Carmen Bar De Tapas

August 10, 2015 Fork & Talk 1 Comment

Ever since I started working at my new work place my new colleagues had been raving about tapas at Carmen‘s and just wouldn’t stop banging on about these so called blue cheese croquettes. The sad thing was that every time they mentioned these blue cheese croquettes they’d just zone out and start to dribble, I had to find out if all this hype was bad taste or whether they were onto something good.

So off we went on a school trip to Carmen Bar De Tapas one glorious summer’s evening with a nice walk round Old Town Clapham and Clapham Common, so romantic. It is a wonderful area I must say and I will be exploring more of this place over the next few months I hope.

Carmen Bar De Tapas is tiny and family owned, which I love. Not the best idea to go with a large group of people, especially loud people like us who are so un-pc.

The menu is so easy to read and the waiter/owner is there to guide you through everything. We ordered three dishes each and just had a free for all and shared everything which is the kind of experience I love. You really get a sense of closeness like family when you share dishes and being an Asian I’m well up for that.

I’m sorry but I didn’t take pictures of everything as I got stuck in the moment of stuffing my face with this delicious food. The Blue Cheese Croquettes were AMAZING. Oh dear god, the party on my tongue, I’m salivating at the thought of it. So soft, so creamy and so morish! I could have eaten 100 of those. They come with a carrot chutney which is to die for.

My god we had 21 dishes between us so I’ll just name some of my faves. The beef stuffed peppers coating in cheese was lovely, the meat was flavoured with tomatoes, herbs and spices and topped with a mountain of cheese. The baked aubergines were another fan fave with béchamel sauce and again topped with a mountain of cheese. The tricolor salad was lovely and refreshing and the mozzarella just melted in your mouth.

We ordered some potatoes with garlic aioli and may I say it has to be the best aioli that I have tasted in a while.

The service was impeccable and we polished off every bit of food. Definitely go with the restaurants recommendation of three dishes per person as it’s a perfect amount. I must bring Elena here soon. Love, love, love this place and love my team for bringing me here.

Top tip: get the Blue Cheese Croquettes without a fail.

Avoid: the prosecco. It is not the best pairing for tapas.

Carmen Bar De Tapas
6 Clapham Common South Side, London SW4 7AA

American, Burger

Meat Liquor

August 6, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

We have been burger crazy lately, with one review after another! Sorry to our readers that don’t eat cow!

In our defense London is currently suffering from an American fever, with new burger joins opening almost every week. It’s hard to keep up especially as title of ‘best burger’ keeps moving from one restaurant to another.

So we thought with this review we will take you to back to where it all began: Meat Liquor.

Within a week of Meat Liquor opening it’s doors in London, we joined the queue, ready for our all American experience and ever since this has been our go-to place for some artery clogging but ultimate comfort food.

The place is no doubt popular and with an incomplete party we kept getting sent down the queue by a scary looking bouncer, whom earlier branded us with ink stamp ’MEAT’. Meat Liquor know how to keep customers happy and they also very familiar with work ‘Hangry’, so before we could get even a little bit aggravated, a waitress came outside with a tray of deep-fried goodies.

Once you are inside the restaurant you find yourself in dimly lit room which could be misinterpreted as film set for Dexter. Blood splattered plastic coverings and loud metal music, no one will hear the screams as you bite into your…burger.

Heavily tattoos staff deliver the best of Deep South cooking. Get ready to roll up your sleeves as it’s a very messy business.

We went absolutely crazy for their buffalo wings. Having never tasted such thing, i have become obsessed with the sauce. They still stand to this day as a very good rival to Sticky Wings.

When it came to burgers I wasn’t totally won over. If you like your burger buns firm and spongy you will be disappointed as these babies arrive soaked with juice. Which could be your thing, but it wasn’t mine, so i will stick to other things on their menu.

Meat Liquor is a fun place to bring friends that have never been before. As my American friend says ’ Meat Liquor is your standard American eatery’. The atmosphere, the music and of course the photo booth is all good fun. But for a repeat session I would recommend going there at lunch time where it’s just a bit more calm and you can have a good chat over the cocktails… Which reminds me – Meat Liquor make a mean Bloody Mary! uh oh!

MEATliquor
74 Welbeck Street
London | W1G 0BA
http://meatliquor.com/london

Coffee Break, Dessert

Coffee Break: Madd Hatters

August 3, 2015 Fork & Talk 3 Comments

We are rather over the top British folk and love our high tea time. Ok, let be honest, tea is often replaced by coffee and savoury is missed altogether and sweets are increased, well we are as we have been coined Prosecco Socialites so it’s just part of the lifestyle.

As we strolled around Leicester Square one sunny afternoon we came across Madd Hattesr, looked very cute with its cake piled high in the window. Exactly what we were in mind for. The drinks menu was rather extensive, from lassi to coffee to fruit punches. Everything you could ask for given your mood.

The cakes were handmade and looked so inviting, naturally we had to have a few for reviews sake of course 🙂

The cakes were fresh, moist and delicious. We had a slice of Oreo cookie cake which was so rich and devilishly chocolaty the kind that sticks to your palette in a good way. We then had a nibble at the red velvet cupcake with its heavenly cream cheese frosting. So sweet and creamy, Elena has literally eaten a bowl of this in the past, yeh and she is still stick thin while I look like the marshmallow man from ghost busters, biting into my carrot batons.

Lastly, we tried a wedge of the salted caramel cake. OMG, it was stunning. Not overly caramel in taste and you only really taste the salted caramel in the cream cheese frosting which is perfect or it would be sickly. Again, such a moist and delicious cake.

The coffees we got were nice and mild in flavour, nothing fancy but when you are teaming it up with the fabulous selection of cakes you almost want an understated drink in order to be able to really enjoy those explosive cake flavours.

Madd Hatters isn’t the most cosiest place to chill out. It’s the front of house to a theatre so people are walking through all the time. So if you can handle that then you will enjoy some amazing cakes.

Madd Hatters
http://www.lovemaddhatters.co.uk

English, Russian

Bob Bob Ricard

July 30, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Bob Bob Ricard came as a natural choice when picking a venue to celebrate my Russian friend’s upcoming nuptials. What a perfect excuse to wear a cocktail dress, pop on some heels and head to Soho!

Opulent – good word to describe the interior. Huge flower bouquets spilling out of their vases on every corner, mesmerizing glistening tiles that adorn the floors, mirrors and bright coloured leather in the dining room. It’s oligarch’s dream and quite possibly the most good-looking restaurant i have ever been to. A lot of time has also been spent in the lady’s room admiring black bird print wallpaper and the gold accessories. Perfect backdrop for the classic ‘bathroom selfie’.

British/Russian menu is no short of oligarch dishes like caviar and lobster. On the same page you will find uber traditional dishes like Russian vareniki (which we all ordered with no exception) and British cottage pie.

I am not sure you can translate traditional Russian dishes to the microscopic modernist portions without losing it’s original heartiness and feel good factor. The whole point is that in Russia we love to eat and always serve dinner generously, so when I was presented with there tiny dumplings i couldn’t help but have a little chuckle with my friends over the fact how ridiculous that looked. But no matter the portion size, food was absolutely delicious.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our mains and side dishes. constantly poking our forks into each others plates. My beef onglet with onion, watercress and truffle puree was dreamy. 28 day aged scotch beef was like butter to slice.

The others ordered salmon tartare which was season to perfection, lobster macaroni & cheese which was too hard to resist and grilled lemon sole, that was a chunky piece of fish perfected by brown butter.

No special occasion is ever complete without desert, and so all five of us tucked our spoons into Dulce de Leche creme brûlée, trio of sorbet and a chocolate fondant.

Of course we couldn’t resist pressing THE BUTTON. We wondered what will happen when we do…Will there be fireworks? Will there be music?

As soon as we let go of the button, our waitress with speed of light appeared handling a bottle of rose Champagne. How fun!…and that’s pretty much it.

As we were getting ready to leave atmosphere was getting more party-like and crowd more rowdy.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to dance in their new club room. I am sure that’s a lot of fun, especially if you are pressing for champagne.. all night long!

Photography by Nata Nova.
Follow her amazing work here:
https://instagram.com/romanovadesign

Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James St, London W1F 9DF
www.bobbobricard.com

Argentine

Cau

July 27, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

As we took a stroll down Kingston river one hot summer lunch we came across Cau, Gaucho’s sister restaurant. It looked very chic and modern and had the most stunning outdoor seating area over looking the beautiful of the river. A perfect place to people watch if your like that sort of thing.

Cau has a modern take on Buenos Aires cuisine, lighter and slicker which is a contrast from Gaucho’s large steaks and carb overload you are used to. The cocktail menu is unreal however, we stuck to the summer drink of Pimms through our visit. Elena and I sat and discussed the bets we have placed on my ex’s horrid existence and wondered how the boat ride to Hampton Court flower show would be.

You would think we are crazy for not ordering steak, but Cau have a stunning salad selection. As it was such a hot day the salads were our preferred section from the extensive menu of fish, chicken, beef and steak dishes.

We had the the Hot Smoked Salmon Salad and the Roast Vegetable, Goats Cheese and Quinoa Salad.

The roasted veg salad had our all time fave veg, the aubergine. It was lovely and light. The pickles were like little pops of salty goodness. The cheese was cool and creamy, perfect for a hot day like today. It had these amazing fried onions which were sweet in taste and had a lovely crunchy yet chewy texture to them.

The Smoked Salmon salad was warm with chunks on salmon flakes in a kind of Mayo like sauce. There were bits of quinoa here and there but it didn’t really feel like there was a substantial amount.

Cau has a lot of potential and looks really cool and inviting. However, there is a lacking of quantity of food. We ordered the large options of salad but everything was lacking. There must have been only a table spoon of goats cheese in the veg salad and a few pieces of roasted vegetable. To show you how bad it was Elena and I were sharing the salads but I had to tell her what the vegetables I had eaten were as there was a slither of each type so you couldn’t get a good sense of what was in there. Moving onto the salmon, the flavours were nice but again what a disappointment. Two table spoons of salmon in a mountain of leaves. The salad names should have been ‘Mountain of Leave with a Hint of …..’, now this would be a accurate description of what you are getting.

On average we paid £10 per salad which is not worth it at all as you are basically paying over the odds for a bag of salad leaves with bits of other stuff.

The food was nice but value for money it definitely isn’t. Even the Pimms we were having was lacking, lots of lemonade and very little actual Pimms.

Lovely view though.

Cau
Riverside Walk, Kingston upon Thames, Greater London KT1 1QN
www.caurestaurants.com

Seafood

Paris: Le Bar à Huîtres

July 25, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Summer is officially here! Time to put away your hibernation suits and nip outside for some of that goodness they call sunshine. And what’s even better how about catching a quick train Paris? In two hours you will find yourself in the middle of foodie capital.

We went to Paris purely for pleasure. Weather was hot and sun was beaming, after lying on the grass of Place des Vosges for hours and hours we realized that we were mighty hungry. The restaurant we chose to lunch at was on the other side of Paris and required about an hour of leg work.

As we made our way out of the park, we were blasted by chilled wind from the air con. This was the outdoor area of Le Bar à Huîtres and before our eyes lay a mountain of seafood. My friend has a fetish for oysters, so we absolutely had to stop for a snack.

I’m sure you think it’s madness to have seafood on the side of the road, but when you are there, having a chilled glass of white wine while slurping down oysters feels incredible chic. Parisians that walk by do not even bat an eye lid, and for one second you think ‘OMG I am one of them! And not just another tourist falling for a gimmick’.

15 euros got you a small platter and a glass of wine. Very good value in my opinion. Oysters were huge and came with effortless topping of red wine shallots.

After this perfect refreshment we were ready to take on busy streets of Paris.

Le Bar à Huîtres
33 Boulevard Beaumarchais
75003 Paris

English, Event

Emerald Street Brunch

July 24, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Being greeted with a glass of Cava at the entrance (okay, would have been much happier with Prosecco) is my kind of festival. Kerb and Emerald Street have teamed up for this event and when you know these names you know you are in for a treat. The Twenty-something team should really take lessons from these guys.

The festival was held in the new up-and-coming, hip location of Lewis Cubitt Square in Kings Cross. It celebrated our new love of brunch. It’s true, on your days off breakfast is too early and lunch is too late so brunch is the perfect combination of the two.

There are so many places offering amazing brunches and Kerb our street food specialists selected a few to try at this brilliant event with amazing prices. Nothing really cost more than £5 and the portions were pretty decent.

Obviously our eyes and stomachs wanted it all. We started off our fun with a visit to the Tongue and Cheek stall. Elena ordered the ‘Improved’ BLT Sandwich, the improvement being that it had pork belly instead of bacon. I had the poached egg, on parmigiana waffle and sour dough bread. Both were lovely but nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the flavours but it hit the hungry spot.

We then quickly moved onto the Stax Pancake stall. We were like little children as we decided exactly what we wanted to eat. We finally agreed on the Bourbon Pancakes with Bourbon and maple syrup. It was amazing. Just enough sweetness and the bourbon wasn’t overpowering at all, just a happy after taste.

By this point we had finished our second free drink of Aperol Spritz, yes free and something as lovely as a traditional Italian aperitif. So we were basically thirsty again so headed to the Soda stall so I could get myself a pineapple, grapefruit and lemon soda, the flavours very much reminded me of drinking lilt as a child but clearly this was much healthier. So refreshing, almost makes me want to buy a soda stream. Almost.

Elena decided to quench her thirst with an iced coffee from Decatur. This was no ordinary iced coffee, no, no, no, it can be better described as an iced slush puppy. It was amazing. I think I drank most of it on my ‘try’ sip. Now, Decatur were making the most amazing fresh doughnut things which we were building up to trying but unfortunately by the time we got there, which was 15 mins before closing, they had finished. We will most definitely be making a trip to their store soon to give those bad boys a try.

This festival was so well thought out with games and activities to make it more layered and interested rather than ‘you go, you eat’ kind of thing, which we usually have no problem with. They also had craft stalls, a free hair braiding stall by Rush hair saloon and temporary tattoo for every visitor by Rosie’s Tattoos.

Elena and I don’t like to class ourselves as conservative (OK we so are at times) but we got so excited about the tattoos that apparently lasted a week by Rosie Wonders, love the idea we can be inked for a short space of time. Well I’m on day two and it’s still going strong.

This event was such an enjoyable event and it was so chilled that we could have been there for hours.

Kerb are at this location on weekdays during the whole of this summer between 12-2 pm exhibiting 6 different traders daily. Great if you work in the area or fancy a nice, chilled no fuss lunch is a nice location. We highly recommend it.

We haven’t even mentioned half the traders that were exhibiting at this event but there was just so much to eat and such little tummy space. A few that have gone on our list to try are: The Good Egg, Poke and Claw over the next couple of weeks so watch this space for their reviews soon.
http://www.emeraldstreet.com

Spanish

Brindisa

July 22, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

If you ‘google’ best places to eat around London bridge station, it is guaranteed that Brindisa Tapas would have been close to the top of the list.

I am not 100% sure it was a good idea to review this place after 5 hours of drinking, tipsy munchies do tend to go out of control, but here it goes in any case.

We arrived at the restaurant at 11o’clock, very pleased to find it open and buzzing. The restaurant reminded me of a fast food eatery with the lights a little too bright, loud customer crowd and pumping music.

In true pick and mix style we have ordered a little bit of everything with a few recommendations from our waiter.

Overall the food didn’t wow me, although we have finished every plate. Dishes were not exciting, the flavors were not surprising. Ham was a dry, the egg dish had bits that were a little too uncooked for my taste buds.

Desserts were definitely something that helped this meal out and ended it on a good note. No complaints here!

I am afraid to say that Brindisa might be a bit of a tourist trap. If you are after good tapas in the city, i would definitely recommend Polpo (review to come) over Brindisa. Although its unfair to compare Venetian tapas with Spanish, for a similar price you will be getting tapas with a little more thought behind the taste pairing, more innovative menu and much cooler atmosphere.

Brindisa Tapas
18-20 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TJ
http://www.brindisatapaskitchens.com

Turkish

Maedah Grill

July 19, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

One of the first Turkish Restaurants in East London and still so popular. On the same street as the famous Tayyabs, Maedah is far more inviting, family friends, value for money and service is far more friendly.

Maedah Grill was the place Elena and I fell in love with the Iskander, a love that took us all the way to Turkey in search of what the home grown dish tastes like. The Iskander is a layered dish with a bread base, tomato sauce, a choice of shawarma (we always go for lamb) and lashings of natural yoghurt. It’s a creamy, tangy and meaty dish. We love how the bread soaks up the juices and really combines all the flavours of the dish together. It’s one of those ‘hug’ dishes which is so comforting to eat if you have had a bad day or week, instant cure.

Top Tip: It is a heavy dish so limit how much bread you have to start with or you will find yourself feeling stuffed quite quickly and you will regret it later.

Unlike your usual Turkish hospitality you won’t be over loaded with complimentary salads, breads and dips but I like to think the food makes up for it and you do get some complimentary Turkish Delights at the end. So you will have to order your own starters.

If you are a fan of dips then a staple order has to be the Maedah Mezze which is a selections of dips from hummus to petlican souslo. Served with warm lava bread it’s a great sharing starter and is excellent value for £5.95

Another dish I would like to recommend is the Adana Kebab which is a chicken garlic kebab wrapped in lava wrap on a bed of yoghurt. The chicken is so tender it just melts in the mouth. The garlic isn’t too over powering but you can definitely taste it.

I do like the service structure at Maedah Grill which makes it all that more comfortable to dine it. They have waiters that take your order and come round with the bill and check up on you and then they have an abundance of table boys that are always available for refill, plate changes and attentiveness. The service of customers is shared yet controlled by the waiter assigned to your table so you never have to wait long when you want anything.

It’s a great place to dine without any fuss. Thursday – Saturday it is advisable to make a bookings to avoid long wait times.

Maedah Grill
42 Fieldgate St, London E1 1ES
www.maedahgrill.net/

English, European, Italian

Caravan

July 16, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

We ended up dining at Caravel by mistake, we were on our way to Dishoom around the corner but were told that there is a hefty 2 hour wait for the table. In search of a place with a more reasonable waiting time we found our selves at the doors of Caravan. Popped our names on the list and went straight to the bar.

By that point I was really hungry and it felt like eternity for barman to even notice us, only to be told that he is unable to serve us cocktails since we will be taking them outside. Our only choice was to pay £6 for a small glass of prosecco served in a plastic cup, go outside and wait for the table.

Baking in the evening sun with sound of fountains behind our backs we spent almost an hour watching other people waiting for their tables. Caravan is surely a popular place! Located in the new built Granary square it is a meeting point for the hip and cool crowd. Half of which are students from the near by Art’s college, other half is young professionals who came to chill by the canal after work.

Once we stay down we swiftly decided what we were going to devour, however the restaurant was so busy that it took us a while to catch waiters attention. First to place our order, then to ask for some tap water, then to order more drinks and finally to ask for a missing fork…. what a mission!

I almost never let bad service overshadow experience of eating out, i think the food is still the main reason we go to restaurants. But at the Caravan it was so bad that it almost made no sense to queue for an hour only to wait some more to catch waiters attention.

One thing I couldn’t fault was of course the food.

For starter we had soft shell hairy crab – absolutely delicious. For mains we couldn’t resist pizza, and my was that a great choice. Unlike Pizza East these babies had been covered with sauce from end to end.

A little something sweet had to be chocolate tart with chili and basil ice-cream. I loved the taste of all of these elements separately but at first wasn’t too sure about the combination of flavors. But after a few spoonfuls i was totally hooked and almost licked the plate clean.

All and all if you are not bothered by the waiting and the service then definitely do give Caravan a try as they are delicious!

CARAVAN
Granary Building, 1 Granary square,
London N1C 4AA
http://www.caravankingscross.co.uk

Thai

Mai Thai

July 13, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

I have been driving past Mai Thai for years and have always been in ore of those little Thai decorative features on the outside with the wooden carvings. What’s always stopped me from going is the difficulty of parking at Wimbledon Broadway but one evening I sucked it up and paid the stupid parking ticket. The things we do for good food.

As soon as we walked in I could feel that my taste buds would be bursting as it just smelled so good. We were so starving we went straight in for starters without much discussion.

We ordered the Thai Pancake and the mixed selection starter (yes, that’s how hungry we were). The Thai Pancake was huge and the contents were rather odd. It was filled with bean sprouts, sweet grated coconut and prawns. The pancake around it was very light and crispy. It was such an odd tasting thing but was lovely and different.

The selection platter for two was what you would expect, nice but nothing to rave about. The fish cakes were exceptionally lovely though.

For drinks I ordered again something rather questionable but I loved it. The Mai Thai, their signature drink. When you hear the contents I know you are bound to pull a face: coke, red bull and whisky but actually the flavours were so soft and refreshing that I drank the whole mug of it before I got to my mains.

For mains we had the Chicken Penaung Curry and the Goong Tord Sauce Makam. We teamed it up with our favourite egg fried rice.

The Chicken Penaung Curry was creamy as it had a thick coconut base. On the menu it emphasises that it has lots of chili but it’s not really that spicy. It has a zesty kick to it with the lime leaves and well it was fabulous. One major thing to comment on is the amount of chicken you get is a lot more than you would expect for one portion of curry, I was pleasantly surprised at the value for money of this dish, we had so much left over.

The Goong Tord Makan is a dry stir fried dish with deep fried king prawns. It is sweet and sour in flavour. A nice dish which is a complete contrast from the Penaung curry.

I think value for money is one thing we can label this restaurant for as we paid £20 each for A LOT of food but food that had the finest ingredients. We had to take away the left overs as there was just so much. The staff and service are exceptional and I will definitely be returning to Mai Thai in the future.

Mai Thai
75 The Broadway, London SW19 1QE
www.maithaiwimbledon.co.uk

American, Burger, Event

Burger Festival

July 11, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

The excitement of going to burger fest last weekend has spiraled through to this week. Sampling those sliders has made we want to visit each vendor who participated at Burger Fest 2015 at The Paper Works in Elephant and Castle.

As you remember, we reviewed this fun venue only a few weeks ago and on this night it was all about the fun with lots of board games, drinks and well to top it all off the best burgers in town.

We started of our feast with Wild Game and Co. It was said to be the best burger by whoever voted for this thing and well it didn’t disappoint. Even though the burger was slightly over cooked the flavours coming from the meat were to die for.

We then moved onto a burger by Craft. Now we must say, the bacon was chargrilled to the max that it just snapped. The pattie was flavourless. You would think if you are at an event to showcase your best burger then some thought would go into ensuring that ever offering is top notch. Especially when each customer is spending £35 a ticket to get in and the cost of only receiving five sliders. Poor show Craft, thought you would do a lot better.

We then swiftly moved onto Dip and Flip and their Green Chili Burger in gravy.

Omg, I have wanted to try this place for ages and well I will be visiting this week to sample a whole burger as a slider just wasn’t enough. The pattie was meaty, the cheese was oozing and the chilies just added a nice little kick. I loved it being smothered in gravy. Nice.

Street Kitchen was our fourth offering and we were pleasantly surprised to find that they actually didn’t specialise in burgers at all. The pattie was perfect, medium rare and not a minute over cooked. They were a tad heavy on the condiments which did over power the meat. However, it’s definitely something I would try again with less of the condiments.

Hotbox. Now you know we love a bit of Hotbox!!! We have tried this burger before so it was more of a déjà vu burger of happy memories. Amazing pattie, perfect relish and that perfect balance of sweet and savoury. You can not fault this burger and its definitely one of our faves.

To be honest we loved our burgers. However, the event was awfully organised and many people were left hungry and frustrated. Many of our friends had to eat the the same burgers two – three times and some got there when there was nothing left even though they had purchased an evening ticket. The music ended early and there was silence for the last hour of the event. The vendors are not to blame but Twenty Something London really need to learn about organisation and customer satisfaction before they organise another event. This was not worth £35 and we won’t be going to anymore Twenty Something London events.

Uncategorized

What’s good: Camden Passage

July 8, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Although Camden Passage only stretches less than 0.2 mile it is probably the highest concentration of restaurants, cafes and coffee houses per square meter I’ve seen. With it’s selection of cuisines on offer, it’s definitely rival to the famous Upper street around the corner.

Having lived in Angel for 6 years I have watched a ton of places open and shut it’s doors over time. It almost seems Camden Passage changes it’s look with every season. So it is very likely that by the time this post goes live there might be a few that have already closed down. Never the less here is a list of my Camden Passage favorites. Enjoy!

KIPFERL
An absolutely lovely Viennese food stop. Decor is a perfect example of Scandinavian simplicity and their service is efficient and on point. Here you will find full breadth of Austrian food from the Weiner schnitzel to pierogi with sauerkraut. My favorites are hot sausages that come with mustard, horseradish and rye bread. This place is definitely after my heart!

20 Camden Passage, London N1 8ED
http://www.kipferl.co.uk

ELK IN THE WOODS

Eclectic dining room with menu serving hot dishes, snack boards and sandwiches. Everything we’ve tried was delicious but personally I would focus on the fish. I’ve had an absolutely divine roast halibut with trimmings. Don’t shy away from having a cocktail with your meal, having started as a bar they certainly know how to do their drinks!
37-39 Camden Passage, London N1 8EA
http://www.the-elk-in-the-woods.co.uk

APPESTAT
Coffee and cake shop that serves best ethically sourced, artisan produce from across London and beyond. I often come here, order my flat white and sit at one of the tables at the back for some peaceful blogging time.

Don’t miss Appestat’s brownies…so naughty but so good!

Also their chalk board quotes as a guaranteed Instagram classic…like this one: ‘I can’t espresso how much you bean to me’
http://www.appestat.co.uk

CHIPOTLE
This is definitely my go-to place if I fancy an ‘out of this world’ salad.

‘But it’s a chain’?!’ you might say (as if is a dirty word). Yep, they are, and with a handful of ingredients to choose from they have perfected their salad combinations to tick all of the yummy boxes.

So as usual i’ll have roast chicken salad with black beans, mild salsa, sour cream and extra guacamole please!
http://www.chipotle.co.uk

THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Camden Passage wouldn’t be Camden Passage without the endless queue to the Breakfast Club. Whether it’ is indeed breakfast time or it’s 8pm at night, you will always see a few people hovering outside waiting for their turn.

I have been here a few times and honestly haven’t quite found an explanation for their popularity. But if you are in the area and want to try the famous Breakfast Club, I would recommend their hot wings. Finger licking good!

http://www.thebreakfastclubcafes.com

*NOTE
If you find yourself walking the length of Camden Passage and all restaurants are fully booked, then carry on a few minutes down the road until you reach Food Lab.

I have reviewed it when we first started our blog as a great place to grab healthy breakfast. But I want to point your attention to their meat and cheese platters. Just look at this fine example of food porn!

American, Burger, Grill

Hoxton Grill

July 5, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Shoreditch, such an eclectic mix of dining experiences with a wealth of different people and trends. Hoxton Grill is a chilled out bar and eatery with a lovely range of cosy seating options, fun activity suites and booths and a fusion restaurant to cater for all.

Saturday is heaving as with all locations here so: book, book and book, especially if you want to eat.

Being processco lovers it’s hard to understand when a place only offers one type of processco so please be prepared to not be able to ponder over the different types and put everything you learnt at wine swigging class into practice.

To start with we had the quinoa, courgette and feta salad and wait for it we had another salad with baby gem, crab and avocado salad. However, the healthy eats stopped here.

I loved the quinoa salad so much that I have made it at home since. The crab was a bit questionable and too fishy for my liking which is odd to say about something with crab I know.

For mains we got a bit dirty, well 3/4 of us did. One healthy bastard got grilled cod, oh la la. My bacon queen Elena naturally had the bacon and blue cheese burger along with our other friend and I sampled the cheese burger.

This had to be the longest wait for food ever. We made two round trips to the toilet, took selfies galour and had time to get up and go to the bar area and try and get our friend a date. An hour wait in totally but we didn’t mind as we were having fun and hoping the food would be worth the wait.

Elena started moaning from the moment the burger hit the table. She had two patties and both were burnt to a crisp. As they were burnt it left a chargrilled taste to everything which couldn’t even be hidden by her bacon love.

My cheeseburger was a simple meaty cheeseburger. The patties were meaty and medium rare which was rather annoying and I would have liked to have been asked how I would like my burger if they were going to do that. The meat wasn’t packed full of flavour which I would expect some sort of jazz hands if I’m expected to pay £12. I was starving and it filled a whole and thats how I should look at it at that time of night. I won’t even start on the bun. Chips were nice though 🙂

We tried to sweeten the end of the meal with a massive smore but that failed to satisfy either, nice idea though.

Hoxton Grill is great for a nice evening out for some drinks and meeting new people. However, it’s not the right place for a tasty, memorable meal that’s served in reasonable time.

Hoxton Grill
The Hoxton, 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU
http://www.hoxtongrill.com

English, Other

Healthy Eating Special: Lunch BXD

July 3, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

I have already been on a rant about how hard it is to maintain a healthy diet while working in the city, you read read all about it here. So moving onto the next installment of ‘Healthy Eating Special’ I’d like to introduce you guys to Lunch BXD.

I came across this company as I was sitting at my desk, searching for food delivery service that can provide something different to your usual burrito or a pizza. I wanted something tasty, fresh and healthy, delivered to my office, was that too much to ask for?

Turns out not!
London BXD does exactly that.

Freshly prepared lunch delivery company was started by two girls that met in a culinary school. They used to make lunches and bike them across London themselves, but now with kitchen in Waterloo, where they employ a number of skilled chefs to put together innovative lunch boxes.

Whether it’s butternut squash in satay sauce with noodles or smoked salmon with spelt risotto – it’s guaranteed to be at your desk by 1pm. (as long as you place your order by 10am that day)

And it really is that easy. Delicious and nutritious!

My colleagues and me agree that ‘Take away’ is no longer a dirty word.

http://lunchbxd.com/