This Mex is on Fire

La Bodega Negra @BodegaNegra 
9 Old Compton Street, London, W1T 6JF

Standing outside La Bodega Negra, where the words ''Adult Video'' and ''Peep Show'' are emblazoned in bright red neon on the windows, you almost have to check twice you've got the right place. But fortune favours the brave, and once you go down the unassuming stairway, the cellar opens up to reveal a lively space. I really loved the atmosphere and decor of the place. A macabre blend of SoHo, NYC (where the original branch is located) and Soho, London, it has a kind of Bohemian Day of the Dead feel, which matches the modern Mexican tapas menu.

Lamb Tacos

Flat Iron

Flat Iron

17 Beak st, Soho

UPDATE:  Flat Iron is back with a vengeance now in Soho. Months on from their pop-up at the Owl & pussycat back  in August (read below) Flat Iron now have their own permanent set up, and what's more prices have remained the same. Still unbeatable value, and things have got better these chips are probably some of the best I've had in London. It's not a massive place, with under 30 seats, so expect a queue at peak times. 

As well as the dinning area there is a cocktail area downstairs, so even if you have to wait, it won't be out in the cold. Be sure to try their 'off-menu' doughnuts which were a treat for us for one of my friends birthdays, an unexpected but lovely suprise, on this point the FOH are brilliant. I can see me going here time and time again. It's hard to get bored of steak and chips especially this good and this cheap.

This.Is.Burger.Wars...Let battle commence

To the dread of all colonoscopists, London's love affair with the humble burger shows no signs of abating, instead increasing at an exponential rate. This week saw the opening of 4 new central burger joints of Patty & Bun, Byron Burger (Store Street), and new boys on the scene Burger & Shake, and BRGR.CO Soho. We went to all 4...I need a lie down now.

Hawksmoor (& more)

Hawksmoor Air Street
5a Air Street, London, W1J 0AD

Hawksmoor have really put Steakhouses in London back on the map. Their success with there 3 other enterprises have justified this huge new restaurant in air street that spans most of the Reagent's Street, knowing that they are going to have no problems filling it. This really is in the heart of tourist London, but like the Seven Dials restaurant, despite location, the entrance is subtle with heavy doors. Only those steak worthy may enter. Unlike the other Hawksmoors, they've tried to split this between steak and fish, having teamed up with Mitch Tonks of the Seahorse. The ultimate surf 'n' turf?

This is Pho you

Pho 
48 Brushfield Street

In need of a quick, healthy and filling lunch, Vietnamese is ideal. While the hub of most traditional vietnamese restaurants can be found in Kingsland Rd, it's is a bit out of the way (for us). For a working lunch, we were invited to Pho, their latest opening in Spitafields. Pho has been around since 2005 and has 6 restaurants in London now, and set up by an inspired British couple their mini empire has grown. Clearly they are doing something right, it was packed out on a Thursday lunchtime, hardly a table to spare. Right near liverpool street station, this really is an ideal location.

Salt of the Earth

John Salt @John__Salt
131 Upper Street Islington, N1 1QP

The newly open John Salt in Islington is home to a 6 month residency of Ben Spalding, formly head chef at Roganic. Despite only just opening, it's already booked out until January, so get in quick before the queue gets longer. No doubt this is due to the hype surrounding Ben after the success of Strippedback, and a few other events he's done since leaving Roganic. I've been to Strippedback a few times, and really enjoyed it. I was excited at the prospect of what could be done with a proper kitchen and team behind him, had I set the expectation bar too high? In a word, no.

What instantly hits about the John Salt is that not only are they concentrating on creating great dishes, but for good value. Wider accessibility to good food is important and £28 is value for the 4 courses (more like 7 with all the extras), but if that is too much for some their bar food all dishes are under a tenner. Now pass the salt...

Chicken Shop - On a wing and a prayer

Chicken Shop
79 Highgate Rd, Kentish Town

Chicken Shop is one of 3 Soho House Group food places to invade Kentish Town, just up the road from the forum, alongside Dirty Burger and Pizza East. The entrance is very minimalist to say the least, no sign on the door, just a 'Chicken Shop' bag attached to the handle. Walking downstairs there was a wonderful aroma of chicken and chatter from a full house, even at 10pm. Inside is a candle lit 50 style diner with food served in tin camping style dishes. I'd heard a few good things about this place from some other locals, so was looking forward to some chicken 'n' chips. As with most new London restaurants, it's no reservations, so if you are going  The Vine is nearby if you have to wait a while.

Hellfire halloween at Ben's Canteen with Noshable

Halloween Dinner party - Ben's Canteen - A Noshable Event

140 St. John's Hill, Clapham

For this Halloween, Noshable, known for his previous american themed events, had organised a dinner party with the promise of suicide wings, Cuban Ropa Vieja and Pumpkin Pie. It was time for a hellish night, and with Judas is scary hot (iscariot) sauce supplied from Ribman made from naga chillis, one of the hottest on the planet, things were definitely due to heat up. 

Cooking with Olives II: Olive Hash Browns

Olive Hash Browns

This is the second of our olive-based recipes, and this time I've gone with a combination with potato as again I thought the starchy, creamy potato flavours would go well with the salty, anise-tinged black olives. I've seen recipes for olive mash before, so I thought I'd take a slightly different spin and go for a hash brown.

This recipe was created using black olives from Fragata, which they kindly provided for me along with some other great ingredients. Fragata are currently running a promotion in order to win a chance to cook with the one and only Jose Pizarro! If you're interested in entering the competition, please click here. The second recipe contains piri piri peppers, which were also kindly provided by Fragata!

Cinnamon Club with Eric Chavot

Cinnamon Club

30-32 Great Smith Street

Yet again, I've managed to be the lucky beneficiary of a free meal courtesy of some promotion or another on twitter. Yes, I'm a jammy ****, but you gotta be in it to win it, heed my advice and keep your eyes on the prize, especially during a time like London restaurant festival. 

This was a Amex LRF event called 'Kitchen influentials' with Vivek Singh, of the Cinnamon Club, and Eric Chavot, who was head chef at the Capital hotel restaurant when it claimed it's 2 michelin stars (and subsequently lost, when he left). So with this pedigree I was eagerly anticipating their preset menu, what french influences would Chavot add to these . However, 12.30pm on a sunday is quite early for me, and would normally only just about be contemplating breakfast, so wasn't sure how awake my stomach would be to handle a full indian!

Cucumber and mint soup with lamb seekh kebab and duck samosas

This 'Gull makes me clam up

Bonnie Gull @Bonnie Gull
21A Foley Street

Yet another pop-up to go permanent, this time in the guise of Bonnie Gull, who previously were seen as the Seafood Shack in hackney, and after a couple of projects they are now in this set up in Fitzrovia. All their seafood is British, and responsibly sourced. It will change every day depending on what's fresh, I suppose we'll wait and see if some things will be more regular than others. Reasonably priced, great seafood restaurants are hard to come by in London, but this place certainly fits the bill. 

You make me wanna breakout

Burger Breakout @ The Old Crown 

33  New Oxford Street, WC1A 1BH

3 months after his successful Pop-up at Chad's Place (see here), Dave Ahern is back with a permanent, and even more adventurous, venture in the heart of London, a stone's throw from the British Museum. The foundation of the menu is built on those burgers at the pop up, so the whiskey beast, swine time, the Bambi Bought it, and the baa-baa baby. In addition to these are the OC burger (with Devon Long Horn patty), the camilla burger (chicken burger), and the 'I don't need your bull' veggie option. Each comes with it's own bespoke sauce befitting it's own meat. The choices don't stop there though with steak, chicken wings (10 different sauces!),... each dish has it's own unique twist, with undoubtably a lot of labour (and love) required to go into each of them

Cooking with Olives I: Monkfish with Saffron and Olive Sauce on Cous Cous

Monkfish with Saffron and Olive Sauce on Cous Cous

This is the first of my two recipes using black olives. I basically wanted to combine black olives with fish, because I think that neutral, meaty fish like monkfish is complimented so well by that salty, anise-like taste of the black olives. I also like to cook down the sauce until it's a thick paste, almost East African style so that the paprika, coarse garlic and saffron retain their characteristic fiery intensity.

This recipe was created using black olives from Fragata, which they kindly provided for me along with some other great ingredients. Fragata are currently running a promotion in order to win a chance to cook with the one and only Jose Pizarro! If you're interested in entering the competition, please click here.

Here goes:

Honestly, what you know about burgers internet?

Honest burger (@honestburgers)
4a Mead Street,

Another burger restaurant has ventured into the murky depths of central London. Honest burger have expanded their successful Brixton home to Mead St. just off Dean Street, right near to Burger & Lobster.
With MeatLiquor / Market, B&L, Tommi's burger joint, Slider Bar, not to mention those mini burgers at Opera Tavern, and a new Byron Burger popping up seemingly every month, all within walking distance; is the demand for burgers going to be saturated soon? It sure doesn't seem that way. Honest, continue the trend of a minimal menu with a choice of chicken, beef or vegetable fritter (has anyone actually tried this, surely that smell of burgers on the grill is enough to turn anyone), and the special. 

See that McDonald's over there son...don't let me see you ever go in there

The Beer Chronicles: Grimbergen (Belgium)

Grimbergen (Belgium)

This is the first article in our brand new category, where we will be reviewing beers (and perhaps other drinks too!). We're going to hopefully focus on mainly some more artisan beers, rather than the big name brands unless they have a clear brewing tradition that deserves to be highlighted.

Grimbergen is an abbey beer (not to be confused with Trappist beer) taking it's name from  what is effectively a northern suburb of Brussels. This is the location I've highlighted on the map. However, it is now produced by the Belgian Alken-Maes brewery, a large-scale producer. The original beer was established in the 11th century by St Norbert (amazing name!), the founder of the Norbertine order. The glass is a chalice with a perpendicular rim.

Burger & Lobster - No Alarms and No Surprises

Burger & Lobster (@londonlobster)
36 Dean Street, London, W1D 4PS

Well, you couldn't accuse this one of false advertising. Featuring a minimalistic menu consisting simply of burger and lobster (either whole or as a roll), the Dean Street branch is the second of the two B&L restaurants opened by the team behind the eponymous Goodman in Mayfair. Goodman is famous for boasting some of the best steaks and burgers here, but we were particularly intrigued here by the prospect of £20 lobster.

DIY Sous Vide - Salmon

According to Heston (see article) all foodies should have a sous-vide. Well I hate to burst his, no doubt elaborataly formed, bubble but not all of us have a spare £300 for a water bath, and another hundred for a (not even professional) vacuum sealer. Nevermind the fact that each of them are the size of the microwave, it's probably one of the most inconvenient gadgets you would be likely to purchase.

Sous-vide is the new standard in cooking and allows for ultimate temperature control to cook your food evenly while not overcooking the outside, also the main advantage is that if temperature is maintained it'll never overcook. No excuse for inconsistency if a restaurant uses one of these!
Help is at hand for those wanting to do sous vide at home, a few fellow foodies have been fighting the system, and have come up with some DIY methods to do your own sous vide set up. It's all very 'Blue Peter' but it does the job....just about

Professional sous-vide - Cha-ching

Opera Tavern - Pigging out at the 'Tavern

Opera Tavern @saltyardgroup
23 Catherine Street

Opera Tavern is by far my favourite restaurant in London. It's food lies in between great cuisine and indulgent sharing food. From it's marvellous mini burger, of ibérico pork and fois gras, to the incredible ibérico pressa. Yes, there is a theme in what they do well here, and it is the pork from the black footed acorn fed pigs. While, the other dishes are good these are definitely their USP. 

A Lad's Salad : Duck Salad with Fatty Croutons

I'm going for a slightly different angle on this one. So this came out of a combination of wanting to empty out some ingredients from my fridge left-over from the lab barbecue and wanting to do a recipe post about salad as opposed to strictly meat and veg on the side. OK, as you can see from the photo above there is definitely an abundance of meat here, but I hope that there are enough greens here to keep your mum happy!

Bubbledogs - Blogging and dogging

Bubbledogs& @bubbledogsuk

40 Charlotte Street

Bubbledogs is the new venture by James Knappett, who has previously held stints at Noma and the Ledbury. With that kind of pedigree, this was always going to be somewhere that needed checking out. Together with his wife Sandia Chang (of Roganic fame), the menu features a combination of hot dogs and grower champagne. This seems a bit of a strange combination initially, but the place itself inside is a kind of classy, upmarket (although not necessarily in terms of prices) diner with bar seating and tongue-in-cheek illustrations of sausage dogs drinking champagne.

Food Over Canada Part I: Breakfast of Champions

So I spent the last week over in Toronto and Georgia Bay for my cousin's wedding, and thought I'd do a couple of posts about the food we ate. After all, what's a good wedding holiday without lots of delicious food? My first post is on the breakfast we had over at the Bluebird Meadows B&B in Midland, Ontario. Basically at this place, every morning there was a freshly cooked breakfast by the lovely lady who ran the hotel with her husband. Needless we all spent hours at night discussing what would be for breakfast the next morning. It was that good...

Santoré - Passion for pizza

Exmouth Market is a gem of a street with great independent restaurants like Caravan, Moro, and Santoré, and places to drink with Exmouth Arms and Cafe Kick. For my Birthday, I thought Santoré would be perfect, amazing pizza that can be ordered by the metre, so is great to share with a large group. I've been here before and the standard of their pizza is spot on, nearly comparable that I had on a recent work trip to Trieste, Italy. 

Slider bar - (Un)lucky Chip

SliderBar
Player Bar, 8 Broadwick St, W1F 8HN

For ages we had been looking forward to the opening of Slider Bar, the new venture of LuckyChip in Soho, to complement their Hackney residence at the Sebright Arms. Their opening seemed to be constantly put back and back, checking out their twitter feed they seemed to be beseeched with bad luck holding back their opening. But finally today was the day, announced only the day before on Twitter. With the Lucky Chip burgers consistently touted as one of the best burgers in London, I didn't want to miss out on this.

The Slider bar is on Broadwick St, just off Wardour Street, it is very discreet with the World's smallest sign, so keep your eyes peeled. We got there half an hour after opening, and managed to get a table for the 4 of us. The set up is quite strange downstairs half bar, half restaurant with the seats all bunched together round the perimeter. There couldn't have been more than 50 people seated.

Bring the beef

What's great about going to lots of different events is getting to meet different people. At the recent Burger Breakout, I bumped into Adam from noshable.co.uk who partners with @CornishGrill who supplied the meat for that event, and put me on their Cornish Food Club email list, where you can order some fantastic cornish produce. They have a stall on Maltby Street market (also another gem, I would have otherwise not known about) where you pick up your order from. Maltby street market is just around the corner from London Bridge, unfortunately when I went I did not have much time to check everything out, but I'll be back. From their stall they also have a BBQ going with amazingly priced steaks and whole lobster (incredibly fresh from Devon)

If cooking for yourself or others, above all is sourcing, if you get great meat and can cook to a good standard, it's going to stand out so much more than heavily farmed supermarket stuff. Obviously you expect to pay a bit more, but for special occasions it's well worth it. The Cornish Food Club get their meat from Philip Warren Butchers, which also supplies Michelin starred restaurants, and even Pitt Cue Co.

Tonkotsu - Another mean eat on Dean Street

Tonkotsu

63 Dean Street, London, W1D 4QG

Today I'm again reviewing a new Dean/Frith Street restaurant. I promise that there'll be some geographical variation in the future! Tonkotsu is a new Japanese restaurant, with a familiar concept of being a ramen bar with a sort of informal cafe atmosphere. However, there are a couple of factors that do set it apart. The first thing you notice are the big bubbling vats of stock preparing the broth for the next day's ramen. A very deliberate move to show people walking past where the food is coming from, breaking down the barrier between the dining room and the kitchen. This is supplemented by information on the menu as to the origin of the ingredients and the preparation of the meats. We're certainly moving towards the age where people are becoming very mindful of sourcing, and this can only be a good thing.

Ceviche - Pisco Fever

Ceviche
17 Frith Street, W1D 4RG

Spearheading the new wave of Peruvian food in Central London, Ceviche has taken up its spot in the newly invigorated (some would say gentrified) Dean and Frith Street in Soho. Every week there seems to be a new batch of mid-range venues being added as opposed to the traditionally pricier restaurants that have opened in the past 5 years. Always one of the most open-minded of areas in London, it's good to see some interesting new cuisines appearing in this dynamic quarter.

Let the FEASTivities begin

Situated in the quad of Guy's hospital, Feast capitalised on the growing street food market, to bring together an amalgamation of the best restaurants, pop-ups and street food vendors in London. With the likes of Hawksmoor, Moro, Jose Pizzaro,  Bread Street Kitchen, Barbecoa, Banhmi11 to name just a few(!), we certainly were not going to be left disappointed or hungry

Feast yourself

Dabbous - ''Congratulations, you've won the golden ticket!''

Dabbous
39 Whitfield Street, W1T 2SF

I've never heard that reply to a restaurant reservation before. But then, Dabbous is no ordinary restaurant. With a striking industrial interior housed in a former internet cafe (R.I.P. Cyberia!), Dabbous doesn't immediately strike you as the site of one of the most sought after reservations (April 2013 as of this post) in London. This may partially be down to the fact that there' only about 14 tables, which I would imagine would allow for something like 30 covers per night. Accordingly, the speed of service on the night was very impressive for food of that quality. Also, even though the food is easily Michelin star standard (it will undoubtably win one very soon), prices are very reasonable. £54 for the tasting menu (extra £25 for wine, £6 for a cheese platter), with mains running at about £15 makes for excellent value, I think.

Ice Cream...now with more thigh bone

Following swiftly on from our Ice Creams of London special, and before the sun disappears again behind some omnipresent rain clouds, I've knocked up a batch of some ice cream...but not as you know it!

With a dinner party coming up I felt some crazy urge to pull something extravagant out of the bag, and with the weather approaching 30 degrees (where has that got to :( ) I thought I could try something different with ice cream. Despite not actually owning, or knowing anybody, with an ice cream machine, I thought this would be a great idea. After trawling the web, I came across this amazing place in Portland, called Salt & Straw with flavours like Pear & Stilton, and Strawberries, honey balsamic and cracked pepper. Amongst these, one that did catch my eye was bone marrow and smoked cherries.

Shimogamo - ''Can I have more Urchins please?''

Shimogamo

108 Parkway, NW1 7AN

A new shrine has opened to Japanese food in Camden. It's located on Parkway, which is fast becoming a popular spot for new restaurants in the area. The dining room is small - there's only about 5-6 tables, but it allows for a cosy atmosphere with very attentive service.

London's Best Ice Creams

Summer's here! Well, at least until the end of the week... In celebration, here are our favourite ice creams in central London:

Burger breakout

This was a long awaited day, not just for the Burger Breakout @ 6 St Chad's Place, but for British summer to finally make it's appearance. Burger Breakout is a pop-up from a collaboration between Dave Ahern (of  The Ship, Wandsworth,The Alex and Ben's canteen) and Cornish Grill (who also do their own monthly pop-ups) for their best Cornish produce. With the burger 'scene' in London hitting a high this was great timing to get in on the act and they couldn't have asked for a nicer day (although probably not to be slaving away in the kitchen!)

The (food) revolution is here

While this recession continues to linger on, people are becoming more and more 'value for money' conscious. Whether it be at home or out, We don't want to be paying over the odds for processed, bland, nutritious-less food. Often called 'guilty pleasures'...well you should be guilty because there is A LOT better out there. Because of this there has been a rise in quality street food, and with twitter great places can be known by 'word of mouth' very fast, very far, very quickly (See: Portland, Oregon). Without the need for pointless things like knives and forks, or napkins these gourmet take-aways are becoming increasingly popular. These enterprises 'out of a truck' has led to two great successes of the 'MeatWagon' (then #MeatEasy, followed by MeatLiquor/Market) and Pitt Cue Co branching out into their own fixed residence...minus the wheels!

Food over London - cubed!

Warning: This post may contain an extreme amount of superlatives (it is justified)

Last Friday lunchtime, Shahzad and myself had a culinary experience like no other to dine at the Electrolux Cube for a 5 course meal with chef Daniel Clifford of Midsummer House, who had just won 'Great British Menu'. 

Burger Monday @ Joe Allen's

For quite a while now, I've become far to used to opening up my email to find a new Burger Monday event only to be too late and big SOLD OUT signs on the subsequent links. Thankfully patience (and luck) is a virtue and managed to book myself in for the BurgerMonday at Joe Allen's

All aboard the Caffeine express

Taking time out from work is one of life’s little luxuries, and being situated in Torrington Place, I’m certainly spoiled for choice. About 5 excellent coffee shops within walking distance, excluding the usual riff-raff of weak coffee franchises. Now that research has shown coffee drinkers actually live longer (Read here) there is even more reason to get out there for your fix. Get your loyalty cards out, these are my selection of go to coffee destinations

Store Street Espresso 

40 Store Street @StoreStEspresso

Probably my most regular of all these fine establishments. Great coffee (Square Mile Red Brick), combined with nice ambience, lots of natural light coming through, friendly baristas make this a firm favourite that keeps me topping my my loyalty card on several occasions each week. I've even bought some of the beans to grind back at the office

-          

-         There is lots of space to sit, but it can get quite busy, is popular with the Macbook pro sit alones

Lantana

13 Charlotte Place 

Tucked away in Charlotte Place this is a very nice find. Lantana is delicately split (like this blog) between food out and in, which is a nice touch. I've only taken away but it does have a very smooth macchiato and excellent array of fancy salads to go

No.114/No.26

114 Tottenham Court Road/26 Rathbone Place @TappedandPacked

Every coffee shop must have it's own loyalty system to keep it's customer's coming back and Tapped and Packed's No.26 (Rathbone Place) and No.114 (Tottenham Court Road) are no different with their loyalty card only requiring 6 stamps

Specialises in different filter coffees and their breakfasts are excellent with their pots of jam laid out on each table to delve into

Fork Deli Patisserie 

85 Marchmont Street

This place has only recently opened, so far is never that much of a queue to get my coffee! It has great ambiance, serves Monmouth coffee(major bonus points!), and sells a variety of goods including tea pigs, pasta, jams. So well worth a visit if you are nearby Brunswick Centre (or the British Library). Their pastries are absolutely brilliant, pure indulgence.
There is 10% off for students, and has WiFi, so great to pass by a few hours of work somewhere other than the office.

Sacred Coffee 

Byng Place

Best for drinking in the sun on the fixed furniture of Byng Place. With the farmers market on every Thursday aswell, this is a dangerous combination with great food and good coffee.

Makes a change to have New Zealand blends, stands to reason complement this with an antipodean flat white. It used to have one of the best baristas, engaging, clear passion for his job, now he’s gone, it’s missing that spark and despite its close proximity, I don't go to it as much. What a difference one person can make!

FD OUT - MEAT liquor

In the words of Harley Morenstein 'A d-d-dripping that meat saWce!!'. Only way to sum up a messy burger, never been as thankful that the table had a whole kitchen roll and not tissues.

Meat Liquor has to be the ultimate 'guilty pleasure' food, combined with an seemingly endless list of cocktails, all served in jam jars (minus the jam), this probably wasn't a good idea for a work lunch.

I've previously been to the #Meateasy pop up when it was at New Cross, so already new how good the burgers were, although after waiting 2 hours for mine, I practically inhaled it. Now I wanted a bit more time to appreciate it!

Meat liquor is not too far off the main Oxford street tourist track, but enough so it's only gonna be visited by those in the know, even more so with the whited out glass at the front and red sign behind wood panels

Luckily, we managed to get in without too long a wait. I've been past since and the queue has been all along the side. Inside is very grungy lit with red spotlights (hence from now on all my pics are red tinted!) and some very different graffiti and murals. It has to be seen to be appreciated.

I ordered the Dead Hippie with fries and onion rings. The dead hippie is 2 patties cooked to perfection, amazingly succulent and indulgent beyond most other places you'll find in London. The gherkin adds that crunchy texture that brings it all together for that eyes rolling in the back of your head moment. As for the fries, was a little bit disappointed with far too much salt, but the onion rings are another little delight with huge onion rings wrapped in delicate batter.

This is one place that you have to go, and hopefully you'll never go to McDs for a burger again, not that you would of course ;)