Welcome to The London Foodie
Reviews of London's best value, good quality restaurants, articles on featured ingredients, recipes and my thoughts on London's food scene. My aim is to bring a cosmopolitan view of eating out & cooking in London, and as a guide to anyone looking for new ideas in our capital.
The Harrison
In my search for the best burger in London, I have been fortunate to have had some pretty good experiences like the ones at Byron, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and more recently at The Harrison with Mr Noodles and Dr G.
This arduous task is proving a most enjoyable quest despite disastrous meals at The Diner in Islington and Grand Union. I was also a little disappointed with Hache in Camden Town although I feel I should pay it at least another visit before making my mind up. Another unfortunate experience was at The Fine Burger Co. on Upper Street which I am still to write about.
This month I will be trying the two most talked about burgers in town, Hawksmoor and Goodman’s. Considered the top end of steak houses, their burgers & chips do not come cheap at £15 and £12 respectively.
The Harrison was an interesting find, and one I would not have come across but for Mr Noodles’ invitation. I would not describe it as a gastro-pub and despite its subtle gentrification, it retained some of its original elegant features.
The menu was reassuringly simple and excellent value with meals ranging from £8 for a “wild mushroom, spinach and ricotta lasagne” to £13.50 for a “rib-eye steak, salad and chips”. The beers on offer included quality brands such as Guinness, Staropramen, Erdinger (weissbeer) and some Belgium bottled beers.
Mr Noodles and I were both happy with our combination of burgers, coleslaw, salad and chips @ £9 – the patties were meaty and juicy and perfectly cooked. Dr G was however not as lucky – his burger was overcooked, while his French fries needed a bit more cooking, and his salad was poorly washed and gritty.
I would like to return to The Harrison although the lack of consistency in their cooking is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Cost: £9 for burger, chips, and salad + £3 to £4 for a pint of beer.
Likes: good patties, simple and good value menu, and Erdinger weissbeer on tap.
Dislikes: lack of consistency in their cooking, gritty salad.
Verdict: good value local pub serving some quality beers and food in Kings Cross. Well worth a detour if in the area, but make sure the burger is cooked medium and the French fries are crisp.
The Gunmakers
I was recently invited to a tasting of Redemption Brewery ales at The Gunmakers pub in Clerkenwell. The event was organised by Siany of Qype, and hosted by the very knowledgeable Jeff Bell, the pub’s landlord.
The evening started off with an expert low down by Andrew Moffat, the founder of newly opened Redemption Brewery, on the two ales we were to try – the light and refreshing Redemption Pale Ale @ 3.8% and the darker, stronger Redemption Urban Dusk @ 4.5%.
Both ales had very distinct flavours and character, and despite not being a huge ale drinker, I thoroughly enjoyed them.
Jeff, a former lawyer, spoke eloquently about the ups and downs of life as an independent publican and his passion and care for the carefully chosen beers. It was fascinating to learn how important the publican is in ensuring that the ale kegs are stored in the best possible conditions to avoid staleness.
He is clearly a man who loves and believes in what he does, and his enthusiasm was contagious and inspirational.
The food was also excellent with main dishes priced between £4 and £15. I tried the “Beer battered Atlantic cod with hand cut chips, peas and tartare sauce” @ £12. The batter was crisp, encasing a succulent fillet of cod that was utterly delicious and fresh. The accompanying chips were perfectly cooked and chunky.
Other Qypers raved about the “rump steak in ciabatta with rocket, tomato and peppercorn mayo” @ £8.75.
This very attractive pub is tucked away in an obscure side street off Clerkenwell Road, an unlikely place to stumble upon but well worth a visit in my opinion.
Cost: the ale tasting was complementary, but beer prices were around the London average, fish and chips @ £12 (not complementary).
Likes: excellent fish and chips and rump steak sandwiches, knowledgeable and friendly staff, good quality beers.
Dislikes: kitchen closes at 9:30pm.
Verdict: A real gem of a place, selling excellent beers and food in intimate surroundings. Jeff and his team are knowledgeable and friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening with them. Highly recommended.
Soba Noodles with Japanese Pesto - Kawari Soba
This recipe might shock some of the purists amongst you, but luckily I could hardly describe myself as one, so I had a go at this unusual recipe and was delighted with the results.
It reflects my own ethnic and culinary heritage - Japanese and Italian cooking in one simple dish. To enjoy this recipe you will need to love Japanese perilla, most commonly known as "shiso". It looks similar to the Vietnamese variety but with a stronger flavour and characteristic aroma.
I make Italian pesto at home in large quantities as it freezes incredibly well, is significantly cheaper than buying fresh from the local deli, and tastes far superior to its jar/supermarket equivalent. This was the first time I dry-fried the pine kernels which gave this pesto variation a rather toasty flavour.
Ingredients:
• 400g of Soba noodles (buckwheat)
• 30 green shiso leaves (can be purchased at Atariya, Fuji Foods, or Japan Centre)
• 100g of rocket leaves
• 40g pine kernels (roasted)
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons brown miso paste
• Black sesame seeds for garnishing (optional)
Method:
1. Making the pesto: reserve a few shiso and rocket leaves for garnish. Tear the remaining leaves into pieces and blend them with all other ingredients (apart from the Soba noodles!) in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to an air tight container until required.
2. Cooking the noodles: in a large pan, boil a large quantity of salted water, and cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet (normally around 5 mins only). Drain in a colander and rinse with freshly boiled water to remove the extra starchiness of the soba noodles.
3. Toss the noodles in the Japanese pesto and garnish with the reserved shiso and rocket leaves, and black sesame seeds if using. Serve immediately.
4. Enjoy!
This is a delicious dish that will take you only a few minutes to prepare, and is ideal as a midweek treat or as a starter for an informal Japanese meal. This recipe will serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main.
Note: Soba noodles, normally light brown, can also be purchased as "Cha-Soba" which are flavoured with green tea powder (matcha) and are green in colour.
Yum Cha
Camden Town is not what I would call a London hotspot for dim sum eateries. Far from Bayswater and Chinatown, Yum Cha is the only dim sum restaurant on Chalk Farm Road challenging two very common prejudices.
The first is that authentic dim sum can only come from areas with an established Chinese community. The second is that any good Chinese restaurant will have a majority of Chinese customers.
I was lucky to join Kelvin of FoodCycle, Jen of Dashi Dashi, and Louise of Penguinette Cooks at Yum Cha recently and find a fairly busy restaurant mostly occupied by Western tourists from nearby Camden Market.
Occupying the premises of former Silk & Spice restaurant on Chalk Farm Road, the restaurant has a modern, Ikea-style décor with much use of intense red colours. It is not an elegant restaurant but neither is it unattractive.
Service was attentive but unobtrusive, and soon after our order was taken, our dim sum dishes started arriving. These were:
“Sesame Prawn Roll” @ £2.40 – these were deliciously crispy with a generous filling of prawns and coriander, and tasted very good.
“Char Siu Bun” @ £2.40 – I was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of these buns and by the flavoursome char siu filling, a first-rate version of a staple dim sum dish.
“Shanghai Dumplings” @ £2.40 – these were excellent, and nearly as good as the ones from Leong’s Legend. The dumplings’ skin was thin and delicate, holding a good amount of highly flavoured broth.
“Chiu Chow Dumpling” @ £2.40 – these are among my favourites at Royal China, and Yum Cha’s version was second to none. I loved the combination of peanuts, radish and pork in these dumplings.
“Scallop Dumpling” @ £2.40 – gorgeously presented, these dumplings had a delicate flavour and were filled with some meaty scallops.
“Crispy Duck Roll” @ £3 – not a dim sum I would normally have ordered, I find these uninspiring at best, but Yum Cha’s was crisp, and not too greasy.
“Beeftripe” @ £2.40 – I love tripe but had never eaten it for dim sum. Jen chose this dish, it was surprisingly delicious and with a good texture.
“Fry Dough Cheung Fun” @ £3 – since trying this type of cheung fun at Phoenix Palace, I became a real convert. I loved the different textures and delicate flavours in this dish.
“Prawn Cheung Fun” @ £3 – the prawns were large and chunky, and were the perfect accompaniment to the light cheung fun skin. It was one of the best versions of this dish I have had.
“Beancurd & Beefballs” @ £2.40 – the beef balls had some interesting flavours particularly of coriander root and ginger. A simple but well executed dim sum.
“Pork & Prawn Dumpling (Shumai)” @ £2.40 – Yum Cha’s version was a real step up from Phoenix Palace’s, they were meaty but soft, and very delicious.
"Pan-fried Turnip Cake” @ £2.40 – these were also excellent; they were crispy on the outside but slightly gooey inside and with a generous amount of dried meat.
“Mini Egg Tarts” @ £2.40 – I am not a huge fan of these even though Yum Cha’s pastry cases were deliciously crumbly and sweet.
After some disappointing dim sum meals recently, I am thrilled to have found Yum Cha in Camden Town. I cannot remember having such good dim sum at such affordable prices in London and am very surprised that it is not completely heaving with customers.
Yum Cha serves dim sum throughout the day (including dinner) although the cheung fun is only available at lunch time. The restaurant will take bookings for dim sum at weekends.
Cost: £41.60 (or £10.50 per person) including 10% service and £1.20 for tea per person.
Likes: Good service, affordable prices and endless/unsolicited refills of our tea pot. I thoroughly recommend the Shanghai dumplings, the prawn cheung fun and the pan-fried turnip cake.
Dislikes: High density of tables meant that some of us were uncomfortable at peak times due to the cramped conditions.
Verdict: One of my favourite dim sum venues in London, serving excellent quality dishes at very affordable prices. I cannot wait to return. Highly recommended.
