All posts filed under: Restaurants

Lantana – the best brunch in London?

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The Greedy Diva recommended Lantana when we met up shortly after I had visited her hometown of Melbourne. I told her how impressed I was with the breakfasts, brunches and cafe culture in Australia and how frustrating it is to come back to London and not have great food like that widely available. Put it this way, there isn’t a Starbucks on every corner over there. I was in Australia for a month and in that time visited Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Most of the places that I ate served delicious food and I didn’t have a bad meal (apart from the Vietnamese that some of you may have read about). I was excited by the fact that most places, even little convenience stores sold what appeared to be delicious, delectable homemade banana bread and (I am told) great coffee. Two places that really stood out for me were Fringe in St Kilda, Melbourne and The Food Pharmacy in Dunsborough. Above is French toast with fruit compote and creme fraiche at Fringe. Being a food …

Sunday Upmarket Ethiopian lunch

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I wish that the UK had a better street food offering. I have heard rumours of great street food in countries such as Brazil and Canada and even though I haven’t been lucky enough to visit those places, I truly believe that their offering is better than ours. How many times have you succumb to the dirty ‘illegal’ hot dog smell that wafts your way after leaving a club at 2am? Similarly, how many times have you had no choice but to purchase a dodgy cardboard burger when at an event? One of the most ridiculous I’ve ever seen is a burger van in the B&Q car park at the weekends. What?!? Surely there could be something tastier to cater for these DIYers food needs? The best street food I have experienced has been the Mexican trucks that frequent the pavements in New York. I was in my element when, after a few cans of ‘Pabst Blue Ribbon’ at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I was able to drift out to the terrace and purchase …

Koya

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Saturday wasn’t the best day. I had been out to the Rizla boat party on Friday evening and not made it to bed until gone 3am. I awoke at 9am, trudged to the supermarket to buy a few missing ingredients for my chocolate, pecan and caramel brownies for the Great Brownie Bake Off, organised by Louise from The Chocolate Consultancy at Look Mum No Hands. I never made it… my brownies burnt so I retreated to the sofa for a nap. At about 4pm, my stomach started rumbling and as there was no food worth cooking in the house, I decided that I would head into Soho to satisfy my hangover. Polpetto sprung to mind at first but I decided against that as I didn’t want my first visit ruled by my need for stodge. So, Koya it was. Don’t get me wrong when I say that this is the perfect hangover food – because it is perfect all of the time. This was my second time dining at Koya and my second time ordering …

Dishoom, Covent Garden

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Until 3 years ago, I always tried to steer clear of Indian food. I had a very bad take away experience when I was a child, which left me scarred and it wasn’t until I moved to London that I realised that there was more to Indian food than my local take away that we used to get every Friday evening. My favourite curry house is one near where I live in Wembley called Karahi King. I have yet to write a review of it but you can see a great one here. I banged on about it enough to entice Carly and her boyfriend, The Peanut Gallery to travel all the way out here. Apart from Moti Mahal, which is fantastic but slightly too expensive to warrant regular visits, I haven’t had the pleasure of a well priced decent Indian meal in Central London, until last week. The new restaurant on the block is Dishoom, which bases itself on a traditional Bombay cafe. Their menu runs throughout the day with breakfast items such as …

Ginger and White, Hampstead

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Australians are taking over London, yaaaaaaaay! Well, I’d actually like to think so purely based on the fact that they are bringing their incredible cafe culture to London. Please sirs, we want some more! I’m talking about Ginger and White in leafy Hampstead. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better day last Sunday. I woke up at 9, hopped in the car and drove to Hampstead. Nestled down a quiet countryesque lane next to houses built for our shorter predecessors, Ginger and White boasts a cute range of breakfast, brunch, teas and coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker myself but I adore looking at a silky smooth flat White. The first thing you notice as you walk through the door is the vast amount (or maybe it looks vast as the counter is teeny) of home baked cakes, breakfast muffins and pastries. All housed in front of shelves stocked with kilner jars full of pulses and spices and delightful pastel tea sets. Venture further inside and you’ll find a large communal table (above which …