Anita Pati

Hyderbad hokum at Namaaste Kitchen

For some, February is the real cruellest month, what with its Valentine hyperbole, morbid imaginings and Arctic weather. But for others such as Namaaste Kitchen in Camden, February is about celebrating regional Indian cuisine, in this case, that from Hyderabad. And eating is a great antidote for early-year blues.

Carom at Meza

Carrom is a game I used to play when a little girl. The board had intricate patternings and holes into which you’d flick counters. It may sound delicate but the competition was sharp. Slit eyes and hexes were rife. I was expecting to see a little more carrom thematic going on at D&D’s new Carom restaurant in Soho before I realised I’d confused it with carom – that’s one "r" - the spice.

Potli

The absolute star of Potli’s show is the starter Chicken 65, tender poultry in a pungent ginger and pepper batter, like an excellent and healthy KFC. We couldn’t get enough. We also had tawa machi – tilapia fish steaks marinated in ginger, garlic and mustard which were good but we’d have liked more mustard.

Suda Rice Bar in Covent Garden

Being at the ambassador’s party among life size marionettes, not to mention the piles of indigo butterfly pea rice, was a warming experience for an early winter evening. This was the Thai ambassador and the party was at Suda, the “Siamese rice bar”, or more correctly, swanky Thai restaurant, officially opened in autumn at London’s Covent Garden.

Manchurian Legends

Pretty much the whole body is covered nose to tail at Manchurian Legends and the menu is not for the faint-hearted: stir-fried pigs intestines with leek, spicy pigs knuckle, marinated duck tongues, stir-fried chicken gizzard and heart…

Parmigiano and prosciutto in the land of the violets

But of course, violets, Verdi and film director Bernardo Bertolucci aside, Parma and its surrounding region of Emilia-Romagna are most famous for Parmesan cheese –Parmigiano-Reggiano – and Parma ham – Prosciutto di Parma – both of which have seen worldwide sales rocket. Over the last two years, UK sales of Parmigiano-Reggiano shot up by over a fifth while UK exports of pre-sliced Parma ham increased by nearly one third between 2008 and 2010. That’s a lot of grated cheese on our lasagnas.

A foodie weekend in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Anita Pati heads to the home of the Bard, not to brush up her sonnet skills but to get all Falstaff on the food on offer at the 2011 Food Festival

Doing the rounds with Ricker

There were some delicious starters, however, at Eight over Eight in Chelsea. Apparently this place is a hit with the yummy mummies who (*delight*) have no idea the salads they wolf can contain fatty lashings of delicious palm sugar – v. common in south-east Asian foods – not that they care, what with debating the next buggy brand to adopt.

Charlotte's Bistro Chiswick

I’d forgotten how tasty hake can be when cooked correctly, this was firm and swimming in a charming pink, porky oil offset by a paste of serious-minded olive. The best were the salt baked potatoes – three little saggy bags of potato fluff in those jackets you only got at Guy Fawkes parties when you were a kid – the sorts of potatoes that you dug out from under the bonfire with crackly skins

So

So, what can I tell you about So? It’s a Japanese fusion restaurant hidden in the snaking back alleys near Piccadilly Circus, almost entirely frequented by Japanese people the night we visited and pretty impressive. 

A French stuffing from Reflets de France

I’ll be honest. I’m reviewing this new Ocado range because at the moment I’m on the famine side of feast or famine – the downside to being freelance – and since the “feasts” have in truth been famines, it seemed the only real feast I’d ever get was the offer of some French picnic goodies. Bread, cheese and jam. How easily I am bought. 

Cantina Del Ponte

“What’s the point of sitting inside at a restaurant whose USP is the view of Tower Bridge?” I whisper, menacingly, to a quivering S at Cantina del Ponte. S, who arrived at the Italian restaurant ten minutes before me, has happily plonked herself inside on a summer’s night when I wanted to sit on its lavender and olive-planted terrace.

Making mustard with Tracklements

Anita Pati finds there's more to mustard making than you might think. She heads out into the fields and factory with Tracklement's main Man Guy Tullberg and brings back a recipe for Sausage and Spiced Honey Mustard rolls.

Kentish Canteen

Honey bees at Regent's Park and The Restaurant at St Paul's Cathedral

I can’t concentrate on the lovely hexagonal honey frames that beekeeper Toby Mason is showing us because I’m terrified I’ve left the zip open on my protective bee mask. There’s a lot of buzzing going on. Perhaps a few critters are making a beeline for somewhere they’ll never escape.

The Commonwealth Club Kitchen

The Commonwealth Club by Trafalgar Square has always exuded an impossibly glamorous mystique. Its parade of international flags brightening the stucco-ed pillars, its jetset moniker and my visions of dallying diplomats, have always made it a bit of an exotic draw. Now, on the first Saturday of every month, its restaurant, the Commonwealth Kitchen, will be hosting music and reader events.

Simon Hopkinson and Tom Rains at the Montpellier Chapter

Simon Hopkinson, founder and co-owner of Bibendum restaurant in London, is currently supporting head chef Tom Rains at the 74-cover Montpellier Chapter Restaurant in Cheltenham which showcases “simple, seasonal and classic British dishes”.
Rains says the two get together and brainstorm frequently, swapping books and recipes but all with the aim of producing “straightforward cooking, done well"

The Henry Root

Right wing nutcase? A legend in wet fish? A lifelong fan of Thatcher? Henry Root was all of these and now he's a gastropub too. Anita Pati goes to see what the old man is cooking up in Chelsea.

Trullo

Hurray, Trullo! Some nine months after it opened, I have finally been! Brushing past it on my way to Highbury & Islington tube, this esteemed neighbourhood restaurant, in my own neighbourhood, has been rammed happy every time I pass.

An-Tea Establishment Afternoon Tea at the Met Bar

The Met Bar at the Metropolitan Hotel on Old Park Lane, London, has decided to rebel against royal revelries and serve an “an-tea establishment afternoon tea” to clash with the royal wedding, until 8 May.