The Curry House and James Bond

Tayyabs

When: 21st July 2012

Another Saturday, another trip to East London.  Today however, would be different as I was able to spend my time enjoying two of my favourite British exports, the curry house and James Bond!  For the second week in a row I wanted to dodge the chains and thought we'd try the institutional curry house Tayyabs.

A good old fashioned curry house experience is one of my favourite things.  It brings back memories from my childhood and the novelty of being given a small chocolate at the end of the meal which to me was the height of luxury fine dining.  It was also special being able to have a good meal out whilst being vegetarian.  Anyway, times change, tastes change but the curry house remains as good as ever.

Tayyabs is famous for its tandoori cuisine, which is one of my favourite cooking styles.  We meet our friend and make the short walk from Aldgate East to the restaurant which is hard to miss from the large neon signs out front.  We took the advice to book a table as apparently it can get very busy so we were a little surprised to find only 1-2 other tables in use when we arrived.  Within five minutes of being given our menus our side of the restaurant was full to bursting, it was a good job we booked after all!  We had a table near the kitchen where I could take a good look at the action.  Service was brisk and polite but nothing to get excited about.  We ordered some starters to share:  delicious giant cubes of Paneer Tikka and some Lamb Chops straight from the tandoor in a lovely acidic marinade.  We also had some very tasty Pakoras.  Our starters were accompanied by some Popadoms and chutneys.  There wasn't much wait for the food and we were off to a great start with that addictive acidic tang of the marinated meat, I was enjoying this meal.

Before we'd even finished our starters our mains came along filling up the table.  I had one of the specialty curries, Karahi Lamb Tikka Masala, my partner also had an identical looking, but totally different tasting lamb curry.  We shared a couple of amazing buttery Tandoori Naans and some Karahi Bhindi, which to my taste was the only imperfect item we'd ordered.  This was a really great meal let down only by the rushed and less than perfect service.  It seems they have only one pace of working irrespective of how busy the restaurant is.  I would come back here to eat again, though not without trying one of the other local grills in the area and as good as the food was I would not make a special journey to come here when I have the good old Star of Bombay just a short bus ride away!  Though they did present the bill with two Union Jack chocolates (for the three of us!) to complete that famous curry house experience.

Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style

Where: Barbican Centre, London

As much as I love a good curry, it's no match for anything to do with James Bond.  So after some gentle persuasion we attended this exhibition at the Barbican.  There were 14 separate areas of the exhibition, a perfectly themed entrance and the opportunity to have your photo taken with the classic Aston Martin from Goldfinger.  The exhibition was divided into the various themes that has made Bond iconic over the last 50 years and each was filled with film props including gadgets, guns and the various outfits worn by Bond, the villains and the many Bond girls from the 23 films.

The first room of the exhibition was themed around gold and included the original Ken Adam sketches for Fort Knox from Goldfinger, Oddjob's steel-brimmed hat as well as Scaramanga's golden gun.  So far so good as we squeezed into a small room documenting the colourful life of James Bond's creator, Ian Flemming.  Flemming is just as interesting if not more so than the character he created.  He was a key influence in the cinematic appearance of James Bond in terms of his dress and background.  Also a number of the characters that appear in the books/films were named after Flemming's friends.  The idea of James Bond came from Flemming's time in the military and has passion for travel writing and journalism.

The next section was one that I particularly enjoyed, M's Office.  This section contained a number of Bond artefacts including passports, ID cards, credit cards, dossiers as well as a bit about the characters of M and Moneypenny.  The level of detail in these props are one of the things I love about Bond films.  Despite all the fantastic and often ridiculous elements to these films there is always a strong authenticity to the props used.  Of course once you have been briefed it's time to pick up your supplies from the Quartermaster or Q Branch as we know it.  Here we are treated to a selection of briefcases, watches and other "ordinary" items that can be transformed into lethal weapons, listening devices and escape routes at the flick of a switch.  There was also an extended section on the boat used in the opening sequence of The Wold is Not Enough.

After this was another James Bond staple, the casino.  In this section there was a full scale mock-up of the table and gamblers from Casino Royale forming the centre piece of the room.  In addition there were numerous mock ups of the various casino outfits and clips projected of many of the famous Bond casino scenes.  There was also a dress from the forthcoming Skyfall which was exciting to see.  After the excitement of the casino there was a section on the various countries and exotic places that Bond has visited over the years and how the look of these places was created.  The main focus here was on India as seen in Octopussy and the fabulous space base from Moonraker.

There were two main sections left after this, the next being Villains.  This room was filled with the costumes and props of many of the Bond villains, such as Rosa Klebb's spiked shoe, Jaws' teeth, the "bomb surprise" and Boris from Goldeneye frozen solid with liquid nitrogen.  There was also a section on the Bond girls that help Bond out in the films including Solitaire with her card table and Jinx in her bikini.  Alas it was time to move downstairs in the Bond lifts to visit the final room, the Ice Palace which celebrated Bond and all things snowy from the famous ski stunts to the magnificent Ice Palace from The World is Not Enough.  There was also the famous cello (with skis attached!) that Bond and Kara use to escape in The Living Daylights.

If I had one complaint about this exhibition it would be the lack of any interactive display areas, it would have been amazing to have been able to go hands on with some of the Bond gear as well as take some photos of it, though from reading about the lack of available items it is perhaps understandable.  This exhibition is clearly a must for suckers like me who can't wait till Skyfall later this year!  After finishing up at the Ice Place it was time to go home and reflect on a wonderful day of famous British exports, the curry house and James Bond.

Tayyabs - 83-89 Fieldgate Street London E1 1JU
020 7247 6400

Designing 007:50 Years of Bond Style - Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS Until 5th September 2012

Frisco Food

Dining Delights in San Francisco
When: April 2012
Where: SF, California

Somehow food keeps tasting better away from home and this trip was no exception.  Following on from my top five ingredients for a good meal out, there were a couple of places from our recent trip to San Francisco that fit the bill of getting my ingredients just right.  Best of all the first two were a five minute walk from one another!  Thanks to the Internet it seems the days of needing a guide book for visiting the USA are well and truly numbered with Trip Advisor, Flyertalk and Chowhound all giving a range of bespoke and up to the minute options that guide books cannot compete with.

Bodega Bistro

This Vietnamese restaurant is located on Larkin and Eddy and from the outside doesn't look overly enticing.  However, once through the doors it became evident we were on to a winner.  Service was warm and friendly and seemed to be even warmer and friendly to the regulars.  My beer was icy cold as was the table water, just the way I like it.  The speciality here is Pho, which is a noodle soup with various toppings.  We started off with some spring rolls and then I went for the Pho Bodega sur Demande - rare steak fillet slices, well-done brisket and beef meatball combination in a rice noodle soup.  This was both refreshing and filling and by the end I was too stuffed to think about dessert.  I found this place on Chowhound and I certainly would not have found it on my own with it being tucked away from the main tourist areas of San Francisco.  This meal was a great start to the trip, perfect company and a relaxed atmosphere.  The food was tasty and slightly exotic, fitting perfectly with being on holiday and the service to go with it was just right.  Bodega Bistro was also a bit of a bargain and quality wise was at worst on par with other reasonably priced restaurants and made a nice change of emphasis from the usual Chinese/Japanese Asian food that we normally have back home in the UK.

Bodega Bistro 607 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA.


Brenda's French Soulfood

Just across the road from Bodega Bistro lies Brenda's French Soulfood restaurant.  Another reasonably priced restaurant serving food that is not often seen in the UK.  We ate here for brunch on our first morning in San Francisco and it was truly amazing.  There was a small queue and to save your place in line you write your name and number of guests on the chalkboard by the door and wait for a free table.  Service felt warm and welcoming to the first time visitor as well as the regulars and we were soon sat down with menus and coffee. I went with the Egg & Bacon Tartine:  Bacon, scrambled eggs, gruyère & tomato-bacon relish on toasted french roll, with choice of grits or hash.  I ordered the hash but I ended up with the grits.  The food was really, really good and probably the most interesting of the many cooked breakfasts we had on this trip.  I still don't know what to make of grits, they feel/taste like mashed potato meets rice pudding and I ended up layering mine with tomato ketchup.  My partner went with the butter milk pancakes with fruit.  The best tip I can give for eating here is to allow for the fact that the food is tasty and filling, if you come for breakfast you won't want lunch.  You could probably just do brunch here and be full enough to see you through till the end of the day.  I wish I could open a version of Brenda's near me just so I could go whenever I wanted.

Brenda's French Soulfood 625 Polk Street, San Francisco CA.


Pied Piper Bar

At the time this place was a bit of an afterthought and a way of maxing out AMEX's Fine Hotels and Resorts program benefits.  The reviews were pretty mixed but the gamble paid off.  The Pied Piper is located at the Palace Hotel just off the financial district in San Francisco and they looked after us really well, an amazing room upgrade and a lovely breakfast in the beautiful old world Garden Court.  The Palace is famous for  "old world" luxury and is one of the oldest hotels in San Francisco.  The Pied Piper Bar is famous for the multi-million dollar Maxfield Parrish painting that hangs above the bar telling the story of the Pied Piper.  The rest of the bar is all dark wood, low lights and big screen TVs showing sports.  The crowd contrasts as much as the TVs do with the art work, this is my kind of place to sit and have a drink.  Seeing as we had $100 to spend we started with some cocktails which were excellent, fair play to anyone who can blend absinthe and whiskey into a martini glass and make it both refreshing and easy to drink.  As we had spent the last few days getting bloated on the best beef Las Vegas has to offer, it was time for something a little lighter and certainly less rich.  I ended up with a club sandwich which was filled with freshly cooked warm chicken breast, my partner went with the signature Pied Piper salad that was overloaded with King Prawns.  Service was perfectly in tow with the surroundings, casual in conversation but executed with formal precision.  Whilst this may not be to everyone's taste it was the right place at the right time and as we found out the next night that's a really important thing.

The Pied Piper Bar 2 New Montgomery Street  San Francisco, CA 94105, United States


Campton Place Restaurant

Just up the road from the Palace we spent our last night at the Taj Campton Place for a luxurious end to our trip.  The problem with that is that the more you spend the higher the expectations.  Campton Place recently won its first Michelin star, so added to that was the expectation that the food would be good too.  Service here is very formal, though the staff try to enjoy themselves and bring some personality to their work, but with a little fine tuning they could get the balance perfect, though maybe this is hard given the type of restaurant and the ever-changing clientèle.  We ate here for breakfast and dinner.  The sad thing to see was that the restaurant was barely half full on the Saturday night we were there.  I imagine this is due to the wealth of dining options in San Francisco.  I think the issue I have with my limited experience of higher end restaurants is that many aim for perfection and don't quite make it with every aspect.  There normally seems to be one course that's not quite right, or the atmosphere of the place that takes something that would have been perfectly fine in a slightly cheaper restaurant and ends up amplifying the imperfections.  Unusually it was not the starter that was the let down here.  My spicy lentil soup with crab was delicious, lightly spicy but not so much as to overpower the crab.  My rabbit three ways was good, though the rack of rabbit looked like it could have been cooked a little longer and I actually enjoyed the rabbit kidneys, which I was not expecting.  I cannot remember my dessert, it was good and it was not chocolate which is rare for me, but it doesn't stick in the mind like the pistachio soufflé I had at Castle Terrace in Edinburgh that nearly caused a "wafer thin mint" style explosion from over-eating.

Breakfast the next morning was great.  The service was a little over the top but the food was first rate.  Fresh juice, fresh coffee and a really tasty cooked breakfast, just far too much of it.  It was a shame there was not British style bacon, I really don't go for the American bacon the same way that I like bacon back at home.  In all for the money spent, our meal at the Taj wasn't quite worth it, though I'm sure for others it would be. Perhaps trying the tasting menu or getting a special offer which from reading online seems like something they do from time to time would be the way to go.

Campton Place 340 Stockton Street, San Francisco, California 94108, U.S.A.