MiMi Mei Fair: Fabulous Chinese-Singaporean Food, Cocktails & Possibly the Plushest London Restaurant Right Now!

Name: MiMi Mei Fair

Address: 55 Curzon St, London W1J 8PG, https://mimimeifair.com/

Cost: £50 plus per person for a 3-course meal on the a la carte menu, check the menu - https://mimimeifair.com/files/MIMI-MEI-FAIR-A-LA-CARTE.pdf

About: Few new London restaurants have caused such a buzz since their recent opening than MiMi Mei Far – and of course we had to check it out.

Photo by @stevenjoycephoto

Glad to report we had an EPIC meal at MiMi Mei Fair - we loved the strong & well-made cocktails, the impeccable service and the plush and sexy décor (possibly one of the most beautiful restaurants in London right now), but it was Chinese-Singaporean Chef Peter Ho's food (of HKK and Hakkasan fame) that really stole the show for us.

Photo by @stevenjoycephoto

Inspired by Empress MiMi’s travels across Hong Kong, Singapore and the provinces of mainland China in particular Guangdong, Sichuan, Fujian and Hunan, Chef Peter Ho's menu brings to life dishes like roasted Cantonese char siu pork, Hunanese crispy fish, and Hokkien seafood noodles to name just a few, all under one gorgeous roof.

Photo by @stevenjoycephoto

What We Ate: There were many highlights - Chong Ching chilli chicken with Sichuan peppercorn and dried chilli (£14) was wonderfully crispy and aromatic with the mouth-numbing spice. 

Roasted Cantonese char siu Ibérico black pork with wildflower honey (£15) was beautifully marbled, tender and sweet, and what a treat to have Iberico pork in London.

Better still was a platter of simple steamed okra topped with their homemade XO, shallot and mushroom crumble (£11.50), this was my favourite starter.

Crispy golden langoustine with Perigord Truffle (£22) were deliciously crispy yet soft and creamy inside.

We also enjoyed MiMi’s Xiao long jewels – a selection of XLB (Shanghainese soup dumplings) filled with chicken, chilli crab, king prawn, purple yam and pork (£20). They were very flavoursome though we felt they could have been a tad more soupy and the skin more delicately thinner.

For mains, the star dishes were Hunanese crispy Atlantic seabass with a heady sauce of red chilli, coriander and lotus root £47 – this was a whole deep-fried seabass served on a Chinese platter and finished off at the table, a stunning dish.

Hokkien seafood noodles with scallop, prawn and sambal paste £17 was again delectable and a surprisingly generous portion bursting with umami flavours from the sambal.

Claypot slow-cooked leg of Welsh lamb was meltingly tender with hints of star anise and cinnamon (£32). We enjoyed this gentle yet flavoursome dish though we felt this was not the best main option to follow the full-on spicy Hunanese fried fish.

Side of Claypot black bean aubergine, chilli, garlic and spring onion (£13) much akin to a Sichuanese fish fragrant aubergine, the lusciously velvety vegetable was both tangy, savoury and spicy.

Brazed truffled trio of 3 mushrooms (shimeji, shiitake, eryngi - £17) was delicately flavoured with a strong scent of truffles, this was light yet full of flavour.

For dessert, Baiju Baba with green cardamom, and kumquat (£10) was beautifully made and soaked in the Chinese liqueur, it was an excellent ending to a fabulous meal.

What We Drank: Mimi of Mei Fair has a selection of well-made and strong cocktails, we loved ‘Chestnut Sour’ (£14) their version of an Amaretto sour flavoured with China’s symbolic Chrysanthemum flowers and chestnuts, it was nutty and bittersweet.

Also excellent was the Qi Pao (£13), named after the traditional Chinese long-necked fitted dress, this hard shaken, yuzu-infused Daiginjo sake based cocktail is made of a combination of bitters, blue tea and purple shiso leaf, it was lovely bitter and floral.

Likes: we loved the food (that Hunanese fish is the thing of dreams!), the gorgeous décor and the impeccable service.

Dislikes: the low lighting was great for the sexy ambience but it really didn’t help my images, so apologies for the grainy pics!

Verdict: MiMi Mei Fair is the perfect place to take someone you really want to impress; it is also where you go when you want to treat yourself, because we all need it sometimes. We loved the food, the service and the gorgeous location and décor. Highly recommended.

Keto Bread Rolls with Olive Oil and Paneer & Why a Low-Carb Diet Is the Best Weight Loss Approach for Me

This steak sarnie is why I think a low-carb, no-sugar diet is the best weight loss approach for me. I LOVE carbs and couldn’t possibly live without good bread or pasta, but every year, I take the plunge and try and lose those extra pounds.

Living and breathing food, my weight fluctuates massively, and with Covid, I thought I ought to do something about it. I find a low-carb, no-sugar diet is the least restrictive regimen for those who enjoy food – yes, there is plenty of good fat, butter, cheese and cream, as well as meat and fish, but there is also loads of green vegetables.

The weight does fall off on a low-carb diet, but it is far from being a perfect solution – I get incredibly irritable within a few days, and while on ketosis it feels like I am on meds – rather like being on Pro Plus, those caffeine tablets I used to take at university to cram for exams, this means I am fully awake at around 5-6am every morning. Alcohol tolerance is also greatly diminished, I get very tipsy with just a glass of wine, and if I drink any more I just fall asleep!

In the last year, I have been experimenting with Keto baking and came up with this gluten-free recipe for keto bread rolls using Paneer cheese as a base for the dough. The only odd ingredient here is the psyllium husk, but I am afraid it is necessary – I tried to substitute it with less successful results. Psyllium husk will expand in contact with water giving out volume to the dough, while also acting as a binding agent. Psyllium husk is the husk of the plantago ovada plant’s seed, it is 100% fibre so has zero net carbs. Most importantly, it works as mild laxative which is great for those on Keto who for the lack of fibre, may be a tad constipated, another less desirable side-effect of the diet. You can buy psyllium husk on Amazon.

These keto rolls are the closest I could get to something resembling proper bread – I have been baking my own sourdough bread for years, so being on low-carb is a real challenge on that front. The rolls will be at their best while fresh but will toast nicely if a day or two old. They hold their shape really well, so they work nicely for burgers and steak sarnies. Best of all, they are only 2g of net carbs per roll and take about 15 minutes to prepare.

I would be interested to hear about your experiences with a low-carb diet, so please let me know in the comments below. PLEASE NOTE - I am not trying to get anyone here to do a #keto or #lowcarb diet, I am simply describing my experiences with weight-loss and keto baking.

Keto Bread Rolls with Olive Oil and Paneer

(8.1g total net carbs – 1.35g per roll/6 rolls or 2.1g/4 rolls)

Ingredients:

• 100g Paneer (1.5g net carbs)
• 50g almond flour (3.5g net carbs)
• 1 tsp baking powder (1.3g net carbs)
• 4 tbsp psyllium husk (0 net carbs)
• 1/2 tsp salt (0 net carbs)
• 3 eggs (1.8g net carbs/0.6g per egg)
• 15ml (1 tbsp) Apple cider vinegar (0 net carbs)
• 60ml (4 tbsp) boiling water (0 net carbs)
• 15ml (1 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil (0 net carbs)
• Sea salt flakes (0 net carbs)

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the paneer, almond flour, baking powder, psyllium husk and salt until uniform but finely crumbly.
2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the apple cider vinegar, mixing well with a spatula to incorporate. Mix the boiling water and olive oil and add this to the bowl, mixing it well. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
3. Weigh the dough and divide into 4 or 6 equal sized buns, lightly flatten them so they are just about ½ inch thick. Lightly brush the top with a little water and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes. Place them in a 175C pre-heated oven (or the Aga’s lower oven) and bake them for 30 minutes. Let cool down for at least another 30 minutes before eating.

Italian Sourdough Bread and Cabbage Soup with Sage Butter

If you’ve been baking to your heart’s content through all the lockdowns, and are now wondering what to do with your leftover sourdough - I have a good suggestion for you – make it into this scrumptious Italian soup. This is a recipe adapted from the fab cookbook ‘Jamie at Home’ by Jamie Oliver. I have been making this soup since 2007 when I bought his book, but I have had to adapt it over the years, and I share my findings with you here.

This Italian soup is layered like a lasagne, with grilled slices of sourdough bread rubbed in raw garlic, cabbage and chicken stock. As it cooks, the bread plumps up just like a savoury Bread & Butter Pudding!

For me, the combination of 3 important ingredients with super high concentration of umami (glutamates) is what makes this soup so utterly special – anchovy, bacon and cheese (Cheddar/Parmesan).

Even the humble cabbage, you may be surprised to know, is a vegetable with good umami content (50mg/100g glutamates) adding its own flavour and richness to the dish. Cabbage is one of the most popular vegetables in Japanese cooking and at our home. I love it simply blackened under a very hot grill and then doused in Gomadare (a wonderfully creamy Japanese sesame dressing). Heavenly.

This is my adapted version of Jamie’s recipe:

Italian Bread and Cabbage Soup with Sage Butter

Ingredients:

• 3 litres of chicken or vegetable stock (Note A)
• 2 Savoy cabbages, outer/harder stalks removed, washed and roughly cut (Note B)
• 16-24 slices of stale sourdough bread (Note C)
• 4-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled (Note D)
• 90ml (6 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil + more for assembling the dish
• 14 slices of pancetta or good quality smoked streaky bacon, sliced
• 2x 50g tin of anchovy fillets in oil (100g in total)
• 5 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked out and very finely chopped (Note E)
• 200g mature cheddar cheese, grated (Note F)
• 150g Parmesan cheese + a little more for serving, grated
• 150g unsalted butter
• 16-24 fresh sage leaves

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. In a large pan, bring the stock to a boil, add the cabbage and cook for a few minutes until just softened. Remove the cabbage to a large bowl leaving the stock in the pan.

2. Toast all but 5-6 slices of sourdough breads on a hot griddle pan or in a toaster then rub them on one side with the garlic cloves and put aside. The untoasted slices will go on the top of the dish, so choose the best-looking ones and make sure they will cover the entire surface of your pan.

3. Next, heat a large 12cm deep oven proof casserole pan (I use a 26cm x 12cm cast iron pan) on a medium heat with the EVOO, add the pancetta or bacon and the anchovies, mix well. When the pancetta is golden brown and sizzling, add the rosemary and cooked cabbage and toss to coat the greens in all these wonderful flavours. Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture and all its juices into a large bowl.

4. You will need to have all the above ingredients grated, chopped or prepped and in separate bowls before assembling the dish. To assemble, we will do this as we would a lasagne. Cover the bottom of the pan with enough slices of toasted sourdough bread in one full layer. 

5. Spread over 1/3 of the cabbage leaf mixture, sprinkle over 1/4 of the grated cheddar and parmesan cheeses, and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Repeat this twice. Pour in all the juices remaining in the bowl and end with a layer of un-toasted bread on top, push down on the layers with your hands.

6. Pour the stock gently over the top until it just comes up to the top layer. Push down again and sprinkle over the remaining grated cheddar and parmesan cheeses. Add a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for around 30 minutes or until crispy and golden on top.

7. A couple of minutes before the soup comes out of the oven melt the butter in a small frying pan and quickly fry the sage leaves until they are just crisp and the butter is lightly golden, keep warm.

8. When the soup is ready divide it among the number of bowls needed. For presentation, I like topping each bowl of soup with a small piece of the toasted cheesy bread from the top layer, so apportion it wisely. Spoon a bit of the flavoured butter and sage leaves over the that and add another grating of parmesan. Enjoy!

Notes:

A. Fresh, good quality stock is always the best option, but I have used Knorr cubes on numerous occasions for this recipe with similarly good results.

B. Jamies uses a mixute of 2/3 Savoy and 1/3 Cavolo Nero, I do too at times but if I only have Savoy in my fridge that is what I use. Cavolo Nero is harder than Savoy cabbage so soften them separately as they will cook at different speed. As for the roughly chopping, you want pieces of cabbages as opposed to chopping it to smidgens.

C. The number of slices will depend on the size of your bread and pan – I use a cast iron pan that is 26cm in diameter and 12cm in depth which takes about 20 slices and all other ingredients perfectly. You will want a good-looking pan to serve the soup at the table to your guests, the soup looks gorgeous straight out of the oven so choose an equally lovely pan.

D. Jamie calls for 1 garlic clove in his recipe which is far from being enough, I need about 5 at least, but in the unlikely event that you have any cloves leftover, just pop them in a bag and use them later for something else.

E. To avoid having hardy leaves of rosemary in your mouth when eating, do chop them finely. You will get more flavour out of them with none of the discomfort.

F. Jamie calls for Fontina cheese, though I was only able to find it a couple of times from specialist shops in the UK. Perhaps I haven’t been looking hard enough, but I find that cheddar is a great substitute here.