The hard-side of Hardware Lane

The first time I walked by Hardware Lane I felt in a film. Perhaps it was a magic mix of the alcohol and the fun of having a girl’s night out, or maybe the atmosphere. A beautiful blend of food smell and the cold air of June, accompanied by jazz music from a band playing in the street and the sound of people talking; it was a delightful scene.

With these memories I decided to ask my gorgeous Fiancé out for dinner to “The Lane”. We felt so cool talking about “The Lane” and imagining how good the food may be, we actually felt so confident that we never checked the reviews on internet (alaaaarm!). The night was promising after we parked in Lonsdale St ($8 flat rate at night). As we headed towards the street we were savouring the smell of each place. We decided to take a seat in a tapas restaurant, Pop… And that was the end of our chimera.

We order a set of four small dishes and a drink each, the staff was friendly but the food was taste-less. I don’t want to jeopardize the restaurant but I think for $105 dollars we deserved at least one nice dish. The cocktails were good though.

In order to help Mr le Chef I am going to share my recipe 4 minutes recipe of Champiñones al Ajillo or Garlic Mushrooms (4 minutes meal! Take that Jamie Oliver!).

Ingredients:

•        10 button mushroom
•       2 cloves of garlic
•         1 tablespoon of butter
•         1 teaspoon of olive oil
•         ¼ cup of white wine
•         Salt and pepper
•         Finely chopped parsley for garnish

Prep:

Add oil into a hot saucepan, melt the butter, add the garlic (crushed) stir and add the mushrooms on top seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes then add the wine, let simmer for another 2 minutes and voila! Serve with toasted bread in a nice bowl and garnish with parsley.

Not that hard Chef?!