London Food Detective

7 Days of Dining in London: Where Would You Go?

In June I'm planning to eat out every day for a week as part of mine and Grace's UK honeymoon and I am looking for people's suggestions of what would make a perfect seven days of London dining out.

It doesn't have to be all romance and high end Michelin places. We're looking for an eclectic mix of tastes, venues and experiences that will give us a week to remember. 

It could be anything from an afternoon tea to a great curry house or pizza place.

So if you were to eat out every day for a week, where would you go and why?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions and will pick a random comment to receive some sort of prize as a thank you for your help and ideas!

Look forward to hearing from you.

Craig

 

The Banana Leaf: Croydon's best curry house

There are so many things not to like about the Banana Leaf that it says something about the quality of the food that it was able to overcome them all to provide one of the best Indian meals I've had.

Located in a run down area of West Croydon, there is an icy draft blasting through the door on my first visit.  The walls and tired looking decor tell of past glories from the 1990's. The tablecloths are frayed and stained with the juices of thousands of curries and the glasses and cutlery are tired and tarnished. 

Not a good start, but the friendly waiter greets us like long lost friends and presents us with a menu that specialises in authentic South Indian dishes.

 
Sizzling King Prawn

We started by sharing some large, juicy and subtlety spiced King Prawns.  Served on a sizzling platter with onions they were a good introduction to the delights to come.

Spicy South Indian Fried Meat

Sadly, the photo doesn't do this justice. One of the best Indian dishes I've ever had.  I've been back since my first visit to have this dish again, which is rare for me, as I always like to try something new.

The dish consists of tender bits of lamb marinated in garlic, ginger, almond powder and coriander.  It's one of the house specialities and is served dry, which allows the flavours to come through.  It's not too hot (medium/mild) but the different flavours come through to make a truly memorable dish. Very impressive.

The vegetable side dishes

Grace and I have increasingly been having more vegetable dishes when we go for a curry, as we've found them more interesting than some of the traditional meat dishes.

At the Banana Leaf we shared a spinach and mushroom dry masala and an aubergine curry.

The spinach and mushroom had a real kick to it and provided a bit of heat to go with the subtler main.  The aubergine curry was in a thick sauce, but had a generous helping of soft aubergine that had soaked up the flavours and was also very good.

I wish I could say that the Banana Leaf was a new discovery, but it's been in the Harden guide for a number of years and it's been the place I've been recommended by local people in the know.  It definitely lived up to my expectations and will definitely become my curry house of choice in Croydon...

March Round-Up: Oxtail & venison brightens a quiet month...

March was probably the quietest month I've had in terms of eating out since I moved to London as I continue to save for my wedding.  In fact, I'm going to be asking for your advice in the next couple of weeks for a post wedding splurge! Further details soon...

Leon, The Strand

I met up with a friend to go to an RSA lecture on Incentives and then grabbed a quick lunch.  We decided on a trip to Leon on the Strand and was pleasantly surprised with the food.  I had the Moroccan meatballs washed down with a refreshing lemon, ginger and mint cooler.  The meatballs were served with some great hummus and flatbread and it makes a good, quick, lunch option.

Draft House, Tower Bridge

Grace's had her first wedding dress fitting at Candy Anthony and so what better way to celebrate than with a burger and sticky toffee pudding at the Draft House, Tower Bridge.

What better way to celebrate trying on your wedding dress?

The burger was good.  Served in a sweet brioche bun the 8oz burger was cooked medium and had juices running down my chin when I bit into it.  Fries were crisp and lovely too, but the onion rings were a bit of a let down.  They were far too greasy and coated the mouth with a film of fat.

We decided to share a dessert and went for sticky toffee pudding.  Again this was a bit of a let down.  The toffee sauce had too much of a bitter burnt caramel taste that I struggled with  after a few mouthfuls.  I prefer my toffee sauce sweeter and so left most of it to Grace. 

The Tree House, South Croydon

One of our favourite places in Croydon.  This gastro-pub serves up decent, competitively priced meals in a cosy, welcoming setting - though sometimes the loud music from the bar and upstairs can be irritating on a weekend!

Special mention this time for the oxtail, which I'd never had before.  It just fell off the bone and melted in the mouth and was delicious.  I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to go out and buy some the next week to cook at home.  It was let down by some dry (reheated?) dauphinoise, but I can forgive them that.  Personally I think it provides better value and equal cooking to the over-rated Albert's Table and Fish & Grill down the road.

The Bay Horse, Hurworth, Darlington

Being the dutiful son, we went up to visit my parents the week before Mother's Day and wanted to mention a great meal we had at the Bay Horse.  It's in the running for the Good Pub Guide Food PUb of th Year and has a Bib Gourmand and it's easy to see why.

Venison served two ways

I had venison cooked two ways and it was excellent. Whilst probably not quite as good as the wonderful Star at Harome, it wasn't too far behind and if you find yourself in the North East and are looking for somewhere to eat then you could do a lot, lot worse.