Author: Sarah Kemp

Ping Pong Chinese New Year menu

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Pardon me for being so late but I have a post related to Chinese New Year! A few weeks ago I was invited to dine at Ping Pong to celebrate their special Chinese New Year menu. I had only ever been once before and I was nicely hungover so wasn’t able to appreciate the food – so when the invite came, I duly accepted. What I didn’t realise was that we were only going to be dining with a handful of others and that we would get to try almost everything on the menu, including any extras from the regular menu that we might want. Despite Chinese New Year falling on 3rd February this year, the special menu at Ping Pong ran for the whole month of February. We dined at the original venue on Great Marlborough Street in London and I found the restaurant to be well designed and very sleek. I looked at the special menu and was excited to try everything. Chinese isn’t my favourite cuisine, which is no secret and I …

Maple and Pecan muffins

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I love breakfast foods, which is why I’ve been making a lot of loaves and muffins recently. Since it was pancake day this week and I bought a bottle of Maple Syrup especially, I thought I’d carry on the theme and make some Maple Syrup and Pecan Muffins. I have the Hummingbird Bakery book but their recipe called for more buttermilk than I have in the fridge so it was back to the drawing board. I came across a recipe from Nigella Lawson, which uses wheat germ. I had some oat germ in the cupboard which needed using so I decided to substitute it. There is no sugar or butter in the batter – instead I used milk, vegetable oil and of course, maple syrup. The result is a light and fluffy muffin with a delicious crunchy sugary and nutty topping. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’re healthy but i’m sure they’re not as bad as your regular muffin. I have an American cup measure so I used this – if …

Viajante bar snacks

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I went to a vintage clothes fair a couple of weekends ago in Bethnal Green and the venue was a minutes walk from Viajante so we decided to treat ourselves to a cup of tea after trawling through the endless rails of clothes. Viajante is situated in the Town Hall Hotel.The reception boasts beautiful art deco furniture and the Grade II listed building has been extended and modernised but has kept it’s original character. The restaurant across the hallway from the bar is designed by award-winning architects and features installations from fashion and lighting designers as well as some of the East End’s most brilliant young artists. Brilliant! We entered the bar to see a chandelier art-installation and an extremely good looking bar attender. We were then greeted by a polite and very welcoming waiter. I looked at the menu and was disappointed to be told that they don’t serve English breakfast tea or Earl Grey! So I settled with a fresh lime and soda water, which the waiter took the liberty of adding a …

Maltby Street Market

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Ok – so I have a new favourite place. I came across the Bermondsey arches on Maltby Street a few weeks ago and then found out that some food traders that either produce or store their goods in the arches hold stalls every Saturday from 9-2pm. A new food market is born. Some are hailing it as the ‘new Borough Market’, although the two really aren’t terribly alike. For starters, each trader sells their products directly out of their arch so as we walked down Druid Street to the St John bakery, it didn’t look like there was a lot of action going on. It’s only when you reach Booth’s the greengrocers that you realise you’ve hit the market. You’ll probably see a few customers ambling about, armed with their baskets full of fruit and veg, some of which you won’t find at a local supermarket. I missed out on purchasing anything here as I knew that I’d be out all day so I didn’t want to be carrying too much around with me. However, …

New Zealand green lipped mussel linguine recipe

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I have seen mussels popping up a lot recently and I suddenly realised that I have never cooked them before. I wanted to do something about it but my supermarket had ran out of fresh mussels by the time we arrived on Sunday afternoon (can’t blame them really) so we had to settle for already cooked mussels. To spice it up a bit and make it look prettier, we also bought a few New Zealand green lipped mussels. This is such an easy dinner and absolutely delicious. It only takes a few minutes from start to finish. Ingredients (serves 2) 100ml dry white wine (I used Orca Bay) 20ml single cream 4 tbsp olive oil pinch of chilli flakes 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 200g linguine 2 tbsp curly leaf parsley salt and pepper to season squeeze of lemon Method 1. Boil the linguine in salted water 2. Meanwhile warm the wine and olive oil in a pan 3. Add the garlic to the wine and cook for about 5 minutes 4. Pour in the …