Dim Sum at Phoenix Palace

Where’s good dim sum? That’s always a question people ask each other. It can depend on what type of experience you want really. Do you want the high class luxurious service of Hakkasan, or a rowdy kitsch decorated one in Chinatown like New Worl with their trolley dollies? Phoenix Palace situated on Glentworth Street near Baker Street Underground Station has a bit of both. The place is decorated with ornate Oriental interiors bordering on the kitsch side, but because of it spaciousness it isn’t too overbearing, and I quite like that. Some Chinese restaurants now tend to opt for a more modern look or are a cheap Hakkasan/Yauatcha copy, sometimes I want that old school Chinese look. Phoenix Palace has competition from it’s more famous Baker Street neighbours Royal China and Royal China Club (modern look ones!!!), but for value for money/food tastyness ratio I think Phoenix Palace wins.

I’ll just get on with what I ate now.

First up, one of my favourite dishes and done very well here is Chicken Claws in Rice Wine Marinade. They are the best I have tasted, because you can actually taste the subtle fragant aroma of the wine whereas usually you just get a hint of alcohol. This is a cold dish for those that love textures in their food, I love biting off joint by joint and nibbling off the skin, tendon and cartilage, savouring the crunchy, springy, hard jelly textures which you don’t get from a slab of meat. These come with some Chinese sweet pickles which are so mouthwatering and wets your appetite for the food to come.

Phoenix Palace - Chicken Claws in Rice Wine Marinade

Vietnamese Spring Rolls were good, just what I expect them to be. Minced Prawn and Pork wrapped in rice paper and deep fried, served with a sweet chilli fish sauce. I usually prefer these than normal spring rolls, just because I like the dipping sauce more and you need spring rolls when you go Dim Sum.

Phoenix Palace - Crispy Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Cheung Fun is like the Chinese Cannelloni. Common fillings are Prawn, Minced Beef, Barbeque Pork, Monks Vegetable mix and Fried Dough Stick. I tend to go for the Scallop or Fried Dough Stick as Prawn is used in most Dim Sum dishes and I don’t fancy the rest. The Scallop Cheung Fun was a let down. Scallops were tasteless and there wasn’t enough Coriander in it. It was altogether very bland (it looks it even in the picture), with the sauce served on the side so the Cheung Fun couldn’t even have a little soak in that.

Phoenix Palace - Scallop Cheung Fun

The Prawn and Chive Dumplings were a better effort. Prawn and Chive Dumplings are my favourite dumplings, sweet Prawn and pungent Chinese Chive so flavoursome. The dumplings here could have done with more Chives as the filling was on the stodgy side due to meat/Chive ratio being too heavy on the meat side, but on the whole it was good. The skin was light and translucent which made the meat heavy filling stand out more, it just needed to have a slightly looser lighter filling.

Phoenix Palace - Prawn & Chive Dumpling

Shanghai Dumplings, hmmm, ok. You expect them to be soup squirting juicyness. I did eat them as soon as they came to our table so they didn’t dry up. There was some soup in the dumpling and the taste was nice.

Phoenix Palace - Shanghai Dumplings

Besides your classic Dim Sum, Phoenix Palace do offer some more creative dishes. Wasabi Prawn Dumplings are in the Specials section. They certainly stand out with their green skins, didn’t think the curly Parsley was needed here, but there it was. This is like a hot Har Kau (Prawn Dumpling). Wasn’t sure about it. The skin was thicker and tougher, probably due to the green herb/veg used. Biting into the dumpling you suddenly get a Wasabi hit piercing up your nose. This is something that shouldn’t happen when you eat sushi, so why have they decided it was a good idea to put it in a dumpling? Also the Prawn’s sweet flavour was totally lost because of it.

Phoenix Palace - Steamed Wasabi Prawn Dumpling, see that layer of Wasabi at the bottom

The Cold Tossed Baby Octopus in Chilli, Lemon & Garlic Sauce on the other hand worked so well. It was mouthwatering and hit all the right notes. The Sauce was like a Salsa, so refreshing but at the same time that Chilli giving you a good kicking. The Octopus was delicately cooked, so it was tender, and when you bit into it, it’s juices merged with the sauce. There was so much depth to this dish. I want some more now!

Phoenix Palace - Cold Tossed Baby Octopus in Chilli Lemon & Garlic Sauce

Back to the classics, Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf. I wish restaurants would bring back the original big size. These new “jewel” size ones may look cuter and easier to distribute and probably save on costs, but you don’t get that excitement anymore when you dig in to one. With them being small, there tends to be less filling and the rice layer is less thick which equals less tasty. Here the rice was too mushy and ended up tasting like a paste. Filling was decent in taste, but because of the size you don’t get much in it, I expect good lumps of meat, Chinese Mushroom, Chinese Sausage wrapped in a sticky pillow of rice.

Phoenix Palace - Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf Wrap

Big Bun stuck by it size and it was magnificent. The bun big enough to hold all the ingredients in it’s filling, Chicken, Prawn, Chinese Mushroom, Egg and Chives. The combination worked very well, everything complementing each other. The bread itself, hot, light and fluffy. It was such a joy to eat.

Phoenix Palace - Big Bun

The Suckling Pig with Jellyfish was the piece de resistance. Only available at the weekend, we were so lucky. Hand turned spit roasted, it was a delight to eat! The skin was so crisp and light, it crumbled and melted on the tongue. Meat was juicy and tender with good rich flavour. The Jellyfish made from fresh was a unexpected joy, most restaurants serve factory produced ones. You could really tell the difference, it was so less rubbery and had a sweeter tang. Thinking about it make my mouth water!

Phoenix Palace - Suckling Pig with Jellyfish

I would have preferred to end with the Suckling Pig because it was so good, but then it would be weird talking about the dessert first (although I have eaten dessert before main meals before and it wasn’t bad). Anyway, we ordered the Black Sesame in Gluten Balls as it was a favourite of my friend’s when she Dim Sum’s in San Francisco. It was slightly different from her San Francisco version. We felt it could have done with more filling, there was only a sliver of it. Usually you expect the Black Sesame to be oozing out when you bite into the rice ball. It was nice, the crunchy chopped peanuts and coconut worked well with the googeyness.

Phoenix Palace - Black Sesame in Gluten Balls

If some one asks me where’s a place for good Dim Sum, I would say Phoenix Palace. I always enjoy going there because it has that quality of an old school restaurant, but without the cramp busyness. I like that they have a very broad menu, all the classic dishes and newer inventive ones. Dim Sum dishes start from £2.60 making it much better priced than it competitors without losing on tastiness. You do have to choose right, there are some hits and misses, but the friendly staff will offer suggestions of their specialties. What’s more, they have very clean spacious washrooms.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka

I went fine dining for dinner. Oooooooo.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka was somewhere where I have wanted to go to, but with my budget eating ideals it was a bit over the budget. My excuse this time? Meeting an old friend I hadn’t seen for ages and Toptable’s deal, at three courses plus a cocktail for £39, it still wasn’t cheap, but more affordable. The place itself is nicely done up, just what you’d expect, do I need to go into detail? Nah, I can’t be bothered. Although I did spend some time wondering how they shone a spotlight onto the middle of the table with no visible lights above until my friend arrived and mentioned she’d seen it at another restaurant and that it was a light under the table. Duh! Let’s get on with the food.

Amuse bouche were four tiny portions of Mackerel, Meat Pie, Tomato & Goats Cheese and a Deep Fried Ball of Mushroom Risotto. They were all delicious, but there was only one of each and so my friend and I had to split these minuscule pieces of food. Surely they could have spared another portion.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Amuse Bouche - Mackerel

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Amuse Bouche - Meat Pie,Tomato & Goats Cheese, Fried Mushroom Risotto

Then came the pre-starter starter of Celeriac Foam with Apple Compote, Apple and Walnut Paste. This was particularly good, the sweet Apple working so well with the Celeriac, the bitter with the sweet, the Walnut Paste on the side bringing a lovely nutty burst and it was so light.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Pre Starter Starter - Celeriac Foam with Apple Compote, Apple & Walnut Paste

Finally we get to what we ordered, our starters. The menu we chose from is a more limited menu, three dishes for each course.   It is made from a combination of the lunch and dinner menus. We decided one of us would do the meat dishes and one the fish, we ain’t no vegetarians, nothing against them. The starter of  Pollock Brandade with Caramelised Squid, Crisp Quail Eggs and Parsley Vinaigrette was yummy. The creamy Pollock with the springy Squid and crispy Quail Eggs, created a mouthful of wonderful textures and flavours.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Pollock Brandade with Caramelised Squid, Crisp Quail Eggs and Parsley Vinaigrette

The other starter I tried was the Lamb Carpaccio with Mint Jelly walnuts, Apple and Olives. Nice and pretty looking, but I think the Lamb itself was overwhelmed by all the other flavours happening around it. Not saying it didn’t taste good, but tasting the meat on it’s own, the lamb was  delicate melt in your mouth yummyness.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Lamb Carpaccio with Mint Jelly walnuts, Celeriac and Olives

Mains! Yeah! Halibut with Chorizo, Caramelised Squid, Red Pepper and Onion Confit and Chick Pea Fritters. There were a lot of similarities of this fish main and the fish starter. The Halibut main is a lot heavier though, big chunk of fish with the Chorizo crust. There were a few chips poking out that were slightly soggy and oily, probably due to the sitting on the foam for a bit too long. Nice but not great.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Halibut with Chorizo, Caramelised Squid, Red Pepper and Onion Confit and Chick Pea Fritters

The Chicken on the other hand, yes more please! A long plate of different parts of chicken each part varying on texture, but all running with the same themes. You start with crispy Chicken mini drumstick, heavy on the morels and peas at this end, middle similar idea, but different cut of meat, juicy meat, crispy skin, the Macaroni so cute, like mini Cannelloni, stuffed with pea puree. You end with succulent breast, that felt like it was steamed, the meat so smooth and juicy, but with the skin crisped up, and in between the skin and meat was some sort of tasty Pesto. Ahhh it was so yummy.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Roast Spring Chicken with Macaroni, Morels, Peas and Broad Beans

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - The Macaroni looking like mini Cannelloni

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - The Tastiest Chicken Section

There was the pre-starter starter, and there’s also the pre-dessert dessert of Giant Israeli Cous Cous Pudding and Passionfruit Cream. This was absolutely delicious! I enjoyed it more than my actual dessert and it was a perfect little refresher after our mains. I think I could have eaten a whole bucket of it, the cous cous was cooked like a creamy rice pudding with the sharp Passionfruit cream, and some crunchy crumbled biscuit topping. This is my ideal type of dessert. Have I not told you of my love of tarty creamy stuff? Maybe more of that another time.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Pre dessert dessert of Giant Israeli Cous Cous & Passionfruit Cream

After that I don’t think my dessert had a chance unless it was a larger glass of more. There were two options really for dessert as the cheese board came with a £10 supplement and our tummies was getting quite full by this time. I went for the Tiramisu as my friend wasn’t a fan of it. It was nice but nothing special. The sugar cone it was encased in I found too thick and sweet, the Amaretto Ice Cream was good and if you scraped the slate it was presented on, you would get a very strong Coffee syrup hit.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Tiramisu with Mascarpone, Coffee and Amaretto Ice Cream

The other dessert, yum yum more please. So many textures and flavours. Although the Hazelnut Parfait Yoghurt Sponge is a Chocolate based dessert, there was so many levels to it. For starters the Parfait itself was creamy yet light, little Chocolate Crispies add a bit of fun to the dessert and contrasts so well with the Parfait. The Hazelnuts and Sauce adding more textures. Then there is the sponge. Here it brings sophistication where the Crispies were fun. It looks like you’re ready to take it to the bath with you, but don’t, because when you bite into it, it is so moist and the acidic taste from the Yoghurt reawakens your tastebuds so that the Chocolate and Hazelnut doesn’t become too rich after a while. You know that feeling you get when something is really good when you first eat it, but then when you eat more be it the flavours are too heavy or rich, you start to enjoy it less, but you carry on eating because you don’t want to waste food and so you finish the portion, but it’s not as enjoyable anymore. Well, I don’t think I could get it with the Cous Cous and Passionfruit Cream or the Hazelnut Parfait and Yoghurt Sponge.

Pearl by Jun Tanaka - Hazelnut Parfait Yoghurt Sponge

Pearl by Jun Tanaka is supposed to be a French Restaurant, but with the Tiramisu, Risotto, Carpaccio and Macaroni the menu at the moment is much more Italian influence.

I had a lovely time, the staff were helpful, friendly and attentive, but I forgot to check out the toilets. An excuse to go back?

For the Smell of It!

I’ve had a few friends leaving London recently to move back to Australia and I wanted to give them something that when they saw would remind them of the fun times they’ve had here. The item also had to be compact enough so as not to inflict more packing problems. That’s when the idea of personalised lavender bags came in, compact enough to throw into the suitcase last minute and with the added bonus of keeping your cloths smelling nice and moth free too!

The Union Jack design was an obvious choice, it is such a institutional image for Great Britain. Googling for the correct layout for the flag, I was amazed to find that the image of the flag was not symmetrical. I remember learning in school that the flag was made up of the union (get it?!) of the English, Irish and Scottish flags, but don’t remember the bit about it being asymmetric. Seeing a lot of other Union Jack products available, they have not taken that into account. Maybe I am just too anal. Anyway I did try to get it correct, but with hand felting it is not going to be perfect, adding to the items uniqueness?!

I also wanted something to represent their stay in London, so the idea of a map of the British Isles came to mind. At first I thought of making something like a map pin to pinpoint London, but I much prefer my finished version of a heart on London, the red works great with the green and blue!

GB Lavender Bags

On the back of the Union Jack design, I used the idea of it being a postcard to send a little message to my friends. With the British Isles design, I took the idea from those scrawlings you always get on trees, wet cement, graffiti-ed concrete ‘so and so woz ere (enter year)’, they don’t do that in other countries do they?

GB Lavender Bags - back with personalised message

GB Lavender Bag - back with personalised message

Yes, personalised lavender bags are lovely fun little gifts, and being made especially for that person make it all the more unique.

I got into initial ones too, reminds me of the days when people have their initials on their luggage.

Initial T Lavender Bag

Matcha, Chocolate & I

Wow! It’s been a while.

Yes, I have been a lazy sod of late, stuffing myself with Laksa and Steak & Fries (yes, that is my new craving).

I have also of late been experimenting with Matcha (or Powdered Green Tea) a little, and the wonder of so many sweet confections you can create with it.

As the water is so hard in London, it is very difficult to make good Matcha tea, you just can’t create that great froth you get in Japan. So instead I thought I would experiment with some sweet making. In Japan, they have so many beautiful sweets available to buy made with Matcha, the strong flavour of the powdered tea works so well with sweet sugar.

First up was Matcha and White Chocolate Cookies. Using my trusted cookie recipe, I added some Matcha and a lump of White Chocolate. Not bad. Quite tasty. Think next time I would have little White Chocolate chunks rather that a lump in the middle. My intention for that was more for appearances. It looked good, but it would work so much better if you get little nibbles of chocolate as you bite into the cookie. The Matcha worked great in the cookie, fragrant and the flavour of the tea coming through the sweetness.

Matcha & White Chocolate Cookies

I like the matching of Matcha and Chocolate. While the sweeter White Chocolate was fun in the cookies, next I thought I would go for a less overtly sweet flavour. I decided that rather than making my mum her usual favourite Madeira Cake, I this time would try a Matcha and Chocolate one. So I substituted some flour for Matcha and Coco Powder. The batter looks wonderful in a rather strangely disgusting way.

Choco Matcha Marble Cake Batter

I think it’s that combination of green and brown sludge. Once cooked it  looked even better and I wanted to try it because it smelt so tasty. But I had to wait to give it to my mother and for her to offer me a slice. Of course I got to taste it, much more subtle than the cookie in terms of flavours. The Coco Powder brought out a different tone in the Matcha, more deeper and less obvious. My mother still prefers the plain Madeira Cake, but I am definitely going to make this for me again.

Choco Matcha Marble Cake

Choco Matcha Marble Cake Slice

Next I thought I can combine both ideas of the previous two, the sweetness of White Chocolate and the bitterness of Dark Coco.

So I made some Matcha Truffles. They were so yummy!!!! A White Chocolate Matcha Truffle filling wrapped in a Dark Chocolate shell. Best of both world. Sorry for the blurry image, was in a rush to put the rest of it in my mouth.

Matcha Truffle

bernie b beanie

After making the Cable beanie for a friend and realising how cool it was to have that extra beak bit that protects your face, I decided that I needed a new winter hat for myself. Because this friend had a particularly large head, rather than making the same beanie but smaller I decided to try a different pattern.

The Honeycomb stitch is a really cute pattern, so I thought I’ll give that a go using some black Rowan Cashsoft Aran. Now if I had been hand machine knitting this would have been a cinch, but hand kniting cables sometimes can take quite an annoyingly long time if it is a stitch that requires many cross overs. The Honeycomb stitch does. Time to change original plan.

I decided to graduate the pattern out giving that broken up look and it’s worked out quite well. Thinking about it if I had completed the pattern throughout it may have looked too busy, looking at this free Honeycomb Hat pattern I just thought I didn’t want to look like a tea cosy!

bernie b in her bernie b beanie

bernie b beanie - detail

Laksa!

For those of you that follow me on twitter, you may have heard me ramble about my Laksa craving since last October and it still hasn’t stopped. Maybe it’s the cold that is bringing on this craving. The rich, spicy, creamy, coconuty, warming soup noodle does have the great effect that English comfort foods offer.

I have never been to Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia so I can not tell what a real Laksa should taste like, but I will go on by what I like the taste of and what’s been written on and photographed about Laksa on the internet. Image searching is such a wonderful thing, where you can oogle at many pictures of yummy food.

Laksa at Young Cheng

First up is the Laksa at Young Cheng. Young Cheng is your typical Chinatown diner, but they have a massive menu some of it great, some not so (I have a rotating repertoire of a few dishes that I always order). This is one of my favourite Chinatown cheapo fast eats. The Laksa here is also my favourite so far.  As you can see it is not the most authentic, aubergine and green beans are not expected, but the vegetables are an enjoyable welcome. The soup base here is very good, getting it spicy enough to get your nose running and the sandy texture of minced shrimp and shallot much more tasty than others. They offer you a choice of vermicelli or egg noodles here, and at £6 for this massive bowl (free Chinese Broth too if you come at lunch) it is the best in value too. Mmmmmm yum!

Curry Laksa at Rasa Sayang

There have been many great reviews about the food at Rasa Sayang, and some of it is good, but I wasn’t impressed with their Laksa. Everything looked alright but the soup lacked depth. Not enough coconut milk, no rich sandy texture, the soup base was weak. All I could taste was the hot chilli oil. Also the food here always seems like it has been sitting around for ages and comes to you lukewarm. Saying this I still go back to try more food so there must be something bringing me back (the menu always seems enticing). Which just reminded me the last time I went, the person sitting on the next table had a Curry Laksa and it looked really good and made me jealous I had ordered something else (something about the grass being greener on the other side?).

Nonya Laksa at Kam Tong

Curry Mee at Kam Tong

Kam Tong looks like any other Chinatown Chinese Restaurant, but they have links with Kiasu in Queensway which is well known for their food from the Straits. Apart from the Main Chinese menu they also have a separate menu which is the same as the one at Kiasu. The Nonya Laksa and Curry Mee basically have the same soup base with different noodles and toppings. For people who don’t like things too spicy come here for your Laksa. I found it way too mild for my liking, and towards the end all I could taste was the coconut milk, which is quite sickly when you have too much. The Nonya Laksa was serve with vermicelli and the Curry Mee with yellow noodles. If I were to go for either of these it would have to be the Curry Mee, simply because the Crispy Pork here was excellent, not too fatty, juicy meat (sometimes it can get too dry) and the skin was REALLY crispy. Another reccomendation here would have to be the Roti Pratha, so so flaky and fluffy.

Curry Laksa at Hare & Tortoise

Hare & Totrtoise is where I first discovered Laska many many many years ago and if you go to a Hare & Tortoise you will see most people there eating Curry Laska. I do enjoy the Laksa here, they have the raw cucumber which gives a cooling balance to the spicy soup. Although the soup here is less thick than some other places it still has a good depth of flavour and in a good way making it less heavy. Over the years they have changed the quality of tofu and chicken, lets just say I prefer the older version. But I do still enjoy it very much here. Once in a while I will have the craving for this specific Laksa and go for a little walk and pop in for one (it’s the only thing I eat at Hare & Tortoise).

Laksa (version 2) at Young Cheng

I still have many more places to try (please add comments on where I can go) and some I haven’t even bothered to mention, but I’ll leave you with version 2 of Laksa at Young Cheng. If you image google Laksa there are so many variations, and even in the same restaurant they serve it slightly different each time. The above one has extra Fish Balls and Fish Slices (which I personally am not very fond of) and was less spicy than the first version. Still enjoyed it though. Really fancy some Laksa now.

Loops

Every year I have a particular pattern that I have a preference to using while making items. This year it seems the loopy pattern has become the favourite again. I am rather fond of this pattern for it’s extra loopy thickness, so the items I make feel that extra warmth.

Blue Loops

So I’ve been making baby bonnets and mittens for the many babies that are needing some woollen cuteness. Hats and helmets for adults to add some fun while making it through the cold weather.

Pink Loopy Bonnet

Pink Loopy Mitts

Cream Loopy Bonnet

The Terroirs

A new favourite place for me. Terroirs on William IV Street, a place I walk pass every day seeing it from the beginning of it being fitted, opened and filled with diners and it is only over a year later that I finally go inside. Why, because I never had the excuse to really. After all the rave reviews and some a bit more mediocre, I’m not one to rush some where, preferring to eye it up for a bit. If a place is good and stays good it’ll be around for a while. So by chance I suggest it to a friend for a post show drink. First visit only a drink a very crisp Prossecco, I really enjoyed it. Yes the company is important and so is the atmosphere you are in. The staff were friendly and helpful and the place although very busy had a comfy cosiness to it. Looking at the menu (a favourite passtime of mine) I really wanted to come back for more.

Prosecco di Conegliano, Casa Coste Piane, Veneto at Terroirs

One week later and I’m back again. Just for a drink again as I was meeting up with some girlfriends for our annual dinner at New Mayflower on Shaftesbury Avenue. This time I did have a taster of the food, going for the Tapenade with Crostini. Oh yes it was good, great Tapenade nothing too finely chopped so that you could see all the individual little bits of ingredients. The Crostini had the perfect crisp crunch to it, not soggy at all and not hard that you break you teeth trying to bite into it. I went firstly for the Boisson Rogue, a sparkling red. A lot sweeter in comparison to the Prosecco I had the week before, it was very nice and suited the mood that I was in. The Trebbiano secco on the other hand was totally weird. I haven’t mentioned yet that Terroirs specializes in Natural Wines and their suppliers are small artisan growers who work sustainably, organically or biodynamically in the vineyard and with minimal interventions in the winery. The Trebbiano secco had a cloudy sediment appearance, even more cloudy than cloudy apple juice. It tasted very rich, but sour and only had the slightest of fizz. Not sure if it was supposed to taste this way I asked the barman who confirmed to me that this was the taste. One of my friends really did not enjoy it. I didn’t dislike it, the taste intrigued me but I definitely did not love it and next time I go back (which is tomorrow) will not be ordering it.

Boisson Rouge Pet Nat, Domaine de Montrieux, Loire at Terroirs

Pig Headed

St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields London, is one of those places that I like to visit once in a while ( and more frequently check out what’s on the menu at their website ). The original Smithfield restaurant known for specialising in offal and other interesting meats is voted 14th in the top 50 restaurants in the world this year (up 2 from last year), but I much prefer Bread and Wine as it has a much more relaxed atmosphere and they do more small dishes, so I get to try out more stuff that way. I had this dish of Deep Fried Pigs’ Head with Tartare Sauce recently. Just the thought of a deep fried pig’s head really intrigued me. Well what came out was a kind of pig head cake, chopped up pigs head shaped to a cake, breaded and deep fried. A very rich dish. When you bite through the crisp breadcrumbs you reach the almost creamy mixture of pigs head, getting all the different textures of all the different parts, the gelatinous, the crunchy, the chewy. It’s a very heavy cake and if it wasn’t for the Tartare Sauce I don’t think I could take more than two bites (well I could but I’d probably wouldn’t enjoy it after the fourth). The Tartare Sauce is great, the vinegary/sharpness of the gherkins/capers helps to cut through the fattiness of the dish. A dish to be enjoyed very sparingly.

Deep Fried Pigs' Head with Tartare Sauce

And this is what it is made from!

St John Pig Head

Sackboys Fingers

Working out which fingers look the best. Three versions to compare.

Sackboys' Arms/Hands/Fingers

Version 1: Longer unstitched fingers. Verdict: Look like weird claws, not good.

Sackboy Arms/Hands/Fingers Version 1

Version 2: Shorter, stitched fingers. Verdict: Like the best, most similar to Sackboy anatomically.

Sackboy Arms/Hands/Fingers Version 2

Version 3: Longer fingers, stitched. Verdict: More distinct arm, hand and fingers, but less like Sackboy’s than version 2.

Sackboy Arms/Hands/Fingers Version 3