Eat Like Ushi

I don't normally eat up that way since it's sort of middle area between Soho and the places more north-west. But The King & I was showing nearby and I was lucky enough to snag some last minute tickets. With time of the essence, something quick and tasty and nearby was essential.

It's a dim sum restaurant that makes those dishes available in the evening to satisfy the odd-timed craving.

- Seaweed salad (seaweed with rocket, kikurage mushroom, crunchy radish and a little red chilli, garnished with sesame seeds) £2.75;
- Firecracker chicken rolls (chicken marinated in lantern chilli peppers, asparagus and coriander in a spring roll pastry with smoky orange sauce) £5.35 - not that impressive and didn't have much heat. Expensive too compared to other dishes;
- Golden dumplings (crisp stir fry vegetables in a turmeric pastry) £3.55 - it looks fluorescent although the taste and filling was quite simple vegetables;
- Black prawn dumpling (king prawn & garlic butter in squid ink pastry) £4.55 - also impressive looking with a bit of discernible prawn in there;
- Beijing quinoa gyoza (griddled quinoa, mushroom and cabbage, wrapped in a wheat pastry with garlic and vinegar dressing) £3.25 - a little more unusual and had a more gritty texture from the quinoa;
- Prawn & scallop sticky rice (prawns, scallop, carrot, bamboo shoots and glutinous rice, steamed in lotus leaf) £5.95 - not too bad;
- Smoked chilli chicken wings (cherrywood smoked chicken wings with a tangy tomato chilli sauce) £6.45 - small little wings with a little bit of heat but not much smoke.

Overall the food was ok and a little different from standard yum cha. The prices were overall reasonable also particularly for that part of town. I'd go back.

It's been a very long time since my last visit (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/duck-waffle-london-11-2012). Despite meaning to, I hadn't the opportunity or occasion to visit for the past 18 months. 1 visit to Sushisamba (which is plenty given the prices...) meant I was only a few metres away but this time and special occasion came to fruition. Since that time, the prices have gone up by 20-50%.

I had requested a window table for the view over a month beforehand. The restaurant told me on the phone that had received this. It was strange that the designated table was in the middle of the room, moreso because after enquiring we were given a table a few moments after. Who knows.

Once again there was the view of the gherkin. A little pivot meant a view of Tower Bridge. Despite the 31C day, the sunlight wasn't directly on us and so it could not have been more pleasant.

The cocktail theme of the month was vegetables. A pina-kale-ada was a twist on the classic with a vibrant green colour and a light kale flavour mixing with the coconut rum and pineapple. I was unexpectedly impressed.

- BBQ-spiced crispy pig ears £6 - I like these more now than I did back then. The mixed crisp and chewy texture and the strong BBQ/paprika are great as snacks;
- Smoked eel (creme fraiche, horseradish, samphire) £10 - small morsels that seemed a bit less interesting than the individual ingredients suggesting smoke, fish, salty and heat should;
- Spiced duck doughnut (charred pineapple jam, paprika sugar) £12 - ok so I thought this was a bit too strange. Others on the table liked it. Most of all I thought the doughnut dough was quite dry and firm lacking the soft spongey doughy-ness. The flavours mixed savoury and sweet but not in a way I liked;
- 'Nduja seared octopus (whipped yellow lentils, fennel, green sauce) £12 - an outstanding dish of sublime soft octopus in a potent and slightly spicy sauce;
- Duck & waffle (crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup) £18 - the namesake dish still remains excellent (although less flavoursome than the octopus). The crisp duck skin housing soft meat and coated with duck yolk and syrup on a piece of waffle. Anytime dishes don't get better.

The view is great, the service was decent and the food remains generally very good. It will stay high up in the order of occasional places for me.

Strangely enough there are no gelaterias near Spitalfields. You'd think there would be something given the clientele. Spitalfields market used to have a dessert stall next to the dumplings but it's fair to say their business unfortunately paled in comparison.

The nearest and closest is the proclaimed homemade icecream from Valerie with the outside corner exposing it to the courtyard with Tour de France playing on a big screen. On a 31C humid day, this was a much needed break.

The flavours are somewhat limited and not overly exciting. Hazelnut had a very mild flavour. Black Forest tasted like mild chocolate with some dried berry within it. There were some ice crystals in it too. Acceptable within the conditions albeit far from the best.

On the evening of England's World Cup demise, I took advantage of the quieter restaurant scene to eat at Lokhandwala and take advantage of a 50% off food deal. I had been craving curry and this was no ordinary curry house, which made it a little more exciting.

It didn't start off too well with my choice of drink the Holi (ginger tequila, mezcal, white chocolate, lime, cinnamon) being unavailable. How good does it sound? Instead I opted for the Star of India £12 which was a decent fruity gin drink but really none too distinct.

- Pata ata chaat (crispy spinach leaves served with sweet yoghurt & tamarind chutney) £5.5 - really excellent dish of fried leaves and chickpeas with the contrast of coriander sauce, yoghurt and sour tamarind;
- Lamb chops (marinated for 24 hours with spices, cooked in tandoor) £12 - remarkably tender even though cooked a bit too much until there was little pinkness. Had a nice spiced coating;
- Kurkure okra £3.5 - better than Dishoom's version. Crispy, flavoursome, great;
- Baked neeli (mussels cooked in lemon coriander butter) £9 - 4 good sized greenlip mussels tasted as expected from the description;
- Goan crab (baked crab cooked with ginger, garlic, chilli, cheese) £14 - a gratinated crab (with the occasional speck of shell - forgivable) that was quite good and moderate flavour. Ended up eating it by the spoonful;
- Chicken chettinad (cooked With 18 Different Spices) £13 - unfortunately the lobster curry wasn't available. The waiter recommended this as a stronger flavoured curry but the taste disappointed and was quite generic. The large pieces of chicken were cooked well though;
- Garlic naan £4 - expensive (at full price) and didn't have enough garlic flavour;
- Lokhandwala roti £4 - I'm not sure what the Lokhandwala part refers too. It was a whole wheat bread and so more dense as expected. There didn't seem to be anything else done to it to distinguish it from other Indian roti;
- Rice pudding creme brulee - can't remember the name but it was a cold dish with a thin crispened topshell.

Overall it was an adequate meal although despite it being marketed as Indian "tapas", I can't say there was overly many distinguishing features for the dishes. The prices are on the expensive side (at full price) and I don't think I saw enough to choose this over my other favourite curry houses.

Far from the rustic bike-carrying sports pub in Mile End (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/rusty-bike-london-07-2017), the King's Cross equivalent is a small curry house that plays a random assortment of audio - from ethnic music, to western music, to some kind of commentary on discrimination. Odd.

Luckily the food is reasonably priced and actually pretty good.

- Tandoori platter £6.95 for 1 - green chicken tikka, lamb tikka, tandoori king prawn (best piece of the lot), sheek kebab, fish tikka;
- I can't remember which lamb curry it was precisely. I'll have to ask next time. But it was a good one. And it would have been helpful to know it is served with rice already;
- Vegetable biryani £6.95 - chickpea masala;

Naan is quite expensive at £2.25 minimum (£2.75 for a garlic naan) though.

It won't replace Needoo, but for a local place it is a good substitute.

Summer is here and rooftops are aplenty. Savage Garden at the top of the Double Tree by Hilton hotel isn't the finest view in the city, but it's still a good view of the Tower of London and Tower Hill - and that really isn't bad at all. With 50% off food and 25% off (the still expensive) drinks, there was probably no other occasion I would find myself here.

- Plantain chips
- Charred octopus (fennel, orange chermoula, toasted kasha)
- Pork tomahawk (black pudding fries, salsa verde)
- Fried chicken sliders
- Coconut beef short ribs (savageslaw)
- Whole seabass (samphire)
- Beef sliders
- Calamari fried (served on a pineapple top)
- Doughballs with caramel and jam syringes

The food was good overall with nothing outstanding. The octopus was tender, the pork was excellently cooked and had a simple pork and salt flavour, and the beef rib had a tender Asian slant.

I don't think I'll be back. But it was nice to be in that area for a change.

Sunday Sessions is a new concept from Hoppers where people sit in the tiny restaurant with all the tables turned into long communal ones. You are encouraged to socialise with the other lunchers due to the intentional seating arrangements designed to keep parties together but not enclosed off. I suppose that's a good thing, although does make it more difficult to catch up with the people you intended to.

Nonetheless it simulates a family occasion and we were there for 3 hours, making it the world's longest lunch too!

The menu was exciting for me, because the duck heart chukka is the dish that made me adore Hoppers on my first visit (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hoppers-london-06-2016) and since they removed it, curry life hasn't been the same.

- Appalams, vinegar, podi - their version of salt and vinegar crisps. Not quite the same but alright;
- Duck hearts, chicken livers, yoghurt, chutney - the curry wasn't as strongly flavoured as I remember, and sadly I didn't get any heart pieces. The liver was strong though;
- Banana leaf mackerel - not enough lettuce and salsa for the amount of fish, but otherwise a nice mesh of textures and flavours;
- Whole roasted black pork belly - delicious and tender meat and fat easily torn away with a tamarind sauce and crackling. Very good indeed;
- Cabbage poriyal - refreshing slaw. Had to ask for more;
- Roasted curried sweet potato - dusted with some curry spices;
- Coconut rolls - I really liked these deceivingly plain looking rolls. There was only a hint of coconut sweetness in it, but it was enough;
- Chocolate biscuit pudding, burnt genever banana cream - like tiramisu and the genever alcohol was also served to those who wanted it.

For £30pp inclusive of food and tips, it was a good value meal and I honestly don't think all the dishes were finished anywhere in the restaurant. They also made it clear that if we wanted any more of any dish, we could easily ask (as we did for the cabbage poriyal, although the waitress seemed surprised when we asked).

I'd go back again for the food. I'm not sure if I'd go back for the social aspect (as that's less what I prefer to do). Having said that, £30pp will get you quite a lot of food from the normal menu too. So I'll definitely be back again for something...

Another week, another new opening this time in the cool area of Shoreditch. Interestingly I couldn't get a booking via email but there was still one online. And the restaurant wasn't completely full either on this Friday night. Strange.

Nonetheless it's a well oiled machine with good service from a variety of staff who are pleasant and banter too.

The location in Shoreditch proper was a nice change as it seems few open here with soft discounts.

- Noir de bigorre ham £6 - nicely cured and quite tasty similar to jamon. Texture was soft and not very chewy at all (unlike jamon);
- Cherrystone clam, Sichuan oil, coriander £9 - let's be honest, it was delicious. But £9 for one clam (at full price)?;
- Oyster flamed £3.7 - a delicious oyster with a tiny amount of wood smoke with a little crispy something I couldn't place;
- Wild bass, lardo, burnt kohlrabi, savoury £12.6 - excellent sashimi topped with the radish in a soy vinegar sauce;
- Smoked eel & foie gras chawanmushi £13.4 - slices of eel positioned under some crackling topping an excellent and different chawanmushi with very distinct foie gras flavour to it. Really good;
- Vegetable plate £14 - this was a big surprise with the plate having non-standard vegetables such as beans, artichoke, peppers and onions. Really good;
- Brill, carabineros, purple basil £24 - I was hoping for full carabineros but could only be satisfied with tiny slices on top of fish. It was good but for £24 was a bit disappointing;
- Tamworth, rowanberry vinegar, garum £28 - when it was served I thought it was undercooked. The pork was so pink. The texture was definitely of cooked pork and seemed to be slices off a whole cooked portion rather than cooking eat slice individually directly on the heat. The flavour was pure pork. It was incredible. Likely the best pork of my life;
- Hispi cabbage, pork fat, xo £5 - burnt cabbage with fat and xo sauce adding lots of flavour;
- Salt caramel & East India sherry tart, cardamom icecream £8 - a very sweet and soft tart slice but the star was the (melting too fast) icecream rich in cardamom spice;
- Green Sichuan pepper pannacotta, sweet cicely icecream, strawberry £6 - the pannacotta had a clear Sichuan flavour to it without any of the heat or numbingness. It was unique and delicious. I don't really know what cicely is and have just read it is chervil/myrrh - not sure what the flavour was particularly;
- Rhum baba, smoked pineapple, black treacle, yogurt sorbet £7 - a taffy cake soaked in strong rum that could have used an ignite. Still good.

This was a very good meal indeeed. The raw seafoods and woodfired dishes all that excellent flavours and cooking techniques. Some just seem too overpriced particularly the clams (including the identically priced razorclams). The beef looked particularly excellent and should have taken advantage of that discount too (although my stomach could not have fit any more).

I've never tried cuisine from Azerbaijan but I do like Georgian food and as neighbours there was a good chance I'd like it too. It was empty during a weekday lunchtime and the special of a lamb kebab for £5.8 (normally £8.95) was a good reason.

They fired up the coals and freshly cooked the lamb. After 15 mins the dish arrived as cubes of lamb, mildly flavoured rice, a roasted tomato, salad and some plain bread. The lamb was fantastic. Firmly cooked through but tender, and spiced with a marinade of chilli, onion, tomato are other things I'll have to discern the next time.

Other than the char items, there's some other dishes like khingali and borsch I want.

I'll be back. Maybe one day I'll visit that part of the world even.

A new branch of an Australian cuisine restaurant opened in Soho. Taking advantage of the location and 50% soft opening were surprisingly few people on a Sunday evening. Maybe there's limited interest in what Australian cuisine is. To be honest after living there for over 30 years, I'm often not so sure myself. There's the international cuisine aspect (particularly with modern use of Asian ingredients) and the pub food, which are both represented in the menu. Although other than the parmigiana, I wouldn't have read the menu blindly and guessed the cuisine was Australian.

The drinks menu is equally interesting with a variety of gins from around the world (although many of them were not available) and some creative cocktails.

Prices listed are full price (and I paid 50%).

- Beetroot, raspberry, goats curd tartlet £3;
- Beef shin cigarillos £7.6 - rare seared beef enclosing a great collection of herbs and greens. Beef shin isn't the standard cut of beef that would be seared and served rare so it was a little chewy but otherwise good;
- Sea bream ceviche, avocado, tigers milk, nori, crunchy corn £9.8 - nicely balanced and not very sour;
- Fire roasted aubergine, crispy rice, tahini, cavlo nero £8.8 - soft chewy wilted aubergine with a nice spiced sauce; 
- Tuna steak 200g £14.4 - quite well cooked and topped with a parsley sauce;
- 30 day ribeye 300g £7.5/100g - a really excellent cut of meat cooked beautifully rare to order and fantastically tender;
- Giant chicken parmigiana (for 2) £30 - it wasn't bad to be fair. The coating was crisp and the flavours were there. The chicken was reasonably tender. Strangely it didn't seem giant. Even the waiter thought it was a single serve, then checked with the kitchen who confirmed it was the giant one. It was charged as a single £19.5 after the waiter's misinterpretation;
- Yogurt pavlova £7.8;
- Vegan chocolate cake £6 - really nice dark chocolate cake that wasn't overly sweet.

Overall the meal was very good. Even though a few interesting things weren't available (Byron bhel puri - perhaps named after Byron Bay) there was plenty to choose from and plenty of good dishes.

However the parmigiana for £30 was certainly not giant and I do find it difficult to justify the full price for that size.