Cocktail #21. Sazerac
Source: Cafe Royal

Recipe:
1 lump of Sugar
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky

Stir and strain into another glass that has been cooled, add 1 dash Absinthe and squeeze lemon peel on top.

Cocktail #14. Cosmopolitan
Source: Vodka: Discovering, Exploring, Enjoying

Recipe:
2 shots lemon vodka
1 shot Cointreau
1 shot cranberry juice
A dash of lime juice, lime cordial, and orange bitters
Orange zest, to garnish

Shake the ingredients in a cocktail shaker three-quarters full of ice and strain into a martini glass. Heat a piece of orange zest briefly with the flame of a lighter, then squeeze out the essential oils onto the surface of the cocktail. Garnish with the zest.

Restaurant: Tokyo Diner, Newport Pl
Time: Wednesday lunchtime
With: Leo
Stand-out dish: Ton Katsu Bento
The fullest I’ve felt on this challenge so far. The bento box here is substantial – including pork katsu, rice, sashimi, tofu with green beans, sautéed carrot and gobo, fried broccoli and cauliflower, and pickles. The signs proudly claim that if you’re hungry, you can order an omari (a second portion of rice) for free. We definitely didn’t need it. The restaurant itself is fairly shabby. Its not somewhere to head for a special occasion. And on a Wednesday lunchtime it’s deathly silent. We had to keep our voices down, to ensure we didn’t offend the other diners. But all in all, very good value considering the amount of food you get.

Restaurant: Zen Mondo, Upper St
Time: Friday lunchtime
With: –
Stand-out dish: Miso soup
I was the first in the door at lunch, so the place was empty. It’s relatively small and the staff wait around the back to save space. Some of the best tableware I’ve seen this challenge. Beautiful tea set too. The sushi is very fussy and ornate. You barely notice the fish as each piece is overloaded with citrus and/or veg and/or fish eggs. But the miso tastes great and the side salad was well dressed.

Cocktail #1. Bloody Mary
Source: Difford’s Guide to Cocktails

Recipe:
2 shots Vodka
4 shots Tomato juice
1/2 shot Freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 drop Tabasco hot pepper sauce
4 dash Worcestershire sauce
2 grind Black pepper
1 pinch Celery salt

Roll all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. Garnish with a celery stick.

Nairn’s London #18
Red House, Bexleyheath

THEN: A very famous building – William Morris’s house, commissioned from the young Philip Webb as a deliberate reaction from everything implied in mid-Victorian design, a shock as big as Butterfield’s first churches. But the achievement is nowhere near All Saints, Margaret Street. Webb simply could not make his volumes real enough or forceful enough. It is clearly a beautifully thought out design, honest and sensitive, but it stays in two dimensions. Photographs or drawings can give it a solidity which does not exist in the flesh, so its final influence matched the worthy intentions, which is perhaps fair enough. Anyone who makes a visit may get more of a shock from the mean subtopian surroundings than from the building – Bexleyheath would be nobody’s first choice as the ideal London suburb. It is in Red House Lane, south of the main street.

NOW: It’s not often that you find something you dislike and like at the same time. Red House somehow manages it. And the most inexcusable thing is I’m not sure why I’m so torn. On the approach up the semi-circular driveway, the house stands stout and proud. Inside, the hallway is grand, and the staircases impressive. And there are Morris & Co patterns aplenty across wall, window and ceiling. But there’s an arrogance that hangs about the place, a pompousness that feels completely at odds with the arts and crafts movement it housed for so long. The English Gothic and medieval furnishings give it a macabre feel. And there are one too many Morris coat of arms that nudge pride into narcissism. There’s a lot to feel uneasy about.

Cocktail #10. Whiskey Sour
Source: Difford’s Guide to Cocktails

Recipe:
2 shots Bourbon whiskey
1 shot Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 shot Sugar syrup
3 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
1/2 fresh Egg white

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. Garnish with lemon slice and cherry on stick (sail).

Cocktail #12. Sidecar
Source: The Savoy Cocktail Book

Recipe:
2 shots Brandy
1 shot Lemon Juice
1  shot Cointreau

Shake well and strain into cocktail class.

Cocktail #19. White Lady
Source: The Mixellany Guide to Gin

Recipe:
2 shots gin
3/4 shot Cointreau
3/4  shot freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 shot sugar syrup
1/2 egg white

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Restaurant: Kanada-Ya, St Giles High St
Time: Wednesday lunchtime
With: –
Stand-out dish: Aburi Chashu
Very small and jam packed. The doors are locked, and they turn you away if they’re full. Clever use of space – there are mirrors on ceiling to make it feel bigger, and a semi-circular window that connects kitchen with dining. The ramen was some of the best I’ve had this year. I ordered the Tonkotsu X. But it was the seared pork belly that stole the show – it had a deep charr flavour that may well be my favourite dish of the challenge thus far.