Duck & Waffle, London

If heights and views are your thing then brunch at Duck & Waffle is a great option for high rise dining in London. Based on the 40th floor of Salesforce Tower (formerly Heron Tower) it is a short stroll from Liverpool Street station, the area is quiet and calm at the weekends compared to the hustle during the office working week.

The menu is very interesting and the duck congee caught our attention from the eggs section. Congee was a common dish during our upbringing so this interpretation with grilled duck hearts, slow cooked organic egg, spring onion, ginger and hazelnuts appealed. It’s hard to make congee look pretty as it is basically rice porridge but this was one of the prettiest congees we have ever had. The texture of the rice was well judged not too hard or over mushy and the duck hearts retained its bite. With the classic flavours of spring onion and ginger it’s hard to go wrong, although the soy sauce was a touch heavy handed.

We wanted a light brunch and this continued with yellowfin tuna tartar with avocado, balsamic, radish and lashings of foie gras. Another pretty plate and the tuna was lifted by the balsamic, a very good tartar.

The light brunch plans were soon destroyed by the extremely rich foie gras crème brûlée with butter roasted lobster and toasted brioche. Passing the test of cracking the top albeit burnt, I spread the foie gras brûlée on the toasted brioche before adding lobster pieces creating a luxurious brunch item. A couple of mouthfuls of this and I struggled to eat anything else. I was surprised when I saw a lady on the table opposite having this to herself, I don’t think I could finish it!

On a previous visit I tried the wild cornish pollock meatballs with lobster cream and parmesan and enjoyed the dish so recommended it to Mrs Nom. However this time the dish was not as good as I had remembered.

A very leisurely brunch, the price of the food is quite reasonable with our dishes costing between £10-£16, and they make for good sharing dishes. Although with a few drinks the bill can soon rocket. Duck & Waffle is a very popular destination and justifiably so.

Delifonseca, Liverpool

Despite only living a mile away and driving past it most days it’s been a long while since I last dined at Delifonseca Dockside. Since it winning the readers restaurant of the year in the Good Food Guide 2014 I always had a mental note to return, we finanlly had that chance over the Christmas break.

The main dishes and desserts are chalked up on massive blackboards in the dining room. Mrs Nom chose the duck a l’orange whilst I stuck to the lunch time menu and went for the Po’ Boy sandwich. The duck come with a rich pomme boulangere and earthy roasted beetroot. The orange sauce however lacked flavour and Mrs Nom would have preferred it to be more orangey. 

The Po’ Boy is one of the signature dishes of the restaurant, a New Orleans classic. A hot baguette filled with slow roasted beef and roasted juices, with lettuce, tomato and chunky chips. For a quick lunch the Po’ Boy is ideal, the beef was moist and tender and the portion was more than adequate. The thick chips reminded of chippy chips, soft and fluffy.

We decided to share a dessert and ordered the orange, pistachio and cardamom tart. To Mrs Noms dismay it was served with cream instead of the advertised vanilla ice cream. However the warm nutty tart was a good combination of festive flavours worked well together with the runny cream.

With an ever changing blackboard of mains and desserts I really should make an effort to visit more given its my local. The adjoined deli offers quality meats amongst a host of fresh veg, condiments etc.

Trawling through our vast photo album from last year I found some breakfast shots. Although I can't remember exactly I recall it being decent.

Rosylee Tea Rooms, Manchester

I remember hearing good things about Rosylee Tearooms in the Northern Quarter but I had never looked into it until Mr Nom randomly suggested it.  I wish I knew about them earlier because it was such a relaxed place for a bite to eat on a chilled Sunday afternoon.

I started off the meal with a hot chocolate, not my usual choice of beverage but I needed warming up; it shocked Mr Nom and he went for his usual glass of wine.  We decided on the Sunday lunch menu, which was good value for money, with 2 courses for £15.95 and 3 courses for £18.95. 

For starters we had crispy goat’s cheese bonbons which were delightful balls of joy and it married well with the beetroot.  Minted lamb Ballantine was tasty with freshness coming from the strips of cucumber and the roasted tomatoes.  Like refined lamb koftas!

Mr Nom’s roast looked extremely delicious. I was envious of the perfectly cooked medium rare beef; all the trimmings were wonderful and the Yorkshire pudding looked very inviting. He kept asking me whether I wanted any to be polite but secretly he wanted it all for himself as shown by the speed he gobbled it up. 

Breaking from the norm I ordered the chicken dish from the main which I usually never do. Chicken breast with a rich mushroom sauce, buttered kale and crispy potatoes. It was so filling I had Mr Nom finish off the dish for me but it did not stop me from ordering dessert as the Zara rose crème brulee caught my eye from the beginning. 

I love rose so what a fantastic combination of them both to create a moreish dessert. The shortbread was a lovely addition to the brulee but I was so full by then to finish off a little biscuit. 

Mr Nom’s apple and rhubarb crumble was lovely and a classic dessert, it was dainty and I could smell the vanilla as he was pouring on lashings of the custard. Personally I didn’t think it needed the clotted cream on the side as the custard was more than adequate.

I would definitely return for more nibbles, cakes and cocktails. Although if you are hungry there is a slight wait between each course, but the wait is definitely worth it because each course delivered. A nice surprise for a spontaneous Sunday lunch.

Grillshack, London

Grillshack opened earlier this month on Beak Street, Soho.  When Mr Nom showed me the menu, I latched my eyes upon the buttermilk apple pancakes and was eager to visit them for breakfast. I was up early for a change which did surprise Mr Nom since I’m not particularly a morning person, and breakfast usually becomes brunch.  We were surprised how empty it was around 11am with only a couple of occupied tables.

After a warm welcome we were seated and introduced to the different ways of ordering.  The choices included ordering via the mobile app, a touchscreen ordering point or the old fashioned way at the counter.  We chose the easy way of walking up to the counter, although at busier times the other options maybe more appealing.

Deciding what we were going to have for breakfast was super easy! We had already decided on the bacon brioche roll for Mr Nom, buttermilk apple pancakes with maple syrup for me and cinnamon French toast to share.  Tea and filter coffee was offered via self-service.

The cinnamon French toast was heavenly!  I was thinking maybe it would need a little butter when they arrived but they were gorgeous as they were.  They were eggy and fluffy and light, the only thing I needed was more of them!

The bacon brioche roll seemed to go down well with Mr Nom although it was nothing special but just what is needed in the morning.  The buttermilk apple pancakes were so good, they soaked up the maple syrup and if I had to nitpick maybe they could be a little more fluffier.

I absolutely loved the breakfast and wish I could have the cinnamon French toast every week!  The normal menu has rump steak, burgers and grilled chicken among other things; all at affordable prices, our breakfast come to around a tenner which was very reasonable.

Whisk, Hong Kong

One of the delights of Hong Kong is the choice of Sunday brunch buffet offerings in the many hotels and restaurants.  When visiting buffets back home I think of the likes of Red Hot, Tops, Cosmo and the endless Chinese buffet joints, however hotel buffets are on another level if not planet, although you pay extra for the privilege. However coupled with unlimited drinks packages it ends up great value, although this depends if you eat and drink enough to make it worth it!  One brunch spot that caught our attention was Whisk based in The Mira, a 5 star hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui area. There were rumours this is where Edward Snowden hid out during his recent exodus to Hong Kong.

Having booked some half a year in advance we were allocated a table in the middle of the main dining area.  Entertainment included a live DJ playing chilled tunes in keeping with the relaxing atmosphere and a magician who went around the tables, although not ours!  To be fair we were too busy eating and trying to get our monies worth anyway!

For £60 per person this included the semi buffet brunch and an unlimited alcoholic drinks package including set cocktails, wine and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage Brut champagne.  A non-alcoholic package was also available for a lower price.  The way the semi buffet worked was that appetisers and starters were in a traditional buffet style being self-service and the middle and main courses being from a choice on the menu.  Drinks were constantly topped up by the attentive waiters.

We didn’t need a second invitation to help ourselves to appetisers and starters and I went straight for the seafood section.  Mrs Nom was in awe of all the food and the desserts in particular, taking the opportunity to take some snaps of the different food stations.  The cold seafood selection included lobster, oysters, clams, crab meat and salmon.  I was like a kid in a sweet shop and stocked up on lobster and oysters.  This would be the first of many plates of starters.  We noticed a caviar station next to the seafood and tried this next.  Not being a caviar connoisseur I’m not sure what type it was but we were living the life and lapping it up, there were blinis and condiments to go with the various types of caviar.

The middle course consisted of either a gourmet egg with parmesan foam or scrambled eggs.  We choose the gourmet egg but this turned out to be quite disappointing, probably mainly due to all of the other options on offer.  Other food stations included salad with a twist, with the watermelon medley being the highlight, along with small servings of other savoury items, from memory this included crayfish and chicken mousse type dishes.  The food stations also extended to outside in the garden where grilled tiger prawns and suckling pig was on offer.  This turned out to be the highlight with the prawns being massive and sweet, the pork was also delightful. 

By now, some 4-5 plates in we were beginning to feel the pace and ordered our main courses.  I went for the veal steak and Mrs Nom chose the pork chop.  The main courses were bland compared to what we had before.  The pork chop come with a gigantic potato wedge that was the same size and seemed out of place, in comparison my veal steak come with greens only.  With her mind set on dessert Mrs Nom left most of the main leaving me to finish the pork chop and leaving the potato.

Mrs Nom had already snapped her way through the dessert station and was excited to fill her boots.  By now about two and a half hours had flown by and we were advised that the dessert bar would only be open for half an hour longer.  Being quite full we stocked a plate each, selecting as many different types that had caught our fancy.  The various cakes, parfaits, jellies were a fitting way to end the meal.  We had probably ten glasses of champagne between us along with a couple of cocktails, with the white sangria being the standout.  There was a scenic seating area in the garden that we had noticed earlier and asked for a top up before relaxing in the sun stuffed as a pig.  If only every Sunday could be like this, caviar and champagne, I could get used to this.