My friend, the food and travel blogger Kavey, invited me out to enjoy an evening of food, drink and quizzing at London's Roast Restaurant. Hosted by HotJoint, the "Eat Like A Brit" night was a foodie quiz and celebration of great British ingredients and classic British dishes.
Roast restaurant prides itself on buying quality British produce and serving British dishes, so its location, in a beautiful space overlooking London's Borough Market, was highly appropriate. Kavey and I arrived in the evening, after the traders had packed up. But in the day, it would have been a bustling and cheerful hive of activity. To get to Roast, you need to walk through the market to a hidden lift which takes you up to the huge, glass fronted restaurant.
HotJoint celebrates London's going out scene by organising events, pop ups and celebrating the creative in the Capital's exciting food and drink sphere. "Eat Like A Brit" is their inaugural food quiz, with other food themed quizzing in the pipeline.
Before the quizzing got under way, it was time to enjoy a glass of wine and some canapes, brought straight from the Roast kitchen...
First up were some Feta cheese and Olive skewers with cucumber and mint, with their clean, refreshing flavours.
I was about to help myself to another couple of Feta skewers when I saw the next set of canapes arrive. Do those look like scallops on the half shell?
I had to investigate, before the other hungry food bloggers nabbed them all! Look at them, couldn't you just eat the whole plate full?
The Isle of Man is famous for it's Queen Scallops, or "Manx Queenies". Sustainably fished, these are regarded as the best British scallops that money can buy. They are protected by a Designation of Origin stamp in the same way as Champagne or Melton Mowbray pies.
Our canape was a single Queenie scallop in its shell with a sliver of braised ox cheek and carrot mustard. Juicy scallop, cooked just to the point where the flesh went opaque, meaty stewed beef and the tangy mustard to bring it all together, delicious!
Entertainment was provided, with some classic rock covers given an acoustic spin. Moves Like Jagger and Californication with their funky edge went down particularly well!
Before we could dig back into the food, we had to start on the quizzing. Placed around the restaurant were various questions for us to attempt. All with one unifying theme - they were about the best of British food and produce. Our team consisted of Naomi (Ginger Gourmand), Gary (Big Spud), Kavey and I.
The question about where Queenie Scallops was easy. We had one in the bag!
Next up were harder questions.... We needed more food!
These cute little seeded flatbreads arrived, bearing delicate and thinly sliced Beef Carpaccio with beetroot and mustard seed yogurt. Beetroot is a divisive vegetable, but one that I love. So I devoured a couple of these before getting back to the quiz...
Which three towns form the Rhubarb Triangle? I told Kavey "I know that's up in Yorkshire, but after that, search me!" Thankfully, she, Gary and Naomi were much more clued up, another answer banked!
The morsel which followed must be the most original and inventive canape I have ever seen! A mini roast dinner! Rare cooked roast beef, horseradish cream and beer pickles, drizzled with gravy served up in a dinky little Yorkshire pudding! A brave and very enjoyable reinvention of the great British classic.
What leaf is Cornish Yarg wrapped in? Our next devilishly tough question. A spot of team conferring and we got the answer: Nettle.
Time to treat ourselves to pudding!
What is beeturia? It's to do with beetroot, said Kavey, and possibly urine. All the "uria" things are.
I giggled. Could it be that your wee goes purple if you eat too much beetroot? Yes! Replied Kavey to my utterly stupid thought. No way, could it really be correct? We would have to find out.
But it was time for our final treat, a hand selected Neals Yard cheese board. And yes, that grey cheese is Cornish Yarg. I have been converted into an ardent fan!
It turns out beeturia is purple beetroot scented wee wee. Oh my!
And the quiz was so far a draw. We were in for a nail biting tie break. To the nearest 50, how many species of Allium are there? The opposing team went for 50. We thought we were playing safe going for 250. Turns out it is 750. By sheer luck, we had won!
We were presented our prizes by Charles Howgego, Hotjoint's founder and our Quizmaster.
Our prize was a goodie bag including the Roast Restaurant cookbook, a gorgeous hardback tome full of classic British recipes, old and new. Something to inspire and influence cooking at home in the weeks and months to come!
The quiz was difficult but fun, the food fabulous and the wines selected for us paired well with the canapes. A great night out for foodies in a brilliant venue. I had a wonderful time. I hope Hotjoint continue running this original and fun evening out in London.
Snigdha attended as Kavey's plus one. Snigdha is grateful to HotJoint for letting her tag along. Snigdha has received no incentive, financial or otherwise for posting this review.
Roast restaurant prides itself on buying quality British produce and serving British dishes, so its location, in a beautiful space overlooking London's Borough Market, was highly appropriate. Kavey and I arrived in the evening, after the traders had packed up. But in the day, it would have been a bustling and cheerful hive of activity. To get to Roast, you need to walk through the market to a hidden lift which takes you up to the huge, glass fronted restaurant.
HotJoint celebrates London's going out scene by organising events, pop ups and celebrating the creative in the Capital's exciting food and drink sphere. "Eat Like A Brit" is their inaugural food quiz, with other food themed quizzing in the pipeline.
Before the quizzing got under way, it was time to enjoy a glass of wine and some canapes, brought straight from the Roast kitchen...
First up were some Feta cheese and Olive skewers with cucumber and mint, with their clean, refreshing flavours.
I was about to help myself to another couple of Feta skewers when I saw the next set of canapes arrive. Do those look like scallops on the half shell?
I had to investigate, before the other hungry food bloggers nabbed them all! Look at them, couldn't you just eat the whole plate full?
The Isle of Man is famous for it's Queen Scallops, or "Manx Queenies". Sustainably fished, these are regarded as the best British scallops that money can buy. They are protected by a Designation of Origin stamp in the same way as Champagne or Melton Mowbray pies.
Our canape was a single Queenie scallop in its shell with a sliver of braised ox cheek and carrot mustard. Juicy scallop, cooked just to the point where the flesh went opaque, meaty stewed beef and the tangy mustard to bring it all together, delicious!
Entertainment was provided, with some classic rock covers given an acoustic spin. Moves Like Jagger and Californication with their funky edge went down particularly well!
Before we could dig back into the food, we had to start on the quizzing. Placed around the restaurant were various questions for us to attempt. All with one unifying theme - they were about the best of British food and produce. Our team consisted of Naomi (Ginger Gourmand), Gary (Big Spud), Kavey and I.
The question about where Queenie Scallops was easy. We had one in the bag!
Next up were harder questions.... We needed more food!
These cute little seeded flatbreads arrived, bearing delicate and thinly sliced Beef Carpaccio with beetroot and mustard seed yogurt. Beetroot is a divisive vegetable, but one that I love. So I devoured a couple of these before getting back to the quiz...
Which three towns form the Rhubarb Triangle? I told Kavey "I know that's up in Yorkshire, but after that, search me!" Thankfully, she, Gary and Naomi were much more clued up, another answer banked!
The morsel which followed must be the most original and inventive canape I have ever seen! A mini roast dinner! Rare cooked roast beef, horseradish cream and beer pickles, drizzled with gravy served up in a dinky little Yorkshire pudding! A brave and very enjoyable reinvention of the great British classic.
What leaf is Cornish Yarg wrapped in? Our next devilishly tough question. A spot of team conferring and we got the answer: Nettle.
Time to treat ourselves to pudding!
I giggled. Could it be that your wee goes purple if you eat too much beetroot? Yes! Replied Kavey to my utterly stupid thought. No way, could it really be correct? We would have to find out.
But it was time for our final treat, a hand selected Neals Yard cheese board. And yes, that grey cheese is Cornish Yarg. I have been converted into an ardent fan!
It turns out beeturia is purple beetroot scented wee wee. Oh my!
And the quiz was so far a draw. We were in for a nail biting tie break. To the nearest 50, how many species of Allium are there? The opposing team went for 50. We thought we were playing safe going for 250. Turns out it is 750. By sheer luck, we had won!
We were presented our prizes by Charles Howgego, Hotjoint's founder and our Quizmaster.
Our prize was a goodie bag including the Roast Restaurant cookbook, a gorgeous hardback tome full of classic British recipes, old and new. Something to inspire and influence cooking at home in the weeks and months to come!
The quiz was difficult but fun, the food fabulous and the wines selected for us paired well with the canapes. A great night out for foodies in a brilliant venue. I had a wonderful time. I hope Hotjoint continue running this original and fun evening out in London.
Snigdha attended as Kavey's plus one. Snigdha is grateful to HotJoint for letting her tag along. Snigdha has received no incentive, financial or otherwise for posting this review.
Was a fun and tasty evening!
ReplyDeleteDear Kavey,
DeleteIt was a fantastically fun evening of japes, food, quizzing, wine and entertainment.
Thank you, once again, for letting me be your plus one!
Thank you for reading my writeup and taking the time to comment.
with love
Snigdha
I will definitely come check this place again with some other awesome friends of mine! It's one of best places for having a good time with a joyous feeling. And event space Atlanta fascinates me with its great style and vibrant atmosphere.
ReplyDelete