Joanna's Restaurant

Joanna's restaurant on Crystal Palace high street has been a FoodieForce family favourite for years. My parents used to take me there as a child and it holds some wonderful memories for me. 

The restaurant was set up in 1978 by the Ellner family and has been a neighbourhood favourite ever since. There lovely son William runs the restaurant now. 

The restaurant can best be described as modern British cuisine. Once through the front door you are taken into a friendly bar where people come to relax after a hard day’s work with a wonderful cocktail.The restaurant has dark wooden panelling and beautiful art work that adorns the walls. 

Joanna's offer an a la carte menu containing choices from chicken, steak, seafood, and burgers.

For starters we begin with Sourdough and salted butter (£2.50).

English Asparagus, butter and parmesan (£8)

I liked that the chef didn't scrimp on the parmesan. 

The other half opted for chicken liver parfait, onion confit and brioche (£7.50).

I was reliable informed that the parfait was delicious and combined brilliantly with the sweetness of the brioche. I cannot tell you as it was devoured very quickly. 

Our mains, I choose a 28 day aged prime rib-eye steak (350g) Bearnaise & fries (£28.50). 

The steak was a sizeable portion and you would have to have a mighty appetite to finish this dish. The quality for the price was not great as it had a considerable amount of gristle. 

My view is if you are going to do steak and charge nearly £30 the quality has to be exceptional. In my mind you cannot beat the Gaucho Grill.

The herb roasted whole black bream (£16) was cooked perfectly and was delicious.

For sides garden peas, chervil (£3) and Jersey Royals (£3) were the perfect accompaniment to the fish. 

I must admit that by this point I am rather full but nothing beats sharing a dessert and Joanna's have lots of lovely choices. For those of you who find it hard to choose just one dessert, Joanna's provide a tasting plate (£9.50) with sizeable portions.
Chocolate brownies, honeycomb ice cream, baked honey cheesecake, mixed berries, plum, almond tart and lemon Crème fraîche. 

We had a lovely evening. Top tip if you’re visiting the restaurant Monday-Thursday Joanna's have a wonderful set lunch and dinner; two courses cost £15.50 and three courses £20.

If your visiting the lovely Dinosaur Park at Crystal Palace, Joanna's is also the perfect place to stop for breakfast or Saturday brunch. 

56 Westow Hill, 
Crystal Palace,
London, 
SE19 1RX

www.joannas.uk.com

Le Restaurant De Paul

For me food is a passion, I love whipping up a storm in the kitchen and watching with delight as people eat my creations. Food is the first thing I think about in the morning and probably one of the last things I think about before I drop off to sleep. I even dream about food whilst I am asleep. 

I love when people share my passion, and it is for this reason that I love the Paul restaurants, boulangerie and pâtisserie shops. They share my passion for good French food and the traditions of baking that is steeped in family history.

If any of you reading this like making your own bread or want to learn how to make the perfect loaf, Paul also run bread making masterclass (£75) you can find out more information here.

The Paul shops are spread throughout London but my personal favourite restaurant has to be the one in Covent Garden. It is in the perfect location to stop off after a hard mornings shopping for a small pick-me-up. 

If you pop in during the afternoon, they also do a wonderful afternoon tea. 

But for lunch my personal favourites are the saucisses de Toulouse (£10.50). Traditional Toulouse sausages serves with buttery potato mash and Bordelaise sauce.  

This is the perfect comfort food, traditional sausages and wonderful mash. 

When in France I love to have a Croque Monsieur (£5.95). One thing I can tell you is that the British cannot pull this off.  Paul's ham, Emmental cheese and cream in toasted Paul Pan de Mie and tomato is top notch and as good as it gets. 

All good lunches need to be followed by a yummy pâtisserie and Paul's have so many wonderful cakes. As a foodie it is very difficult to choose. For those of you that have a similar challenge here is a little trick. Offer to go halves with your lunching partner in crime. This way you get the best of both worlds. 

Tartelette fraises, nothing beats crispy, buttery pastry, filled with crème pâtissière and topped with strawberries.

I could happily eat these all day and I almost did, before I remembered that I had to relinquish half in order to get half a tartelette citron.

Lemon cream is delicious it has a wonderful tartness and is the perfect way to finish off a meal. But there are plenty of other delicious alternatives too. 

If you could have anything for lunch what would you choose? Do you have a favourite lunch spot?

Le Restaurant de PAUL

29 Bedford Street, 

Covent Garden, 

London 

WC2 9ED

www.paul-uk.com

Pret A Diner at Hotel Café Royal

As a foodie I love dining experiences that push their culinary creativity and come up with wonderful food combinations. Ones that not only are a feast for the eyes, but are also an explosion for the taste buds too.


Café Royal is a luxurious hotel set in the heart of Regent Street in a beautifully restored grade one listed building (preserved for historic or architectural interest). The hotel has a rich past and if walls could talk they would share tails from politicians Winston Churchill, writers like Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolfe and rock stars like The Beatles, Madonna and David Bowie.

Look how beautiful the hotel is...

When I heard that 'Pret A Diner' was heading back to the UK and setting up centre stage at Hotel Café Royal for one month only (21st April - 23rd May), I had to go along and see what culinary masterpieces they would create.

'Pret A Diner' create dining experiences which combine Michelin starred food, wonderful cocktails, art and music, blended together with the addition of people make the perfect dining experience. 

All good parties start with some wonderful cocktails.

Andrew Turner has teamed up with two New York Based chefs Patti Jackson (the brains behind Michelin star restaurant, Delaware and Hudson in Brooklyn) and Ryan Tate executive chef of Blenheim

restaurant. 

Ryan is a favourite chef of mine as someone who uses seasonal produce to create straightforward modern American cuisine. He was crowned with a Michelin star within six months of opening Le Restaurant, which is now sadly closed.

The menu for the evening had been created for the chefs to take it in turn to share their masterpieces. The scene for dinner was the perfect bohemian setting. 

Once seated we were presented with some snacks to wet the appetite:

Pea and Sorrel by Ryan Tate, Cheese and Truffle by Andrew Turner, Baltimore Style Crab, and pickled Ramps. Dutchy Pretzels by Patti Jackson. 

Every course was matched with a paired wine by the club's bar manager Tiziano Tasso.

Vincent Careme, Vouvray Petillant, Ancestrale Loire Valley (France 2010) accompanied the snack board and for me was delicious and refreshing. 

Highlights had to be the fish cakes and Baltimore Style Crab.

We were off to a great start. Next up was Tuna Carpaccio, gentleman's relish.  

This dish was an absolute feast for the eyes and the taste buds. The lemon with the tuna was a perfect accompaniment.

For mains there was a choice of two dishes, duck with celery pecan gratin and rhubarb by Patti Jackson. This was my instant choice, you all know how much I love duck. 

This was a brave choice to cook, it is almost impossible in my view to do duck as a cover for so many guests being served at the same time and to keep it perfectly cooked. Whilst it was delicious it was a little over cooked for my tastes. 

Based on the wonderful tuna starter my guest opts for the Seabass, piquillo pepper, fennel and dill by Andrew Turner. 

Based on the speed that this was inhaled and the constant pleasing sounds being made I think that this won on the mains front. 

Dessert for me is always something that I look forward too and despite my fullness I was excited to see what creation Ryan Tate would come up with. 

Strawberries, Maple Vacherin and Buttermilk. 

The pictures cannot do this dessert justice, the meringue was perfectly cooked, filled with wonderful strawberries, sharp lemon and lemon sorbet on the outside. Heaven in a dessert. 

The dessert wine pairing was a perfect combination. Coteaux Du Layon, St Aubin, Domain De Forges Loire (France 2013). 

Coffee and Tea came with a number of back to school sweet treats from Andrew Blas. 

The bubble gum ball chocolates and cola jelly's were a favourite.  

We had a truly wonderful evening, 'Pret A Diner', certainly know how to throw a Bohemian culinary masterpiece and Café Royal Hotel was the perfect location. 

You have from 21st April to 23rd May (Tuesday - Saturday) to go along, I recommend booking your tickets quickly before they all sell out 0207 406 3371 or email thedominoeffect@clubcaferoyal.com. Dinner is £75 per person and £100 with matching wines. 

www.pretadiner.com
www.hotelcaferoyal.com

Thank you very much to Pret A Diner and Café Royal for a wonderful evening. Our meal was complimentary for the purposes of a review, but this is an honest and fair reflection of the wonderful meal we had. 

Norfolk Broads

There is something quite magical and tranquil about not being attached to land, escaping the hustle and bustle of London life and setting sail on the open water.

Last week this was exactly what we did (well without the sail), we climbed aboard our Royale Light boat for the week and had nothing but nature and the tranquil waterways of the Norfolk Broads to look forward to.

Here is our accommodation for the week:

Being in charge of a 44ft boat is really quite daunting but I shouldn't have been worried the boat was surprisingly easy to skipper, with side thrusters to help moor.

The Norfolk Broads has some wonderful ruins, windmills, wildlife and quaint towns to visit. 

Below is Benet's Abbey housed by the river Bure the site is a memorial to the monastery that used to dominate the area.  

Travelling along the banks of the Norfolk Broads you can view numerous beautiful windmills set against the wonderful countryside. 

The wildlife on the Broads is amazing. We spent many an hour watching the many birds, swans, goats and ponies meandering.   

We even saw this little chap hidden on the banks when navigating Breydon water. 

Some visitors came calling most days and were not shy at all. 

We travelled from the quaint little town of Potter Heigham to Norwich. 

Trying to navigate past rowers and sail boats at times became a challenge especially when they were out in force. 

We stopped for the day in Norwich for a lovely lunch and to visit the Cathedral. 

Standing for over 900 years Norwich cathedral takes centre stage in the heart of Norfolk.

It is quite an amazing building with beautiful architecture and adorned with stained glass windows. 

The top of the Cathedral is currently housing a soon to be family of Peregrine Falcons. You can find a live feed of the birds here. 

We had an amazing visit and I can't recommend enough the Norfolk Broads as a holiday perfect for nature lovers, those who seek adventure and families. 

Every evening we settled down for the sunset and I will definitely miss these the most now that I am back on dry land. What vistas. 

Best Breakfast hotspots central London

As a foodie I love breakfast, especially when I can take my time and truly enjoy it. The weekend lends itself perfectly and I enjoy finding and trying out new places to eat. 

Recently I have been testing out Old Street, Shoreditch and Hoxton to see what they have to offer. Surprisingly it has a good variety of breakfast offerings.

1. Dishoom (Shoreditch), a light, airy Indian restaurant, which is like stepping into a restaurant in Bombay. Breakfast is served from 9am - 12pm at weekends.  

           

It might sound strange to consider having Indian cuisine for breakfast but when mixed with British staples like bacon and sausage the outcome is a winning combination. Fresh from the tandoor oven, naan bread, a little cream cheese, chilli tomato jam and fresh herbs (£5.20). 

Who knew that bacon and naan bread could be such a winning combination they work perfectly and taste delicious. 

Add a spicy Chai Latte (£2.50) to the mix this is a breakfast that I won't be forgetting any time soon.

                    

Dishoom:

7 Boundary Street 

London

EC 7JE

2. Next up is Albion a cafe hidden down a small alley in Shoreditch, conveniently located behind Dishoom restaurant. The cafe also houses a shop that sells fresh in house baked bread, croissants, cakes, fresh juice, tea, coffee and chocolate.

                     

The restaurant serves breakfast on a weekend from 8am- 12.30pm.

                        

They don't take pre bookings for tables and get very busy at weekends so arrive early or expect to have to wait for a table. 

A bacon and sausage roll (£8.50).

Albion:

2-4 Boundary Street,

Shoreditch,

London,

E2 7DD

3.Ozone Cafe is situated near Old Street station and at weekends serves an all day brunch. 

They make freshly roasted coffee onsite and for any coffee lovers amongst us it is strong and is wonderfully flavoursome. 

                     

Eggs any style on ciabatta (£5).

Omelette with cheddar, caramelised onion & chives (£8.50). Addition of bacon (£3.50).

Ozone:

11 Leonard Street, 

London

EC2A 4AQ

4.We already know that I love The Breakfast Club, but my favourite has to be the one in Hoxton, mainly because it is larger and you get lots more space to eat. 

Brunch is served from when they open till 5pm, so for those that like our beds at the weekend this is the perfect choice for you. 

Ham so eggsited, pancakes with ham, egg, cheddar and maple syrup (£8.50).  

Eggs Florentine, spinach on toasted English muffin with hollandaise (£8.40).      

Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup (£8.50).

Eggs on toast, scrambled on toasted multigrain bloomer with 3 tomato chutney (£6.20).

The Breakfast Club,

2-4 Rufus Street,

N1 6PE

Do you have any breakfast spots to share? If you could have any breakfast what would it be?