Eat Like Ushi

I'm resigned to the fact that I'll never rediscover where some of these places I ate in China are, simply because they have no English names and I would only know if I retraced my steps (not impossible given my Lonely Planet China that I relied upon).

After crossing a very rickety bridge in Guilin to look for a breakfast, and being confused by an elderly man not happy about my presence (and no such eatery to be found), I went back to the town and wandered through an indoor passageway that happened to include a noodle place. This was my first encounter with Guilin mifen and sadly it has been my last too.

The noodles were assembled by a lady adding bits and pieces including soy beans, pork and some kind of broth and the result was a very savoury tasty noodle dish with a tiny bit of soup served in a simple metal bowl.

I haven't found any recipes for mifen online (in English at least) since searching periodically in 2010, including Chinese cookbooks that I've come across. Although it seems there may be a few starting to surface online now...

It's been a long while since I tasted the full nutty deliciousness of buckwheat galettes in Brittany. I remember the best of the lot in Dinard (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/creperie-cote-mer-dinard-06-2017) and my favourite overall in Perros-Guirec (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ty-breizh-perros-guirec-06-2017). One of the issues I did have in Brittany was that nearly every creperie offered identical galettes, and finding a version that had seafood (other than St. Jacques scallops) was near impossible. I suppose it makes sense that the traditional versions would be sold in all of these traditional places that serve traditional customers.

I was delighted to discover a St. Malo-inspired place was opening in Shoreditch and even happier that they had a 50% soft opening. Looking at the menu prices, they aren't much different to their Brittany counterparts, and this is despite London/Shoreditch rental prices, a nicer more sophisticated atmosphere, and very attentive service. Of course the Breton cider is much more expensive and a 750mL of Brut was £13 rather than about €5 (but that's at a store, not in a restaurant I suppose too).

I brought a friend from Brittany (as well as 2 others) along to experience this place firsthand with me and pass judgement. I am happy to say that he was able to move beyond strict traditions and enjoy the food for what it was - excellent cooking and ingredients with finer presentation to give a modern flair to tradition.

- Roscoff Onion Tart (poached egg, cider hollandaise) £8 - soft pastry, sweet onion with a soft-poached egg;
- Buckwheat Goat's Cheese Croquettes (roasted heritage beetroot, kasha seeds, honey & thyme dressing) £7 - like croquettes/falafels but with a firm crisp buckwheat coating and descending into mild melted goat cheese. It was good without being great;
- Slow cooked Ox Cheek in Red Wine (confit baby onions, heritage carrot, buckwheat polenta, crispy kale) £12 - it may seem strange (both then and now) to order not a galette in a classic galette place but I decided to see what buckwheat polenta was all about. It's exactly as it sounds - a pale white gelatinous mash that had a discernible taste of buckwheat to it. The cheek was tender and the kale very flavoursome;
- Confit Duck Leg Galette (braised red cabbage, caramelised pear, tenderstem broccoli, red wine jus) £14 - an excellent tender duck leg in its own right served with a rolled up galette that had been wonderfully charred on the outside bringing out maximal buckwheat flavour and crisp texture. It housed the braised cabbage to provide a sour balance to the nutty galette and the salty duck.

My friends had the Morteau sausage and cider braised pork cheek galettes which were served in the more traditional flattened style. In both, the galette was slightly lighter brown than the duck leg roll, but had plenty of good buckwheat flavour with burnt butter.

The galettes were the stars of the show for me, as anticipated. As good as the buckwheat polenta, I would have to go for the galette again. The smoked ham (duck egg, maple cured bacon, comte cheese) sounds like the basic (and cheapest) and classic version to get next time. And those desserts - crepes or the dark chocolate delice has to be tried too. Particularly the delice has dark chocolate, cherries and pistachios - my 3 favourite dessert ingredients as well as buckwheat pushed in there.

There's a farm with cheap homemade food which on this day was chilli beans on rice (limited menu variety but at least tastes alright), a very small carpark market selling grilled sausages and some produce, and the opportunity to play with and feed some farm animals.

So much fun to be had!

Antonio Carluccio has been a face of Italian cooking for me not because I've watched his TV shows or eaten at his restaurants, but moreso because I've looked through a few of his cookbooks when finding a smaller version of Marcella Hazan to use. After his death it had been on my list of places to try so luck had it that a friend suggested it for a Christmas meal after visiting NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

There was a special menu for the festive season. With 2 courses for £17.95 or 3 for £20.95. 3 courses for lunch seemed excessive although I wanted to squeeze in the panettone but just couldn't do it...

- Plin in Brodo (traditional dish from Piedmont. Pinched pasta stuffed with beef & pork served in chicken broth);
- Crostini al Funghi (mushrooms & kale sauteed with garlic & chilli served on toasted ciabatta);
- Lobster & Crab Lasagna (lobster, crab, crayfish with layers of spinach, ricotta & tomato sauce, topped with garlic & herb breadcrumbs).

All dishes were very tasty and of good quality. To top things off, the staff gave us a buy 1 main, get 1 free card to use to jolly in 2018. I guess I'll be back soon!

Targa Green is a lovely little cafe off the main region of Roman Road. I think the owners are Moroccan, cook great Middle Eastern and speak French to each other. They are very friendly and encouraging on the weekend buffets. £13 is a moderate price for a brunch for just food but the variety and quality makes it worthwhile. And the matcha latte is good too!

There's soup, roasted vegetables, fattoush, strong hummus, vine leaves, tabbouleh and delicious lamb koftes (which are cold but they microwave upon request).

Perfect for a lazy weekend brunch when you have a lot of time to think about life.

This was an exciting night because I had tickets to the opening preview of Hamilton (how lucky I was to get those). After eating at A. Wong a few weeks earlier, something cheaper and more casual was in order. There's a few places in the area and this Korean one looked interesting and had good reviews. Additionally it would only be the second Korean place I've tried in London, the first in 2013 somewhere around Tottenham Court Road.

They've got all the classics - mandu, japchae, bibimbap, tteokbokki and chicken. What more could one want?

- Chicken katsu (deepfried crispy chicken with sweet & sour sauce) £7.5 - nicely fried and juicy chicken pieces in a mild sweet sauce. I generally prefer my KFC more on the chilli side so it's a shame they didn't offer that;
- Seafood bibimbap £9.9 and Beef bibimbap £9.9 - both were served in the hot stonepots but for some reason they couldn't have been more different. The seafood had a lot less flavour and none of the rice crisped up on the bottom. The beef had reasonable flavour but had a good amount of rice crusted there. And with both dishes we didn't touch the bottom rice for a while to enable it to do so. It was quite strange. The gochuchang sauce is very mild in chilli and so I added quite a lot of really coat the dish red.

I know it's already in theatre district but I'm sure Hamilton will improve their business for years to come. And so it should because this place is pretty good. The bibimbap will have me coming back when I'm due to see Wicked next (or Hamilton again).

Bad Egg is Neil Rankin's move away from smoke to eggs. But it's a lot more than that. The menu seems to be heavily dedicated to Korean spice, various hashes and lots of cheese.

Harissa Lamb Hash (crispy potato, pulled lamb, harissa, leeks, cheese & a fried egg) £10.5 was a heavy flavoursome way to start the day and tasted a bit like barbecue lamb had come to breakfast. The cheese sauce was thick and lifted it into coronary territory.

I don't find myself often in that area (too many suits) but I'd happily go back there with a bigger appetite (and belly).

I've actually been to The Morgan Arms ever since the first day I arrived in Mile End/Bow when the poor state of the flat meant we had to leave for several hours so it could be cleaned. On that ridiculous 35C (or so) day, sitting inside was stiflingly humid but at least it was respite from the sun.

I haven't had the chance to go on quiz night Wednesday or live music Thursday, but I have been able to play a mostly intact game of Monopoly Manchester edition and see Cards Against Humanity strewn about.

The food is generally good without being great. It is definitely a step above the other pubs in the area that I've tried. For that reason they also charge more than the other pubs too. The service varies but generally food takes between 30-60mins to arrive.

- Marmite glazed aubergines, baba ganoush, crispy tomato corn bread, tempura fried sage £7.5 - two halves of a tiny aubergine and the corn bread is a flattened hard rock of fried something. Wouldn't get it again;
- Smoked ham hock scotch egg, Bramley apple sauce £5;
- IPA battered haddock, thick-cut chips, mushy peas, chunky tartare sauce £13.5 - good fish, whole salt flakes enhancing the flavour on top with reasonably crisp chips. Once the peas were thick and chunky, the other time watery and not impressive;
- Ginger curried cod, coconut & cumin sauce, toasted cashews nuts, coriander, green beans, red quinoa "rice" £16 - good fish with discernible ginger flavour in the mild curry.

It's not the best around (I'd have to test The Marksman in Hackney not too far away to compare) but it's adequate for the area.

I've been back for Sunday roast which was my first (and only) for 2017. I wanted to go somewhere more well known but laziness meant proximity was the blessing.

Roast half chicken £16 was quite tender and flavoursome whereas the roast beef £17 was quite small, cooked medium-rare but chewy and not that good. Additionally the Yorkshire puddings were burnt and tasted as such. I wouldn't go back for that.

Up near the bridges and next to a big carpark, many a yuppie, their dog and their young family attend this drinking hole for a weekend lunch. It serves pizza and although the bases are crisp Middle Eastern flatbread rather than your standard doughy base, the creative toppings make up for it.

- Middle Eastern Lamb (tomato reduction base, mozzarella, fresh spinach, marinated lamb mince, parmesan, pine nuts, fresh chopped mint, chilli flakes) £12 - probably my favourite with good earthy flavours and textures roaming throughout;
- Proscuitto & Rocket (mozzarella, oven semi-dried cherry tomatoes, parmesan, vincotto, proscuitto, rocket) £11 - perhaps a little less on the creative side for toppings but standard and good;
- Kashmiri Dahl (mozzarella, fresh spinach, dahl, cumin, chilli flakes, crispy shallots, mango chutney, Greek yoghurt, fresh banana slices, fresh coriander) £12 - the weirdest and most creative pizza had a nice spiced element but I have to admit the sweet banana was a bit further along the strange spectrum on this pizza.

I'm not sure if I'll specifically go back to the area as there isn't much else for me there. The bases didn't thrill me even though the toppings did moreso.

Hopscotch reminds me of drinking in Canberra but it's also a drinking and dining venue along the north section of Brick Lane. It's a quiet area on weekdays and indeed despite the advertisement for 50% off food, there were very few people enjoying its wares. It's unfortunate because the food is very good - and an absolute bargain at half price.

Note that the menu in the front window has prices that are generally £1-2 less than the current pricing on the menu.

- Green peppercorn crab (pickled daikon, coriander, crispy shallot) £11 - juicy crabmeat had been pulled out for us. So spoilt;
- Seared scallops (charred corn, fennel & garlic sausage, chilli butter) £11 - two sizeable scallops with some sausage and on salad;
- Smoked goat flatbread (tamarind, bitter melon, bacon fat gravy, fermented chilli) £9 - smokey, warm and middle Eastern;
- Beef shortrib (masterstock, horseradish, butter-pickled onion) £11;
- Grilled hispi cabbage (miso butter, parmesan, togarashi) £4 - could cabbage be made any more umami? I don't think so. Delicious.

The food is good, the drinks Brick Lane Swizzle (dark rum, banana falernum, lime) £9 is good; I hope they have another 50% off deal. If not, I may end up that way anyway...