The Drayton Arms

The Drayton Arms, Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, built in 1860 and then rebuilt 1891, has to get a tremendous honourable mention here. We stumbled across this pub on our way back from Brompton Cemetery. Very charming and cozy and quite taken with the fact that there is a theatre upstairs. Still trying to figure out why I didn't take a photo of our lunch... guess not everything needs to be photographed or probably and more likely, too busy tucking into our scrumptious plates, my husband had the Devonshire Cheddar and Pancetta Burger and I had the Chicken Milanese. The gentleman that was working behind the bar, was the presumed host, delightful and friendly and the service fantastic. The pub had such a warm and elegant feel to it. The food was spectacularly delicious and hit the spot. Worth a visit and revisit! 

Ode to The Drayton Arms. Thank you and until next time... 

Wheaten Biscuits

 

An easy biscuit to graze your tea time or cheese board at any season. A harmoniously golden crisp biscuit with a buttery crunch texture and taste.  

Wheaten Biscuits

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1 1/2 cups (175 g) whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon poppyseeds

1/2 cup (1 stick/100g) unsalted butter, cubed

3 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons cold water

Preheated oven to 400ºF (200ºC) and line a baking tray or two with parchment paper.

Add the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, sugar and poppyseeds to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse all the ingredients together a few time to combine.

Add the cold cubed butter to the food processor and blitz until you have a coarse meal consistency. Keep the food processor running as you drizzle in the milk. Then drizzle in the cold water. You want the biscuit dough to just come together. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and just give it a few quick squeezes to bring everything together. Pat and then using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 4mm thick, then use a 2 to 3 inch round cutter to cut out as many rounds as you can. Use an offset spatula to help lift the cut rounds off the surface and transfer them to the prepared baking tray. Re-roll any scraps of dough to cut out more biscuits. 

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges have turned light brown. Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with fresh fruit, cheese, butter or jam.

Tom Cribb revisted, mulled wine and cherry bakewell tarts

 

Well it just wouldn't be proper if we didn't return to Tom Cribb's. I had my usual fish and chips and my husband had the steak and ale pie, see in the background. Both scrumptious as ever, and yes, I needed help with mine, because look at the size of the fish!

Mulled wine in three glasses. Being in London so close to Christmas had some inviting drinks to try. Along with the Hotel Chocolat beverages this was second and at almost every pub and restaurant. When it was festively offered we happily had a glass... or two.  

This time we tried Waitrose cherry bakewell tart. Similar to the M&S we tried on our last visit, from what I can remember. Very buttery and flaky and still sweet. They went down lovely with a nice cup of tea at the end of the day. 

Dishoom Kensington ~ London

 

Another delightful place we throughly enjoyed was Dishoom Kensington, just off the Kensington High Street. The menu was extensive which made it hard to decide because everything sounded absolutely delish. Our lunch was light and sharable, lamb samosas, Chicken Briyani, spiced vegetables with chilli peppers and a smooth cooling cucumber yoghurt salad. 

One or two of these wouldn't go amiss. We happily sipped on one of the most well crafted infused margaritas, The Dishoom Margarita, as we nibbled on complementary poppadoms and sauces waiting for our lunch to arrive. 

Dessert? How could we not resist after reading the dessert menu. No sharing here as my husband tried the most comforting creamy rice pudding, Basmati Kheer, topped with blueberry compôte. Delicately rich and creamy.     

As for myself, I tried the mixed fruit crumble, Coconutty Fruit Crumble. A medley of sweetly tart pineapple, apple and raspberries with a toasted coconut crumble topped with coconut ice cream. Crunchy, sweet and very coconutty. Absolute scrumptious heaven!