Delancey & Co, 24th April

Almost every corner of New York has an unassuming shop that almost looks like a newsagents, but from which you can get these immense, amazing sandwiches. There are the standards – your Cuban, your Monte Cristo, or they can whip up a combination of your choosing. We do have some equivalents over here – I would say Basil’s sandwiches is one, but we don’t have exactly the same thing. And I wouldn’t say Delancey & Co is exactly the same thing either but it does have a similar, though more limited, ethos.

Delancey’s does a few things, and, judging by what we had, does them well. You can get bagels (or sandwiches) with smoked salmon and all kinds of cream cheeses and 'load ups' (toppings), or you can get sandwiches with salt beef or smoked turkey, or you can get their signatures – the Reuben or the Bird or the Toky x Delancey - each a prescribed sandwich of salt beef, turkey or smoked salmon.

Stephen and I both got the reuben. I had the coleslaw with cheese and special sauce, and Stephen  had the sauerkraut version. We couldn't really tell which was which but I think we got the right ones in the end. The sandwich was packed with silky, fattily tender beef, with a good slathering of the ‘kraut/'slaw and dressing ensuring things could never get too dry. I loved the caraway marbled rye bread – I think caraway is a great flavour, and I thought it was a really good bread to meat ratio. Stephen dissented, saying the bread was slightly too thick and in the corners where it hadn’t been pressed down perhaps it was, a little, but that is such a minor quibble I don’t even know why I’m mentioning it.

At just under £10 it is by no means cheap but this kept me so full into the evening I didn’t even have any dinner.

It gets the thumbs up from me.

Ceru, 12th February

Levantine cuisine’s star is rising and I couldn’t be more pleased. After memorable meals at The Palomar and Honey & Co, I was keen to complete what I termed the trifecta and go to Arabica. And then yet another place came on the scene in the form of Ceru, a tiny restaurant offering a more affordable Levantine dining experience.

A group of us bloggers had a foodie outing kindly organized by Sheepa of Food That Makes You Smile and Snita of Her Favourite Food and we went for a mini feast for the special offer of £20 a head. To start we could choose a fresh juice or mocktail. Almost everyone chose the Patricia for some reason (the namesake of the owner) which was a mixture of pear puree, apple juice, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves (actually reading that is there any surprise we all wanted it?) but the Percy  - pomegranate, soda, ginger ale and fresh lime also looked very nice.

Once everyone arrived we were seated and our dips and breads to share came out. We had four kinds – hummus anointed with chickpeas, green shilli and lemon; pancar which was roast beetroot, garlic and pistachio; fadi – a courgette puree with tahini, garlic and lemon and then a spicy roast pepper dip made with chilli, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. We had warm pitta with za’atar to scoop it up. I could have dived right into a whole pot of all of them but my two favourites were the garlicky fadi and the warming spiced chilli dips. When the bread ran out we kept the rest of the dips aside to eat with our mains.

Choosing what to have put us all in a quandary but the lamb shoulder cooked with shawarma aromatic spices eventually beckoned. This came as strips of fatty, crispy lamb all well seasoned and spiced and adorned with pomegranate seeds. While I love the taste of pomegranate, I don’t love the fruit itself so tried to avoid them spoiling the lovely lamb. To accompany this we had fried cubed potatoes and a very fresh, light butter bean and tomato salad with, I think, some lemon and herbs.

This part was surprisingly filling and I could have happily stopped there. However, dessert was included so I didn’t. Quite a few of us ordered the baklava ice cream. Ceru seem fond of taking a well-known dish or ingredient and Anglicising it for their desserts. So the baklava didn’t have any baklava but instead had all the components of it – nut brittle, honey sauce, and scoops of pistachio ice cream. It was very lovely to eat, though I think they could get away with a smaller serving! There was a lot of ice cream.

The place is run by husband and wife team Patricia and Barry and even without knowing you can tell they’re a couple from their closeness and the speed at which Barry could get on his wife’s nerves! They made for very friendly and amiable hosts, making it feel a bit like you were round their place being treated to dinner.

And what is really great about this little pop-up (permanent place coming soon) is that the prices are so reasonable you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to come here – it’s very much a casual, drop in when you fancy (if there’s space!) kinda place. Even without our bargain set menu, the lamb dish is only £9 and that is the most expensive plate on the menu!

Ragam, 7th February

It is a sad fact that Stephen and I have bad luck when it comes to opening hours. Many’s the time I’ve taken a special trip to a street food stall only to find it shut, or we’ve taken a random Monday off and everywhere we’ve wanted to eat was closed. So it was when we first tried to get into Ragam, in the limbo time between Christmas and New Year. As we advanced on the front it became clear they too had decided to shup up shop for the holidays, but it luckily provided us with an opportunity to go to Honey & Co.

It also made us determined to try again. The sole reason I know about Ragam is because I follow Ben Goldacre on Twitter and about 3 years ago he raved about it. He’s a pretty sensible, logical guy – always tweeting about evidence – and so I considered him trustworthy even on food. I was right to do so.

Stephen had been doing PescaJanuary (no meat, fish allowed) and we decided to celebrate him rejoining the carnivorous fold by going for a curry with a few friends. Having a few of us gave the perfect excuse to have a smorgasbord of starters before getting a main dish each. Some of these weren’t the easiest thing to share but we just about managed.

So, what did we have?

Stephen had a lamb vindaloo which, strangely, didn’t seem to have any potato in it. This was rather vinegary and, I thought, really, really hot. He begged to differ but I think he was just trying to be macho. I don’t know whether I liked the taste all that much and I know I couldn’t have eaten much of it. I just dipped some paratha in every now and again.

Paratha is all they serve on the bread front but that’s fine with me as I think they’re as good as, if not better, than nan breads. As with nans elsewhere, these came in lots of different flavours. I almost ordered the chilli but as I’d asked for extra heat in my curry I thought that may be foolish and instead had a garlic one. This was so garlicky it was verging on bitter. I think a plain one would have been best.

My butter chicken curry was delicious and there was plenty of it. It is not traditionally a particularly hot curry so I asked for extra spice and they got the heat level just perfect for me. Noses were running but the flavours weren’t masked. It was exactly what I want when i have a curry – good consistency, spicy, plenty of flavour and plenty of meat. 

Butter chicken and stack of paratha

My friends have a favourite curry house in London – Gopal’s. They’re almost regulars there. But after visiting here their allegiance was certainly wavering. While the curries were good (they also had the butter chicken) I think the starters were what was swaying their loyalties. So here’s a run through of them:

Cashew nut pakoda – cashews dipped in spicy batter and fried. Amazingly moreish, just takes a nut to a completely new level. They disappeared in seconds and I haven’t stopped thinking about them.

Sambar vada – doughnut in a lentil gravy – this was incredibly savoury and deeply flavoured, reminding us of the dipping curry at Roti king. Not the easiest dish to share, as it is one doughnut but we managed to cut it up so that everyone could have a bite.

Onion bhaji – these are easier to get wrong than you might think but we were really happy with the ones we had. They weren’t too greasy and heavy and came with a raita-style sauce to dip them in. 

We also had pappadums of course and even these were a little bit special as some of them were not just plain pappadums but seasoned.

And we’re not even done yet. We also ordered some poori masala – puffed bread stuffed with potato masala. These were a little dry and not our favourites but easily tasty enough, especially when dipped in the sambar vada gravy.

Finally we also had a side of bhindi which came with onions and tomatoes as we wouldn’t have felt healthy without a bit of veg!

Apologies for the quality of the photos, I was too excited to get stuck in to worry about being arty, or even in focus!

The food is ridiculously well priced even for Central London – curries were around the £7 mark, the other dishes ranged from £3 to £6. Book ahead if you can as the place is pretty popular and yet not that big so was all but full when we went on a Saturday night.  

Honey & Co, 30th December

I think Honey & Co cemented itself in my mind after a joyous review by Grace Dent back in May 2013. Being under the mistaken impression that it was no-bookings, the more it garnered love and attention, the less I was inclined to try to go; I knew it was a very small restaurant and imagined there would be queues round the block. But I ended up there on the eve of New Year’s Eve after trying to have a curry at Ragam only to find it closed. Honey & Co was more or less round the corner, and figuring that we were in the dead time twixt Christmas and New Year, I thought we would get in easily. Well, I was wrong, because it does take reservations and the place was fully booked. The only place they have for walk-ins is five seats at the window and they were all full. If I’d only known they take reservations, I would have booked myself in there ages ago! One group, however, seemed to be nearing the end of their meal... 

Our waitress guesstimated it would be about 20 minutes and we went to the really nice pub next door to wait. They said they’d call when space became available. But we were soon starving and had finished our drink without knowing whether to get another, so after half an hour we decided to call it quits. No sooner had we set off did they phone so we did an about-turn and settled in.

And I can confirm, Honey & Co is worth every bit of love it has been showered with. It was a bit of a slow burner but by the time I finished their notorious cheesecake I was certain that I was bewitched.

As it was a post-Christmas/New Year treat we decided to get the special set menu for £29.50 – a starter of nine mezzes plus a main each, and a dessert each. You choose your main and dessert from the a la carte menu but the mezze selection is set.

Although none of the dishes are what I would describe as basic, without the final two plates we had, it would be a fairly typical selection of cold mezzes – the sort you might find in many a Levantine or Middle Eastern restaurant. You get falafel, hummus, olives and pickles, some lovely bread (especially the potato bread), some tabbouleh and labeneh with Turkish pepper puree. But the truly unique dishes of pumpkin and pickled apple, and quince with curds and honeyed hazelnuts made all the difference. The pumpkin for certain was our favourite. I’ve never had pumpkin before but I would most definitely seek out its earthy and slightly sweet flavours again.

Pumpkin

Quince and curds

I was surprisingly full after these little dishes. Eating in such a manner is so good at tricking the stomach. But we had our mains to come and I valiantly ate all of mine. It didn’t look a huge amount compared to Stephen’s tower of quail, but it was quite the hunk of meat. It was cooked to a perfect tenderness, with a nice bit of fat preventing it from being dry. The beef came with quince and potatoes. Having only had quince in jam form before, I enjoyed trying it as a fruit itself (twice in one meal!). It was similar to pear in its texture but a more interesting alternative.

I gave in to food envy when Stephen’s main arrived. It looked magnificent and tasted it too. The quail was cooked beautifully –  crisp on the outside, the right hit of seasoning, and lots of lovely white bean hummus and crispy onions, of which I stole several. There was perhaps a bit too much on the plate in fact. I would say we could have done with some extra bread to make use of all the remaining hummus but, truth be told, if we’d eaten more bread, dessert may not have been on the cards. And that would have been a travesty.

After the customary debate about whether to have one, or if we have one, whether to share, we went the whole hog and ordered one apiece. I had this masterpiece of a cheesecake, which has gained quite the notoriety for itself. Whatever you have read is true. It is unlike any cheesecake I’ve ever had, so creamy it’s almost like eating gelato. And forget your boring old biscuit base, this has a nest of finely shredded filo pastry called kadaif looking a bit like uncooked packet noodles. It is bloody delicious – crunchy and sweet. Each rich, sweet, crunchy mouthful was better than the last. Best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted.

Stephen’s dessert however, was no less impressive. The apple and pear pie he ordered was like an insanely good McDonald’s apple pie – warm fruit completely encased in a delicate, crisp pastry parcel with custard for dipping on the side. While being in love with my cheesecake I could still appreciate the understated splendour of this dessert.

I would heartily recommend this restaurant to anyone for any course, but they really do reserve something that little bit special for their desserts so worth coming here for those alone. 

The Remedy, 3rd June

Last week was London Wine Week – a wristband for £10 provided the excuse to go to a few places and drink some wines you might not otherwise have tried. I was very pleased to see that The Remedy was one of the bars participating as it had been on my List for some time. It seemed like a good place to kick things off, so after collecting our wristbands from Carnaby Street we took a stroll to Fitzrovia to find it.

It is very unassuming from the outside with a sign that’s barely noticeable. At the same time it sort of looks the part, and therefore stands out from its neighbours.

Inside it is simple and relaxed. A banquette lines one side, or you can choose to sit at the bar, or at a couple of high tables. They have a menu of six or seven meats, the same number of cheeses and just a few other dishes, and before 7pm, little did we know, it’s 50% off food! We decided to get a selection of five charcuterie and five cheeses, which the chef selects for you in order to give you a breadth of tastes, or in the cases of the cheese, a range of strengths.

I know I won’t remember exactly which meats we had but they were all pretty nice, and I was especially taken with the pancetta which had what seemed to be a fennel seed crumb, which really gave it a kick. And to think, I wouldn’t have ordered that one were it up to me.

The cheese selection was superb. They were all cow cheeses apart from one which was ewe’s milk, and most of them were from the same region as they had held a special event with cheeses from that area the week before. The mildest was a creamy but not soft cheese with a layer of ash in the middle, then you progressed through the hard ewe’s milk cheese to a comte, a blue cheese that looked very blue but was pleasingly mellow, up to a cheese so tangy it made my eyes water and my mouth pucker. It was amazing. The bread was served with a very grassy olive oil.

We had five wines to choose from for the London Wine Week £5 deal – a Veneto merlot, a dry Riesling, another red and two rosés. Alison wanted to try the Riesling as she had fond memories of the one time she had a Riesling and liked it. For me, it had to be red wine to go with the cheese. It was quite full-bodied and juicy and soft, and I liked it so much I had another. Alison’s Riesling was as good as she’d hoped, with a sweetness that seemed to come from a fruity background and wasn’t at all cloying like sweeter wines can be. And then she got even more adventurous with a rose before having the merlot I’d had, while it was my turn to have the Riesling.

Our waiter for the evening was perfectly charming, explaining the types of cheese and meats when they arrived, and basically ensuring we felt well looked after. The Remedy doesn’t have quite the same panache as Sager and Wilde but it is a very friendly wine bar, with a neighbourhood feel to it. Something about it, perhaps the light, decor and small veranda almost seemed Mediterranean, making you feel like you’re on holiday when inside. A little gem.

We then stopped into the Newman Street Tavern, a bit of a gastropub in the area for another couple of reds (the £5 whites had sold out) before rounding off the evening with a sherry digestif from the ever lovely Salt Yard. 

Bubbledogs, 28th December

Christmastime in London is one of my favourite times of the year. Why? Because everyone else buggers off and finally you get a chance to get into places without the queue that exists all throughout the year. Last year we took advantage of the emptiness to try out Bone Daddies. this year, we went to Bubbledogs. 

When we got there it was still pretty busy but there were several empty spaces. We installed ourselves at the bar. We'd already had almost a half a bottle of champagne at home before going out and, given the nature of the venue, I saw no reason to not continue so I had a glass of bubbly. The cheapest one, admittedly, but it was still much better than 'cheap' champagne - it was fresh and crisp and stood up to the Veuve Clicquot we had been sipping at home. Stephen ordered a beer, which is a more traditional accompaniment to a hot dog I suppose.

There were plenty of dogs to choose from, from the simple naked dog which was a hot dog on its own, to a straightforward hot dog with onions and saurkraut, the likes of which you would find on any NY street corner (and hence called the New Yorker) to more adventurous toppings like truffle mayo and caramelised lettuce on the BLT. Stephen chose the Sloppy Joe, a riff on the sloppy joe sandwich which is loose chilli in a roll. This one was a hot dog covered in beef chilli, cheese and onions.

I had the Mac Daddy - a hot dog topped with mac and cheese, bacon bites and crispy onions. We had a side of sweet potato fries to go with.

We both had a beef frank and this tasted exactly as I would expect a hot dog to taste. The toppings were plentiful, and a little difficult to keep a hold of. A fork to catch the stuff that inevitably falls off wouldn't have gone amiss. I also think the hot dogs themselves were really, too thin. They were almost suffocated by the amount of topping on top. But the toppings themselves were good. My mac and cheese might have been a little too rich and stodgy on its own but was saved by the salty bacon bits, and the crispy onions which were excellent.

The sweet potato fries were actually probably the most outstanding thing about the meal - the first time either me or Stephen have had them where they've actually been crispy like good fries should be. I suspect they coat them in something first to get that effect.

At around £7 for a hot dog, it's not all that expensive either - not much more than you'd pay at a street food van. However, when comparing these hot dogs to the versions I have had on the street, these ones don't stand up that favourably. Big Apple Hot Dogs, Dogfather Diner and Street Kitchen (at The Miller) are all doing superior versions. 

If the setting were a quick grab and go diner, then these hot dogs would do the business. I enjoyed my hot dog - it was a proper hot dog in my eyes and it was tasty. The champagne to go with it wasn't weird and I think worked fine, although it does just seem there as a novelty factor. But for the price, and the surroundings (it felt like a pretty nice bar), I expected something... more. I certainly wouldn't queue for this, when there are better places around.

Berners Tavern, 8th November

Stephen and I were both already convinced that Berners Tavern was going to be gorgeous both aesthetically and gastronomically, so the fact that it was, was no surprise. 

I think Jason Atherton must be having a laught calling it a Tavern. I've rarely dined in grander surroundings whereas a tavern to me is somewhere peasants go to drink. This place is huge, with walls completely covered with framed portraits. They fit together in such a perfect jigsaw that the arrangement must have taken ages to design. You feel like you are dining in the middle of a fine arts gallery. The other decor is no less sumptuous with giant opulent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and grand banquettes taking centre stage on the floor.

We arrived very promptly at 8 but something had gone wrong and they didn't have our reservation. Luckily the place wasn't as busy as we thought it would be and they were able to find us a table within 15-20 minutes. Which gave us a chance to try out the cocktails at the bar. An expensive chance, for at £12 - £12.50 they weren't cheap, and probably an expense we wouldn't have incurred had our table been ready when we were. But they were rather good, mine in particular with mead in it was one of the more unusual cocktails I've ever had - and I've had a few.

We were lead to our very low-rise table. Luckily it came with low-rise seats so we were in proportion. We were rather tickled, though, that our waiter was the tallest waiter we had ever encountered, making us feel a bit like we were children seated at the kids' table, looking up at the looming adult serving us.

The staff were very friendly. We had a couple of little mishaps but in a way we didn't mind - it made the whole place seem more 'human' than had everything run like clockwork. For example, we had to ask for the wine menu, when we were being asked for our food orders, and then, after our starters were cleared away, someone was sent over to crumb down. He thought we were done and cleared away our placemats and salt and pepper and then brought over the dessert menus. At first I wasn't sure if they just liked to get prepared well in advance but then we pointed out we hadn't had our mains yet and he was very apologetic and whipped those menus away. And returned our salt and pepper. Though not our placemats...

So, the food. Was wonderful. Starting off with the bread and butter they brought us - two slices white, two slices rye (possibly, can't remember now!) it was dense and had the right amount of chewiness. And there was enough butter not to feel you had to eke it out.

I had looked at the menu beforehand and was particularly worried about choosing a starter as I liked the sound of pretty much all of them. A recent potential allergy to seafood helped me narrow it down, but not by much. We thought for once we should try one of the 'renowned' dishes so Stephen had the ham, egg and peas, while I went for the crispy lamb with butternut and parmesan fregola with marrow crumble.

Wow. What a meaty, hearty dish this was. Honestly, I'd have been happy if this was a main course. I had a 'patty' of lamb which was mixed with some greenery and was crispy on the outside. It had been daubed with butternut squash puree, shavings of pecorino and then bits of marrow crumble I believe. This was then served with a pot of the fregola which had a much deeper cheesy, butternut and marrow taste. It was such a profound earthy, meaty flavour. I loved it but it totally blew Stephen away and he pronounced it the star of the meal.

From the bite of his egg, shards of ham and light, minty mushy peas I had, I thought his starter held up pretty well to mine, but he was having none of it.

We continued feeling pretty pleased with ourselves with our mains. I could not resist having the duck, even though I seem to end up having it everywhere. But when it came with such yummy-sounding things, how could I not? The caramel apples in particular were worthy of note although the plum puree and turnip all tasted great with the perfectly cooked duck. And it was so nice to get a bit of leg with it as well. Dark duck meat is fab.

Duck

Lamb

Stephen had the rack of lamb with lamb neck, cous cous, smoked aubergine and cabbage which he also very much enjoyed though he wished he had more sauce with his as the cous cous soaked it all up.

On top of this we ordered some of the duck fat chips and yes, managed to fit them all in as well. We thought that they were better than the chips at (whisper it) the Hand and Flowers!

We were utterly stuffed by now, and must have looked it because when we finally ordered the dessert, our waiter immediately asked if it would be to share. To be honest, we almost passed on dessert as compared to the other courses, nothing was standing out as a 'mustn't-miss' dish. But I'm glad we didn't as we were served the best eclair I've ever had and I bloody loved it. It was a proper pud with lots of gooeyness and cream, and pastry but in a refined way. Salted caramel ice cream on dark chocolate nibs partnered the caramel-apple stuffed eclair. Fantastic. The only qualm we had with the meal was that prices are very steep, a few quid less here or there would have felt like a reasonable price to pay. 

And so, our love affair with Jason Atherton continues. 

*Apologies for the poor quality photos - the lighting, while perfectly ambient for dining, was too low for good pictures.