That's Tasty!

My secret visits to Muffinskis, Covent Garden

2011-04-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

But no, not for the muffins (although they do look very fluffy and tempting) but for the frozen yoghurt. A guilt free £3.00 pleasure that comes in all kinds of fruity flavours. Mine though has to be raspberry.
Now that the sun is shining, I will once again re-visit Muffinskis for my takeaway frozen yoghurt fix. The shop is a bit tired looking and yes sometimes, there's a disorderly queue but it is worth it (+ 99% fat free)- hurrah!

Muffinski's 5 King Street,
Covent Garden,
London WC2 Tel 020 7379 1525
http://www.muffinskis.co.uk/

Caffe Pasta, St Ives

2010-12-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favourite places to go in Cornwall.
The view over St Ives harbour in the winter is one of the most atmospheric I’ve seen and the crab linguine with chilli and lemon (£8.95) is delicious.

Caffe Pasta is ideal for moules (£6.50), pasta (from £6.95), stone-baked pizzas (from £6,45), meat dishes (steaks start from £12.50) or simply a nice warming coffee and dessert whilst enjoying one of Britain’s most spectacular views

For more information, visit www.caffepasta.co.uk or call 01736 798899

Ever found yourself in China Town with nowhere to go?

2010-11-20T02:45:00.000-08:00

Despite having ventured into China Town more times than worth remembering, it's one of those places where I never seem to know where to go.
Previous China Town experiences have included £6 take away boxes filled to the brim with greasy spring rolls, noodles that have sat on a counter for half a day and all kinds of sweet and sour that leave you feeling as if you've swan in a fryer.
In the last few weeks, I discovered LEONG'S LEGEND (www.leongslegend.com) which serves DELICIOUS Taiwanese cuisine.
The restaurant is authentic and cosy with low wooden tables, and attractive decor. From the outside, it looks as though it could be pricey but don’t be fooled. Our meal of soup (hot and sour), dim sum, won tons and crispy duck pancakes, washed down with Tsingtao beer came to approx £15 each.
This is a great find. I will definitely be going back...

Gourmet Food Experiences in San Sebastian

2010-11-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Check out the following site for the ultimate in Basque cuisine http://www.sansebastianfood.com/
This great looking site arranges all sorts of authentic gastro experiences in San Sebastian and they also sell Christmas vouchers to treat our food loving amigos!

Fish Fry Recipe Courtesy of Kovil House (Fort Cochin, India)

2010-03-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

Fish Fry Recipe Courtesy of Kovil House (Fort Cochin, India)
After a long winter of lots of carbohydrates, once more I am feeling inspired to continue my tasty trail. My inspiration comes from the lovely Usha at Kovil Home Stay in Fort Cochin (Southern India) who welcomed us into her house for an authentic cookery lesson of ‘fish fry’ and ‘sambar’; a traditional Southern Indian lentil dish.
After months of porridge, bangers and mash and numerous other potato forms to warn away the cold, India was a welcome relief and the offer of a cookery lesson at Kovil Home Stay was an offer we simply couldn’t refuse.

Fish Fry Recipe

Ingredients

Fish (small white fish)
Grind the following ingredients together with a pestle & mortar

3 Cloves Garlic

Tsp Crushed Black Pepper

5/6 Curry Leaves

Spoon of Crushed Ginger

Add:

Tsp Chilli Powder

Tsp Turmeric

½ tsp Salt

Add water & mix into a paste
Marinate the fish for a minimum of 15 minutes before frying.

Delicious!!

Cornwall's Food Revolution

2009-09-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/6228158/Cornwalls-food-revolution.html

By Jasper Gerard

The new look Porthmeor Cafe-Bar (St Ives..again!)

2009-05-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

So six weeks after the official launch, we checked out the new menu and the new look at Porthmeor Cafe Bar. Once again it was an absolute scorcher of a weekend so the perfect day to sit on the terrace under the new awning. The triangular sail shades give you the choice to opt in or out of the suns glare.

The Cafe-Bar has a cleaner, fresher look with a glass balcony on the sea side of the terrace and a new breakfast style bar with high metallic stalls at the entrance. The conservatory-style indoor section has had a few changes with the addition of some old St Ives archive photographs and newspaper clippings, also printed on the back of the ‘Spring’ menu. These clippings show the history of the beach (wreckages, men lost at sea, blue flag status, surf club HQ and where the gasholders stood before the Tate gallery).
The evenings ‘not quite tapas’ in their own words are exactly what it says on the label; smallish sharer portion. We went for the crispy skin porkbelly, waldorf and watercress salad (£6.00), mini Moroccan chicken burger, minted yoghurt & cucumber (5.95), duck roasted potatoes, warm pancetta, baby courgette (£5.25) and the ‘3 x local shell fish, accessories ‘(£7.50), which turned out to be three excellent scallops in their shells, each with a different tasty paste - one purple, one orange and one green. Not quite sure what they were but they were delicious!! Each dish had been carefully put together with some unique tastes and flavours that worked really well. The food here looks good and tastes even better!
We actually loved the tapas so much we decided to try the new breakfast menu the following morning. After a late night, the banana and berry smoothie (£3.50) and the freshly made carrot, ginger and apple juice (£3.00) from Lucy’s juice bar was the boost that we needed to face the day ahead (of eating and lying on the beach). Porthmeor Cafe Bar has an option for most people’s breakfast tastes however fussy, with granola & fruit, healthy vege options (avocado etc) and a good old egg and bacon option.
For more information or to book contact 01736 793366 (Porthmeor Cafe Bar, Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, Cornwall)

New surf academy launched at Perranporth

2009-05-11T15:02:00.001-07:00

I haven't had a chance to update the blog for a while but soon going to head back to the UK coast to suss out a few more tasty spots.

In the meantime, Perranporth beach in Cornwall has recently opened their new Ticket To Ride surf academy (http://www.ttride.co.uk/surfacademy). It's all up and running - official launch date is June 13th.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/Surf-s-school/article-1042081-detail/article.html#StartComments

Idle Rocks Hotel (Roseland Peninsula)

2009-04-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

It was a nice sunny day so I took my mum for a coffee and my little sisters for a hot chocolate on the outdoor terrace of the Idle Rocks Hotel in St Mawes - just across the estuary from Falmouth (Passenger ferry £4.50 return).
The big outdoor terrace is great for sitting on a sunny day and looks out over the bustling fishing harbour where little ferries transport passengers to and from Falmouth and fisherman go about their business. We had 2 x fresh filter coffee (£2.95 each), 3 x hot chocolates (£2.50) which were served with chocolate flakes on top which my little sisters loved!! Our drinks came with a plate of homemade shortbread biscuits which were still warm out of the oven...yummy!
For lunch, the Idle Rocks Hotel offers some local flavours including homemade black pudding with home cured bacon and hen’s eggs, open crab sandwich served with lemon mayonnaise, and a selection of Cornish & Somerset cheese with homemade chutney and biscuits. Unfortunately, it was pretty early and we had just had breakfast so we didn’t stick around for lunch but going on the very tasty biscuits, we will definitely be back!!
For more information or to book visit http://www.idlerocks.co.uk/ or call 0844 50 27587

2009-04-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Porthmeor beach welcomes back the legendary T.J at the surf school and a newly refurbished cafe with a new menu and a fresh new look soon to open officially on April 24th!! Watch this space for more info...

Porthgwidden Beach Cafe, St Ives

2009-04-13T11:24:00.001-07:00

Porthgwidden is a small tucked away beach spot with amazing views over the sea towards Godrevy lighthouse and beyond. We decided to head there with four friends to try it out and have a girly catch up. Once an old fish loft, Porthgwidden Cafe has since been restored into a quaint restaurant/ cafe nestled between the island and St Ives harbour. During the day, the cafe is busy and bustling, good for coffee or a light lunch (especially when it’s sunny as the outdoor terrace is a perfect little sun trap). By night the cafe has a relaxed beachside vibe and serves a tasty selection of fresh food and local produce. We had a lovely evening, good food, nice friendly staff and great company.
We Recommend:
Moules Mariniere: £7.95
Grilled Seabass served with potato hash & salsa verde: £12.95
Altivo Sauvignon Blanc (Argentina): £13.95
For more information or to book visit www.porthgwiddencafe.co.uk or call 01736 796791

Heading back home to Cornwall!

2009-04-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

St Ives (the mother homeland) is the obvious starting point for our mamouth eatathon around the UK's coastline. Let's hope it lives up to expectations!!

2009-03-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

That's Tasty is soon heading to St Ives, Cornwall! Watch this space..