Jin Kichi
73 Heath Street
NW3 6UG
Tel: 020 7794 6158
http://www.jinkichi.com

Date of Last Visit: 4 October 2008

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £25

The Background: I spent most of Saturday morning working on my sorely neglected blog. I got sucked into a big black hole. Hours, we're talking. Hours. And what do I have to show for it? Now you can see links to Delicious and Digg after each of my posts. (You may have noticed some other changes too a week or two ago…Inspired by fellow London food blogger Silverbrow, I signed up for Typepad's Blog Services.)

So I needed to get out of the house. And more than anything, this London restaurant blogger needed a manicure. Typing and surfing. I tell ya.

I also, not surprisingly, needed lunch. So I headed north. And ran into Bryan and Stacey and friends on the way. They were heading to Borough and although sorely tempted, I had places to go, people to meet! Nails to get done.

The Entrance: I head up to Hampstead for lunch at Jin Kichi, a Japanese restaurant that I had read about previously on various Web sites. And conveniently, it's located right across the street from California Nails.

Happy, very happy, shouts greet me as I enter and I wish I hadn't totally blanked out on all the Japanese I picked up in Tokyo. I am given a seat at the sushi bar, which isn't really a sushi bar. It's a yakitori bar. Behind the counter, a gentleman is grilling what I can only guess are livers. On a real grill. Cool.

I skip the yakitori, which might be a mistake. But I just want some spinach. And some tempura. And a spicy tuna roll. So I have all that, watching the yakitori show the whole time. Service is sweet and apologetic. At one point, they tell me that the chef is very very busy and it will be about 10 minutes for my spicy tuna roll. This is the first time a member of waitstaff has every proactively notified me that they're running a bit behind. Normally when this happens, they try to avoid eye contact.

The Verdict: I liked it here. I thought my food was average. Nothing super exciting. But I still liked it.

P.S. Don't forget…blog about Your Perfect Day in London by the end of October. I'll summarize all the blog posts for all to publish on their blogs as a traffic-building exercise…

The post Jin Kichi first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Friday, August 15th

The Victim: Jen

The Damage: I forget. Jen paid! Not much though.

The Background: Jen’s whirlwind tour of London continues. After catching the changing of the guard, I take us to Hampstead to do what any self-respecting gals from the Tri-State Area would do…get our nails done. Only thing is, Jen’s not biting. So I go off to get my nails done, and Jen wanders the streets of Hampstead.

After I’m all dry, we head up and over to the Holly Bush. You’ve got to give them credit…the approach is fantastic. Up a long but pretty flight of stairs and down a narrow side street, there it is. We grab a table by the window.

The Food: Chicken salad for her. Steak and ale pie for me. In hindsight, I should have ordered the salad…it was really pretty and fresh looking. And given that the sun shone the entire time Jen was in London, it made for a nice sunny-afternoon meal. My pie, on the other hand, was better suited to these last few days where the threat of rain seems omnipresent. It was still pretty good though. Here it is…

The Service: It was only bar service, but she seemed to be having a bad day. A bit surly, that one.

The Verdict: I think this is a good place to go if you have visitors in town and want to take them somewhere atmospheric. The walk up from the High Street alone will impress!

The post Holly Bush first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, March 29

The Victim: Me, Myself, and I

The Damage: Less than £3?

The Background: Julie and I have plans for lunch and manicures and pedicures. Unfortunately, the previous evening, we'd been out at The Washington. Let's just say that a few people I know had trouble getting up the next morning. Lunch plans foiled! So I'm in Hampstead, starving. But then I see Gail's. And I have a good feeling.

The Food: I order a brioche with goat cheese and peppers. It's fantastic. Also, the staff is GREAT. Super friendly and on-the-ball. There are a few tables…not many. It seems to cater mostly to people like me…in and out. This is a good place. Hampstead is a good place. After my manicure, I spend the rest of the afternoon looking at property in Hampstead on Globrix, my new favorite property Web site. And I feel very poor.

The Verdict: I'll be back.

The post Bakery: Gail’s first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Magdala
2A South Hill Park
NW3 2SB
Tel: 020 7435 2503

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, 10 February 2008

The Victims: Gerry, Ben, Christiaan, Cat

The Damage: £20ish? I still owe Ben money.

The Story: Why, when I'm not drinking beer these days, I choose to spend all my time in pubs, I cannot tell you. Why I'm also finding myself playing a lot of games (game games, not mind games), I also cannot tell you. Logic problems. Scrabulous on Facebook. Prolific (formerly Bogglific) on Facebook. Phase 10. (My new favorite game.) Hmmm.

I do like games. And games in a pub are even better. And games in a pub on one of the most beautiful Sundays in a while…now that's just a great way to while away an afternoon. Put me on an eerie winning streak, and well…

So we are at Magdala in Belsize Park and the sun is so bright and streaming through the windows that my large, "beautiful people" sunglasses are being passed around the table to protect us from the glare.

The Food: No one if hungry but me (of course) so I order the parsnip soup. Gerry follows suit. It's supposed to come with ciabatta, but it doesn't. (See, you can see ciabatta clearly listed on the menu! So I was not imagining things.) But the standard bread basket is really nice…tomato bread? So we survive.

I also order a pasta dish–pesto and spinach and tomatoes and there's a mention of Stinking Bishop but I ignore that, unwisely so as it turns out. The pasta is served over a big fist-sized wedge of stinking bishop. And this is just so much more stinking bishop than I was prepared to eat. The overall taste of the dish is one of flatness. And I find myself reaching for the salt. But who puts salt on pasta? Hmmm.

The Loos: Possess a Dyson Air Blade!

The Verdict: I liked the service. I liked the sunniness of it all. I did not overly enjoy my food, but I'm sure many people would be perfectly happy.

Coming Soon…Tokyo Diner, Oops, Abeno Too, Yauatcha macaroons

The post Gastro: Magdala first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Saturday January 12, 2008

The Victims: Joanne, Sean

The Damage: £10 each?

The Background: Joanne and I have known each other since Kindergarten back on Strong Island, but she moved back to England at some point during high school. I believe I've officially seen her three times since then: once at our friend Louise's wedding (also back on The Island), once at The Providores when I first moved to London, and this last time up in Hampstead. Far too infrequently!

Meeting up with someone you've known since the age of five is quite a nice way to pass the afternoon. Particularly when one of your former classmates–the one who was never very nice to you–has become a stripper!!! Yes, it all comes full circle eventually. (Just to clarify in case that stripper bit was confusing…Joanne isn't the stripper.)

We enjoyed huge slices of apple pie with a generous serving of ice cream, washed down by huge cups of tea. It wasn't gourmet, it wasn't fancy, it wasn't the best of anything I've ever had. But that wasn't really the point. So there you go.

The Verdict: I'd go back for the company, the lighting, and the atmosphere. 

Photo originally uploaded on Flickr by Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth

The post Coffee: Coffee Cup first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Victims: Sarah, Arielle

The Damage: About £20

The Background: I’m trying to lend Sarah my technical skills. Let me be honest…I’m basically trying to convince her to sign up for Typepad. Or WordPress.

Maybe I should go into sales.

We meet for lunch with Arielle (our secretary, and a very discreet one at that) to discuss the pros and cons.

To be honest, I like Typepad. But sometimes I see all those Wordpress templates and plug-ins (particularly the music ones) and I get a little jealous. And I wonder what my life would be like had I not chosen Typepad. But I’ve made my bed, so now I lie in it, plug-ins be damned.

The Entrance: I am the first one there at 12 noon on a Sunday and the staff is very happy to see me. I pick a table in the front room and get myself situated. Sarah and Arielle arrive shortly thereafter and we quickly place our orders.

The Mains: I order the parpadelle with a bufala ragu. It’s amazing. It’s simple. It’s hot. It’s delicious. If I lived nearby, I would eat here all the time. This was one of those restaurant choices that had been made at the last possible moment, and the food so surprised and delighted me that I couldn’t stop telling our server (who was very charming) how fantastic everything was. 

The Dessert: Ice cream. Perfect.

Service: I do so like my servers charming, flirtatious, and Italian.

The Verdict: I would love to go back here. Only gripe–I thought it was a bit pricey. I think if they brought prices down £2 to £3 per entree, they’d be packing them in.

The post Italian: Fratelli la Bufala first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Friday, June 15th

The Victim: Sarah and a very well-behaved Arielle

The Damage: £16.50 for two, with wine!

The Background: The first time I ever went to Hampstead, I got a little lost, and everyone I stopped for directions was American. I thought this quite funny, although three years ago, I probably would never have phrased a sentence that way. (It would be more like, "Oh. My. God. It was like SOO TOTALLY funny!)

It’s hard to believe it’s been two and a half years, two flats, two passports, and one work permit renewal since I’ve been up in Hampstead, so I am excited to return for lunch with Sarah. (And as I write this a few days later on a lovely Sunday morning with Otis Redding playing on my iTunes, I am actually trying to rally myself to head up to my friend Mark’s place in Hampstead for a barbecue. No Hampstead visits in ages, and then two visits in three days!)

Well, Sarah and Arielle and I wander down Heath Street to check out the local Hampstead gastropub, The Horseshoe, and I instantly fall in love.

The Love: For £7, we get a lovely ceasar salad, a seat at the window overlooking a lovely little courtyard, and a lovely glass of white wine. Our service is perfect and the company is just what I needed.

The End: It’s very clean and neat and tidy and relaxing on a late Friday afternoon. I feel well-rested. I’ll be back.

The post London Gastropub: The Horseshoe first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Friday, June 9th

The VIctims: Too many to mention

The Damage: 10 quid a head

Echo’s husband has just moved to the UK from China, so we wanted to get together and do a little something social for them. Jimmy suggested GBK, mostly because it was conveniently located to his flat and it had a big outdoor seating area. But also because the food is good and not-so-pricey.

Well, there were 11 of us, so that meant the outside seating wasn’t going to happen. They showed us to a table in the way back of the restaurant. Two tables, actually, because there were too many of us to seat togetether.

The hostess was very friendly about this, but the waiter was kinda a jerk. We couldn’t sit here, we couldn’t sit there, we were in his way, we couldn’t have an extra chair, etc. Someone obviously felt that their job was too important. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to worker in a burger restaurant. No, really, I don’t.

Anyhow, we had some Budvars and felt better. Then we ordered our burgers. Mine was just a cheese burger and it was really pretty good. I think I prefer my bun a lot more toasty, but honestly, it was good. And the fries were nice as well. But fries are kinda hard to ruin unless you undercook them. (Which does happen frequently, but not here.)

Everyone seemed really happy with their food, and the bill was pretty reasonable.

The Verdict: Not a destination, but if I were in Belsize Park, I’d go again.

The post A Good Burger: Gourmet Burger Kitchen first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, April 30th

The Victim: Myself. And Julie.

The Damage: Julie paid!

It was my birthday. Yes. My day. Suffice it to say, I spent most of my day celebrating someone else’s day, which is so not so fun when it’s YOUR day and no one remembers that. So I was anxious. And in need of a little celebrating.

Julie suggested a couple of places in her neighborhood, so after jump-starting the world’s lowest mileage 3-year-old Audi convertible, we eventually met up at 8 on Haverstock Hill.

Our first choice, The Hill, was packed. So we headed to The Steele instead.

I have just two words: Mixed crowd.

Loved it. The young, the old, the dirty, the clean. They were all there. And so were we.

I have a new theory about bars with Thai restaurants. They’re associated with the Thai mafia. I betcha that there’s a guy out there selling Thai cooks all over London. The bar gets food, the dude gets 60% of the profit. A good deal.

I ordered my standard: Pad Se Eu. LOVED IT. It was honestly very delicious. My expectations were so, so low. But it was very, very oh so very good. Despite my ban on carbs, I ate it all. Every last bit.

I hate bars that tell me to be wary of my personal belongings. So that’s a big minus about The Steele. But we were tucked in a corner and no one stole anything, so we were fine.

The Verdict: Supposedly, Sadie Frost hangs out here. I wouldn’t bring my parents here, but given their lovely outdoor garden and delicious Thai cuisine, I can see some field trips in my future.

The post A Steal: The Steele first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, July 9, 2005

The Victims: Julie, Rutton

I had just had a facial at Elemis (it’s not just a spa, it’s a way of life). I was relaxed, but preturbed. Flo, my therapist, told me that I needed to work on my "elimination" Luckily, I escaped by just purchasing 55 GBP worth of product. I am such a sucker!!!

After my facial (which I so seriously feel that I slept through), I called Julie and suggested I buy her a glass of wine. I hopped on the Northern Line from Tottenham Court and off I went.

We met up at The Washington which I’ve drank at, but never eaten at. I hadn’t eaten all day, so I went straight for the burger and chips. And it was a sunny saturday, so I also opted for the Rose! Can you believe it? (People from my country don’t drink pink wine. Unless it’s sold in a box.) I had a choice of breads for my burger, which I thought was a nice touch. I selected the ciabatta, which I can never spell. Julie ordered a little plate of feta, bread, and olives.

The food arrived and my burger was yummy. Perfectly cooked. The chips were good too, but I’d guess they don’t religiously clean their fryers. (Hey, who does?) The little plate was perfect, and in hindsight (yes, always 20/20), we should have ordered multiple plates of this because it was just so perfect.

Throughout our meal, we were accompanied by the little dog, who had come into The Wash right ahead of me. He was very comfortable there, so he must be a regular.

Also, I should very much note that I found their wines by the glass to be extremely affordable! Always nice.

The Verdict: Not a destination, by any means. Just a nice place down the street that serves up good stuff in a very relaxed environment.

The post Lazy Saturday: The Washington first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

The Victims: Chris, Evelien, Connie, Shin, Michael, Two of Connie’s Friends

Date of Last Visit: Sometime in December

Connie recommended this Dim Sum place up in Hampstead. I had never been to Hampstead, and was eager to expand my geographical horizons. Funnily enough, my friend Shin was in town and wanted to meet up, so this was a perfect idea. Now, the problem is that every Web site out there says this place is on Heath Street. No. 68. We did not find it there. We instead found it on Hampstead High Street after asking everyone we saw if they knew of a dim sum place around. (Everyone we saw was, conicidentally, from my country). It’s somewhat across from Barclay’s, and it’s past the crepe cart if you’re walking away from Heath Street.

Anyhow, we get there for our 2 pm booking. Me and Shin. No one else shows until 2:45, leaving Shin and I feeling odd. Has everyone forgotten? Where is everyone? Reservations are important!!! The wait staff is kind, but desperate. They want us to eat!

Finally–we have a quorum so we say, "Commence," and the commencement commences. For 12.95 each, the dim sum just keeps coming. Yummy, yummy, yummy. You have no choice–there is no cart. It just arrives. Included in your 12.95 is some delicious noodles (a very large bowl) and some of that Chinese seafood porridge that I can’t get enough of. We were delighted. The only people who weren’t delighted were probably Connie’s friends, who arrived in the middle of our debauchery and missed a lot of the party. They wanted to order just a few pieces for themselves, but with the rest of us ordering the fiesta, the waitstaff wasn’t up for that. They knew the score.

Anyhow, my verdict is GO and delight yourselves in never-ending deliciously delicious dimmity-dim-sum.

The post “Not So Dim” Sum: China Dream first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.