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.