Yesterday I had the best afternoon. I caught up with my favourite boys, Paul and Heath, who are just back from their honeymoon. They live in London Bridge so we decided to go to Brindisa for something to eat. I love Brindisa but its been ages since I eaten there so this was a wonderful treat.
We kicked the day off with a bottle of prosecco then caught up with all our news whilst a glorious array of beautiful tapas appeared before us….
Pan de Coca – with tomato, a traditional Catalan flatbread. Wonderfully fresh and with the bold flavours of garlic, basil and oil, this was delicious. Especially when dipped into the oil of the next dish…
Gambas al Ajillo – garlic chilli prawns. Smokey, garlicky, sweet and juicy, this was fabulous. The oil was amazing. I could have happily had the oil on its own.
Classic tortilla – tortilla can often be bland but this was lovely and full of flavour. The onions were sweet, the texture was soft and light.
Deep fried Monte Enebro – handmade goats cheese with orange blossom honey and crispy beetroot. In a word…glorious. The tanginess of the soft, smooth, warm, goats cheese is offset with the sweet runny honey. It really is the most beautiful bite of food. And the crispy beetroot adds a nice bit of texture, although I don’t think its necessarily needed. We ordered another potion of the tomato on bread so that we could spread the cheese and honey on it. Divine.
Croquetas de jamón – cured Iberian ham croquettes. Yet again, another delight. Crispy on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. The ham was lovely and salty and worked beautifully with the cheesy béchamel.
Sautéed wild mushrooms on toast with manchego cheese and truffle oil. This was the dish Paul and I were most looking forward to. So much so, we ordered two portions of it. When it arrived, we were so excited. And within an instant of trying it, we were both thoroughly disappointed. It was quite funny watching each other. We were in such a rush to try it once it landed on our table but as soon as we tasted it, we could see that each others expression just fell. Heath didn’t like it either. Oddly, for so many flavours, the mushrooms, shallots, cheese…it had no flavour. It was completely tasteless. I really don’t know what went wrong because it should have worked. What a shame.
To ease our disappointment, we ordered another bottle of prosecco and decided to go to the gelateria round the corner once we’d finished.
After a good catch up, we headed to Gelateria 3Bis on Park Street for some gelato. I ordered a cone with two scoops – pannacotta and amarena cherry.
Wow! Incredible. So creamy, so rich, so smooth…it was absolutely divine. I will definitely be going back here to try out more of the flavours. I tried some of Paul’s pistachio and it was the best pistachio I’ve ever tried. Heath had the chocolate chip which was wonderful too. Please go here if you’re in London. Its amazing.
To round off our day, we wondered around Borough Market trying bread, brownies, tapenade, pesto, pate… Then went back to Paul and Heath’s and opened up a bottle of Pinot Noir. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday. Wonderful friends, great food, fab wine, and Borough Market.
2 Comments
Love this post with all the pics! I’m lucky enough to live in this area too – tend to visit the gelataria you mentioned far too often! 🙂
It all looks just as good as it does here in Spain! BTW, I’m letting you know that I nominated you for the “Sunshine Award” today. 🙂