Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Diary



A night in the bosom of the home, a lunch of melt-in-the-mouth beef and salad at Ottolenghi and a heavy dose of Disco* has left me feeling refreshed and in a much better space than last week. I spent the last few days away from Manchester, in Bristol and then London where I enjoyed lots of satisfying catch-ups with friends over various delicious foodstuffs and caught the Rain Room exhibition at The Barbican. I'm planning on sticking around in Manchester for a year or so after graduating this summer but London once again did a very good job of wooing and beckoning. 

I always expect others to provide blow-by-blow food accounts to vicariously tickle the old saliva glands, so I shall do the same. This is also because I want to remember some of the glorious flavour-combinations to recreate for lunchboxes. I've been making red cabbage slaws in bulk recently and leaving them in the fridge so I can spoon them into lunch boxes throughout the week but my recipe still needs some improving, so I've taken notes from Ottolenghi.

Ottolenghi with Sim: Seared fillet of beef with three salads. (Red cabbage, beetroot, celery and apple slaw. Maftoul and mograbiah with pistachios, turmeric and rocket. Roasted butternut squash with molasses and date yoghurt.)

Cafe at The Wellcome Collection with Josh: Pot of vanilla chai tea. (Scone was underwhelming, coffee disappointing)

Song Que with Josh: Rice paper prawn rolls and Beef steak noodle soup washed down with a bottle of Halida.

I also managed to fit in catch ups with Navaz and Charlie from Urban Outfitters who are always great for in-depth blog chat, reference sharing and adding their two cents to my 'future planning' which seems to be very much my current state of mind with the end of University only a few months away. Charlie also very kindly allowed me to choose a few items to take home which filled a few gaps in my wardrobe. As much as I love and desire a good bomber jacket, I ended up going for the lovely, soft cocoon coat instead. Does anyone else suffer from the bomber jacket problem? They always look great from the front but I find they end up bunching up at the back so I look like I'm straddling a wind machine. 

The marriage of digital technology and art is always one I always find appealing, so the Barbican's Rain Room was fun and surreal in a calming, slow way as I stepped around the rubber pad watching the overhead showers respond to my movements. My friend and I got in after waiting for just under an hour but I'm not sure it would have been worth it if we'd waited for longer as the novelty of the concept ends rather quickly. Having said that, it's wonderful that such an innovative exhibition comes with free admission, so if you're passing and fine about waiting with a cup of coffee then it's worth swinging by. 

*Last Days of Disco and that frothy Graham Norton-narrated documentary followed by a load of old TOTP footage on BBC Four.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my god that food looks incredible. I have a long standing love for Ottolenghi

Z
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Chuck said...

Umm, yum. And I love Song Que. Have you had the quail's wings? AMAZING. Good choice on the cocoon coat too, it really suits you.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I have been meaning to go to the Rain room for ages, and now with only under a month to go I feel I shouldn't miss it. What time of the week/day did you go? I had a look at the website and they say that queuing time can be up to 3 hours, so you were lucky with getting in under one hour. Great blog, btw. Have been reading it for a few months but never commented. Looking forward to your next post! :))

L.C said...

That top picture has made me so hungryy!

discotheque confusion said...

@Anonymous- I went at around 3.30 on Monday. I too had been worried about the queues after looking online but it wasn't that bad. Grab a coffee from the foodhall and bring a book and wait it out!

Anonymous said...

What are the white things in the tenth picture? they look intriguing! Gorgeous pictures as always and good to hear you are feeling better :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely pics! Glad to read you've been having a great time around London. That Rain Room exhibition looks awesome, what an original thing. And the food looks delicious too. Oh and I totally agree with what you said about bomber jackets... I'm also having trouble finding one that suits me. I found one on Mango, but it's a different design, not the typical bomber one, a mix between the classic design and kind of motorcycle vibe and that's the only one that suits me. Anyway, I've felt in love with the cocoon coat!

xx

Sophie said...

I love Ottolenghi, I work just up the road and it's hard not to pop in every now and again for a special treat. The banana and caramel teacake is incredible. Like you I enjoyed the Rain Room but couldn't help feel it's ambivalence. Funnily enough the Barbican Foodhall has started doing a great Ottolenghi style lunch now!

Etta said...

That joshua looks a right noob

sunday best said...

the rain room looks incredible, definitely going to pay a visit.

discotheque confusion said...

@Etta

If you think Josh looks like a noob, you should have seen the phalic rice paper prawn roll he was sinking his teeth into!

Samantha said...

You really need to add slaw to your 'likes' list!

Etta said...

hahah