nikkib

add ice cubes frozen with botanicals like juniper berries etc inside them for a full on hit as they begin to melt

Have a great time! Damascus is amazing - am planning on heading to aleppo next along with homa and hams so will post more when i make it there!

Dinner at the bar at Hix the other night - started with some extremely good oysters, the best i have had in a very long time - split between natives and rocks at a couple of quid each if i remember rightly. After that we had the Trealy farm charcuterie (which i had taken the night before in the new bar section of Quo Vadis around the corner and was pleased to see it appear on another menu so soon as it is delicious stuff)and the heaven and earth combo of black pudding and apples. We asked if it was possibly just to have some bone marrow as opposed to having as a steak garnish which they very obligingly did, it had been mixed with herbs and breadcrumbs and been baked and hit the spot, coffees and dangerously good chocolate truffles followed. We were there on a thursday and the restaurant was almost full as was the bar downstairs. My Negroni was well made and there was a nice selection of wines by the glass - the price of the bill escapes me i'm afraid, not cheap ( i remember that much!) but you do get excellent quality produce so worth every penny in my humble opinion!!!

Finally made it back to the Uk for a short trip - my first meal had to be here. I like the room - we were there at lunch and it was nice and bright, bustling but not too crowded. The bar would be a great place to refresh and recharge yourself after a heavy day shopping in knightsbridge - a glass of wine and some of the charcuterie would go down a treat i imagine... I digress! So i went for the salad d'hiver to start - pumpkin and navet with blue cheese, pomegranate seeds, parsnip crisps and mixed leaves and then the piggy burger ( i had to really!) The burger was as good as i hoped it would be - the meat patty was juicy, nicely seasoned and cooked perfectly with the pulled pork and the spicy mayo adding an extra kick - good fries too. I'm afraid i don't fall into the dainty lady category David mentions and devoured it by picking it up and attacking! - the bun managed to hold together until the last bite or two which is always a bonus! My mum had fish soup which she said was very tasty and then the pate de grandmere another success. With 3 glasses of wine, coffees, water and macaroons our bill came to £85 inclusive of service (which was great - friendly, speedy and professional)i found it very fair indeed and somewhere i would definitely stop by at again.

http://www.thesmokerinn.com/ a recent lunch time visit to the smoker in knutsford left me very impressed indeed. They have a great selection of hot and cold sandwiches and also "real" dishes as well. We just went for sandwiches as we werent too hungry - i had cheshire cheese with damson jam and the others went for "hedgehogs" a warm plaited bun with various fillings. Service was very friendly and the pub has a real cosiness to it - one to stop in at if you are in the neighbourhood for sure.

mmmm i had a great meal at auberge du lac a few years back but the same friends i went with, went again recently and said it had really gone down hill and they were very disappointed indeed. I also like darcys in st albans - not on the same page as auberge du lac ( as i remember it) but still very good. The brocket arms is another option - the restaurant there is very nice indeed and has some serious restaurant quality food on offer but again not a "name" like auberge.

well i finally had some people to cook for as opposed to just myself, bit of a random assortment of dishes as i couldnt figure out what i wanted to eat/cook but hey it tasted pretty good - moules marinieres to start - i didnt have any cream so used fromagae frais which split a bit but still worked ok followed by a "turkish" carrot and red cabbage salad with sumac, lemon and balsamic dressing with salt and pepper squid in a szechauan pepper, cornflower and salt coating and popcorn shrimp in chunky breadcrumbs left over from christmas stuffing. Theres a bit of spinach and roasted red peppers thrown in at the end too as i do like my veggies. As i said, more of a collection of dishes than a well thought out meal but overall not bad, think i would rather have pop corn shrimp with my G&t before dinner than as a meal itself and the carrot salad made me think of trying a repeat with some grilled quail in pomegranate molasses or some such next time, we'll see....

Should be here for another year or so - i always feel bad that my reports are so lazy compared to some of the great ones i read on here! Beirut is a great place to live, so easy to settle into and feel at home - the excellent food and local wine certainly help! (thats not to say i am not super excited about eating at st john, scotts, bar bouloud, polpetto and barrafina when im back for a week at the beginning of jan - and my mums roast partridge with all the trimmings mmmmmm) I was thinking more of british tourists when i mentioned gaucho - seeing as we already have the concept in the Uk its nothing new - they have done incredibly though, its a very slick operation thats for sure.

And i finally made it to brunch at Casablancas, one of the few places in town that hasnt resorted to the lebanese brunch buffet trends and instead goes for waffles, omelettes, pancakes and eggs. I braved it out in the middle of a huge 3 day thunderstorm as my eggs benedict craving was too much! I was welcomed into a second floor converted house painted warming shades of terracotta - it almost felt carribean in style. The usual menu is fusion - salads with tuna and glass noodles, salt and pepper squid etc but i opted for eggs benedict (on a bagel?! but very good all the same)with a couple of mimosas and a chocolate tart for dessert. This is what brunch is about for me and i will definitely go back. the main menu looked good too so may check it out at night one time as well. The crowd was a nice mix of families and young groups of friends catching up on the gossip of the night before all kicking back for a lazy sunday sheltering from the rain

Now for THE burger - Beirutis have no end of options for burgers and it makes it way onto most restaurant menus in one shape or form. Brgr opened back in the summer and does what it says on the tin - a 4oz, a 6 oz offered medium or med well, served with fries. The rest of the menu has a wedge salad, buttermilk onion rings, a beef hotdog and a special wagyu burger, a couple of sundaes and thats it. The venue seats maybe 30-40 and is open until 2am at the weekends to catch the late night crowd, a good move and the design is fab. $20 for a couple of beers a diet coke and a great burger is money well spent for me Stove just opened a few weeks back, a converted house with three small dining rooms, a terrace for summer and a great brasserie menu. The Chef has won many awards for his cooking and whilst my choice of charcuterie and salad doesnt show that off the menu was mouthwateringly good. Nothing new, just brasserie classics - pumpkin soup with ceps, wild mushrooms and escargots on toast etc. My Charcuterie was excellent - tomato salad nicely seasoned and brownie points for the lovely mignardises with my coffee...

I seem to have neglected to update this recntly so here are a few recent meals to bring it a bit more up to date... Gaucho has just opened here by the Phoenicia hotel, its extremely glamourous - very beirut, all black and white cow skin and glittering chandeliers and by all accounts doing well. I popped in for a couple of drinks and a snack so no steak this time, just a sampler of taraditos and ceviche (which i seem to have forgotten to take a photo of) which was delicious, if not very small -like 3 dessert spoons in total, one fo scallop, one king prawn and one tuna, all extremely fresh and tasty witha good citrus kick. Next up the crab cakes and a tomatao and fennel salad, the crab cakes had a good dose of chilli and coriander in them and were nicely coooked, tomato salad could have done with being a bit riper but had a great balsamic dressing and a nice crunch from the addition of the fennel. A welcome addition to the Beirut dining scene although probably not one for the tourists. Next up just a light bite in a place called Soho near the four seasons. I liked the array of spreads with the bread - a tapenade, tomato and olive and a feta one, nicely presented in little jars. Just an endive salad with roquefort for after - i prefer the leaves individually and with a creamier dressing ( i left half the cheese as it was far too generous a topping for me) but a nice lunch place with lots of salads and a very chi chi crowd.

Oh my! Corpse revivers - boy would i love one of those right now....... What about a satans whiskers? 30ml Gin 15ml Sweet Vermouth 15ml Dry Vermouth 30ml Orange Juice 15ml Grand Marnier dash orange bitters shake over ice and strain into a martini glass? or blood and sand 20ml Scotch (blended) 20ml Cherry Heering 20ml Sweet Vermouth 20ml Freshly squeezed OJ shake over ice and serve straight up. or el diablo? 40ml Tequila 20ml Cassis 20ml Lime Juice Ginger beer shake first 3 ingredients over ice, strain into collins glass filled with ice and top with ginger beer

Still very much here and will be for a while just crazy busy at work - must remember to get out more! Damascus was amazing - i loved it, looking forward to heading to aleppo in the new year as well as it was just too far this time. I figured the bar closure was to do with ramadan it just seemed weird as it was so clearly open, the pretence seemed comical though! The people could not have been friendlier either, i really did have fun!

Delicious Lamb awarma on top of manoush in the Christain quaerter of Damascus

Thanks Nakji!!- although if you thought the bread looked good wait until you see the icecream...... Bakdash is a traditional ice cream shop in the main souk, eat in (and it was PACKED) or takeaway - most people went for the plain icecream in pistachios which was what i went for and it was gooood! Edited to add - this lovely couple were somewhat intrigued by all my photos and asked for me to take theirs - so elegant!!

This great little bakery was making this fantastic flat bread - crispier than the arabic bread we get here in lebanon, they were more than happy to let me in for photos as you can see....

Here we have a sort of manoush with cheese on top that i bought from a little bakery for about 10cents! Very tasty and all you need for lunch in the heat in Damascus Here is breakfast in my hostel which was simple but very nice indeed - i'm in love with fig jam at the moment, going to have to have a go making some at some point i think..... And here, a rather beautiful way to have your water served - i could get used to this! Interestingly black tea is much more popular here than the coffee you get everywhere in lebanon - and rather a cute way to serve sugar (in an egg cup!)

Lots of people selling blackberry juice on the street along with fresh pomegranate juice - delicious and very refreshing A rather toxic looking mint lemonade - not as good as ones i've had in lebanon or dubai, significantly sweeter but still good And here a cute little bar again in the christian quarter where i stopped in for a beer or two, couldn't quite work this one out - a policeman walked past so the guy closed up, switched off the lights and made us all hush up yet it was clearly a bar from the street when i had walked past earlier - maybe they are not allowed to be open during the day during ramadan? Anyway it was a welcome refreshment and a fun place to mingle

So i haven't had a chance to post recently due to work but here are some photos of my trip to Damascus a few weeks back, i went during Ramadan so not too much chance to eat during the day apart from this meal at a lovely restaurant in the Christian part of the old citadelle. Above you have hummus and roasted vegetables, then below we have fattoush and grilled kebbeh followed by some arabic sweets and figs

Sagatiba all the way - its excellent, just waiting for my first delivery here in Beirut and vcannot wait!

Infuse it with Earl grey Tea leaves for 4 hours or so and then you can use it for earl grey martinis

where did you go djpeteboy?

clover club, Brandy crusta, earl grey marTEAni and ramos gin fizz - any man whos going to show the stamina desired to shake this little beauty would surely impress me (not quiiiiiiiiite 21 but still ;-) )

you could use it in a bramble or a diablo instead of creme de mure....

When we stayed here earlier in the year, the lovely anne marie made a green tomato jam we had at breakfast with croissants - it was delish... http://www.b-break.co.uk/