Get it while it's hot! Locadeli

Michelin starred Italian restaurant Locanda Locateli is undergoing refurbishment this month. In the meantime, rather than twiddle his thumbs, Georgio has set up a pizza and pasta pop-up - Locadeli - around the corner in Marylebone. 

The menu is simple and super cheap for Locatelli quality. You can choose from a handful of starters, around ten pizza dishes and three pasta dishes (around £12 each). Everything we tried was delicious and quite a bit more interesting that your average Margherita.

Georgio's favourite - the Calabrese - was described by one of my dinner guests as 'a life changing experience'. It was damn good; spicy spreadable sausage 'nduja' and that heavenly cousin of mozzarella 'burrata' strewn over a thin, tomatoey pizza base... I just can't get enough. Other highlights have to be the chestnut tagliatelle with wild mushrooms and a devilishly boozy rum baba. Needless to say I will be back in there soon to get another fix.

My accessory twins!

Unlike so many London 'pop-ups' this venture is popping back down again on the 4th October so you had better get in soon if you want a slice of the pizza action.

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Flo's Quick Review: Yalla Yalla

This Lebanese cafe has been on my 'to go' list for a while since I love Middle Eastern cuisine, mezze style dining, and eating out at a guilt free price! I first went upon the suggestion of a friend but work overran and I only arrived in time to have a little snackette. This time I more than made up for my deprived first encounter...

A quick note to begin however, there are two Yalla Yalla restaurants (and one Shoreditch pop-up). I realised this rather late in the day... when absolutely starving in Oxford Street I remembered it being very close by, suggested it and then walked for around ten minutes before realising that we must be going somewhere else. When I saw that Google maps was taking us to their other joint I thought we could give it a go but the Green's Court one is tiny and the waitress a little abrasive (she was visibly angry that we had been queueing without having let her know we were waiting for a table!). We swiftly returned to the Winsley Street one which is much bigger and therefore has a faster moving queue - no bookings I am afraid. This review was impromptu so sorry about the lack of HD photos.

smaller Green's Court Restaurant

The cocktails are apparently good but I decided to forgo in order to order as much as I could possibly eat! To begin with we had the hommos shawarma (their spelling) which comes with a surprisingly generous portion of marinated lamb on top of it, the baba ganoush (delicious and creamy but a little less smoky than I like).

Next came the Arayes - spicy minced lamb in crispy grilled pitta bread with pomegranate scattered on top were possibly my favourite - they look somewhat disappointing in stature since the mince is packed into a thin layer between the flat breads but they really pack a punch in terms of flavour. I also had the sawda dej (liver which are glazed in a sweet and sharp pomegranate sauce) which were delicious if you too are into offal. It is also wonderful to have them done in a such a different way rather than the usual Frenchified buttery type dishes. 

Last I had some kofte of the main dishes that I wouldn't really recommend since it's not the best kofte I've had in London (see my Best Mangal review) and the sharing plates are much more fun. A fabulous place for a quick and causal date or to meet with a few friends, I will certainly be returning soon. 

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Free Martini Month!

I feel I should probably start this post with some pun about art and martinis but I am too tired and tipsy having just returned!

Just down past the Ritz and opposite(ish) the Royal Academy is the restaurant I probably rave about most often. Le Caprice is certainly not the most exciting restaurant I have ever been to, but year in year out they deliver traditional dishes with that extra little twist or attention to detail that makes them best in class. Not only that, it is ideally situated for a relaxing brunch before or after an exhibition.

We went for the last day of the summer exhibition, which is always good fun. There is an interesting looking Mexican exhibition and the Richard Rogers on at the moment too that I will hopefully return for soon. If you visit, make sure you coincide with the fantastic martini offer Le Caprice are doing this month. When you order a la carte, you can get a martini of the watermelon, cucumber, espresso, apple or lychee variety completely free! 

I opted for the burger since the quality is fantastic and the piccalilli to die for! Having tried all five martinis, I would particularly recommend the cucumber (which also has elderflower and apple in it), the watermelon, or the espresso as a digestif.

Cucumber Martini (usually a different colour, we were experimenting with the barman here!)

Watermelon (half-drunk - sorry!)

Coffee (usually bigger - we were sharing one)

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Pizzas the size of tables and Prosecco on tap

A permanent feature since April, Homeslice offer huge thin crust traditional Italian pizzas with untraditional toppings, yum! This place gets it so right, I have been looking for excuses to go again... and again...and again...

You can order pizza by the slice but the proper thing to do is to order a 20 incher split between 2 flavours. That way you get them fresh out of the oven and can appreciate the spectacle of a pizza the size of your table. When ours first arrived I thought there was no way I could get through half of it but I did, effortlessly, because it was so damn delicious!

There are some pretty interesting things on the menu from trout to bone marrow along with more classic mixes of buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. We went for half smoked trout, beetroot, goats curd and lambs lettuce and half finocchiona, a delicious italian fennel and chilli salami, with rocket. The trout was delicate and tempered by the creamy curd. The base meanwhile was perfectly thin and had just the right amount of burst, charcoal-y bubbles to give you that delicious wood fired taste without overpowering anything.

Our smoked trout came without any tomato which meant it was light and creamy in flavour, this contrasted perfectly with the deep, spicy, fennel and tomato in round two. The salami was cut super fine so it melted into the pizza and didn't leave you in that awkward 'I'm still attached to half the pizza because this salami is so tough' predicament. The second time I went I ordered less well and would warn against the pork belly. I love pork belly and I love pizza, I just don't think they are great together. That won't stop me coming back and trying all the other toppings. Fingers crossed that they make the finochiona a permanent option. 

At £20 split between 2 it is pretty good value given the size and quality. Another great reason to go is that you can get prosecco on tap for £4 a glass. That means that if there is a big queue (I went on a Thursday around 8 and there wasn't but have been told it is unpredictable) you can sip some bubbly in the mean time in the seclusion of Neal's Yard.

It is strictly no bookings except from groups of 5 plus. For more information see here:

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Porky's v Meat Liquor: Step away from the BBQueue

We don't usually give bad reviews, but in this instance, we're just trying to helpfully suggest that you weigh up the other options before weighing in at Meat Liquor. It's just not worth the wait when there are so many other, better quality BBQ options out there. 

My favourite (Elle speaking) has to be Pitt Cue Co. in Soho, whereas Flo is less of a meathead (ahem) than me so I recently suggested that she head down to Camden's newest venture: Porky's. Here's what she thought.

Flo: I know that Meat Liquor has been massively over reviewed, and that an apologetic 'I know you've heard it all before' has resounded through blog after blog but.... as I was passing by before any queue had formed, I thought 'why not'. It is a real love or hate place and I was curious which boat I'd be in.

I have to say that even without the much grumbled about queue, I hated it. But rather than rant for half a page, I have paired this review with the lovely, similarly cheap, simple menued alternative of Porky's in Chalk Farm.

So why did I hate it? Well, to begin with, I like to be able to see what I am eating and felt like every sense was stifled in the dim red lit room blasting out terrible 90s pop and rock. This made it impossible to talk and with the pretty obnoxious and slow 'fast food' service, there wasn't much else to fill the gap.

And the food? I ordered the regular cheeseburger which was marginally better than McDonalds and I suppose only twice as expensive, and the cheesy chips which were covered with indigestible quantities of raw diced onion. The Mr had the dead hippy (a sloppy double cheese burger) which was considerably better.

Massive queue had formed by the time we left

All in all, I would leave it for a bad date who you don't want to really see or hear, and if I wanted to be properly looked after (which I always do) but still go somewhere casual, I would head straight to Porky's. The place itself is stripped down and fit for purpose, great for spending time with people you actually want to spend time with. It is trendy without being try hard and without needing to hire hipster, disinterested staff. 

 

Their real driver however is their hero product of pulled pork, which comes in at just £8.75. It is succulent, tender and really hits the spot with a good measure of sauce from the squirty bottles on the table. The porky burger is pretty good too though I only had a bite to try. In the end the product speaks for itself and I will definitely be a repeat customer.

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Found in China Town

If you're stuck for something to do this weekend, then head to China Town for the Chinese new year festivities: There'll be an enormous firework display, a flying lion dance, a firecracker display and performances by Emmy the Great and Noah and The Whale in China Town - all for free. 

Traditional Chinese arts and crafts and food stands will also pack the streets. If you feel like braving the crowds, we would recommend getting there early to make sure you get a good view. Otherwise, rooftop bars are worth investigating to get a piece of the firework action from the comfort of, well, not being crushed by the crowd or frozen by the weather. 

China Town has a wealth of Chinese and South East Asian food shops, medicine and alternative therapy units and restaurants. Lately I have been visiting relatively regularly to stock up on all the Japanese ingredients they also sell (much cheaper than the Japan Centre). I always go to both New Loon Moon and Loon Fung to compare prices and brands before buying.

In general, our experience of seeking a hot meal out in China Town has been of wandering around with a feeling of being surrounded by potentially great food and experiences but as though it would be so easy to get it wrong. We both hate all you can eat MSG slathered non-de-script meat and vegetable buffets (who actually goes to those places??). In short, this area has pretty much remained lost in translation.

No longer. Our Chinese new year resolution for this year was to get found in china town, so we've done our research and found a great Cantonese place you can rely on too.

New World was introduced to us by a family friend who grew up in Hong Kong. It's a little shabby but authentic, with dim sum trolley girls circling the room, offering you their goods. He always sits on the ground floor as near to the kitchen door as possible so as to get the dim sum fresh out of their bamboo steamers.

We recommend any of the dim sum but the last time we were there, we had... 

Prawn and vegetable:

Spicy prawn and scallop:

Pork sui mai:

Wasabi prawn:

I wouldn't recommend the Shanghai dim sum which are fried and usually with pork. They are rather greasy which is what they are supposed to be, having had them in Shanghai, but an acquired taste.

The most unusual thing we had was a fried water chestnut gelatinous square with crunchy bits of water chestnut in it. It was really delicious (the Catonese know how to do puddings) and sort of maple syrupy tasting.

The whole meal for 4 came to just £10 each including drinks (non alcoholic)

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Hackney Unpackaged

This is a dinner review, but the dinner in question happens in a shop, turned restaurant, I want to tell you about the whole package (see what I did there?). 

Unpackaged, Hackney sits right next to Lardo - one of the 'it' restaurants du jour (review here). Unpackaged could be described as Lardo's unassuming little sister, or for your purposes the place to go to when the Lardo queue is too long. Personally, I'd recommend making the trip for this place alone. It really is very good for dinner but the shop is an absolute must if you're local. 

Shop first:

I'm not usually a fan of 'concept' stores. Mainly because the concept has a tendency to get in the way of the store - if I want to listen to deafening music, I'll go to a gig. If I want to lie down, I'll go to bed. I don't need to be able to do either of these things whilst buying groceries. 

Unpackaged is not this kind of concept store. Unpackaged simply shows us the future of sustainable grocery shopping. The idea: An organic refill shop where you bring your own packaging and fill it. You can even drop off containers and your shopping list on your way to work, then come back to collect it at the end of the day. Prices are based on weight, so there's no premiums on brands, bottled air or any of the usual Whole Foods (whole pay cheque) nonsense to contend with. 

The shop is filled with loose grains, seeds, nuts, fruits. It also has condiments, confectionary and a fresh offering including organic groceries and baked produce: their bread is absolutely gorgeous. 

The no-frills aesthetic makes everything look great, even laundry powder.

Much better than most supermarket stocked olive oil at far, far better prices!

Now to the dinner:

From around 7.30 or 8, they write up a fresh daily menu on big chalk boards at the back of the room, crack open a few well selected and excellently priced bottles of wine and start to serve. Tables are intimate and candle-lit, wine is served in tumblers, food is inventive and delicately flavoured. Oh and at between £6 and £12 per plate, you can't go wrong. Usually I'd expect teensy portions at a place like this, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive three full plates of food between the two of us, with a couple of extra nibbly bits for good measure. 

Miniature tortilla bites to start.

Beetroot curry with raita.

Meatballs in stewed tomato and Unpackaged signature bread.

Fishcakes with fresh coleslaw, a great homemade tartare and freshly pickled cucumber.

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The gift of friendship...cake

I'm a big sourdough fan. It tastes great, is better for you, lighter on the hips but mainly it's a lovely thing to share with friends because the starting sourdough culture can be kept forever as long as it is kept alive by airing, stirring and feeding. Keeping the culture alive means growing it gradually too, so once divided each person can cultivate their own small bit into an even bigger bit of doughy joy.

This is the principle that Herman (The German Friendship Cake) is based on. I was luckily enough to be given a bubbling jar of him by my bestie Anna and have now passed him on to a few more. If you want to start your own Herman, then follow this recipe, after that you grow and cultivate him for 10 days and pass the following recipe on to your friends with your jar of dough.

Sourdough Friends

After 10 days of my kitchen smelling faintly of yeast, he was ready to add to and to cook. 

I included apples, raisins, vanilla essence and cinnamon in mine, topped with a simple butter and brown sugar crust and then served him up for breakfast on a lazy weekend morning with a big dollop of Greek Yoghurt and some american style syrup. 

After cooking him at 190° for 1.5 hours (covering for the last 1/2 hour) - this is much longer than the instructions but everyone I've spoken to says that he takes far longer to cook than the 45 minutes allowed, I only cooled him for a few minutes on the rack before serving - this was because I prefer a warm cake for breakfast. We had him cold with a cup of Earl Grey on Sunday too and he was just as good but an all together different taste and texture when cold.

Anna got her dough from an already started chain. There's something deeply satisfying about knowing that each person gives him to 4 more, so in theory the chain should multiply outwards every 10 days. 

This is the lovely little package that I handed to Georgie on Friday (Lauren and Ruth will be getting theirs soon). I'm looking forwards to hearing about the results. 

I attempted to superficially disguise the fact that I was carrying around an odd smelling, bubbling jar by putting it in a Selfridges Food Hall bag... It didn't stop me from getting more than a few odd looks in the restaurant I met Georgie in on my lunch break.

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