Christmas dinner with the folks

A very traditional christmas dinner this year as we opted for turkey over the goose we've had in recent years. Should admit now that goose is my all time favourite roasted bird but the turkey was fantastic this year, really moist breast and the stuffing filled legs topped it over. All the mandatory accompaniments were there with goose fat roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, cranberry sauce, carrots and breaded fried parsnips. Was really excellent as usual when cooked by my dad, such a shame my brother was stuck in Copenhagen after his flight cancelled and we couldn't experience his starter this year.

We stayed traditional with the pudding also and had christmas pudding with brandy butter, definitely my mums best ever and probably beat the one we had last weekend. We finished with a selection of cheese and biscuits with the Yorkshire blue getting demolished very quickly indeed.

Christmas carols and beer barrels

Palm Tree, Mile End, E3 5BH

Hidden away off Grove Road, walking up to and into the Palm Tree on a snowy winters day is like going 40 years back in time - carpets on the floor, plates and pictures of old celebrities on the walls - I even managed to spot a signed Jim Bowen one. It is a proper east end boozer and certainly has character, a little stage sits in the corner with a piano and drum kit - think Chaz & Dave. That was why we were here to drink beer and sing seasonal songs with vigour.

The evening was an annual christmas singalong for charity, the place must never get as busy and seemed to annoy the barmaid having to do so much work. The landlord was very friendly though but the beer was really not much to write home about and the ales I tried were bland and flat tasting, so much so that I even resorted to drinking Stella Artois after trying them. Unfortunately due to the Stella drinking I misplaced my notes with the beer names on!

The Palm Tree is really a pub to experience just to remind yourself was pubs used to be like, but I feel there is a reason pubs aren't like this anymore

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British food with a view of Tate Modern

Northbank, St Pauls, EC4V 3QH

Really wanted to eat some modern British food tonight and to show my foreign friends how good it can be when done right. Unfortunately couldn't get a table at Hix which I've wanted to visit for a while and seemingly every other restaurant I tried was fully booked up but I suppose its the time of year. Settled at visiting here after seeing their website and the menu sounded excellent with not too simple and not too fancy takes of British classics. The building situated by the Millennium Bridge looks across the thames to the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern - pretty impressive really.

Chicken liver and foie gras paté, fig chutney and toast

The pate was served in a ramekin with a butter seal over the meat. Extremely smooth texture and nice chicken liver taste but I couldn't really detect the foie gras at all. The fig chutney was mild and partnered the pate well.

Grilled Hogs Pudding with Apple and Caper

I didn't really get this dish... was basically a un-skinned sausage with a caper sauce and it just tasted like is was; a sausage without skin! The caper sauce neither complimented nor contrasted the hog pudding (sausage).

Pan-fried turbot with braised leeks

I wanted to try the turbot after looking at the menu online but a little disappointed that it didn't come with braised lettuce and foie gras like the online menu said, I decided to give it a go anyway, the turbot had been browned precisely but probably a touch overcooked in the middle, this didn't take away from the flavour though and having a great love of leeks already I liked the strong flavour coming through, but I think it probably was a little too strong for the turbot for most people.

Roasted pigeon with chestnut

I choose this for my friend hoping it would be a good example of the style of food, the pigeon was succulent and the roughly chopped chestnuts added depth to the overall strong flavours. What didn't work was the crushed potato is was served with - just seemed like a badly executed after thought.

Christmas pudding with custard

A quintessential British christmas dish, this had to be tried. A disc of pudding was served swimming in not too sweet custard with a dollop of cream on top. Was surprising absolutely superb and probably the best example of British christmas food my friend could have tried.

West Country Cheese Board with Fig Preserve, Celery and Crackers

Same preserve as my starter, slight annoyance as it wasn't that good any way. The brie style cheese was cold which especially for brie this is total no-no - I'd quite happily eat most English style cheeses straight from the fridge but you can't do that with brie. The cheddar was very good as was the blue (sorry can't remember what it exactly was). I personally don't see the point of celery with cheese, I love pears and apples on a cheeseboard but I'm not going to touch celery unless starvation looms.

Really lovely evening, I like the venue and the booth style seating down the side of the restaurant gives intimate atmosphere, it was only about half full though on our visit and for the Friday before christmas this surprised me, especially considering all the places I'd spoken to without any room at all earlier in the day. I would go back but I'd probably check that the menu had changed first.

Wine details to follow...

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Kosher food in the City

Bevis Marks Restaurant, City of London, Ec3A 5DQ

The only option really in the City when needing to eat kosher food, have been once before and thought overpriced even for the area and unremarkable food. But ended up here again and since I wasn't paying I was little concerned about the price, but knew to try something different than the salt beef I'd had last time. The building the restaurant sits in is attached to the attractive Bevis Marks Synagogue just tucked away from the massive buildings around here like the Gherkin and Lloyds.

Confit of Duck Leg on aubergine risotto with green beans and red wine jus

This was much better than what I ate on my last visit, the duck was tender and the risotto rice was cooked to just retain a little bite like it should, where the aubergine came into it I don't know but I liked the dish on the whole and was good for not too heavy a lunch.

Barkan Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Israel

An improvement over other Israeli wines I've tried, it was fully bodied and strong. Not a very good depth of flavour but a nice tannin balance and blackcurrent undertones. Not bad at all really.

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Snowy evening in north london

The Angel Inn, Highgate, N6 5JT

Stuck in a pub because of snowy blizzards at least makes it feel like christmas, first time I've been to Highgate and seems like a nice quiet area with a bit of character. We went to the Angel Inn which has good selection of european beers on tap but not quite as good for the real ales. Being about -1 degrees outside I didn't really fancy a chilled lager so opted to try what ales they had. First up was pint of Adnams Broadside - bought this a few times and don't know why I keep trying it as just a bog standard bitter really but this was no worse or better than I've had before. The service was pretty slow at the bar and even though not busy did take a while to get served. Had a pint of London Pride next which was good if head a little weak. Having been uninspired by the ales I thought I'd try one of the continental brews on offer and had a pint of Erdinger Weissbräu which is always a good fruity wheat beer - this tasted much better although did feel unusual to have in standard pint glass and not the vase type glasses you get in most places serving it.

Slow roasted pork belly, with glazed apples, black pudding, mashed potatoes

A real slab of pork belly, it was superbly slow cooked so melted in mouth to right degree. Also good was the creamy mash the belly was laid upon. The black pudding was cheap though and the glazed apples were just like two slices of apple that had been put under grill for 2 mins - didn't add anything to meal at all, they would have definitely worked if they were done properly.

Sirloin steak with chips and side salad

I love the way chips look when still got skin on the potatoes - I think they actually look tastier. They tasted good too, the steak was a little over medium rare for me but I think I was only person who thought that. The salad was nice and fresh but cheap olive oil didn't elevate it from just a bit of lettuce and tomato.

This pub is a nice place which I would go back to, preferably in the summer though when you'd want to drink all those chilled foreign beers and not freeze on the way home.

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Ales by work

The Walrus & Carpenter, City of London, EC3R 8BU

This pub literally on the door step of my work seems to be frequented far too often by us simply because of its proximity. Saying that they do serve a reasonable number of house and guest ales on the pumps. First of all we tried a pint of Shepherd Neame Spitfire but didn't improve over the pint we had last week in the Jamaican Wine House, after that we had a lovely pint of The Caledonian Breweries Deuchars beer, so much smoother than the previous pint this slipped down easily. But it didn't stop us from trying something different so we went for the seasonal Ryedale Winter's Tale ale - slightly dark with bit more bitterness, it was nice but we returned to the Deuchars after this. It's not a bad pub to have right outside work but gonna try move further afield more often.

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Couple in the City

Jamaica Wine House, City of London, EC3V 9DS

Quite hidden and even though both of us had been before; we went down the wrong alleyway until we recognised a couple of corners. This really is a slightly historical place having been the first coffee shop in London and mentioned in Samuel Pepys diary. Obviously vastly different now it's a strangely laid out place with high wooden partitions making separate areas but so outdated now that the place seems far too cramped and busy everywhere. The service is pretty slow but at least they're owned by Shepherds Neame Brewery so their own beers were on tap.

We had a pint of Master Brew to start off, a light bitter rather than ale, it did go down well but poor head retention and unremarkable flavour didn't mean we'd stay on this. After that we tried the supermarket favourite Spitfire, this was very much better although head still sparse. What it did have was a fantastically fresh fruit and slightly citrus flavour which balanced perfectly with the forceful hops. Its not a pub I'll rush back to at this time of evening again.

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Quick post work pint

The Ship, City of London, EC3V 0BP

Talbot Court is tucked away not far from Fenchurch Street, as you expect round here its mainly full of suits going for a couple after work or topping themselves from lunchtime. They do have a good selection of guest ales and I decided to have a pint of Tribute from the Cornish St Austell Brewery, was actually a lot better than I expected with a really creamy mouth feel and medium hopping so very easy drinking. Even my lager drinking mate tried it and regretted his poor choice from the bar, I would have definitely stayed on this if we'd stayed for another. It does get rammed here in the bar and outside later in the week but whenever I've been its been pretty painless getting served.

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Pop-up restaurant in Portobello Dock

Moveable Kitchen, Dock Kitchen, Ladbroke Grove, W10 5BU

We decided to visit this so called pop-up restaurant after we'd been to 'The Shed' where they were having a curry night. The Shed was as you'd expect a shed, but a very nice shed in a back garden close to Newington Green. The highlight was the homemade chapattis and really sociable side to sharing intimate tables.

The Moveable Kitchen is run by a couple of chefs from the River Cafe, they do mainly various food themed nights and the night we visited was a Mexican evening. The Dock Kitchen is bright and airy, kind of like an art gallery but does work as a restaurant. The seating was long benches so quite a communal thing and the people there were a real mixed bunch.

Aguachile with octopus, lime and coriander

This cold soup was fantastic, the cool lime mingled with the spicy chilli to superb effect. The small dices of octopus were like little bits of cheese, only slightly fishy with a lovely texture. It was served with black tortilla that were crispy and likely coloured by squid ink - together with the watery aguachile they both contrasted each other well.

Crab fideus with sour cream and chipotle salsa

This was a noodle based dish where the noodles were smothered in the chipotle salsa with the delicate pieces of crab meat and sour cream on top. I did really like the smokey barbecue flavour of the chipotle sauce but it totally drowned out any resemblance of the crab taste, I suppose it wasn't too much of a problem and it was nice to eat.

Slow cooked pork with anchiote and wild greens with cheese

The main course was very generous with big chunks of slow cooked pork which fell apart on your fork and melted in your mouth. The greens were a vibrant green colour contrasting with light cheese but lacked in any outstanding taste. A habanero sauce was brought round which we were warned was extremely hot... it wasn't - After everybody reservedly spooned on a tiny bit to start with they were all (me included) pouring it on trying to get real heat kick. After we'd nearly finished our pork, a plate was brought over with some soft tortillas in a cloth napkin, you were obviously supposed to put the pork and everything else in these to eat - we'd seemed to totally miss the point but the tortillas were just a bit spongy and dull anyway so didn't feel I'd missed out at all.

Clementine granita with aged tequila

Like the aguachile this sung of fresh thoughtful flavours yet was simple in design. The smooth tequila was a perfect balance to the sweet clementine and cleansed your palate with the freshness and icy coldness. With the granita finished a plate of chili chocolate truffles were handed round, I'm not a massive chocolate fan but I have never had any that compared to the delightfully richness of these, a slight background chili heat was such a bonus that I could have eaten a load of them right there.

I feel like I've moaned a bit much about the starter and main dishes but I think it was because the aguachile, granita and truffles were so exciting that the other dishes seemed half as good. At the end of the meal I spotted Thomasina Miers who won masterchef a few years ago and now owns Wahaca in Covent Garden, having been to Wahaca and loved it a few months ago I feel the Moveable Kitchen tonight didn't quite do it. All the Wahaca dishes jump out with the freshest flavours and the two dishes in the middle tonight missed the point for me, I also left really wanting more chilli bang and wonder maybe they were edging on the cautious side too much - after all mexican food should have a bite to it, but maybe that's just me - I have been known to have hot sauce for breakfast! In a way a similarity I can see between the evenings at the Shed and the moveable kitchen is the way they both cooked good food well but the food they cooked wasn't there expertise. Saying that all, it was an interesting evening and I will definitely keep an eye out for other evenings they are putting on.

After we left we decided to finish the night off in typical mexican style with a bottle of aged tequila, it was superb to drink but not so good for the head the next day!

(NOTE: Found out Thomasina Miers was actually sharing the chef duties for the evening - even more confused why not up to Wahaca standard now!)

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A Japanese curry ritual

The Japanese Canteen, City of London, EC3R 5AQ

Its become a bit of an addiction for us to visit here at least once a week usually on a Friday. Unlike when I go to most other places, whenever I visit here I always have the same thing from the donburi menu - Chicken Katsu Curry. Its just one of those things you don't seem to tire of, the breaded chicken on stodgy sticky rice with loads of curry sauce over the top, even the lotus root in the sauce tastes good and adds a needed crunchy alternative texture. For a quick lunch in a box its not the cheapest at £6 but that doesn't seem to deter anybody, the queue usually stretches outside but the food is out of the kitchen so fast you never seem to wait very long.

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A number of pubs around SE1

The Market Porter, Borough Market, SE1 9AA

A lively after work pub they have a good selection real ales. You've gotta love it when you walk into a pub and that second you spot a mate who passes you pint instantly from the bar, what simple joy. We had a pint of Harveys Sussex Best which hits the spot with its light and mildly hopped flavour when its the first pint of evening after working all day.


The Rake, Borough Market, SE1 9AG

I've visited this pub a few times now and its easy to see why people come back - the selection of beers, ales and ciders is outstanding. It really is small inside but the fact that all the draught beers and ciders have been different every time I've visited is such a novelty, a novelty which appeals to me a hell of a lot. The bar staff seem to really understand what they are selling and a dubious slightly vinegary beer was immediately replaced with no qualms. We drank BrewDog's Physics beer which really reminded me of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with it's extreme hopping and easy drinking nature - incidentally the first Sierra Nevada I had on draught was here a couple of years ago, its now one of my favourite beers and to get one in the same class brought big smiles to our faces.


The Royal Oak, Borough, SE1 4JU

What a gem of an English pub. Tucked away so much from Borough High St that its one of those pubs where everybody in there must keep going back time and time again. A Harveys owned pub the selection of their beers is hard to find elsewhere, the pint of Sussex Best put to shame the one we had earlier (even though the earlier one was great!). A pint was followed by traditional hearty pub grub, I had the Game Pie which was served with chips and masses of well cooked veg. Obviously homemade the pie had a suet crust and a good variety of different game meats. After a post meal pint of hand pulled Thatchers Heritage cider we decided to finish off with a bottle of Harveys 8.1% Christmas Ale and a cheeseboard. In the way a glass of port works with cheese, the intense treacle followed by liquorice undertones of the Christmas Ales really worked, the cheeseboard was generous with big chunks of cheddar, brie, stilton and goats cheese - more than enough for two to share. This pub really is quite special; unassuming, unpretentious with a great atmosphere it is just a proper boozer. I imagine there aren't many pubs around when a group of five nurses come in after finishing a shift and order three pints of mild and two of pale ale - seems everybody appreciated the beer here. I know this will be a pub I'll find it hard to stay away from.

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A pre gig drink in Brixton

The Rest is Noise, Brixton, SW9 8EJ

Two minutes from Brixton tube this is good pub to pop into for few drinks before heading to Brixton Academy for a gig. What makes this pub is the location but saying that the decor is really very quirky - old furniture and stuffed animals glued to the ceiling upside down, definitely made you look twice once you'd spotted them. Although it got pretty rammed from 7pm onwards the bar staff were excellent and service reasonably quick. Drinks wise nothing really jumped out, but I quite like a pint or two of red stripe before a gig, whether I'd drink it at any other time I doubt it.

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