The Providores, Marylebone

Ahhh brunch. My favourite meal of the day.

We went to a little place recently called The Providores, a tapas bar in Marylebone that also does a pretty incredible brunch. We did have to queue for about 20 minutes (at 1pm on a Saturday, not too unreasonable I didn't think) but it was so worth the wait. 

I jumped on a freshly made smoothie. They have the usual fare - bananas and mixed berry - but they have caught up with the super healthy crew here, serving a spirulina smoothie, and a baobab smoothie. Although ridiculously expensive at £6, I went for the baobab, soy and blueberry smoothie. I've tried baobab once before at the Eden Project of all places. It's a tree native to Africa and the fruit has some incredible properties. Loads of vitamin C, iron and alkalising minerals. The only problem is that the soy milk probably undid any good that the blueberries and baobab did, since soy is not that great for you. Oh well it all tasted good!

We then ordered two dishes we both loved the sound of and shared, because that's the way greedy people like me get to try as many things as possible.

First up, grilled chorizo with sweet potato and miso hash, a soft boiled egg, garlic labne and star anise and cashew nut praline. Sounds like a dish and a half right?! It was.

Absolutely beautiful. Never had anything quite like it, let alone for brunch. Simply a creative, delicious and rather light brunch.

If you're looking for something a bit (a lot) more hearty, then this next bad boy is for you.

Bruschetta with haggis, smoked tomato relish, rocket, two poached eggs and chorizo hollandaise. No need to eat anything else for the rest of the day!!

This was my first ever taste of haggis and it was pretty damn excellent. I couldn't really taste the chorizo in the hollandaise with so many other powerful flavour, but it wasn't missed as everything else was so delicious and worked so well together. The tomato relish was the perfect addition that took this dish up to another level!

Both incredible, but I think I have to go for the haggis dish as my favourite, for a very boring reason - I love hollandaise way too much.

Coal Vaults

This night happened a little while ago so it's a little hazy...not least from the very strong drinks!

I'd been hearing a lot about a new underground bar in Soho called Coal Vaults that happens to also do fantastic food as well as great drinks.

After walking all the way up Wardour Street, wondering if we'd missed it, we saw a little entrance welcoming us with a skeleton on a throne. Cue posing. 

Then it was time to get looking at the menu. Seated in a little candle lit cave we needed all the table space we could get for this was going to be a feast!

Starting with drinks, I had the Mercuary, a little gin number infused with sage, homemade greengage sorbet, lemon and prosecco. E took a Coxone, golden rum with Carpano Antica and spiced green apple. Very Autumnal don't you think?! All drinks are £9 or under, so it won't break the bank if you order a couple.

Yes, there are three drinks here. The lovely waiter brought us over another drink, which had been incorrectly made from a previous order. 

Then on to food. Very difficult to decide!

We chose the charred quail with pan fried chicken livers and quail. All delightful, especially the chicken livers with the warming lentils, however I always forget that quail is such a tricky bugger to eat. Luckily there were no boys around to impress! We got down and dirty.

Then, my favourite, the sherry braised beef cheek with onion, jam, sage and bread. Deliciously moist, hearty, juicy and tender, it was packed full of flavour, the sherry really coming through.

Next was the pulled rabbit with smoked black beans, sweetcorn and pineapple relish, avocado sour cream and flatbread. A gorgeous, fruity dish. The pineapple only served to complement, not compete, which I was afraid of!

Two desserts had to be ordered because they all sounded too good. The first had to be a salted flourless chocolate cake with a mint creme fraiche and toasted almond brittle. The cake was delicious, but for me the mint in the creme fraiche was a little too sharp and overpowering. The almond brittle was sweet and delicious, but there wasn't enough of it!

I am a crazy chocolate lover, so it is very rare and obviously a fine dessert that beats out the cake....but this little beauty of a crumble here, a blackberry, greengage and cobnut crumble with the most incredible calvados custard blew the cake out of the water. Mouth watering delicious, steaming hot and incredibly fruity, but not too sweet. Usually I don't like hot custard (I'm a weirdo I know, nothing like cold vanilla custard in my opinion) but I smothered this baby with that calvados gold. It was heaven.

We were absolutely stuffed after this, we couldn't even finish the cake and I am not one to waste. The food is inexpensive and the sharing dishes of a good size, more sizable than, say, a tapas bar. We could have done with one less dish and still be extremely full.

I have already told all my friends it's a fantastic little haunt that we all need to go to. Best to book though, for even on a Monday night it was busy. As with all places in London, the secret underground haunt doesn't stay secret for long!

Burgers Burgers Burgers: ShakeShack, Burger Bear and Disco Bistro

I went recently to one of Somerset House's open air cinema events - brilliant by the way, definitely go - and for dinner I really wanted to take my friend to Patty & Bun as she has yet to try one of the best burgers in London, however this was on a Monday and I completely forgot that they are closed then. My heart absolutely sank - I had been looking forward to that for a while!

So knowing Covent Garden was nearby, we decided to see what all the hype was about and headed to brand new American import ShakeShack. They pride themselves on using 100% all-natural Angus beef, vegetarian fed and humanely raised. I have seen pictures of rows and rows of these burgers all looking perfect and exactly the same. The same Muppet-like features: the lettuce sticking out, cheese melting over the edge and tomatoes lolling like tongues over the bun. They're all bright colours and happy.

From the start I was dubious, however I had read many a review of people saying that this one was great - it was Five Guys here that wasn't so good - so I thought why not, let's forego the brilliance that is MeatMarket around the corner and let's do it - how bad could it be?!

I had no idea.










Here it is: The Muppet. (A plain ShakeShack burger)

My reaction was not good. Take the so-called "perfect-looking" burger out of it's bag and you find the horror of the saggy and deflated bun, looking a little worse for wear. It doesn't look so happy anymore.

Only when I took the burger out of the bag did I realise the lettuce was sticking half way out the burger, to give it it's muppet-esque facade. How was I supposed to eat that?!

One bite in and I knew I hated it. The meat wasn't a good patty. It was flimsy and tasteless - it did not feel like I was eating "100% beef". The "special ShakeShack sauce" was overly sweet. The cheese was not good and there no was no texture in the burger, perhaps this would have been better had I got one with bacon. It was all one soft icky mess in my mouth and I could only stomach eating half of it. It was all very reminiscent of McDonalds - and I detest McDonalds.

The chips were slightly better. I did not like that they were crinkle cut - another mass production sign I do not like to see, but they did taste good. The ones that weren't covered in the same horrible cheese that they use in the burger, however.

We also got a white and black milkshake - chocolate mixed with vanilla. No sign of vanilla in there, only that fake chocolate flavour. So that was left too.

The only redeeming thing at ShakeShake are their concretes. Different kinds of frozen custard which basically taste like ice cream. We had the Union Shack - chocolate custard with St John's Bakery chocolate hazelnut brownie, fudge sauce, Paul A Young, chocolate chunks and sea salt.
If you don't recognise the names in there, St John is an incredible bakery and restaurant - go try a doughnut - and Paul A Young makes some incredibly yummy chocolate. He was one of the first places I tried salted caramel and salted chocolate - an epiphany back then.

This was really really good. Great textures and flavours and you can never go wrong with chocolate in my book.

However after the whole ordeal I was left feeling really disgusting and that horrible fake sweet taste of a cheap burger lingered in my mouth for hours after. Lesson learned: go British and go MeatMarket.

Maybe quality has been falling since the spectacular opening. Maybe it's just not my thing, but neither of us were incredibly impressed. J however managed to finish her burger and the rest of mine.

So I knew I needed another burger STAT to get rid of that horrible memory. Burger Bear is currently in residence at the Old Nun's Head pub in Nunhead, SE London until the 25th August. You can also find him near Old Street during the week, but you have to check his twitter for details because I'm not entirely sure.

Anyway I have heard many a good thing about Burger Bear. So I thought perfect opportunity to have a great burger and see my sis at the same time.

We both ordered a Grizzly Burger - double oak smoked bacon with bacon jam on a cheeseburger along with some angry fries.

Just look at that. That is a proper burger. It is huge, with a hell of a lot of toppings and oozing with juice and cheese.

The moment it entered my mouth I knew this was good. Oh so good. The patty was fat and juicy - but not ridiculously messy. The bacon added the perfect crisp smokiness and my word the bacon jam. Bacon jam. What an absolute epiphany that was, it tasted incredible. The bun wasn't fantastic, however held together nicely with all the juiciness coming from the burger. Safe to say it is now in my top 3 burgers in London.

The angry fries were great - but I was not expecting them to be that spicy! It actually hurt a little bit, there were a few tears, but if you love super spicy you will love them guaranteed.

Next up was Disco Bistro. It's been open at the popup rollerskating rink since July and closed this weekend so I knew I had to get there before time was up!

The burger sounded pretty epic. Cheese, secret "bun sauce", pineapple, onions and -ohmygoodness it's back - bacon jam!!!

This was deliciously oozy, however maybe a little too much. It was dripping everywhere, on my clothes, on body parts and grease was pooling in the bottom of the basket. I guess you definitely can't say it wasn't moist!! As such, the bun didn't hold together great, but it's not something I'm too fussed about.

The burger was really good. The thick-cut onion were delicious and the pineapple - which I wasn't sure on before trying - added a new dimension, a sweet extra flavour. The pineapple was in fact the best bit in there for me! Unfortunately this, plus their bun sauce, didn't allow the bacon jam to shine. Knowing what it tastes like, I couldn't detect it amongst all the other flavours, but it wasn't missed since the burger tasted pretty great already. It was dirty, messy and fabulous.

I'm not sure as yet when the next Disco Bistro burger will be available, but the same chef has collaborated at Rotary Bar Diner (just off Old St roundabout) on their menu, so for a burger of similar style and quality, head there.

Peckham Bazaar

Trudge deep into the heart of Peckham, towards the middle of nowhere, and you will be rewarded, for there is a little restaurant called The Peckham Bazaar which will satisfy all your Greek and grilled needs.

Opening with little fanfare in the middle of sunshine in Summer, Peckham Bazaar has only one chef and a little kitchen outside (soon to be moving inside to be able to stay open for the Winter months), word of mouth has spread and now you are unlikely to be able to eat here without a reservation. 

Food is heavily influenced by Greek and Middle Eastern cooking and with a weekly changing menu, produce is always fresh, innovative and delicious. 

The weather was warm enough for us to sit outside in one of the last hazy Summer evening we had. The atmosphere outside is wonderful, it is sat in the middle of a quiet housing estate and we hardly saw anybody about whilst we were there. Try to visit when you can still sit outside for it all adds to the magic of the evening.

We started with, what Peckham Bazaar are calling, a #wrongungina. Turkish spirit raki mixed with orangina. You wouldn't think it would work but it really does!

Having had a look at the menu earlier, we knew we wanted to order one of everything and with the prices of the food this wasn't going to be a problem!!

We started with grilled pork souvlaki with pickled carrots, nigella seeds and tzatziki and unfortunately I have no picture because we ate it too fast. A mark I think of just how good it was. The pork came on skewers all tender and with a slight smokiness from the grill.

Next was a marinated grilled prawn saganaki, which is apparently a traditional Greek way of preparing a dish in a small frying pan. As all food is prepared on the grill it all comes with a gorgeous but not overpowering smokey flavour. The prawns were juicy and for ease their shells had been taken off. Didn't have to get too messy.

This next one may have been my favourite of them all. At the time I couldn't pick between all of them, they were all too good but I still remember (and I went about two weeks ago now) the flavours that came from the spices in the meatball and how tender it was that it completely fell apart on my fork and melted in my mouth.
It was a huge single veal and pork meatball with a courgette and almond puree and Turkish tarator. The puree was delicious and so different and accompanied the meatball perfectly. 

 Ok wait maybe this one was my fave. Grilled octopus with Greek fava, braised silver skins and capers.  The octopus was crispy from the grill and the puree of fava - yellow split peas - complemented this wonderfully for a beautiful texture.

There was only one dessert to choose from and at the time I thought that it sounded a little boring - cherry baklava with walnut ice cream. Having a parent from a Middle Eastern background I have had plenty of baklava in my life and thought I had been there, done that and knew what to expect.

I was so wrong!

I haven't baklava with huge pieces of real fruit in before - let alone sweet and succulent cherry. The juice of the cherry mixed with the syrup from the baklava toned down the overall sweetness of the pastry and made for a gorgeous, gooey, every so slightly (in a good way) sticky texture. The walnut ice cream was pure brilliance, and when it all started to melt together and there were syrup and cherry flavours all over the bowl I was in pure heaven.

Again, no picture. It was that good.

Reliving them all over again, I can't decide which one was the best. Even the dessert stood up to the mighty meatball!

The service was a little slow - but with there only being one chef on a small grill and a very busy restaurant I will happily let them off.  A warning, it is also cash only!

You can't at the moment get much better value for money anywhere else. The chef clearly loves the food he is cooking and the place has true values and it shows. I hope their success only continues to grow.

Grain Store, King's Cross

King's Cross is an amazing place. Those who knew the area a couple of year ago would have laughed at this idea as it was widely known as a seedy, rough druggie haven. However with the recent millions being invested in the area - the newly developed apartments, offices and station, it is now a shiny new beacon of light in the capital (and the druggies have moved on to Euston). Street food lovers know already that Kerb runs from 11-2.30 every tues-fri along the Boulevard outside the station. The brilliant Caravan (sister to Exmouth Market incarnation) recently opened too in the old warehouse next to Central Saint Martins and Shrimpy's is inside The Filling Station next to the canal - yes the hipsters have firmly moved in. 

Another brilliant restaurant opened just this year right next to Caravan, adding to the new fabulousness of the King's Cross area and as soon as I heard the concept I knew I had to come here. A collaboration between Bruno Loubet and The Zetter Group's Michael Benyan and Mark Sainsbury with drinks by Tony Conigliaro, the guy who created the menu at the "best new bar in the world" Zetter Townhouse - the menu celebrates vegetables by making them the star of the dish and fish or meat the accompaniment.

I finally got down here on my birthday, feeling a little worse for wear having been out the night before, and needing a major dose of health. 

A huge, spacious interior greeted us with super high ceilings, (fake?!) furs on the wall, wood everywhere a hell of a lot of exposed brick and light flooding in from all directions. It felt very natural, minimal and recycled - in a good way. It all added to a feeling of wholesomeness and pureness about the place. The long bar is placed opposite the kitchen pass, which also turns into a work bench where you can see chefs preparing the food. A lot of chopping went down from what I saw.

Take a little walk around the restaurant before you leave because you will see walls lines with pickled jars and all their produce ready to be used - a lovely touch.

Grain Store is another restaurant that doesn't divide its menu into starters and mains - which I love, it allows much more freedom. So my sister and I decided to order only smaller plates to try as many things as possible and, as our superbly camp and absolutely brilliant waiter said - "we shall just have a little feast here!"

We went for sprouting beans & seeds, miso aubergine, crispy citrus chicken skin, potato wafer

Courgette, broad bean & prawn falafel with raita

Butternut squash ravioli, sage & mustard apricots, pumpkin seed oil

Peach, salted watermelon & basil salad, salmon confit

The first thing that jumps out at you is the colours. All these dishes were so beautifully presented and so wonderfully colourful. They were all incredibly fresh, light but did not scrimp on flavour at all. Both my sister and I are falafel fiends and we agreed that the falafel were some of the best we'd ever had.

The ravioli was full of butternut squash flavour - a surprise for me having been disappointed one too many times that I could not taste a trace of squash in ravioli - and the crunch of the seeds left the dish interesting and exciting. Salmon, watermelon and peach - a combination I would never have putt together was delightful.

It felt healthy and virtuous, angelic even, and incredibly delicious.

Feeling satisfied and pleased with ourselves for being good we then chose dessert. My immediate thought when reading: white chocolate rice crispy, dark chocolate mousse and almond ice cream, was an image of a Rice Krispie white chocolate cake - and that did not appeal. However I shouldn't have been so naïve because of course this wasn't a cake that you make for 5 year olds. This was little pieces of white chocolate heaven.

Thickly coated crispy puffed rice - and nothing at all like the cereal, almost had a hardened marshmallow like texture, with real white chocolate flavour, a flavour which if I'm honest often escapes me and I think it rather boring. The mousse and almond ice cream were the perfect accompaniment and contrast - both light as a feather but one more unadulterated and the mousse was probably the most obscene thing we'd had that day.

I will have to go for dinner next time because I need to try the "surprise tasting menu" for £35 a head. After this wonderful meal I definitely trust them to serve me anything they like!!

After lunch, I had a little beautifully wrapped surprise from Liberty waiting for me :D

 Pretty good birthday I'd say!

Valencia

I found it really difficult to write this blog post, mostly because I really wanted to do Valencia justice. I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and completely fell in love with the place. So here goes....

I had my doubts before I went to Valencia, I have been to Spain previously and never really liked it, having been to the tourist-laden areas void of any real Spanish culture.

However having only spent a couple of hours in Valencia, all the old memories of Spain were wiped away. 

It is an astonishingly beautiful city, every building is reminiscent of it's grand old days, each with some magnificent painting or masonry. Most also have the most incredible, huge double doors at the entrance, probably with the original wood and metal nuts and bolts. I think I annoyed S with amount of times I said "Look at that DOOR!!!"

The weather is pretty much guaranteed over there and Valencia also lies right next to the beach so those, like me, who need a Summer break with some sea in it too, it is perfect.

From what I can tell, Valencia, the 3rd biggest city in Spain, has not been affected too badly by the recession and the troubles of the Eurozone. Designer shops, extremely well-dressed women and men in suits all litter the streets, so it is still a fairly bustling and rich city in the grand scheme of things.

There is an area of bars and clubs in Valencia, (you'll know where it is from the direction hoards of people are travelling) but during the day it is does not look seedy or dirty at all. It is a nice area, we even ate there one night (where we also happen to see the most gorgeous man in the history of the world. Seriously, he was not real).

Things you HAVE to see (after the jump!) :