A Christmas Party

I love Christmas, and since I now have my own flat, I thought I would use the opportunity to have a little get-together with some of my favourite people to catch-up, listen to Christmas songs, and eat - of course!

I made most of the food myself, so thought a blog post on it was in order incase anyone is throwing a party and looking for ideas.

I of course started the prep with mulled wine. I use my slow cooker for this (only thing I use it for currently - must go on the New Years Resolutions list!) as you can put it on in the morning and let it warm away. It creates the most amazing smell, and I think the slow cooker really lets the flavours work their magic. I was a bit lazy and bought bottled mulled wine, but then added sliced fresh oranges and lemons, cinnamon sticks and star anise to make sure it looked and tasted amazing. The other benefit of putting this on first is that you can help yourself to some while you work on the rest...

In terms of food, in addition to the usual crisps, dips, nuts etc, I decided to try my hand at some blinis. I would highly recommend these as they went down a storm, were really easy and cheap to assemble and I think they look pretty impressive too. You can top them with whatever you want - I went for smoked salmon and cream cheese, tomato and soured cream, and olives and guacamole. They were all delicious and every single one was eaten.

As you all know though, baking is my thing. I decided to do chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing and a good old-fashioned Christmas cake. For the cupcakes I used the Primrose Bakery recipe which I thought worked pretty well, and tried to put to use my knew icing skills!

I personally don't really like fruit cake, but I baked three huge Christmas cakes this year to give as presents, which worked out really well. I made them back in October and have been 'feeding' them with brandy ever since. I also iced them using brandy marzipan, so it was quite a boozy affair but the recipients seemed rather pleased!

And here are some mince pies, but I didn't bake them (shhhh - it's on my list for next year!)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and filled yourself to the brim with delicious food and drink - I know I did!

Afternoon Tea on the Bluebell Railway

My parents live in Sussex, and we have often passed the turning to the Bluebell Railway and commented that we really should go and have a look one day! So we decided to do just that on my Dad's birthday this year.

The Bluebell Railway runs a number of steam trains between East and West Sussex. Just look at how majestic these things are. A far cry from the trains we frequently use nowadays.

My dad and I stood there and admired the engines for a while, asking questions about how it works (coal is burnt, which heats water, which turns into steam, which turns a motor - FYI), and watching the conductor and engineers at work. It's really heavy and very dirty work, and watching them frankly made me quite exhausted and very hungry.

Which was just as well, because we had booked Afternoon Tea on the Wealdon Rambler - an old fashioned dining car, which looks like this:

It had an old world charm, which I soaked up whilst perusing the menu.

Afternoon tea was served as we whizzed through the beautiful Sussex countryside, choo-choo-ing (and chewing!) away happily.

Lots of sandwiches...

Lots of cakes...

And more cakes! In honesty, it wasn't the best afternoon tea I've had. The sandwiches were nice enough, but the fillings were pretty unimaginative, and the cakes were definitely not homemade. I guess this is all you can expect on a train like this, but worth bearing in mind...

Overall though, it was a really good experience, and a lovely family day out. We gobbled and chattered away for a couple of hours, looking out at the fields and watching smoke of the engine shoot out. An absolute must if you have a train or engineering fan that you're looking to treat.

www.bluebell-railway.com/event/lounge-car

Brunching in Bali - Part 1: Monsieur Spoon

I holidayed in Bali over the weekend.  It was as idyllic as it sounds - I attended a friend's beautiful wedding on Saturday and the rest of the time was spent on the beach, in the spa and of course working our way through the wonderful restaurants & cafes Bali has to offer.

Monsieur Spoon stands out as probably the best brunch we had during our time there.  It's run by two Parisian cousins, and you can tell: the dishes on offer are simple but made with such skill and finesse.

Yes, that was for 2 people - don't judge!

UoVo

A couple of weeks ago I headed over to UoVo in Damansara Kim for dinner.  It has two sister restaurants located on the same street.

I must start with saying that UoVo's pizzas are absolutely DIVINE.

Pomodoro

King oyster mushroom

Breakfast Thieves

I've been to Breakfast Thieves twice in the past week - once at 9am on Sunday, and once in the early afternoon on a weekday.  The fact that it was jam packed with excited customers on both occasions is a testament to its status as one of the hottest new brunch places in town.

Accordingly, I had high expectations going in.  

On my first visit, we shared three dishes between us: My French Lady, The Breakfast Chain and simple eggs on toast.

My French Lady

Recipe book review: Tanya Bakes

So I thought I would try out a new type of blog post here on FeasToWest: where I give you my first impressions on recipe books and my experience of a few of the recipes. I thought I would start with 'Tanya Bakes'. As a big Tanya Burr fan, I pre-ordered this when I heard she was releasing a baking book, and it arrived on my doorstep a couple of months ago. I didn't waste any time in trying out a few of the recipes!

The book itself is honestly absolutely beautiful. The recipes are laid out so that they are really easy to navigate and very relatable. The book is split into a number of sections: Cookies & Biscuits; Muffins, Cupcakes & Traybakes; Cakes & Loaves; Puddings; Pastry; Bread; Brunch and Special Occasions - so there is definitely something for everyone. What struck me straight away is the stunning photography throughout the book: each recipe has a picture next to it, and I can promise you that every single one makes the bake look irresistible. Tanya has also added a personal touch to each recipe: there is a little paragraph at the top of each recipe explaining how it relates to her life, which I think makes the book unique.

Mercat Barcelona Gastrobar

So a little while back I headed over to Mercat for Sunday lunch.  I'd been hearing a lot about it, and as I am a huge fan of Catalan cooking, I was determined to try some of their most talked-about dishes.

Mario & Luigi

Having heard so many good things about Mario & Luigi, I finally headed over for dinner last night.  I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint.

To start, we shared a couple of antipasto:

Burrata

Weekend Brunchin' in KL - Part 4: VCR Cafe

Happy Labour Day everyone!  

Hope everyone's having a well-earned break and finding some time to try out new brunch spots :)  If you're looking for a recommendation, I may have just the thing for you!

Berlin Brunch Series - Hofbräu München

I spent some time in Berlin and discovered some lovely places to eat. I had been warned before I travelled, that I shouldn't expect good food. I was happy to discover that the advise was not warranted. From quaint cafes, to large beer restaurants and incredible kebab joints - Berlin has a lot to offer. My next series of posts will reveal hotspots I found in Berlin.

Hofbräu München is a must visit if you are in Berlin. Prost!

Springtime in Cambridge

This post is going to be a little different to our usual posts. I'm going to take you along with me to Cambridge on a sunny Saturday.

Cambridge makes the perfect day trip if you live in London and you get that feeling where you just need to escape for a little while. Just hop on the tube up to King's Cross, then get on a train - 50 minutes later you'll be in beautiful Cambridge.

Marta's Kitchen

Last night I went to Marta's Kitchen in Desa Sri Hartamas for dinner.  I adore Spanish food and we were a group of five so tapas & paella seemed a logical choice.

We were also very, very hungry, having driven for over an hour to get there (that's a story for another day!) so we unashamedly ordered enough to feed a small army...

Hawksmoor

Even though my brother and I both live in London, we both have busy lives, and it can be difficult for us to see each other as much as we would like. We both love food, and one Sunday morning we decided to head over to Hawksmoor Covent Garden for a long Sunday lunch and catch-up.

Yauatcha by TVP

Hello foodies! My name is Reena and I am a food blogger from The Veggie Perspective. I was delighted when the lovely girls at fEastToWest invited me to share a guest blog post. As a fellow foodie, I am a big fan of fEastToWest and regularly visit the blog to see the latest restaurants the girls have been feasting at! I focus on the vegetarian side of things and I would like to share my recent experience at Yauatcha City.

Pince & Pints

September 2016 Update

As a fan of both lobster and laksa, I knew I had to rush over to Pince & Pints when I heard that they were rolling out the unique lobster laksa in conjunction with national day.

Mei by Fat Spoon

Mei by Fat Spoon, run by the same people behind the very popular Fat Spoon in Damansara Uptown, is essentially a fusion-y Japanese Restaurant in Desa Sri Hartamas.  I've been there for lunch on a couple of occasions and this is what I had:

Hokkaido Scallop & Lychee Carpaccio

Weekend Brunchin' in KL - Part 2: Acme Bar & Coffee

So a couple of months ago a friend and I decided to try Acme (or ABC, as it is sometimes called) at The Troika.  A lot of people had been telling me about it, and I knew it is a very popular place, so I made sure to make a booking.  We got there at 12.30 (the time of my reservation), only to be told that our table was not quite ready yet.  So we waited…and waited…and waited.  The couple in front of us (who had also made a booking) were also waiting.  We ended up waiting for a good 20 minutes before we were taken to our table.  Not a good start at all.

Anyway, we got down to ordering the food and decided to share a couple of starters.

From L-R: fried prawns; salted egg yolk chicken strips and a variety of bruschetta.

Edinburgh Eating, pt 1

To celebrate my brother's 21st birthday, we went on a little trip to Edinburgh. We were only there for 2 nights, so I took it upon myself to map out the entire food itinerary for the trip - no easy task given the number of cool restaurants there.

Vanilla Black

A while ago my boyfriend wanted to treat me, so he (rather spontaneously!) booked a table at Vanilla Black for lunch. I'm vegetarian, and he'd researched the best vegetarian restaurants in London and this one was deemed the best of the bunch! Michelin recommended, the cuisine at Vanilla Black is contemporary and experimental - I doubt you'll have seen the flavour combinations anywhere else.

A Chocoholic's Dream

I am a self-proclaimed chocoholic. I am also a cake-lover. When it comes to combining the two, I've got a fair bit of experience. So I thought I'd share my pretty fail-safe recipe with you - and a quick and easy way of making it a bit of a showstopper.