Yak and Yeti

When I was invited last week to review the new branch of Yak and Yeti in Finsbury Park I have to admit that I was sceptical. I needn’t have been; my experience proved the old adage that you should never judge a book by its cover. 

From the outside Yak and Yeti looks like a chain and in a busy strip of mostly independent restaurants, I am more likely to choose somewhere that looks original. The décor doesn’t improve much when you step inside, but the service and food more than make up for it. All the staff are extremely knowledgeable about the food and very passionate about the dishes from their native Nepal.

Two of the waiters recommended the momo lamb, so we thought we had better try that. Good choice! It was the most interesting dish we had. Momo is a typical Nepalese street food that epitomises the mix of influences on Nepalese cuisine from its neighbours, Tibet and India.

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Almanak

When I heard the Danes were famous for open sandwiches I was nonplussed. Open or not, how exciting can a sandwich really be? Very, it turns out. Just take a look at these bad boys:

My sister, Charlie, definitely chose the right venue for me to try my first smorrebrod. Almanak is part of Claus Meyer’s growing empire. Among many other ventures, Meyer is co-owner of Noma, number one restaurant in the world.

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Amassive lunch

An understatement. This was the very longest of languorous lunches in the history of the world. Or at least in the history of my world and that is not insignificant; in my 30 years on this earth I've had my fair share of long and languorous lunches. My sister and I arrived at Amass restaurant at 12 o’clock and left at 5.30pm. Five and a half hours of lunching is a new record for me.

The 2013 opening of Amass restaurant in Copenhagen was much anticipated, making headlines around the world.  Head chef and owner, Matt Orlando, has worked with the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Thomas Keller and Rene Redzepi. He was sous chef and, most recently, chef de cuisine at Noma, number one on the world’s best restaurant list.

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Orto, at last

In April 2011, over two and a half years ago, my sister’s boyfriend, Chris Low, and his business partners, Anne Cooper and Louise Hunt, opened Orto Trading Co. This week I finally got to eat there.

It was top of my list coming home to Australia for the first time in 3 years, and it did not fail to impress. OK, I am biased, but Chris really does know what he is doing in the kitchen. His food is interesting, imaginative and inventive. Chris spoiled us rotten, with oysters as an amuse, 6 starters, 3 mains and 2 desserts, all washed down with 3 expertly chosen bottles of wine.

White anchovy and sobrasada fish fingerMarrowbone, parsley, lemon and garlicCape Grim beef tartare and frites

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Pollen Street Social

“I just love dining like this. It’s fabulous isn’t it?”

Yes, Mum, isn’t it? I do hope she remembers quite how much she enjoyed it. The venue was Pollen Street Social and she was referring to the tasting menu.

“I love that it just comes and you just don’t have to think about it. And everything is so well thought through.”

Yes, I quite agree. Hold on, aren’t I supposed to be writing the review?

For our birthdays my dearest Dad let us choose a restaurant in London to spoil ourselves in. I sent him a list of suggestions in various price ranges and was pleasantly surprised when he responded with this:

“I had a look at the Pollen Street Social site. It has some very good drinking to be had for under 50 quids a bottle. I didn't think it looked too pretentious and the tasting menu at 80q's sounded OK. I don't know how it compares with the others you mentioned … so go for whatever floats your boat.”

Permission to do the tasting menu and a £50 per bottle budget for wine. Sold! To the salivating girl on cloud nine.

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