Johannesburg - Airport Layover

Stuck in Johannesburg airport for 5 hours there aren't too many diversions to kill the time unless casinos are your thing. Well needs must. The Emperors Palace casino is a quick 10 minute free shuttle bus away and is in the mould of the best examples of this genre found in Las Vegas. A Casino joined to three hotels with mock roman statues alongside a fast food court and more formal dining options.

Tribes restaurant is an example of one of the restaurants at Emperors Palace. The menu? Meat and game. Does South Africa have any vegetarians? Surely that would be illegal in this country.

The game skewer wasn't really game but all beef and as you can see was presented in such good taste. As a final meal before taking for for the northern hemisphere it had to be chakalaka sauce. This was very much different to the previous examples and I'm not talking about subtle differences such as Heinz v Branston. This was a whole different sauce completely. Probably less beany and definitely more spicy. Ideal before a 10 hour flight in economy!!

Zimbabwe - Chakalaka

The first encounter of the tourist police here in Victoria Falls is a strange experience. Initially you think it's just another hawker trying to sell some local handicraft as their only uniform is a grubby bib with 'Vic Falls Police' stencilled on the back. Well - that's if all the letters are their but usually it's a bit of a crossword puzzle. Their job? It seems to be to walk with tourists to and from the falls and ensure that the hawkers stay away.

So what is chakalaka sauce? Apparently it's a spicy African sauce used to accompany many dishes ranging from cheese to game meats. This dish of warthog with chakalaka sauce certainly was an eye opener; not because of the spiciness of the sauce but its remarkable similarity to a can of curried baked beans. Well, from memory, Heinz was a popular brand in the local supermarket!

Western Cape - Wine Tasting

When it rains in Cape Town the options available to the tourist seem pretty limited. Table Mountain, Robben Island, Shark Cage Diving are all weather dependent activities and a wind, or cloud, can easily put paid to these.

Wine tasting around Stellenbosch and the Western Cape is a fine poor weather day activity. Of course, getting a driver is essential and if he has knowledge of wine all the better. All in, 4 wine cellars were visited and probably 25 wines/sparkling wines/brandies sampled...and maybe a few additional glasses at lunch. These varied in price at places such as Saxonburg of R15 for 6 wines to R50 for 8 sommellier choice wines at Fairview. The Fairview also included oil/bread and cheese tasting into the bargain including a chakalaka wine and chakalaka cheese...both which are fantastic.

One thing which became apparent is that the South Africans are keeping the best wines to themselves rather than export them overseas. No chance of finding a Fairview in Tesco in the near future!

Zimbabwe - What Food Shortages?

The people here in Zimbabwe must be the friendliest people in the world. I swear, it seems like there is a Kris Akabusi laughing around every corner. Everyone also seems to be smiling. OK -so this is within the hotel and not so common on the streets where things are a bit different. I never realised I was such a fashion icon as I've had many offers to swap the clothes I'm wearing - shoes and shorts included - for local crafts they are trying to sell. If they get no joy selling handicrafts the conversation then moves onto the sale of ZIM$ notes which is, of course, an illegal activity here in Zimbabwe.
A couple of examples of a lunch on offer in the hotel. One example being a local take on a classic English Ploughman's lunch (sans Branston pickle) and the other being the warthog special. Both rather good in their own way but the most interesting thing was the inventive use of bread in the warthog special.

Zimbabwe - Meat Feast

The phrase 'cash is king' is really true here in Victoria Falls. There is no back-up of an ATM or a credit card should you run out of cash. It has to be cash and it has to be a hard currency such as USD/GBP/EUR/ZAR. The ZIM$ is no good at all and it's illegal for tourists to use. Fat lot of good this was when trying to buy a bottle of water at the local supermarket for ZIM$14,000 when they only take the local currency. This is similar in price to a loaf of bread. The problem is that ATMs are limited to ZIM$5,000 per day so it can take three days to get enough cash to buy a loaf....by which time it's probably gone up in price. I'm sure this explains the long queues at the Barclays ATM in town rather than any dispersions on the quality of service. The supermarket itself did seem to have a fair amount of stock even though it was completely devoid of any customers. It also seemed to have enough Heinz canned tomato puree to feed the whole continent.Luckily, a few souvenir notes can be obtained on the black market and a whole USD$1 managed to procure 4 ZIM$100bn notes one dark night.

At the Eating House of Boma, finally, a place full of people. OK -they're all tourists and it's a 'themed' place with African dancers and drummers. But what a meat feast on offer. Quite a few game meats could be ticked off at the buffet dinner. Ostrich, Crocodile, Buffalo, Warthog, Boar, Impala, Kudu, and Mopani worms. The worms weren't really worth the hype (or the certificate proving I had even them). Just seemed to be like overcooked and crunchy pieces of biltong.

http://www.edible.com/shop/browse.php?cmd=showproduct&productId=4

Cape Town - Two All Beef Patties

I've mentioned the full employment opportunities available in Cape Town. This isn't limited to just Safety Officers and Parking Marshalls but includes Toll Booth operators for toll roads which are closed. It's just not public services though. In a restaurant there is obviously a waiter / waitress and a sommelier (who are all exceedingly patronising and smug here) but also a third in the restaurant waiting staff triumvirate as discovered at Riboville on Adderley Street. after the meal was served a third member of staff was king enough to show both the salt and pepper shakers and inform me which one was the salt and which one was the pepper!! That's service for you. That's all he did!!
On offer at Riboville was Fillet Mignon and this was by far the biggest fillet I've ever seen. Yes - there are two steaks in the picture and they must have each been 150 - 200g. It was covered in a herb crust which seemed to consist of salt, pepper and mint. Mint? Well the lamb theme continued with a sprig of rosemary wedged between these all hunks of beef perched on a bed of potatoes and spinach. The meat itself was fantastically cooked (not least because the chef came out to make sure all was well and he looked more like back row forward for the Springboks) and has made me think again about the traditional condiments in the UK. Beef with mint....why not?

http://www.ribovillerestaurant.co.za/

Cape Town - Posh Peanuts

Now the Waterfront in Cape Town really is tourist central with a large number of shops, restaurants, and bars. It even has an Scottish (rather than an Irish) ale house. The selection of good restaurants available was pretty good. They even seem to have there own police force ensuring the tourist rand keeps on flowing into the local economy by scaring off any 'undesirables'.
On the Waterfront there was one fantastic grill /wine bar called Belthezar which allegedly has 600 wines on offer, nearly all South African, and a few rogue french ones on offer. Some were even on a posh 'tap' system which didn't happen to be working that night due to 'no gas'. Many of the 600 wines on offer are served by the glass at the bar with free bar snacks. In the case of this establishment...peanuts just wouldn't do.

Cape Town - Spain win again!!

Well the Spanish have had a great summer of sport with Euro 2008, Nadal at Wimbledon, and the classy Olympic photo's their basketball team posed for pre Olympics. Could a seafood paella at the Two Oceans restaurant at Cape Point also be a winner?

With all the seafood on offer it was packed with all sorts of seafood for only 165 rand. Two large line fish fillets, a succulent piece of lobster, mussels, and a couple of large tiger prawns. A real winner for the Spanish...again. Let's hope Murrays mussels can overcome Nadal tonight in the US Open!!

Cape Town - Move too slow and you're game

After more recent journeys to the far east this trip to Africa has a slightly different feel to it. it's been taking some getting used to but here in Cape Town there are always guys hanging around. Some of these guys are simply hanging around whilst others seem to part of a Government 'full employment' regime. We have 'Safety' wardens in bright yellow bibs on every street corner. The notion of parking machines is replaced by a parking marshall, in a bright bib, every 20 yards or so. There were even guys with bibs marked 'Solid Waste'. No hanging around to find out exactly what their role is!!

It must do wonders for the unemployment statistics
So the first taste of ostrich on this trip. I learnt a lesson very early after this meal and that is to get a recommendation from the staff on the most succulent cooking length. This ostrich I just plumped for medium given that is how I have my beef but for ostrich medium was probably far too long. The meat was coarse and a touch chewy. Not at all succulent. Probably suited much more to a medium raw cook. Well - it's all a learning experience. Just wish there was a guy in a yellow bib employed and available to advise!!

Cape Town - Cheese Board Xtreme

One thing you can say about eating out in Cape Town is that the Rand goes a long day. The price of a wilting Pret sandwich will get you a feast here with huge selection of meats available. Most of game meat available are animals you've never heard of and the range is huge.
But whats better after a large meal of meat than a palate cleansing cheese board. Clear out those meat sweats with some cheese and crackers and a glass of port.
Here, the cheese board was something out of this world. A selection of 6 cheeses drowned by olives, gherkins, sun blushed tomatoes and enough nuts to keep a family of baboons happy for weeks. These were all, though, superfluous having just consumed a small herd of various meats on the course before.

Tokyo (archive) - Button Mushrooms

From the foodhalls of Fortnum & Masons to the stalls in Borough Market the meccas for foodies are plentiful in London. But, compared to the basement foodhalls in Japanese department stores there is no comparison. The variety and quality is amazing and some items are simply jaw-dropping.

Take the mushrooms in the above found in the Isetan foodhall in Shinjuku. Good size...fresh looking...beautifully presented...and 24,150 Yen. In proper money, about £100. These matsutake gems.....not exactly your typical pizza topping for an extra 50p!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsutake

Tokyo (archive) - The early bird gets the fish

Tsukuji fish market is a buzz of activity from the early morning and one benefit of jet lag is that you'll be up early to make the trip to this little gem in Tokyo. You have to have your wits about you though as the action is frenetic and getting run over by a trolley of fish is a real possibility.

By the entrance of the market there are a handful of tiny sushi restaurants. These consisted of just a counter from behind which the sushi chef worked. Now strangely some of these restaurants had huge queues outside whilst others were virtually empty. Given that the majority of these queues didn't look like locals I suspect this was the 'lonely planet' effect. I doubt, to the casual sushi eater, the quality between these establishments would be noticeable.

Tokyo (archive) - A world away

Whilst the next journey is some way off it's time to access the archives of my memory and look back over some past trips and the food encountered. Back in October 2007 I managed to get away to Japan for a couple of weeks taking the Shinkansen across Honshu and visiting a few major cities en route. So over the coming summer months I'll be posting some food photos and reliving some of the culinary experiences in the land where I feel tall.

Arriving in Japan it's a world away both by distance and culturally from the streets of London. Like London it's a massive city with thousands of people on the streets so things do seem familiar - but everything is just a tiny bit different - and arriving after a 12 hour flight it all adds to disorientation of a Christmas party hangover proportions.

With the brain not fully functioning and on standby mode it could be hard to find something to eat when you can't speak or read the language and English is hardly spoken. Thankfully, there are small local restaurants which use vending machines where you slot in your money and press the button of the dish you want. How do you know which dish to choose if you can't read the description on the button? Well, it's food by numbers as nearby there will be a display of plastic food and a corresponding number.

It is at this point you notice one of those tiny subtle differences between London and Tokyo. In Tokyo the vending machine actually does something rather gobble up your money offering nothing in return and no sight of a refund. The vending machine will print out a little ticket in return for your money! After the machine spits out your ticket you hand it over to the chef behind the counter and in a few minutes...hey presto...a hot bowl of noodles.

London - Fantasy Feasting

Based on the free papers on the Tube celebrities are forever eating out at restaurants. They may even be blogging about it for all I know. With all these celebrities forever feasting there is a good chance us mere mortals will see them whilst dining out.

It finally happened to me recently.

Before you scream 'what were you doing at the Ivy?' I have to tell you the location was a Dim Sum restaurant in the o2 centre on Finchley Road, North London, and the celebrity was Frank Skinner's other half, David Baddiel. (I'm sorry David but we're not exactly talking Hello magazine front page). I'm just happy we got a table after fighting our way through the paparazzi buzzing about outside.

Now the restaurant is part of a small chain in London so the menu is very familiar. I thought the dim sum was actually better cooked than the other restaurants in the chain and actually pretty good. The service though was poor with some our dishes never arriving.

Would I recommend this place? Well I have to say no as just getting there involves been stuck in a traffic jam in a car park. We must have been trying to get out for close to an hour; we even saw a couple of car prangs within the car park - no doubt caused by the frustration of the traffic jam (or maybe they were paparazzi?)

Traffic jams in car parks? Not really ideal for the quick celebrity get away after leaving the restaurant. No wonder it was only David rather than Kate Moss.

London - Sepp Platter

So what goes well with a few beers and the Champions League Final? Pub-grub and make it stodgy pub-grub. The location of this dish was the Captain's Cabin just off Haymarket. How do you find it? Well you walk down Haymarket to the Sports Cafe. Realise it is rammed. Then walk back towards Piccadilly until you find this establishment down a little side road to the left once you hit the Spar shop.

Firstly the beer. A fine selection of ales including the all-time-favourite London Pride. It is important that the first pint is well poured as this is the only pint you'll remember by the next day. Here, in the Cabin, the beer appeared well kept and in good condition.

As for the food....my expectations were not high. The Cabin had been a regular haunt during World Cup 2006 and the burger during one Poland v Germany game in particular had resembled a decent piece of shoe leather with a tomato on the side.

So it was with intrepidation, not normally seen until a penalty shoot out, that we ordered a couple of 'City Platters', two rounds of chips, and some deep fried onion rings to get our 5-portions a day quotient in. The platters consisted of some garlic bread, cocktail sausages, chicken wings, roasted new potatoes, nachos with guacamole and salsa, and a couple of pots of BBQ and sour cream dips. It did not disappoint. With an artery blocking fat content to keep a cabal of heart surgeons happy for a good few years the stodge content was perfect. The garnish of lettuce, which has no place on such a platter, was also consumed.

Well the Captain did steer a steady ship and the stodge/beer balance was maintained to perfection.

Singapore - T3 v T5

No - we're not talking about Arnie and Terminator movies. We're talking about the new T3 here in Singapore (opened in January) and Heathrow T5 (allegedly opened operationally in March). I admit I haven't visited T5 yet...I believe a trip to Cape Town in September may see me have that privilege.....but the general perception is not good. As mentioned previously there needs to be balance in life. Yin and yang....Cannon and Ball....etc. To T5's Dante's inferno we have the quiet tranquility of T3 here in Singapore where I sit now surfing the free wi-fi, listening to the tinkle of the piano from a live pianist, after visiting the free movie theatre and watching a bit of TV on the 103inch plasma screen. It's not too crowded and its very peaceful. Why can't all airports be like this?

My final meal in Singapore - it really should have been chicken rice but instead it was some ramen noodles here in T3. Teriyaki chicken ramen (dry) and a final Tiger beer....well maybe final....the heat in Singapore was too much so I got here very early.

The ramen were a revelation. I admit that at home I do partake in the odd packet of ramen noodles. Soften the ramen cake for a few minutes oin boiling water and dinner is served!! Even when in Japan last year I had assumed that the ramen would be similar to these so never had any. How wrong I was and what an opportunity missed last year. The noodles were firm and had substance to it unlike the home-made variety. They also had flavour.....I thought that was what the little packet was for? The teriyaki chicken was smothered in terayaki sauce and it was all complimented by some spring/salad onions (is there a difference?) and an egg.

Yummy.....yummy.....yummy.

Singapore - Is smoking bad for you?

The sun has been blazing during my time in this part of the world. From previous visits I very much expected clear and humid early mornings leading to thunderstorms and rain come late afternoon. Like a typical Londoner I’ve had an umbrella at hand for such occasions. So far I’ve seen rain only once and that was when getting a lift from Melaka bus station to the hotel. Apart from that it’s been sunny and humid....which has make the place awfully hot and humid all day and all night.

As with taxi drivers world-wide the taxi rivers here have also noticed the difference. The weather is changing – global warming. It’s been noticeably over the last few years they tell me. Well taxi drivers know everything even in this part of the world.

Well for lunch today it was smoked duck rice. Smoked duck rice? I’d never heard of it. After many visits to Kansas City I had tasted many smoked meats....but not yet duck. It didn’t taste very smokey to me but it was certainly tender. It came in an oyster sauce and the obligatory cucumber. Generally there were a few bones and but what do you expect given this 'venti' meal was only SGD$6.

Singapore – Clarke Quay strikes back.

I’ve been thinking about my previous post on Clarke Quay. What makes me think a couple of posts on a blog puts me in any position to opine on the place? I didn’t even eat there so how could I be so harsh without even sampling the fare?

I returned to Clarke Quay intent on sampling the food and drink on offer. Available is every cuisine from all four corners of the world although nothing really that local seemed to be on offer. There were some up-market Chinese restaurants but their menus seemed to differ from what would be available at the local food courts.

I finally decided upon a place but I can’t remember the name. I suspect I was possibly young, probably naive, most likely in singapore, and definitely under peer pressure when I made the choice. I think it was a western chain restaurant so I just had the basic burger. This came with a choice of coleslaw, baked beans, or potato salad; which I considered to be strange options. Where were the fries or baked potato? In the end I plumped for the potato salad. How was it? Again, I must be suffering from amnesia or I was distracted as my mind is blank on how it tasted. I did remember to take a couple of photos….of the food of course!!

Singapore - Time for chili crab

When travelling you can’t beat using the local public transport. You get to see a lot more of the passing sights from an elevated position and also get to watch the locals going about their day-to-day life. It’s also a lot more rewarding working out how to get around by public transport rather than using taxis.

Back in Penang bus station I did meet a few strange characters. One old chap, when I asked him where he was heading, told me he was retired and ‘waiting to die’. I suspect he spent most of his days just hanging around the bus station. I did point out that there were some rather large, heavy, buses hurtling past and if he wanted to end it there was a quick solution nearby. ‘Too messy….cyanide pills’. Before I could ask him where on earth you get such pills from my bus arrived cutting the conversation short.

When I returned back to the bus station I went in search of this old chap but no sign of him. Maybe he achieved his goal? I did think that, if I came across such a character back in London, I would have avoided eye contact and given them a wide berth. Amazing how a few thousand miles changes your perception.

Back in Singapore it was now Saturday which meant time for chili crab. I went just for a small portion as normally I don't have much patience for crab. It strikes me as being similar to celery....one of those food types you expend more energy than you consume. I'm also not very good at this flash extraction business either andend up making quite a mess and little to show for it.

The chili crab was pretty good. A spicy, thick, chili sauce covered the crab and was later eagerly consumed with a portion of rice. The crab was also pretty much cracked already so didn't need to much work to extract the flesh. I would have liked some black pepper crab at the same time to provide a direct comparison but that would be greedy....wouldn't it?

Penang - Taxi drivers know best

I’ve struggled to find the real Malaysian dishes. I think I’ve been looking in the wrong places. Speaking to a taxi driver on the way to the airport apparently his sister makes the best curry in Penang and if only I had more time he would take me there (I have his number if anyone is interested?). He tells me that I won’t find the real Malaysian food at the hawker centres where I’ve been hunting. As I have discovered, these places seem to concentrate more on the Chinese Malaysian dishes.

One type of cuisine which is popular here is Korean food. I’ve mentioned bibimbap previously so I thought it was time to try bibimbap here in Malaysia. Bibimbap – what a great name or a dish – don’t you think all alliterations are cool? I ordered a bulgogi beef bibimbap with kimchi soup. First impressions were not good as the bibimbap was not served in a searing hot stone bowl but in something which resembled a toy bucket.

The taste though was something completely different. The egg yolk was cooked perfectly and once pierced oozed over the rice. The bulgogi beef was cooked well with a hint of sesame. Even the sweet and sour fermented vegetables of cabbage and courgette were well done. The kimchi soup soup had a real chili kick to it also. The only down side was the volume of carrot which seemed to occupy this dish.

Who says you need to go to Korea to get good bibimbap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

Penang - Beers to the memory...

Some beer brands don’t die – they just end up being sold in another part of the world. Back in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s there were many cheap brands of beer which were heavily advertised on TV. Who can remember Hofmeister and their ‘for great lager...follow the bear’ marketing campaign? How about Skol and the cartoon advert with Hagar the Horrible? Well I’m not sure if Tesco still sells Skol (maybe it just got rebranded as Tesco Value?) but I can tell you it’s pretty big here in Penang. And I thought these brands had gone to beer heaven. These were the brands of beer that, as students, were firm favourites. From memory it was a very cheap and tasteless beer and I can confirm that nothing has changed from this part of the world.

The range of satay here in Penang includes mutton, beef and deer. I daren't eat deer as I just can't imagine this being fresh produce; so went for a combination of mutton and beef from a stall announcing itself as Satay International. (I guess this is just one stall out of many the owners have worldwide). I must admit that I don't think these meats work well with satay. Satay doesn't tend to be chunky and is thus easy to overcook and become tough. I think this is what happened to both the beef and mutton in this case. The peanut sauce though was excellent. Good consistency and nutty. For good satay.....follow the chicken.

Penang - Don't forget to floss

I’ve mentioned previously that the number of bakeries selling sweets and savouries is huge. They are always easy to find and very tempting. There is Toast, Bread Talk, Bread History, Bread Story...and these are just the ones I’ve noticed. When you're onto a good theme name-wise why try something different?

The most popular in both Singapore and Malaysia seems to be Bread Talk. The items on offer can be a bit strange coming from the west but these places are certainly popular. The best selling item? I’ve been told that ‘Floss' is very popular. It comes in a many varieties. I've seen Chili Floss, Spare Rib Floss, Chicken Floss, Pork Floss, Curry Chicken Floss...the list is huge.

What is Floss? Well I think it's just the topping on these savouries. It's the fluffy stuff on top which can be chicken or pork flavoured. Looking at the final photo of Floss up close it seems to resemble a worn out brillo pad, or maybe cotton wool? I can confirm that the texture is very soft and the flavour delicate. I wonder how it's made?

http://www.breadtalk.com/

Penang – Tourists say the funniest things

Penang Hill is the highest point on the island. It is a few degrees cooler than the rest of the island so is a bit of a retreat from the humidity. Near the top there is an open area with some food and drink stalls. Here I stopped for some Nasi Goreng Ayam; the literal translation being rice fried chicken. Not surprisingly, although the facilities were basic, this far up the hill the price was a bit more than normal street food and cost a whole 4 ringitts.

It was surprisingly good and compared well with places in London such as Ekachai near Liverpool Street. The rice and chicken were well cooked and packed with flavour. (The last thing you want in a place like this is something slightly under-cooked). It was not very greasy and had good rice separation. There was one disappointment and that was the chilli. Rather than on the side they were mixed into the rice and were pretty weak. In Pop Idol terms they were Gareth Gates to Ekachai’s Will Young.

Whilst lunching there were stall owners looking to attract business by calling out “beer…soft drink….water”. There was one tourist (nationality to remain anonymous) who approached the 70 plus year old stall owner and asked if he had “an espresso with skimmed milk”. Well I guess the sign did also say ‘Coffee’. Needless to say the stall owner was not a barista in disguise, there was not an espresso machine tucked in the back of the stall, and the young tourist ended up with a coke instead.