WadeandRockandFood Awards 2018 – Part 3, small independents

WadeandRockandFood Awards 2018 – Part 1 focused on our top restaurants, Part 2 focused on our favourite pubs and now part 3 focuses on four small independent food providers that gave us something special during 2018.

Noya’s Kitchen, Bath – best Asian dining experience

Noya Pawlyn grew up in the UK after leaving Vietnam in a boat at the age of seven. The Vietnamese kitchen she now runs uses fresh ingredients, herbs and spices to create beautiful and delicious aromatic dishes with layers of flavour.  Noya and her team deliver textures and tastes that will wow you! Full review: Lunch@ Noya’s Kitchen, Bath

Crispy chicken noodle salad by Noya’s Kitchen

 

Scotts, Alnmouth – best cafe and deli

Scotts is a great place for quality food shopping, for coffee or even for lunch.  A lot of their dishes are vegetarian including a chickpea and lentil veggie burger with sensational favours. The deli stocks top craft ales, fabulous pies, cheeses etc. Full review: Lunch@Scott’s of Alnmouth

Moroccan Tartine by Scotts of Alnmouth

 

Sir Hummus Kitchen, Amsterdam – best International Street Food

Sir Hummus Kitchen is a very small establishment with a very small menu. But, if you love falafel and hummus then this is the place.  Fabulous falafel and hummus wrapped in extraordinary home made pitta – all freshly cooked to order.  Plus great beer and cool music.  Full review: Dinner@Sir Hummus Kitchen, Amsterdam

Pita Falafel by Sir Hummus Kitchen

 

Tierra Kitchen, Lyme Regis – best vegetarian

Using local, seasonal, organic products from Dorset and Devon, Tierra Kitchen produces exceptional vegetarian dishes with influences from Mediterranean and French cuisine.  We are not vegetarians and it is hard to impress us with dishes that don’t include any meat – but Tierra Kitchen can and do. Full review: Dinner@Tierra Kitchen, Lyme Regis

Goat’s cheese and pecan tortellini with asparagus, spring onion and red chilli by Tierra Kitchen

 

Here’s hoping that 2019 is another year of great eating and drinking experiences!

Dinner@Sir Hummus Kitchen, Amsterdam

In Amsterdam we have gone from a Michelin-starred restaurant to a Grand Café and now we are heading for the street food of Jerusalem – we like to cover all the bases.  Sir Hummus Kitchen is a small restaurant with a very small menu run by Guy, Dori and Lior.  As hummus & falafel are very high on our food favourites list…we can’t wait!

I say the menu is very small because it basically consists of Pita Falafel or Pita Aubergine and a few side dishes.  There are also a range of teas, shakes and importantly, from a personal perspective, beer.  We both order a home favourite, Dead Pony Club, a fabulous IPA from Scottish independent brewers BrewDog.  I’m also impressed by the playlist here – a really cool mix of blues and R&B.

There a few tables inside and a few outside – with diners who are clearly enjoying themselves.  Rock orders a small Pita Falafel and I order one too, but regular size.  As well as falafel (freshly cooked to order) and hummus, our pita contains fresh chopped cucumber, tomato, pickled red cabbage and SK’hug (a spicy dressing originating in Yemen). You can choose how spicy you want your filling to be. Pickles and tahini with harissa are served on the side.   They make almost everything here – the pita, the hummus and the falafel are all made daily from scratch.

The pita bread is the best I’ve ever tasted, the falafel and hummus are from the premier league of chickpea cuisine, and the SK’hug gives the whole thing a really fantastic spicy hit.  Extraordinary.

Sometimes it is the simplest things that give you the most joy.

Brunch & Lunch @ Cafe Wildschut, Amsterdam

Café Wildschut is one of Amsterdam’s ‘grand’ cafés and it is less than 200 metres from the hotel we are staying in.  Much more importantly, it serves relatively simple dishes in an interesting way, using quality ingredients, that taste great.  We have liked it so much that we have had brunch or lunch here every day for three days.

The first time was when we had first arrived in Amsterdam and we just wanted a quick, simple lunch.  We shared a goat’s cheese and tomato toasted sandwich and some proper chips.  The dark brown bread they use for the sandwich was fabulous and the chips were just perfect.  Next day, we go back for lunch again – this time we share something a bit more substantial – a salad with stir-fried organic beef, green beans, peppers, red onion and mange-tout and a teriyaki ( a sauce made from soy, sake, sugar & ginger) and sesame dressing.  The whole dish is great – fabulous beef and an extraordinary dressing served over a fresh and beautiful salad.

We were sitting outside enjoying another fabulous afternoon in the sun.  I have a lovely glass or two of IPA from the Brand Bierbrouwerij – who are fast becoming one of my favourite Dutch brewers and Rock has a small glass of Heineken.  The IPA was more golden than pale ale colour but it was very good and tasted similar to some Belgian ales.  We also get excellent advice and service from Dmitra.

On our last morning in Amsterdam, we are returning for brunch.  Rock just has toast but I have the scrambled egg with smoked salmon served with more of that fantastic toasted dark brown bread. Simple but extremely enjoyable.

Cafe Wildschut is worth seeking out  – even if you are not staying nearby like we were.  Great food, using quality ingredients and beautifully prepared.  Friendly and excellent service does not hurt either.

Dinner@Bridges, Amsterdam

Not a roadtrip this time, but a railtrip round The Netherlands – starting in Amsterdam.  Easier now that you can get the Eurostar direct to Amsterdam from St Pancras. Our first meal worthy of a blog is at the Michelin starred Bridges, which is one of the restaurants based in The Grand Hotel, Amsterdam.  Executive chef Andrés Delpeut has a reputation for giving international dishes his own creative twist.

As usual, I start with a beer – a small glass of Up brewed by Brand Bierbrouwerij a Netherlands based brewery owned by Heineken.  It is a golden pilsner style beer with notes of malt and hay.  Rock is having a glass of a South African Chenin Blanc from Force Majeur – fresh with the fruitiness of apples and pears.

Rillette of sea bass, trout roe and pistachio powder topped with foam potato and croutons 

A beautifully fresh small batch loaf of bread is delivered with butter, followed by canapés including puff pastry with dutch cheese, a madeleine of truffle and a baby carrot with a wasabi dressing.  The canapés are fantastic – what a great start to the evening! Then a rillette (similar to a paté) of sea bass, trout roe and pistachio powder topped with foam potato and croutons as an amuse-bouche.

Grilled plaice with muhamarra, a sauce vierge of fennel and a cylinder of patatas bravas filled with aubergine caviar

Rock ‘s main course is grilled plaice with muhamarra, a sauce vierge of fennel and a cylinder of patatas bravas filled with aubergine caviar.  I’ve moved on to a glass of the rather fabulous Pietranera Sangiovese from Piaggia – a rich, full-bodied red with fruit and spice and a great match for my next course.   Fillet of venison coated in a  pumpkin- toffee crème with toasted pumpkin seeds and served with a sea buckthorn and carrot puree, dry-aged carrot, physalis (Cape gooseberry) gnocchi and a game jus.

 Fillet of venison coated in a  pumpkin- toffee crème with burned pumpkin seeds and served with a sea buckthorn and carrot puree, dry-aged carrot, physalis gnocchi and a game jus

For dessert we share a beautifully presented plate that includes a honey cookie, a Choux Praliné, calamansi (a citrus fruit) crème, fig sorbet, fresh figs, praline crunch and lime cream.  A magical variety of tastes and textures that work perfectly together.  It is the best dish of the evening.

Honey cookie, Choux Praliné, calamansi crème, fig sorbet, fresh figs, praline crunch and lime cream

Bridges is an impressive looking restaurant that serves interesting dishes in an efficient way.  At its best it surely deserves a Michelin star but –  I don’t think it was at its best tonight.  Some of the dishes were very good…. some just did not wow us.