Food

Garcia's is so overpriced it's not even funny, they also serve the shittest cup of coffee on Portobello Road.

That other Spanish place (forget the name) is so cheap it's almost a crime... Home made chorizo, lomo or serrano baguettes (rustique style) for £2... The Galician chorizo there is to die for, last time I was in I bought 6 or 7 for less than £4... Just as good as back home...

How long ago was that? The owners of that cafe/restaurant La Plaza have taken over the old de la Fuente shop. I thought it was a bit shit tbh...

Last month, it's fine in there... Cheap as chips...

Cool, I'll go and buy chorizo for the Mrs in there as of now. It's also called La Plaza btw.
For Bacalhau/Bacalao I'd still go to Lisboa...

#traitor

Ah! TS has just reminded me about this wicked place in Kensal Green that my Spanish mate put me onto. It's the Centro Galego de Londres. Looks proper dodge at first, but we (10 of us) had a huge room to ourselves with pool table and bar, had LOADS of great tapas type stuff, LOADS of booze then got taken next door for some weird fire ritual dance thingy. I was wasted and full of food by the end, and it cost us about £29 each... bloody bargain.

Yup, used to go years ago with my folks but haven't been for ages... Fire ritual is a Queimada, it's our shamanic thing... Drink queimada, see stuff, fall over, repeat...

^ Yeah! I need to go back, that place is awesome. Maybe a forum visit is in order... hmm...

For Bacalhau/Bacalao I'd still go to Lisboa...

#traitor

You're a good man.

^ Yeah! I need to go back, that place is awesome. Maybe a forum visit is in order... hmm...

Sounds ace. In.

Haven't booked Negril yet. Shit. Hopefully will be able to squeeze us in. Think they'll still be open if I call?

I've been eating out of plastic tubs for a week.

:(

do negril take bookings? i thought it was a rock up and chance it kinda place - problem is a good 50 percent of the seating is outdoors so it may get a bit parky if you get stuck out there, but yer man who works the floor is a good 'un and im sure he'll squeeze you in inside if he can. remember it's byob.

I'm not sure, I haven't eaten in before, only ever had takeaway. There's about 12 of us going. I'll ring today and see if there's anything they can do. Yeah, the BYOB and excellent food make it a top choice for a birthday eat/prep for drunken expeditions east.

Made my first tart yesterday. Don't know why I haven't before. Yummy.

That's a great first effort

Next time try drying out the tomatoes to intensify the flavour, half them and sprinkle salt, pepper, balsamic and oil on then leave on a flat tray in a low oven or out the way. the onions could also do with a little longer on a lower heat before putting on to the tart. they would still taste a little too acidic
Think about the way it eats, the rich base then the sweet sharp sticky onions then a big almost chewy tomato taste again rich enough to fight the other two flavours, the tomatoes with that much water will make the base soggy and don't have the body or consistency to match the rest on top

without getting all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRcgGl0RuP8

LOL, always open to constructive criticism/pointers.

I think I like your idea about the toms, but personally I like that bit of acidity from the onions, I'm a bit weird...

No it cuts through the pastry, good taste.

when you caramalise onions its good to get them on a high heat and move them to stop them from browning, fry them in oil and when opaque add the sugar. this way they are lovely and soft, still have the acidic edge and sweet at the same time.
Overfill the pan and the onions sweat they lose all flavour.. just a tip ;)

No it cuts through the pastry, good taste.

when you caramalise onions its good to get them on a high heat and move them to stop them from browning, fry them in oil and when opaque add the sugar. this way they are lovely and soft, still have the acidic edge and sweet at the same time.
Overfill the pan and the onions sweat they lose all flavour.. just a tip ;)

I did all that, but I think my pan was overfilled. Thanks for the tip!

crumble makes life better

Clefty knows best!

Basuba, was not great. I'm not sure what it's going for, more expensive than Waga's, but around the same quality. Wagamama have the thing on lock, Basuba didn't. The Jasmine rice was just sticky rice, I sent it back twice, and third time was just the same. I pointed out that they managed to make excellent jasmine rice at Haka Sans and why couldn't they do the same here?! I would imagine there are plenty of better/cheaper independent thai places around. Will not be going back in a hurry.

At least Moro and Negril are just around the corner!

Which one did you go to? I havent been in about a year so they may have gone more down hill. Oh well moro and negril will not disappoint. Just make sure you judge Moro on the food and not the service.
Its all about the food!

Went to the one on Wardour Street. I got pissed off about the rice and the service mainly (was in a rush to leave and took 15 minutes to pay!) the food tasted good, but poor quality of chicken and pretty greasy. I expected better of the kinship of Waga's and Haka Sans. Could've just been an off day.

Yes indeed, I M excite.