Getting my tastebuds in a twist over these wings from @drumsandflat at @Peckhamlevels. Smokey BBQ hitting all those sweet and smokey notes with that sticky finger licking house-made sauce. Buffalo is not your ordinary vinegary sauce, theirs sees Cayenne take the stage with a slightly acidic finish. The buffalo is tempered with creamy blue cheese dip. Really loved the hand cut fries too, you don’t see many well-executed hand cuts on the scene today. They came with a rather generous sprinkling of blue cheese and more of that buffalo sauce to dip.
Have you ever flirted with someone in a bar for most of the evening… Then you go in for the kill to seal the deal. You are making out when someone entirely more appealing catches your eye. Not because you are some sort of a Casanova, but your kissing companion is a really repulsive kisser that has you questioning the meaning of life with every smack of their lips?
Nope? Me either, but I’ve seen it at least once in the movies.
Smashburger has risen to fame in my home state of Colorado. This has happened since I left the US many moons ago. I was mega excited to try their burgers when we heard that they were expanding to the UK. Sadly, they had no initial plans to open in London. Other towns like Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds and Newcastle
Someone once said that the only thing that never changes is that things will change. (Or something like that). London is always changing and that one thing that I really love. Love how the changes subtly happen in areas that you don’t visit that often. One of the quickest changing areas for me is Soho, other than the areas that I’ve lived in, it’s the one area of town that I’ve spent in varying levels of drunkenness in.
It’s fun to regale the history of what used to be in each location… Like the Fetish Shop that became a Hotel Chocolate, then The Nata café. How about my favourite late night sandwich shop, Old Compton Café that somehow became another less flamboyant Balan’s.
How about the video game arcade on Old Compton Street where you used to be able to play that dancing game in the window (Such good memories of that place) that became soulless eatery that was Muriel’s to its latest incarnation of the Old Compton Brasserie.
Does anyone remember ChaCha Moon? That Chinese restaurant that opened in Kingly Court…. The one that offered all the dishes for £3.50 during the soft launch and it was packed. Then they tried to up the prices to what should be market value prices and people stopped going? The one that closed and made space for Pastaio and The Meh! Egg. Those are all things that I remember about it.
I cannot remember a single dish that was amazing. Maybe that’s why it closed. It was an amazing space and carry on concept from Wagamama. But the food was pretty average. Great for £3.50, not so great for £10-£15 per plate.
One thing that I do remember was a drink… The Salted Sprite. Funny that it’s not a traditional Chinese Drink, it has a Thai origin. It’s a drink that really resounded with me as I love sweet and salty together.
Hello September! Another scorcher… and a reminder that summer is almost over. It was a really quick month for me, though it had all the same number of days as everyone else. I went to my first festival outside of London…. and guess what? It Rained. The summer could not hold out for that weekend. Enough about the weather and let’s get to my Lucky 7 memories from August.
Brunch is so huge right now. I feel like Carrie Bradshaw would be very proud of all that she achieved for the popularity of this meal. As you probably know (or not if you are new to here) Brunch must contain breakfast dishes… If there are no eggs, no toast, no waffles, no porridge or no pastries IT’S NOT BRUNCH. It’s just a lunch.
Now that we have cleared that up, brunch is a huge business in London. Everyone offers it, everyone eats it, heck there is even a festival about it. Don’t ask me why you’d pay for a ticket to walk around in crowds to see a bunch of exhibitions stands and eat a taster spoon of Shakshuka. Just look on the internet and see where to go. Sorry I digress.
One place that I would highly recommend for brunch is the Bloomberg Arcade. Nope, it’s not a restaurant, but more of an arcade of top quality restaurants in the city. I bet you are asking why I’m suggesting Bloomberg Arcade. It’s all about the location. Being situated in the city it is busy Monday to Friday with men in suits and women power lunching over cocktails. Come the weekend it’s a different story altogether. I’m not saying its desolate, but you won’t have to queue for an impromptu brunch.
Hello August! Where did July go? July was always the best month of my childhood… All the BBQ’s, all the time by the pool and all the time just being outside. This July was the same (minus the pools) If its departure means that we don’t have to deal with those volcanic heats… I’m all for kissing the month goodbye. I hope that we have a lovely warm (not hot) couple of months before moving into the cooler season. Enough about the weather and let’s get to my Lucky 7 memories from July.
If you ask for recommendations for an Indian Brunch in London, I guarantee you that 99% of the responses will say Dishoom. I would wholeheartedly agree with that response, in fact, that would be the recommendation that would come to mind. Yes, the breakfast/brunch offering there is pretty amazing… (drooling now thinking about that bacon naan), but I don’t think there have ever been any contenders to take that crown…. Well, that is until Dum Biryani launched their Hyderabad Brunch offering two weeks ago.
The other evening, I was invited alongside other food influencers to the Marylebone Institution of Clarette for an evening of food and drink to celebrate German Wines. In particular, the wine is from one variety of German grapes. Riesling (pronounced reece-ling)
Before that night, if you accosted me on the street, held a proverbial gun to my head, and demanded that I list countries that produce great wine… Sadly, Germany would not have been on that list. Not because I held on to that old-school reputation that Germany made overly sweet blue nun-style wines. But mainly because I’m very much a creature of habit with a slight knowledge of wine. This generally means that I stick with a wine I like once I get served.
Fans of German wine are quick to shout that Riesling produces some of the finest white wines on the planet. Hopefully, after this evening, I will think the same. Riesling is the most popular variety of grape used in production in Germany, accounting for 25% of grape production.
There is no secret that I love pork. It’s hard to explain why it’s one of my favourite meats. I guess it’s because it’s really versatile. Its brilliant both fresh and cured. Joints are brilliant to roast, chops are great fried, cutlets into katsu, bbq’d ribs, bacon, sausages and ham…. You get the point I LOVE PORK. So, when I was invited to the uber-luxe Hispania restaurant in the City for the launch of the Pork Lovers Tour it was a bit of a no-brainer.
