走遍英國的歲月 – gentrification的見證 @ Climpson & Sons

與香港一樣，倫敦亦有不少地區出現士紳化（gentrification）的現象：原有的人口和鄰里關係被有產階級取代，社區變成合乎中產品味的特色小區。以往因治安問題，不太敢到東倫（我和CM太細粒，去旅行還是安全為上），但隨著當地的gentrification，東倫的確煥然一新。首次來到Hackney區的Broadway Market，雖然早有心理準備，但目睹的仍與預期中有點出入。我已經來遲了，這裡已經是gentrified的社區，光鮮的屋子、高級食品店、街角的地產店、以售賣設計和生活書籍為主的書店，還有…如財爺所說，代表中產的咖啡店，都反映了這社區的定位。

聖誕節後的週六來到，market沒有開，幸好路邊的商店大多已開門營業。走到街尾的Climpson & Sons，一如所料的人聲頂沸。舊木枱長凳的裝潢，感覺平易近人，但吸引我目光的卻是位衣著新潮的斯文英國型男(沒錯 !正是我喜歡的類型，我早已暈倒了~)，從其與barista的對話，相信他是住在附近的熟客，這裡算是英國新潮的居住地嗎？

好不容易定過神來，到counter前落單。對其cookies & cakes都不感興趣，只點了杯espresso和latte。不止一眾穿著有個性的客人，收銀的女生同樣有格調，帶點凌亂美的長髮，白色背心，我認出她就是 Nicky。

 

鮮紅色的La Marzocco為沉樸的咖啡店添上色彩

說回咖啡，甘香豐厚的espresso入口帶點焦糖的香甜，味道平衡，在口腔中留下花香，餘韻悠長，較早一天在Workshop Coffee Company喝到的更好，又比Ozone 的更有層次。

是日的barista 是Anthony，他的奶打得不錯，溫度掌得好，我能嚐到釋放的乳糖香甜，與帶點焦糖味的espresso base合拍得很。很喜歡其espresso blend，用來沖製奶類咖啡實在不俗。

我另外買了包Rwanda Red bourbon回家，似乎手沖比aeropress更適合~ 豆的大小很一致，圓渾飽滿的，素質不錯。咖啡的口感頗圓融，有包裝說明所提到的lime acidity，但不很突出。整體算是我飲過的Rwanda中，不錯的了。

回港後，到訪早於出發前已想去的St. Francis Street，竟能喝到Climpson & Sons的咖啡。這裡gentrify的情況比Hackney更是有過之而無不及，更糟糕的是這區的連鎖店眾多，
遍地「豪宅」，不知是喜是悲？

Climpson & Sons

67 Broadway Market, London E8 4PH
Mon-Fri : 7:30am – 5.00pm | Sat: 8:30am – 5:00pm | Sun: 9:00am – 5:00pm

Food: wwwwwwww
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A new hot spot - Mano (by invitation)

I have been longing to visit this new cafe. The first thing that caught my attention was their food. Being a fan of Petit Café in Admiralty, I found the salad and pastry offered by Mano no less appealing. However, in my first visit, which was a cupping event, the targets were coffee and barista – both were indeed exceptional.  

Mano offered us seven types of coffee beans to taste, including two CoE (El Salvador and Guatemala), two direct trade coffee (Nicaragua Finca La Picona and Costarica Finca Verde Alto), and three African coffee (Kenya Tegu, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dama [Washed] and Ethiopia Yirgacheffee Aricha Natural). The beans for Mano are home roasted, and are sent to the cafe every week.

The cupping night was more like a casual sharing session than a formal cupping class. Water temperature was not monitored, cupping roast was not used, and the participants walked around the table and smelled the coffee’s aroma. In terms of aroma, we sort of shared the view that the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe was the best of the night, because of its distinctive floral notes. That batch of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe was among the best I have tasted. 

When it came to the taste, we were rather divided over the three African beans. It was one of the toughest moments for me to pick my favourite coffee as they were all splendid. The cherry and winey flavour of Ethiopia Aricha was overwhelming, while the lingering and creamy body of Kenya was unforgettable. I was amazed at the quality and the superb roast of the coffee beans. The roasters of Mano certainly know their trade well. That is why I only buy beans from trusted coffee roasters. 

After the cupping session, the handsome looking Korean barista showcased his handdrip skill to us. It was a clean cup and its complex acidity was amply released after cooling down. 

I consumed more caffeine than I need that night, but I still wanted more of their coffee. To come back and try their milk-based coffee and pastry is imperative. Needless to say, this will become one of my coffee bean suppliers : ).

Mano

G/F, The L. Place, 

139 Queens Road,Central 

Food: wwwwwww1/2w
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The taste that I would never forget @ Le Dôme de Cristal (by invitation)

When I was invited to this tasting, I wondered if the quality of the food offered could match the Cristal champagne, one of the best brands of its kind. Any residues of doubt was dispelled after the first few dishes. Before the dinner had started, I had a cocktail at the outdoor balcony. I am hardly a big fan of cocktail as I dislike the artificial taste of syrup, but this cocktail surprised me. No syrup was used, only nice bits of fresh fruits. The ginger gave a kick to the drink. This was one of my favourite that night.

After the drink, we moved into the dining room. I would love to try the sofa which can be rotated for enhanced privacy, but we had too many people for that. 

Oysters are must-have for a champagne dinner. The freshness and temperature of the oysters were at their optimum. We had the Louis Roederder Brut to match with them.

There were four appetizers on the menu. Organic salad with white anchovy, Carpaccio of yellow fin tuna, scallops and salmon roe, Alaskan crab meat with Imperial caviar in Du Barry cream sauce and Terrine of duck foie gras stuffed with fig chutney. The salad and carpaccio relied largely on their very good ingredients, and the crab meat with caviar in Du Barry cream sauce was also very enjoyable. The crab meat was very sweet and the cream sauce added an extra smoothness to it. The terrine was creamy and rich. I would like to have it with more chutney. It was definitely enough for two to share.

If the appetizers were to show us the high quality ingredients they use, the main courses succeeded in convincing us how good the chef can cook. The linguine with Sicilian red shrimp & Imperial caviar in cherry tomato sauce and the slow cooked lamb loin with gratin potato in Morels cream foam & yogurt were particularly enjoyable. If you have tried Silician red shrimp, you would not forget its unique flavour. It is an awesome partner with tomato in pasta sauce. Apart from the rich shrimp flavour, there was a distinct hint of butter taste in the tomato sauce. My dining companion even cleaned up the dish using the bread.

The lamb loin was perfectly cooked. What impressed me most were the potato gratin and the yoghurt sauce that pushed the lamb loin to another level. Both dishes paired with the Louis Roederer Cristal 2005 amazingly.

Before trying Cristal champagne, I hardly understood how champagne could be "elegant", but I was enlightened that night. Instead of stimulating one’s taste buds through its acidity, it demonstrated its complexity in a subtle way. Not to mention its silkiness and its persistent tiny bubbles. I found it matches well with the slight creaminess of the red shrimp pasta and the yoghurt sauce of the lamb loin.

Although the char-grilled Yellow fin Tuna & Alaskan crab leg with fennel salad was a bit blan, the char-grilled Canadian pork rack with apple & rhubarb chutney in red currant glaze was a perfect pair. I am not a big fan of pork, but I found this succulent and juicy pork rack very inviting.

While I was still indulging in the elegant Louis Roederer Cristal 2005, the Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2004 came to our table. With a sweet peach flavour, it was definitely a better companion to the coming desserts.

Even the desserts were infused with champagne. The Champagne caviar with white peach mousse Cake was a demonstration of luxury. Chocolate lovers must not miss the Valrhona chocolate Le Dome with wasabi filling vanilla ice-cream and sorbet. This innovative combination worked unexpectedly well and stroked a balance between two strong flavours. However, my favourite that night was the gold leaf champagne jelly with fresh grapes. I loved the sweetness with a pleasant hint of acidity that was so refreshing. I wish I could have a whole cup for myself.

The romantic environment, superb champagne, and amazing food was an unbeatable combination for all couples….only if my another half could drink a tiny drop of alcohol. Once you have tried this champagne, you could never forget it. This was simply addictive….!

Le Dôme de Cristal
3/F, 9 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong

走遍英國的歲月—The Ledbury

來了倫敦多次，都未到過米芝蓮餐廳，因為之前都是挑傳統老館子或是網評好的，再加上café 、下午茶和market，根本就擠不出時間。這次由於大型的market已逛過兩次以上，再訪的時間大為縮短，終於能安排到這家期待已久的餐廳用膳。

很多人挑倫敦米芝蓮餐廳時，或許會選Heston Blumenthal和 Gordon Ramsay的餐廳，我則對The Ledbury的menu更有興趣。Ledbury是米芝蓮二星餐廳，亦是2013年Top 50 Restaurant的第13位，是暫時我到過的餐廳中排名最高的，它亦不負所望地擴闊了我的味覺視野。

甫坐下，侍應便遞上印有店名的掛物勾，精緻高雅。

這裡的午餐價位不算高，兩道菜和三道菜分別索價30鎊及35鎊，與香港米芝蓮餐廳差不多，但食物水準和服務卻高得多。

頭盤、主菜和甜品各有兩款選擇。我對其熱情果疏乎厘更感興趣，遂點了兩道菜，另散點甜品。上頭盤之前，先來amuse bouche，墨汁脆片和creamy dressing形成對比，微酸的cream正好清一清味蕾，頂層的turbot roe僅為口感增加層次。

 

侍應端上一籃子暖暖的麵包，全都烘得均勻誘人，而且外脆內軟。胃納有限，我這麵包癡只好選上兩件。 牛油卻不及法國Bordier的手工牛油軟滑富奶香，屬輕盈的口味，讓麵包做主角。

我的頭盤是French bean salad with almond, pear and grated foie gras, french bean新鮮爽脆，伴著極為香甜的梨和磨碎了的鵝肝，味道豐富，三種不同的質感異常合拍。其中鵝肝就如雪凍了的mousse，入口融化，丁點都不膩滯，反而帶點清新感。為食慣沙律的我，帶來新鮮感。

 

CM的頭盤, seared scallop with seaweed相對較平凡，雖然煎帶子的技巧出色，食材的配搭就不及我的頭盤，seaweed只令其色彩更豐富。

我倆的主菜分別是veal & turbot。Veal炆得軟腍入味，輕輕用叉就能切開絲絲肉質，肉味濃郁，亦能保留肉汁。

Turbot屬貴價食材，主要生活於北海，所以較常見於歐洲的michelin餐廳。我的turbot煎得非常漂亮，連我都有點妒忌其雪白flaky的魚肉。Turbot的肉質偏結實，味道豐富，簡單的加香草poached已經很好吃。是次turbot輕roast過，面層帶脆，配以青口同煮，鮮味更濃郁，fennel salad亦爽身好吃。

Sommelier 為我的主菜配上杯德國Riesling Kabinett, Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg, Carl Von Schubert, Mosel.

金黃色的酒液，中度酒體，peach和礦物味突出，末段帶點citrus的甜，甚具層次。礦物味不會過重，反而提升了魚的鮮味。一口酒、一口魚，愉悅非常~ 感謝sommelier讓我嚐到food & wine pairing 的美妙。 

甜品亦沒令我倆失望，CM的assorted sorbet味道包括芒果、香梨和蜜桃，剛好合他心意，可惜我拍照花了太多時間，以致其sorbet溶掉不少。

 

侍應為我端上熱情果疏乎厘時，特意慢動作地於中間放上雪糕，讓我拍照，服務極貼心。陣陣熱情果香氣先衝擊我的嗅覺，甜匙切開soufflé，放進嘴巴，輕軟香甜的感覺衝擊味蕾。之前吃過的soufflé實在不能相提並論，這soufflé的質感超輕盈軟綿，實在有賴廚師的技巧，將空氣打進batter，烘焙的時間又拿捏得準確，邊位帶些許脆口，真的超好吃。唯一有點不合我心的是其甜度對我而言稍高了，吃到尾段有些許膩。

是次體驗，無論食物、環境，還是服務均令人滿意。雖然未致於每道菜都教我驚喜，但始終我倆沒有嚐過其tasting menu。食齡尚淺的我倆，還是從lunch入手吧~ 最教我倆印象深刻的是其貼心的服務，侍應對我倆「相機先食」不僅沒有不耐或不屑(我倆曾遇過不少)，更微笑地從旁協助，而且餐廳更供應tap water(我倆遇過太多餐廳連水都吝嗇)，感覺更親切。總之，絲毫沒有逼迫感，令整頓午餐時間自在舒適。

The Ledbury

http://www.theledbury.com/

127 Ledbury Rd, London W11 2AQ, England

Food: wwwwwwww
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