Seafood in the city: Bonnie Gull

It has been a while since I blogged about a new opening but our big move required celebrating. The new Bonnie Gull Seafood Cafe opened just under a month ago in Exmouth Market. I used to work near the first one that opened in Fitzrovia so I knew we would be in for a treat.

A combination of bright Breton stripes, gingham table cloths and simple wooden serving solutions makes you feel as though you're by the sea as soon as you sit down. We had gorgeous weather and a table outside in the sun. 

This was the first London evening that properly felt like summer had arrived - we drank a delicious bottle of cremant as the sun set and stayed chatting and eating for maybe 3 hours before leisurely heading home. 

 Of course the Oysters were a must. The maître d help us chose the exact right ones for us - not too big, not too small and deliciously creamy. 

Exmouth market is great for people watching because of all the great restaurants around that spill into the street on hot summer nights. There's also such an eclectic mix of people there, from neighbouring market stall sellers to city lawyers and my advertising and branding homies too.

I ordered the 'Smash your own crab' and totally smashed it. So much so that at one point, I shot a leg into my dining partner's face. He had the fish and chips which is a mammoth sea beast in crispy golden batter. Both came with excellent sauces - my marie rose was to die for and his tartare had little pieces of hard boiled egg in it - it's all about the detail.

 

 Told you I smashed it.

 Inside, the decor continues to delight with a gorgeously well stocked bar on a white and blue background, shellfish on a bed of ice and a chalk board that they illustrate every day with the catch of the day to show you where their fish is caught too. It's so much nicer to eat fish in the city knowing where it came from and when it was caught!

We finished up with a billionaire shortbread and ice cream with caremelised nuts. The desert selection allows you to either go for a full on pud like we did or opt for a smaller, more novelty option like Brighton rock or fudge - a nice touch on the menu.

You can book online or on the phone. Check out their website here.

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Night Tales from Dalston

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the launch night of Night Tales in Dalston. This is a wonderful gig put on by the Bootstrap studios lot of the Dalston Roof park that we've all been queuing for all summer. If you weren't you either have a Boot Strap studio (no queue for those fuckers), or you should have been.

Night Tales takes place in a car park round the back of the Arcola Theatre (downstairs from Bootstrap). It has all of the wonderful pop-uppery of late: Smokey Tails and Patty and Bun under one roof, plus a negroni bar that has hot spiced negronis for sale. This is basically a novelty mulled wine, but being the aperitif bitters fan that I am, was exactly what the doctor ordered. 

Excuse the 'atmospheric pics' my proper camera battery died!

Night tales will be on for the winter Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Get down early as there's a queue and wrap up warm. The spiced negronis will sort you out once you're inside!

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Hoi Polloi Review

Hoi Polloi: ˌhɔɪ pɒˈlɔɪ/

noun

derogatory

1. 1.

   the masses; the common people.

   "avoid mixing with the hoi polloi"

   synonyms:

   the masses, the common people, the populace, the public, the people,the multitude, the rank and file, the lower orders, the crowd, the commonality, the commonalty, the commons, the third estate, the plebeians; More

Hoi Polloi, the new Ace Hotel restaurant is accessed through a florist on Shoreditch High Street. Stepping through lillies into a cool, modern interior to be greeted by smiling and relaxed staff pretty much sets the tone. This isn't anything like the luxury hotel restaurant experiences to be had in Central London it feels natural, relaxed and calming- it even makes The Boundary look a little sniffy. 

The drinks menu provides great aperitif and digestif cocktail suggestions. Drinks to be had as an accompaniment to a great meal (which we will come on to), rather than as a sickly appetite spoiler. My Omi Poloni, a kind of Port Sour was perfectly pitched between sweet and sour. The ideal start to our evening.

After one or two in the hotel bar, we went to our table. The menus are newspapers left out on your table for you to unfold at your leisure. With a lot of choice, you should take your time. I asked the waiter for his favourite dishes and went with a few of his suggestions.

Pork puffs to start were incredible... 

 Swiftly followed by my favourite dish of the evening: liver and leeks - this dish is absolute heaven. The boy who doesn't usually like liver had his mind changed in seconds. I cannot describe the joy of this dish, you have to try it for yourselves.

 The fresh crab salad with aioli was the perfect balancer of the rich liver dish. Fluffy and fresh, exactly as you'd want it.

Then for the main course, the skirt with an onion rosti on top and dripping chips.

 With an accompaniment of mushroom and truffle gnocci. 

I'll let the images speak for themselves. Sadly we were too full for desert but will certainly be going back for more. 

Go hungry and thirsty, book well in advance here or do as I did and put your name down for cancellations, they came through within hours... 

You can thank me later. 
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Cutty Cargo: A crate night out (Ouch)

Anna and I have rather sore heads this morning after Cutty Cargo last night. We rocked up to the impressive sight of this cargo crate sitting in the middle of the street, the smell of Meat Liquor burgers filling the air and the sight of a lot of bearded men drinking whiskey. We knew we were in for a treat.

We wandered around the crate for a bit musing the art work. The moving stills were cool if a little creepy (prof green staring out a camera anyone?). We were soon distracted by Jessie Ware who started playing as our hunger kicked in. We stayed for her first two tunes and did a little hand waving before realising that she was the perfect decoy to get us fed fast. 

We made our way outside and loitered with pretty plain intent right by the Meat Liquor service point so we could nab a couple of burgers and fries as they came out. They were everything we had been hoping for and we could still hear Ms. Ware from outside - think of it as our version of Flo's Glyndebourne picnic but in a disused car park with brown paper bags of greasy chips. This is how we do... 

Piping hot meaty, cheesy goodness in a bun.

After eating, we headed back inside to mingle where we met the lovely boys from Informed London and played around with their iphone fisheye lens on our camera. At the time we thought these photos were 'uh sooome'. In the cold light of day, they're just pretty funny and capture the evening well. 

Whisky fuelled nights are the best for meeting a random mix of people and running around causing chaos. I am thankful that I stuck to Cutty and Soda all night long (it's delicious) rather than going in for the Cutty and real ale combination that the many bearded boys were drinking. Yeesh!!

The only time I deviated from my sensible *ahem* drink of choice was when we had whiskey sours in in the Burlesque room, which were made by 69 Colebrooke Row, which you have to go to if you haven't been. I can't show you how beautifully golden and foamy they were because I felt that too naughty getting my camera out in there so I just took a sneaky little one of the mixologist enjoying the show... Suffice to say nearly everything came off apart from a sequinned fig leaf and nipple tassles. What a treat.

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