A Slice of Pizza Heaven in London's Hoxton Square

Name: Radio Alice

Where: 16 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6NT, http://radioalicepizzeria.co.uk

Cost: Starters range from £3 for olives and almonds, burrata, black pepper and oregano (£5.50), and speck and apricots, or mortadella and pistachio (£6). Pizze are priced from £5.90 to £13. 

Wines are served by the glass, carafe, or bottle, and are from Italy, with the house red and whites both from Sicily, Libera Terra (£19). In Italy, pizza is enjoyed with beer rather than wine, and at Radio Alice there are two beers on tap (Kernel, Table Beer at £3.90 per pint, and London Beer Factory, Beyond the Pale at £4 per pint), as well as a few options in bottle or can. The cocktail menu is short but excellent value, including a Negroni at just £7. 

About: Radio Alice might seem an odd name for a pizzeria, but it derives from a pirate radio station that broadcast in the 1970s in Bologna, where brothers and owners Matteo and Salvatore Aloe were born. The brothers already have five pizzeria in Italy, and this London branch, opened in December 2016, is the result of a collaboration with Emma King, co-founder of Gail's Bakery. 

The pizzeria aims to use seasonal, organic and slow food producers from Italy and the UK, so the menu varies each month - think capers from Salina, tomatoes from Brindisi, and fiordilatte from Puglia.

Only ingredients that are improved by cooking are placed in the oven with the base - the base is cut into 8 after cooking, and the toppings are added after cooking, so that they do not overcook and retain their texture and freshness. 

The dough is made from Tipo 1 stoneground flour with wild rather than commercial yeast, and fermented for 24 hours. This long proofing makes for a light and easy to digest dough. They also make limited batches of pizze from guest grains, like spelt or durum wheat.

The restaurant has been beautifully renovated, with large windows, high ceilings, wood parquet flooring and white marble work tops. One of the brothers trained as an architect, which might explain the clean and stylish design.

What We Ate: The test of a Neapolitan-style pizzeria has got to be its Margherita pizza. The simplest on the menu but the hardest to get right, this pizza is all about the ingredients and the skills of chef. Radio Alice's version had the classic combination of fiordilatte, tomato and basil (£7), set over an airy, well-textured base.   

From the Pizze Bianche menu, we chose the Proscuitto di Parma, burrata, with orange-infused oil and fiordilatte (£13). The combination of burrata and orange may seem strange, but it is a classic in Campania, where these are two of their top products. Both the Parma ham and the burrata were added after the pizza was cooked, which  brought out the freshness and flavour of the ingredients, and gave the pizza another layer of texture.   

Next up was another Pizza Biancha, but this time with wilted cavolo nero (Italian black cabbage), provolone cheese and French mustard (£9.50).  I loved all the pizze at Radio Alice, but this was my favourite - I admired the ingenuity of the chefs in putting these ingredients together, they are not what I expect on a pizza but the combination worked brilliantly.

We were rather sated by this stage, but we had to try the desserts. Another classic Italian dish I was pleased to see on the menu was the chocolate gelato with liquorice brioche (£5.50). A lovely buttery brioche and chocolate ice cream sandwich, this was light and refreshing. 

Equally good was the Bourbon vanilla gelato, with anise biscuit (£5.50), another light and refreshing dessert with crisp and aromatic biscuits. 

What We Drank: For pizza cognoscenti, forgive me but we did not opt for beer on this occasion. Rather, we shared a bottle of Olmo, a blend of Sangiovesi and Montepulciano  from Marche (£30). This was very good, with sweet cherry flavours, and a good weight of berry fruit to balance the acidity of Sangiovesi.

Likes: Well-made, 24 hour proved pizza dough, creative and seasonal toppings, very reasonable prices in a beautifully designed venue. It's really refreshing to see a pizzeria offering proper beer as opposed to watery (dare I say Peroni?) lager. Super-knowlegeable and friendly staff, a rarity in achingly trendy Hoxton. There is so much to like about Radio Alice.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: Radio Alice has a refreshing approach to proper pizza in London. You don't need to go all the way to Naples for your slice of pizza heaven - Hoxton Square is much closer! I loved it. Very highly recommended. 

A Taste of the Basque Country in the Heart of Hipster Shoreditch

Name: Sagardi

Where: 95 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3BS, http://www.sagardi.co.uk/

Cost: Pintxos (Basque-style tapas) at the bar are priced at £2.50 each. Starters cost £8 to £16, with main courses at £15 to £25. Desserts are priced at £7. There is an extensive range of Spanish wines available by the glass, bottles are priced from £20.

About: I am a huge fan of the food from the Basque Country, and have been lucky to visit the region on a number of occasions, featured here, here and here. San Sebastian is one of my favourite foodie destinations, so I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Sagardi in London.

Sagardi in Shoreditch is the first UK branch of the Spanish Basque restaurant group founded in Barcelona in 2000 with restaurants in Madrid, Valencia and Seville, as well as in Porto, Portugal.

Today, in addition to the UK, the Sagardi Group has an increasing international reach with branches also in Argentina and Mexico. 

This latest Shoreditch branch opened in August 2016, and boasts an impressive butchers-style display of dry-ageing beef in the entrance, and extensive use of industrial steel, huge wooden tables and bare concrete floors. 

There is a huge wood-fired grill on which beef, whole fish and suckling pig are cooked. Suspended from the ceiling is a massive painted wooden boat and most of the restaurant's back walls are massive, floor to ceiling wine fridges. The overall look is clean whilst retaining plenty of warmth and elegance.

What We Ate: The bar features Basque-style pintxos – small bites (many of which are served on single slices of crusty bread) with myriad Spanish seasonal ingredients, to be enjoyed with a glass of wine or the Basque spritzy, youthful Txakolis.

Sagardi's menu, delivered by Spanish head chef Josep Roca, is short and well-thought out featuring some favourite Basque home-cooking dishes like Donostia seafood soup, stuffed baby squid in black sauce, suckling lamb trotters in Biscay sauce, and oxtail braised in a Rioja sauce. 

We started with a few pintxos (£2.50 each) at the bar.  As is common practice in Spain, diners can help themselves to pintxos from the counter, and the bill is calculated by counting the number of skewers left on the plate. 

The Gilda is a classic pintxo and one of my favourites (I find it impossible to eat only one of these), with pickled guindilla peppers, green olives and white anchovy fillet – it is salty, sour and brimming with flavour and Sagardi’s was as good as it gets!

We also tried a couple of other pintxos on slices of crusty bread – the first was topped with tuna mayo, onion and shredded hard egg white, cherry tomato, pickled guindilla peppers and anchovy fillet; and the other with a delectable salted-cod tortilla.

Moving to our table in the main restaurant, we started a few pieces of pan-fried Txistorra (£8), a fast-cured pork sausage from the Basque country, it was fatty and lightly spicy, and went down perfectly with the crisp Txakoli wine. 

The tartare of Azorean tuna came with chopped confit tomatoes (£16) seasoned with chives, basil and green Ibarra chilli peppers. With tart freshness coming from a dressing of capers, shallot, oregano, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a touch of sugar, all served on sourdough toast, this was a winner dish.

From the seasonal menu, as an autumnal treat, we opted for the king mushroom confit in olive oil (£21), served with beef jus, a raw egg yolk and a scattering of chopped chives. The mushrooms were meaty and delicious with the addition of the raw yolk bringing a touch of lusciousness. 

Wild Cornish turbot was on the menu the day we dined, and so we opted for it served ‘Donostia style’ (£9 per 100g). Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastian, and Donostia-style means cooked on the bone over a hot grill, then filleted and served, cheeks and all, with a sauce of butter, olive oil, garlic and parsley. With a final deboning at the table, this was a spectacular piece of fish - of great quality, and simply cooked. 

The main course was suckling pig, deboned, filleted and stuffed, cooked in the oven and then finished off on the grill (£24 per couple). 

Served with mashed potato and piquillo peppers, the pork was delicate, well seasoned and extremely tender. As is traditional in many parts of Spain, Sagardi serves this dish every Sunday – this is my kind of Sunday Roast!

To finish, we had Txuleton rib-eye steak.  Txuleton beef is a specialty of Northern Spain, and comes from old bullocks (in Galicia) aged at least four years, or diary cows who have reached the end of their milking life (in the Basque Country). With yellow fat marbling throughout, the meat has a rich flavour and succulence and Sagardi’s was no exception. It was simply served with a Basque salad of lettuce with spring onions and a zingy vinaigrette dressing of Basque apple vinegar. 

For dessert, we had Torrijas – this one of the best Spanish desserts in my opinion, a delectable warm pudding of fried bread, milk, sugar and cinnamon, served with a tangy, refreshingly yoghurty sheep's milk ice cream (£7).

What We Drank: Sagardi has its own-label bitter and lager brewed in Liverpool, exclusively available in the restaurant. 

Unusually for London, there is an extensive range of Txakoli wines, made from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape that is native to the Basque Country. These very dry and slightly spritzy wines are the norm in San Sebastian, with high acidity and low alcohol.  The crisp and refreshing example we tried from Talai Berri 2015 (£7 per glass, £32 per bottle) was crisp and refreshing, with a slight petillance.

To accompany the fish courses, we had the Terra de Godos Albariño 2015, from Rias Baixas, Caldas de Reis (£30 or £7 per glass).  This was a well balanced and fruity white from Galicia which still remains one of my favourite grapes.

With the suckling pig, we had a glass of El de Debajo de la Escalera 2014, a natural Rioja made from Tempranillo and Graciano grapes (£9 per glass, £38 per bottle). With complex flavours of black berry fruit, high natural acidity and tannins, this was an excellent match for the unctuous suckling pig.  

To accompany the Txuleton steak, we had a glass of Uco Acero 2012, a natural wine from Do Valle del Uco, Mendoza, Argentina (£7 per glass, £33 per bottle). This wine is made from 100% Malbec grapes, but being grown above 1,100 metres, it had none of the jammy qualities so often found with this varietal. Instead it was a complex, well structured and muscular wine, rich in tannins and minerality, and a good counter-weight to the aged beef.  

With dessert, we had a glass of Chateau Dereszla Tokaji 3 Puttonyos (£9 per glass). With aromas of apricot, honey, orange peel, and lots of refreshing acidity on the palate, this was a very well made Hungarian wine.

Likes: The turbot was for me a great example of how to serve this finest of fish, the Iberian way - with minimal fuss but maximal flavour from grilling it on the bone and serving with a simple butter, garlic and parsley sauce. The Sunday roast suckling pig is one of the few places in London serving this delicacy that is so popular in Spain. The aged txuleton rib-eye steak was outstandingly good. I love having the option of helping myself to pintxos with Txakoli, which takes me back to my many pilgrimages to San Sebastian’s Old Town.  

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: A perfect meal for me at Sagardi starts with a selection of Pintxos and Txakoli at the bar, followed by their sumptuous Donostia-style turbot, the Txuleton rib-eye steak, and a big platter of Iberico suckling pig roast with all the trimmings, finishing off with Torrijas for pudding! For an authentic Basque culinary experience in London, Sagardi ticks all the boxes and I cannot wait to return. Highly recommended.

Thai Cocktails and Nosh in Über-Trendy Hoxton

Name: Busaba Eathai

Where: 319 Old Street, London EC1V 9LE, http://www.busaba.com

Cost: Dishes are for sharing, and vary in cost from £3.90 to £12.50.  The average food spend is around £20-£30 per head.

About: Situated on a busy corner of Old Street in the heart of Hoxton, this is one of 10 restaurants in the group opened by restaurateur Alan Yau around 15 years ago. I used to love visiting their first branch in Wardour Street when it opened in the late 90s, it was one of the most innovative and forward-thinking London restaurants at the time.

There are plans to expand the Busaba Eathai group to 20 restaurants over the next year, including new branches in Manchester, Leeds, Cambridge and possibly Scotland, among others.

With Thai Executive Head Chef Jude Sangsida overseeing the whole group, there is a reasonable degree of consistency of cooking across different branches. The restaurant aims to serve popular Thai dishes for the UK market and palate. Like the other restaurants in the group, all the dining tables in Old Street are shared, with benches rather than chairs, making for a relaxed, informal experience.  There is a separate bar area with high stools and tables for those who just want to enjoy a cocktail or share a bottle of wine.

What We Ate: Like in Thailand, the dishes were served all at once at Busaba Eathai. Rather than starters and main courses, the dishes are divided into salad, soup noodle, wok noodle, stir-fry, grilled curry, rice and side dishes, which together make up a Thai meal. The flavours and textures of these different dishes, complement each other – a refreshing salad is ideal to go alongside a more fiery curry, while rice and vegetable sides should be eaten with the remaining dishes.

We started with a well made and deliciously tender Thai calamari served with ginger and peppercorns (£6.50).

Som Tam salad is one of the national dishes of Thailand and can be found both on the streets as in restaurants and homes across the country – made from green papaya, dried shrimps, cherry tomato and peanut (£6.90), Busaba’s som tam was authentic with some very fresh Thai flavours.

For noodles, we opted for a very flavoursome Pad Kwetio served with Sen Yai noodles, smoked chicken, prawn and shiitake mushroom (£8.60). This was delicious and one of the highlights of our meal.

I loved the rich aniseed aromas and flavours from the sweet basil and chilli and the chunky but tender prawns in the Chilli Prawn Stir-fry (£8.90).

The Red Beef Curry (£10.50) had perfectly tender slivers of beef, both Thai and pea aubergines, as well as kaffir lime leaf and chilli all in an intensely flavoured curry sauce – excellent.

To accompany our dishes, we shared a portion of coconut rice (£3.30), and a lovely vegetable dish of morning glory, with yellow bean sauce, Thai garlic and chilli (£5.90).

What we Drank: Wines range from £19.50 to £24.50, and all are available either by the 175ml glass, or in 500ml flasks, or as a full bottle. There are just 3 white and 3 red options, along with one rosé and 5 beers.  For sparkling wines, there is the Prosecco di Valdobbiadene at £29.50, or a Lallier 1er Cru Rose Champagne at £52.50.

Besides wine and beer, there is a choice of mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) priced from £2.70 to £3.30, while cocktails at the Old Street branch are priced at £7.50. There are plans to make these cocktails available across the whole group by the end of 2014.

We sampled 4 cocktails with our meal.  The Nam Thang Mo (rum blended with watermelon, kaffir lime, guava and chilli) was delicious and very tropical. Personally though I preferred the Lao Kong, made from green tea infused with whisky, with pineapple, honey and cinnamon syrup. Unsurprisingly, I’m a sucker for anything that features green tea.

The Citrus Negroni was sensational - made from the usual trio of gin, Martini and Campari, it was spiced up with a slug of tamarind syrup, and served over a whopping sphere of solid ice the size of an orange. It had a real kick and was as strong as I expected it to be.

Last but far from least, and actually in my opinion the best of all, the Thai Martini was made from gin infused with lemongrass, Thai basil and birdseye chilli tincture. This was a magnificent, fragrant and stimulating cocktail, and I can’t wait to try it again.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the cocktails we tried – they were well made and cleverly thought out and at £7.50 are also excellent value at trendy Shoreditch/Hoxton areas.

Likes: The superb cocktail menu at this Old Street branch is a big draw. The food is both reasonably authentic and affordable, and the restaurant is in a very happening part of Hoxton. Service is fast and friendly, and the wine selection is small but good value and well chosen.

Dislikes: Shared tables work in a supper club setting but I am not sure they do at a restaurant. I don’t mind sharing, but it can be awkward if others do!

Verdict: Busaba Eathai in Old Street is a great place for some cocktails with an Asian twist in über-trendy Hoxton, and a fix of fast Thai food in a relaxed, friendly setting. Recommended.