Eat Like Ushi

I've been meaning to try Blacklock Sunday roast for a very long time. In fact, I actually had two previous bookings which I cancelled a few days beforehand due to other circumstances. Neither time did I feel bad, because I know someone else will pick up the booking. On the most recent occasion, I cancelled the Soho booking because I got a Shoreditch reservation for the same Sunday. Given the Shoreditch branch is newer and was offering a free round of drinks (as compensation for being one of the 4000(?) who couldn't get a soft launch booking), it seemed the better idea.

It's actually located on a relatively quiet street in Shoreditch near Tramshed, and on a Sunday lunch time there certainly wasn't anyone else around who wasn't going to the restaurant.

The roast menu is quite straightforward. The lamb belly ribs and pigs head do sound delicious, but luckily we didn't order them simply because the roasts were plenty enough for a large meal.

I tried both the 55 day aged beef rump £18 (first picture) and the Cornish lamb leg £17 (second picture). I was curious about the all-in but already ate pork the night before. I did see another table with a 6-person all in and the huge dump of meat and accompaniments was impressive to see.

Both the beef and lamb were expertly cooked, very pink and tender with minimal additives and seasoning. They actually do look kind of similar don't they? They just tasted like good meat. It was pretty tender too and a joy to eat. Yorkshire puddings were gladly not burnt, although didn't have that much flavour in themselves. Roast potatoes were crisp and soft on the inside. The side dish of roots and gremolata £4 was a nice dish of roasted vegetables with thyme and parsley.

Overall it was a very good roast. I'd have to say not as good as The Marksman (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/the-marksman-public-house-london-04-2018) or Harwood Arms (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/the-harwood-arms-london-10-2013). However it's cheaper and difficult to complain really.

With the new and very fancy looking Coal Drops Yard, there's many a new restaurants and other shops to explore. Business seems to be good despite the cold and dreary and often rainy weather. Most of the restaurants are from decent names and so getting to the opportunity to sample one during the 50% soft launch was lucky. Apparently there were an insane number of reservation requests (although not as many as Blacklock Shoreditch) and even though I didn't get one via email, I did on OpenTable and they were happy to honour it. Not sure how that system works, but I'll take it!

I entered from the back after taking the stairs up from Wolf x Badger clothing store. There's also a juice and health food bar on the ground floor that looks interesting. The restaurant is in a very high ceilinged warehouse and I like the industrial feel (as everything in KX these days) and am also impressed how they keep the whole place warm (must be expensive too).

The first section is cold starters and served together on a board.
- Tuna proscuitto, spring onion, lemon creme fraiche £7 - excellent fresh tuna thinly sliced;
- Octopus, seaweed, fennel £7 - standard;
- Beer bread £2 - grilled to a nice crust with soft texture underneath and perfect with the black salt butter.

The next section is skewers from the hot grill.
- Wild red prawns, hicce butter £13 - beautiful colour. The shells could have been more crisp to make them easier to eat, but didn't stop me from eating them whole with heads. The butter/oil and herbs added some contrast;
- Quail eggs, button mushroom, watercress £7 - simple and nice.

The final section is hot dishes.
- Beetroot, black garlic, grape £7 - simple. Not sure where the black garlic was, in the sauce perhaps? Couldn't really tell;
- Monkfish jerusalem artichoke, trompettes £15 - firm and juicy flesh;
- Lamb neck, mojo, tomatoes £11 - very tender and pink, a bit too salty;
- Miso potatoes £4 - firm but not as crunchy on the outsides as I had hoped.

And lastly, naturally a dessert.
- Pecan, chilli, chocolate tart, ricotta icecream £6 - very rich decadent chocolate with some candied chilli. The icecream tasted more plain/vanilla than ricotta to me.

Overall the food quality is good. The flavours seem quite standard and heavily salted. Everything was nice, although I'd have to say it wasn't unique.

I've never heard of murger I must admit. It must be some take on a burger? And yes it seems to be - meat in a steamed bun Shaanxi style. This place near Euston station was a coincidence as the never ending queue at Roti King seems to always defy me.

£5 for a pork murger is a bit too much. The bread is firm and slightly charred - not bad as such. The pork meat is not particularly spiced either. It's ok overall but not worth that price. The photo that shows 3 of them got me thinking that would be a bargain for £5, but not to be. It's only for one.

On the other hand, the Biangbiang noodles (you get 2 per dish, but they aren't ordinary noodles) with braised pork, tomato, egg sauce, chilli oil also comes with a heap of grated ginger and a slightly tangy and salty broth. It's delicious. The noodles are thick and uneven like meat from a kebab. £10.8 isn't a bad price to pay for this.

I'd come back for the noodles.

Although it wasn't Marseille, I really wanted bouillabaisse. It is apparently quite difficult to find outside Marseille, let alone a good one. Well it's lucky Le Brulot has one on the menu, and my Airbnb host recommended it. The online menu says €55 and 24h notice. Unfortunately they are closed on a Sunday and so pre-ordering for Monday night wasn't possible, as hard as I tried by an online booking (which was successful then rejected on Monday) and calling to ask. However when I arrived and saw the restaurant menu, it was now €65. Per person. €130 for 2 people. What the hell? Good thing I couldn't get it.

Drifting into the restaurant from the heavy wind and rain, it seemed to be the busiest restaurant that Monday. Everyone around was French and nearly all the tables filled up. It must be testament.

One waitress served the entire underground area with rock walls and netting and some fake plants. It was quite nice (although a little dank) under there. She worked hard and smiled.

The set menus are wonderful value, as long as you are hungry enough to get through it. The Menu Cigale €28.9 is enough food for any 1 person certainly, or you can do like the table next to us and overorder then get takeaway. The Menu Gastronomique is only if a dish you really really want features there alone €44.9.

- Cassolette d'escargots (Burgundy snails in parsley butter) x12 - delicious little beasts in parsley butter. Could have used a touch more salt;
- Soup de poissons, maison (homemade fish soup) - this is what I dreamt of. Thick bouillabaisse soup base, just without the €100 of fish. It was beautiful and warm and filling with melty cheese to stir through and a strong garlic rouille on sliced croutons. Simply magnificent. The complimentary bread served with the meal wasn't the best, but once soaked in soup became a delight;
- Granite de poire au Calvados (pear granita with Calvados) - refreshing granita with strong alcohol at the base;
- Filet de boeuf (filet of beef grilled in wood fire with Vigneron sauce) - ordered medium-rare but served rare (the way I like it). Simply seasoned and very tender. The wine sauce didn't add much in my opinion. The vegetables were stewed almost like a ratatouille. The potatoes were thin and crisp but strangely they had inflated and were like balloons and empty inside. Still good!;
- Cotes d'agneau aux herbes de Provence (lamb ribs grilled in wood fire) - lamb ribs were in fact a cutlet and a chop, magnificently soft, pink and tender and flavoured with herbs. The accompaniments were the same as the beef;
- Mesclun au chevre chaud (green salad with warm goat cheese) - by this time I was very full. The moderately strong cheese came on a slightly unnecessary piece of bread (well necessary to balance the flavour but unnecessary extra carbohydrates/food);
- Tarte aux pommes (apple pie cooked in wood fire) - sadly the wood fire dessert was a disappointment. It was cold (ie. wood fired long ago) with ok apples, but terrible base that was hard, firm and thick. Really bad;
- Chocolate cake with orange - on the other hand this one was ok, but very sweet.

Overall the meal was excellent, with only the dessert being a disappointment. Next time I would order the Cigale menu again with the soup de poissons, lamb or the excellent smelling (from the greedy next table) gratinated lasagna, and try the wood fire creme caramel.

There are a surprising number of artisanal icecreameries in the Nice old town. Unfortunately I only could try one in the short afternoon in Nice. I wanted Azzurro but who knows why they were closed on a Monday. Fenocchio was the other choice and very closeby there too.

There's an extraordinary number of flavours to match the large number of people waiting despite cold, wind and some rain.

Avocado isn't a flavour I see often and so I tried it. Unfortunately the pale colour should have informed me that it would be akin to underripe avocado, and indeed it was without a strong flavour. The pistachio underneath was better although much less potent than at Gusto in Antibes. I asked if I could sample the glowing green Tourte de Blettes (which the waiter told me was vegetarian and spinach based) but he refused and said no it wasn't possible. Really?

We also tried the a simple crepe which was texturally excellent. How do they do it...

Macarons - €1.5 each or 20 for €32. 17 different flavours but they also have icecream ones (which I didn't try).

Good texture, sweet flavours, people who know macarons better than I do have approved them.

For the one small town daytrip from Antibes, I couldn't decide where. I would have liked to go to Verdon Gorge, but the weather and distance meant that it didn't seem worth the journey. Instead we ended up in Gourdon, up some very windy roads, through some strong rain and a bit of wind, and wondering why. I wanted to eat at Au Vieux Four, but for some reason on this Sunday it was closed. Damn. In fact much of the town was closed. Hmmm.

Nonetheless wandering through we came across a decent looking menu at La Taverne Provencale. Everyone else there was French and enjoy the weekend away. I didn't get the chance to photo the inside but it was very cute and cosy with some paintings, a large vase and very colourful furniture.

- House-farmed trout with almonds, meuniere, steamed potatoes €17 - panfried fish nicely cooked and very simply seasoned with a tiny bit of salt and some butter;
- Coq au vin "Specialiste Maison" €26 - this badboy was served in a crockery pot and dished steaming onto a plate. The chicken had lived in the thick red wine sauce for a while and both were full of flavour. The chicken itself was reasonably tender although a bit overcooked and dried in parts. However adding sauce onto the flesh fixed it. It was served with some outstanding bread that crackled as you picked it up;
- Fig tart - served at room temperature with fig bits and pastry. Adequate without being great.

I'd happily eat here again. Although if open I'd definitely want to try AVF...

I read about pissaladiere being famous from Nice and Veziano serving the best in the region. It has olives and anchovies - it sounds like a pizza dream almost. I couldn't wait.

Sadly I don't understand the hype. Veziano serve a round full version or smaller square slices, but ultimately both looked the same in terms of ingredients. I had the round one for €5.6 and it was served to me cold (they didn't offer to heat it for me). But I put it in the oven at home anyway to simulate how I imagine it is supposed to be eaten fresh. 

It is an average thickness pizza or thin focacia type base, topped with a lot of caramelised onions (not bad) and some olives containing seeds (really??). No anchovies either. 

Is this really the best one? South France I'm disappointed. You need to find a signature pastry closer to the Kouign Amann.

Despite the windy cool breeze, 19C and some patches of sun meant that an early afternoon gelato was needed. Gusto was well reputed, although the nearby Del Porto (closed when I walked past) has better Google reviews.

Gusto was a really excellent gelato. The mango and pistachio were both incredibly creamy and had a certain smooth thickness. Unfortunately the pistachio did have two large ice crystals in it, but I'll have to forgive them because the texture and flavour was otherwise so good.

The market was a little smaller than expected but not tiny. Actually I expected there to be more fresh seafood on offer given the coastal location, but other than oysters, there was a limited amount of shellfish and fish available.

The largest queue in the market is for socca bread, make from chickpea flour, olive oil and salt. Indeed it is a soft savoury and very tasty flexible bread that is excellent on its own, or would be even better if combined into some kind of wrap... ideas for fusion.