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Fernandez & Wells – London, England

While we were in London, we really wanted lunch, and had absolutely no idea what we were wanting to eat – but knowing we had to eat! We just happen to be walking down Lexington Street, and we saw 3 cured legs at the window, and we knew this was the place where we wanted to eat! This lovely location is called Fernandez & Wells which seemed perfect!

This store front is wonderful! It’s small, warm, cozy, and the smell of freshly roasted and cured meats fills the air! When we got to the counter to see what we wanted to eat, there was a pile high of sandwiches on a selection of ciabatta buns or ‘bocadillos’ (crusty flutes) – and they get grilled after you order them.

I ordered the Grilled Chorizo Sandwich which is made of their fresh chorizo, and lined with some roasted red peppers and rocket leaves. After this sandwich was grilled, it was delicious and it was kind of spicy and super tasty!

We also ordered Rare Topside of Beef Sandwich which was a sandwich packed with roast beef and some horseradish. The roast beef was perfectly roasted and it wasn’t tough at all! It was tender and full of intense beef flavour which was very nice! I personally think they put a tad too much horseradish on the sandwich, as it cleared my sinuses and made my eyes water! I ended up scooping off some of the horseradish before finishing up my half of the sandwich.

Fernandez & Wells really keeps things simple. When we asked what there is to drink, they looked at us funny and said “wine or water”, so we opt’d for wine, as it looks like the thing to do! We don’t ever drink wine, so it was kind of funny as we had a nice buzz from it! 🙂 We ordered the Alpha Zeta Chardonnay which was quite light already. I can’t say if it was good or not as I do not know how chardonnay is suppose to taste, or the difference between any wines. But, it was crisp and light – and actually a bit refreshing!

This was one of the best sandwich lunch places we’ve had in a long time! Things are kept basic, simple and rustic and that made for a delicious place to eat! We even went at an odd time, and there wasn’t seating left. Most of their customers take away, or they’re sitting there enjoying cheese and wine or something like that! It was just nice to step out of the busy streets of London and step into their restaurant and we were able to relax and watch the world pass by. This location is truly a hidden gem for us!

Fernandez & Wells

43 Lexington St
Soho, UK
(020) 7734 1546

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Melati – London, England

While we were in London, we wanted to try some Malaysian/Indonesian Cuisine, and my brother-in-law recommended Melati on Peter Street in Soho, London. He’s got excellent taste for tasty food, and this location was no exception!

We walked into the restaurant, which looked quite big and was quickly greeted and seated. It was interesting, as one of the workers there started talking to us in Cantonese, and it was actually kind of strange he did that. Regardless, the hospitality in this restaurant was really hospitable.

This was a lighter dinner as we ate not long before this, and we were going to go for other snacks after this meal as well, so we just got enough to sample the goodies. I ordered a Lychee juice and my husband has a Sugar Cane Drink and both the drinks tasted delicious and was really refreshing – especially when used to cut some heat!

The most memorable dish for me was the Sambal Soton which was squid in Sambal sauce, which really means a chili based sauce. The squid was tender and soft but the sauce made it memorable. To my surprise, it wasn’t super spicy as the sambal sauce would make me think. It was sweet and spicy which was just what I was looking for, as we had some other dishes that was super spicy.

One of the super spicy dishes that we enjoyed was Kachang Panjan Belachan which was Malaysian long beans with dried shrimp paste, garlic and other spices. Belachan means shrimp paste, which is a common ingredient in Asian cooking – even the Chinese use and like it. It’s got a very distinctive smell and taste, which of course is an acquired taste like most other Chinese goodies! Most of the time, this isn’t this spicy, but the choice of chili’s and spices used by Melati made it the spiciest dish we enjoyed for the evening! The balance of flavours made this long bean dish really made this dish very enjoyable.

We often have a chicken dish, and for this meal, Kam Heong Ayam cooked with the chicken off the bone was what we ordered. The chicken is cooked in a mild Malaysian spiced dried shrimp sauce and this tasty dish is often enjoyed in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. With the sauce over the chicken, I ate a lot of this dish with coconut rice. It really satisfied my belly.

The last dish we ordered would be Kari Kambing, which is your traditional lamb curry with potatoes. The lamb was cut into slices and was cooked to perfection – tender and juicy without to much “lamb” taste. The potatoes soaked up the delicious curry sauce flavour, and this was a very filling dish with rice, but well worth it!

There was no room for dessert this evening, as my sister was going to make us some scones with clotted cream for dessert! 🙂

Everything about the food at Melati was so good I would highly recommend this location to anyone who’s craving a bit of flavour in their lives! Bold flavour on top of a bed of rice – you can’t go wrong! We went for both coconut rice and jasmine rice and they both taste so good with all the flavours of Malaysia and Indonesia. The concept of this restaurant was well thought out, and the quality of food will please anyone!

Melati

30-31 Peter St
London,
(020) 7437 2011