The scene was set for a fun event as we went all out on the decoration front with bunting strewn across our underground restaurant, specially made “London” napkins, and old style English roses to decorate the table. There was definitely some Cath Kidston channelling going on...
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
We had a lovely bunch of guests this month – one special guest, Kenneth, chose Brunch & Co to celebrate his recent birthday with a couple of his pals. Happy Birthday again Kenneth J.
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
Today we welcomed all with a very thirst quenching British drink, Pimms & ginger ale along with a homemade lemon iced tea.
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
To get the party started food-wise we had special mini scones, organic raisin ones and cheese ones, handmade by our wonderful guest helper for this month, Hwee Yin. Thanks so much Hwee Yin! (Anybody interested in beautiful baked goods please get in touch and I will pass you Hwee Yin’s contact details – she supplies some of the best cafes in town!)
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
I particularly enjoyed coming up with this month’s menu. Our version of the classic “Prawn Cocktail”!
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
It consisted of layers of shredded jicama infused with a punchy Thai dressing, prawns coated in the classic Prawn cocktail dressing and topped with some pan fried spicy fresh prawns marinated in a lemongrass & ginger marinade. This was served with freshly made Irish Soda bread & Welsh butter.
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
For our main course, we served layers of smoked salmon along side creamy scrambled eggs, asparagus drizzled with lemon infused olive oil, avocado and homemade pesto brimming with toasted pinenuts & fresh basil.
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
Today’s sorbet course was an unusual flavor of watermelon, salt & chilli.
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
Just a hint & a tiny little zing to cleanse the palates of our lovely guests, I think they really enjoyed this one!
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
Our final course was an apple, maple syrup & stem ginger crumble served with homemade vanilla ice cream or for those who preferred hand whipped (by Hwee Yin’s powerful arms!!) fresh cream.
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
I tried out an interesting little tip I found in a cookbook called “Bryn’s Kitchen” where he suggested baking the crumble topping separately and adding at the last minute to the apple mixture so it stays nice and crunchy & crisp.
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
There was a lot of taste testing going on of the crumble topping mixture that is for sure, very moreish!! Hmmm, I might add some of the leftovers to my cereal tomorrow morning!
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
Our little name tags this month were packets of homemade shortbread using a recipe by the famous & inspirational chef Heston Blumenthal. It is the first of his recipes that I have been brave enough to try – I hope you all liked it!
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| Photo by Haf Saba |
Well all the dishes and glasses are washed and packed away ready for our next brunch on Sunday 22nd April. We might keep the bunting up for a little while longer to remind us of the fun we’ve had!
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| Photo by Melvin Lau |
PS. If you are wondering “Where are the photos??” – we had TWO professional photographers at our brunch today so I will be posting their photos up here soon J - Thanks Haf & Melvin!!
Happy Brunching to one and all,
Mark & Louise
Mark & Louise (and Hwee Yin),
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab way to spend a Sunday!
The brunch you served was simply delightful. I especially appreciate the unexpected twists In almost all of the courses, and all that homemade goodness... like pesto made from scratch :)
All the thoughts and little touches were definitely noticed and made the afternoon special, even the rain made it feel more English, huh? ;)
Thank you for having me.
Kria
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback Kris! It was wonderful meeting you and the rest of the happy Brunchers! The rain certainly did add to the "British" atmosphere :-) See you again soon! Louise xx
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