About ten years ago, I spent a weekend in Paris with my parents. I remember that it was the middle of winter, just before Christmas. To say that it was cold would be and understatement. It was ccccooooolllllddd. My mum insisted that we ride around the city on the top open air part of a…
Category: Restaurants
Le Bouillon Chartier
We cross the lights on Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre in the 9th arrondissement, and Bouillon Chartier rises up to greet us. A monolith from another time and place. I’m only in the courtyard but I feel like I might be whisked away from the entrance in a ’20s style Rolls Royce a la Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’…
Mildred’s Vegetarian Soho – A flavourful taste sensation
I once spent six months as a vegetarian. It was a reaction to working in the kibbutz kitchen when I lived in Israel. My job, especially on a Friday before the Sabbath, was to lop the limp, dangly necks off a few hundred chickens, and stuff a mixture of potatoes, herbs and spices up their…
Moro – A North African and Spanish style riot of flavours AKA. Post work-out treat
On Wednesday I went to a HIIT class. For the uninitiated, that’s High Intensity Interval Training, involving squats, push ups, dumbbells and so on. Basically, some guy with more steel than Robocop yells “You can do better!” while you run around like a demented hamster, sweat every last bit of salt out of your body,…
Gaby’s Deli – A delicious capsule within time’s changing landscape.
1971 was the year that decimal currency was launched, the first Mr Men books were published, one of my favourite TV crushes Damien ‘he’ll always be Soames to me’ Lewis was born and a fresh pound of turkey (apparently!) cost fourty pence. It was also the year that Gaby opened his eponymous deli on Charing Cross road,…
Bibigo Soho – Where the chefs are behind glass in a chef’s-bowl
Monday was just delightful. One of those rare summer days on London where you can lounge in the park until nine and not even realize the time. Until you get hungry. Then it’s time. To ‘forage’, and find. Try new things. “It’s too hot” my friend says “but I really feel like Korean. Let’s go to…
A Food Adventure – Double Pie Dinner with a side of Jellied Eel
Another day, another eating adventure. Ordinarily, I would think that a soft pie with gummy mash covered in a radio-active green parsley sauce with a side of jellied eels sounded unappealing. This time though, the little elderly lady that was serving it too me was so adorable, (in a tough East London sort of way) that…
Postcards from Oslo – Part 2
Saturday 12.30pm – Egget Kafe – Address: Kirkegårdsgata 7A, 0558 Oslo, Norway Brunch. We picked this place because we googled ‘nice cafes in Oslo near me’ and this was one of the first that came up. they didn’t have an English menu (a good sign sometimes) so we had the very patient waitress translate for us….
Postcards from Oslo – Part 1
Friday – 11:00am – Joker Supermarket The pastry was spectacular. I bough it from a ‘Joker’ which is a Norwegian supermarket chain. It was the only one of it’s kind and it sat on the shelf yelling my name. The coffee was terrible. It was bought from the self service machine and was burnt. It…
Tom George, Mark Dobbie, Andy Oliver – Som Saa
It’s midday on a lovely sunny Sunday and I am sitting in a booth at a stylishly rustic wood table surrounded by a jungle’s worth of foliage. Sipping on a tiny ceramic cup of decidedly fancy tea, I could squint and pretend that I am holidaying at some luxurious Thai island resort. In reality, I…
10 Greek Street – The pie crusts are thin, and the wine comes from a little black book
10 Greek Street. Where the pie crusts are thin and the wine comes from a little black book. I’ve honestly never had a pie like that one, and it felt as a revelation. A delicious classic re-imagined and enhanced. Such a beautiful almost flawless orb. Shiny and crazed slightly on top like an old much loved…
Wahaca – Cheap and cheerful comfort food
Wahaca is my idea of ‘comfort food’. I go there often with my friends when we are in the mood for a chilled out cheap and cheerful. We always know what we want, can order without referencing the menu and then have a jolly good time catching up with the knowledge that what will land in…
thatdayigothungry 