Eat Like Ushi

Far away from the maddening crowds near the promenade and beaches of Bol, lies probably the best value restaurant around. It isn't the fanciest, but if you make an effort to get there (which isn't that much effort to be honest), you'll be rewarded with good food and incredible service.

After turning up on a Monday night without a reservation, the place was very full. As a reward for being asked to wait for 5-10 minutes, we were given a shot of local cherry brandy just to ease the pain on our standing legs. Soon after we sat in amongst the vines and tourists and locals alike.

Interestingly there's a salad bar which includes unlimited amounts and refills. It isn't fancy stuff with tomatoes, cucumber and cabbage, but it's better than having to order it additionally since the main meat/fish dishes in Croatia tend to come with no accompaniments. Additionally you get a free side. I actually thought they said you get unlimited free sides, although I didn't test it and maybe I heard incorrectly.

- Fish soup 30kn - was a disappointment with barely any fish not a particular strong fish flavour;
- Riblja plata "Mendula" 500g for 170kn - the fish was soft and simple, and the squid had a good char flavour to it. I'm not a big fan of scampi (waste of time to me) but it was alright. For the sides, croquettes were smooth but nothing special. The grilled vegetables were very good.
- Panna cotta with fruit topping 30kn - simple and nice. They did not have the traditional dessert available.

At the end of the meal, the (very) young waiter offered us a complimentary drink. Rakia? Sure. After we tried it and didn't palate it well, he offered a different one. I think it was a sherry like drink (maybe walnut alcohol) and it eased everything down smoothly. After 3 free shots and a drink with dinner, it was a warm relaxing wander back home.

It isn't the best or most creative food, but it's decent and good value. And the service is truly excellent (not that I go somewhere for that, but it doesn't hurt with 3 free drinks...)

We were looking to end the hot afternoon in Split with an icecream before going to Bol. We figured there had to be a decent one near the promenade. And yes we saw lots of the them with their fluoro colours and large advertising. Thanks to Google Maps however this one came up as close and so I had a target.

Gelato was nice but both flavours melded together. We should have asked for multiple cones as it was charged 9kn per scoop regardless.

One flavour was the pear & ginger and the other coconut. I'd go back, but have separate cones or at least different colours...

It's been a good many years since I first visited Spiza (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/villa-spiza-split-07-2013). The years gone by means that this September was busier than the July I went last time. It's a cute tiny place, and there is outdoor seating but I like the indoors and being in the action.

It was only a small meal before boarding the ferry to Bol. With bread, it was just enough for two.

- Fish soup 35kn - very very fishy with chunks of flesh;
- Fried prawns 70kn - crisp flavoursome prawns perfect to be eaten whole.

Similar to last time (even though I didn't record my thoughts on that blog post), the food was decent but didn't overwhelm me as much as I hoped from the reputation and reviews. I can hardly complain, but I'll probably try different places the next time in Split.

After arriving quite late into Split (waiting an eternity for the airport bus to turn up), after checking into the tiny Airbnb, we wanted nothing more than a fast local (and for me seafood) meal. I didn't have anywhere in the vicinity particularly marked, but Lucac was around the corner from the Airbnb and after walking past it on the way to the Airbnb it held some good marks just from first impression.

It wasn't very busy inside but there were bits of tourists around. The staff (unlike on some reviews I read) were very pleasant albeit not the most attentive (but I'm not to be over-waited upon).

- Swordfish "Roman style" (slow cooked wine & fruit sauce, pepper & zucchini polenta, decoration cream, spices) 98kn - the fish was heavily cooked until shrunken but still reasonably soft. Tomato sauce with polenta. Very Italian hence the name;
- Mixed Adriatic clams & mussels on "buzara way" (clams, wine, olive oil, garlic) 140kn - as everywhere in this region, the mussels still had their beards. The real highlight was the warty venus and other clams that were really excellent, meaty and flavoursome. The sauce had loads of garlic and white wine sauce to mop up with bread.

A local tavern off the main parts of Split and close to my Airbnb. Could not have asked for a better start to the trip.

New in the King's Cross block is Happy Face pizza. It's a venture from the Spiritland people around the corner with their insanely expensive sound system. Similarly Happy Face has a pretty good system itself with clear sounds from very funky looking speakers strategically around the venue.

During this 50% soft opening, it did seem they were struggling to keep up with the pizza pace. It took 45mins for our entree and pizzas to arrive, but the table next to us only waited about 10 and therefore we ate at the same time. Go figure.

In any case that's what a soft opening is about. They didn't have milkshakes or chinottos or another drink I asked for, so just water then.

They also ran out of calamari fritti and so we were relegated to zucchini friti £6. Having said that these thin zucchini fries were crisp and delicious and strongly salted so basically replaced normal fries (and our sodium levels). It's quite a small thing for that price (and the wait) and we were so hungry by then. The pizzas are surprisingly simple in their toppings. The dough is chewy with some burnt and very puffy crust parts. Pepperoni £9 and Parmagiana £10 were both alright but too sparse. Particularly the Pepperoni where there was much crust not covered by cheese, tomato or meat. It was a bit disappointing in that sense to be eating plain crust (and I really like a good salty chewy crust).

It was nice to try, but won't be replacing their down-the-road rival Franco Manca for me.

Although there's many a fried chicken place, I haven't found any that compares to my beloved Belle's Hot Chicken (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/belles-hot-chicken-melbourne-02-2016). Nowhere I've found so far does the same degree of spice coating. They actually moreso rely on sauce.

Nonetheless Butchies in Shoreditch was on my list as a fried chicken to be reckoned with and I took the Franksgiving special (combined with Frank's hot sauce) as a reason to visit.

The fried chicken is surprisingly mild in flavour with the meat not heavily seasoned or salty at all. The batter is very crisp and fluffy with a little excess coating. The meat is very good and the wings are large in size. I tried their Wingfest winning Kimchi Honey-Butter version which was alright, but I much preferred the unusual sauce of the Franksgiving with cranberry and hot sauce. It was excellent.

The mini sliders had a great bread to chicken ratio with each chicken tender expanding well outside the boundaries. Similarly these pieces were crisp and juicy. Sweet potato were well fried and well seasoned.

I'll look forward to comparing them to Jollibee and Chick'n'Sours.

 A Sunday roast in Shoreditch. I definitely like the decor with paintings of classic English females adorning the walls.

The roast is pretty good. It's at the rather expensive end at £19.5 for beef and so I'd probably go to Blacklock instead (given I could even get a spot there).

In the heart of theatre district, I'd systematically tried a few places. TOZI is a highly rated Italian offering of Venetian background.

The food is excellent, from the mini pizzas, pastas, aubergine parmagiana and others. The sharing dishes do sound the best but are at a much higher price point.

Overall not a cheap meal as the servings are small (even though the prices aren't too bad).

But it's very tasty.

In King's Cross they had an icecream exhibition. It seems pretty expensive to pay £12 just to walk around and read about icecream. I couldn't justify the entry price but took advantage of the Conehenge stand in the entrance.

If nothing else, the flavours are certainly unique (and expensive).

I tried the daffodil and the cardamom & vanilla flavours. Both were ok. Texture was reasonable, not all that creamy though. The cardamom could have used a stronger cardamom flavour.

Not my favourite place but adequate for a hot summer day.

After trying Black Roe several months ago to test out their new menu (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/black-roe-london-02-2018), once again they offered another special to try this updated one.

The service is a little haphazard and confused. For instance even though I booked for the Hot Dinners set menu for £50pp, they seemed not to notice this when I arrived (until I pointed it out). Additionally I had an email with the menu below. They said "whole lobster" which should indicate one lobster per person, but this was not the case (I was too full anyway to be fair). The email also specifically stated two cocktails per person, which was a mistake on their part (as it's meant to be one each they said). Even with this in writing from them, it took a higher manager to rectify this and only after a few complaints about it.

Oh well.

- Spicy tuna taco (diced raw tuna, corn, and spicy lemon dressing);
- Kurtistown oysters (maui onion salsa) - fat oysters complimented by a tangy relish. Not as good as Ezard's oyster shooters (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ezard-melbourne-10-2012), but close;
- Waikiki tuna tataki (spicy pineapple salsa);
- Grilled scallops (maitake mushroom, green curry broth) - very flavoursome and creamy;
- Shumai gyoza (chicken and beef dumpling, cherry hoisin);
- Island chicken satay (coconut, shiitake mushroom, coriander) - this was actually exceptional. Tender chicken with a really good crisp skin and topped with satay sauce;
- Beef & black bean (slow cooked in a black bean beef jus);
- Whole lobster “Mac ‘N’ Cheese” - as mentioned previously I was expecting a whole lobster each but only got one to share. Worse than this was that the actual lobster itself had minimal meat and a lot of mac. I wonder where all the meat has gone?;
- Chef’s Dessert - fruit and churros.

Even at half price, £50pp is a lot. I don't think this menu is worth £100 at full price, even with one £12 drink and half a lobster of that quality. It is a large quantity of food and you definitely won't leave hungry. But I'd think twice before going again.