Qype - Live and tell

A fine selection of London’s most carnivorous Qypers descended upon Bodeans BBQ in Soho last night for the first ever Qype Meat Up, to sate their cravings for flesh with steak, ribs, pulled pork and chicken.

Along with the meaty offerings many cocktails were also imbibed (the cosmopolitans and the margaritas seemed to be a big hit) and even the Qype Ninja made an appearance to fill his his tiny Ninja mouth with some baby back ribs.

You can see everyone’s reviews from the night here (along with some more photos).

So what next? Another Meat Up or should we skip the dead animal for a month and have a Qype Veg Out instead (maybe in the private dining room at Mildreds…it has rude Victorian art on the walls!)?

Last night a small group of Qypers and London foodie bloggers attended a very exclusive sake, shochu and sushi tasting event that was co-hosted by Akashi-Tai brewery and held at Tsuru, a recently-opened Japanese restaurant in Southwark near the Tate Modern.

Learning, eating, and drinking. Three of my all-time favourite things! All being done at the same time! Brilliant! I was happy as clam, so happy I could almost hear the Sound of Music soundtrack streaming in the distance…either that or I was subconsciously humming it to myself… possible, and scary in retrospect.

Round 1:

The evening began the way the best evenings usually do. With cocktails! We were given the choice of Tokiwa Rhubarb Fizz (shochu, rhubarb puree I believe, simple syrup, soda and mint) and Kappa Saketini (shochu, sake, and a cucumber slice). The rhubarb fizz was lovely; light-bodied and rose-coloured, with a slight tanginess reminiscent of summer afternoons… on a front porch …overlooking a garden perhaps. It’s so drinkable that it’s dangerous. That I didn’t get the recipe is part blessing, part curse.

Completely different yet just as intriguing was the cucumber-flavoured saketini. I only sampled the saketini (twice) because I’m not the biggest fan of cucumbers, so although it was tasty and as refreshing as you’d expect a cucumber cocktail to be I stuck with the fruitier rhubarb concoction. Servings of chilli-sprinkled and edamame were brought out and devoured at what was surely a record-breaking pace. Great way to start the night.

Round 2:

We then took our seats to hear from both co-sponsors of the event about the good things that were to come next. A pairing of Carpaccio of Seabass with not one, but two chilled sakes. The seabass was exquisite!

Fresh, delicate, and just the right temperature to truly appreciate the flavour of the fish (call me crazy but it drives me mad when sushi/sashimi is served too cold!).

This was first paired with Akashi-Tai’s Daiginjo, a cold sake with a light-to-medium flowery start and dry finish. My untrained palette did not pick up on the lemony flavours described by our host Wakana, but once we moved onto the second sake the difference in body and flavour helped to distinguish the first all the more. We were then treated to the award-winning Junmai Daiginjo. This variety’s more pronounced citrus undertones and smoother finish made it a clear favourite of the group. Apparently this second variety is less familiar to the Japanese palette but has been doing very well in exports to the European and North American markets.

Round 3:

Our hosts at Tsuru then served Nasu Dengaku, broiled Japanese eggplant with a sweet miso paste on top, simple and delicious, and well paired with warm Akashi-Tai Honjozo. I realized, however, that I preferred cold sake so I opted for more Junmai Daiginjo.

Round 4:

Genmai aged sake served with free-range chicken yakitori skewers. Akashi-Tai experimented with using brown rice rather than polished white rice for this sake, and when it was originally produced, it was no winner. But that was back in 2002. Fast-forward to 2008 and the years of aging have turned it into something truly innovative and pleasing. The warm honey coloured sake has lingering hints of caramel and cocoa and should be considered comfort food in my book. I can easily imagine pairing it with dessert as an alternative. (Apologies in advance if that breaks any rules of sake drinking!)

Round 5:

Just when I thought we were nearing the end of the tasting we were presented with large sushi platters of hamachi, tuna, shrimp and other assorted pieces.

Our last sake experience of the night with this course was the Honjozo Genshu, a distinctly creamier sake that had a sort of oakiness in aroma and taste that I found to be a perfect finale to the evening.

I had not been exposed to sake on many occasions before last night but thanks to the informative host from Akashi-Tai I’m well on my way to becoming an aficionado. I predict a Qype sake group in the making very soon! Thanks to Sally Bishop for organizing this enjoyable evening, and rolling up her sleeves and making those cocktails too!

If you’re planning to pay Tsuru a visit a great time to go is during their monthly presentations of touring Japanese artists that aim to expose the rich sounds and culture of Japan to the U.K. The next event is coming up on the 25th of June, when DJ Paul Fisher will be on location presenting an eclectic selection of Japan’s “sonic specialties.” The event will also be sponsored by boutique sake brewery, Akashi-Tai, which will offer free sake cocktails from 6.30pm onwards.

We’re a little foggy-headed in the Qype office this morning thanks to the selection of rather tasty New World wines we sampled at the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy event last night.

In case you missed our earlier blog post, this was the latest of our ‘Big Adventure’ outings, where we invite a few Qypers along to indulge in something a bit special (last month was chocolate tasting, and we’re seriously considering sushi making for June, but if you have any better ideas let us know here).

Yesterday evening a small group of us (Guernican, Timinator, Annie Mole, Tiki Chris and Shiny Gemma, plus myself and Andrew) went to the rather posh 19th-century venue, Il Bottaccio on Grosvenor Place to take part in a showcase of half-a-dozen wine producers.

We kicked off in Western Australia (complete with surfboards and imported sand!) at the Cape Mentelle display and got our palates in gear with their Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chiraz.

As the vino flowed and the debates about ‘pepperyness’ and ‘drinkability’ began, we traveled to California courtesy of Newton whose ‘unfiltered selection’ didn’t really do it for us (although their nut snacks went down a storm!), before soldiering bravely back to Oz and Green Point’s top notch rosé (dangerously drinkable stuff!). The watermelon foams they were supplying were a big hit too.

Next up was Argentina and Terrazas de los Andes. These guys definitely had the best ‘gimmick’ of the event: tiny plastic drawers each containing a mini-morsel of food to accompany their three wines. So we all got to tuck into some mini crème brûlée (for the Chardonnay), a minute but delicious serving of lamb (for the Malbec, which we all really liked), and a morsel of beef (for the Cab Sav).

Finally, with everyone just about able to tackle the staircase, we went downstairs to try out the selection on offer at Cheval des Andes, a South American/French joint production whose Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon blend got nods of approval all round.

And then it was down to the pub for a few well-earned beers!

Here’s a few snaps that Tiki Chris took of the event (there’s a few more on the Qype UK Flickr stream), and if you’d like to get involved in the next Qype Big adventure then keep an eye out right here on the blog and make sure you join in the conversation in this thread.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

If you’re planning on eating out this year then you can expect to see more simple, affordable and locally grown food on your plate, according to a recent survey of some of London’s top chefs and restaurateurs.

Tom Aikens of Tom’s Kitchen says that fish and chips are set to be big this year, part of a trend of serving simple grub in gourmet surroundings. Girogio Localtelli of Locanda Locatelli also predicts that simple is going to be big and that “the sourcing of the food is becoming more important than how the chef transforms it” (no coincidence then that our reviewers have already attached the tags seasonal food and good taste to his restaurant).

Meanwhile, Alan Yau of Hakkasan and Yauatcha (both highly rated Qype favourites) dismisses the trends and gets back to basics:

“The most important thing is the kitchen and the quality of the food it is able to produce. Second is the quality of service and No. 3 is the atmosphere, which invariably ties into the design.”

So that’s what the experts are expecting for this year, but (as usual) we’d like to know what your opinions are. Are you willing to pay more to eat ‘local’ food? Do you care if a restaurant’s ambience is just so, or are you more interested in the quality of the food? And when does good service turn into ‘obtrusive and annoying’? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Photo of Tom’s Kitchen taken by Wolfiewolf.

I just came across this post over on the brilliant Mental Floss blog about American ‘food challenges’ and it got me thinking.

They seem to really go in for this type of thing in the States. I mean just take a look at some of these promotions: a 15 pound, 20 inch beefburger that you can have for free if you and a mate can ingest it within three hours! Or what about the bucketful of spicy ice cream? Or a 12-egg omelet? The only one I think I might be able to even attempt is the 20 inch pizza. I think I could have a good go at finishing that in an hour….but definitely not in 37 minutes like this guy did!

But I’ve never heard of any restaurant offering anything like this in the UK (or in Europe for that matter)? Why is that? Is it a cultural thing? Are us Europeans far too civilised and health conscious to go in for this kind of competitive gluttony? Or are the restaurant owners secretly terrified that they’ll be bankrupted by hoardes of giant children who’ve been fed a diet of McDonalds their entire lives?

If you know of any places that have these kind of promotions, or if you own a business that has some kind of ‘eat it all’ challenge, then please let us know. Who knows, we might even bring the Qype team over to see if anyone can manage it!

Earlier this month we invited our London-based Qypers to take a trip down to the South Bank with us to sample the delights of the Slow Food Christmas Market, and last night a small group of hardy (and well-insulated) reviewers met up to see what Slow Food was all about.

The Slow Food organisation is an international movement that believes our food should taste good, be fair (i.e. the producers should not be exploited) and also be clean without any negative effects on the environment. The Christmas market was just one of the initiatives the organisation has organised to promote their message, and it was a great opportunity to see just how great ’slow food’ can be as well as pick up a few last minute presents.

Of course, Qype users are well versed in sampling local products so our group wasted no time at all in getting stuck in to the various stalls, which included a fantastic (and spicy!) selection of Indian chutneys; enough cheese to give you funny dreams for a week; plenty of cider, beer and wine; and even some traditional Italian lardo (thick slices of fat cured with herbs and salt which you spread on toast!).

We were also treated to some much needed warm, spiced cider and fantastically tasty spit roast pork sandwiches by nearby restaurant Canteen, all of which was consumed while listening to one of Slow Food’s UK ambassador’s explain why retaining the heritage of regional food is so important in theses days of globalisation.

All in all it was a great evening and we’d like to thank everyone who braved the cold to come down and share it with us. We’ll definitely be putting on some similar events in the new year so keep an eye on this blog to see what we’ve got planned.

Here’s a few more photographs of the evening, courtesy of Chris Osburn, food and drink editor for the Londonist blog:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.