The Elk in the Woods

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

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

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

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

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

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Steak Hache

Hache, Camden Town, London, NW1 7HJ

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

Le Mexican Burger, Steak Blue Cheese Burger and Frittes

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

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A bit of S&M

69 Colebrooke Row, Angel, London, N1 8AA

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

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

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

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

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

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A Garden in East London

East Garden, Dalston, London

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

Chicken balls, prawn toast and prawn crackers

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

House special noodles

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

Chef’s chilli beef noodles

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

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

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Angel in York

The York, Angel, London, N1 8EQ

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

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