Eat Like Ushi

I've been very disappointed previously looking for Vietnamese food in London. From the expensive banh mi at Broadway market, the doable but average places near Old Street, to more serviceable but only open for lunch places in business areas, Vietnamese just hasn't been done well (or cheaply) here yet. Since my last UK living experience, I've spent a year living in Footscray - one of the key Vietnamese restaurant and localities in Melbourne. Even though London will never be as cheap, there's hope it may one day be as good.

There was a 25% off food deal at Pho & Bun and it's location on Shaftesbury Avenue in amongst the bustle was always going to be against it. Additionally the deal requires a £20 per head spend, which is a lot for Asian street food. Nonetheless the 2 of us persevered and tried enough to justify judgement of the restaurant and also qualify for the discount. It wasn't automatically applied - it had to be asked for even though my booking stated it. I think they were amazed someone had actually made the £20pp limit.

A lot of the Tripadvisor criticism is that the staff are Spanish. Yes they are, but the cooks are old Vietnamese men. So does that matter so much? On this occasion the staff worked hard and were friendly.

After a long while without Vietnamese food, it seemed appropriate to order and judge largely by the classics.

- Rainbow Mango Salad with Tiger Prawn £7.5 - although green papaya salad is more common, green mango is a little different and the option with prawn was more enticing than the beef papaya salad (as both noodle dishes already had beef). The nuoc mam was nicely balanced although I would prefer more of it. There was a good amount of large prawns to justify the dish;
- Pho Bo Tai £10.5 - a nice wholesome soup of the more medicinal flavour of pho. The beef was tender and although it could have used more herbs or some Thai basal, it was a good broth;
- Bun Bo Hue £9.5 - the red layer was authentic and the meaty flavour was good too. The beef was brisket here and not too fatty. It could have used much more lemongrass chilli sauce (aka sate) but I won't complain too much;
- Steamed Bao Burger (with 8 hour Belly Pork, secret soy sauce, pickled cucumber, chilli mayo) £8.5 - so this is far from traditional and very expensive for a single small bao burger. The pork is decent but you are really paying for the coolness. It was nice but I wouldn't get it again, more out of price protest than anything else. But it helped to make the £20pp total.

Overall it was a very good meal in an unexpected place. I haven't tried Cay Tre or Tay Do in 4-5 years, but this left me feeling better than my experiences there.

I don't have a lot of experience with Himalayan food so it was nice to find a place, read through the menu and see what this cuisine is based on. A little way down south of the trendy part of Shoreditch, I first missed the place as there were so many people standing around outside drinking loudly next to a construction area that I didn't realise this was the place. However upstairs led to a nice quiet intimate setting and away from the maddening crowds. Also very lucky was the fact that the upstairs is very small and yet at 7pm on a Friday summer evening I could actually get a table.

Chilly lemonade £5 was a nice housemade version without too much sugar. There was a distinct mild chilli afterheat that was welcome.

- Naga chilli beef puff £3.5 each - this seems to be the house specialty and I was a little wary after India (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/rosang-delhi-01-2015). However this was much milder and easy to eat and quite good;
- Himalayan fried chicken £10 - the chicken was well cooked, quite tender and had a nice crisp bubbly coating. Perhaps a little expensive for £10 given the amount of meat;
- Stuffed aubergine with mushroom £9.5 - a very vibrant red dish with chunky eggplant and a spicy sauce. Not the most complex in flavour but still a one. Would be better with rice next time;
- Tiffin masala lamb noodles with fried egg £15 - my favourite dish of the night with excellent noodles cooked in a cumin lamb sauce. Very reminiscent of mee goreng and Uyghur dishes. £15 is a bit much for a noodle dish but at least it's good;
- Hakka chilli paneer £11 - an indistinct dish of paneer that felt like it had replaced tofu in a typical Cantonese stirfry.

Hopefully next time I get to pick the full menu and would like to try the Kathmandu curry, Tibetan panfried whole duck leg and finish it off with the noodles, aubergine and rice. Now will be a great meal.

I've been a fan of Neil Rankin since the early Pitt Cue Co. days in Soho. That was a long time ago and whereas I feel like PCC has stagnated at the Spitalfields branch (even though I have their cookbook), NR seems to have done well. John Salt wasn't my favourite but Temper Soho sounded like an excellent choice of meats, Sunday roast and mezcal. It's still on my list.

But for now I'm happy to have been to Temper City, particularly during their soft opening with 50% off food. That ended up being a £56 saving for 4 people, which is remarkable. It's nice to be able to eat at a well reputed place without having the wait and getting a discount. Funnily enough even during this early stage the large dining area was half empty on a Saturday night. I guess people don't go to this area much on the weekends. Bad luck to them then.

The seats are arranged around the square/rectangular open kitchen complete with hanging meats next to the charcoal grill to finish them off and propel to the heights of greatness. New Delhi Sour (cinnamon smoke, bourbon, cardamom, absinthe) £12 was an expensive offering but read like a dream. It wasn't as strong as it sounds with smoke, bourbon and absinthe but the overall flavour was surprisingly mild, a little tangy sour and easy to drink.

- Mutton roll £9.5 - it's rather a fried flat croquette rather than a roll as such, but the crisp crunchy coat belies a lovely soft mutton. It's quite expensive for what you get, but it's good;
- Crab beignet £8.5 - similar to scotch eggs but with indistinct crab. Probably the only dish I didn't appreciate much;
- Korean haggis £9 - the thought of heart, liver, stomach, kidney and co. would be enough to put many off, but not me. There is a slight liver aftertaste but nothing compared to foie gras or pate. The different organs have different textures so there's contrast in it. It would be better if extra lettuce was served with it, otherwise it ends up being eaten off the spoon.

The main meals are curry plates served with soft paratha, fresh salad leaves and herbs, jhal muri, potato chaat, turmeric pickles, yoghurt & chilli sauce, peshwari dust. This results in a series of textures and flavours to create a nice set of wraps to eat the meal. The chilli peppers are grilled and served whole with seeds and pith. Consequently they are quite fiery, not to the point of pain but definite hit of searing heat.

Dry goat £17 is the classic meat that an unexpected number of people steer away from. This was a very tender set of boneless meat. Fish head £15 was shredded pieces of fish in a watery slightly more tangy base. Both of these were excellent, full of flavour and made wonderful combinations with the other ingredients.

Finally the Red curry spiced duck £26 was a beautiful sight on the table. This was an exceptionally flavoured smoked duck served with a mild red curry (although this was an Indian curry rather than the potent distinct Thai version I would normally associate with the words red curry). The duck itself was incredibly soft with a red core and one of the best I've ever had, perhaps rivalling HKK from all those years ago (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hkk-london-04-2013).

I'll definitely be planning for the Soho one to compare.

The first time I had Georgian food was in St. Petersburg (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/khochu-kharcho-st-petersburg-06-2013). Since then I've dreamt of the khachapuri yet never had the opportunity to eat it again. It was only a matter of time before I got around to the Little Georgia cafe in London to relive those memories.

The Bethnal Green outpost is very near Columbia Road flower market which makes Sunday a perfect day to visit. Surprisingly not everyone thinks the same way and so during lunch time on a lovely warm day, the cafe was quite empty. Maybe it was so warm noone wanted to be inside - also possible.

- Ajaruli Khachapuri (with egg & butter) £9 - very similar to the Turkish boat-shaped breads but this one was cheeses in the middle topped with an egg and lots of melted butter. The green condiment mix was a little bit herby and tangy for balance. But the overriding flavour was warm butter and mild cheese. It wasn't as salty/savoury as the one in Russia but nice nonetheless;
- Khinkali x4 £8.5 - beef and pork dumplings with thick dumpling skin, particularly at the top where the edges were squeezed together. It housed a tasty warm filling and meat broth with the Ajika yogurt providing some contrast.

To wash it down, very fresh berry juice and an avocado smoothie were both refreshing and delicious.

Will happily go back go borscht, the traditional khachapuri (see how that one is) and any of a series of meat dishes available.

Kiln has been on my radar since I arrived. It's one of those places that I have to make the special trek to get to knowing that there will be a queue. The first and only other time I tried was a Saturday night with a 2 hour wait. I was surprised to find that Friday early evening was only 30mins quoted (actually about 50 in the end). Maybe the summer and daylight means noone is interested at 615pm.

While waiting for space at the bar, the aromas of grilling meats and hot charcoal stewing claypots filled the air. It's a great sight to behold. Unlike Tayyabs there's no meat body or clothes odour issues to contend with afterwards.

- Aged Lamb & Cumin Skewer £2.9 - a very tender and slightly fatty piece of spiced cumin lamb. Not very salty and good for it;
- Miang of Monkfish £3.5 - a betel leaf with raw monkfish. There were plenty of textures but not nearly enough flavour. It needed more spicy, salty, sweet to it;
- Grilled Razor Clam £6.2 - one grilled razor clam for £6.2. Really? Really;
- Mackerel Dry Red Curry £7.9 - the word curry is deceiving but I suppose the word dry made up for it. The fish was nicely cooked with the flavour covered by the thin curry sauce and some moderately spicy chillis;
- Beef Heart Laap with Makhwaen £6.5 - my favourite dish with a deeply earthern beef heart minced but retaining that little bit of chewy that is so characteristic of beef heart. It should be made a bit spicier and would do well with some lettuce and herbs to eat it;
- Grilled Tamworth £8.75 - a very tender cut of pink pork with excellent flavour. The chilli dipping sauce was very mild;
- Claypot Baked Glass Noodles, Tamworth Belly & Brown Crab Meat £18 - a big bowl of noodles for a big price. The pork was very fatty and had little meat. The crab meat wasn't discernible. And there wasn't enough sauce provided for the large noodle serving. Maybe the smaller £5.75 serves are better value (looking at the sizes I wouldn't think there was more than 3 serves in the bigger one);
- Stirfried Cornish Greens & Soy £4.5 - greens with sauce.

The food was ok but overall I felt the dishes lacked punch. I like strong flavours with my Thai/SE Asian food and many of the dishes just didn't have edge to it. The prices aren't too bad once I think about removing the monkfish, exorbitant razor clam and the noodles. I'd be happier replacing them with the Burmese beef cheek curry and a lot more rice.

I'll go back once more to see.

Each day I walk or bus along Mile End Road, I go past Rusty Bike and look enviously at the signs advertising Thai food and the people sitting outside happily socialising and drinking. Even on a Tuesday night there were no outdoor tables available but luckily the inside is decorated (with bikes too) and has a variety of seating options from couches to tables.

I haven't had much Thai food in London - although Rosa's and Som Saa and the now defunct Nahm set the standard quite high.

There's a few of the menu item classics. It does focus on individual meal plates with some sharing starters rather than the typical banquet-style mains.

- Tom Kha Prawn (Thai coconut soup with lemongrass & fresh herbs) £4.95 - a good version with strong tom yum flavour. I would prefer more coconut cream and to be thicker but this was fine. There was also a generous number of prawns (about 5);
- Salt & Pepper Squid (deepfried squid with garlic, salt & pepper served with sweet chilli sauce) £5.25 - lightly battered and quite salty with good textures between the soft squid, crisp batter and crunchy fried bits;
- Pad Ke-Moo (stirfried flat rice noodles with peppercorn, paprika, chilli, green beans, red peppers, onions, holy basil leaves, fresh chillies) £7.45 - a little bit too plain for me. It was similar to a minimally flavoured version of char kuey teow;
- Duck Curry (slices of roast duck cooked in coconut milk with pineapple, cherry tomatoes, red peppers & Thai basil leaves) £9.95 - a nice flavoured red curry and but I would prefer a little more thickness or spice. There was a reasonable amount of duck too. Some duck curries use lychee and this one uses pineapple with good effect of sweet balance. The rice was a bit too wet and sticky if I'm being particular.

The food is nicely flavoured and quite good. The prices are reasonable and similar to what you would find in Chinatown. For a local neighbourhood place along the main Mile End Road next to the tube station, with an outdoor summer area and televising sports, it's very welcome.

Next time I would try any of the salads (green papaya, duck or sirloin beef) or the Chilli Lamb. Of course the Tom Kha and Duck Curry would be fine options again too.

The most anticipated restaurant for me was Red Rooster in Shoreditch. I haven't been to the mothership in Harlem, but I've read a bit online about Marcus Samuelsson when searching for Ethiopian recipes. There aren't many to find and many are quite simple, but his seem to be a little bit more professional. That isn't necessarily a good thing when recreating traditional recipes but for an amateur like me it's nice to see the recipes from someone reputable who knows how to cook well.

It surprised me that the place wasn't full and that I was able to get a booking for 8 people at 730pm on a Friday night just after it had opened. The immediate feeling is mood lighting, cosy and oozing soul with a live band warming up the atmosphere with their sultry vocals. It was a shame they didn't carry through until the end of the night as it would have been perfect just to sit and drink after the food had ended.

Marcus came to the table to say hello and I was impressed at how friendly and engaging he was. I told him about my run-in with his Ethiopian recipes and he seemed genuinely impressed that someone knew about them, let alone had cooked several of them.

Snacks
- Cornbread (with honey butter, tomato jam) £4 - the bread was quite tasty on its own and didn't really need the condiments;
- Loaded Popcorn (with bacon cracker jacks) £5
- CC's Deviled Eggs (with chicken skin aioli, duck jerky) £7

Starters
- Helga's Meatballs (bone marrow dumplings, pickled gravy, lingonberries) £9 - soft meat balanced nicely by the sweet berry flavours.

Mains
- Obama Short Ribs (marrow dumplings, succotash, steak sauce) £58 - a deliciously tender large chunk of rib meat in a savoury sauce;
- Bird Royale Feast (waffles, biscuits, mac & greens, pickles, Rooster sauce) £55 - they actually ran out of whole chicken by 8pm. I don't know how that's possible but they did. Instead it was made up by drumsticks and thighs to simulate a full amount of chicken. Not quite the same but adequate. The chicken was very mildly flavoured but at least well cooked with a crisp coating and juicy meat. It did seem a little excessive paying about £5-6 per piece of chicken;
- East End Chowder (whole grilled lobster, Manila clams, prawn, mussels, Jersey potato, rice, corn, spicy tomato broth) £62 - excellent quality pieces in a lovely seafood broth;
- Herb Roasted Chicken (sunchokes, carrots, wild mushroom, chimichurri) £20 - more quality chicken with a surprisingly mild flavour even with the chimichurri.

Sides
- Mac & Greens (cheddar, collards) - mac and cheese. Not the best I've had but pretty good with a burnt flavoured coat.

Dessert
- Summer Tartlett £7
- Red Velvet Cake £7

Drinks included the Lindy Hop Sour, Tell My Horse, Harlem Hellfighter, Rooster Juice, Whisky Sour, Five Aside, wine and beer.

Yes it was my birthday and nothing like a £400 meal to celebrate. It was very expensive and probably more expensive than it should be, even with London prices and when you factor in 12.5% service charge. Looking online now, it's nice to see they've dropped a few of the prices (Deviled Eggs to £6, Short Ribs to £55, and Bird Royale to a much more reasonable £44). I wouldn't get any of the snacks again other than maybe a cornbread if waiting. Of the starters, the meatballs were nice and the Sammy's Chicken 'n' Waffles may be better value than the Feast depending upon how many pieces of chicken you get (I assume 2). I'd happy eat any of the Signature mains as they were all excellent dishes - it really comes down to if the prices are worth it, which is another matter. But for a celebration or a splurge, then go for it.

I'll never forget my first Franco Manca pizza. I had just eaten Honest Burger at Brixton and after being only semi-whelmed, decided to get a Franco Manca pizza to takeaway home. I didn't expect to enjoy the soft doughy crust, the light ting of sourness in the crust and the overall pleasure of eating the pizza both fresh and at home later in the evening.

After that episode, I'd eaten there once (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/franco-manca-london-10-2013) as it wasn't the most convenient to get to, bought the recipe book and made his version of pizza (with yeast though because sourdough starter is impossible to buy in Australia and longwinded to make) to great success in Canberra.

It was by chance I was able to eat at one of the many many vast expansions of this place that have happened since 2013. This time was in Chiswick. It was nice to see the prices hadn't gone up too much in that time.

I ate 1.5 pizzas comprised of a special sausage/potato/chilli/mozzarella and the old favourite tomato/garlic/oregano/capers/olives/anchovies/mozzarella. The former was overall lighter in flavour with an occasional big hit of hot chilli, whereas the latter remained my favourite with the lovely salty flavours I adore in pizza. The crust was still relatively soft and spongey but didn't have any of the slight tang I recall.

Nonetheless I'll happily try again at the Brixton mothership or elsewhere. And it'll be with anchovies.

After a few drinks, there was a nice dinner booked at this fancy French place. I don't tend to go out for French food generally and it isn't one of my destination countries to eat. However it was booked by a friend to celebrate the return of a Frenchman to London, so why not?

It's a pretty expensive place and menu (not surprisingly) and honestly most of the dishes didn't inspire me too much.

Eventually I went with the Friday night special of Bouillabaisse £22. It reminded me of my trip to Marseille many years ago in 2009 and ate in all the top reputed places within a couple of days.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up with a really delicious seafood broth with fish and shells cooked to a dark flavoursome and saffron colour. The croutons and rouille weren't all that good (they didn't excite me in Marseille either) but the bread served to the table did a much better job of absorbing the soup. Maybe I've been a little harsh on French cooking but it did remind me how my favourite meals in France have been the deep hearty soups and stews like this and cassoulet.

The beverage of choice was the Screaming Viking (Ocho Blanco Tequila, Swedish Punsch, Martini Fiero, Agave & Lime) £10, a delicious tequila-based cocktail reminiscent of a great G&T.

I'm unsure if I would actively go back, but I wouldn't be so hesitant next time someone else suggested it. And that's a compliment from me when it comes to French.

This represented by 3rd visit to the Sri Lankan curry house. Once again, being by myself meant a spot at the counter immediately rather than having to wait outside with the rest.

I was very very disappointed to see the duck heart chukka had disappeared from the menu - when I asked the waitress, I was told it wasn't popular enough. These mainstream eaters with no creativity disappoint me.

Rather than go for a single main, I decided to try a series of entrees for the variety.

- Idli, Sambhar, Podi £4.5 - I was hoping the rice cakes would be similar to Korean types but they ended up being stringy vermicelli to dip in a mild sauce and chewy spices. It wasn't the most exciting and I wouldn't get it again;
- Mutton Rolls £5 - these crisp little rolls contained some chewy strips of mutton. Nice and warming.

After the first two I could probably have stopped but decided to be greedy.

- Goat Roti, Rasa £6.5 - this was a local version of murtabak, with a nice soft roti (slightly crisp but could have been moreso) with mince meat in there. The curry sauce helped add flavour and moisture to the mix.

Each of them was a little expensive for the serve (I suppose that is testament to the popularity of the place) but of the three, the goat roti is the one I would get again. However if alone, next time I would go for a main instead.