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Where to Eat in London: BIRD

where-to-eat-in-london-bird-restaurantBIRD | Fried Chicken | Hackney | Website
– reservations available –

Fried chicken is my guilty pleasure. In fact it’s one of the few things I think I could eat everyday…without growing sick of it. Even though it’s relatively common in the UK, it can be difficult to find good fried chicken. BIRD isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. But in the short time it has been open, it has made a pretty good name for itself. I’ve been a few times myself, what with the restaurant being only a 10min walk from my office. So when BIRD invited me back to try their new lunch menu of course I said yes.

I had been drooling over some of the new additions to the menu, such as the Korean Burger (fried chicken, gochujang glaze and kimchi slaw) and the Fried Chicken Biscuit Sandwich (freshly baked buttermilk biscuit, fried chicken, honey butter & hot sauce). Naturally we ordered both when we arrived, alongside some fries and pickled cucumber. I had been excited for the biscuit as it’s something I have only had in America (and loved). It was crunchy outside and soft inside, with a slightly oily aftertaste. Although I felt it definitely could have been bigger, it was pretty authentic. The chicken was moist in both the sandwich and the burger, with a slightly crispy outer. The Kimchi Burger boasted a delicious slaw and oozed hot sauce. This is one messy burger. Over all it’s wasn’t the best fried chicken I’ve had, but it made for a good lunch. I saved my doughnut for later, and boy was it worth the wait. I honestly think BIRD make the best doughnut dough in London. This one was bigger than my hand, and I finished every last bit of it.

Our lunches came to £10 each (without drink), which included a main, side and a doughnut – or £8 with a side or doughnut. The difference between BIRD and other fried chicken restaurants is definitely in the ingredients. The chicken is brought in fresh everyday, and cooked twice to make sure that it is perfectly done. The doughnuts are made daily in-store, and the flavours change to match. The fresh, quality ingredients are definitely reflected in the taste, right down to the special seasoning on the fries. In fact I loved the little details so much that I ended up taking away the recipe for the seasoning, and jotting down the name of the hot sauce. BIRD may look like a hipster joint, but it the food feels more like home cooking. This may mean a few mishaps here and there, but more often than not they get it right.

If you liked this, why not check out the rest of my Where to Eat in London series.

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Where to Eat in London: Toconoco Japanese Cafe

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Toconoco | Japanese Cafe | Hackney | Website
– reservations not available –

It’s difficult to explain the serenity I felt in the cafe’s of Tokyo. It really feels as though you are being whisked away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A cafe is no longer just somewhere to eat and drink. It’s a sanctuary from modern life. It is this feeling I have been craving ever since I returned from Japan. I didn’t think I’d find it again, until I happened upon Toconoco.

Toconoco is a child-friendly Japanese cafe on Kingsland Basin, Regents Canal. Surrounded by canal boats and wildlife, this little sun trap feels miles away from the streets of Shoreditch. I headed there on a weekday afternoon around 12:30. They had tweeted their daily lunch set photo, and it looked too perfect to miss out on (only 15 lunch sets are made each day). Lunch sets are very popular in Japan, and I miss the concept here. It varies depending on the restaurant, but they usually come with a main, a side salad, rice and a miso soup. Toconoco’s lunch set on that particular day was ham croquettes, and it was every bit the same as those I’d had in Japan. The ingredients were fresh and delicious, complimenting each other perfectly. The delicate use of sauces and dressings is something I have yet to master in my Japanese cooking. However Toconoco are clearly skilled in this art. We also ordered a side of Egg Miso-Mayo Toast with spring onion, sesame oil and chilli flake. How could I pass on something that sounds so intriguing? The toast had a distinct Japanese flavour to it and was lighter (and less rich) than regular egg mayo.

The main thing I took away from my visit to Toconoco, was how authentic it is. The food is prepared fresh everyday, and is fitting to the weather and season. This is real Japanese food. Not the hyped up, overpriced kind you find in restaurants in Soho. This is home-cooking style, made with love and care.  It reminded me that we should all take some time to relax, and that eating should be seen as one of life’s simple pleasures. Because eating at Toconoco is certainly no chore.

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Where to Eat in London: Sake no Hana

sake-no-hana-restaurant-review-sakura-where-to-eat-in-london-1 Sake no Hana | Japanese | Mayfair | Website
– reservations available –

One year ago, V.A and I made a promise that we would visit Sake no Hana during cherry blossom season. This year, we kept our promise. For two months of the year, the Mayfair restaurant is transformed into a floral wonderland – Sakura at Sake no Hana. To help celebrate this special occasion several new dishes and cocktails are added to the menu. V.A and I had made a reservation for a Monday lunchtime (bank holiday) and found that it was pleasantly quiet. We both ordered the Sakura menu, which comes with: white miso soup, sesame spinach with cassava chips, sashimi bento box, and a violet risshun cocktail.

The cocktail was served first, and we were instructed to drink it in two parts – the first, a carafe of Jinzu Gin, green chartreuse, grapefruit and lemon juice, shiso syrup and Burlesque bitters. The second is a jug with Belsazar rose vermouth, maraschino cherry, cranberry and lemon juice. The bitter starter was refreshing, however it was the syrupy sweet vermouth based cocktail that I personally preferred.

The miso soup arrived shortly after our cocktail, and it was as good as any other miso soup I have had before. The sesame spinach however was a delightfully unique dish – slightly nutty in flavour, with a myriad of textures. I can’t eat raw fish, so a special bento was made just for me. It is this kind of service that I wouldn’t expect any less of from Sake no Hana. My box contained a variety of sushi, however the ones that stood out to me for their flavours were the: mango and avocado (fresh), avocado and wasabi (invigorating), crab (light), and eel (grilled perfectly).

We decided to order off the special menu for dessert, as the Yuzu Matcha Crème was just too tempting. However we did also order the sakura macarons, accompanied by a pot of sakura tea. It would seem that we have a second stomach for dessert (or as the Japanese call it 別腹 “betsubara”). It’s fair to say that this is the best dessert I have had in a London restaurant. The Yuzu Matcha Crème was a work of art – the presentation however was dwarfed by the sheer artistry of the dish itself. Matcha anglaise hid inside delectable yuzu domes, surrounded by matcha genoise and sour yuzu curd. The macarons unfortunately didn’t impress me much (the ganache overpowered the cherry blossom tea), however I would feel bad for any dish that had to follow that pudding. Finally, the sakura tea – a special blend made specifically for Sake no Hana. Oh how I wish I could have taken even a spoonful away with me. The tea smelt of cake, and tasted even better. It was a light and subtly sweet end to our visit.

Sake no Hana is not just a destination for food, it is a food experience. We paid £55 each with cocktails – in my opinion, it was worth every penny. It is restaurants like this that make my “Where to Eat in London” series so enjoyable. Would I go back? What do you think!

 

Sake no Hana’s Sakura pop-up is open until the 20th June – you can make a reservation here.

Click to add a blog post for Sake No Hana on Zomato Square Meal

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Berlin Travel Diary | District Mot Review

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District Mot | Vietnamese Street Food | Rosenthalerplatz – Berlin, Germany | Website

Of course the first thing any self-respecting foodie will do when they get off a plane is go in search of food. So it made sense for the second instalment of my Berlin Travel Diary to be a restaurant review. We headed down the street to one of V.A‘s favourite lunch spots – District Mot. District Môt labels itself as Saigon street food. In fact this is Vietnamese food with a slight fusion twist. I had a Vietnamese coffee (the best kind of coffee), and we ordered the Banh Trang Bun Thit Nuong (DIY summer rolls with noodles, chicken and salad, which you wrap in rice paper), and a Bao Burger to share.

The Bao Burger, oh the Bao Burger. Where do I begin? A succulent patty encased inside a steamed boa bun, and topped with mango, herbs and chilli sauce. This is no ordinary burger. I could have easily eaten one of these by myself. However that doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy to share, especially when it meant I could follow it with several summer rolls. One of my favourite things about Vietnamese food is how light it is, and Summer Rolls are a perfect example of this. The clean, fresh flavours of DM’s offering were exactly what I wanted. Of course light food means more room for pudding. I can’t say I’ve had a Vietnamese dessert before, so when V.A ordered Thao Pho Nuoc Doung (silk tofu with a ginger syrup), I was eager to try something new. I love both tofu and ginger, so this is the perfect kind of pudding for me. I even nibbled on the ginger root, something I realised is probably a little odd…but I adore the fiery kick.

We paid €12 (around £8.50) each, with soft drinks. As a Londoner, this is amazing value. I was told that this is one of the more expensive street food restaurants in Berlin, but I would happily pay this again and again. V.A had waxed lyrical about District Mot and I can honestly say that I now share her sentiments entirely. If you’re ever in Berlin, make sure you stop by – you won’t regret it!

 

You can check out the rest of my Berlin Travel Diary series here.

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Berlin Travel Diary | Let Me Take Your Bags

berlin-germany-travel-diary-mani-hotel-amano-bloomzy-1Mani Hotel, Torstraße 136, 10119 Berlin, Germany

Let’s start from the beginning. Having never travelled to Germany I had always wanted to visit Berlin. So when V.A suggested a holiday in the capital – with her as my tour guide – I could hardly say no…could I? They say good friends should never travel together, but we were confident that we wouldn’t be screeching at each other by the end of the holiday. So we packed our bags and hopped on a plane to the home of curry wurst.

The Mani Hotel had kindly offered to put us up for our first night in the city, and after a relatively short train journey from the airport, we dropped off our bags and freshened up. The hotel is located in Rosenthaler Platz, Mitte, which just so happened to be the area we had marked down for its variety of restaurants and shops. We explored the area a little (something I’ll go into more detail on in the next post), and it did not let us down. Later we caught up with a friend (and a heavy rain shower) before rushing back to the hotel for dinner.

I don’t usually “do” food at hotels. I prefer to explore the restaurants nearby, but we could hardly say no when the Mani so graciously offered us a dinner and breakfast package. After a 2am start, we were running on only 3 hours sleep, and the idea of only having to take a lift back to our cozy bed was glorious. Luckily for us the food at the Mani hotel is not an afterthought to a room, instead it elegantly compliments your stay. The sharing plates for dinner were a modern fusion of French and Arabic cuisines. However it was the breakfast buffet (which non hotel guests can have for only €15) that excited me most. It was like letting a child loose in a sweet store. The food here is prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients, and presented beautifully. If I were to visit Berlin again I would definitely visit the Mani hotel and restaurant. In fact I’m considering catching another flight back asap just for those breakfast meatballs!

You can check out the rest of my Berlin Travel Diary series here.

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Where to Eat in London: On The Bab, Covent Garden

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On The Bab | Korean Street Food | Covent Garden | Website

– reservations not available –

You may be blinking right now, wondering if you’re seeing double. Well yes, I have featured On The Bab before in my “Where to Eat in London” series. However that was their Shoreditch location, and last week saw the official opening of their new Covent Garden restaurant. But how is it different to the original? Well there’s a whole new menu that you won’t find anywhere else, and it’s perfect for Spring.

On The Bab is a special place for me. I first visited it (with my now best foodie buddy V.A) last April, and I instantly fell in love with the menu. So with V.A alongside, we naturally wanted to sample everything from the new menu this time. We started perusing the menu with a sweet Cherry Blossom Cocktail. This culminated in us ordering: Korimari with Bulgogi Beef, Spring Onion Fried Chicken, Pumpkin & Potato Salad, Fried Chicken On The Roll, Seaweed Salad with citrus dressing, and Rice Poppers.

The Fried Chicken On The Roll was definitely my favourite dish of the evening – something similar to gimbap, it has been amusingly named Korean Burrito. The mixture of textures and flavours work incredibly well together, and left me wanting the whole two rolls to myself. The Spring Onion Fried Chicken was a drier version of one of my favourite dishes at OTB. Whereas the flavours were strong, it was the crispier texture that I enjoyed. The Korimari came with a tender well-marinated side of bulgogi beef and vegetables. I loved the sesame oil aftertaste, and the simplistic way of eating – this is definitely one for Summer! The light, refreshing salads were thoughtful sides to the mains, and whereas the Pumpkin & Potato Salad was a little bland, I liked the sweetness of it. The Seaweed Salad was the better of the two though, with a tangy citrus dressing that paired well with the stringy vegetable. The rice poppers weren’t to my liking, but I think they’d be pretty good if you were drinking more than you were eating…you know what I mean.

Of course when you love a restaurant so much there is always the chance that you may not enjoy a new menu. However I had faith in OTB, and thanks to the chefs wonderfully modern take on authentic Korean cuisine, I need not worry. The new Covent Garden location has a serene ambience, and the usual superb service. This is one restaurant I would make the commute from East to West for.

Thank you so much to On The Bab who invited me and V.A to dinner to celebrate their opening. On The Bab is one of my favourite restaurants in London, so it meant a lot to be invited before the restaurant had even opened. As always with these kind of post, my views and words are my own – I truly love this food.

You can read more of my restaurant reviews on Zomato

Square Meal

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A London Life… in Tokyo?

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Eat Tokyo, Hillgate Street, Notting Hill, London

One of the best things about London is being able to find authentic food from pretty much any country or region. That isn’t to say though that there aren’t imitations. Unfortunately for every Asakusa, there are ten Wagamamas. Still, part of the fun of discovering new places to eat is in whether or not they will be true to form. One place I had heard about through the grapevine was Eat Tokyo. I’d heard several people say “this is the real deal” or “it’s the best Japanese food in London”. However I’m pretty critical of cuisines I know well, and I’d also heard some not-so-great reviews, so I decided to take these opinions with a pinch of salt. In fact I’d resigned myself to never visiting the restaurant “chain” (they currently have 6 locations in London). Yet last week V.A and I found ourselves unsure of where to go for dinner after our SHOW DRY salon visit. Low and behold, there was Eat Tokyo on our Zomato app with a 4.6 rating. So we decided to give it a go.

First off, let me say, the Notting Hill location is small. VERY small. In fact we were lucky enough to get the last table, right next to the front door. The layout of the kitchen and seats – this location features seats where you can watch the sushi chefs at work – reminded me very much of a typical izakaya. Even though the restaurant was full, the staff were efficient. We were given the ginormous menu (really guys, it’s too much) and took our time looking through it. I took charge and ordered a whole selection of my favourite dishes for the both of us, as V.A wanted to try something new. This included: Natto (fermented soy bean – Japan’s marmite), Unagi Don (grilled eel on rice), Wakame-su (pickled cucumber and seaweed), Agedashi Tofu (fried tofu in a tentsuyu broth), Salmon Sushi Rolls and Karaage (fried chicken). The chef also accidentally made us some natto sushi, which we were given for free.

As for the food, was it authentic? Everything apart from the wakame-su (it should have been sunomono) tasted exactly as I remembered it from Japan. The flavours and textures were all there, but something was lacking. Unfortunately whereas Eat Tokyo excels in bringing authentic Japanese dishes to London, it did not excel at bringing good quality ingredients and well cooked food to our table. The karaage wasn’t bad and neither was the age-dofu. However the unagi was overcooked and chewy, the sushi was cold, the natto didn’t come with a side of tare or mustard, and the wakame-su wasn’t pickled, and had ginger on top?! Overall not a great experience, but not one that I regret. I won’t be heading back anytime soon, but if I had nowhere to go I’d probably give them another chance.

You can read more of my restaurant reviews on Zomato.