All posts filed under: Reviews

Pickled Pig Grub Club: Review

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Before the invention of the supper club, my only experience of communal dining in London was being poked in the sides by the elbows of a chopstick wielding stranger sitting on a cramped bench at Wagamama. I would like to believe that this seating arrangement is designed for people to make new friends but I fear it’s merely a way of cramming more people into the damned place. I like to chat to the people next to me, but only if they want to chat back. Otherwise it’s pretty awful. And that’s why I love supper clubs. Where else can you start dinner with complete strangers and end up eating off each other’s places, sharing family histories, dirty jokes and social media details? London has become a place where eating out is less expensive than eating in, where chains have the same permanently chalked on specials boards at all their branches and the glamour of eating out has pretty much died. Supper clubs have come to the rescue, offering fuss-free delicious food from a menu that …

Brighton Be Beautiful: Bardsleys, The Chilli Pickle, The Lion & Lobster & Coggings & Co.

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Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. So much so that last weekend I played away from home (cheated on my glorious sandy hometown of Swansea) and enjoyed a weekender in Brighton. I was fortunate enough to have plenty of suggestions and advice from a network of food lovers and twitterers, so ‘the ol’ food itinerary’ was pretty chocker block.  Alex has been away with me enough to know that ‘free time’ doesn’t really feature in my holiday itineraries – but what’s leisure time when you get the chance to taste the best food around with me, eh? BRIGHTON BITES 1. For the perfect fish & chips – Bardsley’s   Now, I spent the best part of my early teenage years working in a cracking local chip shop on the seafront in Swansea. During the summer of 2008, I think mushy peas were the only vegetable in my diet and my lunch of choice was curry and cheese on chips with chilli sauce (oh to have the metabolism of a teenager again.) So I know good fish …

Etta’s Seafood Kitchen – Review

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I’m really gunna miss East London (farewell Pizza Union, Beer & Buns, Clutch and Song Que, I won’t forget you.) But the move to South London really excites me food-wise and I’ve already found where I’m gunna get my fix of fantastic fresh fish and really well priced Caribbean food. It was 9pm on a Saturday night and Brixton village was rammed. We had originally sat at the place opposite that did burgers and grilled meat. After being ignored twice by the shirty waiter (meaning angry, not wearing shirts), we left and instead sat down at Etta’s. I’m so glad we did. None of us have much knowledge about Caribbean food (apart from those Jerk seasonings and sauces you can buy in supermarkets that bear no resemblance to the real deal.)  Etta’s is a seafood restaurant, and bravely, they only serve seafood (with 1 vegetarian option.) There are plenty of choices. If you like fish. Which we do. So we got stuck in. FOOD The dishes are really well priced and portions are decent. There was a long wait for the food, but …

“I want my great Thai food back!” Review of Busaba Eathai

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Last weekend, I caught up with my lovely family for my brother’s graduation at Kingston Uni. We always seem to end up in the same two places whenever my parents come to visit  – The Druids Head, Kingston-Upon-Thames (a great central pub with a cute pub garden for the Summer and wood fireplaces and mulled wine in the Winter), and then Busaba Eathai: One average Thai dish too many! I used to really rate Busaba Eathai. I first visited the Shoreditch branch around three years ago when the restaurants were only in Central London locations (no shopping centres) and the food was amazing – the jungle curry nearly blew my face off, in a really good way. But now they seem to have sold out, opening restaurants here there and everywhere, each with less charisma than the last. Vouchers and offer codes have taken over, and now it’s the sort of place that you’d never go unless you were getting at least a 25% discount (just like Pizza Express or another below average soulless chain.) A group of us visited …

Summer in Provence at Aubaine

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Last Monday, I was lucky enough to travel all the way to sunny Provence (through the medium of food and drink) for ‘a celebration of Summer in Provence’ at French restaurant, patisserie and boulangerie Aubaine. I was invited by fellow food blogger and Indian food extraordinaire Binny, of Binny’s Kitchen. One of my favourite Indian inspagrammers (inspirational instagrammer!), her website has recipes for the most delicious, homecooked Indian dishes you’ve ever seen. We only met recently at a Find Your Feet charity event, where I picked her brains about her own food blogging and supper club experience. I love meeting like-minded foodies at foodie events, over conversations about food – it’s a topic I will never be bored of! We were introduced to loads of different little tasters that bursted with the flavours of summer. From brioche buns filled with mushroom duxelles (like a creamy mushroom pate), steak and chips on skewers, chicken terrine wrapped in ham and plenty of fine French wines. Below are some of my personal favourites from the night, and some ideas I will definitely be taking home …

Food Fight: Five Guys vs Byron

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I’ve tried my fair share of burgers (GBK, Honest, Patty & Bun, meatMission to name a fraction) and to be honest, I would say most don’t live up to their hype. I’ve put two leading burger chains to the test to see which if they’re all they’re cracked up to be… The Five Guys Hamburger  (£6.75) 4 out of 10 I’ve got so many issues with this place. Il list them for brevity: Little fries are NOT little – think of a large portion of Maccy’s with a few more thrown in the bottom of the bag and you’ll get the idea. This is just a selling ploy to panic you into over-ordering. Yes, you do get lots of fillings for free. But I find them a bit weird. Fried onions? Grilled mushrooms? Green peppers? Not in my bun! (which, in this case, was mediocre.) The patties are super thin and have that weird grey alien look about them like when you open up the bun of a Big Mac. They don’t look or taste like they have …

Michael Sander’s E7 Supper Club

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The prospect of a night of communal eating with strangers can be a bit daunting. Especially when you’re not on holiday in a tropical village, sitting on the floor eating with your hands in an attempt to  ‘live like the locals’, and instead in London, where if you try to start a friendly conversation on the tube you’ll probably end up on the front page of the Metro as: Creepy Welsh girl who made conversation with stranger on London Underground is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for too-social behaviour. But this week my boyfriend and I visited our first supper club and all our reservations were thrown out of the window. Michael Sanders (MasterChef 2014 Semi-finalist) and his girlfriend Naomi run their pop-up restaurant/ supper club every month in E7, underneath a railway arch, in The Wanstead Tap. A table of 20 sat people from all walks of life, some locals, some from far away; but we all had one thing in common. We all just wanted to eat great food – that is the beauty of …

Song Que Cafe – Review

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Real Vietnamese food in East London Song Que was recommended by an Instagram follower, who described the Pho as ‘Boom ting!’ I had to give this place a mention. We had a fleeting visit from an old friend last night and wanted to take him somewhere authentic, and try something new in East London before my move in two months (only down to South London but still!).    Song Que In a sea of fairly decent looking Vietnamese restaurants, the only thing that makes Song Que really stand out (apart from the tacky lime green front) is the fact that it was absolutely rammo – Vietnamese, Londoners, old, young, couples, catchups, families, predrinks. We felt at home straight away in this echoey, green canteen style joint, where the waiters are speedy and the prawn crackers are free (I mean, where can you find free prawn crackers anywhere anymore?) The words ‘authentic’ ‘true’ and ‘famous’ are plastered over their menu so I don’t have to go into this. But all I can say is believe their glowing …

Clutch – Review

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CLUTCH Clutch, 4 Ravenscroft Street, London E2 7QG http://www.clutchchicken.com Fifth result down on a quick google search, after discount handbags, care repair advice and gig dates for a 90’s American rock band, you’ll find Clutch- ‘the home of guilt-free chicken.’ This restaurant’s website has been at a practically blank holding page for months now, but I can tell you for free that the fried chicken here is clean-tasting yet completely addictive. We ate more chickens than there were diners at our table on the night in question and no, I do not feel at all guilty. Right around the corner from Columbia Road, Clutch pops up out of nowhere, like a petrol garage in the desert. The building was once a dirty little East End boozer, but now, painted cartoon yellow, with a faux turf lawn and dolls house-style garden furniture out front, Clutch couldn’t be further than its former haunt. A chirpy and sour ‘Jay Z’ (cocktail) started our night off nicely – the making of which had so many different elements it resembled that classic Rowan …