I tend to eat out at least once a week, but often circumstances don’t allow me to take photos or write up where I’ve been.
For example, it would be a little bit rude if I’m out with non-foody friends or with work and I write up a scathing or just simply dull review of a place. Frankly, I’d look a bit of a **** and I do this blog as a hobby rather than anything too serious.
Anyway, the orginal idea of the blog was to be an online diary and so I’m going to make a more conscious effort to round up the places I’ve been in a particularly month.
So, in short, that’s really a long, convoluted way of saying here is a quick summary of places I’ve eaten in January...
#MEATEASY, New Cross
There’s been a lot of hype and reviews about this place and even Marina at the Metro (my fav restaurant critic) reviewed it this week. I took my friend who was on a flying visit from Uganda and said she was craving meat, so it seemed an obvious choice.
It was a fun place – a cool, speakeasy type joint above a pub in New Cross. They had a slightly chaotic ordering system and the food arrived in a bit of a haphazard way, but it was made up by a top-notch burger and some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had.
Would I go back? Possibly, but MEATEASY might lose its charm/novelty factor on subsequent visits. Although the burgers were really good, I’m not sure they were that much better than my favourite Byron burger (and Byron’s fries are much better) and I’ll probably stay in town with them and their ordered service and professionalism then venture out to New Cross.
Sartoria, Saville Row
An agency I used to work with invited me to their post-Christmas dinner at Sartoria, a D&D restaurant near Saville Row. They’d hired the whole restaurant and as well as having our glasses of wine generously topped up at every opportunity we were served a surprisingly good medium-rare steak, which is unusual for banqueting/mass catering as it’s usually over done and/or cold.
I’d consider going back and trying the normal menu and hope it’s more Launceston Place (yay!) than the Blueprint Cafe (boo!) in the D&D stable...
Giraffe, South Bank
This place is fast becoming my quick dinner (i.e. lunch to you non-northerners) meeting venue near work and I went three times in January. Plenty of choice, good booths to have a conversation in and excellent value. The food is consistent and flavoursome with my favourites being the hot 'Thai' duck stir fry and the simple but tasty chicken schnitzel. Along with Byron it’s probably my favourite restaurant chain in London.
Zucca, Bermondsey
I wanted to take my team out somewhere nice before Christmas to say thank you for their hard work over the course of 2010. Unfortunately we had to postpone due to illness and so went along a couple of weeks ago and I was seriously impressed.
I’m not always the biggest Italian fan, but the food from the small, compact menu was excellent. I had a luxurious, warming oxtail ragu with polenta to begin with, followed by a rustic, wholesome slow cooked chicken stew with sausage. The chicken was especially good – served on the bone in the pot it fell off the bone and melted in the mouth and was simply delicious.
I finished off with an excellent milky pannacotta with teasingly tart stewed rhubarb. I will definitely be back...