Eat Like Ushi

Some students took me to a pizza place in Plaza Mayor. Usually eating in a plaza would be a bad idea given that's how tourist traps work. However at least this place was a mixture of enticing and some imaginative interior design. It's a pizzeria and a cerveceria meaning night may be even more atmospheric.

Pizzas are shown in the window but different ones are available inside. They are about 22-27€/kg which works out to be about 3-4€ for a 140gram slice that they approximate, which makes 10€ per lunch or so. Of course you can ask for mas o menos or try more range.

The best part is that before serving, they put it in an oven/grill which crispens the oily base and also melts and chars the toppings, particularly the cheese. It's an excellent method and one I will now adopt to home cooking.

I tried 6 types of pizza in 2 sittings and all were good. My favourite would have to be one with zucchini and provolone with anchovy running through it - excellent flavour. Others include in that same photo pumpkin/panceta and cherry tomato/basil, and in the second photo mushoom/pesto/tomato, 4 cheese and anchovies/mozzarella/red peppers.

Of the pizzas I've sampled from Australia, London, Italy, NYC and Argentina, I'd probably say it resembles deepdish NYC or Argentina the closest. Very impressed.

For my last meal out in Salamanca, I finally went to the one place that was on my list. Tapas 3.0 is supposedly some new rendition tapas with both a bar and a sit down setting. It is more expensive than the other tapas places in town designed for students, but I wanted to treat myself to one meal. And at €3.5-6 per tapa, that really isn't much.

I wanted somewhere to have the local Morucha beef so was hoping it would surface.

- Canelon de rabo de vaca, boletus €6 - they didn't have truffle so I was happy to pay less to not have them. The pasta wasn't aldente but that's ok. It had a good chewy texture with shredded ox tail and a heavy mushroom sauce. A little expensive for 1 pasta but it was good;
- Patatas bravas €3.5 - I'm not sure how they received the accolade of Top 10 in Spain but it seemed worthy to try. They were ok, crisp with quite light seasoning. I've definitely had better ones around (that probably aren't the other 9 in that list). The mayo wasn't necessary but tradition and the chilli sauce could have used a stronger hit and flavour;
- Burger de ternera, cheddar y mayonesa de chipotles €5 - I was excited at how thick the patty was for what would be a slider. It was sensationally rare, juicy with an unusual flavour. Unlike the salty American burgers, this showcased the pure meat flavour with a slight sweetness (similar to the jamon pork aftertaste). It was one of the finest patties I've had and unique.

I couldn't decide between the burger and rice. The waitress said the burger is very good. She was right. I left happy.

There was 2 long hours to wait in Madrid T1. There weren't many food options without being able to go through security or change terminals. In the end the only option was Mahoudrid which at least also has a large sitdown area.

It wasn't a particularly Spanish introduction but the burger and potatoes were unexpectedly good. The burger was without asking cooked with a soft medium rare centre and the potatoes were crisp and seasoned. As part of the meal deal they let me change my drink for a bottle of water (with a higher cost) which served me for the next 2 weeks. Gracias.

Chicken Shop isn't a particularly exciting name. There are so many chicken shops in Whitechapel already but I suppose having a rotisserie one over charcoal is at least different to the fried chicken others. This place looks a lot more hipster with mood lighting, shared tables and also having Dirty Burger in the same premises. Having said that nearly everyone was eating the chicken.

It's not the cheapest but the chicken is tender and mildly and simply seasoned. The fries are good and crisp. Coleslaw is standard and needed for balance.

Of the sauces, the hot sauce is probably the best and not too hot (even though they warned me). French's mustard is good for all this type of food and the smokey sauce was more akin to a BBQ sauce.

It provides a different chicken and is close to home. I'll be back and looking forward to drinks too.

I don't eat steak that much any more. I tend to prefer slowcooked cuts more. Part of me also thinks I can cook a decent steak at home just buy purchasing from an excellent quality source. My last steak meal was exceptional (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/don-julio-buenos-aires-11-2016) and maybe it isn't right to compare as Don Julio is one of the top restaurants in the world. Nonetheless you can't change your experiences and although Hawksmoor does have good quality food, it just isn't the same.

I've had two previous experiences at Hawksmoor, first for steak where none were cooked correctly (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hawksmoor-spitalfields-london-042012) and secondly a better experience in the downstairs bistro at Spitalfields where pigs head poutin was the go-to-dish.

This evening I saw the elegant beauty of the Guildhall. It really is a stunning interior. One of the special rib eyes (served without bone) was about 650g and cooked rare as ordered. Obviously it means the outsides were medium to medium-rare but that suited my dining partner. The meat was quite tender and seasoned. The anchovy sauce recommended wasn't strong enough for my liking.

Accompaniments were beef dripping fries £4.5 (very well cooked), mac & cheese £5.5 (not bad but nothing special) and English lettuce & herb salad £4 (lettuce with some herbs).

The meal was fine but for £65 (and £50 for the meat) I just expected more. I think it reinforced the reason I don't frequent steakhouses anymore.

To celebrate the month of March and Cook for Syria, Chick 'n' Sours have advertised a giant new burger. I haven't had the chance to try their fried chicken but the whole fried Sunday special looks like a definite winner for next time. What's impressive visually is just how much crispy surface area the bird appears to have, something only KFC seem to do. What's different is the coating of chilli (and other) sauce that it gets served with. Next time.

The Machonacho burger £14 is very expensive for a burger. It reminds me of Bar Boulud prices back in 2013 that I remarked about (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bar-boulud-london-03-2013). Given the £10 offering at Bleeker St (which is incredibly good mind you...), it's funny how times and prices have changed so quickly to keep up with the gastro demand and the fashionable queues in London these days.

Anyway back to the burger, I'll admit it is a big unit. It's served on a cold (not sure why...) bun, with a crisp chicken thigh, kimchi cheese (I've read, although I think the waitress said gochujang - whichever it is, the cheese and sauce is creamy, a little tangy and otherwise very mild), Vietnamese salad (could use more herbs to really stamp the flavour). The chicken seems to be minimally seasoned, with the batter not really having much flavour. Perhaps it is used more as a vessel for the chicken and sauces. Either way the meat is good quality but I would prefer stronger tones in each element.

I'm still very keen to try the fried whole bird. Let's see how that goes.

I don't think I've really walked through Mayfair before. So many times I've been close along Regent or Oxford Streets, but that corner I've always associated with the last blue tile for $400 on the Monopoly board. Not to mention afterwards I wandered down Saville Row knowing I can't afford anything there.

Anyway it is British Pie Week and all lists have The Windmill in it. They also make sure to mention their award winning pie status. And yes, I joined their pie club expectantly. For Mayfair, I was rather pleasantly surprised that the venue was a sports pub, showing rugby and a more civilised clientele than the typical sporting pubs. Maybe in the evenings or in bigger matches that might change. I suppose the £14 pie price makes it a certain type of person who would go there anyway.

The award winning Steak & Kidney pie came with mash (recommended over the fries for a bit of extra moisture in the meal). I was tempted to get another side of salad but the lovely waitress told me it would be enough food without it. The pie is excellent. The most exceptional part is the suet pastry crust, of which I recently learnt suet is animal fat. The pastry is a complex mix of crisp but not flaky, on the contrary it's chewy. It didn't have the real buttery texture or flavour of pastry I'm used to liking in Australia. This was different and really really good. I may have enjoyed the pastry more than the filling. It was a reasonable quality beef (not the most tender but fine) with some mushrooms and kidney pieces with that unmistakable visceral taste.

To finish things off, I was awarded a mini Chivas Regal to celebrate pie week.

I'll be back for the pies, specifically the pastry with whatever filling takes my fancy at the time.

To celebrate British Pie Week, I read quite a lot of articles on the best pies in London. There were numerous contenders, mostly leading to The Windmill, but many others had their accolades too. It's surprising how much a pie costs around here - I suppose it's a far cry from the old AFL footy Four'n'Twenty ones. It isn't common at all to get pies as a sit down main in Australia (maybe at a pub with peas and mash) but I've always preferred them from bakeries with their exquisite skills in buttery pastry.

But when in London during British Pie Week, fork out for a pie. And fork out I did at the remarkably fancy looking Holborn Dining Room. The scene and setting is beautiful - there's no doubt about that. A continuous series of taxis and chauffeurs bring diners or hotel guests back to the safety of this compound.

Unfortunately what I was most looking forward to was the craft pie menu they have online, particularly the multi-pork version with 4 different cuts. However there were no special pies available, only the standard menu Curried Mutton Pie with mango salsa £19. It's a very high price for a pie with no sides. They told me each one is made to order. I suppose that adds a bit of price to it.

The pie is quite nice with a thick-ish pastry that is more on the crisp side than the chewy. The pastry wasn't overly rich or buttery. The filling was a very mild flavoured but reasonable quality cut of lamb, with an also mild curry sauce. The mango gives a bit of sweet contrast. Overall it was nice but nothing too special.

The other items tried were the Chicken Salad (with avocado & smoked bacon) £10 (ie. a fancy person's caesar), a Mac & Cheese that lacked the strong umami cheese flavour that it desperately needs, and an excellent umami Truffle & Parmesan Fries £6 that really made up for the weaker flavours in the other things.

The setting is lovely, the service is really exceptional and attentive, and I can't doubt that the cooking skill is there. But I'd much prefer to spend that amount of money elsewhere for the amount of pure flavour the food had.

This review is for the Aldgate branch that currently doesn't have its own Zomato entry.

I think I've finally found it. I've had two Middle Eastern dreams over the past 3 years. One is the incredible 25cent falafels I had in a tiny hole-in-the-wall in Amman, Jordan back in 2009. It was the first time (well, second after a street vendor somewhere around there) I had a freshly fried crisp falafel crushed in a pita and so pleasurable. The next was at the now closed Shoreditch pop-up of Yalla Yalla (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/yalla-yalla-london-02-2013-03-2013-05-2013-10-2013). Since then I've tried but failed to find an equivalent falafel. Until now.

Pilpel has excellent reviews for the best falafel in London. After trying it, I can't disagree.

The recipe is an Israeli one from many (many, many) years ago. At £5.80, it probably is the cheapest and best quality lunch available in London. Vegetarian also - chickpeas, salad, pita. The falafels are an exquisite combination of seasoned crisp dark sesame coatings and green slightly chunky blended insides. The humous, large pita and salad complement it well. I also got smoked aubergine but it wasn't necessary in the end.

I'd definitely prefer much more yoghurt sauce and chilli sauce with stronger impact to balance out the salty falafel and fresh salad. But it's a very good start.

I distinctly remember going to the original Homeslice in Covent Garden a couple of weeks after it opened back in 2013. I hadn't tried the foodtruck before, but sometimes you just feel like a 20" pizza to yourself.

In my opinion the pizza quality itself wasn't in the realm of Franco Manca, but what they did have was an excellent creative bunch of toppings that was quite left field. Back in 2013 it was a half bone marrow/spring onion/watercress and half pork belly/chimichurri/smoked onions.

This time is was a half chorizo/corn/coriander and half xo pigs cheek/collard greens/crackling furikake. The 20" size and thin floppy crust means that each 1/8th slice is easiest eaten almost folded over into triangular sandwich. The toppings are nice and a little sparse for the size. The crust is reasonable but without much intrinsic chewiness and salt to it.

It still looks mighty impressive. Even though the toppings are different, I can't say I enjoy them more than the standards or even standard gourmet pizza toppings. I'll wait to go back to Franco Manca to pass my judgement first, but I can't see Homeslice being my go-to pizza place in London.