All posts filed under: Restaurants

The Modern Pantry

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My mum loves coming down to London to visit every once in a while so I thought it would be nice to treat her to lunch at The Modern Pantry on Mother’s Day. After all, this is the day to pamper her and show her just how grateful you are that she has put up with your endless tantrums over the years. Anna Hansen has gained a lot of column inches recently, especially after her recent pop up Pantry at Meza in Soho, so as she was at the forefront of my mind, I decided to book a table at her full-time restaurant, The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell. The graceful historic Georgian Townhouses and laid back atmosphere of Clerkenwell was a refreshing change to the horific crowds in central London that we had endured the day before – tempers frayed. In better moods, we arrived at The Modern Pantry and were shown to our table in the light and airy upstairs dining room. We were given the menu and I was surprised (pleasantly) to see …

Kêu! Old Street

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How much do you pay for a regular sandwich or baguette at a central London cafe? I say regular but even the fancy pants ones aren’t really that special and you can be paying nearly £5 for one. That’s what annoyed me about lunch options when I used to work in central London. It was either a cardboard sandwich from Tesco, a mayonnaise full small portion from Pret or a nicer albeit a lot more expensive option from Leon. I don’t work in Shoreditch or anywhere near but as I am always on the look out for amazing new places that are opening in London, I took a trip down to Kêu!, the new Vietmanese Banh Mi deli from Hugh Trung Bui of Cye Tre and Viet Grill fame. Now I do have to say that I have been doing a bit of freelance work for a friend of a friend on the launch of the deli but my trip was completely independent to this. The concept is simple – to provide a delicious and …

Coffee at Caravan

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If you ever fancy taking any advice from me, I suggest that those of you out there that haven’t managed to get to Caravan for a coffee do. Nestled in the lovely Exmouth Market, Caravan does a hell of a lot – acting as a cafe, restaurant, bar, wholesaler and shop. Interesting. When I first heard the name, it conjured up images of a small porter cabin with drapes and women sitting around looking like fortune tellers. So when I got around to visiting, I was surprised. Pleasantly surprised mind. I don’t know why though as I’d be more surprised if I had found the porter cabin in it’s place. Wooden rough and ready tables, rustic jugs and bare floors, Caravan has taken the minimal approach and it’s one that I love. Many of my friends have dined at Caravan but I was most interested in visiting to see the ginormous coffee roaster that I heard is hiding in the basement. And my it looks pretty. The coffee that it roasts is a delight too. …

Allpress Espresso

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Since I started drinking coffee (a few months ago!) I have been on a mission to try out all of the great independent cafes that London has to offer. Another weekend and another visit – this time to Allpress Espresso in Shoreditch. I had heard and read good things so took a trip down one Sunday afternoon for a coffee and a slice of cake. First impressions were not fantastic and it didn’t blow me away. Sure enough, the enormous roaster in the window is designed to stop passers by in their tracks and it is impressive as it’s not normally something you’d see in a coffee shop but the decor inside was plain and slightly corporate looking. But maybe I’m being harsh. After all, I am extremely grateful for coffee shops like this as they are far better than the usual chains that we see on the high street. Allpress hails from down-under (no surprises there really) and positions itself between boutique and corporate, which is exactly the feeling that I got. The coffee …

Ping Pong Chinese New Year menu

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Pardon me for being so late but I have a post related to Chinese New Year! A few weeks ago I was invited to dine at Ping Pong to celebrate their special Chinese New Year menu. I had only ever been once before and I was nicely hungover so wasn’t able to appreciate the food – so when the invite came, I duly accepted. What I didn’t realise was that we were only going to be dining with a handful of others and that we would get to try almost everything on the menu, including any extras from the regular menu that we might want. Despite Chinese New Year falling on 3rd February this year, the special menu at Ping Pong ran for the whole month of February. We dined at the original venue on Great Marlborough Street in London and I found the restaurant to be well designed and very sleek. I looked at the special menu and was excited to try everything. Chinese isn’t my favourite cuisine, which is no secret and I …