Canal Lock in Action

There is a canal that runs quite close to our place and we love taking walks there. On this particular trip we caught one of the locks in action.

Boats sitting in the lock while the water is still raised

What I missed recording were the long boats entering the lock and the top gate being closed at the start. Then in the video clip you can see the lower gate being slightly opened > the boats sinking in the lock as the water drains > the water level in the lock reaching the same level as the water in the lower part of the canal > lower gates being fully opened > boats sailing off into the sunset.. well, not quite..

Kudos to the genius who invented the first lock over 2000 years ago!

Postscript on the Salmon

I don't want to harp on about Wing of St Mawes again, but the smoked salmon was fantastic! Lovely lingering smokey taste. Will definitely be getting some more of this stuff next time I order. And that's all I have to say about that..

Look at my Mussels! *flex*

Had given up on finding fresh seafood to cook at home. All the places that sell fish and other sea faring critters that I have come across have sold either frozen (and sometimes thawed) seafood or smelt really fishy (in a bad fish kinda way) and looked unhygienic.

So what do you do when you really want something but can't seem to source it locally? You buy it online! I am a big fan of buying things online. I don't do it often, but when I do, I am most usually very happy with the result. After perusing a few online fish shops I decided to go with Wing of St Mawes. Why? (I hear you ask..) Because:

1. They had the best selection of seafood. Though they don't stock the elusive razor clams which I have been wanting to have again ever since my first time here.

2. They had the best looking website. This is really an Adam criteria, but in this instance I think a clean, fresh and professional looking website instills more confidence as would a physical fish shop of the same description.

3. They claim to sell fish LANDED DAILY. That's already fresher than fish you could hope to buy in a shop.

4. They sell FRESH, not freshly frozen, fish and other seafood (unlike several other websites). They even sell live crab and lobster, that's how fresh it is!

Being my first purchase and all, I decide to test the waters with some mussels, it seem like middle ground between fish and crab/lobster. They were a great price too and by that I mean they were around Sydney prices - only £4.50/kg, that's about $9AUD. Having put in my order before 10am, I anxiously awaited their arrival the next morning..

They arrive mid morning in this relatively clean and non-smelly styrofoam box..

4kg of mussels and 250g of super awesome looking smoked salmon which they threw in for free as it was my first purchase. You can also see some ice packs in there to keep everything johnny coool..

And they were live! They always say you should cook with live mussels and these babies certainly were.

'Nother freebie - a teatowel

So far so good! Was very happy with the packaging and the product. I'm sure the mussels could have lasted a fair while in that box. They charge £7 delivery for orders under £100 which I find preferable to the alternatives - spending a few £ on public transport getting to and from the fish shop for "not as fresh" fish. Or there's Billings Gate, which I hear is the big fish market that's only open from 4am - 8am or something ludicrously early like that. Considering cost, time and effort, £7 for delivery is worth it don't you think?

I'm happy to report that the mussels were very tasty. Half were done in kind of Provencale style and half in a kind of Thai Green Curry. I say "kind of" as I "kind of" made up the recipe as I went along. Anyway, it doesn't matter as I didn't make them tasty, these guys would've been just as good steamed by themselves and eaten with lemon, salt and pepper.

Now I'm looking forward to trying that smoked salmon!

Wing of St Mawes

http://thecornishfishmonger.co.uk/

Moving House = Ikea

Have been on the lookout for a flat with a bit more space for a while now and am happy to tell you that the look is now over! While it came furnished with the essentials, there were a few bits and pieces we still needed to pick up which meant IKEA TIME! For the real Ikea experience you must:

1) buy some furniture

2) buy kitchen utensils / folding laundry baskets / and similar things that you didn't know you needed until you saw it at Ikea (and it was so cheap anyway so what's the big deal)

3) eat Ikea food! Yes, I'm talking about you Swedish meatballs, Hotdogs, Swedish cake-biscuit things and all of your friends.

After accomplishing 1, 2 & 3 we came home with..

The sheets, pillows, quilt and covers on the bed and the desk & chair 

and the white drawers.

Here's our open plan kitchen

and roast garlic chicken w/ stir-fried asian greens & mashed potato that I made in said kitchen and just wanted to show off.

Living area with small balcony..

firemen doing some training next door.

We'll Always Have Soseki..

Wow, it's kinda hard to start the blogging again after a break. As such I had to dig into the events archive to find something inspiring and what I found was photos of Soseki.. 

About a month ago we had dinner with Michelle and Dylan at a Japanese restaurant called Soseki, situated right next to the Gherkin. I'm talking you look out the window and it is right in your face. You know I think every single pane of glass is curved on that building? Yet there are still windows that open. That's pretty cool right? Anyhow Michelle headed off for some more traveling on the weekend and we didn't get a chance to say goodbye, so I'll just say "Soseki" instead..

"The scallop is really sweet" - Michelle

Sashimi, Tofu Soup, Egg Custard

Sushi, Radish Salad

Caramelised Pork

I'm struggling to remember what flavour sorbet this was, I think it was blood peach. I do remember that it was very good though. Truffles were also very good also, except the green tea one.. but I don't like green tea so it was probably good for green tea lovers.

All these pics were taken with the iPhone 3G which struggles in low light. Hopefully you can still make out the raised hutches in this photo which Michelle tells are are little private dining rooms! You climb a ladder to get into them and then sit on bamboo mats apparently. Cool eh?

Needless to say the food was very artistically presented. Colour and composition was amazing. Food was light and delicate (though possibly a little too light??). We all agreed that £30pp for this 10 or 12 (I can't remember) plate meal was well priced but wouldn't pay £60pp for it which is what it usually costs.

Soseki

20 Bury Street

London

EC3A 5AX

020 7821 9211