cozy winter comfort food

Living in multicultural cities, wonder | wander | women delight in finding all sorts of special cuisine from cultures all over the world. Still, we love to turn to a few comfort foods we've come to seek out when tiredness strikes and the cravings pop up.

Maomao and Jinshi buy street yakitori, from The Apothecary Diaries

Here in London there aren't many Filipino restaurants, and I especially miss Bacolod's chicken inasal. A partial consolation is Japanese yakitori - the grilled chicken skewers with a hint of sweetness help curb my cravings for the charcoal and achuete flavour of my memories.

Mama chomps into the juicy yakitori, from The Apothecary Diaries

It's snowy in New Jersey, rainy and hot in the Philippines, but here in London it's been days of freezing wind and rain. wonder | wander | women are cold and tired and fighting off windburn and stiff fingers. The solution: nice hot comfort food in a cozy corner of the city. 

After a tough morning doing some urgent errands, running around in the freezing weather of early February left me exhausted. Luckily on the way to the Tube I found Vardo in the Duke of York Square outside the Saatchi Gallery. And when skimming the menu I found something that made my heart sing a hymn to the food gods.

Bone Marrow Pizza. At home we love eating roasted bone marrow, osso buco, bulalo and the Ilonggo specialty cansi. In other words, we're a bit obsessed with bone marrow. But it never occurred to us to put our favourite fatty snack on pizza. The charred taste of the wood oven-baked crust, the melting mozzarella and the crisp fresh onions set off the smoky beef bone marrow perfectly. It remains one of the best things I've ever tried.

Another entry in the hearty winter fillers department is the crispy-juicy smashed burger of Honest Burgers, with coleslaw, chicken wings and onion rings. Their rosemary fries are also delicious, but the chicken wings with green onion sauce and deep-fried gigantic onion rings are addictive.

It may not be a bone marrow pizza, but the Pizza Express Porchetta Valentine's Day pizza is also a delightful meat feast, with a smattering of herby potatoes. They also had a special appetiser of dough hearts, with garlic-infused butter. A true comfort meal (or three!).

Char Siu Don from Kanada-Ya Ramen Bar

A comfort meal doesn't have to be a feast. A bowlful of steaming Japanese rice, grilled char siu pork belly, seaweed, pickled ginger and one delicious ramen egg will see you through a cold night. We savour our happiness with simple gratitude and look forward to feeding our hearts and bellies again.