Authentic Chinese Flavours at the School of Wok - worth a shout instead of just a whisper

As the name suggests, the School of Wok is an Asian and Oriental cookery workshop tucked away in Chandos Place, just behind the Strand and only a few doors down from my favourite fast Mexican food joint Wahaca. I'd visited their dining room previously as the location for a few Edible Experiences pop-up events, and certainly heard whispers about their expert tutorials amongst London's food-loving community.

Cookhouse Joe's mountain of Lebanese mezze

Full disclosure: this meal was a total and utter freebie, hands up. I'd never heard of Soho Joe, the family-run pizza restaurant on Dean Street, but I was invited to visit their new sister restaurant Cookhouse Joe on Berwick Street, and the promise of a combination of Lebanese dishes and rotisserie chicken enticed me.

Sweet and spicy roasted chicken and vegetables to solve solo supper times

It seems like there's a big difference between the chosen style of cooking when my boyfriend is in our little London flat, and the meals I opt for when I'm home alone.

If I'm making dinner to share with my man, the focus is on hearty, rich dishes such as sausage stews with potato wedges, spaghetti and meatballs, or roast dinners that we can then pick at throughout the rest of the week.

If the situation calls for a solo supper, normally I aim for something lighter and simpler, often incorporating healthy seafood with other "power foods" for a nutritional boost and a smugly virtuous glow.

Beef and chickpea koftes to spice up your supper time

These beef and chickpea koftes with Harissa tomato sauce were included in a recent "7 things for 7 days" list as further evidence of my current obsession with Middle Eastern cuisine, following my luscious lunch at Honey & Co. As well as a couple a jokers querying whether Ras-el-Hanout was the bad guy from Batman Begins (that was Ra's al Ghul, FYI), I was surprised that a whole bunch of people asked for the recipe.

Pho frenzy - putting a personal twist on Vietnam's national dish

You know that I love eating comforting rich meals like hearty casseroles and crumbles as much as (ok, maybe even more than!) the next person. But I'm keen to make sure that I offset this decadence with a lot of clean living too. The healthy Vietnamese noodle soup at the forefront of Pho's menu has always appealed to my inner fitness fan, so it was a serious bit of luck on my part when I was invited along to their Spitalfields branch to test out the menu for free.

7 things for 7 days...#5

Apologies for the lack of blogposts over the past couple of weeks - if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I'm currently busy campaigning with the Liberal Democrats in the Eastleigh parliamentary by-election. Normal service will be resumed here shortly, but in the meantime I hope you'll enjoy this flashback of my favourite foodie moments and other random musings from my past week...

1. Way back in the mists of time when I first started this blog I lived in Winchester. One of my top places to entertain any visiting friends and relatives was a pan-Asian restaurant called Tanoshii Fusion, which my boyfriend and I returned to late last Friday for a romantic dinner after a disastrous Valentine's Day (don't ask!). Their tender roasted duck with a sticky tamarind sauce was the stand-out dish of the night, but everything we ordered was as skilfully cooked and beautifully presented as I'd remembered (see my Instagram for more). The complimentary plate of icecreams to share was the ideal end to our delicious meal, especially as it included my favourite flavour of rich honeycomb and dark chocolate.

Mexican street feasting at Wahaca

Whilst there were many contenders for my most memorable meal of 2012 (such as my birthday dinner courtesy of Mat Follas at The Wild Garlic, and licking chicken off a brick thanks to Ben Spalding at John Salt) it was understandably impossible to beat Michelin-starred supremo Tom Kerridge serving up a storm inside a glass Cube overlooking London's legendary landmarks.

But Chris Pople of Cheese and Biscuits has highlighted an interesting distinction between a great meal and a great restaurant:

"A great restaurant, then, isn't just where you happen to have a great meal, it's a place you look forward to going to more than anywhere else because you always enjoy the time you spend there"

This got me thinking...obviously as a gastronome I am always keen to try new culinary experiences, and even when I return to a favourite haunt like Brockley Market or Brixton Village it's usually with the hope of testing out what different vendors have on offer each time.

However, there is one London restaurant that I gladly return to at least once a month if not more...Mexican market diner Wahaca, the brainchild of former Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers.

Power foods #1 - spicy prawn stir-fry

This morning I decided to make the most of the autumnal sunshine and run round my local park in South East London.

You could tell there'd been a seasonal shift since my last race around the outdoor track - the air felt crisp, mist rose up from the boating lake, and the clear blue skyline was mixed with an amber hue from the trees preparing to shed their leaves. My route was dotted with spiky horse chestnuts and there were even a few bright red holly berries dotted amongst the fawn bushes.

Clearly we are now descending doggedly towards winter, which can only mean one thing...flu season isn't far away. But I'm launching a pre-emptive attack against sniffles, sore throats and fuzzy heads by packing my plate with turbo-charged "power" foods, which I recently learnt about thanks to Women's Health magazine.

Sensational fiesta at the Flavours of Spain supperclub brunch

Anyone who's read this blog before will know what a fan I am of Brockley Market - the most fun you can (legally) have in a carpark. No visit to this chilled-out foodie haven is complete for me without a stroll past the Flavours of Spain stall to check out the tapas treats on offer.

I'm always stunned by the rush of rosemary that smacks your senses as soon as you bite into their herb-crusted Manchego cheese, and their piquant cooking chorizo is so addictive that it dominated week 22 of #Project366.

Favourite foodie finds from 2011

Before I devote my full attention on this blog to the gastronomic wonders of 2012, I thought I’d spend a few moments looking back at some of the palatable independent produce that has caught my eye since moving to the “big smoke” during the summer.

Each of these foodie finds are so outstanding that they really deserve an article from me dedicated solely to their own deliciousness (and I know you’ll find rave reviews from journalists and bloggers alike if you Google any one of their names) but as I recently confessed, a combination of time and timidity limited my writing rate in 2011. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spread the word on the culinary creations that have prevented my hunger pangs over the last few months, and that I predict to be even more successful in 2012!

Prawn and chorizo paella for one person to enjoy

With my partner away for the weekend, I was struggling to motivate myself into making a real evening meal. Ironically, the thought of just throwing some pasta into a pan and onto a fast boil when I’m preparing a “dinner for one” is even more tempting now that I’m a (relatively) confident cook than it was when I was a (relatively) naive student. A large portion of my love of cooking comes from seeing other people enjoy my food, so the culinary process seems significantly less pleasurable when there’s no-one else around to appreciate my efforts.

Brilliant basmati to take on the takeaway

As my own kitchen skills have gradually improved, I’ve noticed a correlating change in my attitude towards eating out. In the past, I was renowned amongst friends as the “voucher queen”, always able to sniff out a bargain meal that we’d all accept as a satisfactory supper. But now (if my purse allowed…!) I’d far prefer to shun the high-street chains in favour of spending a bit more money on a high-end dining experience. As much as I adore Italian cuisine, I can’t bring myself to cough up for an overpriced bowl of pasta and sauce – especially when I know I can rustle up a pretty mean risotto in the comfort of my own home using just the bare essentials.

Spicy sausage stew for a sunny day in Spain

The weather gods appear to have misunderstood the meaning of British Summer Time. This year we lost an hour as normal, but didn’t seem to be gaining any increase in temperature in return. So when my boyfriend told me we had the chance to escape breezy Britain for a trip to sunny Spain with his family, I jumped at the chance.

I’d been caught out in the rain so many times over the past couple of months, I’d finally accepted there was no point in purchasing the Gladiator sandals I’d promised myself – so this sojourn sounded like a dream come true. As someone who grew up by the sea, there’s nothing I love better than siesta-ing on a soft sandy beach, listening to the backing track of waves lapping the shore. However, he confessed there was just one tiny thing about the holiday I should probably know in advance…

A week’s worth of eats and treats

An unexpected adjunct to my burgeoning passion for the culinary world is a blossoming interest in photography. A hallway full of school portraits exposing my past as an acne-ridden, speccy teenager has given me an aversion to appearing in front of the camera, so I generally prefer to rely on my memory for a record of any seminal moments.


But it’s an entirely different story when the photo’s subject is a dazzling dessert or a stunning supper. Admiration for the cooking skills on display at my favourite eateries, and disbelief (plus a hint of pride) at the dishes being served up at my dining table means I feel increasingly obliged to provide photographic evidence of my dietary habits.