Tales Of The Undigested

A rather long lunch...

2010-07-13T23:17:00.002+01:00

Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark

So finally I made it to Noma, now officially the best the restaurant in the World according to "The S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2010" and what an exhilaratingly long lunch we were in for. Everything about this place is relaxed but with the ultimate professionalism and confidence in what they are doing. It was great to be greeted by so many new smiling faces and a few familiar ones from my last Copenhagen visit on our arrival at the restaurant after braving the fierce wind outside.The menu chosen for us was unbelievable and we couldn’t have asked for more, it lived up to everything I was hoping for but also expecting after their recent well-publicised accolades. I’ve decided that my words really can’t do much justice to everything we ate so I’m going to try (yes try!) to keep this from becoming a behemoth essay, so descriptions of the dishes are purely there to give background to the photos, you’ll understand why when you see the amount of dishes which were to face us and because we ate at lunch time and the room was bathed in natural light from the large windows the photos came out better than I could have hoped.

Snacks

Speck Cookie with Blackcurrant & Pine Shoots

Served beautifully in a battered old biscuit tin this exact mouthful burst with savoury berry flavours.

Seabuckthorn Leather & Pickled Rose Hips

Seabuckthorn is something I tried first in Paris when my brother used it as an accompaniment to his malt parfait dessert and its harsh sourness worked equally as well here.

Chicken skin & Rye Bread sandwich with Lumpfish Roe & Smoked Cheese

The ultra crispy chicken skin which formed the base of this was a total delight and holds such a strong chicken flavour that chicken flesh will only taste bland and boring from now on, so good to actually know what chicken tastes like.

Fresh Shrimp with Brown Butter

Wow and bloody hell! The kilner jars contained a number of small and very live shrimps, definitely a dish that aims to challenge the diner to the extreme. After dipping into the brown butter sauce and crunching through them we then decided the head probably wasn’t the most palatable part. But when I went for another and it tried to jump out I decided I didn’t love it enough to have a second, but you can see what they are trying to do with pushing you as hard as possible and although not something I’ll be rushing to try again it brought a lot of laughs and smiles to our table.

Pickled & Smoked Quail Egg

A Noma classic and no wonder, the wisps of smoke filled you nostrils and prepared you for the smokiness of the egg that would follow. Told to eat whole when you bite into the firm white the yolk explodes into your mouth and the richness flows over every taste bud.

Radish, Soil & Herbs

Another classic that everybody should try at least once and I’m lucky enough to have tried previously but it almost feels like any meal at Noma wouldn’t be complete without it.

Rye bread with a wafer of duck fat

This dish was served by Rene Redzepi and he went into great detail for us about how the duck fat is skimmed off and dried to produce the super thin wafers, one of the most complex items that the Noma chefs do. Compared to how light a lot of the dishes are this being duck fat felt very rich in contrast but you were left wanting more, especially as it had wonderful effect of getting the juices flowing in your mouth.

Savoury Waffle stuffed with Pickled Cucumber & Smoked Fish

Again just amazing presentation, the smoked fish combined with the doughy waffle to make another dish unlike anything else you’ll ever try – Sweet yet savoury it didn’t make sense to the taste buds.

Vinegar dust Toast with Herbs, & Smoked Cod Roe

How this got from the kitchen to our table without a tiny breeze blowing this away I’ve no idea (think that's why I ate it so quickly and had to get somebody else's photo). Ridiculously delicate I especially loved this dish because of the bite the vinegar added and this was just perfect with the cod roe.

Bread with pork fat

I’ve got the mention the fantastic bread, served in felt parcels which retained the just baked feel it was one of best loaves I’ve ever eaten. Crunchy on outside and super soft inside it was divine, but what made this stand out was the pork fat served instead of butter with it – you knew it was almost too indulgent like dripping but couldn’t stop eating it, was only the thought of trying not to fill myself up with bread that stopped me from demolishing the whole lot.

Starters

Shrimps & Sea Urchin, Beach Plants & Cream

Served very cold with a block of ice in the centre of the plate you were told to eat this quickly before it started to warm up. The sea urchin was in the form of frozen powder and this with the cold shrimps was another triumph, but by this time we were expecting everything to be amazing and no surprise really when it was.

Dried Scallops & Watercress, Biodynamic Cereals & Beech Nut

To see the translucent paper thin slices of scallop you knew this was especially about presentation and honestly it was the dish I liked the least out of all, I can’t put my finger on exactly what did strike a chord with me but I think it was oats and the beech nut which reminded me of muesli.

Steak Tartar with Sorrel, Tarragon & Juniper Powder

Even the serving team noticed the smile on my face when this appeared; I’d always wondered what this would be like since I heard about it. I just love the simplicity and using your fingers to scrape the tartar and sorrel through the sauce was so satisfying, it’ll be hard for them to take this and the next dish off the menu.

Langoustine & Sol, Parsley & Seawater

An enormous slab of rock with the most plump and juicy langoustine I’ve seen made its way to the table and was basically brilliant, and it did taste of seawater!

The Oyster & The Sea

This actually wasn’t on our menu originally as one of our party has an aversion to oysters but when Rene found out he added as extra dish anyway knowing it could only be left. The showmanship of this and the aroma were a revelation and all of us (especially the aversive person) loved it.

Fresh Cheese & Saint George Mushroom, Axel Berry & Woodruff

This cheese was made in morning by the chefs and therefore the freshness shone through. The mushrooms were seasonal, raw and surprise surprise gorgeous.

Mains

The Duck & The Egg

A dish like this is so simple yet ground-breaking at same time, the basic principle is that you cook your own egg and the table. Everything about this is timed to perfection and you end up cooking your own dish in the world’s best restaurant – how good is that?

Violet Carrot & Truffle from Gotland

We were shown this dish at the start of our meal when the chef braising the carrots in butter the pan out and explained the process, the end product was carrots so sweet and buttery yet still retaining crunch and undeniable carrot texture.

Pike Perch & Celeriac, Cabbage Stems & Pickled Ramson Seeds

I’d never tried pike before and was impressed with its firmness, the skin held the big flakes of juicy white flesh together, the cabbage stems added a fresh and vibrant texture to contrast the soft fish.

Pickled Vegetables, Ox Marrow & Herbs

Almost looked too good to eat this dish, the bright vivid colours of the vegetables and flowers looked more like a florist’s arrangement than a chef’s. The vegetables had all been picked differently and when eaten with the super rich bone marrow it was simply a revelation.

Ox Cheek & Endive, Pickled Pear & Verbena

This was similar to the beef I’d eaten in Paris, the ox cheek’s had been cooked for twenty four hours in hay and I was very happy to be able to experience it again. This time instead of different onions this was served with paper like slices of pear and my god it worked well. The thing about this dish is the fact it goes against everything you’re told about cooking beef, i.e. always have rare to medium rare – this is at the other end of the spectrum as it is very well done but the way this is executed by the guys here makes the meat so fantastically flavoursome and tender and when combined with juicy pear you just want to close your eyes and savour every last bit. The fact you are given a hunting knife to carve the beef is a great piece of showmanship.

Desserts

Carrot & Buttermilk

I love carrot when used in deserts probably more than when used in savoury dishes and the inherent sweetness is better than most sugars for sure. The buttermilk ice surrounding the carrot centre made it look like a spherical egg when opened up.

Jerusalem Artichoke & Marjoram, Apple & Malt

Everything about the taste of the Jerusalem artichoke shouldn’t work with deserts but having made deserts using it myself after a glut in a veg box one week I was excited about Noma’s use of this ultimate earthy vegetable. Actually the earthy flavour just works with sweet especially when this is natural sweetness from apples.

Gommel Dansk – Milk & Wood Sorrel

Sorrel & milk shouldn’t be this good, the frozen milk dissolved as soon as it hit the moisture of the your tongue. This was good dish to freshen up your mouth before we headed to the sofa’s for our coffee and petit fours.

Petit Fours

Bone Marrow Fudge

A brown paper parcel was intriguing and when unwrapped the interest only heightened. The fudge was positioned in highly polished sections of bone, this was simply one of the most surprising tastes ever – smoked, meaty, sweet and fudge. How they came up with idea of a bone marrow fudge I can only imagine but this typifies the excellence of Noma and what has pushed them to the dizzy height of number one in the world.

Floode Bolle – Yogurt Cream Bun

This wasn’t very sweet instead it had a balanced flavour from the yogurt, yet again presentation was immense – this was served in a metal bucket and the buns were laying on top of crumpled paper.

Potato Crisps, Dark Chocolate & Fennel Seeds

I don’t have a sweet tooth so the distinct lack of sweetness in all Noma’s deserts and petit fours was heaven to me. Here this dish was bitter with chocolate and then the anis fennel and the salty crisps just made a superb finale to an unforgettable meal.

The Wines
We went for matching wines with our menu and left it up to our sommelier to choose the best match and I have never felt so invigorated by a selection of wines of special note was the first wine which is named after Rene’s new daughter was the first Danish wine I’ve ever tried knowingly and it was a revelation, crisp and not over dry they really have got the best out of cold hardy grape varieties and no wonder they are so proud of it when it is only in its second vintage, this is the first available vintage but you’re unlikely to see this anywhere else. All the other wines were faultless without being safe bets and boring.

2008 Lilleo Arwen, Denmark
2007 Arbois ‘Fleur de Savagnin, Domaine de la Tournelle, Jura
2007 Riesling Troken, Knebel, Mosel
2008 Chablis, Pattes Loup (Thomas Pico), Bourgogne
2007 Vire-Clesse ‘Thurissey’, Domaine Saint Barbe (Jean-Marie Chaland), Bourgogne
NV Marie Courtin Extra Brut, Dominique Moreau, Champagne
NV ‘RN7’ Moins d’alcool, Autant de Plaisir!, Domaine Fontanay (Simon Hawkins), Roanne
2007 Cornas ‘Brise Cailloux’ (Magnum), Matthieu Barret, Rhone
2009 Moscato d’Asti, Alexandra Bera, Piemonte
2008 Riesling Auslese, Georg Breuer, Rheingau

Without a doubt this was the best meal I’ve ever or ever likely to eat, not just the food but everything which goes with it – the staff, the building, the surroundings, the wine and even down to the crockery – all were simply stunning and it was something I’ll never forget. I feel privileged and very lucky to have been able to eat the menu chosen for us by my brother, a five hour lunch which included both Noma classics and new forward thinking and challenging dishes. I hope Noma continues to push the boundaries like they have so successfully for much longer. Now how can I justify eating here again… well I haven’t had dinner here have I, hmm? Thanks to everybody at Noma especially my brother Sam Miller & Rene Redzepi.

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Electricity Showrooms

2010-05-26T11:57:00.001+01:00

Electricity Showrooms, Hoxton, London, N1 6NN

As is the trend in Shoreditch at the moment this is named after the establishment it was previously before the bar explosion round here turned nearly everywhere into a fashion conscience drinking room. The building itself is impressive and I liked the big central circular bar. There is good selection of drinks on offer but I was on the lager this night so I opted for old favourites Kirin a great Japanese lager and also Erdinger which is a fruity and cloudy wheat beer with slight enduring sourness, both beers were good and this ain't a bad bar at all.

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A good innings

2010-05-25T11:14:00.001+01:00

The Compton Arms, Highbury, London, N1 2XD
Came in here to watch England surprisingly trounce the Aussies in the twenty20 world cup final and it was a good place to go and watch sport, made sweeter by the fact that me and my friend were only English people in there surrounded by antipodeans baying for English blood.

It's a place which retains an old fashioned country pub feel, the beer selection was quite poor but if it's full of Aussie's all the time most of there sales will no doubt be watery lager and Magner's cider. I went for the only available real ale which was Holden's Golden Glow and it was actually a really good pint, very refreshing and summery - I stayed on it for the whole time we were there and would have it again, shame there wasn't anything else worth trying. Will probably only come back here to watch sport as nothing else stood out about here.

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Draper Arms

2010-05-24T10:39:00.000+01:00

The Draper Arms, Islington, London, N1 1ER

Tucked away from the busy Upper Street this is a classical looking upmarket pub with a quite minimally styled interior. The staff were friendly and you got a good mixture of couples and families sharing the space easily. Nursing a bit of a sore head today wasn't a drinking day for me but they had reasonable ale selection with Harvey's Best and Wandle standing out but really more geared up for wines here and I thought it looked like some decent bottles for around twenty quid.

Plaice, Mussels, Baby gem & aioli

A really top salad to start, dressed generously which I always love in a salad the aioli was rich and light so didn't overpower the fish. Both the mussels and the plaice tasted of fresh and were lightly cooked just enough. Nothing amazing just a good simple salad.

Roast Old Spot, beetroot & potato salad

An enormous hunk of pork with an amazing surface of crispy crackling, the flesh was superbly moist and a satisfying dribble down the chin when biting into it was so fulfilling. But serving this great bit of meat with pink potatoes... no that's just not right, they added nothing to the dish except making it look like a thrown together mess, would of worked better with simpler potatoes and something else rather than the beetroot. But the pork was proper good.

Black pudding hash, fried egg

Slight disappointment that this didn't come with duck egg as I'd seen on their website before coming and the egg was a bit over cooked so you couldn't break up the egg and let all the york seep through the hash as the bottom of the egg was crispy. This would have added more moisture to the hash, which it needed. Also for this to cost more than the old spot main course just doesn't add up, this is gonna be a cheap dish to produce so why so expensive - my initial reaction was that it must be bloody good, but it wasn't anything special at all and let rest of lunch down a little bit. Overall I liked what they were trying to do and would go back as they seem to be constantly changing the menu which is always good to see.

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Keys to the bank

2010-05-14T19:00:00.000+01:00

The Crosse Keys, City of London, EC3V 0DR

Well it's a Wetherspoons so what do you expect, it's cheap with a rather surprisingly large selection of whatever your tipple of choice is. This is not quite like your average Wetherspoons though as it's situated in a vast old bank building in the City and full of suits rather than what I'll just call your 'average Wetherspooner'. I've been in here few times and even though the beer selection is good I honestly don't think I've ever had an above average pint here, but it does a job and that is providing cheap drinks to masses of people and you could get masses in here for sure, the place is enormous and very impressive.

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More Borough

2010-05-13T19:00:00.002+01:00

The Roebuck, Borough, London, SE1 4YG

Didn't really have much chance to sample the pretty decent beer selection as was otherwise engaged most the night with providing the music for my mates 40th birthday party which was in the room upstairs. But the beers on offer looked good with a few Meantime brews on offer as well as three decent ales and good lagers like Sagres. Building is situated on a corner and although quite odd shape it's much larger than I imagined, it also has a lot of tables on street outside which no doubt get busy when this eternal winter is finally over. Nice pub and I'd like to come back and try some of the beers properly another time.

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Turkish Grill

2010-05-12T10:12:00.003+01:00

19 Numara Bos Cirrik I, Dalston, London, N16 7XJ

Came into this unassuming looking place for lunch, it's surrounded by other Turkish restaurants but the recommendation from a friend made this the one to search out. The menu was expansive with a vast selection of grilled meats on offer for mains but one of the starters was the dish to try - lebanese style grilled lamb's liver and it was fantastic, if you ever go here you've got to try them. For mains we tried the classic adana kebab and the unusual lamb ribs, both were superb but the ribs stood out as something little bit different than normal and were so gorgeously succulent. A great complimentary dish of grilled onions in pomegranate syrup was a brilliant accompaniment as were the smokey flavoured grilled spicy breads.

We drank a half decent bottle of red which was ok priced but not as cheap as the food. We came out of here with massive smiles on our faces especially as we'd had Turkish coffee with compliments from the chef sitting behind the grill - who the waiter informed us had voted me man of the day for coming in with two attractive ladies.

Easily the best value for money Turkish I've had in London, not the most refined or formal but we didn't want that. If your faced with choosing from the vast array of Turkish places round Dalston & Stoke Newington simple choice is just come here, it's friendly, cheap and food is a cut above most places.

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Wellington's Wifi

2010-05-11T19:40:00.002+01:00

Duke of Wellington, Dalston, London, N1 4BL

Popped in here on a wifi hunt during the afternoon, always thought it looked nice when I've passed but never ventured in before. Nice old pub which is quite big but split into different rooms so doesn't feel massive even though I was first customer of afternoon, it had filled up a bit by the time I left. Pleasingly there was good music playing on the stereo (Johnny Cash and Talking Heads albums) and the required wifi was luckily in place. There were three good looking ales on tap as well as the mandatory continental lagers. I opted for a pint of Sambrook's Breweries Wandle which is a light summer ale, very nicely hopped with quite a bitter aftertaste - very nice but if I see it again somewhere I'll probably try something else first. The menu for food looked ok with homemade mainly traditional pub grub and a few gastropub favourites thrown in and it's on my list of places to try the food now.

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Bread & Wine

2010-05-06T14:09:00.002+01:00

St John Bread & Wine, Spitalfields, London, E1 6LZ

Been wanting to visit here for ages after being a fan of Fergus Henderson's brilliant book 'Nose to Tail Eating' which a veritable bible on quality british food, so coming here for lunch on at Saturday was a real treat. We had to have an early lunch due to planned train journeys so were in here at midday and we're practically only people in here for first half hour, but it started to slowly fill up after that. The lunch menu is almost like British tapas so we decided to pick few things each and share the lot, the menu changes extremely regularly so definitely a place worth visiting a couple of times and I'm trying to plan my next visit already unless I'm feeling even more frivolous and decide to go to the flag ship restaurant instead.

Rock Oysters

Super fresh, super gorgeous... bliss

Nettles Soup

Rich and creamy, was a very nice soup but didn't strike me as particularly nettle like but it was nice just bit normal.

Faggot

What cuts went into the faggot I don't know but it was traditionally made being held together by the caul fat and the meat produced so many juices that it became a fatty sauce, looking back this much have been demolished in 2 minutes flat.

Mussels

The only disappointment really, the mussels hadn't been soaked long enough and were quite gritty, the waitress apologised when this was mentioned and when the bill came this had been removed without any fuss whatsoever, in fact they were extremely apologetic about it

Stinking Bishop & Potatoes

Such a good cheese that served as simply as this; just with new potatoes really let it's quality stand out. Simple yet complex - almost a mantra for St John's I suppose.

Ox Heart Salad

Slices of the heart were mixed in with fresh crispy watercress and a wonderfully rich balsamic dressing. Even the watercress-hater amongst us enjoyed this, the heart just melted in your mouth (or should that be melted your heart?)

Eccles Cake & Lancashire Cheese

So good to see proper Lancashire cheese and this was so good it provided all the moisture of a sauce to compliment the densest of eccles cakes I've ever seen, a homely treat for the taste buds but one hell of a workout for the jaw muscles.

Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

There is a long running argument/debate whether you chill or bake a cheesecake and I think that the fact dishes like specify they are baked shows this isn't the expected way. But I'll concede that baked cheesecakes are very good and this didn't disappoint, rich and creamy with excellent quality vanilla flavour this was fitting end to meal.

To drink we went with the house white, which at twenty quid wasn't cheap but can't complain about the quality of it, really crisp and refreshing and good to see you can pop in here for a bottle to take home for a decent price - in fact there was quite a steady stream of people dropping in just to pick up a loaf of one of the artisan breads which were as good as you'd expect. Very good place and just makes me wanna go to Smithfield restaurant more.

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Paris Part 2 - Les Lundis de Fulgurances

2010-05-03T09:00:00.003+01:00

Les Lundis de Fulgurances, Les Combustibles, 75012 Paris

The whole reason for my Paris trip was tonight, my brother Sam would be cooking at the premier evening of ‘Les Lundis de Fulgurances’ a restaurant concept night run by Hugo Hivernat and Sophie Cornibert which is showcasing up and coming chef’s from around the world. My brother is currently working as sous chef in the fantastic Noma restaurant in Copenhagen with head chef Rene Redzepi which only this week beat El Bulli and became the number one restaurant in the world which is just totally amazing to think about, biggest possible congratulations to all the Noma guys and I can't wait to eat there for my birthday in a couple of weeks! It's through this that Sam's been gaining great exposure in places like Paris and also London where at the beginning of this month he’ll be guesting for three nights at Nuno Mendes’ Loft Project which will be a different experience having only 16 guests compared to the 60 he was doing today.

We went for the €75 menu option which meant we got matching wines with the courses and this seemed like good value compared to what I’d expect to pay for same thing in London.

Bol de radis

Radish Bowl

First up were two snacks with the radish bowl being one of the most strikingly presented dishes I’ve ever seen, the terracotta pots were filled with edible soil and mud which seemed to be made from combination of rye bread, hazlenuts and possible olives – buried just under the soil were the peppery radishes, combined with the soil the radishes tasted nothing like I’d expected and looking at other peoples faces they too were nearly dumb founded with the whole experience.

Salt & Vinegar Crisp

Salt & Vinegar Crisps

The salt of vinegar flavour came at you from all angles here, the sauce had a superb acidic bite to its creaminess and when scouped up with the super crisp crisps it all made perfect sense. The salted flour on the crisps didn’t have any robustness like you’d expect with heavily salted crisps from a packet and I suppose this is a throwback from the light seasoning they use at Noma. To go with the snacks we were given a glass of a unusual sparkling wine, 'Opera des vins, Nuit de Tokyo' appeared to have the flavour depth of a medium to high quality champagne but I’m sure the price was a lot more favorable – I’d buy instantly if I ever come across in a shop in the UK.

Carotte en croute de sel, crème, thym, lingonberry

Carrot in salt crust, cream, thyme, lingonberry

Again the salt wasn’t the driving force in this immaculately presented dish. The texture of the components was contrasting but the ingredients blended together effortlessly to create a rich but delicate flavour. I think the vibrance of a dish such as this is a real eye opener for what raw food can actually taste and look like.

Maquereau cru, lait de noisette, pain de seigle, moutarde

Raw Mackerel, hazelnut milk, rye bread, mustard

I was really excited to see this on the menu because surprisingly I’ve never tried raw mackerel and was intrigued by the combination of this and the hazelnut milk. The milk provided a different than normal type of sweetness with all the heat the dish needed was provided by the mustard coating the mackerel. The mackerel itself just melted in the mouth and tasted like I’d always hoped raw mackerel would. I must mention the tiny balls of cucumber that seemed to freshen your palate with cool liquid as soon as you bite into them and the tiny tapioca balls would brilliantly both for the appearance and added feeling in your mouth. The wine match for this course was a very oaky white ‘Hauts de Madou 2007, Blanc Cheverny, Christian VENIER’, defying what I know about wines this 3 year old white seemed much older due to its colour as well as its strong aroma, a good wine but I doubt I’d buy and I didn’t really feel it was complimenting the food as something simpler and more refreshing would have been better for the raw fish – I would have gone for a Sancerre but then again I’ll always go for a Sancerre with fish or salad, think I’m bit stuck in my ways with that one.

Huitre, algue verte, sabayon de pomme de terre

Oyster, green alga, sabayon potato

Again fantastic presentation like every other dish, it was served just warm and I felt a touch more heat would have benefited it but this didn’t detract from the sublime feeling when popping one of the different textures into your mouth.

Pied de cochon, biere, poireau brule

Pigs Trotters, beer, burnt leek

You knew as soon as you saw this dish that it was something special and it was a total triumph, the intense reduced beer gentle disguised the tender morsels of pig trotter with the burnt leek providing yet another cunning addition to the plate. Now was time for the red wines to come out and the first one was a nice robust one Morgan 2008 Vieilles Vignes, Jean-Paul Thevenet with deep fruitiness but wasn’t anything special. I think it’s interesting you consider what you should drink when the dish contains something like beer – I honestly believe that a well matched beer can match and sometimes beat a wine pairing, I think because you drink beer differently than wines (larger mouthfuls) you can get a more complete taste. I would have loved to have tested a few different beers with the dish especially some slightly darker ales and possibly a mild type bitter, something not over-hopped.

Joue de boeuf, oignon, rose

Beef with Rose Onion

Just wow, really wow – the beef which had been cooked for 24 hours in hay was unlike anything I’ve ever really eaten before, the intensity of deep rich flavour of the meat was unbelievable. Served with three different types of onion every mouthful was slightly different, it needed these contrasting flavours because with just the rose flavoured onions it would have become overpowering before you’d finished the dish, the way it was just did it right. Thinking about this it was very simple dishes compared to some of the others but for me it was the stand out dish due the sheer depth of flavour – the type of food you put in your mouth and instantly want to tell everybody how good it is even before you finished chewing the first morsel, queue lots of people with full desperately trying to swallow to explain what they’ve just tasted.

Olivier Cousin Grolleau Vieilles Vignes

This wine was perfect match for the rich beef, it was intense with a taste of real quality aged wine and that was the stand out taste, quality. Very ruby in colour I could have drank two bottles of this with the meal instead of any other wine – gorgeous.

Parfait de malt, neige de panais, fraise sechee

Malt Parfait, snow parsnips, dried strawberries

The presentation for this was just awe-inspiring as you can see in the pictures, the malt parfait had such a deep rich malt flavour and with the hint of parsnip and the textural delight that was the dried strawberries this was a totally complete desert and didn’t take long to accept the second one I was offered. The dessert wine Gewurstraminer 2006, Schueller was revelation to me, sweet but not too sweet I really liked it, in fact I can’t think of a dessert wine I’ve ever enjoyed more than this.

I'm very conscious this is quite a long entry and I'm sure you can understand why - thanks for getting this far, most posts will be much shorter I promise!

Big thanks to all other chefs who helped especially Sam & Oliver.

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Paris Part 1 - Hotel Thoumieux

2010-05-02T12:16:00.006+01:00

Hotel Thoumieux, Invalides, 75007 Paris

Sunday night in Paris and we all decided to meet up and come and have meal in this brasserie before the big night tomorrow. The service throughout the meal was immaculate with the ball gown strewn waitresses being followed around by minions of waiters from table to table. We were given a very pleasant glass of pink champagne on arrival as we decided what to order and admired the top of the range art deco stylings of the place. Whilst we mulled over the menu we noticed the great wok-worker that is Ken Hom take a seat which caused a bit of a stir with the English folk at least.

Pizza Souffle

The chef's signature dish so somebody in our party needed to try, it was basically a big blown up cracker with rocket salad on top and inside it! The cheese on top was nicely oily and this mixed with the rocket to actually make something more akin to a salad that a pizza. Putting your fork into it the first time produced and very satisfying deflating tyre noise. A very impressively presented dish.

Goujonnetes De Sole

After seeing the others Brill come out of the kitchen I could have kicked myself for not ordering that, it looked so succulent and mouthwatering. The goujons were very nice but just bit boring, it reminded me of a child friendly option on the menu. Again presentation was very good but you'd expect that when paying over 25 euros for posh fish and chips.

Tarte Maison

All the deserts looked and tasted superb and we were lucky enough to get a chance to try them all, the Vacherin Glacee was excellent and all three of the tartes which made up the Tarte Maison were a brilliant example in french pastry with short crust and rich fillings, the chocolate was velvety and the custard just sweet enough.

Double espresso's and a tour of the kitchen followed the dessert which was interesting see the chefs swapping ideas and catching up. A very good brasserie restaurant serving good quality food but very expensive what you get, without the generous discount we got it would have probably been more of an issue. But I left here having a great evening and no regrets except not having the Brill.

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Another Brick In...

2010-04-25T11:10:00.009+01:00

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

2010-04-24T16:24:00.002+01:00

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

2010-04-21T22:10:00.006+01:00

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

2010-04-20T22:45:00.001+01:00

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

2010-04-16T12:58:00.000+01:00

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

2010-04-16T09:27:00.000+01:00

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

2010-04-14T20:26:00.016+01:00

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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West-End Fast Food

2010-03-27T20:55:00.004Z

The Porcupine, Leicester Square, London, WC2H 0BS
Not a bad pub considering its location amongst so many horrible places and I was pleasantly surprised that they had a few decent guest beers on offer. it's all very old fashioned really inside with the dark wood with glass and leather topped stools. I went for a guest ale called Amber Ale I'd not seen before surprisingly with the name and photo of Brian Turner (a ready, steady, cook regular) adorning it. But it is a really good light IPA style brew with reasonable floral hoppyness and I'd consider ordering again if I come across somewhere else.

Gaby's, Leicester Square, London, WC2H 0DE

Been here before and no doubt I'll end up here again but that's not a bad thing, this place has character but all it is a takeaway really you just happen to sit down. The food is healthy and simple but when I go here I'd always go for either salt beef, falafel or humous and that's exactly what we did. We had tender salt beef if a lovely chewy bagel and falafel with houmous in pitta, everything seems to come with a different but simple salad generally with a couple of crunchy pickled chillis. Good value for money, good food and quick service means this is always a place that'll come to my mind if I need a fast feed round here and it even stays open as late as a lot of takeaways.

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Afghan Curry

2010-03-24T18:58:00.008Z

Camden Head, Angel, London, N1 8DY

A really good example of an old victorian pub, its even got the brass water taps on bar still. The beer selection is pretty poor and most of the ales on the pumps were off but didn't feel missing much as I've drank quite a bit of Doom Bar recently and have gone off London Pride totally, instead I went for a Leffe and it was pretty decent. Overall this isn't a pub I'd go back to and I'd made that decide without factoring in the soft rock soundtrack, Bon Jovi is quite possibly my least favourite band ever.

Afghan Kitchen, Angel, London, N1 8DU

Just around the corner from the Camden Head but unlike that it's on a busy road in the heart of Angel. There is a small space with two tables downstairs and only a few more tables upstairs, we were seated upstairs at table with two couples. The service was slow and they seemed a little stressed, most people just seemed to be drink water with their meals and after we had a glass of red wine we saw why - it was ridiculously cheap and even chilled, wasn't fit to call itself wine and we just left it. The food was a totally different kettle of fish though...

Lamb with Spinach

Tender stewed pieces of lamb sitting in a mass of spinach, the spicing was very simple and quite subtle but brilliantly done. Tasted and looked like real proper authentic Afghanistan curry not an Anglicised version and with the amount of spinach and the lack of greasy coating it seemed quite healthy.

Chicken with Yogurt

This was just a fantastic curry, the cool yogurt was fighting with the deep and hot chilli as well as the generous refreshing mint. Easily one of the nicest curries I've ever eaten and just thinking about it now is making me hungry.

To go with the curries we had some excellent rice to go with our bread, the bread was like a thick wholemeal nan but much heavier - obviously just out of the oven it was so nice soaking it in the yogurt sauce with came with my curry. We also ordered some pickles and chutney, unfortunately the chutney was all done for the day, I really liked the pickles which were just like normal but spicy British pickles with the cabbage being especially good - I was the only person who though they were nice though, I am partial to strong acidic vinegar though.

For what it is this place is superb, what it isn't is a restaurant, it's an informal laid back almost haphazard place to eat which you should treat that way. I can see people going here and getting wound up by the service and drinks but just go and enjoy the curries because you're unlikely to get something so tasty for such a good price almost anywhere else.

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Camden Town on a Sunday

2010-03-22T22:13:00.011Z

Hawley Arms, Camden, London, NW1 8QU

Rebuilt after being burnt down with Camden Market a couple of years ago it does actually have a similar vibe about it, we popped in for a couple to have a little rest bite from the hordes outside since it was a Sunday. We sat outside in the little courtyard area since the winter weather seems to be finally making the change to spring. They have a decent selection of four guest ales on tap and we went for the seasonal Greene King Hare Raiser first which was a nice floral traditional bitter, the bitterness was on the heavy since for me, I did enjoy it but wanted something lighter really took a gamble on the Okells Old Skipper and it paid off big time - beautiful golden colour with a slight hint of citrus with combined with slowly maturing flavour which actually was bitter but a totally different milder bitterness than the Hare Raiser, a beer I'll hope to bump into again.

Camden Eye, Camden, London, NW1 9NX

Right next to the tube and sandwiched between two roads this is nicer than it should be, the menu looked appealing and I would think about eating here at some point. The beer selection was minimal and we rather predictably went for the Deuchars IPA which I think was by far best on offer and is a really good afternoon session beer - it was a quick decision at the bar. I wish we'd stayed for another pint of this rather than venturing across the road for old memories sake.

The World's End, Camden, London, NW1 0NE

The classic meeting point for a lot of people when rendezvousing up in Camden for a pre-gig drink or two. But really its not up to much and show when we were resigned to drinking Caffreys which is just mass manufactured piss really, should have gone for Guinness. I know it's Camden but the music playing on the stereo was shocking metal and turned my mind to avoiding here - but you know I'll end up in here again one day before some gig down the road, it feels like it'll always be here and always be the same.

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Cheap pint in the West End

2010-03-09T23:23:00.003Z

The Cock Tavern, Oxford Circus, London, W1W 8QG

It could only be a Samuel Smiths pub when you walk in, busy, bustling and a great mix of people. It always amazes me the amount of change you get in these pubs even in the west end of London. And amazingly for this price the beer is of much better quality that the a lot of places charging twice as much. I wanted to have a pint of good old Yorkshire bitter so went for a pint of the aptly named Old brewery bitter and was just as anticipated with its strong bitterness and no nonsense taste. I did move onto my favourite Sam Smiths beer after that though and I really rate the Pure Brewed Lager as one of the best German style lagers that you can get. The walls are wooden panelled and is normal it's a little bit like walking back in time when you enter one of these pubs, but it's a brilliant reminder of what a good old pub where the only food is crisps and nuts can be like - an antidote to Wetherspoons.

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Beer served by the stein

2010-03-07T15:21:00.005Z

The Rake, Borough Market, SE1 9AG

Another visit to The Rake so the first time I've mentioned the same place on here more than once. As expected all the beers bar a couple on draught were different than the last time I was here and I decided to go for a Bear Republic American Wheat ale even after the bar staff warned me it was £7 a pint. Not as white as a lot of wheat beers you normally see, this had an orange hue and was extremely cloudy, it was also refreshing with a slight sourness, I liked it but I didn't feel it was that much better than other more normally priced beers on offer at the Rake, but I suppose it's a beer rarely seen outside America and I was glad to have tried it.

Katzenjammers, Borough, SE1 1TY

As we wandered looking for somewhere to go for a drink next we went past here and one of our friends mentioned they'd been in here recently and it was good so we went down the steps. It's obvious as soon as you go down that it's a German bar and we really should have realised by the name but you never quite know in London. My face lit up when I saw they were serving good German lagers in proper thick rimed steins, I went for the Paulaner and was probably the nicest Paulaner I've had. As was likely after drinking steins the evening was quite raucous from then on but what made it was the fantastic band Oompah Brass who I'd seen only a few weeks ago at Proud Cabaret - they were thoroughly entertaining again with their German oompah style mash-ups of modern classics such as Bohemian Rhapsody, my only disappointment was missing their amazing version of Britney Spears song Toxic. A brilliantly entertaining evening which was heighten by the ad-hoc nature of the arrangements and fact just three of us going out for a drink ended with ten of us dancing in a German bar drinking steins of beer.

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Really makes the cut

2010-03-02T21:48:00.004Z

Anchor & Hope, Southwark, London, SE1 8LP

Probably the best gastropub I've been to in London so far and it shows with the busy bar area full of the hungry. There is no reserving of tables here as it's all done on first come first served basis as is popular with many places nowadays - this works here really well considering the amount of people wanting a table, we turned up at about 6.30pm and got seated about 75 minutes later. This wait passed quickly with the good beer selection on offer and we were in no way ever cheesed off with the delay.

Kahlrabi with cow curd and watercress

Raw kahlrabi is a delight and it's excellent to see it on a menu at this time of year when it can be one of the very best British grown vegetables available. The bite to it was a welcome contrast to the creamy fresh curd it was served with. A simple and effective dish which done slightly differently would have been a real fine dining joy.

Potted shrimp served warm, hint of cayenne with toasted brioche

Very classic dish that I felt was done well but not massively inspiring, but it is a good example of a British dish that has often been out-shined over the years by insipid continental pate - it was certainly much better than any pate I've eaten recently.

Snail and bacon salad with croutons

This was my first ever experience of eating the French favourite of snails and I was pleasantly surprised, actually they were nicer than that - they lacked all the chewiness you would associate with snails but did retain a nice bite to the texture. This dish will definitely put them to the front of my mind when I next see them on the menu somewhere, soon hopefully.

Whole roast pheasant with smoked sausage, boiled potatoes and cabbage

A true feast worthy dish for two to share, we couldn't resist ordering this and what a choice we'd made. Combining everything that epitomises filling British food for the wintery weather and perfectly timed cooking too. The pheasant was served whole so you carved it yourself at the table, the golden bird was perching on top of the massive portion of boiled potatoes, shredded cabbage and big hunks of the smoked sausage. Try as we did the two of us couldn't finish the whole thing and reluctantly admitted defeat. Thinking about it you could quite easily share this between three for a main especially if you wanted to move onto the appetising modern British puddings on offer.

I think what makes this place stick out from the run of the mill gastropubs is two things; the food was spot on just fantastic, but as well as that the value for money is like nothing I've felt anywhere similar - we had 3 starters, 3 mains (the pheasant was priced like two normal mains), 2 bottles of house red wine - and the bill only came to £90. £30 per head for this quality on in Central London is just astounding considering how much I've paid in places which were non-comparible to here. The high turnover caused by the lack of reservations must enable them to do this and fair play to them.

The Ring, Southwark, London, SE1 8HA

After our good feed we only made it about 100 yards down the road before deciding a relaxing pint would help with the digestion process. I've been in this boxing theme (the name is nothing to do with Lord of the Rings) before and quite liked its simpleness. The beer selection is reasonable but of all the beers I've tried here I've always had the same beer elsewhere much better. We tried the Sharp's Doom Bar but I'd go for the Jennings Bitter which was nice and creamy but just not a touch on what it's like in lake district.

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Sicknote

2010-02-23T20:22:00.011Z

I've put off writing this entry for quite a long time because of what happened that night or to be exact what happened in the middle of the following night...

Star of Bethnal Green, Bethnal Green, London, E2 6LG

This was recommended by a friend because it was an old student haunt for him and his future wife, and it had certainly managed to keep that kind of feel even though Bethnal Green is quite a different place now. I liked the scruffy and haphazard feel to the interior because it felt like that was just the way it was and hadn't been designed to look shabby-chic, I doubt you'd get many pubs also with tables quite as big as they are here and it makes for really social environment when there is a few of you. There is no excuse for having such a poor beer selection as this place has and I felt like I had no option but to go for the Westons Stowford Press cider but this wasn't up to much either. Left thinking what a good pub this could be if a little bit more care was taken.

Gourmet San, Bethnal Green, E2 6AH

A big group of us went here and this meant we got a private room upstairs all to ourselves, the building itself was very scruffy and the waiting staff extremely friendly and informative. I can't actually really go into much detail about the food because of what happens to me when I think about it, but here are my brief notes on what we ate; Pigs trotters (very gelatinous), boiled crab, breaded deep fried crab, Duck stew (whole garlic), special fried rise, egg fried soup.

We ate, drank rubbish wine and left.

Casa Blue, Shoreditch, E2 6DG

This is a small bar right at the top of Brick Lane so was only short distance from where we ate. You are served at your table so not tipping would look bad. You have the choice when ordering cocktails to have them served in massive fishbowls and we couldn't resist this and considering the size of the bowls I thought £28 was a reasonable price though not everybody agreed with me. We only tried the caipirinha and the mojito's but these were excellently done and I'm quite fussy with my cocktails after spending years making them at home with my ex, I'd go back here definitely.

But....

The night didn't end there for me, I was abruptly awakened at about 5am with what could be described as acute discomfort. I'm not going to go into any specific details but I when I returned to work a week later after making acquaintance with the local Hackney hospital I was still a little perky to say the least. It seems like it was the crab which did me in but nobody else I was with had any ill effects luckily, anyway I won't be visiting Gourmet San again, ever.

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Unruly Britannia

2010-02-19T15:00:00.004Z

Britannia, City of London, EC3R 8AJ

I think the way to describe the Brit is a basically as a pub which is slightly cheaper than all the pubs which surround it. The beer is flat and uninteresting and alway makes me turn instantly to Guinness because it'd take a total moron to ruin that totally. I've eaten here before but would recommend this is to be avoided unless you like 'Ultimate Burger's' using frozen burgers and bread which makes McDonald's look like a master french boulangerie. But if you stick with Guinness at £3 a pint it's bearable and cheaper than anyway else near here.

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Turkish Meze in Angel

2010-02-18T22:13:00.008Z

Gem, Angel, London, N1 2UQ

A good ten minute walk east on Upper Street from Angel tube station; Gem is particularly un-Turkish and unassuming looking from the outside, inside the menu is everything you'd expect from the region. I actually quite like the fact that its not done up like some mock harem, its just a laid back and simple looking restaurant. We opted for the set menu b which at £13.95 per person seemed like a good deal.

Selection of 6 cold, 3 hot starters (meze) to share

I thought this was a very well portioned meze starter, the dishes included; Cacik, Iispanak Tarator, Patates Salatasi, Tarama Salata, Muska Boregi and Falafel. The feta cheese filled pastry that is Muska Boregi was especially nice and went really well with the yogurt cacik and beautifully puffed up bread.

Beyti

Beyti is a spicier version of the traditional adana lamb kebab, lamb is by far my favourite barbecue meet because of the juicy fat which stops it from drying out. For me the spice could have been upped a notch but this wouldn't have mattered if the harissa that was served with it had more of kick. It was really good but not as good as the starters in quality and flavour.

We had a nice bottle of Argentinian Malbec which was again excellent value at under £14, the price combined with the quick and effective service made for an excellent meal before we headed back up the road to cinema to watch the blue people in 3D.

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Go to The Winchester and wait for all of this to blow over

2010-02-17T10:00:00.001Z

The Winchester, Angel, London, N1 8LN

I quite like the Winchester but this is probably only the fourth time I've been here since I first visited for a friends birthday 3 years ago. It seems to have chilled out a bit in that time and become a bit more grown up and just better.

Being valentines day and just meeting a friend I was so relieved when the only thing different than normal they were doing was a ladies only cocktail party downstairs, upstairs it was just right for quiet Sunday and I found a table straight away. I had a pint of the Portuguese beer Sagres while waiting which was nice but unremarkable, after finishing our first drink we decided to give the Sunday lunch a go even though not planned to eat anything.

Rolled leg of lamb with roast new potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, carrot and parsnip

Nicely presented with the Yorkshire pudding on top of the meat and full to brim with gravy, when cut into the gravy ratio was spot on, I do like a lot of gravy with my Sunday dinner. The lamb and everything else was cooked well, my only gripe - well my only two gripes were the Yorkshire pudding which I'm sure Aunt Bessie had a hand in and the mint sauce which seemed to have been left under a hot lamp for too long so had a crust on top.

I'd say the dinner was just above average but what made it was the value the meal offered, the Sunday dinner was 2 for 1 and with a decent selection of wines for about £15 a bottle it cost less than £30 for two of us with wine, I thought we'd got a total bargain and on Valentines days too!

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White Mischief Cabaret

2010-02-10T20:43:00.016Z

Proud Cabaret, City of London, EC3R 7AH

Hidden in the cellars of the hugely impressive modern gothic building on Mark Lane it has a nice intimate private members club feel as you wander down the dark stairway. When you get to the bottom it opens up into an old speakeasy style bar along with round dining tables facing the small corner stage, there was larger booth seating makes up the edges of the dining area - I liked the old 1920's feel, what I imagine the characters in Goodfellows were use to. The exculsively female waiting staff were styled to match the interior, all with subtle variations on the theme.
You have a choice of two menus to choose from; the cheaper one at £38 and the more expensive one at £48 - why they choose to do this is beyond me really as each menu has at least 4 starters, 4 mains and 4 deserts to pick from, so you'd have a large-ish Ala Carte menu with 8 choices per course. We wanted to pick a starter from the cheaper menu and a main from the more expensive, this wasn't a problem but of course you just end up paying for the more expensive menu - am I missing something because i just don't get the point of it? Also with the desert being part of the menu you are asked to order this when placing starter and main order, again seemed a bit odd but with my massively varied desert palate "Can I have the cheese please" - it didn't make a difference.

Carpaccio of beef, fois grai and beef tartare, balsamic mayonnaise

Extremely thin slivers of vibrant red carpaccio worked well with the cube of steak tartare which had a generous paprika topping to add spice. I really liked it and felt the addition of fois grai was an ingredient too far for what is a simple dish at heart, maybe the quality of the fois grai was a slight issue but it didn't take away for my enjoyment.

Wild Rabbit and salsify terrine, pickled walnut and celeriac

Beautifully pressed white rabbit flesh made it worth straying from the expensive menu and it honesty sounded much more appealing than most of the other starters on offer. If I was to go back I'd probably have this dish to start, very good.

Tobacco and orange, truffle honey roast duck

I was intrigued to try this after hearing my brother talk about using tobacco in a restaurant he worked at and how good it was. The tobacco flavour was subtler than I imagined and I felt the strong duck flavour could have taken a bit more of it, where the truffle was I really didn't know but the honey glaze on the crispy skin was superb and contrasted the perfectly pink meat.

Neal's yard daily cheese selection and oatcakes

Good quality Neal's Yard cheeses served exactly at room temperature meant I was a very happy man. I'd forgotten how a good Leicester not served cold could be and Neal's Yards goats cheese rarely disappoint. Actually the quince jelly didn't even taste of quince to me and I ended up opted for the cheese by itself. A very easy cheese course to serve but all the same it was executed well.

La Chamiza ‘Polo Amateur’ Malbec 2008, Mendoza, Argentina

This wine was a perfect match for the steak tartare and more surprisingly for the rabbit too, while with the duck they seemed to cancel each other out, I wasn't expecting this and can't explain the reason. I'd certainly buy this wine again especially to go with beef.

Being a cabaret there was various entertaining acts for the course of the evening, if you're going to go here though I wouldn't book a table until half eight at the earliest as the acts start later than expected. A fire breathing burlesque lady opened and was followed by an acrobat and what could only be described as a sadomasochist - very funny though. The highlight by a mile was the German oompah brass band playing pop tunes from last twenty years, just brilliant fun.

As we'd finished our meal and wanted to watch the rest of the show we had a couple of post dinner cocktails. For me it's a bold move to have a Sazerac as the first cocktail on your menu as I know how easy it is to cock-up having done it many times myself, but my hope when ordering it was rewarded with the washed absinthe background flavour just poking through enough to compliment the whiskey and numerous bitters, really finished off the evening well. I'd go back to Proud Cabaret but I won't be rushing back to eat there, it was very good food but expensive and even though I'd pay more for a meal elsewhere I never felt I was getting amazing value.

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Super Sunday Leeds United

2010-02-03T08:00:00.001Z

The Albion, Bethnal Green, E2 8QY

Who would've thought I'd end up watching the Leeds vs Tottenham FA cup game in a West Bromwich Albion pub in East London. I'd searched this place out as wanted to watch the game in non-chain pub and not be surrounded by prats downing pints of Fosters.
It's hard not to notice the place walking past with its Albion colours and badges everywhere, I was immediately served and found a good spot for the game while I waited for my friend to arrive.
The beer selection was minimal but a couple of cask ales available including Timothy Taylor's Landlord which I opted for and it was good for a London pint of Landlord - cynical Yorkshire man coming through.Being a down to earth pub near Bethnal Green there were plenty of slightly stereotypical cockneys who seemed more interested in having competitions with their mates about who could get the most 'c' words in a single sentence. Rather than detracting from my enjoyment this heighten it when Leeds equalised in the last minute of extra time and they all gave a little lacklustre and resigned 'fucking Leeds scum' and promptly left - perhaps I might have overdone my celebration a little without acknowledging they were directly behind me, but it sure made my Sunday.

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Bath & Blue

2010-01-21T21:21:00.014Z

Green Park brasserie & bar, Bath, BA1 1JB

Only a five minute walk from the amazingly old Roman baths this brasserie is set in the old Green Park train station. Inside it has raised seating along either side of the bar and main dinner area areas and this breaks the room up nicely without making it seem too expansive. The service was nice and relaxed but this may have been mainly due to the snow outside seeming to keep it relatively quiet inside. This actually suited us really well as with a jazz band playing we wanted to eat slowly and enjoy the whole evening here, which we duly did with a couple bottles of red.

Seared Scallops with White Pudding and Celeriac Puree

The scallops were nicely cooked but a tad over for me and the white pudding was a good effort at something a little different than the usual black pudding. But then again white puddings just don't hold the same depth of flavour as a good black pudding and just remind you what you're missing. The celeriac puree was nice if under seasoned and overall it was a nice starter.

Beef Satay Skewers with a Soy and Lime Dipping Sauce

Beef wouldn't be my first choice for this type of dish but the skewers retained some succulence and wasn't as dry as I'd worried. The dipping sauce was just ok really; no particular bite from lime or chilli, definitely needed some depth and kick.

Spiced Rack of Lamb with Aubergine Tabouleh Salad

Nicely moist the meat was very neatly prepared, the flavour was succulent lamb and the spice didn't take away from that. Actually the spice on the meat didn't really add much and if anything I'd have liked it to be more heavily spiced to go with Tabouleh, which was a nice accompaniment to the meat.

Grilled Fillet of Brill with Stirfried Spinach, Fennel and Coriander

I went for the only fish dish available for main course and wasn't disappointed, the quality of the fish was a little surprises and it benefited from the simple grilling. The fennel and coriander flavours worked in quite a subtle way. It's hard not to please me with basic spinach as I just love the stuff, this was nice but faded from memory quickly.Feeling hungry we also had side dishes of Dauphinoise Potatoes and Maple Syrup Roasted Carrots and Squash. I feel a lot people wouldn't have enjoyed the lavishly creamy dauphonoise as much as me but on the flip side the carrots and squash felt satisfyingly healthy enough for me to finish the potatoes.

Selection of Fine Local Cheeses, Wife of Bath, Bath Breeze, Bath Blue and Worthy Farm Mature Cheddar with Homemade Chutney
A bold statement in the use of 'fine' meant I was never going to turn down the opportunity to sample the cheese board. The menu recommended a glass of port which we didn't hesitate it ordering also, although I didn't hesitate also in forgetting its name. I asked the waiter to delay bringing it to us for at least twenty minutes as we were feeling little full from the mains, this was no trouble whatsoever and twenty minutes later the Port and cheeses arrived. The Port was lovely and complimented the cheeses very well, but it would have taken a bad one to detract from the awesome cheeses. Seriously I haven't enjoyed a simple English cheese board this much for a long time, standing out was the Bath blue and superbly creamy Wife of Bath. I'm positive that I was being prejudiced by the fact they were local regional cheeses but I kind of think that's the point isn't it? The chutney was a nice one but the cheeses were what stuck in my mind more than anything.

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In need of a Bath (Ale)

2010-01-20T14:38:00.014Z

The Salamander, Bath, BA1 2JL

Tucked down a tiny road in historic Bath this was a real find as it's a Bath Ales pub and didn't disappoint on our lunchtime visit. Freezing cold outside it was warm enough just about inside after we moved away for the ghostly draft by the bar. The beers were primarily Bath Ales own as you'd expect and I opted for the Golden hare, this was a light ale, very moreish and had medium hopping - an excellent golden light ale. My friend decided to try their cider instead of beer, the Bounder Cider was superb and refreshing, better than nearly any cider you'll see in most pubs but I suppose we were in Somerset so should expect that.

To go with the food we had ordered and fancying something a bit more wintery I went for a pint of the medium dark Barnstormer ale contrary to fact I had ordered fish. The Barnstormer had rich caramel and treacle undertones and it wasn't as bitter as you'd expect but this was an extremely good thing, much nicer than I imagined and will make me try more dark ales, at least until I get a rubbish one again.

Toad in the hole, organic pork & herb sausages with onion gravy and crispy fried roots
Crunchy on top and fluffy in the middle this enormous monster toad in the hole looked so rustic as it grew out of the dish it was served in. The crispy roots which seemed to be carrot with a bit of parsnip were nicer on the eyes than the tongue but the real stars were the fat and juicy sausages which had a great meat to fat mix inside and therefore retained so much moisture. A hell of a lot of pudding to eat though for one person, but a lovely warming meal.

Pan roasted Cod fillet with a chorizo & butterbean ratatouille

This was on the menu as being made with Hake but today had been replaced by cod, after not eating cod for quite a while through over fishing guilt I thought I'd have anyway. The cod was very nicely cooked in butter to keep it from drying out. The classic Spanish combination of white fish and chorizo is a no brainer really but this was executed very well and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole dish. The hearty portion meant desert was a no-no and I though the best was way to let it settle was with another Bath Ales pint, this time I tried the 3.7 percent Spa ale; a light bitter ale, quite heavily hopped, bitterish aftertaste and it definitely tasted stronger than its percentage.

A small pub serving excellent local beers and quality appealing food - it's so simple really and I loved it for a lazy Saturday lunch.

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London Fields full of Belgian Beers

2010-01-04T11:53:00.011Z

Prince George, London Fields, E8 3AG

Just around the corner from my flat we popped in here on our way to the nearby Prince Arthur because started feeling the cold and fancied a beer. Having never been in here I was quite impressed by the small selection of draught beers which included a Fuller's range and the drinking pub vibe due to their only food being crisps and nuts. I went for the Fuller's Discovery blonde beer first up and this was very refreshing, I then tried a pint of HSB from George Gale Co Ltd Brewery - this was a fresh tasting bitter, nice but not really the type of beer I really like. On draught we also tried Aspinals Suffolk cider (a typical fizzy cider but better than Strongbow) and Fuller's Honey Dew (mild honey undertones and sweetness - I'd like to try in the summer)

The Prince Arthur, London Fields, E8 3BH

We wanted to eat here but on enquiring were told that they were understaffed in the kitchen because of the time of year - this sounded odd to me. We didn't stay for a drink therefore as we wanted to eat but will probably try to come back at some point that's if the staff turn up.

The Dove, Broadway Market, E8 4QJ

We headed to Broadway Market to find somewhere else to eat and decided to try the food here which I'd heard was good. I knew they specialised in Belgian beers but was nearly knocked down by the size of the beer menu, literally hundreds of different types from different regions including some lambic. I opted for a Bruges Triple which at 9% was surprisingly smooth and light bodied, it had a nice subtle spiciness and I could have ordered another one straight away had it not been for the huge choice in front of me.

Steak and Kidney Pie topped with puff pastry and served with garlic mash and French beans

The pie was served in a dish with a disc of puff pastry resting on top, the meat in the filling was very tender and cooked obviously slowly over reasonable time. I failed to notice any kidney in the filling but this wasn't much of a problem for such a robust homely dish. On the cold January evening this was exactly what was needed. The three of us then decided to share a cheese board which had a recommended beer match in Mort Subite Fond Gueuze - this 7% lambic beer was beautifully sour with a ruby like colour, I was actually surprised how the sourness of the beer worked similarly to Port with cheese and cleansed the palate with it's strength. It also carried quite a high fizz but this gave it a cider like quality rather than over fizzy lager. The cheeses were all traditional English ones such as Wensleydale and Cheddar - nothing special or interesting really.

I now feel lucky to have a pub like the Dove so close to my flat, the selection of belgian beers all served in their own glasses is truly amazing, if there wasn't so many places I want to go try then I'd be in here far too often working my way through the beer menu.

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Trendy haircuts galore

2010-01-04T11:19:00.005Z

Dalston Superstore, Dalston, E8 2PB

Situated on Kingsland Road this is one of the supposedly trendiest bars in east London at the moment, seems it is really an extension of the Shoreditch independent bar scene moving further north. We got there just as it was beginning to fill up and by 10:30pm it was heaving with people queuing to get in, I wasn't really expecting it to be this busy on the Saturday just two days after new years eve and I don't think they did either because the downstairs bar remained closed. They have a good selection of spirits but the beers on draught weren't much to write home about, I opted to stick with Red Stripe as didn't fancy any spirits straight away but did end up having a Jaegermeister which wasn't freezing cold enough for me. Although this place is uber-trendy I didn't find the atmosphere pretentious if anything it seemed quite friendly but not enjoying the fidgety music we decided to move on.

Passing Clouds, Dalston, E8

This is almost more of an art space than a bar and definitely worth a visit to experience this alternative bar style. Quite an odd mix of art student types with rastas due to the reggae and dub based music policy, usually they have a live reggae band playing downstairs but this wasn't open today due to time of year so only the smallish harem like bar was open. There is no draught beer and no overly corporate products like Coca-cola, we went straight onto the rum and ginger beer which at three quid for decent measure you'll probably not pay less anywhere in east london and they'll stick a dash of Angostura Bitters in too if you ask. I like this place but does seem like watered down version of dub nights I've been to in the past in Leeds, but I find the atmosphere pretty laid back and friendly.

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Lazy Saturday in Hackney

2010-01-02T14:43:00.010Z

Broadway Market, Hackney, E8

Not as many stalls here as usual due to time of year and a lot of people still being away for new year. This is an old market which has come into prominence again in last five years, it has a great selection of quality food from independent producers. I bought some big fat green olives in a tarragon and garlic marinade to eat later but couldn't resist trying a couple of things.

Mushroom sandwich with truffle oil

Two lovely slices of wholemeal bread could barely contain the vast selection of mushrooms in this. The mushrooms had parmesan shaved on top and also drizzled with truffle oil, this was all the accompaniment the fabulous mushrooms needed. Really very good but I was still hungry after finishing it.

Hog roast sandwich

With a couple of bits of pork crackling on top to entice you to the meat crammed into the floury ciabatta this really got you salivating at thought of the taste. As well as the pork the bap contained tart apple sauce and fresh peppery rocket leaves. A lot more filling than the mushroom this really hit the spot

We walked down the canal to the Pavilion Cafe in Victoria park for a quick coffee and then up to the Ginger Pig shop on Lauriston Road, as well as the butchery they have a deli downstairs. I ended up buying some anchovies, a block of parmesan and some vibrant green pesto. I also decided I wanted to make some brownies at some point in the weekend so got three packets of Sumatran 72% chocolate, expensive but will be amazing in squidgy buttery brownies.

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Christmas dinner with the folks

2009-12-25T22:23:00.003Z

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

2009-12-23T21:41:00.005Z

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

2009-12-19T15:54:00.008Z

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

2009-12-19T15:01:00.005Z

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

2009-12-19T00:22:00.009Z

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

2009-12-16T21:39:00.008Z

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

2009-12-10T21:48:00.007Z

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

2009-12-09T22:02:00.005Z

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

2009-12-05T14:05:00.012Z

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

2009-12-03T13:29:00.008Z

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

2009-12-03T00:13:00.005Z

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

2009-12-02T23:33:00.006Z

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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A meat feast overload in Hackney

2009-11-28T20:12:00.024Z

First blog entry for Tales of the Undigested, enjoy and digest the contents.....

Pub on the Park, London Fields, Hackney E8 3PE

Sitting in the top right corner of London Fields its an ideally situated pub for the Hackney locals but seems to be missing the point a little, no real atmosphere, staff bit un-bothered and just doesn't really seem to offer much without summer opening up the big terrace leading to the park. Most interesting thing was slightly wired drummer talking to me in bogs after he'd put Enya followed by The Who on jukebox - interesting choice...

Buen Ayre, Broadway Market, Hackney E8 4QJ

Buen Ayre is in the middle of the narrow streets of Broadway Market in Hackney, its an Argentina Grill restaurant that's had terrific reviews especially from Time Out.

Only small (25-30 covers) they use two sittings per table so should be pulling 50 covers on a weekend night if they fill the early slots, but the chance of getting a table without booking on weekend are slim, we luckily managed to book table earlier the same day.

The atmosphere is busy but relaxed, suiting the narrow room with tables very close to each other, this didn't seem intrusive though because of the bustle of the place.

We weren't going to have starters (knowing the amount of main course we'd be faced with) but two starters really sung to me so I thought what hell its my first blog food night (good excuse eh?) and both only £4.50.

Lengua a la vinagreta - Sliced marinated ox tongue

Really wanted to try the Argentinian take on ox tongue, it was served sliced and covered with the marinade. The vinegar marinade was superbly sharp and cut straight through the strong taste of the tongue, which just simply melted in you mouth much more than I thought it possibly could. Wouldn't have thought about a strong vinegar marinade much before but it hit the spot amazingly well.

Jamón con palmitos y salsa golf - Serrano ham with palm hearts and mayo sauce

It was the palm hearts that got me interested in this dish. The hearts seemed from a tin but the blandish taste of them kinda worked with the dark Serrano and the sharp homemade mayo, good but other starter blew it away for me.

Had bit of issue with ordering main course, first there wasn't any rib-eye steak left (my favourite beef steak cut) and after changing that to sweetbreads we were told that had run out too. Fair play though because our Brazilian waitress was very apologetic and offered to upgrade main platter to 2 140z sirloins for no extra charge as replacement for rib-eye, eventually decided to go with this.

Parrillada Deluxe - 14oz prime Argentine Sirloin steak + 11oz grilled Argentine Rib-eye steak, 2 Argentine-style pork sausages + black pudding + provolone cheese

Yep that's a hell of a lot of meat to share between two! The sirloin was thickly cut and cooked medium-rare absolutely perfectly on the grill, possibly nicest steak I've ever eaten but couldn't help think of extra flavour the rib-eye would've had. Black pudding didn't have the same powerful taste of the British made but probably more approachable for the 'ergh blood' people. I feel you'd eat a steak or sausage with little else but a black pudding needs to be a part of lots of different layers of flavours to really shine. Good meaty sausages, quite a course cut but tender meat inside - they were good but not same wow as the steaks, they did work with cheese. The provolone cheese is served on the platter hot plate, although a hard cheese it melts in superb mozzarella style but produces such a deeper more mature flavour. As you could expect we struggled to finish it all especially after we'd munched on the fantastic thick cut chips served with a garlic and parsley butter as a frivolous side order - I was little annoyed that I was so full of meat I couldn't finish the chips.

A doggy bag was offered and gladly excepted, likely a regular occurrence for non-Argentinian carnivorous customers.

We choose an Argentinian 2006 Norton Privada Merlot-based red to drink, it was an excellent match to the strong beef flavours, elsewhere it would have seemed extremely heavy but with the steak and ox tongue the liquorice undertones pushed there way through and worked well, would buy again but only if eating beef and maybe venison.

My only slight annoyance was the fact that most of the tables seemed to get an after dinner shot of some type of Argentinian liqueur and we didn't! Small thing really but these things stick in your mind and suppose added to my slight doubts about the possibly overly relaxed service.

Overall it was a fantastic meal which delivered on what you'd expect - quality thick steaks, robust wine and bit of a buzz. Could have easily eaten and drank for less than the £100 we spent - actually I recommend just getting a steak and the delectable chips and a cheap bottle of Malbec - you'd enjoy it nearly as much for a lot less. Saying that... as good as the steaks were; it was the ox tongue which stood out and what I think I'd like to see elsewhere with a bit of a twist, whether other people would order it is another thing.

I'd love to hear your opinions of this blog entry, if you've been to any of places I talk about let me know if you agree/disagree with things I've written.

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