Blue Lotus Inspirations - Thai Supper Club - London

Blue Lotus Inspirations is a venture by Urmi Shah that offers Thai & Indian Food supper clubs.

I found her online and after clarifying that my shrimp/prawn allergy wouldn't be a hindrance, we promptly booked 2 places for her Spice Away the Blues - Thai Supperclub, last Friday.

I often find myself at a disadvantage in Thai restaurants because while I love the cuisine and the spice, their use of shrimp paste in the basic spice pastes, precludes most food from the menu. So I was very excited, when she promised me that I would be able to eat everything on that nights menu.

We arrived at their home in time and were warmly welcomed into their beautiful home by Urmi and the Delectable Mr G

We sat down to a table with an eclectic mix of people and Urmi explained her background of living in Thailand and which regions our menu for the night stemmed from.

Thai food needs to be eaten as soon as it is cooked. Its not meant to be reheated. So there was a bowl of shrimp crackers on the table while she quickly fried up our starters. I had to wait patiently, but that obviously gave me an advantage over the others. I could focus on all the home cooked goodies and eat more of them.

The fried tofu was so light, I've never eaten such a lovely version before. Often tofu gets tough and rubbery (not that I order it often), but this version was light, delicate and spongy on the inside of a crisp exterior.

The meat eating me reveled in the umpteen platters of fried chicken (Kai Thod Krob) that were brought to the table. So moreish. They were my second favourite dish of the evening.

My favourite dish for the day was definitely the  fish ball soup (Kwa Tiew Look Chin Naam) which she assembled in front of us! Customised to individual tastes. I asked for a little extra chilli and lemon in mine. I could live on this soup. Such a light flavourful stock, the fresh herbs, the smooth slithery noodles and the delectable fish balls.

Even if the meal had ended right here, I would have been very happy and contented, but there was even more food to come.

The main course was egg fried rice (Kaw Phad Khai) served with a pork jungle curry (Gaeng Par) and a stir fry of morning glory (Phat Phak Kiew) with lovely caramelised bits of garlic? 

Urmi had made a separate batch of pork curry for me without the shrimp paste which made me feel very special. I was just embarassed that I could barely begin to make a dent in it, as I was already quite stuffed. Others at the table were also waving the surrender flag. 

But I knew to keep a little space for dessert. It was pumpkin stewed in coconut milk (Fucktong Buat). I was so happy that it wasn't a dessert with fruits in it (I'm not allergic, I just don't like the taste or texture of most of them) This was a really delicately flavoured dessert. No added sugar and a lot of slow cooking love.

The food was absolutely amazing. There were a couple of pescatarians  at the table and she had alternative options for them for the pork curry and the fried chicken. 

Michael is a wine connoisseur, so they offer the option to buy wine that goes well with their food at their house and quite a few took them up on their offer. 

We aren't wine drinkers and the weather is too cold for cider, so we stuck to water. Therefore the palate cleanser of rose and lemon was really welcome midway through the meal. Absolutely refreshingly delicious.

At 35£, we were served a phenomenal quantity of food and so much variety, while catering to a myriad dietary restrictions, which is commendable for a home based operation.

Urmi also offers Cooking Classes and Demonstrations and also has an option that fulfills the skills section for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Her other options include supplying food and cooking in your home.

They are very genial hosts, so I would recommend trying them out if you have a hankering for Thai food. Contact Urmi on bluelotusinspirations@gmail.com or follow her on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/bluelotusinspirations/ to be informed of her next offering.

Thai Cottage, Berkhamstead, UK

Thai Cottage
149 High Street
Berkhamsted HP4 3HH

01442 870808

After spending a couple of days at Ashridge University, I wanted to explore Berkhamsted town and grab a hot lunch before catching the train back to London.

I avoid chain restaurants when I can and this one had a good rating on yelp.

It was a fixed lunch offer only (no a la carte) with one soup or starter and one main course served with rice for 10 Pounds.

I ordered the sticky pork ribs as a starter - they were very well cooked and were almost falling off the bone, but the sauce on them was sickly sweet.

My main course was a beef stir fry (I asked for a spicy option and the server recommended this) Again the meat was well cooked, but it was so salty!

While main courses are normally served with rice, I requested if I could substitute the rice for noodles. The egg noodles that were served with the beef was very tasty (and they weren't even on the menu)

The place was quite full in the noon and most people in there were locals.

The staff was really sweet and obliging.

However the food was a disappointment. I just ate the noodles and picked at the beef and pork. Even mixed with the noodles the sweetness was cloying and the saltiness overwhelming.

Next time I think I'll just eat at Ashridge before leaving, the buffets there were amazing.

Rating : 2 / 5

Thai Cottage

Thai Cottage Menu

Ratchada, Munich, Germany

Ratchada
Schwanthalerstr. 8
Munich 80336
Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt
Germany

Phone number +49 89 4317859

I saw the amazing rating on yelp and I had to head here as my Indian palate was craving spicy complex flavours after a week of local food.

We walked here from the Hauptbahnhoff and the area seemed a bit dodgy, but in the pursuit of good food, I convinced the husband to persevere and we are very glad that we did.

The restaurant is in the basement, so its quite dark yet cool.

Given how tired I was after a long day of walking, the minute I was handed an English version of the menu, I pointed to the Thai Iced Coffee & when it arrived it was absolutely perfect!

The staff who served us only spoke German & Thai, so I had to refer to google translate to tell them about my prawn allergy. She kept referring me to the vegetarian section of the menu (perils of looking Indian) and through sign language and google translate, I tried to explain that I was allergic only to shrimp & prawns but I NEEDED meat.

I had the tom kha gai & he had the tom yum. Both of which were fantastic. I had also ordered vegetarian spring rolls as the meat ones had some shrimp in it. I wanted a non fried starter, so I order a stir fried pork, which turned out to be a bit more saucy than I expected but wonderfully tasty.

Husband wanted just a fried rice and I wanted a green curry rice, so we ordered both (sticky rice is automatically served as an accompaniment with curry). They were both so good, my taste buds were in heaven. The rice could be eaten on its own as a complete meal.

Once the food arrived, we realised that we had over ordered. Between the 2 of us, we should have just gone for 2 soups, the curry rice & the egg fried rice. There was no need for anything else. There was a lot of food leftover, but as we were staying in a hotel and had a checkout the next morning with baggage pick up in the evening, there was no point in packing the leftovers (which were a complete meal) I was kicking myself the next day for not packing the leftovers anyway

This Thai food holds its own against any food I have eaten even in Thailand. Heavily recommended.

Oh & on the way back we walked towards Karlsplatz and that was a way better approach. So if you have to walk the last bit, Id recommend walking from Karlsplatz rather than the Hauptbahnhoff.

Rating : 5 / 5

China Palace, London

China Palace
433 Harrow Road
London W10 4RE
020 8964 1669

With someone down with the flu and me in no mood to pander to different tastes and requests for soups and curries, the easiest thing to do was place an order for a home delivery.

I'd recently received a menu from China Palace and thought I'd try them out. I did over order, so I could stock the fridge and Mr Flu, could take out bowls of whatever he wanted and warm them up at his convenience.

Price wise, there's a 20% discount on home delivery, so its really value for money. Nothing was overly greasy, so this wasn't like cheap Chinese takeout.

We tried the schezwan hot & sour soup (3.15), which he found spicy enough to clear his head. I needed to add a bit more lemon and chilli in my yumgai chicken soup (3.50), which was a bit sweet from the addition of pineapple. I'm not a fan of fruit in my savoury dishes and I'm just about getting used to bits of pineapple in sweet & sour pork, but I couldn't handle it in my soup. It didn't spoil the flavour, but the taste of this soup was more sweet & sour rather than hot &sour which I had expected.

The egg fried rice (3.20) was simple and delicious in its simplicity. White rice, salted and fried with bits of scrambled egg. I could eat just that for a whole meal with just some spicy sambol or mushroom chilli paste on the side.

The thai green curry (7.20) was lovely. If I remember right the menu had given it a 2 chilli spice rating, but that was misleading. Maybe I should have told them to make our food genuinely spicy. However, the flavours themselves were lovely.

I also tried the crispy fried noodles with mixed meat (6.50). Generously topped with beef, chicken, roast pork and vegetables, this is a lovely dish. But I must remember not to order fried noodles in home delivery orders as they tend to get soggy by the time they arrive and we have eaten our soup and starters.

The peking pork dumplings (6.25) were lovely. The pork steamed buns (char siu bao/ baozi - 5.75 for 4) had good texture and taste, but I would have preferred more stuffing than just a tablespoon of meat in such a large bun.

Portions are standard size, but prices are value for money. I've ordered enough food for at least 6 meals and the bill was under 50 pounds. They threw in some prawn wafers and a couple of fortune cookies too.

They don't use plastic baggies for packing. The only plastic is the boxes and the cutlery (recyclable). The delivery guy gave me his hot bag and requested me to empty it myself in the kitchen while he waited outside.

I would order again, but I would request them to make our food extra spicy, since their level of spicy barely tingled our taste buds. Our definition of 1 chilli is tongue tingling. 2 chillis is when you reach for something to cool your mouth down and 3 chillis should induce smoke out of the ears and perspiration.

Rating : 3 / 5

May's Chinese Cuisine, London

May's Chinese Cuisine
39 Willesden Lane
Kilburn
London NW6 7RF

020 7625 3388

Ordered home delivery from here today (2Pounds charge) and husband says this is the best Chinese he has had in London. I guess this is because its the closest to the Indian-Chinese food that he grew up with.

I ordered via Hungry House which had an offer of free prawn crackers for bills above 15, but if you call them directly, they offer free dishes on each bill threshold.

The food arrived quite quickly and was piping hot. The crackers were packed separately, so they hadn't crumbled. Quantities are large & prices are low, yet it is high on taste and quality. A perfect combination for takeaways & home delivery.

May's offers a range of Chinese, Malaysian & Thai Food. They are really excellent about catering to allergies. With my shrimp/prawn allergy, I'm quite hesitant to order any seafood in a Chinese restaurant, because I never know if shrimp or shrimp heads have been added to the stock or to thicken a sauce. But these guys can tell you immediately about every ingredient in the dishes on their menu.

The only 2 dishes that fell in the middling range were the pork dumplings (5.40) because their wrapping was on the thicker side and the Thai red curry (5.60), that was more of a side dish than a curry. They tasted good, but did not meet my expectations, especially compared to the rest of the food.

The roast pork fried rice (5.20) and the chicken chowmein (5.40) were very good, with lots of flavour and tender meat. Not too oily (the bane of many takeaway chowmeins) The sweet & sour chicken Hong Kong style (5.60) was yummy and the first time that I was able to eat pineapple added in sweet and sour dishes because it wasn't too sweet or sour or squishy. The kung po pork with chilli (5.90) was the standout dish of the day. Just the right amount of chilli without going over the top.

They have some special set meals like :
Sweet & Sour Chicken + Spring Rolls + Egg Fried Rice for 1 person for 9.90.
A Meal for 2 with a quarter crispy Aromatic Duck + 6 pancakes + 2 Spring Rolls + Chicken in Black Bean Sauce + Sweet & Sour Pork + Egg Fried Rice + Prawn Crackers for 23.90
A Meal for 3 with quarter crispy Aromatic Duck + 6 pancakes + 3 Chicken & Mushroom Soup + Sweet & Sour Chicken + Beef with Green Pepper in Black Bean Sauce + King Prawns with Mixed Vegetables + Egg Fried Rice + Prawn Crackers for 36.90

Really loved the food from May's & I'm guessing that we will be ordering in from here whenever someone is in the mood for Chinese :)

Take a Look at their Menu

Rating : 4/5

Thai Metro, London

Thai Metro
38 Charlotte Street
Fitzrovia
London W1T 2NN
020 7436 4201

Thai Metro offers free home delivery and that's what gives them the extra half star. I would rate them 3.5. Delivery was quite prompt and my order was accurately delivered. What I loved was the layer of plastic wrap before closing the boxes that had liquid to them - the curry and the stir fries with sauce.

The food here wasn't bad, but wasn't outstanding either.

I enjoyed the corn cakes (4.25) and drunken pork fried rice (6.5). The chicken with cashewnuts (6.5) had some pineapple in it which I wasn't expecting and I don't like cooked pineapple. The chicken red curry was good (6.5), but didn't come with rice - I'm so used to rice being included with Thai curries at restaurants back home)

The pork with drunken bamboo shoots (6.5) wasn't as exciting as I had hoped and used very thinly sliced lean cuts of pork which made it taste more like chicken, just tougher.

Quantities are quite large, so that makes the prices quite reasonable.

They don't deliver desserts home (probably because they all include ice cream?), but they do offer soft drinks and some alcoholic drinks too - including sake and plum wine.

Delivery available for orders over £12.00. Charge of £3.00 applies to orders under £20.00

They deliver to postcodes:
EC1 Clerkenwell, Finsbury, Barbican
EC2 Moorgate, Liverpool Street
EC3 Monument, Tower Hill, Aldgate
EC4 Fleet Street, St Paul's
NW1 Regent's Park, Camden Town
NW8 St John's Wood
SW3 Chelsea, Brompton
SW7 South Kensington
W1 Mayfair, Marylebone, Soho
W2 Bayswater, Paddington
WC1 Bloomsbury, Gray's Inn
WC2 Covent Garden, Holborn, The Strand


Rating : 3.5 / 5

Blue Lagoon, London

Blue Lagoon,
284 Kensington High Street,
London W14 8NZ
020 76031231

We had just landed in London and this time, the office put us up at the Hilton Kensington, so we just checked in and dropped our bags and immediately headed out to explore the area and find a nice non-vegetarian restaurant for lunch.

While we saw a couple of interesting options, we passed them by, until we arrived in front of the Blue Lagoon. The exterior was so charming and they had fish and pork on the menu, so without any further debate we headed right in.

The interiors were lovely. The restaurant was quiet and cosy, with very soothing background instrumental music and flowing water from a zen fountain on the premises.

Since we had already eaten a lot of food on our flights to London, but it was dinner according to our body clocks on Indian time, we went for their lunch offer of 9.5 pounds for a meal. The meal option allowed us to choose 1 starter and 1 main course from a limited menu and coconut ice cream for dessert

We could choose from 5-6 starter/soup options and both the pork satay and the fish cakes that we ordered were good. Portions were on the smaller side, but perfect for one person, when looked at in conjunction with the main course.

For our main course, we had Pad Thai and green beef curry which were both excellent. The green curry came with rice on the side and both dishes were extremely filling.

The balance of flavours in all the dishes was perfect. After the rubbish Thai food that is served in Ahmedabad, it was such a pleasure to indulge in genuine, authentic Thai flavours.

Dessert was coconut ice cream which was good too.

They do have one or 2 vegetarian options in this list to choose from, but they also had a full vegetarian lunch menu for about 14 pounds that was much more varied.

There was just one manager and one wait staff on duty and there was us, a large family of 10 with kids and another couple. Yet, none of us ever had to do more than raise our heads to get service. It was extremely efficient, without being overbearing.

There was so much good stuff on the menu, that I had really hoped to return before the end of this trip to have a proper meal. Sadly, given my other commitments, I never ate a meal in this area again for the rest of my stay.

The restaurant while located on the main road, is slightly away from the main High Street Kensington area, so parking isn't a problem at all. You can park right in front of the restaurant.

The food was lovely and the prices were reasonable for the quality of food served. This is a restaurant I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending.

Rating : 4 / 5

That Place, Ahmedabad

That Place,
G2, Aeon Complex,
Near Reliance Fresh,
Vijay Cross Roads,
Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad

The only reason, I haven't yet reviewed "That Place" is because we have been there so many times and I don't know where to start.

The food is amazing. For a Non-vegetarian in Ahmedabad, this place is a delight. You can sit down, think of what kind of flavours you want to indulge in and then blindly order off the menu and be assured of a good meal. They have items from all over - some Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, Jamaican, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Pizzas, Burgers, sandwiches, fondue and so much more and each of them tastes wonderful.

I think the only food we haven't tried here yet, is their brunch (because of our familiar problem of not being able to reach anywhere before 3pm on a weekend). We have arrived at weird hours 4pm / 6pm and still been served almost every item on the menu, even though the restaurant is minimally staffed at these hours. Service takes just a tad bit longer, but the dishes taste just as good.

The even more wonderful thing about "That Place" is that even on an overflowing weekend with mind boggling dinner rush, the quality of food has never been compromised upon - a malaise that most other "popular" restaurants in Ahmedabad suffer from.

Since we have eaten here so often, I'll just run through the menu page by page when reviewing the food below, it will be easier for me.

Smoothies : (119/-) No one in my family like smoothies, so the only time we ordered it was when my dad wanted to try one. He had the yellow fantasy - a mango papaya concoction  and was quite happy with it.

Mixed Fruit Juices : (109/-) From past experience I would recommend the Golden Sparkles, Sea Breeze, After Glow and most definitely the Watermelon Mojito. Extremely refreshing on a hot day.

Among their fresh fruit juices, (119/-) the orange is absolutely fantastic. Completely natural, I ask for my juice without added sugar and it is quite brilliant.

Their teas (59/-) are pretty standard, but the coffees (89/-) are really good.

Sharing Menu : Their French Fries (129/-) are very good, but you get these complimentary with a lot of dishes, so we have never felt the need to order them separately. Among the nachos we love the spicy salsa (veg -229/-) and the roast chicken (279/-) variations. They come with an absolutely perfect balance of flavours and a sour cream dip.

The lamb nachos however should be ordered only if you are in a big group and can consume it quickly. As it cools down the lamb starts to feel very heavy and clumpy on the tongue. The initial taste is good, but not when it starts to turn cold.

All 4 savoury fondues (379/-) are excellent, our personal favourite is the spicy paprika. You get a choice of grilled vegetables, bread and French fries to dip into the cheese mix.

Their foccacia sandwiches (veg 199/- non veg 249/-) all come with fries and a salad on the side. We have loved all 3 non-veg options - the chicken fajita (little weird having it in a foccacia instead of a roll, but still yummy), chicken Cesar and chicken sausage. The husbands favourite is the sausage.

Wraps : (199/- 229/- 249/-) The tempura chicken is nice and crispy and the Mexican is nice and spicy. We haven't tried the kheema though (I've been avoiding the kheema dishes since we had the issue with the kheema nachos once cold)

The spicy chicken burger (279/-) and the lamb burger (279/-) are lovely. Its so good to finally have a honest-to-goodness burger that has flavours and textures (I do like the occasional McD's, but I crave a good home made burger and That Place caters to this craving) We haven't gotten round to trying the tower burger (299/-) yet, but definitely some time soon.

We have loved all their soups (129/- & 169/-) that we have tried. The Vietnamese Spicy Noodle Soup, is practically a meal in itself. What I really appreciate is that all the non veg soups are clear soups, they haven't been thickened with cornflour, so while it does fill your stomach, it doesn't leave you with a heavy after feel. Their balance of flavours in the soups has always been just right.

Among the salads, (199/- 229/- 249/- 279/-) I've only tried the Caesar Salad, which has been very good. The fact of the matter is, is that if we have driven all the way to Vijay Crossroads to eat at "That Place" its because I'm hungry and want something substantial to eat - something large and meaty. The days I'm in the mood for just a salad, doesn't justify driving all that way in traffic, I'd rather just toss a salad at home.

Among the pizzas, (269/- - 399/-) we have only tried the fiery chicken (349/-), which was very good - nice and spicy. That Place makes thin crust pizzas which suit us perfectly. But as mentioned above, if we drive here, I want something more substantial, so pizzas rarely make it to our order.

Entrees: the sun dried tomato bruschettas (199/-) are lovely. I wonder why I haven't tried their sushi (299/-) yet (oh wait, its probably because they only have a vegetarian version) Among the non veg entrees, I would heavily recommend the Chimichuri chicken, Mexican pepper chicken, black pepper chicken, paprika fish, Cajun prawns and Caribbean prawns. These are all excellent. The yakitori chicken is on the sweeter side and more mildly flavoured, so its not too much to our taste and the cilantro chilli fish is quite bland compared to the paprika fish, which I can eat anytime. The prawns are quite decently sized for the price. Chicken entrees are 269/-, fish are 289/- and prawns are 349/-

Main Course : The bangers and mash (379/-) are lovely - wonderful sausages, beautiful cheesy garlicky mashed potates, this is a heavenly combination. The Portuguese and the Jerk chicken (379/-) are excellent and the herbed rice served with them is just a perfect foil to the spicy chicken. The East African Chicken Poussin (379/-) is very different from anything I have ever tasted before, but its wonderful - the tamarind sauce gives it a lovely touch of extra flavour.

The roast chicken breast (379/-)is on the blander side, but nice and juicy. The chicken parma (379/-) wasn't very good when I had it. The chicken and the cheese had got dried out and did not have the right amount of moisture content in it, so you couldn't really appreciate any flavour, when the texture was dry. All 3 stews (379/-) are lovely - the Moroccan, Thai Curry and creamy chicken.

The Quesadillas (379/-)  were fantastic - its been a long time since I had good quesadillas, these definitely fit the bill. The Iranian Cholle Kebab (399/-) can be given a miss - it has good flavours, but the meat isn't always the best. The Lamb steak (399/-) was very good when we tried it. The fish and chips (399/-) was good, but the Catch of the Day in lemon feta sauce (399/-) is divine.

My family says that the prawn curry (399/-) and the burnt garlic prawns were perfect. That place serves good sized prawns and they have always been fresh and succulent. I haven't tried the risottos (379/-) or the Amritsari masala fish (399/-) yet. The risottos I will get around to, the Amritsari masala is not something I like on fish, I feel it kills the flavour of the fish completely, but given that restaurants only serve basa these days, maybe I should give it another try.

We haven't tried their pastas (299/- - 399/-) yet. I make pasta at home so frequently, that we rarely order it when we go out.

The Desserts are all fantastic. Definitely try the chocolate fondue (279/-), it is way better than the Chocolate room. That Place is very obliging about substitutions, we ask for no fruits but more marshmallows and brownies and they always serve us with a smile. The sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce (169/-) is simply amazing. Lovely texture and flavour. But my favourite is definitely the almond and chocolate tart (169/- - by a very small margin above the previous 2) although its served with plain whipped cream and not Chantilly Cream as promised in the menu.

Service is excellent. They are very obliging about basic substitutions and requests. I love the little chocolates that come with the bill. Even if I've gorged on dessert, I never miss these mini chocolates.

So that's my quick run down of the menu with an extremely heavy recommendation - "You Have to Eat at That Place!"

Rating : 4.5 / 5