Another Brick In...

The Wall, City of London, EC2N 1HU

A large group of us decided to head here for a friend's celebratory birthday lunch as it didn't appear as bad as other options we had and we could use somebodies Taste London card to get half price food which brought the food closer to price it probably should have been to start. I actually liked the semi-smart decor and I thought the place had nice relaxed vibe but this could be down to it not seeming as busy as most of the pubs would be round here. Service was laid back and the beer selection was very poor so just had pint of Staropramen which I used to really rate but feel it's been out done by much better Czech style lagers in the last couple of years.

Char-Grilled Chicken Breast Burger in a foccacia bun with cos lettuce, red onion, mayonnaise and chunky chips

I went of this simply because I fancied some chicken for a change, when the dishes came I'd wished I'd gone for the fish and chips which was server wrapped in newspaper or the lamb burger which was served with Tzatziki. The chips were just mr McCain's best oven variety, standard uninspiring pub grub, probably won't go back here any time soon.


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The Elk in the Woods

The Elk in the Woods, Angel, London, N1 8EA

Excellently decorated in minimal style with aged wood everywhere, as the rain had finally stopped we decided to sit outside for a drink and quick snack on the quiet passage way. We ordered a couple of one of my current favourite lagers Sagres, a really crisp lager without too much tacky fizz ruining it.

Broad bean and Feta Mash with pitta, Grilled Haloumi with Lemon

The broad bean and feta mash was roughly mashed together and had a superb olive oil after taste, with the warm pitta breads this vanished in no time at all. Grilled haloumi is such a treat and always a winner with me and very hard to get wrong.

I'd come back here to eat properly as the food we tried and saw over people's shoulders was very good simply done fare and the wine list seemed to have some affordable quality wines especially Spanish ones.

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Steak Hache

Hache, Camden Town, London, NW1 7HJ

Popped in here for quick bite wanting something reasonable quick before going to gig up the road, steak hache will always remind me of camping holidays in northern France as a kid and I looked forward to trying the version here. Was quite nice that the waitresses that night all seemed to be French or at least good at putting on the accent.

Le Mexican Burger, Steak Blue Cheese Burger and Frittes

Both burgers looked very appetising and I thought the bread rolls was perfect for the juicy burgers, the meat was really good quality and I did enjoy it but it was as amazing as I'd hoped. I would go back here but I don't think it is quite reaching the heights it believes it is, honestly it's only as good as or just bit better than gourmet burger or the other one which slips my mind at moment.

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A bit of S&M

69 Colebrooke Row, Angel, London, N1 8AA

Not been opened very long this is a tiny cocktail bar, they somehow manage to squeeze in a piano with pianist playing chilled lounge music. It's the sort of place where you are shown to a seat and given a vast cocktail menu to peruse. I really love going for classic cocktails when in a place like this as they are so often the best way to know the skill displayed by the mixologists, so on that note I opted for a classic gin vodka martini and it was bloody good - chilled to the max well and with just right hint of vermouth in the background. It's not cheap but because of the nature of this place they're never going to let it become rammed and it'll be top of my list when a quality cocktail is in order, think I'll test them with a Sazerac next time and then try some of their own creations.

S&M Cafe, Angel, London, N1 8LN

After the exuberance of the cocktail bar it was time for something a bit more down to earth and what better then sausage and mash? It's quite a long time since I've been here but it has always down what it says on the tin and the Angel branch is the original and probably the best still. We knew what we were gonna have already and were ravenous so ordered straight away and luckily it didn't take long at all for the food to come out of the kitchen.

Daring Dan 'Cumberland Ring, Pork & Ale, Pork & Leek, Venison, Wild Boar and London Sausages' with Mature Cheddar & Rosemary Mash, Fried Onions, Mushy Peas and Onion Gravy

A great selection of sausages were served and woofed down by the two of us. The highlight was the cumberland which nicely fatty and therefore really juicy, both the venison and wild boar were just a bit too dry - but drowning them in homely gravy seemed to do the trick. The mash was good and while I would have preferred a little bit more butter in it I'm glad it didn't have as much as I'd put in because with the gravy you didn't really need it. The crispy onions and the mushy peas made this a complete meal and I enjoyed it throughly and felt it was a perfect warmer to face the brisk air outside, not a salad day that's for sure.

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A Garden in East London

East Garden, Dalston, London

A no frills Chinese noodle bar located smack bang on Dalston Junction, I’ve been passed many times but always put off by places with pictures of dishes obviously photographed years ago in somewhere totally different. But my flat mate ended up here a few weeks ago and said it wasn’t all too bad so we ended when passing on way home. Simple café style décor with lots of free tables, the service was terrible and I mean really terrible – half our dishes didn’t come until we prompted the staff about them but when they did finally arrive they were cooked very well.

Chicken balls, prawn toast and prawn crackers

Not really a starter as everything came whenever it was ready from the kitchen but this is what you’d expect (I’ve just grouped them all together here) – It’s absolutely years since I’ve had prawn toast but I liked these with there really good mixture of crispy sesame and toast and the juicy prawn filling, not bad at all. The chicken balls were typical Chinese takeaway sweet and sour style with a thick batter, surprising they didn’t offer this in pork, as I would have definitely preferred those.

House special noodles

A bit of everything chucked in as is quite normal for the house specials but quite often it is pulled off really well, I enjoyed this but nothing special about it sticks in my mind.

Chef’s chilli beef noodles

A much better dish than the house noodles the sauce had a lovely fresh chili kick to it, and this worked well with tender slices of marinated beef. The dish was dismantled pretty quickly.

We washed down the food with a couple of bottles of the excellent Chinese Tsingtao beer, when the bill came we forgot totally about the rubbish service as it was simple a bargain, in fact so much so that I will without doubt consider coming back here again for a cheap meal.

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Angel in York

The York, Angel, London, N1 8EQ

The first pub you come to when walking right out of Angel tube, I’ve gone past here numerous times but never felt the urge to go in. I was meeting a visiting mate and he’d spent couple of hours nursing a pint while reading the paper and waiting for me to finish work, in fact he described it as a perfect place for this job during the day and I could see why. Just a normal pub really nothing special but also nothing crap about it, although I might change my opinion of the crap-ness if I’d eaten here, don’t think I will though. Beer’s were standard fare on draught and I plumped for every reliable Deuchars which wasn’t bad at all.

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Hidden Tea Rooms

The Duke of Wellington, Hoxton, London, N1 7RD

Like stepping back twenty years and being thrown into the sewer that is Eastenders mixed with the cultural prowess of Ryan Air. We ordered a beer of some description to drink which my mind blocked out while we waited ten minutes to ensure we weren’t the first people to turn up at our next secret destination. Maybe I just wanted to get Hidden Tea Rooms but I just didn't like this place

Hidden Tea Room, (Secret Location), London, N1

After giving the password over the intercom we were met and lead through an absolute maze of corridors going up and down stairways we made it into the Hidden Tea Room’s, this felt like a long time coming since I met Lady Gray at The Shed and having spent the proceeding months trying to get a couple seats here. We were the last set of guests to arrive so sat in the two available seats at the large table seating a total of twelve enthusiastic visitors and were handed a glass of reasonably pleasant champagne which paled into insignificance compared to the delightful thick american cheese biscuits that accompanied them, I would have gladly eaten a whole bowlful.

We were then handed a menu which contained about thirty different varieties of teas, these varied from classic blends to much more exotic eastern blends and modern twists, I really wanted to try a high quality classic blend so went for ‘Earl Grey’ while my friend went for the much more adventurous ‘Rum’ – The rum flavour surprised me as you could taste the distinctive flavour to remind you of rum but without the burn of the alcohol it was strange, the Earl Grey was good but I slightly regretted my choice as it wasn’t that much better than normal supermarket bought stuff. The teas were served in individual plunge type pots with loose tea and did look really good and appealing.

A selection of freshly prepared finger sandwiches: Wiltshire Ham with Jarlsberg Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Fresh Chives and Cream Cheese and Marinated Cucumber and Cream Cheese We then had sandwiches which weren’t nearly as adventurous as I’d presumed or hoped and were very small but later I would be so glad that they were. They were good but lacked any type of wow factor. A palate cleanser then followed of mango and pineapple sorbet which did the exact what it said on the tin.

Warm Scones served with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Preserve

Scones served straight out of the oven are always such a delight and these were exceptionally good - light and with the correct amount crumble. The clotted cream and strawberry preserve were an ideal compliment to the warm scones and I would have gladly taken home a whole box full of them.

A Variety of home made pastries, cake and biscuits

Cake towers were then brought in with three different cakes to each of us of try, these included the classic lemon drizzle, very short shortbread biscuits and a brownie with a hint of peanut. They were all very well made with the lemon cake being the best executed. By this time eating anymore cakes seemed like a bad idea but by far the highlight was the sublime fairy cakes where the sponge was possibly the lightest I’ve ever eaten and the sugar cream just the right level of sweetness.

More individual pots of tea were served, this time we were all given Jasmine tea and told to leave for only a couple of minutes before plunging down, the jasmine flavour was more subtle that I’d imagined and I found it quite refreshing which I wouldn’t normally do with floral flavours but one cup was more than enough after the gallons it felt like we’d consumed already. Extremely rich chocolate truffles were brought to finish us off... literally.

I do want to make the point that I lack any hint of a sweet tooth and I did really enjoy tonight but the next day when we went to Broadway Market and saw the cake stand both our stomachs turned at the thought of any more cakes, you can definitely overdose on cakes and we felt like we had after leaving the Hidden Tea Room’s. Really worth going here but I think I had such unrealistic hopes that it could never have lived up to it.

Dalston Jazz Bar, Dalston, London, N16 8JN

Having popped into a friend’s party in North London we decided to head further to mine and go here as my friend had been the other week and enjoyed it, quite a strange and haphazard place with the bar itself just being a couple of stainless steel catering units and the bar staff all dressed like sailors, I liked it straight away. We ordered mojito’s which came in not very classy plastic pint glasses, generous on the cachaca these weren’t nearly the best mojito’s I’ve ever had but the hit the spot. After a couple more mojito’s and a few Jagermeisters to go with them it had transformed from a quietish place into a rammed jumping bar, the atmosphere was fantastic and the busyness of it didn’t bother us at all, in fact I seem to a foggy memory of us pogo-ing in the middle of the dance floor at one point. Great little bar and such a good way to end such a first-rate evening.

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