FOOD LOVERS ONLY

The Chicken Shop

2014-03-11T14:49:00.001+00:00

Shake Shack

2014-02-25T11:52:00.001+00:00

This was my second time going to Shake Shack, so I decided to go for the double cheeseburger rather than their standard burger. The main reason behind this choice was that the normal sized burger is more of a nibble than a proper lunch burger. However, I found that the double burger got quite greasy and heavy - so I would recommend the normal sized burgers rather than the double ones.

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester Hotel

2014-01-23T16:40:00.002+00:00

Last week I went to Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester Hotel to celebrate my friend's birthday. We all had the three course lunch set menu with matching wine which was priced at £55.

In terms of the food this was by far the best French restaurant I've been to, and the only place that could potentially compete with this one is Hedone in Chiswick. The offering at Hedone is slightly different than the one at Alain Ducasse, as the former in my opinion serves more innovative dishes whereas the latter offers a more traditional French menu.

I would highly recommend this restaurant for anyone that wants to try some proper French Haute Cusine in London.

Pizza Pilgrims - Soho

2013-08-13T19:09:00.003+01:00

I've been a huge fan of Pizza Pilgrim ever since my colleague introduced me to their pizza van, pictured below. The van used to be parked on Berwick Street in Soho, where in my opinion they were the best food offering from the Berwick Street food market.

Last week Pizza Pilgrims opened their restaurant on 11 Dean Street in Soho, and I was lucky enough to arrive just before the main lunch rush.

In my opinion this is the best place for pizza in London at the moment.

pizzapilgrims.co.uk

MEATLiqour

2013-08-13T19:07:00.000+01:00

Three massive burgers at MEATLiquor, which was well worth the queue but not as good as Patty and Bun.
meatliquor.com

MASH - Copenhagen

2013-03-15T17:41:00.002+00:00

The Danish restaurant MASH, Modern American Steak House, recently opened a new branch in London, and when I was in Denmark last week I decided to check out one of their restaurants.
The menu consists of American, Danish, Uruguay, and Australian meat. My choice for the evening was the American - Greater Omaha Ribeye, pictured above, and we all ordered a mix of sides to share.
In my opinion this was a steak on par with the ones served at Goodman's and Gaucho in London, and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Copenhagen.

mashsteak.dk

Jack's Cafe

2013-03-15T17:28:00.000+00:00

I love the combination of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup, and Jack's on Salusbury Rd in Queen's Park is one of my favorite places for a lazy weekend brunch.
The place is set up as an American diner and offers a good selection of meals suitable for brunch, from healthy to greasy.

jacks-cafe.com

Saturday Madness at Borough Market

2012-12-13T20:30:00.000+00:00

I hardly ever go to Borough Market anymore - i used to go when last living in London around 3 years ago, but its become a tourist attraction in itself. Unless I go at 8 0r 9am on a weekend to buy coffee or cheese, its just too packed and I generally just try to avoid it.

However, after trying a few wannabe attempts at Greenwich Market and a few others, we had a craving for the real deal - the famous Tapas Brindisa Chorizo sandwich.

As usual it was awesome - i only got the single this time, since I wanted to eat a few other things. I have to say - it was mistake. Never underestimate how much Chorizo one might need....

I also tried the Bratwurst hotdogs for the first time - the sausage wasn't bad, and sauerkraut was excellent - but i didn't like the bread too much - i prefer the soft hot dog bread which soaks up some of the juices and sausages.

Finally - we had the equally famous raclette: metled on top of potatoes, gherkins and silver onions. Given that I now own a home raclette kit, and tried it out for the first time a few weeks back, I wanted to trash this and say mine is way better - but I have to say this was pretty damn good. Have to say all this left me pretty immobile after lunch..

Shoryu Ramen

2012-12-13T20:29:00.000+00:00

I work just round the corner from Shoryu Ramen, which opened recently on 9 Regent Street. There's been quite a lot of press about this place, so I normally when I've been wanting to go there's been a line of people queuing up outside, so it wasn't until yesterday that I had the chance to try this restaurant out.

I had green tea to drink, Rice Ball and Gyoza for starters and the Shoryo Ramen for main course. All of the dishes had a very high standard, howveer, during the meal I kept on thinking about how much I miss the days when it was possible to get a table at the Udon restaurant Koyo without having to queue for more than an hour. This could also be due to the fact that I'm a much bigger fan of Udon rather than Ramen. Despite me missing my Udon, I did enjoy the meal and it was also very reasonable priced at £15 per person, sharing the starters between two.

So I guess that my final verdict food wise is that this is a great place to go to in terms of value for money and if you are in the neighborhood - but the food is nowhere near as good as the Udon served at Koya.

TimeOut Review

shoryuramen.com

Santo - Portobello Rd

2012-04-02T18:58:00.000+01:00

An American friend of mine recommended Santo, as it according to him is the best Mexican food you can find in London. Poncho8 and Crazy Homies has so far been my favorite spots for Mexican food, but I thought that it would make sense to check out Santo.

My friend was defintiely right with his recommendation as the food was amazing and I alos quite liked the interior of the restaurant. Me and my flatmate went for the Al Pastor Cazuela, which was amazing although a bit dry on its own so some salsa would be recommended for this dish. We also had the Chicken Tiras Chipotle, which was by far one the best tacos I've had. Although the tacos were good, my favorite was the Tiras Albanil Quesadilla - the only donwisde with this dish was the size.

Foodwise this place definitely lives up to the recommendations by my friend, the only donwside though was the price and the size of the dishes.

santovillage.com

L'As de Felafel -Paris

2012-03-11T12:00:00.000+00:00

According to the Lonely Planet, L'As de Felafel is the number one place to eat in Paris and ranked as number 13 amongst all the activities to do in Paris, you can read the review here.

This falafel place is located in Marais, the Jewish quarters of Paris, and it was very busy on the Sunday afternoon that we went down there. The wait for a falafel was about 30 min, but it was definitely worth waiting for as it was one of the best falafels I've had outside of Israel and the Middle East.

The Admiral Codrington

2011-12-19T17:35:00.001+00:00

Went out for Sunday brunch at the Admiral Codrington in South Kensington this weekend. I've been to the venue a couple of times before, but only for drinks in their small garden, so this was the first time that I went for food.

The waitress was rather confused at time, and she managed to give my friend the Saturday menu twice, both for mains and for desserts. Putting the confusion to side, the service was excellent and the starters as well as the mains were delicious. For main I had the Hereford Sirloin of Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, served together with a bottle of Argentinian Malbec, and for dessert I went for the Panacotta served with blueberries - which was definitely the highlight of the afternoon.

I can definitely recommend this restaurant, however, I do not know if I will be back soon as it is just a bit of a journey to head down to South Kensington on a Sunday morning.

theadmiralcodrington.co.uk

Goodman Steak Restaurant - London

2011-12-15T10:25:00.000+00:00

Once again it is the time of the year for Christmas dinners and parties with work. Last year we had our team Christmas dinner at Ken Lo's Memories of China, which you can read about here. This year rather than going for Chinese we went for proper steaks at Goodman in Mayfair. Goodman has just recently opened their third restaurant in London, however, it was the first time for me to visit one of their restaurants.

It was not easy to choose steak, as the whole menu looked mouthwatering, from Porterhouse Steaks, to corn feed rib eye, to Irish grass fed fillets, and barley fed steaks. Finally I decided to go for the Irish grass fed fillet with a Foie Gras on the side, pictured above.

Although the steaks were fairly expensive, they were definitely worth it, and I do hope to head back there soon again.

goodmanrestaurants.com

Stockholm - Beijing8

2011-12-12T14:42:00.000+00:00

Was back in Stockholm over the weekend and went out for dinner with my sisters. My younger sister recommended Beijing8, which is a newly opened Beijing dumpling style place on Södermalm in Stockholm. I remember several years ago when Sushi was fairly new in Stockholm, and places started opening up all over town. It seems as if dumplings might be the next new thing to hit the main streets of Stockholm in 2012, as there are several dumpling and dim sum places opening around town at present.

The restaurant has a really nice fit-out, and the food was tasty as well as moderately priced. The only thing to complain about was the music, which at times got way to loud to have a relaxed conversation around the table. The night we were there, a couple of DJs were playing and the song selection was amazing, however, it was just a bit too loud for a restaurant.

Beijing8 Blog

Blue Zenzer - Italian-Indian Fusion

2011-12-08T10:30:00.000+00:00

Every now and then I go and play golf at Northwick Park, which has a pretty good 9 hole course and a good driving range - which is what you would expect from a golf course. However, the one thing that they have which is somewhat unexpected is an Italian-Indian fusion restaurant called Blue Zenzer.

Blue Zenzer offers fusion dishes such as Lamb Keema Calzone, pictured above, and the classic Hot Chilli Paneer Pizza.

Although the concept seems a bit counter-intuitive, the Lamb Keema Calzone is amazing and I can highly recommend it after a round of golf.

Blue Zenzer

Ali Baba, Aqaba

2011-10-20T14:54:00.025+01:00

The restaurant Ali Baba in Aqaba was recommended to me by my dad, a couple of friends from Jordan, as well as the Lonely Planet, so it obviously made sense to head out there for dinner while in Aqaba.

For starters we had hummus with minced meat, which was one of my favourite dishes during my visit to Israel, a mix of sweet potatoes and spices, it tasted a bit like Babaganoush but made on sweet potatoes, accompanied by Labneh, Fatoush and some local sausages. For main course we had the Sayadieh, a traditional fish dish which was delicious.

So if you are ever in Aqaba, I can definitely recommend a visit to Ali Baba.

Review from Lonely Planet is available here.

Falafel in Amman

2011-10-15T14:21:00.000+01:00

Was in Jordan on vacation last month and I came across some really amazing food during my trip. This is a falafel sandwich which I bought from a small shop on Rainbow Street in central Amman. What made this falafel amazing was the bread with sesame seeds.

Food Lovers Map

2011-10-07T16:21:00.002+01:00

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Crazy Homies

2011-10-07T15:51:00.002+01:00

Crazy Homies is probably my favourite place in London for Frozen Margaritas and Mexican food. Been there loads of times, and although the food is quite cheap you normally end up having one too many Margaritas.

The interior of the bar is really well done and it has a cozy feel to it as it is normally packed, which sometimes can result in a bit of a wait for getting a table.

Next doors to Crazy Homies is Lucky 7, which is a great American style dinner. So a great place for a big brunch while recovering from all the Margaritas from the day before.

crazyhomies.com

Deliverance - Late Meal at Work

2011-09-14T19:40:00.001+01:00

What would be more suitable than celebrating the upcoming three year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, with a meal from Deliverance. When I was working for Lehman, I used to have at least 2 meals from Deliverance per week, namely Saturday and Sunday lunch as we were stuck in the office over weekends.

Although I was starving last night, I was moderately impressed by the quality of the food from Deliverance, and it made me very happy that this was the first time in over three years that I had to eat this food. What made me even more happy was the fact that I these days get around to doing things over the weekends rather than being stuck at work 24/7.
The dish above is dish number 105 - the Nasi Goreng.

deliverance.co.uk

BA0786 - Once again its prawns

2011-09-02T15:53:00.000+01:00

Went to Stockholm last weekend, and by some strange reason it seems as if BA serves nothing but prawns these days, however, the prawn pasta was much better than the prawns in the Mediterranean salad.

Club Sandwich - Hotel du Vin, Glasgow

2011-09-01T10:32:00.001+01:00

Stayed at Hotel du Vin in Glasgow last night, and I had the Club Sandwich for dinner. The Club Sandwich was by far one of the best I've had in a very long time. All of the ingredients were fresh and mixed together nicely. I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel, which has a traditional English feel to it with old furniture in a a very classical setting. It has a homely feel to it, and it almost felt like a very posh version of a B&B. So if you are not from the UK and want to stay somewhere English, I think that Hotel du Vin could be a good option.

BA0444 - Cold Mediterranean Salad

2011-08-27T20:26:00.000+01:00

Been a shortage of new restaurants recently, but thought that I would start tracking the food that I consume when travelling. The above is the Cold Mediterranean Salad served on BA0444, and it was a bit of a disappointment. Food on BA tend to be pretty good, but this dish came out rather dry and with shrimps that didn't quite make it.

ba.com

Cute Funny Cakes

2011-08-03T12:33:00.007+01:00

My boyfriend just quit his job to create his own job, developing an online game. To encourage him, I made a green dino cake:

He liked the cake so much, he asked me o make a "red dragon" for his upcoming birthday. I made a prototype which looked like a cross combo of the pink panther and a racoon:

I'll try harder to make it look like a dragon on his birthday. Green dino was made of chocolate cake and butter-cream frosting. Red dragon was made of chocolate cake and marzipan.

The Elk in the Woods

2011-07-24T19:12:00.000+01:00

Had to try something different for brunch as the queue to Breakfast Club was once again way too long. I ended up at nearby The Elk in the Woods, and was very pleased with the laid back atmosphere and my potato and panchetta skillet with baked eggs, red pepper and tomato. This place is definitely worth a visit on its own or as a convenient back-up when Breakfast Club is overcrowded.

the-elk-in-the-woods.co.uk