Boceto, 29th July

With Boceto, the guys behind Three Eight Four and Seven at Brixton have made the schlep North of the river to Mare Street, an ideal location for their kind of thing. Having been to Three Eight Four and quite liking it, I expected to like Boceto too. It has more of a food focus then 384 but some interesting drinks too.

And I did like it, in general. Unfortunately it was rather marred by having the worst tortilla my little mouth has ever endured. It was so so dry, clearly had been sitting out all day. Not one little ounce of moisture in it and very little flavour. Seasoning was AWOL. 

On the other hand, the lamb that I had was pink and tender and the steak my date had was the same, with a yummy chimichurri sauce that was just the right amount of in your face with its heat (though too much for my companion - what a wuss!).

The pan con tomate was absolutely loaded with 'tomate' and was a pretty filling accompaniment.

With a slight twisting of my arm I decided to have dessert and of course had to try the churros as they were in keeping with the Spanish theme. I’m no churros expert but these were… alright I guess. Didn’t have me professing any great love for them.

As I was with someone who doesn’t drink, I limited myself to just the one cocktail – Mother’s Ruin, which had been imported from their Seven branch. Quite fun to pour yourself and a light and summery drink.

The place has a really casual vibe and I’d be happy to pop in for a drink again but probably wouldn’t bother too much with the food. 

Anatolia, 7th June

Yep, we’ve been to yet another Turkish ocakbasi, this time one of the ones on Mare Street. We just cannot get enough of our grilled meats! I hadn’t eaten much all day and was very ready for the veritable feast laid before us in the form of the mixed grill for two. We had quail, beyti kebab, cis kebab, lamb ribs, chicken wings and chicken kebab all laid over buttery rice which had pieces of chicken and lamb doner mixed in it! We also had a couple of bits of offal which weren’t advertised but I managed to avoid them.

This huge platter came with a basket of warm, soft and chewy bread, and a plate of salad with onions, tomatoes and cucumber next to red cabbage and grated carrot. I would like to say there was far too much to eat, but we made a pretty good stab at getting through it all.

As always, I compare any new Turkish place to my favourite – Cirrik. And it compared favourably. I have to say, nowhere has managed to rival the wonderful (and free!) oniony salads that Cirrik offer you, doused in pomegranate sauce. And I also thought the bread at Cirrik was better – the stuff at Anatolia went hard as it cooled, and they didn’t have a piece underneath the meat to soak up all the juices.

But when it came to the actual meat on offer, and the price for that meat, Anatolia was a mighty contender. All of the meat was liberally seasoned and absolutely delicious. I couldn’t fault it. I would say that maybe, the flecks of extra meat in the rice were rather unnecessary, but as Stephen put it, nice to have all the same.

And this was all only £25! With three drinks our bill only came to £35! A bargain, and tasty. Being marginally closer than Cirrik and not much in it in terms of food, it could earn itself our repeat custom.

After this we had a few pints in the Cock Tavern, which I liked even more the second time, as I hadn't noticed the vast array of ciders it has! We cosied up in a corner and drank until closing time. 

Hackney Bureau, 5th May

Many’s the time I have walked past Hackney Bureau after a trip to Broadway Market and have been struck by its popularity. On a weekend, you’d have to be quick off the mark to get in there and get a space for brunch.

My friend and decided to meet there for a late lunch on the last bank holiday afternoon to check it out. Lunch specials are written on the blackboard inside and we were both attracted to the two dishes featuring avocado. In the end, Alison got the smashed avocado with feta and poached eggs on sourdough, and I had the harissa chicken and avocado sandwich. Other options included truffled mushrooms on toast, butternut squash, and a variety of cooked breakfasts.

We also had a cheeky spritz to go with it – Campari for her, Aperol for me.

The food arrived and we were both more than happy with our choices, although I admit, after having a forkful of Alison’s combination, I felt I'd chosen the slightly inferior dish. Her poached eggs were perfect – oozing thick yolk over the creamy avocado, and the feta gave it all a salty tang to it that was very agreeable.

I did enjoy my sandwich as well though. Delicious sourdough held together the strips of chicken and avocado, of which there was a generous amount. The chicken was soft and the harissa was more than just a token description.

Our spritzes were a little on the small side but were a perfect choice if I do say so myself for a spring day.

With appetites sated, we enjoyed a wander around Spitalfields with a glass of prosecco (for only £3.50!) from Bedales before dropping into the Hawksmoor bar for their Cinco de Mayo festivities, courtesy of the many-years-closed Green and Red Bar where Brewdog sits now. They had five different tequila based cocktails, all for £5, or you could have a tequila sangrita or verdita. This was a double shot of tequila to be followed by a concoction of coriander, pineapple and chilli. This was so good we decided to sip them instead of shooting them.

Finally, our wanderings took us up Hackney Road, where popping into Sager and Wilde for ‘one’ turned into a whole bottle plus a couple of their new small plates. We had a generous plate of manchego cheese (with a rather mean portion of quince) plus some gorgeous bread with oil, and a plate of speck with piquillo pepper. It confirmed how right I was to fall in love with the bar the first time, and Mr and Mrs Sager and Wilde were excellent hosts as before.

The Cock Tavern and Rita's (permanent place), 4th April

The Cock Tavern

Now that you've finished laughing at its silly name, I shall tell you that this is a rather good little pub, at the top of Mare Street, attracting the overflow of hipsters from Broadway Market. Actually, there was a mixed crowd – sure, there was a lot of the younger generation, but also some older, more traditional pub-going folk – you know, people with dogs and beards before they were cool.

We only had time for one but I'm sure when I'm in the area I'll be back. They serve the usual suspects of Kernel, Camden Hells etc, but they also apparently have an in-house brewery called Howling Hops, which we didn't try. And they served my large wine in a carafe which I always like. 

Rita's

I'd already been to Rita's when it was just a little residency at Birthdays, serving fantastic 'down-home' southern cooking, so I have had their permanent place on my List ever since seeing they had finally got new premises.

The permanent place has given them a chance to flex their muscles and really show us the kind of sophisticated, 'all growed up' cooking they can do.

There was definitely an element of asian fusion in the dishes on the menu, but they haven't completely turned their backs on the southern influences that made them so successful during their pop-up. The green chili mac n cheese is still on the menu, and while the chicken burger wasn't, they have instead a half chicken with warm honey and gravy. As delicious as that sounded, we balked at paying £25 for half a chicken, no matter how good it might be. 

We had a couple of cocktails, which were nice enough, though next time I'd probably just go for wine as an accompaniment to my meal, noticing that they sold it in 500ml carafes as well as bottles and by the glass. 

I had really wanted to try the goat tacos, another nod to their 'dirtier' roots but by the time we got there (our reservation was for 8:15) they were already sold out!

So, instead we had quite a mature meal that ranged across the different styles on offer. There were several vegetable dishes that we were torn between, which is unusual for us; the asparagus special with duck egg yolk (cooked in a water bath) and miso butter, the tokyo turnips with soy butter, or, the one we did go for - poached calcots with szechuan minced pork.

The calcots were like mini leeks and came with dry-fried crumbled pork all over it, sitting on a delicious and subtly fiery red sauce. This was my favourite plate of the night!

Stephen then overcame his aversion to ordering a vegetarian dish to get the mushrooms with burnt onions, a ragout of grains, and parmesan cream. This dish would not have been out of place in a high-end restaurant – a fabulous blend of earthy flavours and rich, creamy cheese. I'm not a mushrom person but this dish came close to winning me over. Stephen was almost stunned by how good it was.

'My' dish was the rare tuna with radish, blood orange and pickled cucumber. It was the polar opposite of the mushroom dish - light and delicate, crisp and fresh. Another exquisite plate. 

And finally, lest we start taking ourselves too seriously with all these 'adult' plates, we had a side of the mac n cheese we'd loved so much the first time, and happily, it was just as good.

We rounded off dinner by sharing some 'beignets' without the fois gras. I was very tempted to try it, just to try the combination. I know they're famed for them. But I'm not even sure I would have liked it so much, adn it would have been a shame to not enjoy the dessert as much as I had the rest of the meal. The beignets came with a large puddle of dulce de leche, and it was all really tasty, although maybe just a tad too fried-tasting for me. The doughnuts had a lovely, almost gooey, doughy middle though, and the outside was crispy, almost caramelised in some places. And look at the size of them! Definitely a sharing dessert.

Stephen and I both came away in awe a little bit with what they are doing here. The restaurant is unassuming from the outside, but has a clean, yet warm interior - it might look like a typical new hipster joint but what Rita's doing here is that little bit extra special.