Grilled Brunch at Grillshack

Sundays are made for being lazy, they are the only really day of the week we can relax and potter around and do nothing, it’s on these days that I normally cook up a storm in the kitchen and prepare more elaborate dishes or spend all day making a batch of stock. Heaven.

Last Chance Saloon for Tonkotsu

I’ve been a few times to Tonkotsu and have always gone with high expectations that it will be much better than the last time I ate, but I’ve always left feeling disappointed.

This time though on a post gym meal, I left deeply disappointed that I’ve decided I will not be returning again.

Too Hot To Handle @ Bi Bim Bap

Bi Bim Bap is a bright, colourful and fun Korean restaurant in Soho that specialises in, as the name suggests Bi Bim Bap.

Cay Tre in Soho

For some reason I thought I had already reviews the Soho branch of Cay Tre, but it seems not, which is a bit odd, as I’ve eaten there on several occasions.

Ramen Time @ Bone Daddies

You got to admit it’s a pretty bloody silly name for a ramen bar, as when I mentioned this to a friend they thought I was going to a gig.

Ramen-ya @ Tonkotsu

Our second meal at Tonkotsu could not have been more different than the first that we had during its soft opening week. I think the less said about that first trip the better.

Ittenbari Ramen Noodles Shop

I think we can all say that Tonkotsu’s opening week was not the best and the least said about it the better. But the day after I was still hankering for some good ramen, as I wanted to have that good ramen feeling again, so after some searching I came across Ittenbari, the reviews I read were all positive and well it couldn’t be any worse than what I had eaten the night before.

L is for Lebanon @ Yalla Yalla

Somehow we’ve managed to get to L with completely stopping, well we had some breaks but part and parcel of the course really. We are in this for the long haul, so upward and onward.

There really was no competition really with the letter L. It was Lebanese or bust. It was the obvious choice really.

Street Food with Pizza Pilgrims

So many times I had wanted to try the pizzas from Pizza Pilgrims, but somehow I was always drawn to those delicious baguettes of Banh Mi 11.

But this time I was determined to give them a go, so walking past my favourite stall, I somehow pushed myself further on down Berwick market past those wonderful looking banh mi. Somehow.

Pitt Cue Co.

I’ve finally made it to the permanent base for the Pitt Cue Crew in their new premises in Central London.

I’d eaten at the food truck under Hungerford Bridge a few times last year and was more or else impressed with their food that they managed to deliver.

London is not known as an epicentre for good barbecued food. An Englishman’s knowledge of food cooked on a charcoal grill is normally undercooked burnt sausages on a cold, wet, windy Sunday afternoon.

The locals from the American South and Mid West would wage war on what we call barbecue. But we are a slow nation and new things like this take their time to come to us. But how many people would want to wait 24 hours to grill a brisket or 6 hours to slowly smoke some ribs in their back garden. Not many.

Banana Tree Soho – The Blandest Meal of the Century

I seem to be getting a lot of invites to try out new restaurants recently. Most of then I turn down because even though they are free I don’t want to eat at those establishments.

I was in two minds whether or not to accept the invitation to eat at the new Banana Tree in Soho.

I’d tried the branch in Angel on one of the Tube Strike Mondays. Ahhhh I miss those days, the only good thing of working over the other side of London. C’mon you greedy tube drivers, I think it’s time for some more pointless strikes so I can have some more days off work.

I was not impressed with the concept nor the food at the Angel branch. I thought it was for people who were shit scared of Asian food and wanted a dumbed down version to get their chops around it.

Finally I relented and mid week we wandered down to the Soho branch with our £60 voucher expecting to get through about half of it. How wrong I was.

The neo industrial look is the matter of course these days, everyone including shops are jumping on the band wagon. I’ll be delighted when someone finally doesn’t do it.

We ordered a beer and a cocktail and 6 of the satay sticks to get us going. The sticks were ok. Nice charring, but really not much taste on the chicken itself. The peanut sauce was pretty good, and I wished I had kept it on the table for the following courses.

We began ordering. Well we had £60 to get through. The Papaya Salad came first and after trying it made me remember why I should not have relented to this freebie offer. Unbelievable it actually had no taste at all. The dressing was non existent and the papaya had no crunch to it. Soft and floopy. I felt really sorry for the fruit to end its life on a plate as part of a poor excuse for a salad.

The Roasted Duck in Hoisin Sauce actually wasn’t that bad. The meat was juicy enough, but the sauce was too loose and a bit over powering.

Next up was the Char Grilled Chicken Bakar Java. The menu said the chicken was marinated in an array of Javanese aromatic spices, grilled slowly to perfection. I’ve no idea what their idea of perfection is, but it was far from mine. The chicken had some nice charring on it, but it was dry and a tad tough. I’ve no idea how long it had been marinating for, but it obviously was not long enough. Those Javanese spices failed to shine through.

I had this served with a Nasi Goreng, which turned out to be a bland egg fried rice. That’s two dull Nasi Gorengs I’ve tasted recently, and both have been a poor substitute for the real deal.

Amazingly in the end we managed to spend £59 on really not much food and a few drinks. But then again we are in Soho.

Banana Tree is what it is really. A pan Asian chain restaurant serving up watered down and bland food to the masses in neo industrial surroundings. It’s gonna make its owners a hell of a lot of money.

H is for Hungary @ The Gay Hussar

There really wasn’t much choice when it came to H. Honduras or Hungary. After an arduous time scanning the Internet for a Honduran restaurant in London. I gave up. Hungary it was gonna be.

Now there really isn’t that much choice when it comes to Hungarian restaurants in London. Well you have the Gay Hussar, and well you have the Gay Hussar. So the Gay hussar it was going to be for our next meeting of this crazee tour of London restaurants.

Now all I know about Hungarian food is two things. Paprika and Goulash, and to be honest I know very little about them both. This was going to be fun.

The Gay Hussar is a long standing veteran of the Soho world. One wall is lined with cartoon drawings of its more famous patrons, mainly old Labour M.P.’s. I liked the one of Paxman, cold of been a photo it was so lifelike.

The menu has a vast array of Hungarian dishes on offer. Ranging from some very nicely smoked Hungarian sausages to a goose and pork pate, and the house speciality a chilled wild cherry soup.

The smoked Hungarian sausages were very good, and to be honest I though they were the hit of all the starters. A nice smokey meaty taste that lingered lightly on the palette. I’d love to know where to buy them. Really good.

The goose and pork pate was very large for a starter but the velvet texture of the paté was very good. Shame about the toast it was served with. I think it had been toasted a few hours before and was going a tad soggy.

When in a Hungarian you have to do the cliché thing and go for the veal goulash with galuska, which we were told were Hungarian dumplings. They actually tasted like mashed gnocchi. The goulash was nicely seasoned, although I was expecting a tad more paprika, but maybe that is how it is supposed to be. I was a tad light on meat especially for £16. A tad disappointing.

The stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut, sausage and bacon was a hearty dish deserving of any Bavarian or Alsatian menu. Good smokey flavour in the sausage and bacon, that lifted this dish. I wish I had ordered that instead.

The Weiner Schnitzel was large and nicely cooked, so I was told. It looked like a proper schnitzel that you would find in any Middle European eatery.

The staff at the Gay Hussar are a friendly and a very busy bunch, but always with a smile when ever we asked them for more drinks.

All in all the Gay Hussar served us some good food, but it was an easily forgettable meal. Just damn those Hondurans for not coming to London in droves during the 80’s. But I guess it was just easier for them to get to L.A.

Spuntino - Little Plate Heaven

I really wished I had eaten at Spuntino a lot earlier. Ie from day one. But I have this habit of letting a new restaurant flow for a couple of months before hitting its tables to sample the wares from the kitchen.

But as this group had two restaurants running at full flow very close by, it should have put my mind at rest, but it didn’t. I mean Marcus Waring’s new restaurant hasn’t received good reviews so far, and that is one place you’d expect to be at its best from day one.

The neo industrial look inside Spuntino adds to its charm, with its chipped exposed white tiles, it’s long dangly lights, the almost uncomfortable stools around the bar. The fact that the queue for seats is right behind you as you are eating, with the people in the queue staring into the back of your head willing you to eat faster and leave so they can sit down.

I like the place. I thought I had enough of small plates. This fad of sharing your food with your dining partners I thought I would not be able to do anymore.

But bang, wallop I am sucked in all over again. Damn if Spuntino didn’t knock me sideways with its coolness that made me want to love it, and hoping this food fashion doesn’t go out of style.

I didn’t even mind queuing up for 30 minutes or so, especially as we ordered a bottle of red and stood supping away jabbering on about love, life and general nonsense.

The menu in Spuntino is leaning rather heavily towards New York with plenty of sliders, mac n cheese and cheese grits on offer, that make you think you are dining somewhere on the East Side.

What to order. As we were pondering a cup of spiced popcorn was planted in front of us. I’m not a fan of popcorn, but the spiciness tantalised my taste buds, and kept my fingers delving into that cup for more.

I’d listened to a podcast recently where one of the presenters had a selection of sliders at his wedding. Nice idea and from what he said it all worked out well.

So we ordered a couple of sliders, the minced beef and bone marrow and the spiced mackerel.

Both were dainty as sliders should be. The mackerel I have to say was the least flavoursome of the two and overall over the night it was the dish we liked the least. The beef and marrow slider was truly how a burger should taste.

That marrowbone adds a divine taste to the burger that really surpasses all other burgers I’ve tasted in a long time. Shame these only come in little two bite portions. Well I am a greedy git.

The mac n cheese seemed to be very popular that night, as those black pans were being come thick and fast out of the kitchen.

The last time I had mac n cheese was in Cairo at my fave kushari joint. Every 5 or 6 times there I would venture off piste and have their version of mac n cheese. It was pretty naff as mac n cheese goes, put it was cheap, tasty and filling.

This version has to be the best I’ve ever tasted. The crispy topping had been under the grill for the most perfect of timings. It was so Moorish that even though my belly was fit to bursting I still couldn’t keep helping myself to the last scrapings out of the pan.

But the truffled egg on toast blew everything else out of the water. Damn it was good, and I mean so good that I really wanted to order another one. I love that heady scent of truffle oil, it instantly sends me back to the Italian countryside in autumn.

This is the work of a genius. I mean a slice of bread, hollow out a hole in the middle, pop in an egg yolk, add lots of cheese and a dash of truffle oil. In the oven and voila you have the dish of the year. A true work of gifted chef. Danm I’m envious.

This was one of the best eating experiences I’ve had in a long while, even though the quality of food I’ve been eating recently has been excellent, Spuntino somehow overall was far and away ahead of everyone else.

The only downside of the night was the fire alarm going off for at least 15 – 20 minutes, and we watched a guy pick bits of food out of his girlfriend’s teeth at the bar. Have people no shame.

Sandwich Time @ the Nordic Bakery and Paul Rothe and Sons

I’ve been hearing about the Nordic Bakery for quite a while now, actually quite a while, but for some reason I just never managed to venture inside and sample the delights that it has to offer. I know I’m not a follower of fashion but this is taking the piss a bit.

The Nordic Bakery is a great place to sit, relax, drink a cup of coffee, nibble on a sandwich or a cinnamon bun and read a few chapters of a book.

I opted for a pickled herring and egg sandwich. An interesting combination that works perfectly, the tangyness of the herring with a sharp dressing and boy do I love boiled eggs in my sandwiches. A throwback to my old schoolboy days.

The latte comes in what can only be described as a mug that would satisfy a giant. It was big. The coffee was just ok, which is a shame as the treats on offer, the vibe, the ambiance of the place is second to none. Get better coffee guys. If Fernandez and Wells can do it then so can you.

Another great sandwich shop is Paul Rothe and Son, which has been around for over a hundred years. It’s hard to describe this place. It’s a shop cum café cum deli all rolled into one.

I’ve never sat down and eaten here, as it is normally full so I always get a takeaway. It’s one of the few places I have found that actually sell cold cuts in their sandwiches. The tongue is my favourite and always on light rye, with English mustard. I’m a creature of habit and when I find something I like, I normally stick to it. Look at me and Wagamama and its chicken katsu currys.

They put just enough mustard on the bread so you can taste it, but it lets the tongue take centre stage. As it’s the only reason I go there.

It’s an old fashioned place with old fashioned values. A rare thing these days. I just wish it was either near my house or my work so I could eat there more regular.

Good Times @ Randall and Aubin

Sometimes you find a place and for some reason you love it more than you should. The menu may be limiting, the food may not fantastic, but the atmosphere and vibe make up for a whole lot more, and to me this counts for nearly everything.

It’s been a while since we were last in Randall & Aubin, a long while. We have good memories of the place, seen some wild shit happening inside its doors, some really wild shit.

It is one of the few places where I don’t actually mind queuing up. In fact I get rather disappointed when I don’t have to wait outside on the street for our turn to sit down and eat.

Queuing does have its benefits, you do end up ordering a bottle of wine and drinking it while you wait. Life in Soho gets more fun after a bottle of wine or two.

Nothing seems to have changed really inside Randall & Aubin. The chefs all look the same, the waiters have changed, but they do seem to still look the same. The women are still tanned and gorgeous, and the men camp as hell. Hey it’s Soho, what would you expect.

We have fun here, it’s a place to lift your spirits, to enlighten your soul, to make you feel young again, and at the moment I need that a lot.

As I said I’ve seen some crazy shit here. I remember once, a stunning looking girl came outside to chat to some friends who were in the queue behind us. All I really heard was her friends asking her to come and go dancing later, and she replied “no I can’t I’m working, I have a punter inside.” This kinda threw me, as she was the 2^nd most beautiful girl in Soho that night. The wife obviously being number one.

After we sat down and ordered, I noticed that she and her punter visited the toilets looking very fresh and returned looking completely dishevelled 10 minutes later. Good times were a rolling. This actually happened twice. The 2^nd time the guy could barely walk back to his stool. Respect.

The food is really incidental to the restaurant. It’s pure Soho, you come to be with friends and have a good time. You drink, you eat, you flirt, and you have a great time. It’s what life should be all about. Plus the best thing, they have a mirrored disco ball. Soho baby Soho. Gotta love it.

E is for English @ The Breakfast Club in Soho

This is the third outlet in this small mini breakfast chain I’ve eaten at. They have just expanded to one more in Spitalfields, which I guess one day soon I will be eating the Full Monty at.

The Soho branch is, as I prefer, small and cosy. Not many tables and mostly in twos and fours. Six is a pain as there is only one table to eat at. Which if you rock up just after another large group, you are stuffed for well over an hour. Like the large group behind us. Hahahaha.

We were 6, and thankfully we only had the average 20 minute wait. The evil vibe we were sending out worked pretty good. Their are places I do not mind queuing for. Randall and Aubin is one, and the Breakfast Club is another, most other places I get peeved if it’s more than 5 minutes, unless of course I have a drink in hand. Then it’s all aok. Think Polpo.

Onto the food. Well if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all. Service is with a smile and at a good Sunday Brunch speed. They understand what a hangover does to a person and are patient with you. The menu is the same as the others, the food you eat tastes the same, all damn good. Sometimes I like to know that I will get the same food at which ever one I goto, then again I only ever eat the Full Monty. One of the best brekkies in London.

I like the Soho branch a lot, but for me Angel is still the best. It’s the cosiness of the place that wins me over. Probably why I won’t be returning to the Hoxton branch, as it is too large, to unfamiliar, too empty.

The other good news with the Soho branch (not sure if it is the same as the others) is that they have a BYO in the evening. Always good, and I do like their burgers.