Granger & Co, Westbourne Grove

Brunchin' is one of my favourite activities. I mean, what's not to like? Predominantly breakfast food, a leisurely atmosphere, usually taking place on a weekend unless you have a very cushty job.. all good things in my book. And in my opinion, the BEST brunch place is Granger's just down the road in Westbourne Grove (how convenient!). I have tried other places and always come back here... kind of like a favourite pair of jeans, you always know what you're going to get, and it'll make you feel gooood. Although maybe if you visit too often (as I did during a period of financial self delusion in which I was there every weekend) then those jeans might not fit so well!

Weird jeans metaphors aside, Granger's is owned by the Aussie chef Bill Granger, is the Daddy of brunches, and ALWAYS has a queue. On this specific visit, I think it was around 2pm, pissing down with rain, and there was still a line of people the length of the building. Craziness. I always feel really annoyed with all the other people and think they are fools for waiting so long, but there I am, waiting along with them! Whilst in the queue we got very hungry and swore once we got in we would EAT ALL THE FOOD and not leave for ages. Cos we're very mature and selfless like that. And this is precisely what we did.

First things first, for starter (I am fully aware of how ridiculous this sounds) we shared the pancakes. I have always checked these out but gone for the savoury option, but I am so very glad I finally tried them. They are incredible- so light and fluffy, tasty and sweet. They feature a lot of banana and even though I'm not a banana lover myself, this didn't detract from the dish. Before and after syrup shots below...

Before

After

Next, we got our usuals. Scrambled eggs with added avocado for me, sweetcorn fritters and a coffee for Freddie.

Now a word on the eggs. They are the best ever. Made with whipping cream, they are unlike any others- so creamy and so smooth. You almost have to try them to really understand what I'm saying, but paired with a perfectly ripe avocado (I don't know where they get these amazing avos from but I need to find out) they are amazing. This is my favourite breakfast in all of London, and after this plus pancakes, this is what I looked like...

Happy, content, with a slight pot belly. The more eagle eyed will note I wear this top everytime I brunch.

Don't be put off by the queue- it's 100% worth the wait. Once inside, the buzzy atmosphere and great food will make you forget all about it. Helpfully, Bill has opened another branch in Clerkenwell which might be more convenient depending on where you live. They also do a great dinner. Just check it out...!

The Big Easy, Covent Garden

Hello! Apologies for not blogging in a while, I know you all missed it so much and have been eagerly awaiting the next instalment, constantly refreshing your Facebook pages... I've been busy guys!

Anyway, last week, Freddie and I went to the Big Easy. There's two branches- one on the Kings Road and one in Covent Garden. We went to the Covent Garden one and could actually only get a table for 9.30pm (to be fair we did book literally that same day) but turned up earlier in the hopes of bringing it forward. This didn't work, but we did manage to grab a drink and some snacks at the bar to speed up our wait. The atmosphere is very buzzy- low lighting, live music, cosy booths. Actually, it's reminiscent of a much trendier and upmarket version of TGI Fridays, with better food and less random paraphernalia.

We grabbed some popcorn shrimp and a few beers whilst we waited for our table. The shrimp was tasty and served with a spicy tomato sauce which I went to town on, but to be honest I probably could have eaten my own arm at this point. We also managed to get some pretzels by me spotting some and loudly saying "who do you have to kill to get some pretzels around here?"which was actually quite embarrassing and not something I'd recommend.

Finally we got shown to our table. Now I'm not going to dance around it, the major draw of the Big Easy is their Thursday night special. I have actually been before and it cost 20 pounds, now it costs 22. Inflationary gripes aside, for this you get half a lobster, a sirloin steak, garlic butter, house salad, chips and your choice of a beer or a "slushy" cocktail. Pretty good deal hey?!

We both opted for this, although last time I had the burger and that was amazing too. There was also an option to get pretty much the same with no steak and extra lobster that I was leaning towards and would probably get next time. I'm always surprised by how little lobster you actually get out of the buggers and wanted more!

Now the food here is good. Really good. Both the steak and the lobster are of good quality, which I was surprised by as the cynic in me thought that the steak would be pretty average and just there to pad it out. It was nice to have both to break the meal up a bit, but I think the main draw is the lobster and as I said I would probably opt for that next time. The chips are amazing and in my mind nothing compliments a meal like garlic butter so I was happy!

I'd definitely recommend the Big Easy and having already been twice would go again. The atmosphere is fun, and I think (on a Thursday at least) the food is good value. Lets just hope the price doesn't go up any more...!

Flat Iron, Soho

Flat Iron is somewhere I have been wanting to check out for a while. I mean.. a place in town where the only item on the menu is a steak for 10 pounds... its what our American friends would call a "no brainer".

On Wednesday evening I met my friends Emily and Mat after work at about 6.30pm. Having known each other since our early teens we actually reflected that never thought we'd do something as grown up as meeting for "after work drinks and dinner". Reminiscing aside, this is another place that you can't book so I would actually advise going after work, and as early as possible (I arrived a sweaty mess about half an hour late but hey the intention was there!). We waited for around 45 mins but it wasn't too unpleasant thanks to some reasonably priced gin based cocktails. The atmosphere was also really good but this was probably enhanced by aforementioned cocktails.

 Shortly after we were shown to our table where they served us POPCORN in little mugs to go with our drinks- at this point I was sold already before even ordering. I am obsessed with popcorn in all of it's forms.

As I mentioned, the only main on the menu is steak. There is also a special (also steak) but I can't for the life of me remember what it was so for simplicity's sake lets just say there was one steak. Here is an obligatory shot of the menu...

And my dinner dates.. Don't they look fun?!

We all went for the steak and ordered an assortment of sides; spinach, two portions of chips, and the roast aubergine. We then got one of every sauce AND the "special sauce" (does that remind anyone else of Superbad!?) which the waitress informed us about probably after realising it would be an easy sell. It arrived promptly and my my, what a feast...

Everything was delicious but of the sides what really stole the show was a dark horse- the roast aubergine. It was incredible and something I am going to try to make (and likely butcher) at home. For anyone really interested, the sauces ranked as followed; 1. Special sauce (some kind of garlicy awesome creation although the waitress wouldn't tell us what it actually was- so "secret"), 2. Fred's sauce (cue jokes about how I would like it), 3. Peppercorn, joint 4. Bearnaise and Horseradish. If I'm honest, the last 3 were all really good versions of what you would expect, but no surprises.

Now onto the main event, the steak...

Sliced really thinly and served with a novelty knife, this steak was goooood. It was cooked nice and rare and was exceptionally tender. Portion size was fair if not massive but for a tenner I wasn't complaining. Now it wasn't the best steak I've ever had (Namibia 2013 I'll never forget it) but it was very good and exceptional value, washed down nicely with a few glasses of red. It was after a few glasses of said red that we all decided it would be an excellent idea to sign up to the London Triathlon.... but thats another story.

Last but by no means least, desert. I am adamant that I am not a desert person at all and wasn't even interested in looking at the menu but luckily Mat persisted, and we ordered a portion of the only desert available- caramel and chocolate mousse served with salt. Now hear me out, this doesn't sound great but ohmygosh... it was incredible. So much so that I did a totally 180 from not wanting desert to pretty much scoffing the whole thing...

I was literally sprinkling the salt on as if it was going out of fashion and it just kept getting better and better! Highly recommended and only 2.5-.... man I'm salivating just thinking about it.

All in all, Flat Iron was excellent and comes highly recommended. I would 100% go again and had a great evening- delicious food, good atmosphere and amazing company. Now I guess i'd better go and buy a wetsuit...

The Riding House Cafe, Oxford Street

On a recommendation from both my friends Harriet and Sophie, this morning Freddie and I decided to check out brunch at the Riding House Cafe, just off Oxford Street. It seems like a theme is developing in that my blog posts are pretty much revolving around burgers or brunch but hey is that a bad thing?! Answers on a postcard..

What is depressingly unique about the Riding House is that you can actually book in advance- although I only booked the day before thus resulting in there being only one slot left- at 9am. On a Sunday. Pretty obvious why this was left but I was keen to go regardless so I dragged Freddie out of bed and off we went. It was a breeze getting there as London was eerily quiet and there was something quite nice about being up and about when everyone else was still asleep. Oh god am I turning into one of those smug morning people?! Answers NOT on a postcard. Anyway, I digress. Whilst relatively unremarkable from the outside, on the inside you felt like you were in a (very nice) house. The main room had a long communal table and bar but we were seated in an almost "living room" area to the side.

A nice touch was the newspapers available for you to browse whilst leisurely brunching- not too leisurely though as you are reminded upon booking that you only have your table for an hour and a half! Knowing this it did feel slightly like the waitress was very keen to take our order but I guess you can't fault prompt service. Freddie did some reading for the first time all year and we ordered some drinks...

I went for a carrot, ginger, beetroot and apple juice and Freddie got some chocolate/banana creation which came in a very cute bottle. He loved his, mine tasted healthy. I literally cannot describe it with any other word.

Very promptly after that, we ordered our food. I got avocado on toast (obviously) with a side of poached eggs (in my mind this should have been combined on the menu, but hey) and Freddie ordered the pancakes with vanilla clotted cream and berries and a side of bacon. Can you notice that he has the taste buds of a 5 year old girl?! 

The food arrived- it was amazing and great value given the portion sizes. Freddie's pancakes were massive but really light and fluffy and mine was delicious too. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of brunch places struggle to serve really hot toast and this place was no exception- but that was a minor issue compared to the quality of the food and service. My main was 7 pounds including the eggs and Freddie's was 10 including the bacon so pretty reasonable.

We were both really impressed by the food (both in terms of value and taste) and the ambiance and would definitely recommend popping by before a day on Oxford Street. I have heard the dinner isn't amazing so I would stick to brunch as it seems to be what they do best. We'll be back! Maybe not at 9.00am in the morning though....

Patty & Bun, Soho

With people disappearing from work nights out with increasingly regularity to "grab a Patty & Bun" and slowly becoming self professed addicts, I knew I had to check it out to see where it ranked on my "London Burger List"(which exists only in my head- although sounds like a good idea for a blog post soon!). Last Saturday Freddie and I were on a mission to buy him an entire outfit for a party that evening (last minute is how we roll) and needed some fuel so popped in. Of course, the was a queue outside...

Being tight for time we decided to get our burgers to go and find somewhere to sit and eat them, rather than face the 1 hour + queue. Inside the music was loud and the decour was cool with long wooden tables and low hanging lights. We quickly placed our orders and within 10-15 mins were presented with our burgers- which for two burgers, a portion of chips and two drinks was around 20 pounds I think. Not cheap, but not expensive either.

Burgers in hand, we set about trying to find a bench to wolf them down on. This actually wasn't as easy as anticipated and we were wandering aimlessly for a bit before we stumbled on some kind of zen urban garden which more than fitted the bill. The gardens are just off Duke Street (Brown Hart Gardens is what they're called apparently- thank you Google) and are a perfect place for some alfresco dining. And now for a photo of me awkwardly holding our patty and bun bag...

Nice view- and the gardens look nice too...!

We sat down to chow down. I was pretty much ravenous at this point so was getting quite excited. As was Freddie clearly..

Now for the main event- the burger. I went for the 'Ari Gold' which I later realised had almost a cult-like status in the London burger scene. It was basically a cheese burger encased in a brioche bun. Luckily I like sauce cos this burger very, very saucy- smothered in the stuff. But man, it was good. I can see what all the fuss is about- the meat was really tender and just typing this I want another one! Only a slight gripe in that my bun tasted a bit stale but Freddie assured me his wasn't so I'm assuming this was just a blip. The chips with rosemary salt were also really tasty- pretty similar to Honest Burger if I'm honest. I must admit I was impressed and would definitely come back. Still don't get the Entourage reference though...

DF Mexico, Shoreditch

My friend Lottie and I met after work this evening to check out the latest offering from the people behind Wahaca, DF Mexico. Before you ask..DF stands for Distrito Federal which is apparently what the locals call Mexico City. Regardless of whether you're down with the lingo, I'd definitely recommend checking this place out.

It's a short walk from Liverpool Street station and from the outside it's so far, so Shoreditch. 

Inside, the decor has quite a similar vibe to Wahaca- you can tell theres a link between the two places. There is one major difference though- DF is self service, so you are shown to your table, pick what you fancy off the menu and order it yourself on a touch screen till...

They were actually surprising easy to use and really sped up the whole process- which was good cos we were STARVING! Perhaps also due to the DIY element we didn't have to queue either (yay!) which is handy because this is another one of those "we don't take bookings" places. 

The menu did have some overlap with Wahaca- hard to avoid both being Mexican fare- but with a noticeably more American twist. It has more of a "fast food" rather than "street food" theme and the menu was extensive with a lot of options that sounded delicious. 

The drinks were also self service and "bottomless"- something which is the norm in the US but still a (very welcome) novelty here. There were three non alcoholic juice options and Lot and I developed a rather strong affinity for the lime and chia option- this stuff was amazing!

Onto the food... after much deliberation between the beef and the pork and some well meaning input from a vegetarian Lottie, I went for what was essentially a pulled pork burger. It was served in a brioche bun with smashed avocado and fiery pickles. I opted for a "combo"- when you pay a bit extra and add your choice of side, choosing the chilli fries served with chipotle mayo- Lottie also did this and went for the veggie tacos for her main.

The food was really, really good. The pork was really tender and the fries full of flavour and perfectly complimented by the mayo. Lot gave hers a big thumbs up too. A minor gripe was the avocado was pretty non existent in my burger- not great for an avo fiend such as myself (seriously, I have it in pretty much every meal) but there were a lot of flavours going on regardless.

We were served what was probably the perfect amount of food, and with the fries and drink the total came to around 10 pounds per meal. Pretty excellent value in my book. We agreed that the concept was comparable to a much cooler, Mexican Nando's- although comparing doesn't feel quite right considering Nando's is slightly overrated in my opinion.

 Although feeling just the right amount of full, we obviously had to push the boat out and after seeing the girl on the next table with an ice cream in hand it would have been rude not to... 

We both went for vanilla with raspberry sauce and popping candy. Both delicious and unnecessary.

With now very full bellies, we made our way to the tube after deciding that DF Mexico might just be our new favourite place... 

Homeslice, Neil's Yard

Pizza is hands down, without hesitation, my favourite food. I eat it when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm drunk, when I'm hungover...ok I eat it a lot. Needless to say, when both my friends Issie and Laura separately told me about Homeslice I had to check it out because being a pizza restaurant, chances are I would like it. Despite the name that is basically a lame term of endearment commonly used back in year 9.

It's located on Neil's Yard down a quirky little alley...

It's quite small and one of those menu on the wall type places. You can either get a slice or a whole pizza and you can split the toppings half and half. There were some quite original toppings i.e. oxtail and horse radish and one involving scallops... if I was feeling more adventurous I might have tried one of these... OK who am I kidding if I had my way I'd have got the margarita but hey that's just embarrassing.

There's a huge pizza oven as you walk in and you have a view of them making all of the pizzas from scratch... nothing beats a good pizza oven and I kind of wish it was socially acceptable to have one in our flat.

We were seated fairly quickly and one thing about this place is its small. Very small. To the extent that you're rammed in and I had to squeeze between two tables to sit down-it was kind of like one of those aeroplane moments when you go to the toilet and have to choose between giving complete strangers an intimate view of your bum, or your.. front bum.

Anyway once seated, our waiter who was quite intense told us that "the menu was on the wall and you can have one of three drinks; beer, wine, or prosecco". We thought about asking for a homemade lemonade with extra ice and a twist of lime but didn't think it would go down too well- and when a place has prosecco on tap it's rude not to right?! They also serve wine in huge bottles but only charge you for how much you drink- which is a clever idea and puts an end to the umming and ahhing over whether to get another bottle.

Quite promptly after we ordered our pizza arrived. We went for half and half- rocket, parmesan and salami for me and chorzio, corn and coriander for Freds. The pizza was MASSIVE and pretty good value for 20 quid.

The base was really thin and crispy and the flavours intense and quite salty. A minor gripe was they had no garlic butter/sauce for the crusts but that was probably good for Freddie because otherwise I would have gone to town.

Regardless the pizza was really good and the concept of the place I really liked- I mean its basically pizza, how could I not. I just wish the place was bigger- given the nature of the menu and how the wine was served it would be a great place to go with a big group for a birthday or work dinner, but given the size logistically this might not work- you'd have to all cram in and probably queue for a while. A bigger inside with long canteen style tables would have been better and probably would have fitted more with the concept.

That aside, it's a cool little place and I would definitely pop back if I was in town or after work. Plus they kindly boxed up the rest of my pizza... so that's lunch for tomorrow sorted!

Ham Yard Hotel, Piccadilly Circus

This morning a group of us went with my flatmate Soph and her parents for brunch at the Ham Yard Hotel just off Piccadilly Circus. I don't usually go to brunch in hotels but I'm not sure why- they often have a great atmosphere and actually aren't unreasonable in terms of price... I mean I guess theres a limit to how much you can charge for eggs!

Don't get me wrong, Ham Yard is obviously a really nice hotel but it also has an eclectic decor and quite a funky vibe- there's even a bowling alley downstairs- which we spent a fair amount of time guessing how much they'd charge to hire it out. Probably not 10k like Sophie suggested. I tried to capture the atmosphere in this photo and failed miserably...Meanwhile Alex was really enjoying the water. The best Evian he's ever had apparently.

We all spent a long time deciding what to order. I went for the pancakes, which look bit underwhelming but were actually really tasty- bit stingy on the bacon front though. They were light and fluffy and quite deceptively filling.

Soph had the black pudding with poached egg... which tasted good but was disappointingly small.

Speaking of disappointingly small, Al had his classic- eggs beni. This got a thumbs up and I must admit looked good- minor gripe though- the eggs were slightly cold. We also all got a juice- orange, pineapple, carrot and ginger. It was really good and thankfully not too "carroty" like we feared. Plus we felt cool and bang on trend.

The service was a bit hit and miss- due to the small portions we ordered toast for the table and this didn't come until we had all basically finished eating, plus our waitress certainly wasn't sunny side up... brunch themed puns!!

The menu wasn't that extensive on the brunch front- there wasn't even a full english option. Also, the portions were small. However the quality of the food was nice and the atmosphere was really cool so I would recommend it. Next on the list is The Wolseley for brunch, continuing on with the breakfast in hotels I can't afford to stay in theme....