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Showing posts from 2013

The Underground Supper Club

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Having spent the day pedaling round London on a beer bus , what better way to end the day than to have dinner aboard an old Victoria line tube? The Underground Supper Club is the creation of Basement Galley originally set-up by Alex and Tom in a flat in Brixton as a way of making a little extra money and to create a sociable environment to fuel conversation and feed hungry appetites. Since then they have now progressed to hosting a 6-7 course tasting menu aboard a decommissioned Victoria line tube carriage within Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum.  In keeping with the Underground theme, the menu is presented within "service information" with each tube line colour representing a course on the menu. After a quick briefing and introduction by Alex and Tom, we take our seats on board.  Seated and ready to start our edible journey we were served an appetiser or "amuse bouche" of a medjool date confit served on smokey squash, shortly followed by a smoked

A lovely little bit of Greek

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OK, so may be not a little bit. A whole lot of Greek, with some satin drapes and an attentive, friendly waiter thrown in. Let's be honest, you think of Greek food: olives, hummous, halloumi... and you think healthy right? But the fact of the matter is, Greek food was made for sharing, but sharing in the sense that you order as many different types of dishes as possible to have a taste of everything and then once it's all in front of you, no matter how much you say to yourself that you're only going to try a little bit of everything you end up stuffing it all in your face. And I definitely did. And where did I feast? At a Greek restaurant less than 5 minutes walk from Camden Town tube station called Andy's Taverna . The outside decor of this little Greek restaurant is a pleasant white wash of walls with blue shutters encased by decorative railings. In fact on the day that I visited the weather was so hot you could be mistaken for actually being in Greece. Walk

The Perils of Groupon

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The invention of the various discount dining websites means that now more people are able to dine in restaurants that otherwise they may have drooled at from the window outside (I swear I don't do this). I have used many of these discount websites with varying degrees of success.  Top Table  I think is perfect for the "on the night choice",  Tastecard  for planned meet-ups with friends and then there's  Groupon  where you often buy months in advance and sometimes forget about your voucher, or as someone I knew once did, fail to read the small print and realise that the voucher is for one person only... ahem, you know who you are. So where has Groupon taken me? I think before I spiel into the less than satisfactory experiences of Groupon, I should at least start with a positive. That positive is Kyashii , a Japanese restaurant placed in the centre of a fish bowl in Covent Garden. OK, so not actually in a fish bowl, but you are surrounded by fish tanks whilst you f

You had me with the olives.

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Not many restaurants you can say you'd be happy with just the bread and olives, but Barbecoa , I salute you! Barbecoa is Jamie Oliver's steak and barbecue restaurant overlooking St Paul's cathedral, which if it wasn't for it's truly amazing beastly olives, buttery breads, and a boyfriend willing to treat me on my birthday by ordering the mouth watering tender chateaubriand, then I'd probably not be starting on such a positive note! Not to seem fickle, as I could just say how amazing the food was, and true the bread and olives were just beautiful, which it should be paying those sorts of prices, but good food alone isn't enough for me. So I'll just get this out of the way... On arrival we were greeted by a man with a headset which had clearly given him some sort of self importance making him forget basic customer service skills, and then proceeded to tell us our table wasn't ready, but not in an apologetic sort of way. In a sort of well we are

Crispy Pan Fried Sea Bass with Chilli, Coriander & Ginger

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This recipe is really simple and once you've cooked this version, it's really easy to adapt the recipe to use different kinds of meat and fish. Ingredients (serves 2): 2 sea bass fillets 4 savoy cabbage leaves, sliced into strips 1 red chilli, sliced 1 inch ginger, cut into small sticks 2 spring onions, sliced lengthways 1 clove of garlic, crushed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp honey For the rice... 1 cup rice 2 cups water 1 tsp sushi vinegar A couple of sprigs of coriander 1 spring onion, cut into discs A sprinkling of sesame seeds 1. To make the perfect rice, place the rice and water into a saucepan with a lid, then cook as per the time given on the pack, on a medium heat avoiding lifting the lid off until time is complete. In theory, you should have enough water in the pan to let it simmer for the set time without burning the rice producing lovely fluffy not overcooked rice. 2. Whilst the rice is cooking, heat 1 tbsp of oil

Chicken & Lemon Tagine with Lemon & Coriander Couscous

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Before visiting Marrakech, I always thought that the typical tagine was made using lamb. In actual fact the most common tagine I came across was made using chicken, in particular chicken and lemon tagine. Since coming back from Marrakech I have made this dish time and time again and think I have finally perfected it and now even have a tagine pot to cook it all in! Like any casserole, once all the prep is done you let the time in the oven to really intensify the flavour and produce meat that just falls off the bone. Simple, but  delicious ! Ingredients (serves 2): For the tagine... Chicken thighs and wings (2-3 per person) Large knob of butter 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed 1 inch root ginger, grated or finely chopped 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp saffron 1 tsp ras-el-hanout (you made need to hunt this one down - I bought mine in Marrakech!) 1 lemon, both lemon zest and juice 1 tbsp honey 1/2 pint of chicken sto

A burger so good, I've already been for seconds!

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If I was a well known blogger, I'd probably ditch the long blog and just simply say... OMG THIS WAS THE BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD. End of. But I feel I may have to earn your trust first, so if you're not convinced by that, I will share with you my experience... For most foodies in London, you will no doubt have heard of Brixton Village. A collection of pop-up shops with market stalls selling fresh produce and rather unusual looking vegetables during the day. In the evening Brixtonites and food tourists gather to the many restaurants from Mama Lan serving a small selection of Bejing street food, to the original Franco Manca , a very well know and raved about pizza place. I however only had one place on my mind: Bukowski Grill . Mainly for one reason and one reason only which was for their burgers. I have to say I was tempted by what else was offered on the menu including grilled pork back ribs and Chicano pulled pork... but I just love a burger and my luck was in. It jus

Deviate from the norm, you might surprise yourself!

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Growing up in a village in Somerset, restaurants were a few and most of the nearby towns only had Italian chains, Indians, Chinese and a Weatherspoon. And still with this limited choice you always had the same Indian or Chinese that you went to, and very rarely deviated from the norm. Since moving to London although I am presented with so much choice, I still have my favourite Indian:   Tayyabs in Whitechapel - check it out!!! However I have yet to find a Chinese restaurant to be loyal to. So when told of a restaurant in the nearby unsightly Elephant and Castle that even Jay Rayner sings its praise, who was I to say no? It's true, Elephant and Castle is extremely run down and opposite this restaurant in question stands several ex-council buildings completely boarded up bar the odd tenants who still refuse to leave. Whilst a bit of an eye sore on one side of the road, on the other there stands a bright red door guarded by two dragons: very in your face and perhaps out of pla

Get yourself down to your local!

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Personal touches go along way in my books when it comes to serving your customers. Dining out isn't just about the food, it's about the experience. This is more often than not lost when it comes to many of the big restaurant chains, which is why it is always great to try out your local restaurants. Having recently moved to another area of South London, there was one little place which clearly stood out: Bar Lenuccia . Set on the corner of Camberwell New road and Vassall road in an old pub, this pizzeria seemed a little out of place among the kebab shops and builder's cafes, yet it seemed friendly and inviting and a shame not to try it out given it was just around the corner! So for my housemates birthday and 14 tummies needing to be fed with no where booked, it was decided that we would give our local a try. When we arrived they had clearly made an effort and put up balloons and banners around our table. A simple and welcoming touch which was even more appreciate