Yak and Yeti

When I was invited last week to review the new branch of Yak and Yeti in Finsbury Park I have to admit that I was sceptical. I needn’t have been; my experience proved the old adage that you should never judge a book by its cover. 

From the outside Yak and Yeti looks like a chain and in a busy strip of mostly independent restaurants, I am more likely to choose somewhere that looks original. The décor doesn’t improve much when you step inside, but the service and food more than make up for it. All the staff are extremely knowledgeable about the food and very passionate about the dishes from their native Nepal.

Two of the waiters recommended the momo lamb, so we thought we had better try that. Good choice! It was the most interesting dish we had. Momo is a typical Nepalese street food that epitomises the mix of influences on Nepalese cuisine from its neighbours, Tibet and India.

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Istanbul Eats

I have been putting off this post for a while now. Months in fact. 

In early November  I took my sister to Istanbul for her birthday. We had a fantastic, food-filled fling with a sexy city that never sleeps and both fell a little bit in love. I was so caught up in this short romance that I didn’t bother much with foreplay, I just wanted to dive right in.

This is a metaphorical apology for the seriously shocking photos that follow. I really ought to have pressed some of my cameras buttons… but I was too busy pressing my own.

If you are visiting Istanbul and you love food, I highly recommend buying a copy of Istanbul Eats, an English language guide to “the best undiscovered local eateries you might not always find on your own”. We lived by it and we weren’t disappointed.

Ciya

Friendly chefs at Ciya

Red pepper and walnut paste, hummous, celery yoghurt and stuffed aubergine

Celeriac stuffed with minced lamb, lentils and caramelised onion

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Almanak

When I heard the Danes were famous for open sandwiches I was nonplussed. Open or not, how exciting can a sandwich really be? Very, it turns out. Just take a look at these bad boys:

My sister, Charlie, definitely chose the right venue for me to try my first smorrebrod. Almanak is part of Claus Meyer’s growing empire. Among many other ventures, Meyer is co-owner of Noma, number one restaurant in the world.

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Amassive lunch

An understatement. This was the very longest of languorous lunches in the history of the world. Or at least in the history of my world and that is not insignificant; in my 30 years on this earth I've had my fair share of long and languorous lunches. My sister and I arrived at Amass restaurant at 12 o’clock and left at 5.30pm. Five and a half hours of lunching is a new record for me.

The 2013 opening of Amass restaurant in Copenhagen was much anticipated, making headlines around the world.  Head chef and owner, Matt Orlando, has worked with the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Thomas Keller and Rene Redzepi. He was sous chef and, most recently, chef de cuisine at Noma, number one on the world’s best restaurant list.

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A humongous helping of Sydney scrumptiousness

This post has taken a while to come to fruition. I got back to the UK in mid-January but it's been straight back in the deep-end with my Masters and work. Plus I have recently started a new blog about Food Anthropology, check it out.

Mostly, though, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of food photos I took in Sydney. I worked out that in the 26 days I was there, there were only 3 days when I didn't eat out. One was Christmas Day, the next was Boxing Day and the other was on my last day, when the hangover I'd managed to avoid all holiday, despite drinking everyday, hit me like a ton of Jagerbombs. I spent the whole day in bed with the blinds down, but my sister brought me gözleme in bed so I'm not sure if that day even counts.

I'd love to talk you through each and every dish I tried, but if I attempted that you'd be waiting till 2015. Instead, I have selected around 3 photos from (almost) every restaurant I visited to give you a little flavour of my culinary escapades in Sydneytown this time round.

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