Kooky Bakes, Shoreditch (Photoblog)

Some photos from the Kooky Bakes stand at Sunday Upmarket. Look at the website for contact/opening info.

I ate one of these. Very good indeed. The strawberry flavoured buttercream was nice and not overly sugary. The jam hidden deep inside was a nice touch. The actual cakey bit was well made.

I also had a 'Krazy Kid Slice'. Scott who runs the stall explained that they were a childhood favourite. Rice krispies, fruit loops, fruity pebbles, sugar, fairy dust...probably. Delicious. Well priced, too!

Well priced and well made sweet treats. Great looking stall too - it really stood out among the rather cupcake-saturated Upmarket. Top tip: eat one of their Krazy Kid Slices whilst playing Robot Unicorn Attack. It'll have you bouncing off the walls.

B&K Salt Beef Bar, Edgware

The only bad thing I can say about the B&K is ITS TO FAR FROM ME!!!! Im in Indiana 

the portions are as big as mikes chest ,plenty to grab hold of and the price is still to this day very very reasonable.

B&K is every bit as good as Schwartz's in Montreal & Carngie Deli in NYC.

Above is three excerpts from reviews on London Eating. We'll put the questionable spelling and grammar down to their excitement about this Jewish restaurant/deli in Edgware, north London. An area with a significant Jewish population, it houses a few Kosher and Kosher style eateries - most are closed on Saturdays, of course, but a few like B&K ignore Shabbat and remain open. Along with the salt beef pictured here, they sell chopped herring, ox tongue, fish balls, matzoh ball soup and various salads, available to take away by weight or eat in as part of a meal. You can also take away the meats away as part of a sandwich. The big seller is the salt beef in rye bread, with a smear of mustard.

Salt beef on rye bread (£4). Brilliantly cheap, but I suppose we're in Zone 5 now, not Selfridges! For my money, the vast difference in price between this sandwich and the salt beef available at the Brass Rail can only be explained by location; the quality of both sandwiches is only notable in that the salt beef in Edgware is more enjoyable due to being about six pounds cheaper! That is to say, the salt beef from B&K is brilliant: it has the perfect half-way texture, between chewy and a softness the perfect distance away from mushy. The good quality meat also comes piled high in your sandwich, but not so much that you can't fit it into your mouth. Well judged.

The rye bread is good. I can't help but think of the rye used at Katz's deli for their pastrami sandwich - an imitation, more similar to cardboard than bread, its purpose similar to a fork, used to carry meat to your mouth. This bread is a million miles away and is delicious enough to eat on its own. Studded with caraway seeds, it's the appropriate level of soft and doesn't detract or distract from the meat.

I've been going to B&K Salt Beef Bar for a few years now so perhaps I'm biased, but I think it's one of the best salt beef sandwiches, if not the best, in London. The other options are good too, if you have space after eating one of their mega sandwiches.

11 Lanson House

Whitchurch Lane

Edgware

London

HA8 6NL

Google Maps

Hereford Road, Notting Hill

Note: I was dining with @samanthanewbery and @harrywilkinson. Follow them on Twitter cos they're ten out of ten nice.

Hereford Road is by no means a new restaurant, as you may know. Opened nearly three years ago by Tom Pemberton (ex head chef of St John) it aims to deliver more of the same, on the street of the same name. Locally sourced and seasonal ingredients, with offal playing a part in the starters and the main courses - calf's brains with tartare sauce, and lamb sweetbreads, for example.

I was here to try out the set lunch menu. Seemingly a bargain - three courses for £15.50. All of the options also appear on the a la carte menu and there's no skimping on portion sizes. As well as the prix-fixe, there's a one-dish "express lunch": one main, a glass of wine and a coffee for £9.50.

Home made bread and (not home made) butter. Pretty good stuff: well made bread and high quality butter, at the appropriate temperature.

Photo by me.

Grilled sardines, parsley and lemon.

Photo by Samantha.

Grilled sardines, parsley and lemon. 

Why do I even bother? Look at my photo, then look at Sam's. I might as well have drawn mine in Microsoft Paint. Anyway... The description I've given in bold is off the menu verbatim - the 'ingredients list' style is one of the simplistic features that Pemberton and Hereford Road employ, paralleling their menu with the style of cooking and perhaps even the greater mindset at the restaurant. On the fish, freshness is always the first issue that creeps into my mind. Flaking the flesh away from the spindly bones gave an early insight: the fish came away with the right level of ease, pulling apart but still retaining a firm, not mushy structure. The initial tasting note was of scorched flesh from the grilling, with the parsley and lemon zest complementing the fresh, oily fish. A squeeze of lemon completed a simple but good starter, despite the last sardine being overcooked and rather cottony in places.

Another reason I like eating sardines: they make me feel like a cartoon cat when I've finished with them.

Harry's beetroot, sorrel and cow's curd. He seemed to like it.

Sam's crispy pork, chicory and mustard. We all liked this one. Probably the best starter of the lot. Really well composed of complementary flavours. Plus it had bits of pork belly dotted about, which always makes everything better.

Photo by me.

Onglet, chips and aioli.

Photo by Samantha.

Onglet, chips and aioli.

(Much better composition, more sharp, better colours...) Sam and I both had the onglet as a main course. Otherwise known as a 'hanger' steak (due to its 'hanging' from the diaphragm of the cow) or 'skirt', it's an economical (cheap) and unforgiving cut - you can only cook it rare or take it to just medium-rare, otherwise it'll be tough, chewy and a waste of flesh. Apparently butchers used to keep this for themselves as no one else would take it or want it, but Hereford Road seems to be all about the unloved cuts of meat. The steak came out already pre-sliced against the grain, which some may not like but I do, and looked perfectly cooked; the exterior had caramelised and developed a crust, whilst the meat inside was rare, pushing medium-rare in places and as juicy as you'd expect. There were no problems with the tenderness of the meat, nor the flavour for that matter. Onglet is one of the stronger tasting cuts, similar to the neighbouring kidneys, and the meat shone with the right amount of seasoning added. It was equally good with some of the pungent aioli, the strong garlic matching the flavourful beef.

The chips are triple cooked and nearly creep into roast potato territory, through size and structure- and taste-wise. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, they were a touch too oily (perhaps the oil was too cold for the first fry?) but were still delicious.

Harry's mackerel, tomatoes and rocket. No messing about, give the lad a whole grilled fish. He seemed to enjoy it, once again.

Photo by me.

Lemon and almond tart.

Photo by Samantha.

Lemon and almond tart.

A pretty nice tart, which I can't remember too well to be perfectly honest. The crème fraiche worked nicely with the slightly bitter candied lemon zest.

Caramel ice cream.

Two generous scoops and two delightfully buttery shortbread-like biscuits. Smooth and almost stringy ice cream with minimal ice crystals, and a great burnt-caramel taste. Marvellous ice cream.

The bill.

Very good for a three course meal - about £22 including a beer and tip.

We spent a couple of hours at Hereford Road, with the service being quite relaxed - perhaps it was because the restaurant was empty, save for two other tables dining inside (and two outside) on a Friday lunchtime. I'm not sure how busy it still gets in the evening, but nearer to opening I remember having to book a while in advance. Maybe people have forgotten about Hereford Road? The set lunch, whilst hardly pushing the boundaries of cooking or using top end ingredients, proves a good, budget-friendly option for the area.

Lobsterfest at Belgo Centraal, Covent Garden (Photoblog)

Note: I was invited to sample Belgo's Lobsterfest by Sally Bishop of Relish PR, so therefore did not pay for any of the food or drink consumed.


Each year for the past decade or so, Belgo (who label themselves 'The World's greatest Belgian restaurants') have been running Lobsterfest. It's a month-long affair which celebrates all things lobster - with a Belgian twist, naturally. I've been a fan of the Belgo chain for a few years now, trying out their lobster dishes in past Lobsterfests and also being a regular consumer of their excellent express lunch: £7.95 for moules frites and a glass of Belgian beer? Not bad at all. The Lobsterfest event I was invited to gave me and a few others a chance to see Muir Picken, the executive chef at Belgo demonstrate some of the dishes that would be on the menu.

The preparation area. The lobsters had been cooked before our arrival, just to save time and under the assumption we know what a pot of boiling water looks like.

The cooked lobsters, complete with rubber bands holding their pincers together. Pictured on the left is some béchamel sauce, chopped peanuts, a Thai red curry sauce and some chopped leeks.

After taking off the claws off the cooked lobster, Muir demonstrates how to cut Sebastian in half, allowing you to scoop out the meat whilst keeping the shell in tact, for later presentation.

The Thai red curry lobster dish. Surprisingly, the curry topping didn't detract from the lobster at all, and instead the spicy sauce complemented the sweet lobster meat. A bit of a bargain at £8.95, if you ask me; you get a few good bites of lobster for your money.

Lobster salad (£17.95). A whole lobster, chopped up and served with spring onions, green beans and carrots, then topped with a light port and lemon dressing. An unbelievable salad dish (and you'd expect so, from the price, I suppose). It's well worth it though, arriving in a main course sized portion. The dressing is a light and summery accompaniment to the lobster meat, working together and allowing the lobster to shine.

The whole lobster (£17.95) preparation. Straighten the lobster's tail, knife through the head and all the way down, turn him and then cut in half. Simple. Perhaps, but I made a bit of a mess of mine to be honest. Luckily Muir saved it, and applied some garlic and Pernod butter on top before grilling.

This preparation also comes as part of a 'surf and turf' (6oz ribeye steak) - half a lobster with steak is £17.95, whilst a whole lobster comes in at £24.95 if you fancy a bit of red meat on the side. Who doesn't?

The ever-reliable twice-cooked frites. Crunchy on the outside, pillowy potato inside - consistently great fries at Belgo, especially when dipped into some of their mayonnaise.

Of course, you may read this and consider that I didn't pay for any of the food, but in perfect honesty I can say that I'll be back soon for some more lobster and those delicious frites, as well as their great selection of beers.

See also: Londonist post on Lobsterfest

The Florence, Herne Hill

Note: I didn't pay for this meal. I was a guest of the affable @thepubgeek.

I'll be honest: I had no idea where the hell Herne Hill was until Yianni and his Meatwagon rocked up in the garden of The Florence. Ten minutes from Victoria; fifteen minutes from Farringdon; not quite the arse-end of nowhere I thought it would be, and in fact quite a nice area with one big selling point - the aforementioned pub. The sort of pub that a lot of the people I went with for the first time agreed would be ideal as their 'local'. Despite inviting Yianni to turn on his cast-iron flat-top griddle (and allowing him a regular spot, Meatwagon fans) the Florence also employs a kitchen crew who cook up pub staples. As well as items 'in bread' - sandwiches, to you and me - they serve 'smalls' which are suitable for sharing, 'mains' which slightly larger plates and 'afters', oddly placed near the top of the menu - the belief that they will log into your memory as you're scrolling down plays a part, here. Another confession to make here: I have no idea what is on the menu apart from the things I tried. I came back to try two things in particular. The fried chicken - made to the Thomas Keller recipe - and the burger, recently tweaked after a staff visit to the Meatwagon.

Fried chicken (£6). You know that tired old quote about how 'pizza is a lot like sex'? Same applies for chicken, to be honest with you. Scrawny, battery-farmed chickens who are fed toenails and kicked about - pretty undesirable. Give them to my mate Colonel Sanders and you'll get some guiltily delicious chicken. Let's say you have two pounds in your pocket, a rumble in your stomach and a desire for multiple toilet visits the next day: go to Sam's Chicken. That isn't to say that you can't get good fried chicken though. You just have to use fresh chicken, have patience and follow the recipe of a 3* Michelin Chef. Inspired by the recipe from the fantastic volume Ad Hoc At Home, the team at the Florence put it straight on the menu. Crispy batter gives way to wonderfully tender chicken - juicy and perfectly cooked, spiced with paprika and seasoned well. A massive flick of the V at the poor old Colonel.

As would seem the trend these days, I was really here to try out the Florence's burger (£7.50). Two patties (about four ounces each, I would say), mature cheddar, lettuce, onions, sliced gherkins and a couple of sauces on the side. An impressive sight, but I immediately noted that it was too tall. Burgers that are too large to fit in your mouth aren't pleasant, and even with a bit of squishing the burger was still vertically-disproportionate. @tehbus, Samantha and I decided to dissect our burgers, going for some of the beef with a knife and fork. The 21 day aged chuck had a good beefy flavour, and it was seasoned well, with appropriate levels of salt and pepper. Surprisingly the patties also housed a crust, belying the capacity of the cooking method (chargrilled); a bite past the caramelised exterior led to 'noodled' beef mince, a hint beyond medium. The other components of the burger were of a varying standard, but mostly good. Despite being a Kraft Singles fan, the mature cheddar was a welcome accompaniment, working well with the aged beef - the musky notes complementing each other. The bun, a sesame seeded brioche from Miller's Bakery, is the right side of squishy and holds together well. The rabbit food on the whole is decent, though the lettuce is rather flappy and ultimately too large for the burger. Some shredded iceberg lettuce would suit better, but it's not a major point of consideration.

Two sauces are provided on the side: a home-made Sriracha copy, and a Special Sauce knock-off. The Sriracha is the nice kind of spicy - it mellows out and tingles at the back of your throat, rather than landing an unexpected punch. It could do with some added vinegar or some sugar to give it another dimension, but it's a good effort, and the roasted pepper flavours are very nice indeed. The Special Sauce is also a great, playful attempt. Mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together is undeniably delicious, and it just works so well with a cheeseburger. I'm a big fan.

Standard autopsy shot. I think that's with only one patty.

French fries (£2.50). Good for frozen, unlike at Lucky 7. The aioli provided was nice, with a mellow garlicky taste.

With great ales on tap, a superb beer garden and an amazing pub dog - named Barksdale, after the character in The Wire - the Florence is a firm favourite of mine already, despite being on the other side of London. Add to this list regular appearances from the Meatwagon, and I suspect they will be seeing a lot more of me, for some of that superior fried chicken, too.