KERB Clubhouse- Hackney

Now I must admit I was dubious when our Uber pulled up outside this place. Its very much "off the beaten path" and I did wonder if we'd even got the right place. Luckily we spotted the KERB sign outside and once we ducked in past the bouncers and curtain we knew we were definitely in the right place.

KERB Clubhouse is run by the same people as KERB in Kings Cross, and whilst that is a more day time affair, a selection of their traders come to Hackney on the weekend evenings to provide food alongside bars and DJs. 

Hosted in an old converted mirror factory, it can get a little nippy but the atmosphere inside is great. Theres a whole host of different trucks to chose from, fully stocked bars, and long communal bench style seating. Often the temptation with places like these on a Friday night is to load up on the drinks and end up too trollied to bother eating (just us then?!) but I was adamant this wouldn't happen. After grabbing drinks, we headed straight to Capish? (the question mark is part of the name, not a rhetorical question) and loaded up on food instead.

I got the "Fat Tony" which was a steak sandwich in a brioche bun with chips on the side.

Garlicy, cheesey and succulent, the burger was a big hit in my book. Not all of my friends were equally as impressed, but what was not to be argued about were the chips...

Essentially chips with lasagne minus the pasta on top... they were INSANE. So rich, but in such a good way. We may have got a second portion to share later on in the evening...

The food in my opinion was great and my only regret was that I was too full to try anything else!

The place closes at 11pm so it's not an all night thing, but for drinks and some dinner it was definitely a cool place to try out. I'm not really that up on the latest in street food, but luckily my friends are much cooler than me and I'm glad we managed to get there. It was very reminiscent of Street Feast in Dalston which was awesome in the summer. Unfortunately it has now closed but will apparently be back in May which is not that long to wait. 

Before we left, we obviously had to take a photo with the sign... girl band alert. Also check out my socks with ballet flats move, so chic.

See ya in May!

Grain Store, Kings Cross

This is one from the archives... I actually took Freddie to Grain Store for his birthday just before Christmas. I had been meaning to go to both Grain Store and it's neighbouring restaurant Caravan for a while, and after facing a two hour wait the one time I tried to go to Caravan, luckily with Grain Store I had more luck.

Located in an old grain store (see what they did there?) in a newly developed and now trendy part of Kings Cross, this restaurant aims to showcase vegetables in a way that is original and basically not boring. Although not a vegetarian restaurant, there are plently of options if you do swing that way so you might want to check it out. The menu at the time was very Winter themed and quite unusual- steak and chips this ain't.

Inside, the decor is both modern and cosy, with an open kitchen and bar area

To start, we had foccacia with dukkah and olive oil, which disappeared in approximately 7 seconds...although I did manage to get a quick snap before Freddie snarfed it all. Look at his hands ready in anticipation!! It was good, as good as bread before your dinner can be. You're basically just eating it to preoccupy yourself until the main event starts... or in my case consuming half a loaf of bread without realising. Senseless carbs!

For the main, I went for squid steak au poivre with roast potatoes, garlic confit and pumpkin puree. I chose it partly because I have never had squid in steak form before and was quite curious to see what it was like, partly for the roast potatoes. OK mostly for the roast potatoes.

It was actually really delicious and really original. The pumpkin puree was a surprise hit and I think the dish could have benefited for a bit more. Freddie had a special that I can't remember the name of, but was basically sausages and mash.

He reported that it was "unexpectedly good". High praise indeed. Because we were clearly rather hungry we also shared some chips with a very very lurid green garlic mayonnaise, which were actually amazing. Got to love chips on the side... totally unnecessary but totally good. 

It was around this time that I noticed that I was blending into the wall hanging... awkward.

Cool bathroom vibes too... see I told you, funky vegetables!

Last but by no means least we got a pudding, something which had caught my eye much earlier. Sweet potato donuts!! Whaaaaat! Served with citrus curd and dill and vodka ice cream. Double whaaaat!!

Unfortunately they just tasted like normal donuts with slightly weird ice cream. Probably not worth all the commotion. But still, cool concept. Using avocado/sweet potato as the base for sweet treats seems to be all the rage these days and I don't hate it.

All in all, it was a really tasty meal. Original concepts done really well. Would I come back? Not sure... it wasn't cheap and there are SO many other places on my list to try. I would recommend it however and definitely wouldn't object to being taken here again. Cos obviously I get taken to restaurants all the time!

Hannah eats.... Australia!

I was lucky enough to spend Christmas down under with my family (#blessed) and apart from the sun, sea, sand and coming home with a "Jan tan" my favourite part was obviously the food. In this post I will try to summarise the highlights from our two week eating tour - be warned it will be very photo heavy...and long...

First stop... Melbourne!

Cumulus Inc, Melbourne CBD

We were staying in the CBD and one thing we noticed was that we weren't exactly stumbling upon good restaurants left, right and centre. I guess this is kind of like walking around Canary Wharf expecting restaurants to jump out at you but nonetheless we still found some good spots. Cumulus Inc was recommended to us and we went in looking for brunch which unfortunately they had stopped serving, so given that it was the first day and we were feeling bougie we ended up having a pretty lavish lunch. What I will say is that the portions were small and the prices were high... we didn't exactly leave stuffed. The food was really creative and tasty though and even better washed down with plenty of sparkling wine..

Inventive Salads

Pate and brioche

Industrial trendy vibes

Jobabe

Mamacita, Melbourne CBD

We went here for dinner and it seemed to be a pretty popular spot, with low level lighting and a buzzing atmosphere. I am always a big fan of Mexican cuisine and I have to say the food didn't disappoint. It was slightly reminiscent of a more up-market Wahaca where you order a number of small plates and share, the food was inventive and my only complaint was that there wasn't more of it! Sharing with 5 people is pretty hard without ordering numerous duplicates which we found out the hard way. This, coupled with a lot of walking meant I left Melbourne with looser jeans than before but hey, thats probably not a bad thing...

Chips and gauc; par for the course

The difference in colour is remarkable, at this point we were "embarrassingly white"

Un quesadilla per favor...

Insane chicken tostada 

Hello Byron Bay!

Cicchetti, Byron Bay

We dined at Cicchetti for Christmas Eve and it was a lovely place to spend it. Seemingly one of the more upscale restaurants in the hippy paradise of Byron, we were given a glass of Prosseco on arrival and tucked into some seafood heavy Italian cuisine. I never usually chose pasta, but I chose a chilli and seafood one (hey, it was Christmas!) and it was really tasty. They weren't exactly reinventing the wheel here, but the food was of a high standard and served in lovely surroundings.

Calamari and fried courgette, the best kind of courgette

Scallops

Seafood pasta

Christmas is better in a bikini

A Christmas message from the lightbox I carried around half of Australia

Traditional Thai, Byron Bay

This place was what it said on the tin, a laid back restaurant serving some pretty delicious Thai food. Asian food is always great in Australia due to the proximity and we were all happy with our dishes. By this point we were adopting a pretty strict "no sharing policy" (having been burnt in Melbourne) making us look like deeply uncultured Brits and much to the bemusement of many a waiter. I had a Penang curry and although I'm pretty sure Penang is in Malaysia the rich peanut and coconut flavours were exactly what I had been craving. T-3 months until my trip to Thailand and I cannot wait!

Just a laid back dude enjoying some traditional thai

Taking your shoes off and sitting on a sleigh bed was indeed very traditional

Chicken Satay, rude not to

My either Malaysian or Thai ethnically confused dish

Jobeth's dish

Bayger, Byron Bay

Bayger (see what they did there?!) was much bigged up by Jonny so our expectations were pretty high. We weren't disappointed- this burger smashed it. After a long morning of surfing and channeling Kate Bosworth in Blue Crush, I was starving and it must have been something about the sauce or the turkish bread but the burger was everything I wanted it to be and more. It even shot into Jobeth's top 5 burgers which was somewhat hasty in my opinion but there you go..

In all it's glory

Eyes rolled back in ecstasy

Burger face

Off to Manly!

Hemingway's, Manly

Hemingway's was a quirky little cafe on the beach front which served a mean brekkie. Pretty reasonable in price, this was an example of an Aussie breakfast done really well. I went for the baked eggs with homemade baked beans with chorizo and sourdough, and it tasted as good as it sounds. The full breakfast I am assured was just as good and I really liked the laid back, unpretentious but cool vibe and tasty food.

Some cool kids

What a beaut

Full English/Aussie

Capturing the scene

Jonny loving his life

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fireworks are really hard to capture

Jonny had a few

My first beer

We be crazy

The Pantry, Manly

We had two meals at The Pantry, brunch on New Years Day when we were feeling a touch "delicate", and dinner on our final night in Aus. Both were excellent. I would go as far as to say this was my favourite restaurant of the whole trip. The location is amazing- right on the beach with incredible views,  the staff were impeccable, and the food was perfect both day and night. I would definitely recommend the Pantry to anyone who happens to be in Manly.

Eggs beni with a side of my legs

Not a baaad view..

Steak with douphinoise, aka my favourite meal

Bills, Bondi

Last but by no means least, Bill's in Bondi. If you are reading this far I salute you, and I must buy you a drink sometime! I'm a pretty massive fan of Grainger's in Westbourne Grove (see my earlier review) so obviously had to check out the Aussie chef's branch in Bondi. I must admit, a slightly more picturesque setting than my beloved West London, and a consistently great breakfast. I obviously got what I always do, scrambled eggs with sourdough and avo. There were a few differences between this one and the London one, notably some spinach and less toast (Aussies must be more health conscious than us Brits!) but of course it was delicious. Well done Bill...

I must admit I was slightly peeved by the size of the toast

I been drankin', watermelon...

 Oh and how could I forget! Special shout out to $5 dominos! *Pizza emoji*

I'll leave you on this photo, which should be our album cover..

A big happy new year to everyone and thanks for reading! A special thanks to Mum & Dad who made this trip possible, and big love to Jonny. We miss you! X