Tag: Polish food

Mamuska – London Elephant and Castle

On By Bao Bao QiuIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Finally get time to blog! Well, a very short hour before I move onto my Japanese studies. >_<""
Miss Pinky wanted to go out last week and she picked the day of Master H’s (her youngest brother) birthday to go out on. ^_^
Miss Pinky passed by Elephant and Castle on a bus one day and said she saw this sign that was lit up quite brightly and messaged me to go and try Mamuska (English meaning: Step-mum… huh?!), a Polish restaurant which originally existed in Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre and I’ve never tried it…
We entered and the Christmas parties were already swinging into action. 
One of the staff members explained to us how to order in modern fashion… They basically start off like Nando’s where you pick from the menu and order your food at the till… Then once ordered, it switches to Argos where you’ve been given a ticket number and your number shows up on the TV screen where you yourself have to pick the food up. Heheheh!! 
Well, that was a good way of explaining the ordering service!!

So all four of us (including Baby B who was fast asleep in her pram) really had a good look at the menu before going up to order. It really took us a while to think about this…! 
Master H was at KFC earlier with Miss Pinky before they had to rush out the door before coming here. So Master H was eyeing the fried chicken so he asked for the Kurczak Panierowany (Eng: Breaded Chicken). I had a taste of it and it was delicious, there was a lot of chicken compacted together, and you could taste the chickeness in it. Master H was avoiding going home too early, so he ate slowly and took the rest of this home.
Kurczak Panierowany (breaded chicken)

Miss Pinky ordered the Pork Gulasz (Eng: Pork Stew). This similar to all the Eastern European gulasz’s! Even the Czech version is quite like this but the taste is obviously different. This tasted like a saltier stew than the Czech’s, and the pork was very tender. Master H said it looks and tastes like African stew.

Pork Gulasz (pork stew)

For the actual starters we ordered these Pierogi (Eng: dumplings) with pork filling. They look like Chinese dumplings! How weird! Well the pork tasted like tuna… how’s that possible?! We all liked these.

Pierogi – Pork

And I ordered the Slow Roasted Pork Belly which had mashed up buckwheat and gravy. Wow is all I can say! The buckwheat tasted like lumpy mashed potatoes. The pork belly was tender with the skin looking a bit like jelly. Aaaah it was amazing! I think I’ve had too much pork belly in these past few months… time to cut down… I recommend this if you like pork… Most of the foods on the menu are pork orientated.

Slow Roasted Pork Belly

As for drinks Miss Pinky and I went for the Polish beers. I had the Raspberry Beer whilst Miss Pinky had a normal Polish beer. Master H had a lemonade.

Rasberry Beer

Some sort of Polish beer

In total it came to around £32 or more… I can’t remember actually! But for three people, it is a reasonable price.

Happy Birthday Master H (who inconveniently had a birthday party yesterday ¬_¬).
My geeky rating: 5/5
Good points:
– Very friendly service
– Reasonable prices
– I like Polish food!! ^_^
Bad points:
– Seating was a bit tight but all was ok
Address: 16 Elephant and Castle, London, SE1 6TH
Telephone: 020 3602 1898

Website: https://mamuska.net/

Work Christmas Party no. 1 @ the Baltic Restaurant – London Blackfriars

On By Bao Bao QiuIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Refreshed from my holiday/family visit/rest for the family (not that much rest really) and now it was time to go back to work and off to the Work Christmas parties / dinners!! Yay!! Mr Stingy said to me before this all started that my social life will kill me one day… More like it will kill my bank account if I keep going out and spending. Luckily I didn’t spend much in Hong Kong otherwise I don’t think I would have been able to buy much when I came back!
I had three dinner parties one after the other when I came back to work. This is the first one (dinner party 3 was at work so I won’t be blogging about that)! When I explained to Miss Pinky I would be too busy to see her that week she was actually green-eyed and envious of all these places I was going to without her!! Hahahaha!! I also said to her she needs to find more friends to socialise with… She can find friends, she’s just being lazy with the socialising bit…
I was invited to this party before I went on holiday. It’s actually the first party I’ve been to with this team. A lot of people were invited, but only 19 of us turned up! That was ok… small dinner party is what I needed… My colleague who organised this is Polish, and she chose a poshy type of Polish restaurant – Baltic Restaurant. Well the interior was posh, but I’m not quite sure about the food…
Baltic Bar / Restaurant

I was the first to be at the table!

Nice ceiling decor

Unique roofing

I started off with a couple of drinks, a Rhubarb Punch cocktail (I got a disapproval from my colleague ¬,¬””) and an Orange and Spice shot. I had bread in between, since some of my colleagues were late!! 

Rhubarb Punch Cocktail

Orange and Spice shot

There was a small selection on the Christmas menu but we got to choose our mains and desserts. 

Christmas menu

Here’s the starters… They weren’t too bad, but I wish I wasn’t so shy about getting the food… I think the tables were too wide, so it was hard for me to grab the food. 😦

Siberian Pelmeni filled with Veal and Pork – these tasted like Chinese wanton!!!

Kamchatka salad with Crayfish, Prawns, Crab, Apple and Gherkins

Blinis with Smoked Salmon, Marinated Herrings,  Aubergine Mousse & Mushroom Caviar and Sour Cream

Chicory, Walnut and Beetroot salad with Manouri Cheese

I chose the salmon for my mains. Wrong choice!! Why did I choose the salmon?!!!! I had too much meaty stuff in Hong Kong, so I wanted fish. Unfortunately it wasn’t filling even with the sides that came separately. I think the sides should have been on the plate instead of us having to grab and split.

Grilled, lightly cured, Salmon with Sweet Pickled Cucumber Salad and Sour Cream
The sides

My colleagues chose the chicken kiev and some chose the pork… It was too filling they said! Oh, why did I choose the salmon…

I chose another cocktail called Kraken Express in between starters and mains… this was not bad. Those who like strong espresso coffee should go for it!

Kraken Express

However I chose the right dessert. This is the caramelised hazelnut parfait with pear compote. This was smooth, and made my meal filling in the end.

Caramelised Hazelnut Parfait with Pear Compote

I had a small taste of the cheesecake, and I’m happy I didn’t go for it even though I’m a cheesecake fan. The cheese they used tasted like Dairylea… hmmm… try Philadelphia, it’s better. ¬,¬”” One of my colleagues complained that wasn’t enough white chocolate… she couldn’t taste it!

Sernik – White Chocolate Cheesecake

The evening ended with this last shot of this alcoholic strawberry… brilliant stuff!

Total bill I believe came up to £400 that included the drinks which were being paid separately. Woah!! Well my colleagues are richer than me, so that’s ok (for me)!! I paid £31… The meal was £28, but I think our table was booked for 20 people originally, so we had to cough up £2 more… That’s ok with me!

My geeky rating: 4/5

Good points:
– Very modern Polish restaurant… check out the artwork, ceiling and decor
– Easy to get to, nearest Tube station is Southwark Station
– Friendly service
– Funky toilets!!
– Try out some of the cocktails 😀

Bad points:
– Food wasn’t entirely filling for me (because I had the salmon), but it is posh style… and I bet their usual menu is better than this!
– The lighting where I was sitting was too dark – I prefer a brightly lit restaurant (so I can take pictures)

Address: 74 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA
Telephone: 020 7928 1111

Website: http://www.balticrestaurant.co.uk/