All posts tagged: cheap eats london

A Korean feast at Kimchee

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If you’re a girl and feeling a bit under the weather, there’s nothing like a good old natter with a friend to cheer you up. That’s how I was feeling on Friday before I met my friend for dinner at Kimchee. I had walked past Kimchee numerous times but never made it in until now, perhaps because I work in Soho and quite often stick to the area. But the High Holborn location definitely doesn’t seem to be an issue for a lot of people. At 6.30pm, I walked through the front door to join a sizeable queue all eagerly awaiting a table. We were seated and our very pleasant waitress explained the menu and recommended a few dishes to share. We ordered one portion of Kimchee, a couple of sides, a rice dish and a BBQ dish. The idea is that diners share a wealth of dishes so that they can taste more. I am a huge advocate of the sharing plate so I was excited about what was to come. The food arrived …

Union Jacks

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Jamie Oliver can do no wrong in my eyes. I admire his tireless campaigning to encourage kids to eat healthily and his recipes never fail me. And I particularly liked my brunch at Fifteen London a couple of years ago, another of his concepts that I love. But despite being a fan of the cheeky chappy that started his cheffing career at River Cafe, I have never dined at one of his Jamie’s Italian restaurants. However, as soon as I heard about Union Jacks, I was there like a flash. And that brings me to a point actually. I can’t remember how I found out about it – but I haven’t read anything about it since. Either they have been keeping the promotion very hush hush or I’m not reading the right publications anymore. Situated in the newly developed St Giles Piazza, Union Jacks celebrate all things British, although at first glance you wouldn’t think it. The menu specifies ‘Flats’, which basically come in the form of a pizza – with a difference. British ingredients …

Meat Liquor

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You probably don’t need to read another blog post about this place, but I’m going to write it anyway. Don’t worry; I’ll keep it short and sweet. Meat liquor, yes yes, I know you’ve heard that this is the most amazing burger in the world right now. I think that’s a pretty bold statement but let me tell you, they’re certainly good. Situated just off Oxford Street behind Debenhams, Meat Liquor is the new permanent fixture from meataholic Yianni Papoutsis and serves an array of fantastic, you guessed it, burgers. Also on the scraggy menu is a range of weird and wonderful cocktails, most served in jam jars. The Full English Martini (£7.50) caught our eye – billed as Bombay Original stirred with homemade vermouth and served egg and bacon. The martini was smooth and almost too easy to drink, while the hard boiled quail egg and bacon bits that arrived in a separate shooter glass acted as a perfect appetiser. The Louisiana Jam (£7) was a syrupy sweet concoction of Southern Comfort swizzled with …

Meatballs at The Quality Chop House

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One of my earliest memories of dining out in London, before I even dreamed of moving here, was my dad taking my brother and I to a Victorian dining room in Clerkenwell to eat a roast dinner for lunch. I can’t remember what the restaurant was called but I walked into the dining room, with it’s high ceilings, and was surrounded by men in suits talking business while drinking ale from metal tankards. I was infatuated. I loved the setting – the old wooden pews, the creaky floors and of course the food. So I was delighted when I was invited to the launch of Meatballs at The Quality Chop House last night. The Grade II listed building was built in 1870 and has operated as a restaurant for almost 150 years. Many times have I walked past and marveled at the building but never stopped to wonder what was inside. The Quality Chop House was traditionally a working men’s chophouse and was later favoured by the kind of businessmen that I mentioned earlier. But, …

Tortilla burrito master class

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A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a burrito master class at Tortilla, a chain of Mexican burrito restaurants in London. I wasn’t feeling too well a couple of days leading up to the event and I had been to the doctors that morning and was told I had a kidney infection. Lovely. Still, I went partly because I didn’t want to let anyone down and partly because I love a good burrito. We arrived at the Market Place branch just off Oxford Street and joined the group waiting downstairs. The evening started with a talk from the founder Brandon Stephens and the Brazillian head chef Bruno Pires. I was really happy to see that Brandon is obviously an avid burrito fan and his enthusiasm really won me over. After the talk, they brought a load of ingredients for guacamole and we had a go at making our own. All of the ingredients were there for us to use – avocado, green chillies, garlic, coriander, lime, tomatoes, salt and pepper and we could …