Archive for the ‘General news’ Category
London Restaurant Festival Menu
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
If you read our blog regularly you might have noticed that we posted something about the London Restaurant Festival a couple of weeks ago. It’s a great idea that lasts for just two weeks.
There’s over 250 restaurants throughout London offering great value Festival Menus so if you’ve been thinking about trying out a new place for dinner anytime soon, this is your chance to pick up a bargain.
Glad to say it kicked off on Monday and that Rosa’s Soho is pleased to be a part of it – so pleased in fact that we’ve put together our own special £15 Festival Menu.
Here’s what you’ll get…
Set Dinner Menu
£15 for 2 courses with jasmine rice
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Choose any one of the following starters
Gai Satay
Grilled marinated chicken satay served with peanut sauce
Fresh Spring Rolls
Fresh vegetable summer rolls served with peanut sauce
Fried Spring Rolls
Deep-fried vegetable spring rolls served with sweet chilli sauce
Thod Mun Pla
Deep-fried curry fish cakes served with sweet chilli sauce
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And any one of the following main dishes
Gai Pad Cashew Nuts
Stir-fried chicken and cashew nuts with mixed peppers in oyster sauce
Massaman Nuar
Beef massaman curry with shallots, potatoes, cashew nuts and coconut milk
Pumpkin Gaeng Dang (V)
Aromatic pumpkin Thai red curry with coconut milk, vegetables and sweet basil leaves
Gaeng Ped
Roast duck breast in Thai red curry with peppers, pineapple, cherry tomatoes and sweet basil leaves
Chu Chi Salmon
Pan-fried salmon fillet in Thai red curry with Thai herbs
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£15 includes VAT. Service is not included and is optional.
This menu is available for tables of 6 people or less during the Festival on weekdays from 6.00pm to close of business everyday except for Friday. It’s available all day from Lunch to close on weekends. Offer ends at midnight on 18th October 2010.
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Lastly, as an extra special treat, all Festival participants will receive Green and Black’s chocolates at the end of the meal along with a chance to win a free dinner every month for a year.
If you’d like to try the menu out, please ring Rosa’s Soho (020 7494 1638) to book a table. Remember to mention Restaurant Festival Menu when you call.
You can also book via email from here.
Happy eating.
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A short story about Thai food & love in London
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
A public relations person I met recently told me that we should put a press release on our website about the history of Rosa’s. I thought it was good idea.
I wrote something yesterday but wasn’t that happy with it and decided to send it to Bjorn Turmann, an author friend of mine, for an edit. He turned my dull and listless press release in to a story.
Although he’s included some horrible lies about my wardrobe it made me laugh so I decided to post it here. I hope you enjoy it.
Rosa’s – A short story about Thai food & love in London
When Alex Moore first met Saiphin, the first words out of his mouth were, “Will you marry me?” Being the far more sensible and practical one, Saiphin proceeded to lecture Alex (who, incidentally, was wearing leather trousers) for 20 minutes on not saying things unless he meant it. Despite shaky beginnings, they set out to build a relationship, a marriage and a thriving Thai restaurant in London.
This is the story of Saiphin and Alex Moore. From Rosa’s with love.
***
Alex and Saiphin met on neutral ground in 2001. Hong Kong. Saiphin had arrived years before from her native, Thailand and Alex from several other parts of Asia via his native, England.
A union of two adventurers deserves a memorable wedding ceremony – and indeed Saiphin and Alex delivered just that. In October 2005, in the rolling hills of Northern Thailand, a Lao-style ceremony was drummed up involving globetrotting friends, family and a travelling troupe of gregarious lady boys, all eager to celebrate this exciting day. Though they are indeed now considered his “lucky trousers”, Alex chose traditional attire versus rugged black leather.
Ceremony complete, travelling transvestite minstrel show gone home, Saiphin and Alex returned to Hong Kong to continue developing a successful Thai restaurant they’d started early on in their relationship. Famous for attracting a strong mix of local and foreign clientele, this eatery had a loyal Hong Kong following. But could it grow? Alas, the stage was set for something bigger. In 2006 the couple sold their popular Hong Kong restaurant and moved to London.
It didn’t take long for the Thai food professional in the marriage to sort out a plan for her new surroundings. Seeing the activity in Brick Lane on weekends quickly showed Saiphin the way. Within a few weeks, she had her own market stall at Brick Lane up and running. Never mind the several gas stoves on the floor of their small London flat preparing food at 5am on Sundays, this business took off. So quickly in fact, that a second Brick Lane stall soon followed.
Success brought with it the same question they’d encountered in Hong Kong. Could this business grow?
Out on a casual stroll one day and the couple spotted a sign on the door of a former English “Caff” named Rosa’s. The place had been gutted but like a burst of Thai spice to her nose, Saphin smelled a delicious opportunity and gave the landlords a ring. In 2008, with the help of London interior designers Gundry & Ducker, they set to work on building a Thai restaurant at Rosa’s.
Their inspiration? Modern Thailand blended with a nice dash of local London charm. Something the couple hadn’t seen done before. Saiphin’s clarity of vision was based on decades of experience seeing Thai restaurants in numerous countries throughout the world. She knew the time was right for something different.
“I wanted to get away from the wooden veneer panelling and photos of floating markets that were often found in Thai restaurants in the UK and create something new,” said Saiphin. “We wanted an exciting atmosphere that showcased the best modern Thai food in a contemporary London setting.”
Out of respect for the old “Caff” and for the historical area in which it’s located, Saiphin and Alex decided to keep the name Rosa’s. Saiphin explains: “Although the word Rosa’s has no connection to anything Thai it made sense to keep the name as a statement about what we were trying to build – a new dining concept that marries modern Thailand to contemporary Britain: our two favourite countries in the world!”
Rosa’s Spitalfields opened its doors as a Thai restaurant in June 2008. Although things started slowly business soon picked up, boosted nicely by a review from Time Out. The power of word-of-mouth: Rosa’s was quickly feeding returnees and new customers alike, including some famous fans – Keira Knightley and Rupert Friend.
Excess demand and limited Rosa’s seating meant one thing to Saiphin and Alex: a new location – and soon. Thus, Rosa’s Soho was born in March 2010. Like its older sister, Rosa’s is known for tasty food and charming Thai-London surroundings.
Once again the question: Can it grow? Saiphin and Alex Moore are experienced international restaurateurs. Stay tuned for more Rosa’s growth news as it happens (and Alex may even showcase his leathers and lady boys at the next opening).
As they say in Thailand, “Chai yo!”
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The London Restaurant Festival
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Here at Rosa’s we love food, we love eating and we love going out. That’s why we’re very excited about next month’s eating-out extravaganza: The London Restaurant Festival.
The Festival was created last year by restaurant critic FayMaschler and was a great success. More than 450 restaurants took part along with several celebrity chefs.
Festival Event at Leadenhall Market 2009
This year’s event should be even bigger and will happen between 4th – 18th October; Rosa’s Soho will be taking part too. We’ll be offering our very own special £15 Festival Menu which we’ll announce on our Facebook Page shortly before the Festival Kicks off. So if you’re on Facebook and you want more information you should, “Fan” our Page here to receive a copy of the menu and an invitation to attend.
The idea behind the event is for the city’s restaurateurs to work together to offer food lovers the chance to explore some of the capital’s finest cooking – from its high-profile Michelin-starred restaurants to coveted neighbourhood bistros (and everything in between).
In addition to the Festival Menus on offer there will be several events taking place around the place too. Lots more information about all this is available on the Festival’s website. It’s well worth a peak.
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Rosa’s Makes friends with FindADinner.com
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
If you’re young, old or halfway in between you might like to try out this brand new concept of meeting people.
It’s called FindADinner.com and it launched this week in London. Rosa’s Soho has just signed up as one of their partner venues.
The company claims to be first anywhere to introduce, “Dinner Networking”. A concept where they host dinner parties at London restaurants with groups of people around the same age.
The founder is a chap named Paul Skipworth and he described the benefits of the concept as such, “There’s no awkward one-on-one confrontation like speed dating events and no room for false impressions like online dating sites; or if you’re new to town and just want to make some new acquaintances this looks like a great way to do it.”
We would like to wish Paul best of luck with his new venture. If you want more details about the concept, here’s a link to the FindADinner.com website.
Tags: Dinner Networking, FindADinner, London Dating, London Dinner Dating
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Cool Hunter pays us a visit
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
Time, as the old adage goes, flies. Hard for us to believe but Rosa’s Soho has now been open for just over three months.
The response so far has been great. Thank you to everyone for their support and help.
A special big thanks also to the excellent web site Cool Hunter for featuring us on their site – here’s a link to the post.
Next month Rosa’s Spitalfields will be involved in the Spitalfields Music festival.
We’re excited to be part of it and will release more details here very shortly.
Until then, stay well and eat well!
Alex & Saiphin Moore
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