Coming up in May...

I have been going to lots of things lately and have a bit of a backlog of things to blog about. Not only that but I've got a few things coming up which I'm going to which I'm excited to blog about.

So, stay tuned for posts on Land of Kings, the Well and Bucket, Punch and Judy covention and Happiness Forgets which I went to in the last week or so.

In the next few weeks I'm going to The Miller's opening. And I'm very much looking forward to Limbo at the London Wonderground. I was sent a press release about this (it doesn't happen often!) and some photos so let me share some of that with you now (there's also a trailer on my To Do Page):

Presented in the magnificent 1920s inspired Spiegeltent, LIMBO is full of cult couture from a cast of international performers. The festival itself is the perfect place to relax and enjoy London. It offers beer tents, sideshows, live events and fairground rides – a piece of 1950s Coney Island right in the heart of the capital. Music will be a dominating force of the production with New York’s Sxip Shirey composing exclusive music for the show with his ecstatic melodies, irreverent electric-acoustic noise and playful, sexy beats. He will be joined by musicians Grant Arthur and Mick Stuart.

Welcome to an exotic illogical world, where peculiar characters wait on the edge of false awakening. With the whisper of spirits and domination, illusion, suspension; LIMBO is boundless.

It's from the people who did Cantina last year, which I didn't manage to get to but I know people who did and they said it was amazing so I am sure this will be too!

I'm also looking forward to Zoo Zoo at the Blues Kitchen, which only happens twice a year. I've really been enjoying nights that play old school RnB and northern soul and this looks like one of the titans of the scene. I went to Mousetrap by the New Untouchables and had a whale of a time so have similar high hopes for this. I've been to the venue before and really like it so it should be a good'un.

And this Saturday will be my very first Tweat Up and I think I've picked the most amazing one to make my first as it centres around tacos and Mexican is my favourite cuisine. It will be such a chore to have to eat ten different tacos from different traders and vote on them all. Oh and to have to have two complimentary drinks as well. Fingers crossed it isn't too overcrowded or too rainy...

I'm also going to Field Day and the Hand and Flowers but I won't be blogging about those. Need to give myself a break sometimes. I'm sure I'll put some photos and comments on my Facebook page though so check that out (it's new!).

The Haggerston, 4th May

After our meal at the Dead Dolls Club, it was time for what everyone does on a Saturday night - drinking. And the Haggerston, a pub I had yet to get to, was just a few doors down. 

It was pretty busy when we rolled in at around 9:30. Standing room only which meant the place had pretty good vibes. There was a selection of various foreign beers that I wasn't at all interested in but I'm pleased to report that the house white wine was very pleasant. This place is 'cool' which meant that of course they couldn't serve their wine in a wine glass but a tumbler instead. Now, I'm used to this because I do tend to go to places that eschew boring old normal glassware but I must admit I do like my wine in a wine glass. If for no other reason than it makes you appreciate that it's wine you are drinking. When it's served in a tumbler it is all too easy to drink it like you would some juice and be done with it before you've even realised it. Of course, this is probably half the idea.

Anyway, the crowd were pretty young and the music was up. It wasn't too loud to talk - chatting amongst a foursome was doable without having to shout. 

And then after about an hour we managed to nab a booth on the side, which was even better as we weren't out for the long haul and wouldn't be dancing any time soon although some of the people in there might have been swaying about a bit with half an intention of turning that swaying into fully fledged dance moves with another couple of drinks. 

We stayed for a few hours in the end but I'd have happily stayed until it shut and would return - I can see an evening of ribs from Duke's and drinks here in my future...

Breddos Tacos, 4th May

Mexican is one of my favourite types of cuisine - melty cheese, non-melty cheese, salsa and - if you're lucky - guacamole on everything - what's not to love? Burritos have taken off in a big way, and I do love them, but I've always secretly preferred tacos. This probably goes back to my days of eating Taco Bell on the American base and even thought they're the lowest of the low in Mexican cuisine, I loved them. I still love Taco Bell in fact, and I'm not ashamed to say it! I'm no foodie snob - as much as I appreciate cuisine done well, sometimes you really want the junk done badly!

Anyway, luckily for me, it's not all just burrito joints/vans these days - a lot of places are also serving up tacos. I've been enjoying the ones at Wahaca for a couple of years now. Buen Provecho do very good ones, L.A. Sueno weren't bad when I tried them at Feast (and I've heard good things about Mission Mariscos) and now, fairly new to the scene (or new to me at least) are Breddos Tacos, where clearly the tacos come first, even though they also do burritos.

I tried to get there a couple of weeks back but - a rarity for me - not having checked my twitter at all beforehand - I didn't realise that was pretty much the only Saturday in a while they weren't at Netil Market. So back we went two weeks later. They had four different versions - chicken with habanero and mango, pulled pork, chipotle short rib and a veggie one (think it might have been sweet potato, I didn't really pay attention). They're £2.50 each or three for £6.00. So of course we got three each - one each of all the meat ones. Moments before it had been fairly sunny as we chatted at a bus stop with my friend. As we queued for our tacos, the weather turned vicious. Rain is one thing -  what we braved to eat our tacos was full-on hail! So, I probably ate them a little more hastily than I would have had the weather been balmy and I could have sat down to enjoy them. I wish I had been able to savour them longer.

The corn tortilla making up the taco was a really good thickness - pliable but solid enough not to disintegrate from the juicy filling. They were all pretty tasty as far as tacos go and my favourite, surprisingly, was the chicken - it had a good kick but was also nice and fruity.

Breddos also has a large jar of pickled habaneros of which I had a couple on each taco. These chillies are not messing about! They're fantastic pickled but after having had my first two tacos with maybe one or two on each, I realised that if I actually wanted to taste my third one and not just have a mouthful of fire, I'd have to forgo the habaneros.

A wise move as I enjoyed my last few mouthfuls of tender, slow cooked beef with fresh and light salsa. I do love a salsa that isn't afraid to put a bit of radish in it for crunch. Delicious.

Less than a week now until I attend Tweat_Up's Taco Wars and you could say I'm pretty stoked. All the competitors tend to rustle up something special for these events and if Breddos were anything to go by I am in for one hell of a day. 

Dead Dolls Club, 4th May

Finally got myself down to the Dead Dolls Club the other weekend, this venue that had reached magical, enormous proportions in my mind. I follow them on twitter, and the tweets about the food provided by The Foragers had filled my brain with images of an outside grotto with gnarly trees and fairy lights hanging from above adjoined to a warehousey/cafe in front where the drinking and perhaps dancing happened.

It was nothing of the sort. I booked a place for us at 8 because it was a Saturday and because it's something of a novelty these days to be able to book. It probably wasn't strictly necessary but it did mean we got a table to ourselves rather than sharing, which is always nice.

The place was almost the opposite of what I envisioned. Completely missable from the front, only the most subtle of signs (and knowing the address) told you you were at your destination. Stepping inside did feel like stepping into a dollhouse writ large - or a stylised version of what a child might think a parlour should look like, with drawings of wallpaper all over the walls making it feel very quaint and picturesque. Other odd touches (see below) made you feel like you had stepped out of reality. Instantly I was charmed.

Little hands holding the lamps

The menu is a 'grazing' menu, which basically means that it's part of the slightly passe vogue for small plates. Our companions I don't think realised this at first and were astounded at how cheap everything was, because all the plates were about £7.50. That soon adds up when they're recommending two to three plates per person but it does mean you end up getting a better idea of the food overall. 

Everything on the menu sounded pretty good to me and we had a hard time choosing. To help things along I inquired about the 'special' cocktail of the day - only £6.50 compared to the normal £9.00. It was something mixing rum and cointreau and after that I kind of stopped listening as I'd heard enough to convince me. I think she might have also said it was 'strong' so I ordered one forthwith. It was very tasty and served in a cute little glass that reminded me of a squat old-style champagne glass. You know, the one modelled on a lady's fair bosom.

Finally we reached a consensus about what we wanted - we decided to go for two plates each plus two portions of chips to share.

I had the venison and ramson (had no idea what ramson was - still don't - but it sounded interesting) bourguignon and the scallops.

Both Stephen and Kevin had the wood pigeon (Stephen had been set on having wood pigeon in some form - the menu we'd seen beforehand had it as a burger) and Kev also had the venison bourguignon. Stephen had the muttom ham as his second.

Karin, our fish-eating vegetarian friend ordered the salmon ceviche and the mushroom and parmesan arincini.

Arancini

When the food came out, it met with mixed appreciation. My pan-fried scallops with caramelised onion puree, apple puree, parsnip puree along with some sort of leaf (probably the foraged bit) was probably my favourite scallop dish out of all those I've eaten. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

The venison bourguignon was pretty boring though - it could easily have been beef rather than venison and I wished I'd saved some of my puree or had some bread to go with it. On its own it was a bit much. I didn't even bother to take a picture as they hadn't done anything with its presentation. Just imagine a stew you'd made at home and I'm sure you'll have an accurate picture.

Stephen didn't enjoy his wood pigeon very much, which he said was quite overcooked. I had a bite and agreed it was, although I still thought the taste was good and went some way to salvaging it. Kev, on the other hand, to be fair, liked both of his dishes.

LIke me, Stephen's other dish he liked very much. His mutton ham came with buttered leeks, hazelnuts and hedge garlic. But it was really just a charcuterie plate and not very substantial though as you can see the presentation was quite something and it did taste very good.

Karin's salmon (marinated in sloe gin and herbs,served with crunchy fennel and a coriander, lemon, orange and stonecrop dressing) was a lovely light dish which she very much enjoyed and the bite that I had was great. She said her arancini were heavy on the cheese (a very good thing) and seemed to like them very much. (I avoided them as they were mushroom-based. Down with mushrooms!)

The chips which apparently had chilli and ramson salt on them, were very good chips, nice and thick, cooked properly throughout, although, thinking about it now I don't recall much seasoning on them beyond normal salt. Still, they were good at the time.

I think two dishes plus half a portion of chips was just right, but it probably depends on which you ordered. For me it was fine. If I'd had the scallops with the ham though, I probably would have been hungry.

The desserts on the menu didn't make any of us feel we'd regret not sampling them, and so we ordered a cheese board to share at £10. There was just enough to have a nibble and I, despite not being a blue-cheese eater, quite liked both the blue cheeses but was too shy to ask what they were. Out waitress was also very obliging about giving us some extra bread as a normal portion wasn't really enough for us all. It came with two chutneys - one of which was quite spicy in the non-heat sense of the word, and which I really liked.

All of that with a bottle of wine between the four of us and some pints came to £28 each which isn't too bad for an evening meal. Would I go back again? Not for a sit-down dinner, no, but I'd happily go along and sit at the bar at the back and order that scallop dish again, or a plate of ham for something to nibble on. The foraging element felt like more of a gimmick than the main event, but to be honest I didn't expect otherwise. This place is also just around the corner from the Haggerston (where we went after) and Passing Clouds so a good place to drop in first as it wasn't that busy and a cocktail for £6.50 is bargain enough to draw me back.

Have also just heard that they've been given a late license so the nights might start getting a little livelier soon!

Franze and Evans, 3rd May

Franze and Evans made it on to my list simply because I'm in the Brick Lane area and whenever I walk past it just seems to embody the kind of place I want to love. It looks cute and homely and people sit outside eating brunches of eggs that look tempting. When my friend and I decided to have dinner and drinks recently, this seemed like the kind of place that would fit the bill.

And it was pretty good. It does have a neighbourhood feel to it, there are several larger tables that you can end up sharing with other people and some smaller ones as well. The black and white tiling on the floor reminds you of a continental cafe. Apparently they do good cakes but we didn't really take a look at these.

It took us a long time to choose what to have as almost all of the dishes on the menu appealed. There's a good number of dishes as options - and it caters very well for vegetarians. It's Italian in cuisine but more about the pasta than lots of grilled meats. 

We ordered a fairly basic bruschetta and some squid to start. I really enjoyed the squid - much more than any other squid dish I've tried. It was battered and deep fried with a light touch and was a little chewy but not overly so. This was topped with spring onion and chilli (although it was very light on the chilli).

The bruschetta wasn't much to write home about - we'd got the probably least interesting one on the menu so perhaps the fault lay with us. It was a bit like a small overly bready pizza. 

My friend ordered the spaghetti with clams and mussels. While she thought the pasta was delicious and really commended the portion size on the whole, we both rather thought they'd been a bit stingy with the number of molluscs - we counted all of two clams and she had about four mussels. They're hardly the most filling on seafood anyway. I think you should get a little more bivalve bang for your buck.

My main was a total showstopper though and worth going back to the restaurant for alone. It was artichoke tortelloni with wild garlic, lemon zest and butter and I do believe I'm salivating as I write. Five well-sized pieces of tortelloni drizzled with lemony butter and well stuffed with the delicous filling. The pasta was cooked so that some of the edges were a little crispy. I could have eaten another portion (although the size was perfectly adequate for a main dish). 

With our meal we ordered a house white which was only £18 and outstanding value for money. A very pleasant wine to accompany our meal (making the wine we supped at Brewdog all the more unpleasant).

This is the sort of place you could easily make your 'local' neighbourhood restaurant - where you pop to when you are taken with the urge to eat out and want something reliably fresh, tasty and that won't break the bank. 

Crown and Shuttle, 3rd May

I have actually now been to the Crown and Shuttle twice in recent weeks - both times as precursors to the 'main event' elsewhere. Obviously, as I've been twice I liked it enough to go back.

This pub sort of sprung up out of nowhere. I've walked along that stretch of road and not noticed a publike venue or even anyone working on renovating a building and then one day there was a fully formed, nice-looking pub sitting between the kinda sketchy Light Bar and Drunken Monkey. It stood out like a breath of air does in the winter. 

I must have gone past it when it was only just opened as it took me quite a while to discover its origins on the Net. Finally I found out that it had been refurbed from the remnants of a pub (which was possibly a strip club at one point), taken over by the people who own the Water Poet. They seem to have a penchant for beer gardens - the one at the Water Poet is sprawling and they have done the same here. 

There are basically three sections to the pub - the first third is what must have been the original pub building, then they have built on to this an extension - making the outside wall of the old pub  a feature wall within the new pub, and then the massive beer garden - so big it holds a street van with pizza oven within it.

The first time I went was on a Saturday (before Electro Swing) and had no idea it was so vast so it was a rather lovely surprise, especially as there were so many of us. The weather was too chilly to enjoy the garden but we did appreciate the faux woodstove that was in the corner near our group. I instantly liked the place. It felt both spacious yet cosy. It's decor is woody - but a light sort of pine wood, not heavy and dense. Everyone who came along said how much they liked the place and it was barely busy - there weren't really any seats that could accommodate my large group but there was plenty of space at the second bar to congregate around.

My last visit was on a Friday and markedly different. It was heaving. Yet somehow me and my friend still managed to get a seat on a comfy love seat. Getting to the bar was a chore and a half - clearly all the local workers in the area had caught wind of the place and were all there, ordering pints to take outside. Fair dos to the bar staff - they were in no way slacking, but it still meant for a slow wait due to the volume of people crowding the bar. Intentions to have one medium glass of wine for each of us soon went by the wayside and I opted for a bottle in order to avoid having to pay another visit to the bar. I've never before been so conscious of how long it takes to pour pints compared to serving my favourite tipple - wine. 

Anyway, maybe not one for a Friday night if all you want is a quick drink but definitely a welcome addition to the area. I look forward to going back on a sunny day to enjoy the garden and maybe a pizza from their outside oven.

Butchery Bingo, 29th April

Props to my friend Nick for bringing to my attention another night in London that does bingo with a twist. So far I've been to Rebel Bingo, and Musical Bingo, so naturally I had to try Butchery Bingo as well. It promised music, silly games and alcohol. 

Butchery Bingo is a lot more closely related to the kind of bingo your mum or your nan is likely to play. A sheet of six bingo 'books' were handed out to everyone playing and you first had to get a line, then two lines then a full house (full box). You play as a team and it's not immediately obvious how this works in a bingo setting as you're all playing with your own books. However, the team element does come in handy if one of your teammates wins something. Not only does the individual get a [dubious] prize, but the team is then treated to a round of shots, or if you've won the full house, sorry, full box, a bottle of wine! Free alcohol - I like it.

The ultimate prize is a voucher for a £100 bar tab but I'll get to that.

We got there at about 7. It was my first time at the Shoreditch Butchery since it (and XOYO) had been taken over by the people who run the Old Queen's Head in Angel. On Foursquare it's described as a dive bar and it does have a grungy feel to it, but it's furnishings and fittings are far too polished for it to own that description. It's a cool place. A mural of a skull on one wall and a relief of two faces over the bar which is very striking when the mood lighting is on, give the place an edgy feel which foes with the comfy, slightly shabby booths and other seating. 

At first we couldn't figure out who might be our host for the evening. Then, when he turned up there would have been no prizes for guessing it was he. Boogaloo Stu turned up with his foot high pink wig, what can only be described as a babygro and heels. Bingo was afoot!

A rather nice touch to lend itself to the kitchiness of the evening was that he had a proper bingo cage that you turn to jumble up the balls with the numbers on. In a way reminiscent of Rebel Bingo, Boogaloo Stu had his own sordid, filthy bingo calls for each number (such as 78, watch my vagina dilate, 78). Well except for the 73 (the bus to Islington, 73) and 47 which he just claimed to despise. 

For once, I actually won something! I was the very first winner of the night, getting one line on my bingo card, for which I was treated to a prize of a set of coloured pens. These came in handy when we moved on to the picture round. Waste not want not - at the end of some of the rounds you turn your books over and on the back you have to illustrate one of the numbers. Sexually. The first one was kind of easy - 69 lends itself to depiction of the carnal variety. Later in the night, for 27, a little more imagination was required. Luckily I remembered my newly won pens and was able to do myself justice. 

So far so fun, but Butchery Bingo and Boogaloo Stu had another trick up its sleeve. Or should I say bum. For one of the round of games, and then again in the final, was the charming game called 'Penny in the Crack'. You are probably starting to imagine what this entails and you are probably along the right lines. You take a penny, you put it in your bum crack (no! Not under the clothes!) and then you clench it there while you waddle over to a pint glass and drop it in. Poor Stu didn't get many volunteers for this game. Clearly not enough alcohol had been imbibed. But at the end all the people who'd won the full houses through the night had to take part if they wanted to be in with a chance to win the grande prize - the bar tab (to be redeemed at your leisure).

However, as it was a grand final, it wasn't a penny but a pickled onion that you had to secrete and release. One girl totally nailed it.

So yeah, the night was fun but it somehow it didn't manage, despite Stu's best efforts to be Fun with a capital 'F'.  Just before the final round he did manage to pull some people up for an impromptu disco which I think really perked people up. But there could have been a lot more people there which would have helped with the atmosphere. Was it because it was a Monday? Very possibly. Or maybe it's just because no one knows about it. Their website isn't exactly a mine of information and their promotion of it is sporadic on facebook. So I felt a little sad for Butchery Bingo - go one and show it some love people!