We sat down to eat our summer roll creations and unfortunately I wasn t very impressed, I know they

When we were invited to Spice Market to check out their menu and have a mini masterclass, I had a similar feeling las vegas hotel room discounts as when we went to Aqua , that it may be a case of style over substance. This feeling was marred with excitement and intrigue as a friend is a huge fan. The menu was created by Michelin starred Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten s and inspired by his travels around Asia and its vibrant street food. But this is a menu of fusion las vegas hotel room discounts food which, for me, always brings a feeling of slight trepidation. I like my food to either be Vietnamese, Indian, Thai etc, no messing. las vegas hotel room discounts Maybe Spice Market las vegas hotel room discounts would prove me wrong
The first thing that you see as you enter the restaurant is a wall of spices containing all the colors, flavors and fragrances of south-east Asia. And this spice rack is huge, spanning two floors, nearly 25 meters las vegas hotel room discounts long and contains all the ingredients used by the chefs at Spice Market. The restaurant is completely see-through on three sides so that this mega spice cabinet can be seen from the street. Other eclectic design touches include golden meshed sliding screens, brass lanterns, cosy booths and a beautiful birdcage spiral stairs (that made me a tad dizzy!). The lighting has been really well thought out too, the columns of light really come into their own when the sun sets. And DONT forget to look up Here you ll find 600 custom designed wok-lights and amazing cage light shades complete with retro style filament bulbs. You can see why it won Best Restaurant Design at the European Hotel Design las vegas hotel room discounts Awards 2011.  We haven t even mentioned that it s attached to one of the capital s coolest hotels,  W London If you get the chance, pop up to the W Bar Lounge for a bit of people watching! We went for a drink there once which resulted in the barman (accidentally) chucking a cocktail all over me, I didn t mind though, it meant my round was free.
Spice Market strikes a good balance between the ethnic, las vegas hotel room discounts old feel of the original Spice Market in New York's Meatpacking District (wish we d been aware of it when we visited NYC) and the new modern look of the building on Leicester las vegas hotel room discounts Square. Inside really reminded las vegas hotel room discounts us of Thailand , the smells, dark wood and flickering of lanterns Even the chairs in all their burnt orange, deep red and black/brown glory give a warm, cosy atmosphere. It s more chilled than we had anticipated, almost spa-like. After a delicious  Ginger Margarita £11 at the bar we headed upstairs to the private dining area. One of the best things las vegas hotel room discounts about this place is that all the staff smile! Really smile, like they mean it. This also reminded us of Thailand.
las vegas hotel room discounts We were met by a table of various ingredients for our mini masterclass. New Executive Chef Peter Lloyd (who began his training at the five-star Dorchester hotel) talked us through making a  Spiced Chicken Samosa £8 and of course made it look like child s play. Trying to roll a samosa in front of a chef is a pretty intimidating experience, luckily Peter was both encouraging and honest. I beamed las vegas hotel room discounts with pride when he announced las vegas hotel room discounts we may have a winner with mine and felt Ade s pain when he said his was a bit of a disaster.
The finished samosas were whisked away into the kitchen to be cooked whilst we were handed warm flannels by our smiley waitress to clean our minced chicken and egg wash-covered hands. Next up were the Lobster summer rolls  with a Sriracha emulsion and dill £15 , these I thought were far easier until it came to slicing them into portions and I realised mine were all different heights. Fail. Ade s however were perfect so his ego was lifted slightly.
Due to popular demand the full masterclass is now going monthly. You have the chance to cook some of the restaurant's signature dishes with Peter Lloyd s expert guidance. Groups of up to 10 budding cooks get the chance las vegas hotel room discounts to pick up unrivalled information and tricks of the trade and are also given simplified versions of Spice Market's recipes so they can be made at home, without losing the flavour or wow-factor. The class also includes a cocktail demonstration of a Kumquat Mojito (Ade had one and it was lush ) and the Spice Market classic, las vegas hotel room discounts Ginger Margarita £11 . Guests also get their finished dishes judged by Chef Peter just to bring out that competitive las vegas hotel room discounts streak.
We sat down to eat our summer roll creations and unfortunately I wasn t very impressed, I know they are delicate items but the flavour was far too subtle for me. Another diner agreed. Ade was just happy that his didn t fall apart when he picked them up with his chopsticks But he thought that £15 was a little steep. Thankfully nothing else that was served was bland, Black Pepper Shrimp with sun-dried pineapple £12.50 had a punchy grilled taste the shrimp tasted great with the pineapple but even better by itself hence the left over chunks of dried pineapple. A pretty iced bowl of Shaved tuna, chilli tapioca with an Asian pear coconut lime dressing £12.50 was full of flavour. Once I got over the idea of eating raw tuna (I don t like raw fish OR tuna) I really enjoyed this dish. What was also a great touch was how the waitress las vegas hotel room discounts told us how the chef recommends we eat each dish. We never saw our samosas again and somehow we d all forgotten about them, gutted as we d love to have known how they tasted. Maybe they were all so bad that they went in the bin?
A classic Thai papaya salad hadn t been messed las vegas hotel room discounts with too much and tasted las vegas hotel room discounts authentic and fiery,  Green papaya salad, spicy tamarind charred long beans, cashews £7.50. las vegas hotel room discounts Charred chilli rubbed beef skewer with a Thai basil dipping sauce £11 came complete with its own mini grill, very cute. It tasted good too, robust and meaty. One of our favourite dishes was the lovely  Roasted cod with Malaysian chilli sauce, Thai basil and celery £16.50, that jammy chilli sauce gave it a gentle kick.  The C hargrilled chicken, las vegas hotel room discounts with a kumquat las vegas hotel room discounts lemongrass las vegas hotel room discounts dressing £19 alongside Ginger fried rice £6 was a winner las vegas hotel room discounts too .
We were given a short break before desserts as there s no way any of us could manage another morsel of food. Lucky we did as we were presented with Ovaltine kulfi banana brûlée, spiced las vegas hotel room discounts milk chocolate sauce £7 , this was one of those deconstructed desserts, a brûlée is one dessert never to be messed with. It was lovely however, the chocolate reminded me of the chocolate malt tart at the Hawksmoor Spitalfields bar . An assortment of home-made sorbets (Coconut, Passion Fruit or Mango £8) and ice cream (Green Tea, Ginger or Banana-Lime £8 ) were also distributed, loved how these were served in little takeaway boxes. Last but not least were a trio of homemade cookies £6 (the soft kind), the peanut butter sea salt was the standout variety, with the ginger oatmeal coming a very close second. I expected everyone to be too full for these so I could bring them into work, but oh no all we were left with were crumbs.
To sum up, we were pretty impressed with the dishes, service and surroundings of Spice Market. The prices are pretty high so it s one for special occasions or those with larger wallets than us, saying, that the express lunch and pre-theatre options are an absolute bargain.
las vegas hotel room discounts Peter Lloyd has also launched brand new 'Bento Express' lunch and pre-theatre options. Based on Japanese lunchboxes they offers diners a varied selection of small plate dishes, in 4 different styles Classic, Garden, Healthy and Gourmet. Each served on a hand-carved acacia las vegas hotel room discounts wood tray and contains a medley of dishes from the menu, such as steamed red snapper las vegas hotel room discounts with shiitake mushrooms, ginger and tarragon, or green papaya salad with cherry tomatoes and candied tamarind. You even get a pack of three delicious home-made cookies to take away with you they re almost worth the £15 price tag alone (The Gourmet box costs £20). The 'Bento Express' menu is available Monday-Friday 12-3pm and 5-6.30pm. (Click here for more details)
Category : Award winning , bookable restaurants London , Cocktails , Cookery classes London , Fusion food , Hotels London , Michelin star chef , mixology classes , New York , Pre-theatre restaurant menus London las vegas hotel room discounts , Restaurants las vegas hotel room discounts for special occasions in London , Small plates , Uncategorized , Where to eat in Leicester Square , Where to eat in Soho
Tags : Bento express lunch Spice Market , Cooking Masterclass London , Fusion food london las vegas hotel room discounts , Jean-Georges Vongerichten , Masterclass cooking at Spice Market London , Peter Lloyd , Pre-theatre restaurant menus London , Spice Market London , Spice Market restaurant London review , W Hotel London
Recent Comments Caroline Mackinnon on Dalla Terra, 25 Slingsby Place mobile marketing web on Dingley Dell's Flying Visits a the removals site on Checkout (7th edition – March We Love Food, It s A on Tonkotsu Bar And Ramen, 63 Dea LT on Tonkotsu Bar And Ramen, 63 Dea