GOOD KAI

Mount Tiede, Tenerife, Canary Islands It's a short get away and great way to get some sunshine in the middle of winter with only a four and a half hour flight from London. It was fairly mild when we went late January - around 20-22 degrees celsius. We headed for the Costa Adeje on the south coast of Tenerife and pitched up at a lovely hotel - Gran Tacande close to the beach. Village at Masca, Tenerife We arranged a day tour of the island that took us around half of the isle. I was surprised at the geographical diversity, Tenerife is basically a volcanic island with quite a dramatic landscape and a micro climate - some parts of the island can be shrouded in mist while other areas like the South will be sunny and warm. Looking toward Los Cristianos, Tenerife At the centre of the island is Mt Tide and an absolute for folk to visit which is in the Tiede National Park, as is the Masca Gorge which has stunning vistas. It is a cliff-hanging ride through the valley to Mas...

Prawn Dogs with Pisco and Sriracha Mayo I was inspired recently after being told by a friend that they'd tried fresh prawn hot dogs on a recent trip to Iceland and seeing though we are nearing spring, I figured this would make an ideal sunny day eat. After not being able to find anything similar in this side of London I decided to create my own recipe, with a twist of pisco. I'm also going to have my seafood dog with something I think will go really well with the freshness of seafood and brioche bun - champagne (or bubbly), for a bit of summer fun. Now we have a complete meal. Grilled Brioche, Naked Dog for the purists I love bubbly, and think it is one of the best drinks you can have with food just like this, and I think Australia (yes I know I'm a kiwi but Aussie wine is good too) do some very good bubbly's. So with this dish I'm going to go with a Jacob's Creek bubbly, you can get it from most supermarket chains. If you wanted something a litt...

St Patrick's Day Shot, Green Linguine  Here's a fun St Patrick's day meal that not only looks great, it tastes great as well. This pasta is made with basil, garlic, parmesan and roasted pine nuts. Couple this with my St Paddy's cocktail shooter, your friends will be begging for more! If you've never layered a cocktail shooter before, don't despair as I have all the steps to help you through. Firstly, to wet your appetite and greet your guests, this addictively good cocktail shooter only requires two ingredients. A simple Baileys liqueur layered over Creme De Menthe. Please, please, please - one of the biggest mistakes I see people do all the time with this cocktail is make it with Midori. It is NOT made with Midori <sigh> it is made with Creme De Menthe. You can get Creme De Menthe from any shop that sells liquor, and in the UK Sainsbury's stock it. St Patrick's Day Drink with Derby Sage cheese St Paddy's Day Cocktail Shooter ...

Mash Steakhouse, Soho London Mash are said to have the best parts of a real American steak house tradition. Basically what this means in layman terms is that they serve BIG Steaks. On top of this they claim to have five star service with breath taking interiors and the biggest selection of American wine outside of the US. Soooo, I'm obviously intrigued to find out just how much walk these guys can talk. I've tried a few of these new American steakhouse restaurants with little success. Often overwhelmed, inexperienced staff serving dried out ribs with one dimensional barbecue sauces for unsophisticated palates. Yes they have lovely interiors but beyond that not much substance. No pressure then. First Reception Desk, Stairs Leading Down So again I will try, but this does come recommended by the team at Zomato. I'll do my best to keep an open mind. Grumble grumble. Its a lovely spring day and I head into Soho with my partner in crime, the Chic Geek. This is a spo...

Hello everyone, we're back for another round with the Twickenham Ladies, today the gals myself, Saga, Clare, Cristiane and wee little Owen enjoy Italian cuisine. Moving on from our xmas luncheon of last, we had on this especially grey day in February, planned a day of pasta making. The venue was once again at our Scandi's (Saga) casa, joined by her lovely Sardinian friend and today's 'pasta mentor', Gemma. Saga had prepared some authentic delights direct from Sardinia. Firstly, Bottarga (a cured fish roe) and salsiccia (sausage), the later from Gemma's very own family farm in Sardinia together with Castelvetrano olives and Parmesan cucumber bites. We had two pasta machines - your's truly took along her not-so-trusty pasta machine, this was eventually discarded as it turns out that it makes very wonky pasta, nothing to do with the operator at all... (not! lol) errr, a total manufacturing defect. We started on the pasta dough. This was a real lab...

Atithi Indian Twickenham If you're looking for a typical curry house for a session meal before the rugby, you might be in for a surprise. You wouldn't have guessed that Indian food could be like this, don't believe me? just watch. There is a level of sophistication in the food that makes Atithi Restaurant one of the best dining restaurants for a popular cuisine this side of London. I'm not going to make any excuses for those of you who find finer dining uncomfortable, when the food is this good you are going to have to just darn well put up with it.  I have been to Atithi too many times to count, and every time I have put my blogging aside because I have been too impatient, wanting to actually enjoy my meal without having to document my experience. Yes, this has been an oversight on my part, but it is a testament to how good the food is here. It is dark inside, so you'll find yourself in quite an intimate environment. Be sure to be asked to be seated furt...