Fantastic Russian food

I love Russian food because it revolves around dumplings, blinis, soups and stroganoff.

It is similar to Eastern European Polish and Ukrainian food where they also have dumplings.

Spotted Zima one night after having tiramisu nearby so decided to try this place as their menu is a bit more sophisticated with the same suspects but with a finer and modern touch being in Soho.

To be honest, I was attracted by the black dumplings.

When we entered the restaurant, the decor and everything was elegant and how you would expect it to be.

At the far back of the room, there was a shelf and it was encouraging to see another place that does pickled strawberries and other pickles.

It was really hard deciding what to eat because everything was nice but we had Fish pelmeni, ukha fish soup and chicken and beef cutlet with buckwheat.

For dessert, the only thing I would have chosen would be the Cherry Vareniki which are cherry dumplings, the rest I have tried elsewhere.

To start off, the fish solyanka soup was a light consomme yet impressive because of the strong fish flavours and dill, there were big chunks of salmon in it.

Next, the star of the show was the black fish pelmeni which did not disappoint topped with my favourite salmon roe in a lobster and salmon roe sauce.

These were gone in flash because they were so delicious and the remaining sauce just had to soaked up with bread.

Moving on to the mains, the pork and beef cutlet was more like a steak hache.

The accompanying buckwheat with oyster mushrooms took me by surprise, I was expecting the texture of the buckwheat to be coarse and prickly but it was soft like rice which I finished off happily.

For drinks, I had the sea buckthorn tea which tasted like hot orange juice it was good that it was not sweetened.

Overall, I was really impressed with the food especially the soup and dumplings.

Zima Russian Restaurant:

45 Frith St, London W1D 4SB

McDowell's pie mash

There are two places for pie mash in Romford: Robins and McDowell's.

It has been difficult trying to dine at McDowell's because I always get there late and they are closed but I was lucky that day and it was still open so I had to have it even though I was going to dinner.

Just another pie mash place I thought but the portions here are big and you get lots of liquor.

Trying the liquor first, it was really flavourful and you can really taste the grassiness of the parsley.

The mash was just your regular lumpy mash but adding salt and chilli vinegar to it always makes it tastier.

Moving on to the pie, the minced beef was actually quite tasty compared to some other places as it was salty and it tasted like there was marmite in it.

However the beef was a bit of a let down because there were so many chewy bits, otherwise it would have been perfect because the consistency was good.

XXL Hazelnut cookie and hazelnut flan from Cedric Grolet

A while over during the festive period I shared this expensive £25 XXL hazelnut cookie with someone from Cedric Grolet.

It was a really nice cookie but not knowing more about Cedric Grolet it was hard to review it properly but from pictures they do these fine fruit shaped cakes with fillings.

From just tasting the cookie, I loved the way it was topped generous whole hazelnuts which were caramelized and it was not too cloyingly sweet with a kick of saltiness.

The cookie was far too big to finish in one go so I had to over a few days.

It was really nice warmed as the texture was soft and gooey and it was amazing with some clotted cream.

The cookie had a nice dough sugar ratio so it was not too sugary to eat with a full on hazelnut flavour.

Recently, made a trip to Cedric Grolet to see for myself, it is located at The Berkeley hotel, Knightsbridge.

I was greeted with a clean modern open kitchen where you can see the ovens and kitchen staff and then you have the pastries at the counter and the artisan cakes at the entrance.

Looking at the range, it was a bit limited for takeaway and prices start from £6 a croissant to £25 for a cookie!!

Visually, the choice was a bit difficult because you are either choosing between the artisan cakes at £17 or the pastries which is just a choice of croissant, pain au chocolat, pain suisse or the hazelnut flan.

Ended getting the hazelnut flan because the croissant and pains were just a bit plain.

I didn't have any expectations for the hazelnut flan because it just looked like a bigger than average Portuguese tart.

Taking a bite, I wasn't impressed but it turns out I had to take a bigger bite where I got a lovely surprise.

It was actually a really enjoyable flan with a flaky pastry base and then in the middle you have this hazelnut eggy filling with an intense hazelnut layer at the bottom which is like a puree

The best thing, it was not too sweet or sickly and the pastry was not overwhelmed with grease or butter.

Overall a bit pricey but it pays off as I haven't seen this hazelnut flan anywhere else.

Would love to try the artisan cakes but I feel that it should be enjoyed dining there or somewhere nice.

Berlin Strasse from Gdk - German Doner Kebab

To be honest, I got a doner craving again Thanks to the free doner at Doner Shack which I was too lazy to go despite having a whole week to redeem it.

I satisfied my doner craving at GDK mainly because their beef doners are really tasty and I haven't eaten there for a year at least.

This time I went for the Berlin Strasse which is doner meats, fries, onions and tomatoes wrapped in a lahmacun (turkish flatbread topped with minced beef, spices, lemon juice and parsley.

When I got my order, I couldn't help unwrapping it to see the lahmacun with minced beef and all that.

Taking a bite, the Berlin Strasse was seriously satisfying, I loved the texture of the wrap which is similar to the English pancake but slightly firmer with a chew yet still soft.

The minced beef with lemon juice and parsley on the wrap definitely took it to the next level with all the flavours and then you have the star of the show, the beef doner meat which is tasty without being too salty.

The best thing is that their beef doner meat is not gritty like some other places.

Last but not least, the onions always make it complete however the tomatoes they had that day were rather starchy so it did not add much in terms of flavour nor did it make it soggy.

Overall, I would really recommend the Berlin Strasse and in particular their beef doner meats.

New itsu miso caramel and chocolate buns

New restaurant: Infusion Village in Purley

Spotted this new restaurant in Purley so as a foodie had to pay it a visit.

As the name suggests, they serve fusion dishes which are a English with an Indian twist.

All the dishes are halal and they have English Breakfast with turkey bacon etc as well as jacket potatoes with keema and cheese.

Since I have already had halal breakfast elsewhere, I opted for the jacket potato with keema and cheese.

However I was a bit disappointed that the keema was dry and not like bolognese or chilli con carne.

Overall, I think they are still in teething stages so the menu will get changed and popular items will stay.

Stargazy pie at The Barley Mow by Cubitt House

It's National pie week so I am truly excited because pies get justice.

There's East London style served with mash and liquor or just pie with mash and gravy.

I've have been meaning to try the Stargazy pie which is rare these days.

A Stargazy pie is made with sardines, eggs and potatoes with sardine heads poking out the top edges of the pie as if they were gazing at stars.

What brought me to the Cubitt House chain was their Stargazy pie launched for pie week which I feel uncomfortable addressing as a Stargazy pie because the ingredients are different.

I suppose it makes sense for Cubitt House to use langoustines as this is one of their offerings on the menu.

But anyway, I still had to try it even though it is filled with chicken and Dublin prawn for the sake of it.

I was definitely the first person to order this as they staff were literally just given briefings about it.

£25 is a bit expensive but it delivered, the pie, mash and gravy were all good but just not the name.

Starting from the garlic mash, it was green with finely chopped grassy green spring onions and it was tasty and well balanced in terms of flavour, garlic and butter whilst having a potato taste.

Next the star of the show, the pie, although the pastry was quite thick and heavy, the chicken and Dublin Bay prawn were good and the pastry was crisp and soft on the inside and somehow it felt like there was some suet in it.

Even though, the pastry was quite thick for a small pie, there was quite a lot of chunky chicken and what you would expect from a langoustine so not much cavity in the pie.

The chicken filling was flavourful and it didn't really need the gravy but having the gravy took it to another level as it tasted like a lobster bisque gravy with some alcohol.

So overall, although it was pricey, all the elements didn't let you down.

As well as the fantastic pie, their restaurant menu upstairs is also worth checking out with lamb crumpets with anchovy mayo, pie mash with parsley sauce, deep fried oysters etc.

I also spotted some white strawberries which happened to be pickled and served with cheese.

The staff really made my day and let me try one.

The pickled strawberry taste was quite different to how I imagined it to be, it was not that sharp but sweet and sour like pickled plum.