London Food Detective

Salt Yard, Fitzrovia: Some hits, some misses at tapas tavern

Before we all got partners and settled down a bit, I used to go on regular football, food and drinking trips to Spain with some friends from uni.  My love of Spanish food developed from trips to Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and other Spanish cities.

Anytime we meet up (usually in London or Liverpool) the first thought is to look for a Spanish restaurant to try and so it was with this in mind that four of us decided to give the Salt Yard a try on a cold Monday night.

It's normally a good sign if a restaurant is full on a Monday night and as were led through the bustling bar area to a downstairs table the place had a good vibe to it.

The menu is compact with six or seven choices in the meat, fish and vegetable sections of the menu.

The good:

If a Spanish restaurant can't get it's chorizo right then it's in trouble. Fortunately, the Salt Yard produced some excellent, hot, smoky chorizo on a bed of slow roasted peppers. Moreish.

It's only in the last few years that i've really got into calamari, but it's now one of my favourites. This crisp, lightly battered version came with a powerful aioli and went in a flash.

The butternut squash gnocchi was an unexpected hit.  Served with sweet, golden sultanas, pine nuts and a sage and butter sauce the contrasts of textures and flavours worked really well.  My favourite dish of the night.

The mediocre

My friends reported that "an excellent salsa verde didn’t quite rescue the Fillet of Lamb, which didn’t seem well matched with crushed Jerusalem artichokes."

The bavette (flank steak) would have been sent back if it wasn't the last dish we received and we weren't so full already. Served with luke warm onion rings, the beef was chewy, tasteless and very disappointing. I've a feeling this was the last bit of steak they had on the evening (another table near us were told it was finished) and it just wasn't up to scratch.

Overall, though we had a really good meal.  It was great to catch up with friends and the relaxed, informal and unobtrusive service added to the ambiance. 

You can see why the Salt Yard is a popular restaurant.  The beef aside, everything was of a high quality and, like the best Spanish cooking, the kitchen kept things simple and let the quality of the produce shine through.

 

Chinese New Year at Ping Pong

Chinese New Year began on the 3rd February this year and I was invited along to Ping Pong to sample some of their special dishes and drinks to celebrate the year of the rabbit. 

Ping Pong is a bit of a favourite of mine and Grace's and we often take friends and family if they are visiting and have also held a couple of work outings there.  It's package of decent dim sum, good drinks list, quick service and well designed restaurants is a winner for me.

Anyway, we started off with some of the Chinese New Year specials before Khin, Ping Pong's development chef, ordered us a selection from the main menu to sample.  I'll pick out some of my highlights from the evening.  See if you can spot Ping Pong's PR photos v my phone ones... ;)

Chinese shitake mushroom & chicken hotpot

My favourite of the specials was this hotpot.  The slow cooked chicken and the mushrooms both soaked up all the flavour from the cooking juices and were delicious.

Celery dumpling in pumpkin pastry and Seabass dumpling in red cabbage pastry

As well as being aesthetically pleasing, the seabass was also very good with a generous chunk of seabass being surrounded by bits of water chestnut and prawn.  As a bit of a soy sauce addict I added a generous splash on it which I thought went well with the seabass.

Char Sui buns remain a favourite.

From previous visits I knew the duck spring rolls (like a deep fried duck pancake) with hoisin sauce and the sweet and sticky char sui buns with honey roast barbequed pork were both favourites and I was pleased when Keith had included these in his order.  Both lived up to expectations.

Vietnamese rice paper prawn roll

Out of dishes that I hadn't previously tried then two stood out.

The green chive dumplings with king prawn.  They were a lurid green colour, but you could really taste the chive in the pastry and they were completely different to anything else we had.

I also enjoyed the Vietnamese prawn rolls, which you wrapped in a lettuce leaf and a sprig of mint.  

My only disappointment was the prawn toast.  It used to be a favourite, but a couple of visits ago they changed the recipe and I don't think it's as good as previous.

Pear and Elderflower Collins

Another big plus point of Ping Pong is the drinks list.  They have one of the best range of non-alcoholic drinks I've seen and the cocktail menu is excellent.

We were given a couple of the special Pear and Elderflower Collins to kick start the evening before I moved on to my favourite Lemongrass and Lime.

Overall Ping Pong remains a guilty pleasure and one that I'll continue to go back to.

I'll be honest and say that I haven't visited any of the top London dim-sum places like Royal China or Yautacha (and I'd like to go and compare), but in a dozen or so visits to Ping Pong I haven't had a complaint and the people I have taken along have always enjoyed it.

 

Bob Bob Ricard: Super Sunday lunch in sumptious surroundings

I've been wanting an excuse to go to Bob Bob Ricard for a long time and when my parents got tickets for Terry Wogan and wanted to go somewhere for Sunday lunch afterwards then I knew the time had come.

Located in Soho, the first thing to say is that decor in BBR is a decadent, opulent and over the top.  It conjures up images of a fancy dining car on the Orient Express and is a delightful throw back. You instantly feel like you're somewhere special and we received a warm welcome from the staff. 

In some ways the whole experience - menu, service, venue - at BBR reminds me of the The Ivy, but done just better on the whole.  The menu is nothing too flash or pretentious containing classic British dishes with a Russian influence.  I know that doesn't sound too inspiring, but it works.

Before moving on to the food a quick word about the service. 

Our server really struggled with my dad's North-East accent and it resulted in us being brought a wrong drinks order and having to repeat things a number of times (which we found quite amusing). 

However, I thought the waitress handled it really well - she apologised profusely about the drinks, proclaiming the memorable "It is no problem - here is the customer is king! I will sort it out for you" and then making sure she repeated everything we ordered back to us *very* slowly.  She was affable, friendly and attentive - for example, she made sure the water on the table was topped up constantly without asking.  A small thing, but it does make a difference and it's amazing how many restaurants fail to do it without asking.

As it was a Sunday three of us went for the roast beef Sunday lunch:

 

Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasted veg and gravy

On our last Sunday lunch out together we went to Corrigan's and we all agreed this was better.  The roast beef (sourced from O'Shea's) was excellent.  Served medium-rare it was full of flavour and melted in the mouth.  The huge Yorkshire puddings were light and crisp and the roasted veg and greens all cooked perfectly.  Overall I was really impressed and it's got to be one of the best Sunday lunches I've had.

Cornish Crab Cake with tomatoes, leeks and a fired Quail's egg

My mum went for the crab cakes and was equally delighted. There was plenty of sweet crab meat in the cake and it went well with the tomoatoes and egg.

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

I was a little disappointed with my chocolate raspberry trifle as I felt the proportions were wrong.  Too much cream on the top and not enough of the delicious chocolate and raspberry at the bottom!

A mini-selection of cakes

Grace went for a mini-selection of cakes, which she wolfed down in a flash and didn't share with anyone! Her favourites were a rum-baba (minus the rum) and a light Battenberg cake.

Overall, BBR really impressed from start to finish. It's now the place I'd go and  recommend to people if they want a high quality, but non-Michelin star style, meal in London. Good stuff.

 

MasterChef @Mesa: Pop-up doesn't deliver

As a big fan and avid watcher of MasterChef, I was excited when it was announced that this year's finalists were going to open a pop-up restaurant during the  London Restaurant Festival.

Gimmicky? Yes, but I thought the chance to taste some of dishes that were on the show and see the three finalists in action would be fun.  Also, if the food could get anywhere near the quality of last year's flagship festival pop-up Pierre Koffman, then we would be in for a treat.

Sadly, the whole experience disappointed from start to finish.

The menu was a nice touch, with pen portraits of the chefs

Things got off on the wrong foot when we were told on arrival that we could only have the table for an hour and 45 minutes and that we had to go straight to the table and couldn't have a drink at the bar.

Once seated we quickly got the impression that the waiting staff were in a bit of a rush.  Bread arrived immediately and our order was taken within a few minutes of sitting down and even before we'd had a chance to look at the drinks menu. 

The three finalists were taking it in turn to chat to some of the tables and we had a couple of minutes chatting to Alex, which was probably the highlight of the evening and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying the experience.

About a minute after Alex left and just over five minutes after sitting down our starters arrived.  We hadn't even had a chance to look at the wine list and no-one asked if we wanted anything.  The list was simply taken away.

Pheasant saltimbocca with butternut squash, beetroot jus and a sage beignet.

The fact that the food came so quickly set off a few alarm bells and suggested that it hadn't been cooked to order.

The pheasant had a good gamey taste and had a tasty peppery seasoning.  It was slightly overcooked and a bit dry, which seemed to confirm my suspicions that it had been prepared mass catering style and been resting on a hotplate in the kitchen.

The accompanying butternut squash and beetroot were disappointingly bland and the extra bits of braised pheasant were dry and non-descript.

Open lasagne of roasted squash, duxelle, girolles and sage butter.

Grace's starter was much better with the squash having greater flavour than on my dish.  The duxelle had plenty of taste and overall it was a pleasant enough dish.

Confit pork belly with crackling, black pudding, apple & a salsa verde.

My main was even more disappointing than my starter.  When done well, pork belly is one of my favourite dishes. 

This wasn't done well and again gave the impression that it had been cooked earlier on and been left to rest for a while.  In fact, I nearly sent it back as it was just about warm enough for me.  As it happens, a little later the table next to us did send theirs back as they complained it was cold.

At it's best pork belly is unctuous with the fat melting in the mouth and the porky goodness contrasting with the crunch and saltiness of the crackling. 

The fat on this poor pig reminded me of an out of shape wrestler - flabby, unsightly and completely unappetising. After one mouthful I cut it off and left it on one side.

The crackling was equally bad. No discernible seasoning left it tasting like cardboard and, again, it was discarded after a mouthful.  The only redeeming feature of the dish was some tasty black pudding.

Spice battered fish and chips with mushy peas and

a tamarind and lime brown sauce 

Again, Grace got the better of the dishes.  Personally I thought her batter looked overcooked, but luckily she likes it this way and was happy with it.  The batter had a subtle spicing to it and the fish was good.

As she said herself, it was a good pub dish, but not fine dining.

So, just over twenty minutes after sitting down we'd finished our main courses.  As Mr Wallace himself might have commented - "service doesn't get any quicker than this..."

The Head Waiter came over to take our plates away and asked if everything was ok.  We expressed our disappointment at the averageness of the food and the rushed service and that we expected better for £50 per head.  To be fair he was apologetic, said he'd pass on our comments to the kitchen and offered us a free drink to make amends.

Orange and chocolate baked meringue with ginger and orange and vanilla custard

After our complaints, we were allowed to digest our food before ordering dessert and we both went for the same one.

Again, the dish sounded great, but disappointed.

The proportions were all wrong. A tiny slice of orange (with no hint of ginger) and a paucity of vanilla custard leaving a mound of dry, rich chocolate and some soft meringue on top.  Again, it reminded me of a dish you might be served at a wedding or other function.

We decided to skip coffee and further drinks, paid the £100+ bill and made a swift exit.

It was such a shame that the food didn't come up to scratch, as I though the concept was a good one and the menu actually read quite well. 

For £49.00 for three courses, it just wasn't good enough and when you compare it to some of the meals you can get in London for that sort of money then it is undoubtedly the biggest dining disappointment i've had since blogging.

Other people in the restaurant seemed to enjoy the evening and were happy to get their photos taken with the finalists.  Personally, I would've been happier if they'd stayed in the kitchen and let their food do the talking....

Polpetto, Soho: Some highs, some lows during the soft opening...

I was delighted when I got a table for the opening weekend of Polpetto. Despite recommending it to many people, I'd never actually made it to sister restaurant Polpo (queues were always too long on the few occasions I tried), but had heard so many good things about it, that I was genuinely excited to get a table.

We turned up promptly at noon and my expectation levels were high, possibly too high, as the meal that followed although good, never hit the heights that I hoped for.

Two of the friends I was dining with had been to Polpo the week before and had this to say about Polpetto:

"After having been blown away by Polpo the weekend before, we were both really looking forward to being amongst the first to try Polpetto. The menu was as varied and authentic as Polpo, and the service was of the same relaxed, but high standard.

"However, there was something missing and I am struggling to put my finger on what that something was. Maybe it was the fact that some of our favourite dishes from the week before were missing, maybe it was the small room that lacked atmosphere. Whatever that magic ingredient is, Polpo has it and Polpetto is still searching for it"

On to the food and rather than reviewing every dish, I've chosen some of the highs and lows from the menu.

My favourite dishes:

Pigeon saltimbocca with pollenta

My favourite dish by far was the pigeon saltimbocca. Two beautifully plump pigeon breast wrapped in prosciutto. The pigeon was cooked perfectly and it was a carnivores delight.

Ham hock and parsley terrine

Ham hock and parsley terrine was very moreish. It was bound with wholegrain mustard and the salty ham hock worked well with it. It was served with an egg mayonnaise, which I didn't try (I'm not an egg lover), but Marie (dining companion) raved about.

Stracchino, fennel salami and fig bruschetta

Stracchino (the white creamy cheese in the picture), fennel salami and fig bruschetta was simple, but delicious. The bruschetta hadn't been toasted (which was a good thing) and the sweet figs, mild creamy cheese and salami worked really well together.

The not so good ones:

To be fair to Polpetto it was the soft opening and pictures I've seen elsewhere seems to back my view up that we didn't see the best of the following dishes:

Grilled flank steak with white truffle cream

The sliced flank steak was very disappointing. It had been cut too thinly and the pieces were dry and overcooked with little flavour. I'm putting this down to an opening error as when you compare our dish to this photo on Greedy Diva's review, then you can see the difference.

Panzanella with two & half bits of bread!

The tomatoes in the panzanella were lovely, but there was a distinct lack of bread - the main component of the dish.  You can see all three pieces in the photo above! Again, check out the photo at Gourmet Chick to see how it is meant to look.

Pannacotta, blackberries, biscotti

Desserts were pretty good. I enjoyed my creamy, rich pannacotta. The vanilla really came through and the tang from the berries cut through the sweetness.

Grace enjoyed her cherry and almond tart though she didn't think it was as good as the one she'd had at Fish & Grill recently.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable lunch. Service was informal, but attentive and with the 50% off it was a bargain. As I said at the beginning, I had such high expectations that perhaps Polpetto was never going to wow me, but the food is undeniably good.  It's the sort of informal, casual restaurant that should be the norm in London, but sadly isn't.

Would I go back? Yes, but I'd want to try Polpo first and I couldn't see myself queueing an hour for a table!

Arbutus: Great Value Set Lunch Menu Fares Well

I very rarely take advantage of the good deals that abound at many London restaurants at lunchtime, but after visiting Michelin starred Arbutus in Soho it reminded me again that it is something I need to make more of.

My trip to Arbutus was to meet up with Laissez Fare after our successful lunch at Great Queen Street in the autumn. The room has an unusual u-shape and is light, airy and has a relaxed, informal feel.  The welcome was warm, my coat swiftly taken and there was a friendly hello from all the waiting staff as I was shown to the table.  I was really impressed with the welcome.  It felt like I was returning to an old favourite and I had a quick chat with the waiter before LF arrived.

Normally I find when I go to a place with a set menu I end up ditching it in favour of the a la carte option, as I invariably find something else that tempts me, but on this occasion I was disciplined and stuck to the set lunch menu despite a brief flirtation with some of the other desserts (a blood orange soufflé was particularly appealing), which the waiter indicated that we might be able to substitute for the two on the menu. 

The price was a bargain £16.95 for three courses and there was a choice of two dishes for each course.  

Curly Kale & Potato Soup

LF's opted for the soup and it looked appetizing, as he explains:

"I was quite impressed when my soup was brought out: it was a good portion size and it looked very hearty and appetizing. The soup possessed a lovely soft texture, and the flavor of the fine olive oil that had been used in the broth came through subtly. It also surprisingly had a pleasant, gentle heat which sat in the background of my mouth as I ate it.

"The dollop of yogurt worked nicely, both subduing the slight spiciness and also serving a textural and temperature purpose that added a slight creaminess and also a touch of coolness to the dish. It was a very memorable soup and I really enjoyed every spoonful."

Crisp Pork Cheek & Celeriac Remoulade

I started off with crisp pork cheek & celeriac remoulade. It was attractively presented with the pork cheek sitting on a colourful bed of leaves with the celeriac remoulade on the side. 

The pork had a lovely crisp topping that contrasted with the warm, fatty, gelatinous cheek underneath.  The pork melted in the mouth and the accompanying remoulade offered a mustardy, slightly bitter contrast to the richness of the fat.  Together with the salad, this cleansed the pallet and meant that the pork didn’t leave a greasy taste in the mouth, which I find can happen with pork cheek if it isn’t well cooked or served with a contrasting flavour or texture. 

I really enjoyed it and thought it showed off the ability of the kitchen to handle cheaper cuts of meat proficiently and it left me looking forward to my main course of lamb breast.

Welsh Lamb Breast & Crushed Root Vegetables

The lamb breast came served on a delicious bed of crushed root vegetables.  It looked like a real winter dish with the orange hues of the carrot and accompanying rich, slightly sweet brown sauce. 

Like the pork cheek the lamb contained quite a lot of fat, but again it had been well cooked and the fat melted away in the mouth to give a rich flavour to the dish.

My favourite part of the dish was the crushed root veg, which we thought contained carrot, sweet potato and swede (and possibly some parsnip) – mixed with the sauce it had a sweet flavour that I really enjoyed.

LF had this to say about the lamb:

"We were both feeling like manly men and ordered the same meaty main course (the other option was a chestnut mushroom risotto, which neither of us found tremendously inspiring from the description).

"The lamb breast rested upon a bed of soft, orange winter root vegetables. The vegetables had been mashed to a pulp and were quite sweet. I posited that the mash was composed of swede, sweet potato and carrot. Beneath the veggie mash laid a relatively sweet brown sauce, which had notes of carmelized brown sugar.

"The lamb breast itself was well-cooked and the fat – of which there was a lot – dissolved beautifully and added a nice richness to the dish. It was a very satisfying main course, which I enjoyed, but not quite as much as the soup that preceded it."

Cheese platter of Morbier

Unusually for me, I turned down the dessert and opted for cheese.  Unlike at Great Queen Street it was my turn for dessert envy, as LF’s floating island was very good - I nearly insisted on another spoonful, before I tucked into my cheese!

My morbier came served with a spicy fruit chutney and a thick slice of the brown bread we were served on arrival.  To be honest I would’ve probably preferred a cracker to give a bit of crunch, but never mind. 

The morbier was a little bit deceiving, as it had a strong aroma and I thought the blue streak through the middle of it would make it quite strong, but in fact it was quite mild and creamy and was slightly overpowered by the sweet chutney.

Floating Island & Pink Pralines 

All ok, but I definitely should have gone for the floating island...LF explains why:

"I had no hesitation in selecting the floating island for dessert. I have only ever had this dessert in France (where it is called île flottante), and I always enjoy it, so I was eager to try a version on this side of the Channel.

"As you can see from the above photo, the dish was presented simply and beautifully. It was also extremely delicious. The vanilla custard (which the French call crème anglaise) was perfect, and they hadn’t skimped on the velvety waters that surrounded the towering island of meringue.

"The island itself was also perfect, being soft but just firm enough to keep its texture throughout the process of being devoured. The candied pink pralines that crowned the white cylindrical pillow were also buried beneath and hidden throughout the depths of the island.

"This was the icing on the cake, so to speak, as it added a little crunchiness to each bite, which played perfectly off the squidgyness of the meringue and the creaminess of the custard. It was a very simple dessert – indeed, you normally get this in bistrot-type restaurants in France – but it was the best one I’ve had, and I still salivate when I look at the pictures of it. I would give it a 10/10 as it was the best example I’ve ever had of the dessert, and the pink pralines gave it that little extra edge of sophistication that made it truly special"

Overall, it was another highly enjoyable lunch with LF and we made a good choice of restaurant.  The food in Arbutus was of a high quality and was well cooked by a kitchen using seasonal ingredients. When combined with the unpretentious and friendly service you can see why it has a Michelin star.

For the price it was an absolute bargain and I’d definitely go back.  It’s not serving anything revolutionary, but like Great Queen Street it’s providing good, honest food at very fair prices for central London.

I’m looking forward to our next lunch and aiming to go two-one up in the choice of dessert!

LF concluded similarly and made a good point about the food being good,but not mind blowing, which for lunchtime is perfectly acceptable:

"Based on my first visit, I would have to agree with what I understand to be the general consensus about Arbutus. It provides you with very good food at very fair prices within a central London context.

"There is nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the techniques or ingredients on offer, but what there is seems to be done very well. I can’t think of a better 3-course lunch that I’ve had in London for under £20 (of course, keep in mind that this price excludes wine, coffee/tea and service).

"In fact, it kind of reminds me of the lunch I first had with Craig at Great Queen Street, except this meal was cheaper. Our lunch had included very good and mostly seasonal ingredients that were used to their fullest effect through precise cooking and careful seasoning.

"The atmosphere was fairly relaxed, but the service was good throughout and everyone generally seemed to be having a good time, the staff included, which is always a good sign.

"I also loved the fact that you can have so many wines by the carafe, and think more places in London should do this. Arbutus is definitely a place I’d like to return to, and it is a great place for people looking to eat well but without spending too much.

"Like I said, don’t expect to find anything out of the ordinary or mind-blowing, but I can’t imagine any of the dishes not being enjoyable here."

All the photos are courtesy of Laissez Fare - you can find more photos at his Flickr photostream.

Bodean's, Soho

I love Lucky Voice in Soho, but whenever I visit I try to avoid eating for most of the day.

There are two reasons for this:

• My singing ability increases proportionately to my level of drunkenness and so an empty stomach means a couple of drinks and I’m in the singing ‘zone’ and can murder various songs.
• I can gorge out afterwards at American rib place Bodeans, which is just over the road.

Bodean’s comprises of an upstairs no-nonsense takeaway/café and a smart basement restaurant, with wood panels, baseball on numerous plasma screen teles, various U.S. lagers (served appropriately cold) and Bruce Springsteen, the Killers and other classic American bands on the sound system.  It might not be everyones cup of tea, but as an unabashed fan of the old U.S. of A, I like it.

Our party of 12 had booked into the restaurant and by this point the beer muchies had set in and so I orderd some nachos to start and then a half rack of ribs and pulled pork for my main.

Pulled pork is a Bodeans speciality.  It is slowed cooked pork that just melts in the mouth and is packed full of BBQ flavour.  Once again it didn't disappoint.

The best ribs I ever had were in Memphis (after visiting the city I see why Elvis had an overeating problem!) and I still dream about them: they were beautifully seasoned and marinated with meat so tender it nearly bought tears to my eyes.  While Bodeans doesn't reach those heights the ribs are still pretty good with plenty of meat on them and a smoky BBQ flavour.  

The mains come with crunchy, creamy homemeade coleslaw and fries and just for good measure I shared some onion rings as well. Mention also needs to go the impressive range of BBQ sauces that are found on every table, which can add an extra kick to the ribs if you think they need them.

If you do visit then i'd urge you to stick with the specialities of the house as the only dishes that drew any complaints were the prawns (overcooked) and the chicken (dry), but people who stuck to the red meat were delighted.

Service was good and we were asked if we wanted more drinks before the last one had been finished and the food all arrived together despite the large order.

All in all a good meal and Bodean's just needs to keep on doing its thing...

Nosh Bar, Soho

Twitter Summary Review: 

Quite simply the best salt beef sandwich in London!

Main review

There's nothing better than stumbling across a little gem of an eating place when you're not expecting it.  This is what happened last Saturday when I randomly popped into Nosh Bar, Soho.

Anyway, to give a little back story...

I'm not a natural born shopper, but I do tend to venture down to Oxford Street about twice a year to top up my wardrobe.  Anyway, after an afternoon of shopping and abusing the credit card I had to make my back down to Leicester Square to see the excellent (though not for the faint hearted) comedian Brendon Burns.

I was going to call into Chowki for a curry, but I was running late and so didn't have time for a proper sit down meal.  I wandered up towards China town planning to get a cheap take away buffet (stop tutting at the back there!) when I saw this place.

Whenever I'm in the U.S. I always make sure I have a pastrami / corned beef / salt beef sandwich as they're always so much better than anything i've had in the UK.  I love any of the above toasted on rye bread, with cheese and coleslaw - a real guilty pleasure!

Anyway, I went in the Nosh Bar and ordered a salt beef sandwich.  At $4.95 I thought it was a bit pricey but I was running late and thought i'd splash out.  It turned out to be an absolute bargain.

The guy serving was chatty and welcoming and cut two thick slices of crusty rye bread.  He then dipped under the counter and produced a tray containing a huge, succulent looking piece of brisket.

He cut a generous slice and put it on the bread.

Then another slice.

And another one.

At this point the bread was covered and I was pleased with a fairly generous portion. However he didn't stop there.

Another slice was placed on top.

Slice number 5 was next.

And just for luck a final slice was placed on top - making a juicy, succulent half dozen.

I then asked for a bit of mustard and some home made coleslaw and my salt beef sandwich masterpiece was complete.

I was worried the bread would break up from all the juices and stuff, but it stayed strong and I tucked in to one of the best salt beef sandwiches i've ever had. The coleslaw was creamy and crunchy, the meat superbly succulent and juicy and the bread crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.  Perfect.

You can check out some photos of the sandwiches and learn a bit more about how salt beef is made here.

Can't wait for my next shopping trip...