This week has been a busy one.  Not only have I been stood up for 8+ hours every day for five days working a trade show, but I’ve also enjoyed the pleasure of yet more outstanding German engineering by taking a short trip to Cologne on the S-Bahn (Germany’s super-fast rail service) to visit Music Store, Europe’s largest musical instrument shop.  Five floors of instrument heaven ranging from the simplest recorder to the most complex drum synthesiser.  And a thousand guitars.  Need I say more…

Back to Monkey’s East.  This is a superb Asian restaurant with an easy cool style and staff that ooze that ‘we know we have a cool restaurant so be cool, OK…’.  On offer was crisp, fresh sashimi, sushi and various side dishes including a stupendous Thai Green Curry.  Now, bearing in mind this was a corporate hospitality evening, I was all set for some kind of ice cream based sweet to cater to the mass tastebud, so imagine my surprise when these little teardrops presented themselves…  The photo itself makes me smile.  Just look at how elegant they are.  Simple and beautiful.  The brûlée itself was presented with a light caramelisation, with a subtle hint of coconut adding some colour to a somewhat light custard, which lacked in any significant flavour other than the coconut.  A mediocre effort given the surroundings but the overall presentation helped lift this one up the rankings.  6/10.

Foot note:  Any trip to Düsseldorf is not complete without a visit to the Killepitsch Bar in the Altstädt, so I add this as encouragement…