Wagamama at Heathrow T5 (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★☆☆☆☆

We are kicking off the second part of our European trip this afternoon with an early flight from London Heathrow to Toulouse. Toulouse wasn't our first choice to begin with but a few months before the trip, we were informed by BA that our flight going from Gatwick to Bordeaux was cancelled due to "special circumstances". After weeks of research, we had to change our game plan going from Bordeaux to Toulouse, which wasn't ideal. 



Anyways, we arrived at London Heathrow T5 looking for a quick bite. Originally, I thought we had enough time for a proper meal but the immigration and security guys took their time so we ended up with just enough time for a quick meal at Wagamama.



Teriyaki chicken donburi (£10.75) - The first to arrive was our chicken teriyaki rice bowl. This came with shredded carrot, pea shoots and spring onion.



I thought the chicken fillet was pretty bland as the teriyaki sauce was largely missing in action. A very poorly executed dish that probably tasted worse than a typical chicken teriyaki bento served at a food court (those with a gluey teriyaki sauce).



Yaki soba (£9.95) - Wok-fried thin noodles with chicken, prawn, peppers, bean sprouts, spring onion, fried shallots, pickled ginger and sesame seeds. Even with all the ingredients with a nice mix of flavors, this was tasteless and almost like it's been poached in hot water. My domestic helper likely cooks a better yakisoba than this (though she hasn't cooked one before).



Pad thai (£11.25) - Thai rice noodles tossed with egg, bean sprouts, leeks, chili, spring onion, fried shallots, mint, coriander and fresh lime in amai sauce. In my opinion, the only dish out of the three that looks like one coming out of a professional kitchen. But this is probably a "modified" version of a Pad Thai as the authentic one should taste both sweet and spicy at the same time. This was more savory with some sweet notes but nothing spicy came out of it.



I didn't expect much out of this meal but even with my low expectation, it was a complete disaster. I don't think any professional chef should be serving these to customers. It's an absolute disgrace.




Food Rating: 2/10
Price: £££
Address: London Heathrow T5, London, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 8283-6186
Opening Hours: 5:30am - 9:30pm daily

Frenchie Covent Garden (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★★★☆☆

We are spending our last evening in London at Covent Garden with a highly anticipated dinner at Frenchie. Highly anticipated because I have tried to get in their flagship restaurant in Paris many times but never once was I able to do so. Tonight, I finally got to try some of Chef Grégory Marchand's amazing dishes.



Born in Nantes France, Chef Marchand started his professional career working for Alain Ducasse and Daniel Boulud before further training abroad in London, Hong Kong and back to London working under Jamie Oliver at Fifteen (not sure if that's a good place to train) and later in New York at Gramercy Tavern before returning to Paris to open Frenchie in the 2nd arrondissement. Frenchie is currently a one Michelin star restaurant and it's one of the toughest restaurants in 75002 to get a table. Trust me on that one.

In case you're wondering, "Frenchie" was the nickname Jamie Oliver gave Chef Marchand when they were working together.



The talented French chef has a style which was greatly influenced by his stints in London and New York. He creates dishes that are as pretty as a picture letting his ingredients do all the talking. That's what I love about it, a produce-driven menu that looks as pretty as art.



Smoked sea bream tartare (£14.00) - Everyone claimed they were not that hungry tonight so I just ordered 4 dishes to share between the four of us. First up was smoked sea bream tartare served with chive sabayon, Kohlrabi and horseradish. A beautifully plated dish but way too much seasoning (salty!) especially with the chive sabayon. Jelloman thought there was too much acidity in there too.



Smoked short rib ragù pappardelle (£17.00) - The sea bream tartare was followed by homemade pappardelle with smoked short rib ragù, wild garlic, caper leaves and Pangrattato. The homemade pasta was pretty mouthwatering but the smoked short rib ragù was way overly spiced (a recurring theme?).

I did enjoy the tangerine peel there for extra zesty flavors bringing the dish another interesting dimension.



Steamed Cornish cod (£30.00) - It wasn't my first time having steamed cod fish wrapped in seaweed before and as like the last time, the result was pretty encouraging. The only blemish was perhaps the emulsion made with butter, mussels, cauliflower, dill and whey - having way too much butter and salt in it.



Woolley Park farm guinea fowl (£34.00) - The guinea fowl was very tender and the beetroot, mushroom and pickled walnut purée combined well to provide some nice contrasting flavors and textures to the mix.



Everybody wanted to crash early tonight since we have an early flight to catch tomorrow. So, instead of the dessert menu, we simply went for the bill.

It wasn't exactly the wonderful dining experience I was expecting when I stepped through those doors. Service was fine but all of the dishes had way too much seasoning in them which effectively turned most of us off. I like the modern twist but it's not nearly enough to reverse our fortune. Not tonight.




Food Rating: 6/10
Price: £££
Address: 16 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom
Closest Tube Station: Covent Garden
Tel: +44 20 7836-4422
Website: www.frenchiecoventgarden.com
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat), 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 5:30pm - 10:30pm (Sun)

The Wolseley (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★★★☆☆

Our trip down memory lane continues with a visit to The Wolseley this afternoon. In 2008, while Jelloman and I were spending our honeymoon in London, we had the pleasure of having a meal here and it's really ample time for us to re-visit this place with our little nugget in attendance.

Every major city in the world seems to have its own grand café, a place to see and to be seen during brunch and afternoon tea hours. In London, this could very well be The Wolseley, a timeless restaurant in the heart of Piccadilly which has been serving its brunch and all-day menu since 2003 in an impeccable setting, a heritage building that used to be the showroom of Wolseley Motors dating back to 1921.

Taking photos here was a bit challenging due to the poor lighting (and reflection) but it was important for me to shoot a few of these for my record cuz I love this place so much.

There's still a couple of hours before our scheduled dinner so I thought we could squeeze in something sweet.

The Wolseley's Hot Chocolate (£6.25) - There's a version of this that comes with rum but I like it with whipped cream the French way (a la Angelina or Ladurée).

This turned out to be pretty disappointing. I was hoping it would be as rich as the ones at Angelina or Ladurée but no such luck.

Carrot Cake (£6.25) - There are two cakes that should not be missed here at The Wolseley - The Wolseley Battenberg (a moist pink-and-yellow checkerboard patterned sponge cake) and carrot cake. Having tried the Battenberg at Harrod's and a number of other places before, we decided to turn our attention to their carrot cake.



This is seriously good. Very moist and pillowy, with some lovely bite coming from the nuts in the middle (pistachio?).

I hope we didn't stuff ourselves too much cuz tonight, I have lined up Frenchie, a modern French brasserie by chef Greg Marchand for our last supper in London (on this trip). I have tried to get into his tiny little Parisian restaurant in 2nd arrondissement on a number of occasions but without success. So, I am really excited about visiting their London outpost in Covent Garden. Let's hope they don't disappoint me tonight!




Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: ££££
Address: 160 Piccadilly, St. James's, London, United Kingdom
Closest Tube Station: Green Park
Tel: +44 20 7499-6996
Website: www.thewolseley.com
Opening Hours: 7:00am - 11:00pm (Mon - Fri), 8:00am - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun)

The Greenhouse (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★★★★☆

After a few eventful hours spent at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, we took a cab back to the Green Park area for another highly anticipated lunch. Our lunch venue, two Michelin starred The Greenhouse, is situated in a very discreet location in Hay’s Mews. Even our cab driver was quick to point out that he has never dropped any customers off Hay’s Mews the few years since he’s been on his job.



It took us some time to figure out the entrance of The Greenhouse but we finally sorted it out before my little nugget started to get disgruntled. This was an unlikely address for a dining venue, let alone a fine dining temple which has been welcoming customers since 1977.



There was a small courtyard that led to the entrance of the restaurant at the other end.



Hidden behind the tree-lined courtyard was an amazingly charming and well-spaced dining room.



Current Executive Chef Alex Dilling, who was born in London but raised in America, honed his crafts under Alain Ducasse in New York before taking on the role of Chef de Cuisine at Caviar Russe New York in 2012, earning a Michelin star in 2013. He returned to London in late 2013, and before joining The Greenhouse in 2018, he was the Executive Chef at Helene Darroze’s two Michelin starred The Connaught for a number of years.



It's a great idea to visit The Greenhouse from Tuesday to Friday for lunch because they have one of the best value-for-money set lunch menu in town comfortably priced at £45 (3 courses). Not bad for a two Michelin starred restaurant in central London. There is also a 6-course tasting menu (£85) available for those who want an extensive look at Chef Dilling's ingredient-led approach. Due to our very tight schedule, we had no choice but took the shorter 3-course menu.



The moment our amuse bouche arrived, we knew immediately that this meal would be anything but rustic.



Parmesan cheese tartlet with a hint of black truffle. Pretty strong flavors to start off the meal.



More truffle, this time marinated mackerel topped with black truffle.



We all love some spherification from time to time so this was perfect. Refreshing cucumber gazpacho bomb with a touch of lime and chrysanthemum.



A crisp cylinder of pastry filled with vitello tonnato and chives, topped elegantly with a slice of sardine.



Finally, a white sphere (tasted like white chocolate) filled with smoked eel tartare rounded out the impressive parade of canapés.



Duck foie gras from Andignac in the southwest of France was next. This was poached with milk for 24 hours and then cured with five spice, marinated Cévennes onion, lemongrass, champignon de Paris and lemon thyme for a few more days. It was finally finished off with gold leaf on top.



I would love to have that all to myself but they brought it back to the kitchen and came out with this tiny piece instead.



The duck foie gras had really lovely silky texture coupled with rich and delicate flavor. It was superbly complemented by the acidity of French quince jelly.



Served on the side with the foie gras was a slice of caramelized puff pastry. You could tell they were on top of their game with every single detail. Even a small pastry like this looks extraordinarily elegant (comparing to the brioche we normally get with our foie gras terrine).



Instead of the duck foie gras, mom had the chalk stream trout with bergamot, créme cru and manni olive oil.



A beautifully presented dish with the rainbow trout tartare hidden inside the sphere of créme cru, decorated exquisitely with bergamot and sorrel. A refreshing green apple emulsion and manni olive provided the dish with a sublime finish.



While we were having our starters, little nugget was served with his chestnut pasta which has been tossed in a creamy butter sauce with chicken. The pasta was a tad sweeter than I expected but not bad.



Most of us had the lobster and veal pithivier as main course. A very hearty and rich dish with layers of lobster meat, veal and black truffle stuffed in between. The black truffle purée and lobster jus did a superb job tying everything together while the exotic spices in the pie gave the dish some lovely extra kick.



Instead of the chef's famous radish roll, the baked pastry pie was served with a simple baby gem roll on the side. These were wrapped with a thin slice of turnip topped with a slice of porcini.



I had the suckling pig myself. Interestingly, they chose to serve the succulent pork with blood pudding, crispy potato, watercress purée and grain mustard. Very interesting flavor and texture profile matching rich flavors with rich flavors.



Some curly fries with my suckling pig?



My little nugget absolutely loves these~



Everyone except me went with the Kent mango dessert. Everything here was about mango (well almost everything), mango compote, mango mousse wrapped with a thin layer of mango jelly, and the mango tuile which was there more for decorative purpose only. The only thing which wasn't mango flavored was the lime sorbet in the middle.



A lovely, refreshing dessert with a well-balanced range of flavors and wonderful interplay of textures.



I had the Caranoa chocolate mousse instead and quite frankly, if I could start all over again, I would take the Kent mango dessert in a heartbeat. The scoop of chocolate mousse (right), which has been infused with Talisker 10 year old whisky (I think), came with chunks of hazelnut in the middle. On the other side of the dish was a scoop of smoked vanilla ice-cream. This wasn't a bad combination but if you're looking for something refreshing to end the meal, it's probably not the right call.

At this point, my palate was so messed up with the mix of complex flavors. (By the way, where was our palate cleanser?).



Petite fours included chocolate with coffee, tartlet with cocoa nibs and nuts and my favorite of the three, smoked vanilla macaron.



This was by far the best meal we had in London. Every dish is more visually striking than the last one and the ingredient-driven menu, impeccably crafted combines well with an innovative flourish. It was an experience that was far better than what we had at three Michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay three days ago. And most importantly, it's much easier on the wallet.

Food Rating: 8.2/10
Price: £££
Address: 27A Hay's Mews, Mayfair, London, United Kingdom
Closest Tube Station: Green Park
Tel: +44 20 7499-3331
Website: www.greenhouserestaurant.co.uk
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:45pm (Tue - Fri), 6:30pm - 9:45pm (Tue - Sat)

Tonkotsu Ramen Bar 骨 (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★★★☆☆

I thought having Japanese ramen in Paris last year was the lowest point of my foodie career and little nugget reminded me of that horrible experience tonight when he demanded having ramen this time in London. It felt like rubbing salt into my wounds. Out of all the great food we have in London, I can't believe he picks this time to have his Japanese soup noodles.



We were again patrolling in Soho and thank goodness, I knew exactly where to get him his ramen, at Tonkotsu Ramen Bar (骨). I like their slogan here - "If you don't make your own noodles, you're just a soup shop.". Sounds like they are pretty serious about their ramen.



Tonkotsu (£11.50) - Their original flavor. You can't go wrong with a namesake dish, right?

The pork broth was enriched with lardo and sea salt base so there's a bit of a mix between tonkotsu (pork bone based) and shoyu (salt based). I thought for a pork bone soup, it's more on the light side and it sure doesn't have the volume one normally sees from a tonkotsu soup.



The homemade thin-cut homemade noodles weren't bad though and they worked reasonably well with the roast pork belly, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, spring onions, burnt garlic oil and seasoned egg.



Tokyo (£11.00) - Chicken broth and soy sauce base. Classic homemade noodles topped with marinated braised pork belly, bamboo shoots, spring onions and seasoned egg. I thought the broth tasted a bit like lo shui (鹵水) and not surprisingly, no sign of the chicken broth at all.

If I have to pick just one bowl of ramen, I take Tonkotsu in a second.



Our ramen noodle experience in London didn't turn out as badly as I once feared. Yes, it's by no means a delicious experience but I was already very grateful that little nugget managed to find something so close to an authentic Japanese ramen.




Food Rating: 4.3/10
Price: £££
Address: 63 Dean Street, Soho, London, United Kingdom
Closest Tube Station: Leicester Square
Tel: +44 20 7437-0071
Website: www.tonkotsu.co.uk
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat), 11:30am - 10:00pm (Sun)