EIGHT OVER EIGHT CHELSEA

I used to love Sex and the City and have watched every episode several times. Like the show, in my twenties I had three very special girlfriends, we all lived close to each other and we regularly used to meet for supper at Eight Over Eight - it was "our place". Fast forward a few years and there have been transatlantic moves, marriages, divorces, babies and so on and it has been a while since we have all got together. However 2 of us had a trip time memory lane to Eight Over Eight last night and it was great to be back. Eight Over Eight is a Pan Asian restaurant owned by restauranteur Will Ricker.

We arrived just before 7pm and the bar was already busy and as was the restaurant which created a great, warming atmosphere. Corrie and I were very pleased to see the menu had hardly changed and we knew exactly what we wanted to order….in all honesty we could probably have ordered the entire menu.

We started with one of my favourite dishes of all time - the seared tuna with miso aioli. This is utterly delicious - the tuna was tender and delectable - and I adored the miso aioli. I could have eaten this whole dish to myself!

We had mixed sashimi which I think was some of the best tuna and salmon I have had in a long time. Sashimi is not normally my favourite but this was so soft and fresh, it did literally melt in your mouth. 

I love a bit of pork belly and this was slightly different to how they used to do it - it now is served in a black vinegar rather than a sticky hoisin sauce. While it is difficult to eat - you basically have to scoff the whole lot in one go - it was so tasty and the crackling was perfectly crispy.

I really like salt and pepper squid but I have to say this is the only dish here that I didnt love love as it is slightly too spicy for me and most of the squid is very small - next time I will order the soft shell crab as an alternative.

Because you can never have enough starters, we also had some prawn and chive dumplings, like the pork, these werent the easiest to eat as they are pretty big but big is good as these taste great.

For "mains" we had Corries favourite which is the duck and watermelon salad. I am not a fan of sweet and savoury so didnt eat the watermelon but I really enjoyed the crispy duck, cashew nuts and different salad leaves and herbs. I liked the fact there was plenty of duck!

Finally for old times sake we had to have the prawn pad thai - big juicy prawns, crispy onions, noodles, spring onions, nuts, lime - mouthwatering!

What a feast - we were stuffed - no room for pudding unfortunately. By the time we had finished the restaurant and bar had gone from busy to heaving, a really fun ambiance. I will definitely not leave it so long between visits next time. It is not cheap (the bill came to £131 for two and that included just one small glass of wine) but the food was so fresh and well presented, it was worth it.

Eight Over Eight

392 Kings Road

London 

SW3 5UZ

Tel: 0207 349 9934

Email: eightovereight@rickerrestaurants.com

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Mind Over Matter

This blog has basically taught you that in order to lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks, you have to cut your calorie intake and increase your physical activity. Common sense, right? You can get this advice from others and probably already have. Later in this book, I will give you a day-by-day routine that you can follow to get the weight off as promised. But there is more to losing weight than just following directions. Something that most diet books never discuss.

Losing weight is easier than you think. It is simply mind over matter. Your desire to lose weight has to be greater than your desire to eat. Many people who are overweight go on diets to lose the weight, but do not ever grasp the bigger picture, which is why you are overweight.

If you are seeking to lose 20 pounds in three weeks, chances are that you are looking for a way to look better in your clothes which might be a bit too tight due to indulging during the holidays, a time when most of us go on what can only be described as an eating frenzy. Gaining an additional 20 pounds during this time is no big deal, but it is good to take off the weight so that you can stay in your clothes.

But many people who are overweight are where they are due to a number of different factors. Food becomes a source of solace for them. It stops being a means to survive and becomes the reason for survival. Food is fuel. It is necessary for our survival. Sure, we all like to eat a good meal and enjoy snacks, but when food becomes a central focus in your life, it is time to re-evaluate your life and why you are giving food more prominence in your life than it deserves.
I had an acquaintance at a former job who was obese and was desperate to lose weight. She tried a number of different diets and kept falling off the diet wagon. Every day she would lament over two things - the fact that she was overweight and the fact that she was single. She looked at her weight as an obstacle to her happiness. Looking back on this, she never talked about anything else.

Even when she was on a diet, she was consumed with food. I can remember her coming into the office one day with chocolate chip bread she had made the night before. She was so proud of herself for not indulging in the food and gave it to the rest of the staff in the office. I can remember thinking that she was very masochistic for doing this. After all, there was no occasion for her to make this bread. She was just obsessed with food.

She was overweight, but very attractive. She was also intelligent and a nice person. Yet she did not go out on dates with guys who asked her as she was waiting for her weight loss to transform her into a more desirable person. She had no hobbies or interests besides food and losing weight.

One of the things that people who are trying to lose weight need to understand is that nothing magical happens when you lose weight. You are still the same person. One of the biggest secrets to losing weight is to get your mind off of food and start getting consumed with living your life. Do not wait for weight loss to allow your life to begin, start living it now. You will find that the more attention you start paying to other things, such as hobbies, friends, etc., the less attention you will focus on your weight and eating.

If you get a chance, rent the movie “Fatso” starring Dom Deluise. This charming movie illustrates my point perfectly about mind over matter. The central character, played by Deluise, is an obese bachelor who lives to eat. Concerned after the death of a cousin of a sudden heart attack, who was also overweight and the same age as him, he goes to a diet doctor and embarks on a diet. This makes him want food all the more. The movie focuses on him struggling to lose weight and losing the battle as he cannot overcome his food addiction. He meets a woman who likes him for who he is and starts enjoying his life with her, resigned to the fact that he is fat, but happy.

But a funny thing happens. He finds that he is losing weight without even knowing it. He stops focusing on food and starts focusing on life as he wants it to be and winds up losing weight. I wish my former work acquaintance would have taken a cue from this movie.

The bottom line is that if you want to lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks, practice the diet and exercise tips in this book, but do not become consumed with food or weight loss. Do not wait until you have lost weight to begin living your life, start doing it right away. You will find that the less you focus on food and the more you focus on other aspects of your life, the easier it is to lose weight.

Tomorrow we will look at: Falling Off The Diet Wagon

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