The best Nasi Lemak in Brighton

There seems to be an unlimited supply of takeaway restaurants, new menus are dropped into our post box every day. I always write little comments on takeaway menus, its an efficient way to remember the good ones. Last week, the new kid in the box was a self claimed authentic Indonesian restaurant Warung Tujuh. Now this is very exciting as there's no other Indonesian restaurants in Brighton. Studying the menu, you'll find that they actually do a mixture of Indonesian, Malaysian and Balinese cuisine.

They don't currently do home deliveries. So we made a trip to the centrally located newly refurbished venue. The first thing we noticed is their shiny clean cutleries, "its a good sign." Dan was impressed. The drinks menu though could be improved by adding some authentic teas, coffee and fresh coconut juice(?)..etc.

The Nasi Lemak (£10.95) caught my eyes. (Its regarded as the national heritage of Malaysia so if you haven't tried it, should definitely give it a go.) The last time I had it was 2yrs ago in Sydney China town at a Malaysian restaurant that does all sorts of roti canai! The verdict? The little salted fishes and peanuts were impressive, the satay sauce was just what it should be. But the salad has been westernised, it would be better with some leafy greens. The rendang daging was a bit tough. Its a good effort overall.

The other main dish we ordered was the Ikan Bumbu Bali (£8.95). It is a Balinese pan fried Sea Bream with a red hot sauce. Personally I'm not a big fan of slapping sauces on fishes. The taste of a fresh fish is so divine no other sauces should be required to disguise it! Anyway, the verdict? The Sea Bream was really fresh and nicely cooked (not over cooked making the meat tough). The sauce tasted homely with lemon grass and ginger. The dish tasted better than it looked!

Dan's wine suggestions for this style of cuisine: A Pinot Gris or a Sylvaner from the producer Hugel. The wines from Alsace are fresh, floral and complement the spices and herbs typical of these dishes. 

The restaurant have a 20% off promotion on at the moment. No home delivery yet though.

Address: Warung Tujuh, 7 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ

Rob Ryan at the Somerset house "Pick Me Up" exhibition

Rob Ryan signed record cover and Ryantown postcard :)

A valentine's day card was the first time I came across Robert Ryan's delicate romantic work. I was hooked straight away and have been planning to visit Ryantown (opens at weekends only) for a while. So I was thrilled to learn that he'll be setting up his studio at the "Pick me up" exhibition at the Somerset house.

 

There he was signing the 200 record covers for sale at the exhibition and being interviewed. I haven't seen this print (below) before, its georgeous and so sweet. Well I love every single piece of his work, you just can't help but sigh a big "aww..." after reading the words. This one saiys "We don't fly north. We don't fly south. We stay put right here. Year in-year out! The season change faster and the months go by quicker. I'll keep watch over you and I know that you'll keep watch over me." Aww....

Best Sunday Roasts in Brighton

When I came to Brighton 5 years ago, I heard that there are 360+ pubs in the city. Being foodies, we started a regime of trying out Sunday roasts around town.
Our favourite was The Park View on Preston Drove, its a lovely building with board games and a stone throw away from Preston Park, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. The food was superb, especially when Fruli beer was available on the tap (Belgian strawberry beer). 
Another favourite used to be Fiddlers Elbow on Boyce's Street (before they changed the chef). They used to serve all the trimmings and the exotic veggies (e.g. butternut squash, beetroot, fennel...etc) inside a super-size Yorkshire pudding. Even their Veggie roast was fantastically different, I had a lovely mushroom monster there once. We've never been back so maybe next time we should revisit this one.
The Eagle on Gloucester Road was another good pub, their gravy is gorgeous plus the Nemo and Dori in the fish tank are cute!
On Easter Sunday, we went to the revamped Hampton Arms on Upper North street. They've moved the main entrance to the side instead to keep out the chills which would be great when the "summer" is over (very soon). The food was still good quality but the beef was very under cooked on that day. While usually this is preferred, they gave us big generous slices of meat so it was a bit too pink and bloody. But at least the portion was good and the veggie roast was great. So we won't write it off just yet. 

This week, after reading some reviews we picked the Shakespeare's head on Chatham place. The beef was yummy pink and when it comes with creamy cauliflower, it really can't get any better! I spotted a sign behind the bar "Virgin Mary - the best in town?", later on saw two chaps holding theirs complete with a celery stick and lemon. A revisit for the best Virgin Mary is a must I think ;-)