LOAF, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD

Arabella would love to spend her Easter holidays lying around on the sofa watching film after film, eating pasta and maybe the odd trip to the park. I however have different ideas!! Today I decided that we should venture to the British Museum as it is one of the very few museums we haven't been to (I would recommend it, especially the Egyptian area - fascinating). 

Obviously our day trip had to include lunch and I decided to try Loaf, a toasted sandwich shop that I had recently read about in the Sunday Times. I love a toastie however a toasted sandwich maker is one of the many things I can't squeeze into my kitchen so I seem to have them about once a year when I stay at my friend Nicci's house - she does a mean one with ham, cheese and chutney!

We arrived at Loaf bang on the dot of 12pm and already it was quite full - I was at such a loss of what to order - everything on the menu was so appealing. The room is rustic with a shared table in the middle, then a few small ones round the edges and some more outside - it is a quick in and out place, not somewhere you could comfortably stay for hours. It is a cross between an American coffee shop & a British 'caff". As you go in they have drinks on the side with some of the most amazing wraps I have ever seen. I was so tempted to have a chicken Caesar salad one and hummus and avocado one but as a cheese fanatic I had to have a toastie.

Here is Arabella (already in a moody teenage pose at the age of 6) and the wraps!

On the menu are 9 different types of toasties such as a pulled pork one with red Leicester, dill pickle and red cabbage slaw (I wanted this), or a truffle mushroom one with ricotta & mozzarella, truffle oil, sautéed garlic mushroom and parsley (I also wanted this one). They do breakfast, buns (pulled pork etc), salads (e.g classic Cobb), 4 hot boxes of bangers and mash or Jerk Chicken and Arabella and my favourite mac n cheese with toppings such as truffle oil, or bacon and maple syrup.

I went for the tuna melt which came with red Leicester and cheddar, dill pickle, red onion and sweetcorn on multi grain bread.

It was absolutely delicious - the best tuna melt I have ever had. The flavours worked brilliantly - my only complaint was that I didn't have two! I would have preferred it on white bread and to have the crispy edges from a true sandwich machine but to be honest it was so good, it didn't matter. I would come back here for this alone.

Unfortunately our other choices were a bit of a let down. Arabella went for the classic grilled cheese which was American cheese with English mustard - it was actually English cheese with American mustard and far more mustard than cheese (see below for evidence)!

The mustard squirted out everywhere including on her dress and leggings! It certainly was nothing like the classic American grilled cheese sandwiches you get in the States. Arabella did not really care though as she was more into the mac n cheese I ordered as a side.

Arabella thought this was brilliant and ate nearly the whole plate. I wasn't impressed - it tasted like it had come out of a packet and shoved in the microwave. Such a disappointment although Arabella was very happy not to share!

I was tempted to order another sandwich or wrap but thought that would be far too pigletty!

Even though a couple of things weren't up to standard I would still go back - I would like to try some of the other sandwiches, the wraps and the pulled pork as everyone else there was ordering that. The place seemed popular, especially for workers getting takeaway - I think if I worked in the area I would be going for the tuna melt daily…it really was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had and believe me I have had many!!

Loaf

93 Tottenham Court Road
London
W1T 4HL
Tel: 020 7323 0692
Email: hello@loaf.uk.com

YO SUSHI, WESTFIELD

The other day I made it to Westfield before all the shops even opened – I was desperate to buy an Elsa dress from Disney’s Frozen film for Arabella’s birthday and the only chance I had was to be at the Disney Store when their delivery arrived on a Friday morning. Funnily enough I wasn’t the only mummy there!!

Pascal and I wondered round the shops and then it was lunchtime – normally I would always go to the Lebanese or the Mexican in the food court but Pascal fancied sushi so we went to Yo Sushi and sat at the conveyor belt.

I think the conveyor belt is a brilliant idea and I like the way you can choose your food from there or order it hot. I have never been that enamoured with Yo Sushi before but it is always so popular and packed that I decided to give it another go.

There is plenty of choice from maki rolls to rice and noodle dishes to the usual sashimi, tempura and hand rolls.

We sat down and I ordered a diet coke while Pascal had water from the taps on the table (I think this is great)! From the conveyor belt we chose several items, firstly seared beef nigiri. The beef was rare and succulent as was the rice however it was ruined by a dollop of mayonnaise! Not exactly Japanese & so unnecessary!!

We had the salmon selection - 3 pieces of salmon sashimi, 2 salmon nigiri & 2 salmon maki. This was enjoyable especially the salmon nigiri so we then had a separate plate of that, it was nice and simple with no extra hidden sauces.

My favourite choice from the belt was the California rolls - these were really good and I was tempted to have more.

But by then our hot food had arrived - we had the chicken and duck gyoza. The chicken were good, much better than the duck, as there was more inside the dumpling. It is a pity they are fried rather than steamed.

I ordered my favourite dish - popcorn shrimp - but what a disappointment. I can't even describe what it tasted of, the tiniest shrimps (so small they had no flavour) and then what appeared to be deep fried cereal!! I really wouldn't recommend this dish!!

Pascal's favourite are always chicken yakitori and chicken teriyaki.

These were so so - nothing special.

After our meal, I remembered why I rarely come to Yo Sushi – some of the food such as the California rolls were very good, but others were rubbish – like the popcorn shrimp. None of the food tastes fresh and healthy and some of the things going round the conveyor belt look downright disgusting!!! One maki roll was filled with about 100g of cream cheese – not exactly Japanese!!! After a Japanese meal I don't like to feel stodgy which you do after this.

There are some very good deals - on a Monday all dishes are £2.50 and on Sundays you can order 10 dishes for £20. These are both great sushi deals as Japanese can be so expensive and if you ordered right, this would be a very reasonable way to have sushi. Plus there are restaurants everywhere - all round England and from Norway to Bahrain - and you always know what you will get.

So the meal was quick, easy and filling and not overly expensive. I like the idea and the set up and adore the conveyor belt although I am afraid I wont be rushing back anytime soon. They are constantly adding new dishes to the menus so maybe I will try again in a couple of years and see if I change my mind.

Yo Sushi

Unit 2106

Westfield London Shopping Centre

Ariel Way

London

W12 7GF

Tel: 020 3130 1430

THE EASIEST CAKE IN THE WORLD

I rarely bake cakes, cookies or make puddings for several reasons. Firstly if I regularly baked I would be the size of a house as I would pig the whole lot, and secondly however much I covet a baby pink Kitchen Aid so I can whip up a pavlova on a summer's day, I barely have room in the kitchen for an extra wooden spoon let alone anything else (bloody London houses)!

Therefore when Arabella announced she wanted a Disney "Frozen" cake for her birthday party last week, I got my knickers into a bit of a twist. I found a few cakes shops who would make one personally for Arabella however they cost over £100 and so that was a big no no. In the end I had no other choice but to bake one…..thank goodness for Betty Crocker! She makes baking cakes an easy peasy process.

Ingredients for 12 people:

1 Betty Crocker cake mix (I used the chocolate Devil's Food one)
1 tub of Betty Crocker icing (I used Buttercream)
90ml vegetable oil (6 tbsp)
250ml water
3 medium free range eggs
2 x cake tins (around 8")
butter for greasing

Grease two cake tins and preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 C (fan) / gas mark 4.

Mix the eggs, oil, water and cake mix gently together and then whisk for a few minutes until smooth & creamy. This is hard work without an electric whisk and I seriously got a sweat on!!

Pour the mixture evenly into the two greased cake tins and cook in the oven for 23-28 minutes (or until a rounded knife inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean). I did 25 minutes and as the cakes were on different levels in the oven, I swapped them over after 13 minutes.

Once ready cool on wire racks.

I left them for about 40 minutes.

Finally cover with the icing (this is never my forte as they are never as neat as I would like) and decorate.

I bought the personalised cake topper and figurines off Amazon although there are so many party shops online you are spoilt for choice. The cake topper wasn't the easiest to put on and whatever you do, don't put cling near it as it rips the thing off, but all in all it was a success. I used lots of candles to cover up the holes I made in the cake topper which Arabella loved as it meant more for her to blow out plus the figurines doubled as a birthday present. Plus the best thing of all - the kids actually ate the cake and I have had no reports of food poisoning!!! 

PASCAL'S TOMATO & BASIL PASTA

Other than Pasta Carbonara, Pascal's other speciality is Tomato & Basil Pasta. I actually prefer this to carbonara, as it feels healthier and fresher (despite the amount of Parmesan & grated cheddar cheese I always add). Once again it is really simple and easy to make and is absolutely delicious. Arabella loves pesto pasta where you literally mix a jar of ready made pesto with spaghetti or such - this is a much more flavoursome and nourishing meal.

Ingredients for 4 people (good hearty portions but it's too good not to indulge):

2 tbsp of olive oil

500g pasta (any shape you prefer - we like fusilli as it catches the little bits of basil)

6 tomatoes

100g basil

5 cloves of garlic

300g creme fraiche (I use half fat as it's always good to save calories somewhere & you can't taste the difference)

Grated cheese & Parmesan, to serve

First things first, cut the tomatoes into small chunks and heat the olive oil in a pan. Then once warmed, add the tomatoes and season with some salt and pepper.

Cooking the tomatoes is what takes the longest in this recipe (around 40 minutes) - apparently our tomatoes aren't as juicy as in France, so if it looks a little dry, add half a cup of water. I did this and it helps make the sauce more liquid. Continue to cook the tomatoes over a low to medium heat, stirring regularly.

While the tomatoes are cooking, it gives you time to prepare everything else. Boil the water for the pasta and add the creme fraiche to a saucepan and season with black pepper but don't start to heat yet.

Add the basil to a bowl and use scissors to cut into small pieces.

Crush 3 cloves of garlic.

After about 30 minutes of the tomatoes cooking, they should resemble a tomato sauce. Add in the garlic as well as start heating the creme fraiche (you want to warm this but not boil it). Also cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the packet's instructions.

The tomatoes should be ready after about 40 minutes. Drain the pasta and then add the sauce, creme fraiche and basil.

Slice in the remaining two garlic cloves and mix all together.

Finally serve and enjoy (with some cheese if you fancy)!!

Delicious!! This is the first pasta dish Pascal ever cooked for me and he has continued to do so for the past five years and I never get bored of it. It is slightly time consuming making the tomato sauce but it is much lighter than buying a tin and certainly doesn't taste sweet or manufactured. I would really recommend trying this - just make sure you don't invite too many friends round as you seriously won't want to share and if you are a piglet like me, you will definitely want to have seconds!!

PEKING DUCK PANCAKES

As we still had tortilla wraps left over from the tacos, I wanted to do a recipe where I could use them up and this is a recipe I found in a Fay Ripley book. Pascal has been poorly since Christmas and he can't eat like he used to (probably for the best) so going for a Chinese is out of the question as he would be ill for days….we went to Mao Tai once and it was all so good, we went overboard on the starters, cancelled all our mains and still ate enough to feed the five thousand!! Anyway Peking duck pancakes are his favourite and luckily very easy to make at home.

Ingredients for 3 people:

2 duck legs (Sainsbury's sell them)
Half a cucumber
6 spring onions, sliced
4 large tortilla wraps
Hoisin sauce, to serve

The oven needs to be hot so preheat it to 220 C (fan), 240 C, gas mark 9. While this heats up, pat the duck legs dry with kitchen roll.

Scrunch up a large piece of foil and put it in the middle of an oven tray as a platform and pop the duck legs on top, then grind over a little salt. Roast for an hour until the skin is crispy and the meat falls off the bone.

Once this is almost ready, slice the cucumber and spring onions into matchsticks & heat the tortillas according to the packet instructions (I dried fried them as I don't have a microwave).

Once the duck is ready, shred / cut it.

Finally serve  - put a dollop of hoisin sauce on the pancake, pack with the cucumber, spring onions and duck - yum!!

Pascal and I loved it - all I was missing was a plate of prawn crackers. Arabella announced she didn't like duck - I very strongly encouraged her to eat it until I remember my mother force feeding my brother to eat duck as a child and he threw up 7 times in the night. In the end Arabella had cucumber and soy sauce pancakes which she announced were awesome….each to their own!!