Foodie Hotspots

As mentioned, we went to Tamarind on Friday night, which is an upscale Indian restaurant. The decor was relaxed and the service was non-pushy. Ideal for a lazy dinner in Tribeca catching up with friends we'd not seen since before Christmas.

The food was good, though not spectacular - mediocre considering how much we paid. I will say that the chicken starter was deliciously moist, and that my mutton curry tasted better the following day. Maybe the problem is that I just like a dirty* Anglicised curry.

Last night we had lemon pasta, which is a Chan staple when I can't be bothered to cook. I always find that I have less appetite for cooking when I've eaten out a lot. It makes no sense. Anyway, you should all try lemon pasta, it's refreshing, easy-to-make and hits the carb-lover's sweet spot. Cor, I fancy some now. I'm a garlic fiend so in addition to the grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, parmesan and olive oil (parsley if you're being fancy), I also chop up a clove for luck so you get a bonus garlic crunch and hit. Mix it up into an emulsion and stir into cooked spaghetti. Yum.

Today, we had brunch at the super popular Buvette. It's located in the West Village, which I think is the go-to neighbourhood for brunch. It's always so sophisticated and brunch-y round there. The East Village, where we live, is for booze, the West Village is for eggs.

I had the eggs and prosciutto, which sounds simple enough, but are delicious because they're 'steamed'. (They take the eggs and cook them using the wand of an espresso machine). The whole dish is them smothered in olive oil and grated parmesan cheese. Mmmmmmmm. And don't get me started on the blood orange juice. I could have necked a couple o' pints of the stuff. Delish.

I do love a good nosh.

NB* This isn't supposed to sound as offensive as it does. We've been to a couple of posh Indian restaurants here, as everyone keeps saying that they're the only places you can get a decent curry. They've just been sanitised and uninteresting. Satisfactory, but nothing to write home about.

In contrast, you can go to any bog standard curry house in London and there will be a deep unctuousness to the curries back home. And the fancy ones in London which are inventive combines all you'd expect in a comfort food dish with ingredients or flavour combinations that shouldn't work, but do. I am definitely currying when I go home next.