have you ever wondered how the british house of lords dine?

The menu at the Peers' Dining Room.

If you've ever wondered how those Lords in the British Parliament ate, well, now you can somewhat have an insight. As a quick primer, the British Parliament is made up of two houses - the House of Lords (similar to the Senate in the USA) and the House of Commons (similar to the US House of Representatives). Their office is the Palace of Westminster where Big Ben is located. If you are a Downton Abbey fan (like me), a period drama about the lives of the upper and lower classes of wartime Britain, Lord Grantham would have been a part of the House of Lords.

Within the Houses of Parliament are dining areas. The Peers' Dining Room is the restaurant where the Lords eat. Usually, only Lords are allowed to dine there, unless invited by a Lord (or when they decide to - on very rare occasions - open it up to the public. (The House of Commons has its own dining area and Lords cannot dine there unless invited by a Member of Parliament ("MP"). So, if Lord Grantham was visiting London (and if he were real), he would have had access to the Peers' Dining Room.

During our last visit to London, Mr. Sazy Rock (a dual citizen of the US and the UK) got wind of a rare opening of the Peers' Dining Room. Lords and MPs were out and about campaigning for and against Brexit so the powers-that-be decided to open up the Peers' Dining Room for a short period (about one week) to plebeians like us. As an aside, 2015 was the first year that the powers-that-be opened up the Peers' Dining Room to the common folk. It was such a success that they did it again in 2016. Pre-Brexit, we were told that they had plans to do it again. I don't know how those plans will work post-Brexit.

travel zen on friday: view from the tate modern

 One of the many joys of London are the free museums. This is a view from the balcony of the Tate Modern: the Millenium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral.

London

hedone: hedonism for the mouth

Hedone.

One of the highlights of my last trip to London with Mr. Sazy Rock was a meal at Hedone. Our expectations were very high. Yet, Hedone still met them.

Let me explain. My brother in law dines at Hedone. A lot. As in he-dines-there-so-much-he-has-a-chair-with-a-plaque-with-his-name-on-it "a lot." He's been dining there since it opened and we think he's dined there over 200 times. When Mr. SR lived in London, he and my brother in law ate out a lot and talked about it. The bottom line is: we trust his palate.

So, on our recent trip, my brother in law treated us to a meal at his favorite restaurant. We went for lunch because we knew it was going to be a long lunch. As the restaurant's name suggests, we were in for a pleasurable meal, and we wanted it to last a very long time.

Hedone.

lamb chops: london's iconic dish?

There are plenty of iconic dishes in London to choose from. Last week, I wrote about the Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad from St. John. Today, I submit that the Tandoori Lamb Chops at Tayyabs is pretty iconic as well.

The Tandoori Lamb Chops at Tayyabs.

Tayyabs is named after the last name of the owners of a Punjabi restaurant in the Whitechapel area of Greater London. Although it is very near Brick Lane, which is known for South Asian restaurants, Tayyabs is the better option because the food is just amazing (and affordable). 

"nose to tail": london's iconic dish?

The Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad at St. John.

Admittedly, there are plenty of iconic dishes in London. That is, those widely known and well-established dishes that scream "yeah, that's London."

I will submit that St. John Restaurant's Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad is one of London's top iconic dishes. After all, the dish was arguably popularized by a well-respected chef -- Fergus Henderson -- based on his well-known philosophy of cooking -- nose to tail. 

quiet reflections in london (video)

Travel Tip: If you would like to enjoy some quiet time while in London, Postman's Park in the city provides such a place. It is tucked away in a little corner of the city.

Also, within the park is a Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. Yes, people who have sacrificed their lives while trying to save others. Reading through the plaques commemorating heroic deeds should remind us all that people are inherently good, which is sometimes difficult to remember when inundated by all that we see on the news.

Sometimes, travel requires a time to reflect. I hope you enjoy the short video below of Postman's Park.

restaurant review: dinner by heston blumenthal

On my last trip to London, I had the pleasure of dining at Dinner for lunch. Did that make sense? 

Dinner.

Yes, the restaurant is called Dinner, and I dined for lunch (apparently, the dinner and lunch menu were the same). What most attracted me to this restaurant was that Heston Blumenthal spent some time going through the archives to research British food from centuries ago, and then made it his own. British food had a good reputation before World War II, which was when rationing and food scarcity earned British food a bad reputation. So, I found it interesting to see what British food was like back in the day.

To be honest, Mr. Sazy Rock and I tried dining here before on another visit but they canceled our reservation because of some norovirus outbreak. But, I figured, that after such a publicized issue, Dinner would be the cleanest restaurant ever.

The Scene

View of the kitchen.

Located in the posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the space was bright with a great view of Hyde Park on one side and the glass-walled kitchen on the other. By virtue of its location and reputation (the restaurant has three Michelin stars and is on the 50 Best Restaurants in the World list), it was inevitable that there were lots of food tourists. But, it also looked like there were locals of the rich variety in the dining room.

View of Hyde Park.

I found it odd, however, that for a fine dining joint, there were no tablecloths. 

The Food 

• The tasty bread made by the Fat Duck Group was very chewy and doughy, and the crust was crunchy. 
• I found it interesting that there was no amuse bouche. 
• The Roast Bone Marrow had snails and pickles. It was served lukewarm and a tad underseasoned but it was still good. 

Bone Marrow and Meat Fruit.

• The Meat Fruit was amazing. It was basically shaped like a mandarin but was really chicken liver parfait enclosed in a fruit jelly that was supposed to be the outer layer "fruit rind." It was a fantastic parfait with a hint of mandarin. 

Meat Fruit.

• The Iberico Pork Chop was cooked sous vide. It was so juicy and rich with a bit of sweetness (perhaps a teriyaki -ish sauce?). The spelt with ham hock was rich and textured with pork rind. 

Iberico pork chop.

Look at that perfectly cooked Iberico Pork Chop.

• The Hereford Ribeye was perfectly cooked (sous vide) medium rare. It showed signs of aging, which was good. It was topped with rich bone marrow. 

Hereford Ribeye.

• The Triple Cooked Fries were so good. Each square area was crunchy, and the inside of each fry was a bit fluffy. 

Triple Cooked Fries.

• The Tipsy Cake was very rich and sweet. It was basted with white wine and butter. The pineapple was spit roasted for four hours. 

Tipsy Cake.

• The Chocolate Ganache, and Orange Blossom and Caraway Biscuits for our Petit Fours was very nice. It just had a tiny taste of orange. They used dark chocolate so it was not so sweet.

Chocolate and Biscuit.

The Service 

The service was great. Upon our arrival, I was provided a purse holder. I believe that service is all about the little things.

Our server, Michael, was friendly and informative but was not familiar (which I find typical of "hip" restaurants). All the other staff were similarly amiable.

I should also note that the servers were definitely paying us attention when they gave us fresh toast for the meat fruit when we finished all the bread. 

The menu had information about the year the dish was likely served, and the napkin was tied together by a paper that had some other snippet of food trivia. It was fun.

The menu.

Trivia with the napkins.

The Price 

Our meal was not cheap. But, with wines and tip, compared to some fancy restaurants in the US, it was competitive at under $300.


The Verdict 

I definitely recommend eating at Dinner it at least once.


What do you think of British food?

sazy rock's top 10 best restaurant dishes (to date) around the world

If you haven't figured it out yet, I really like to eat - and not necessarily healthy foods - when I travel. Eating while traveling makes me happy. In this first of my top 10 series, I will be sharing my top 10 restaurant dishes so far. I've excluded the US because I live there. I also reserve to change my mind about what should be on the top 10 tomorrow -- only because there's so much tasty food out there. So, without further ado, here they are:

1.  Various dishes at Azurmendi near Bilbao, Spain
This restaurant just outside of Bilbao served delicious, local, seasonal and beautiful food. The lobster on lobster dish was absolutely simple yet so tasty. The truffled egg was not simple but, biting into the yolk just showed how a great chef can elevate a simple egg into something ridiculously good. Oh, and the foie gras ash was so rich and creamy I thought I died and went to heaven. Okay, I loved a lot of dishes at Azurmendi, which I reviewed here. In fact, I'll just say that, in the past five years (and probably more), Azurmendi served the best dishes I have ever eaten anywhere (including in the United States).

Five of around 19 dishes served at Azurmendi. Clockwise from top left: lobster with lobster cornet,
foie gras ash with a block of foie gras underneath, squid, mullet, and egg yolk infused with black truffles.

Gran Reserva Jamon from Joselito's.

2.  Jamon Iberico de Bellota at Joselito's in Madrid, Spain
Technically, Joselito's is not a restaurant but a store where you can get Jamon Iberico to take home or eat in the store. When I visited, they offered different kinds of Jamon Iberico de Bellota, which came from black footed Iberian pig fed on acorns while freely roaming the dehesa of the Extremadura region of Spain. The best kind I tasted was the Grand Reserva, which was aged for up to five years before being carved. The resulting ham was nice and fatty (I'd like to think that the fat was good for me because you know, it's acorn fed). When I ate it, the thinly hand sliced piece practically melted in my mouth.

freebies around the world

Traveling could be expensive. In a series of posts, we will let you know about places that allow you entry into famous, fascinating and/or worthwhile sights or activities for free. Yes, gratis. 

For sights, we are not including public spaces (such as Central Park in New York or the medinas of Morocco) but we may include public (i.e, government run) buildings (such as the museums in London).

So, let’s start with a few freebies, shall we?

United States of America

Los Angeles, CA

1. The Getty – Enjoy a lot of paintings, photographs and a garden that changes with the season for free, but you have to pay for parking.

You can get up close and
personal with the steel curves of
the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

2.  The Getty Villa – You can see Greek, Roman and Etruscan art for free, but you will need to sign up for a (free) ticket. Also, parking isn’t free.

3. Walt Disney Concert Hall – Renowned architect Frank Gehry designed this wonderful jumble of shiny steel. You can roam the grounds – don’t miss the “Rose Garden” in the back of the Concert Hall – and enter the building for free but you have to pay to watch a show. Enjoy being up close and personal with the curved steel.

4. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) – Only the permanent collection and non-ticketed exhibitions are free on the Second Tuesday each month. 

5. Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels – Renowned Spanish architect Rafael Moneo designed this gem.

6. Bradbury building – You may have seen this building in movies like Blade Runner and (500) Days of Summer, among other things. This beautiful, light and airy building is free to visit up to the first floor landing. Beyond that, the tenants don't want random folks roaming around their space.

restaurant review: st. john bar and restaurant

The dining room at St. John.

During a recent trip to London, I returned for another dining experience at St. John Bar and Restaurant in the Clerkenwell neighborhood. See, there are certain things I like to eat when I am in London and the Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad dish is one of them. (The other things I love eating in London are St. John Bakery's custard doughnut and Tayyab's tandoori lamb chops.)

The scene
The restaurant and bar is very industrial looking because it used to be an old smokehouse. The decor is very minimalist - everything is white. Although it has one Michelin Star, the place is not stuck up. In fact, there's a nice (but not loud) buzz in the dining room.

The food

The Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad.

I've eaten plenty of roasted bone marrow dishes but St. John's version, which apparently has been emulated by many chefs around the world, tops my list. See, the richness of the bone marrow is tempered by the tangy parsley salad, and brought to life with a tiny bit of sea salt. And when you spread the marrow on top of the crunchy toasted bread, it's like eating heaven. Seriously, if this is all you order at St. John, you're golden.

The Eccles Cake and Lancashire Cheese is another dish that deserves a mention. Eccles cake is not a cake but a pastry... a very buttery pastry so it is nice and flaky. The dried fruit inside the pastry go well with the slightly salty flavor of the Lancashire cheese. It's delicious, and also a very British dish.