Trinity Stores

One of my favorite places to grab lunch when I'm at home in Balham is Trinity Stores. There is only one of them so I'm not quite sure why they refer to themselves as 'stores'? Trinity is a cute little bakery & cafe that is always full, even midweek in the middle of the day. It's located right across the street from the Balham tube/train entrance (on Balham Station Road) so I am always tempted to pop in, but normally can refrain. 

When I go to Trinity for lunch, I usually just get my sandwich to go for fear that if I linger I might end up buying something from their amazing grocery section. They stock mostly British made, local products but also have some Italian pastas and olive oils.

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The few times I have eaten in, I have been equally impressed by the food. The mister and I got the plowman's board once and I've also sampled their quiche. I've gotten dessert here several times and it has been very hit and miss; sometimes you could tell that the baked goods had been sitting out for days. Since I do so much baking myself I don't really need to go out and buy more sweets, but it is a little bit of a disappointment.

Try the cheese and chutney sandwich. That is my absolute favorite. I first came across this odd concoction at Pret but now that I've had Trinity's version I'm hooked. You can even buy their chutney to make the sandwich yourself at home.

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Recipe Box

I realized last night as I was typing about the blackberry cobbler that almost all the recipes I'm using these days, at least for baking, are from the internet. I have them bookmarked and a few copied into the Baking section in my OneNote notebook. But what if these blogs should disappear? My computer goes kaput? What would I do then?

A few years back when I first came to London for an extended period of time I made a cookbook that I vowed to fill with new recipes. I wrote on the first 10 or 12 pages but never got any further. I have it here in London now, tucked away in a cupboard somewhere. Maybe I should start using that again?

Last night as I was thinking about this, I started to scan through Etsy for a solution, when I came across this. It is absolutely darling.

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The only problem is that I think the cards might be too small to fit longer recipes on, even if I wrote on the back as well.

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Once I figure out a solution, I'll have to actaully sit and write (or print and cut) all the recipes out.

A woman needs a little comfort food (and shopping) while the mister is away

This weekend the mister is away on his stag weekend in Edinburgh. To keep myself busy (and sane - I can't spend the whole weekend writing) I thought I would make one of my favorites, blackberry cobbler and do one of my favorite things, shop!

The blackberry cobbler  recipe is from the absolutely hilarious blog The Pioneer Woman. All her recipes are scrumptious and I love that each recipe comes with step by step pictures. You don't see that too often. I have made her restaurant-style smash potatoes (sadly without the onion straws because while I can buy them from an American grocer, they cost about £5)  and her crash hot potatoes are a favorite of both the mister and I.  I've made this particular blackberry cobbler before and was delighted with how it turned out.

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On Sunday some girlfriends and I are headed up to the Bichester outlets. I haven't been shopping in a LONG time (the pains of being a student) and I can't even remember the last time I went to an outlet. You know I love a good deal! I'm hoping to pick up some bridal necessities and maybe score a cute dress for a wedding in Bath we have next weekend. I spotted this dress at Anthropologie that I thought was so cute, but alas the price tag made me put it back on the rack. (...the pains of being a student)

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Whoopi's back in the habit

I know, it's a shameless ripoff of Sister Act 2 but what else could I call this post. Last night Whoopi Goldberg made her West End premier in London playing Mother Superior in Sister Act. The mister and I were lucky enough to score tickets for the second night. I loved loved loved Sister Act when it was just a movie and I still love it. Although the musical was lacking the catchy (and ingenious) mixes of god meets rock music from the movie, the cast still pulled off a great show. The Palladium opens 25 seats daily, so if you have time to queue you should definitely check it out.

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Sappho Meze Bar

After a fairly boring week or writing my dissertation and flat hunting the mister and I deemed Saturday night date night. We chose somewhere local so we didn't spend 2 hours of our date night on the tube. We visited Sappho Meze Bar in Clapham North, just literally right around the corner from the tube station.

Where: 9 Clapham High Street

The Scene: Hungry budget dining Londoners (a noticeable number of Aussies and Kiwis)

Delight: A wide variety of food

Disappointment: Confusion over the 'menu'

I had actually stopped in here once before on a freezing winter night while I was waiting to meet the mister and his sister and partner for dinner at Tsunami. At the time I was just grabbing a beer and sheltering myself from the arctic weather outside. It was before the dinner hour so I was the only one in there. The owner, (who also cooks and serves you) was so incredibly nice to me. In his broken English he told me Keo beer (the national beer of Cyprus) was the best beer in the world and gave me little snacks to munch on while I waited. Had I not had this experience I probably would have never known or wanted to try this place out.

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On Saturday the mister and I headed out for what would be the first Cyprian meal for both of us. Cyprian cuisine is closely related to Greek cuisine so it wasn't a big leap. We sat down at the restaurant and I ordered a beer. The mister had been out boozing almost every night last week, so he went for tap water. There was no menu, but rather a steady flow of food. The owner/cook/waiter asked if we ate meat. We do and I guess that's what determined our meal.

We started the meal with a plate of raw veggies and olives. Next were two small spanakopitas. The 'third course' was a huge selection of dips from the traditional hummus and taziki to more interesting options like beetroot and apple. We tried almost all of them, except the mushroom option and the beetroot. When the owner came to clear our plate we got an ear full about the benefits of eating beetroot. Still, neither of us tried it.

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For our last course (and there was some confusion if there was another course after the dips - do we fill up on bread and dips because that's all or do we hold off and see if there's more coming?) we got 2 chicken wings, a nice piece of beef on the bone and lamb with some potatoes. The meat course came with accompanying salad and couscous. The lamb and chicken were delicious. The beef was really tender and well prepared but for some reason I wasn't really into it. By the time I finished with my meat course, I literally had no room left for the yogurt and honey for dessert. We skipped dessert (which is so unlike us) and opted for the bill.

For one large beer, one small beer, two meals and service our bill came to £30! For the amount and quality of food and service this was almost unbelievable for London. I assume they can offer such good value because all diners (except for vegetarians) eat the exact same meal. Sappho Meze Bar is a total hidden jem.

As we left the restaurant we decided to walk to Clapham Common to catch the tube. Even though I have walked Clapham High Street before it wasn't until then I realized how many places there were to eat (and go out) and how buzzing it was. I spotted a place called Cafe Sol Dos which looks like it might fulfill my occasional Tex Mex craving.

Bar Boulud

After reading several favorable reviews of Bar Boulud in Knightsbridge, I decided that the mister and I should go check it out. Apparently, so did a lot of other people because when I tried to make a reservation on a Monday for a Thursday booking, they were full. They squeezed me in the following week.

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Where: 66 Knightsbridge (just across the street from Knightsbridge station)

The Scene: An elegant and trendy after work crowd in the overly posh Knightsbridge area

Delight: Scrumptious mains

Disappointment: The crowds and my starter

Bar Boulud is located in the beautiful Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel. The front of the hotel (above) is absolutely stunning. As I waited for the mister to arrive I stood in front of the restaurant people watching and counting the number of Christian Louboutin's that walked into the restaurant. I had thankfully thrown on a dress before I left the house, but was all of a sudden feeling incredibly under dressed.

We were seated immediately and since we were celebrating the mister's new job we decided to order a bottle of wine. I asked for the wine menu, which was practically indecipherable to both of us. We weren't offered any help either, which I wasn't impressed by, especially when I saw the sommelier at the table behind us.

What I was impressed by was the open kitchen and floor plan. You could pretty much see the kitchen from any seat in our section, which I absolutely loved. You could also sit at the bar of the kitchen, which I would definitely do if I went back for their insanely reasonably priced fixed menu lunch.

 

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One last thing before I mention the food. The tables for two were ridiculously close together. The reservation next to us didn't get seated until nearly the end of our meal but we were sitting so close I felt like I was part of their conversation. At a buzzing tapas house (Polpo) this can easily be pulled off, but for a finer establishment, really?

Ok, on to our food. For a starter I had the pâté grand-mère (fine country pate chicken liver, pork and cognac). I was tempted by the tourte de canard (duck, foie gras, figs, pastry crust) but decided to go for the cheaper (£6.50 as opposed to £11) yet still delicious sounding pâté. I was definitely wrong to do so. The pâté grand-mère was dry and while not flavorless, tasted of something I didn't like (although I couldn't figure out what it was). The mister ordered the salade de roquette, which he happily enjoyed with no complaints.

 

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For our main courses I ordered the Saint-Jacques forestière (sautéed sea scallops, mushrooms fricasse of peas and watercress) and the mister had the dbgb piggie burger (rilled beef patty with bbq pulled pork bibb lettuce, green chili mayonnaise cheddar bun, red cabbage slaw and pommes frites). YUM! We both thought our main courses were delicious, although the mister did wonder why they would make a burger so tall that you can't get it into your mouth. My main was a little shy on scallops (there were only 3) but it was a full plate of food and I ate it all.

 

Scallops

 

dbgb piggie burger

As I mentioned before they have a very reasonably priced set lunch, so you'll be sure I'll be back.