Amazing Wood Fired Suckling Pig

Wood Fired Suckling Pig

It's been a crazy few months with the World Cup Rugby based in Twickenham and as a consequence dining out has been erratic but I figured I'd upload a medley of some of the places we ate at along the way. With the rugby finally over I can get back to some sort of normal routine, but it kicked off with England having an early exit from the competition. A shame that, that evening we went to a dinner party and had an amazing suckling pig with some friends who cooked the pig in their outdoor wood fired oven. Incredible flavour and meat falling apart. I took along a warm kumara salad with feta cheese and sweet balsamic that same evening - see below. All in all it was sad to see England out so early but I was delighted The All Blacks proving why they deserve to be world champs again and winning the final convincingly.

Warm Kumara & Fig Salad with Goat Cheese, Outdoor Wood Fired Oven with the Suckling Pig

While the rugby was on I finally ate at a great little fish n chippie in Richmond next to Jamie's restaurant, it's a hit with the locals. Their battered fish is excellent. It's a very basic eatery - kind of like a greasy spoon but honestly, it's not really there to adhere to social graces is it?, just to serve good fish n chips and fresh bread for chip butties, even if the bread was wholemeal - that's Richmond for you.

Super Food Salad from Jamies in Richmond

Talking of Jamie's I recently discovered a very decent super food salad on their menu. They serve it with smoked salmon or chicken or native (as is). It's a mega salad so there's plenty of nosh to sink into - pulses, beans, broccoli stems, kale, grilled avocado... I could go on, but the interesting part is the flavours and textures, contrasting mint with Harissa pesto is delightful and adds a nice spice. I enjoy it with a side of polenta chips. Go try it if you're starving and need something hearty but healthy after shopping in Richmond - it can be a mare navigating that high street all day but beware going to Jamie's for a weekend lunch. It was rammed of families the Sunday we went and the noise of crying/unhappy babies was almost unbearable. 

Cooking up a Clam Linguine at home

I've also been checking out a few new spots in Whitton, it seems there is a lot going on in the High Street with new sushi, Mexican and Italian eateries opening up. The Italian restaurant is called Mosaico and does a half decent clam linguine. Which inspired me to cook up my very own version as shown - that's my cooking btw not from Mosaico.

The Indian restaurant also on the Whitton High St had also been refurbished, they do very good curries.

Spice of India refurbished on Whitton High St 

Also with halloween been and gone we headed into Soho and checked out La Bodega Negra for drinks in their day of the dead inspired bar, and across from there we dined at Polpo at The Ape & Bird who cook Venetian small plates. They had an incredible crab pasta.

So back to it, I'm really looking forward to checking out a few spots, I'll be heading to Heston Blumental's restaurant in London later this month as well as visiting places in the borough so stay tuned!

Margarita's from Soho's La Bodega Negra