文興酒家 Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant @ London

London has been the second most visited place for us after spots in Glasgow. It was during early June when we decided to meet up with Zi and Eva before departing to Barcelona the next day.
Craving for a roasted duck meal, we settled down in Four Seasons restaurant, famous for their roasted shares of London ducks!
There we were, sitting down in Four Seasons after shopping at Harrods scrutinizing at the menu. It has been almost a year since I last saw Zi, my old buddy. As I tilted my head up from the menu, there he was, as cool as ever, with his usual specs, big headphones hanging around his neck and hand in hand with Eva, the sweet, hot girl with the LV bag.

Adjourning to the food:

MaPo ToFu 麻婆豆腐 was kinda disappointing as it lacked the kick factor that we're expecting. Only a hint of spiciness tasted and the lack of flavour granted its mediocre status.






Stir-Fry Beef with flat noodles in XO sauce 干炒牛河 was promising though. The noodles was somehow 'springy' or like what Taiwanese like to address; very 'Q'. The meat blended well with the flat noodles and the sauce were flavoursome. Not bad for a typical chinese restaurant in central London :)





Here comes the star; a whole roasted duck 烧鸭 for the 4 of us. Roasted to perfection, with drizzles of sauce and coated with shiny texture of golden brown skin layered with gravy to add moistness & flavour. They were crispy on the outside :)





The total bill came out to about £40, which was quite reasonable. Not to forget that we're having a meal in ChinaTown, Leicester Square in central London :)

Zi & Eva who showed us the other side of London!

文興酒家
Four Seasons Restaurant
12 Gerrard Street
London
Tel: 020 7494 0870

The Pump Room & Sally Lunn's @ Bath, England

We're back! and in less than a week's time, we'll be laying our appetite back onto Malaysia's authentic fares that we've been longing since god knows when!

This post was back dated to early June, when we visited Bath after the memorable visit to Sugar Bean's territory in Cardiff. (Read about it HERE) Thanks again for the great hospitality sugarsugarbeanbean!

It was a one day trip. Only half an hour from Bristol and about 3 hours from London by bus, this small city is definitely worth a visit. Welcomed by sunny and cooling weather as well as blue skies perfect for taking breathtaking scenic pictures.
Bath is a city that became a world heritage site back in 1987, laid out with choices of museums, theaters, cultural venues and not to forget the Roman Bath, which helped to make it a major tourism center.

Well, besides visiting the museums, this was where we spent our one sunny day in Bath:

1. The Roman Baths
It's Roman site for public bathing is still well-preserved, with 4 main features; Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum. There's another modern building nearby this ancient structure which is the new Bath Spa for public bathing and spa, with considerable pricing as well. For more information on the Roman Bath, click HERE.




2. The Pump Room
The Grand Pump Room is located just next to the Roman Baths, connecting its way to receive more than 1 million visitors a year! (from what I read...) It was regarded as a social heart of Bath, this posh restaurant was known to portray neoclassicism and there is also hot spa water drawn for drinking. While enjoying morning coffee, lunch or afternoon tea, your appetite will be accompanied by live music!
We had our lunch here.
Tel: 01225 444477 to make a reservation for lunch or tea on Mondays-Fridays.

The Interior

Gloucester White Saddleback Pork Chop, with buttered spinach, apple and mustard mash.
It was a wonder. It enjoyed every bite of the tender meat. It was also appetizing as the sourish spinach & apple gravy goes well with the meat. (£12.50)




Wing of St. Mawes Fish of the Day - Cornish fish catch priced daily according to a selection
It was a Red Sea Bream cooked to perfection rested on top of some Italian risotto. Fresh fish.. the BF loves it. (£11.50)

It was warm and it tasted weird

3. Bath Abbey
It is also known as the Abbey Church of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, which is an Anglican parish church. Admission is free.








4. Pulteney Bridge
This bridge crossed the River Avon located in Bath, designed by English heritage and fyi, it is one of only four bridges in the world that is expanded with shops across both side of the bridge! It was considered a national monument and is known as one of the best-known buildings in the city.

5. The Royal Crescent

It is actually a residential road of 30 houses, forming the shape of a crescent. This design of a crescent was joined by a nearby Circus or the King's Circus (a huge roundabout with 3 exits), forming a giant circle and crescent which symbolize the sun and the moon.

Here is what it looked like (bird's eye view). Picture taken from Local Authority World Heritage Forum.

6. Royal Victoria Park
We dropped by the Victoria Park nearby for an afternoon stroll too. Too bad we didn't manage to get a any pictures from here.Oops.. as we were already making our way for an afternoon tea.


7. Sally Lunn's
This is a must visit for visitor who dropped by Bath. It was known as one of the world famous tea house, nestled right in the center of Bath city. Sally Lunn's building is also the oldest house in Bath! This cute little house is equipped with undisputed environment perfect for an English tea session & a tete-a-tete of course. There's also a kitchen museum downstairs exhibiting the actual kitchen used by Sally Lunn herself to create the first ever Bath bun, which has now became famous.

Kitchen Museum

Bath Cream Tea (£5.98)
Half toasted Sally Lunn Bun topped with their own Cinnamon butter served with lots of local clotted cream. A tea is included as well.








Sally Lunn Cream Tea (£5.68)
Half toasted & buttered Sally Lunn Bun served with Tiptree strawberry jam & local clotted cream. Chris opted for coffee instead.





Their soft & fluffy bun is memorable and they married perfectly with the flavours we opted for. I miss the cinnamon butter a lot :)

Sally Lunns House
4 North Parade Passage Bath, BA1 1NX.
Tel: +44 (0)1225 461 634
Fax +44 (0)1225 811 800
Website: http://www.sallylunns.co.uk/

Also check out Sugar Bean's post on Sally Lunn's Bun HERE.

Away for Holiday

We'll be away for holiday for the time being.
Europe here we come!!!

Will be back on blogosphere about 2 weeks later. Can't wait to get our feet back again on Malaysia and feed on those long-missed food!

picture taken in Royal Crescent, Bath

Chiquito: The Original Mexican Grill & Bar @ Cardiff, Wales

Our summer vacation is still on the track. It began with an exciting getaway to London again for family visit & additional go-sees around the exhausting city; thanks to the tube strike encounter. We would like to adjourn the stories of London for a rather different city located approximately 4 hours away from London by bus; precisely CARDIFF in Wales.

Chris and I were very welcomed by Sugar Bean (the lovely couple & floggers based in Cardiff for the time being) and with their guidance around the city, Cardiff was even more interesting. Jokes & laughter plus food hunting of course!

Go-sees in Cardiff:

1. Cardiff Castle (Full tour: Adult £8.95, Children £6.35) From a source I've found, although Cardiff have only been a city for 100 years, the castle was here for nearly 2000 years!





2. Millennium Stadium
This stadium has been the host for major sport matches and concerts. Besides, you can opt to take a tour of this stadium. (Adults £6.50, children £4, book in advance)
Nestled on the side of the river, Cardiff was chilling us up that day.






3. Cardiff National Museum
Museums in the UK could be very interesting. Facts for exploration; paintings & art collections that tells a thousand stories...
we find it more interesting to pose outside the building! haha..








4. Cardiff University
This is where wenching (the sugar) studies! nice eh?




5. Cardiff Bay
Cardiff was portrayed in the earlier years as old docklands. It was later recreated to form the Cardiff Bay, home to a large freshwater lake for sailing and water sports. It has been well developed to reside hotels & restaurant hotspots offering an array of cuisine located at the Mermaid Quay. Too bad we didn't manage to try on the food around here, as we were more drawn towards the city center's offers.which is a mile away from the bay.

Cardiff Bay Clock Tower, one of the major infrastructure at the bay

Together with Sugar Bean, we took a cruise around Cardiff Bay taking in all of the sights around. It costs £4 for a return ticket.








6. Dinner with Sugar Bean

Chiquito: The Original Mexican Grill & Bar

This eatery is located in the city center, surrounded by other cuisines which we thought could be quite happening later at night.
Chiquito was rather quiet when we visited that day and with the lack of staff, we had to wait for quite sometime before being attended to. Environment was cozy and warm, dimly-lit and
decorated with wooden table carved & painted with iguanas; churning out a Mexican style.






Mexican Paella - £10.95
It was a mediocre as we still prefer the paella we had in Spain. It could be saltier.





San Miguel Beer Battered Cod - £9.95
The cod was fresh and it's something new to us as it was battered up with the San Miguel Beer, one of Spain's famous beer.





Tequila red snapper - £12.95.
The dish was served with Mexican style rice with spicy roasted vegetables topped with baked red snapper fillet with Cuervo Tequila sauce.






Chicken fajitas famosas - £11.95.
Chicken served on a sizzling platter with smoky onions and peppers, with inclusion of flour tortillas as wraps too.







Chiquito
The Old Brewery Quarter,
Cardiff City Centre, CF10 1FG,
Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Tel: 02920387465

For more reviews, please visit: Sugar Bean



7. Cardiff Market
Chris loves the market. What's for sure is, he'd grab my hand and march towards the market place if he ever sees one. Thanks to Sugar Bean for bringing us here, as we bought ourselves some of Wales's signature fares; the Welsh Cakes!

I heart the Welsh cakes. The texture resembles scones, but these were thinner. And they tasted like the "heong peng" to me! lol. Thanks to SugarBean again for buying us more before we leave Wales!





The Coconut cookies & Egg tarts were just not as good as the Welsh Cakes ;P







We miss u Sugar Bean! Thanks for being such great companies & we had fun cooking at your place :)