Mayochup

After watching Ferdinand in the cinema, we hunted around Westfields in London and stumbled on Penang which serves Malaysian and Thai food. Considering this is our favourite food types, we went in.

We were asked to sit near the window to make the restaurant appear busy and immediately found a wonky chair. So that was swapped and we sat down and perused the menu.

For starters, we went for seafood dumplings and when they arrived, they looked very appealing however, they were a bit too greasy.

Seafood dumplings

For the mains, we ordered the Claypot Chicken and the Seafood Laksa. The chicken in the Claypot Chicken was a bit rubbery but it was OK on the whole. Nothing special.

Claypot chicken

The Seafood Laksa was on a whole new level. I have sampled many many Thai and Malaysian dishes and this one wins on all fronts as it was the worst Seafood Laksa I ever had the pleasure of sampling. For one, it came with a mightily generous two prawns and some random unrecognisable 'seafood' items that you had no idea what they were. To top it off, it came with a sickeningly layer of grease which looks very unappealing and tasted as such too. It was so bad that it was sent back and removed from the bill.

Seafood Laksa

The grease on top of the Seafood Laksa

It's not often we leave a restaurant hungry but on this occasion we shall eat at home.

Mrs Mayochup has never been to Borough Market before so we decided to go and see what it is all about and, on a Saturday, it is extremely busy however, you can just go slowly and you'll get to all the stalls you wish to. The market has five main sections of meat, fish, cheese, vegetables and breads and most of the cheese and bread stalls were offering free samples which we duly obliged.




After we were suitably tired, we went for linner. Linner is a term made up in the pub through a friend of mine who said we needed a name for that in-between time between lunch and dinner. After all, there is brunch.

Anyhow, I digress. We went to Camden and went to Cottons. We have been here before for the cocktails and decided to try the Jamaican food they serve there.



For starters, I had the Escovitch Crab Cakes and Mrs Mayochup went for the Salt Fish Fritters. The crab cakes came with grilled pineapple which was far too sweet and overpowering and the crab cakes didn't have enough flavour which was disappointing. The Salt Fish Fritters was just OK. Nothing special and could have done with some seasoning.




The mains, I had Banana Leaf Steamed Sea Bass Fillets and Mrs Mayochup had Whole Jerk Baby Chicken. The sea bass came wrapped in a banana leaf which was novel and it did look appealing. But that was as far as it went. I found the fish quite buttery and again, it badly needed seasoning. The jerk chicken was quite nice but could have done with more marinading.




Overall, the place is great for cocktails but for the food, I would give it a miss.

I received a suit as a gift at Christmas only to find that the trousers were too small, the jacket was perfect though. Anyhow, after exchanging the trousers, I was left with a £15 credit note with Marks and Spencer thanks to the sale.

So, armed with £15, I bought some quick meals for one as Marks & Spencer come highly rated. The first is Chicken with Red Wine Sauce.

Five minutes in the microwave later, here's the end result.

Note the lack of presentation skills from myself however it was extremely delicious. Well worth a try.