I've seen the light...

Give yourself a pat on the back...

Many know I'm a 'bit' of a fan of Honest Burgers and will often poo poo all other places.

I have a confession. I've cheated and even worse, I liked it.

[ENTER STAGE LEFT:  Patty & Bun]

Many had told me about the amazingness (yes, it's a word) of the burgers at this establishment but being one to often purposely go against the crowd, I ignored them. I won't lie, a part of me was always curious so when the opportunity presented itself (late afternoon at Liverpool Street) we went for it.

Avoiding the usual line up out the door in their James Street location, we were able to take our pick of seats. Perusing the menu (it's not huge but don't worry about that!) it wasn't long before we knew what we wanted. If everything had been possible we would've gone with that but alas we settled on just the one each. The side order of chips with rosemary salt was obviously a no brainer.

In comparison the rosemary chips weren't dissimilar to those found at Honest so I won't go on about them (definitely eat them with the mayo and chilli sauce provided on the tables though!). The burgers on the other hand, I'm not even sure where to begin.

[Before I continue I need to reinforce that I don't suddenly dislike Honest or think they are rubbish. They are still up there in my fave burger joints but unfortunately they're no longer #1.]

The burgers... toppling over with ingredients, the taste is simply amazing. Enough said really. Need more? Flavours complimented each other (we went for the 'Ari Gold' and the 'Smoky Robinson'), the meat was juicy and well cooked and the rest of the menu left me knowing I would return. The thought of it as I type leaves my mouth watering...

Prices aren't the cheapest so it wouldn't be a weekly visit but dang it's worth it for when you do. As we went to the Liverpool Street location and at a rather unconventional time it wasn't exactly busy or exuding much atmosphere but I can't say much for the James Street venue. Service was good but once again it wasn't busy so can't say what it'd be like when they're under pressure. I'd like to think they'd still be lovely and helpful though...

Would we come back? I think I've already answered this one...

To all of you saying 'I told you so...' Whatevs.


---------------------------------
Patty & Bun can be found at:

James Street:
54 James Street
London W1U 1HE
T: 0207 487 9188
E: jamesstreet@pattyandbun.co.uk

Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat: 12 noon - 11pm
Sun: 12 noon - 10pm


Liverpool Street:
22/23 Liverpool Street
London EC2M 7PD
T: 0207 621 1331
E: liverpoolstreet@pattyandbun.co.uk

Opening Hours:
Breakfast
Mon - Fri: 7:30am - 9:30am

Lunch & Dinner
Mon - Wed: 11:30am - 10pm
Thurs - Fri: 11:30am - 11pm
Sat: 11:30am - 9pm
Sun: 11:30am - 6pm

Stack on...

Brunch from the deep south...

I love brunch. (not the first time I've mentioned this I'm sure...) I love a good deal. (once again, not the first time I've mentioned this either) When the 2 came together through a TimeOut deal I whipped out my card quick smart.

The deal was for Stax Diner. Recently opened in Kingly Court, Stax is the 'different' cousin on your dad's side to Bea's of Bloomsbury of cupcake fame. A fan of Bea's, I thought... 'what could go wrong?'

For £12 a pop, we were able to have the following:

• mimosa on arrival
• a choice of poached eggs, buttermilk pancakes or the half and half
• bottomless 'Square Mile' filter coffee

The mimosa was on the rather strong side (not in a good way) and seemed a little slapped together. I'm a bit of a coffee snob but I was willing to give it a go. It still makes me cringe... The breakfast options were ok. Personally going for the roasted strawberry pancakes I was left a little disappointed. The pancakes weren't really fluffy and veered a little closer to the raw side (as was the ones on the other plate)... the English muffin on The Half and Half was a little tough and the eggs and Hollandaise sauce nothing to write home about. Ordering a side of house cured smoked maple streaky beef bacon, I left disappointed upon it's arrival too. Blackened beyond recognition and a sticky mess of too much maple I won't be ordering it again.

The atmosphere was a little quiet on a Saturday lunch time (with other restaurants in the area buzzing) which leads me to think this is the reason the deal came up in the first place. The service was pretty good so they at least have that going for them!

Saying all of that, I'm not one to judge quickly (often...) so I'd be willing to give it another go. Next time, I'd head there for the lunch and/or dinner rather than the brunch as there were quite a few things on the menu that got me wondering and my mouth watering. (read: buttermilk marinated fried chicken and waffles)

Second chance?

-----------------------------------------
Stax Diner can be found at:
1st Floor
1.7 Kingly Court

Carnaby Street
London W1B 5PW

T: 02077 343190

E: info@staxburgers.co.uk

Opening Hours:

Mon - Wed: 11:30am - 10pm

Thurs: 11:30am - 11pm

Fri: 11:30am - midnight

Sat: 9:30am - 1pm (brunch), 1pm - midnight (lunch and dinner)

Sun: 9:30am - 1pm (brunch), 1pm - 10pm (lunch and dinner)

For the fallen...

Lest we forget...

Around the moat of the Tower of London you will notice a sea of red growing... Upon closer inspection, you realise that it's actually a sea of poppies.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red is an evolving art installation to commemorate the break out of the First World War. With poppies planted daily, they will fill the moat till there are 888,246 in total with the last being 'planted' on the 11th November. Individually handmade, each poppy is unique to represent each and every British fatality during the war.

The installation is so absolutely striking and absolutely worth the visit. I was a little disappointed I wasn't able to get amongst it all but being ceramic I can understand they don't want thousands of people traipsing around potentially breaking or worse, stealing them! It's probably better to be higher up to see the full extent of the installation.

As mentioned the last poppy will be planted on the 11th November so there's time to visit. Interestingly... each day will provide a different 'water line' so it doesn't just have to be the one visit!

Want to take a piece of history home? Each poppy will go on sale at £25 a pop (+p&p) upon completion. Check it out here.

Take it easy...

Eat big...

I had heard much hype about Big Easy with a number of close foodie friends being the loudest to rave about it. There's meat, there's lobster and it's not pricey. I'm not unreasonable... I was willing to give it a go.

One of these foodie friends decided to celebrate his birthday at Big Easy so I finally got a chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Simply; it's dimly lit, loud, happy and smells delicious.

The Covent Garden venue spans over 2 big floors and it's all wood and steel. On the top floor where you enter you notice the bar. It's pretty hard to miss with it's hundreds and hundreds of bottles of spirits and yeap... alcoholic slushies. I have the alcoholic taste of an 18 year girl so there were no hesitations in ordering a frozen pina colado. No regrets. (strawberry daiquiri was also a delight!) Checkout other drinks here.

Taken downstairs, numerous more tables span out in front of you. The atmosphere is casual and as mentioned before, rather loud. Definitely not for a romantic night out unless you're both into eating lots of meat and not talking much.

What about the food? Checkout the menu here. I'll be honest, I was left a little disappointed with my Lobster Roll choice but I'll go into that in a second. The Bar.B.Q. Blowout was a major meat fest, the steak a tasty delight and the whole fresh lobster a feast for the eyes and taste buds. Then comes the Lobster Roll. As an alternative to the whole fresh lobster it was rather disappointing. One word. Small. Described as 1lb, I did wonder whether they counted the bread, the fries, the lettuce and the plate in the overall weight! Aside from that, all in all everyone wore a happy grin and yes, we would go back! (just don't order the Lobster Roll)

Bibs. Do it. You'll regret it if you don't.

-------------------------------
Big Easy can be found at 2 locations:

Covent Garden:
12 Maiden Lane,

London WC2E 7NA
T: 0203 728 4888

E: coventgarden@bigeasy.co.uk

Checkout opening hours for the restaurant and bar here.

Kings Road:

332-334 Kings Road,

Chelsea SW3 5UR
T: 020 7352 4071

E: kingsroad@bigeasy.co.uk

Checkout opening hours for the restaurant and bar here.

Kids these days...

Youg 'uns...

A friend who works with musical talent recently invited me along to a free gig and not one to say no to free things or gigs, I went on along...

Heading over to Birthdays in Dalston, we saw 2 bands who were rather good!

Youth Club were first up and within seconds I was bopping my head and tapping my toes. With a funky; r&b, soul, pop and everything else vibe they had won me over! Besides the fact that many of them had AWESOME hair!

Listen to these guys... you won't regret it!

Young Buffalo came up second and last.

I didn't love them AS much but they were still a good listen. We settled on describing them as happy indie rock.

Check them out!

Well you oughta...

When corny and cheesy are good things...

Otto has been on my list of places to visit since moving into Notting Hill. A year and a smidge on, I finally made it. Twice in one week. (well that's given away the ending to the story!)

Otto is a pizza place. Not just any normal pizza place mind you... it's a cornmeal (read: polenta) pizza crust pizza place. Those close to my heart know my love of corn. It wasn't too hard to win me over on this one.

The menu offers a couple of the more usual pizza flavours but the remaining are unique and inventive. Nothing too crazy mind you but unique ingredients you wouldn't usually associate. Additionally, there are changing 'specials' on the board to add to the already tough decision. (the Brooklyn Chicken is already a firm favourite...)

Admittedly this place isn't cheap but it's not your local Dominoes or pizza/kebab/fish & chips/burgers all in one joint. You're looking at just under £5 a slice (flavours are sold per slice) but with a normal appetite you'd only need 2 slices max. Add a milkshake or float and you'll be rolling out the door holding your belly! (The Eton Mess milkshake is a summer special so get in there before it's gone. You won't regret it!)

I may be deluding myself (highly likely) but I came away feeling like I had eaten a healthier alternative to your usual slice. The cornmeal is filling (with it's own unique taste) but doesn't leave that heavy lump in your belly. Additionally, the ingredients are clearly of high quality and with each slice made to order (the wait is worth it) you know you've got a good deal.

The style of the place is American and the vibe casual. Posters of famous books adorn the walls and seating are reminiscent of school days. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and yes, actually helpful! Would we go back? I've already answered that one...

You really oughta try it for yourself...


--------------------------------
Otto can be found at:
6 Chepstow Road,
Notting Hill W2 5BH
T: 0207 792 4088

E: feedback@ottopizza.co.uk


Opening hours:
Mon - Fri: 12noon - 3pm and 5:30pm - 11pm 

Sat: 12noon - 11pm
Sun: 12pm - 10pm

More than just potatoes...

Cocktails and Steaks go underground...

Beneath the streets of Soho is a cavernous room serving steak. Nothing dodgy, it's MASH (acronym for 'Modern American Steak House') a rather indulgent Danish owned restaurant. 

As someone who takes great pleasure in getting a good deal, MASH probably isn't a place I'd frequent due to it's indulgent nature and top shelf prices. Especially if not for a special occasion. Faced with a good deal, a table was quickly booked.

Entering the venue, you're faced with a cloak room and spiral staircase to floors below. What opens up before you on the main restaurant floor will leave you with your mouth agape. The place is huge and simply put, fancy. With the vibe of a decadent 1920's restaurant, booths and tables roll out before you while a wall of (one can only presume) fancy wine bottles are displayed against one side. A midst it all, 2 glass cases show off the dry aired Danish steaks available on the menu.

On a Monday evening, the place wasn't exactly buzzing but it still surprisingly had quite a few diners. There's not much of an atmosphere with the place being on the quieter side but it's a place for special occasions and work dinners when someone else is picking up the bill. You can only imagine the number of suits and well-off scattered around us making us feel slightly like we didn't quite fit in but hey... we still enjoyed ourselves!

The service in this place is impeccable and for once I didn't grumble about the 12.5% discretionary service charge! With 2 cocktails, 2 steaks, 2 sides and 2 sauces and a coffee our total bill came to over £80 and even with the 50% off steaks made my eye twitch a little.

Cocktails were certainly tasty and well executed (bloody axe on the American Psycho!). Steaks were well sized, tasty and cooked as desired. A complaint in many reviews is that the sides veer strongly towards the salty. As a lover of salt, even I would have to agree but saying that, it's still edible and we didn't send it back to the kitchen so it mustn't have been too bad. By the end of our meal we were far too full to even think about desserts but there's certainly a couple on there I'd like to try sometime...

Would we come back? Based on the food, surrounds and service then hell yes! BUT, MASH isn't the kindest on the purse strings (the envelope the bill comes in says it all!) so take advantage of their 50% off steaks in July deal. (except Fridays and Saturdays)  If you miss out on the deal, maybe save it for a special occasion to visit rather than a casual Monday night dinner... ahem.

--------------------------------------------------

MASH can be found at:

77 Brewer Street

London W1F 9ZN

T: 0207 734 2608

E: info @mashsteak.co.uk

Opening Hours:

Lunch

Mon - Sat: 12noon - 3pm

Dinner:

Mon - Sun: 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Sins of the flesh...

Come on an empty stomach.

I love brunch. I love unlimited brunch even more. Enter, Flesh & Buns' Sunday Brunch.

Located in the criss crossing alleys of Covent Garden in the basement of the Thomas Neal's Centre is Flesh & Buns. Known for their 'make your own sandwich buns' they have come up with a new idea to get in the weekend crowd.

Launching on 1st June, on offer are 2 menu options: £29 or £36 per person. Let me tell you now, you will NOT leave this place with an empty stomach. If anything, you'll have to be rolled out of the place or picked up by a forklift.

What does the menu actually include?

• cocktail on arrival - kimchi bloody mary or strawberry bellini
• chips, dips and a bowl of hot salted edamame
• unlimited hot and cold dishes (the £36 menu obviously having fancier options)
• a choice of one signature Flesh & Buns per person
• Unlimited Prosecco, red or white wine for the duration (you're allowed 2 hours)
• Dessert for the table

Surprisingly, we opted for the £29 menu as it had more fun options. With the allocated time and the knowledge it was all you can eat, we still didn't make it through the whole menu! Even with my initial bold request to our waitress that we would just have 1 of everything... She thankfully walked me back from the edge of madness and suggested we ordered a few things first then add as needed... She'd done this before...

Let me set the scene... We opted to arrive right on 12 noon (when it starts) and upon entering the venue were greeted by the staff and quickly seated. Within minutes we had chips (more of a fancy prawn cracker), dip (Asia-fied guacamole and delish chilli sauce), hot salty edamame beans and a cocktail to sip on while perusing the menu.

Opting for the following, we left rather happy and certainly satisfied.

Cold Small Dishes:

• Salmon Sashimi - not your typical slices on a bed of fake plastic grass but doused in some sort of dressing amongst some herbs. Tasty but considering all the other flavours we would be eating it would have been preferred au naturel.
• Spicy Tuna roll - rather tasty, no complaints!

Hot Small Dishes:

• Korean Fried Wings - delish. The right amount of tang and spicy heat and certainly the right amount of crisp. ORDER THIS.
• Fried Squid - dusted with pepper and lime it was tasty and of a lovely texture. You get a big bowl of this which should last you the duration of the meal
• Grilled Corn - I was expecting a little fritter or pancake but alas it was literally a corn cob in half, grilled and dusted with lime spice butter. Not bad but not wow.
• Chicken Yakitori - tender meat chargrilled and marinated. Yum.

 

Flesh and Buns:

• Crispy Duck Leg - tender meat, crispy skin. What else could you ask for?
• Crispy Piglet Belly - crispy crackling, delicious meat and not too much fat. Yum

Desserts:

• Donut
• Black Sesame creme brulee

This was more than enough food for 2 and I'm disappointed to say we didn't even finish it all. Next time. 

Service is definitely on the ball in this place but almost a little too on the ball. Though greatly appreciated it almost felt like there were too many wait staff on duty and each was ensuring they were doing something ALL the time in fear of being caught out by the manager on duty. There's attentive then there's OTT and unfortunately it leaned a little towards the OTT and almost got a bit annoying... 

Would we come back again? Yeah! For that price and the other items we missed I'm definitely coming back and bringing others. Might need to leave a few weeks or months between visits but it's definitely a good way to spend a lazy Sunday.... There were a few larger groups there the day we went and I would definitely recommend this the way to go. You get to try more things if nothing else!

----------------------------------
Flesh & Buns can be found at:
41 Earlham Street,
London WC2H 9LX
T: 0207 632 9500

Opening Hours:
Mon - Tues: 12noon - 3pm & 5pm - 10:30pm
Wed - Fri: 12noon - 3pm & 5pm - 11:30pm
Sat: 12noon - 11.30pm
Sun & Bank Holidays: 12noon - 9.30pm

Sunday Brunch is from 12noon - 5pm with last reservations at 4.30pm