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Marrakesh: NOMAD restaurant review

I’m not entirely sure, but I think the way we got the best seat in the house might have been because I pestered the reservations team on the day of Eid. Panicking,as I’m wont to do when it comes to reservations, I’d sent a flurry of emails trying to get a table for the 6th of July- Eid ul Fitr 2016- before a quick consultation with the NOMAD Facebook page informed me they were going to be closed that day to celebrate with their families.

Ah. I emailed (a fourth time, now) to apologise for harassing them, and Eid Mubarak while I’m at it.

When we were led to our table on the 7th, semi-private with a tiny terrace overlooking ‘Spice Square’, glowing lanterns overhead- I couldn’t help but wonder if this was chance, or if they took pity on my gushing, rushing emails and let me have the loveliest spot as a quiet nod to my desperation to have a perfect evening.

Morocco nomad restaurant

Or maybe it’s just that every table feels especially laid out for you here. That’s quite possible.

The sun, melting into the sky throughout the evening, threw a golden light across our table and tempted the mojitos from the menu and into my hand.

Morocco Nomad Marrakesh Menu

We ordered the tagine, lamb burger, roasted fennel and greens.

Morocco marrakesh nomad menu foodMorocco Marrakesh nomad menu food sides

It was all excellent. The tagine is a modern- read, ‘deconstructed’- take. I was a touch worried about ordering this- this kind of modernisation of any tried and tested tradition can feel a little dehydrated- a Masterchef wannabe trying to reinvent old favourites with foams and microveg and sous vides- but am pleased to report that this was nothing of the sort.

A refreshing twist on the hearty tagines of Marrakesh, the chicken is succulent and slowly cooked. The sauce is a little sweet, offset nicely by the tiny bowl of a spicy, velvety dipping sauce. I devoured it.

Morocco marrakesh nomad tagine menu

Nomad’s burger received lipsmacking rounds of approval from Jonathan- who also doubles as your local friendly burger aficionado, so you know you can trust him on it. We’d seen many attempts at ‘western’ junk food- dreary pizzas and so on- but this, possibly Marrakesh’s best burger, uses the best of Moroccan and American flavours blended.

Morocco marrakesh nomad burger

Sweets were verbena leaf and spiced chocolate sorbets, and saffron and ginger ice creams. These stood head and shoulders above ice cream we’d tried elsewhere- the flavours fresh and interesting- at once complementary to the warmth of our main’s flavours and also a pleasant final note of sweet soothing cold to round of an evening of hot food.

Morocco marrakesh nomad desserts

Food finished, we sank back into our seats and watched the sun ease itself away from the peak of the sky to behind the pink-orange buildings, gently lowering across the corrugated roofs and satellite dishes that pepper the horizon.

Morocco nomad marrakesh cocktail menu mojito

As the light turns from crisp blue to melting pale purple into darkness, candles and lanterns illuminate the restaurant. This restaurant is so pretty- it took every ounce of restraint not to try to Instagram it from every angle (disclaimer: this is nonsense, I absolutely did try. I had to stop when the food arrived so I could, y’know, eat.)

Morocco marrakesh nomad rooftop view night

In short, this was an absolute belter of a meal. Romantic, not fussy, delicious and beautiful, which makes it a ten out of ten for me.

NOMAD, Place des Epices, Marrakesh.

 

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L’ETO Caffe, South Kensington London Review

L’ETO Caffe has one of those windows that you don’t just walk past. You double take, retrace your steps, and gawp in the window for a moment. Then, if you’re anything like me (i.e. total lack of self restraint) you head straight in to order a cake to go.

So when news came by that they don’t just serve perfectly formed cakes, but also a full dinner menu, I thought that I owed L’ETO Caffe the courtesy of at least taking them for a date before I leered at their baked goods.

I started, as every good meal should, with a cocktail.

Cocktails L'eto Caffe

My passionfruit copacabana was creamy, just a little bit sweet, and lasted me the whole menu. It was like a lighter Baileys, with just a touch of fruitiness. This might not be the greatest description in the world, so you’ll have to take my word for it, or go down and try it out yourself ;)

For starters, we were both feeling fishy.

Crab avocado salad

Tuna tartar

That’s Jonathan digging into his crab and avocado salad before I got a chance to photograph it in it’s pristine glory, and on the bottom is my tuna tartare- which, puzzingly, was spelt TAR-TAR on their menu. Have I lost my mind, or is this weird?

Spellings aside, it was lush. Generous portions of meltingly good tuna and a really sharp sauce to contrast the avocado. Jonathan’s salad was nice- though the soy and lime dressing didn’t blow my mind- I like my dressings potent, not gentle. I’ll stick to my tune tar tar/tatare.

Mains were a game affair.

Steak l'eto caffe

Veal cheek l'eto

Jonathan was boring and had a steak. With so many cool other things on the menu, amazing pastas and all sorts of slow cooking going on, I was hoping he’d go for something more adventurous I could pinch a few forkfulls of, but steak it was. He enjoyed it, in any case.

I had veal’s cheek, slow braised (how else?), on lemon potato creme, with a five spice jus. The veal was lush, falling apart at the meerest glimpse of my fork. The potato- essentially posh mash- was amazing. I would never have expected to love lemon potato mash- it sounds like a Blumenthal pudding- but I did. Top marks, L’ETO.

The main event in L’ETO is the desserts. I’ll let the cakes do the rest of the talking.

l'eto chocolate cake

l'eto cakes

l'eto tarts

l'eto carrot cake

After some serious discussion, Jonathan and I made the most important decision of the day. I went for L’ETO’s famous honey cake, and Jonathan had the chocolate cake.

l'eto honey cake

l'eto chocolate cakesAww shit.

They were, obviously, perfect. The honey cake was light, crisp, fluffy and insanely moreish. The chocolate cake was decadent, the way all chocolate cakes try to be, and the little squidge of sharp raspberry jam in the centre was like finding a little treasure chest of fruitiness. We fought over who got to eat the last spoonfuls of each, and nursed our full stomachs off into the night…

L’ETO Caffe, Brompton Road and across London.

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Shackfuyu London Review

I’m pretty late to the Japanese food scene in London. When you’re going out with Jonathan Frost, who thinks that no amount of sushi will ever fill him up- which is the main aim of the game when taking Frostie out for dinner- you don’t get to go to a lot of Japanese restaurants.

So when my colleagues planned a Friday lunch trip, I was a teency bit unreasonably excited. I’d seen so many  Instagram-perfect shots of the dishes there and worked myself up into a Shackfuyu-hysteria. I was psyched to go eat this food. My job is to get other people excited about restaurants, and I think I’d gone over the mark into worrying people with my enthusiasm. Luckily, it was all genuine, and I can now confirm with authority, totally justified.

Priorities straight, we got the cocktails in first.

 

A photo posted by Hazel Henbury (@henburyhazel) on

 

Mine’s the Bone Daddies Punch (on the right), which was lush- and I couldn’t keep myself from picking out the tiny cherries at the end.

Shackfuyu has a weird menu in that you order one ‘main dish’, which changes on the reg. When we came it was wagyu beef (which means they like, fondle the cow before cooking it, or something, so it’s proper relaxed and yummy), so we ordered that with a plate of basically everything else. Sharing plates are so in right now.

 

Every Friday should involve @shackfuyu #london #restaurants #instafood #instadaily #bonedaddies #foodporn

A photo posted by Sauce Communications (@saucecomms) on


The food was gorgeous. My personal favourite was the Korean fried wings, which they serve in all the Bone Daddies’ restaurants. The prawn toast was pretty cool too, as it had this dancing herb stuff on top (Watch this Vine if you don’t know what I mean!) and the scallops were in a chilli miso butter that I could honestly have drunk by the gallon.

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I’m not usually one for hot and cold desserts- I like my sweets at room temperature thank you very much- but Instagram was going wild for the kinako French toast and green tea ice cream and I couldn’t resist a spoonful or seven. The French toast was perfect- crème brulee crispness on the outsite and Mary-Berry-cake moist on the inside, and the ice cream wasn’t too sweet or too thick. I definitely am on board with the hype for this one.

Kinako French Toast

Stuffed, happy, and feeling all the world more like Japanese food is my newfound bae, we tottered out into the sunlight and back to the office. Shackfuyu is tucked down Old Compton Street, past G-A-Y, so it does take a little digging out while you’re in Soho, but is absolutely worth hunting down- for that chilli miso butter alone, frankly. MASSIVE THUMBS UP FROM FARRAH.

Shackfuyu, Old Compton St. Shackfuyu on Urbanspoon Click to add a blog post for Bone Daddies Shackfuyu on Zomato