minutes on a very low flame.

The oil from the Chorizo adding flavour to the spring onion

After the Chorizo is cooked it should look like this

  • Drain off the excess water from the pasta ensuring there is just a little bit to allow the pasta to remain smooth.
  • Turn off the heat at this point and mix well.Then add some chilli flakes and the cheese – as much as you have or as much as your waistline and conscience allows 😉
  • The heat trapped inside the pasta and the sauce will melt the cheese and it just disappears into the pasta giving it that perfectly cheesy not over-the-top taste,which is ex-actly what you want folks!The yummy deliciousness that this pasta is makes me want to dive right into the plate and its smoky garlicy flavour with just the right amount of chilli and chorizo which is my absolute personal favourite for pasta dishes,what more could one ask for!?! 🙂
  • I wish I had some smoked ham,fresh basil and some more chorizo – but hey this was so good I am going to make it again and again!
  • I hope you do too and if you do drop me a line here in the comments, I love reading what you have to say!I am most looking forward to those comments where you were in a similar situation and used the ”nothing” from your fridge and made pasta as delicious as mine – just use your imagination!

The best pasta I've ever made!

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  • I am entering this recipe into the ”No Waste Food Challenge” for Jan ’14,hosted by the lovely Elizabeth who blogs at  Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary and has taken on the baton to host this challenge from Kate over at Turquoise Lemons who initiated this very challenge,couldn’t think of a post more apt for this I say ! If you too would like to link up but find the details on Elizabeths blog. Find the whole round up here

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  • I am entering this frugal recipe for Credit Crunch Much hosted by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla of FabFood4all and for Feb’14 hosted by Angela of My Golden Pear. Making use of ingredients which I wouldn’t have otherwise used together and finding things lurking in my fridge which have been salvaged and not chucked into a food bin a few days later, I think this recipe definitely fits the bill for this challenge.

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Tasty and Quick Pasta for two from ”nothing”

Filed Under: Food, Meat, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: cheddar, chilli flakes, chorizo, dried herbs, emergency food, garlic, nothing, olive oil, pasta, saucepan, sea salt, smoked ham, sunflower oil, tagliatelle, tomato puree, tsp

Food,travel and lifestyle writer. Photographer.

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