Eat Like Ushi

Rounding out the trio, I visited Shoryu for an early weekend dinner. The menu is certainly more extensive than Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu, offering a greater deal of ramen types and starters compared with the other two. I suppose this is good for variety, but only if the main ramen focus was maintained up to scratch.

Some of the reviews of Shoryu have been mixed. The most frequent complaint is the excessive heavy-handed wasabi in the Wasabi Tonkotsu to the point of it being inedible. I would never have ordered that anyway, but it's good to know.

- Matcha latte - sweet green tea latte, which London has been missing;
- Char siu Tonkotsu (rich tonkotsu pork broth with bbq pork, nitamago egg, kikurage mushrooms, beansprouts, spring onion, sesame, ginger & nori) - a generous serve beautifully presented and satisfying, but seemed to lack the deep rich flavour found in Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu;
- Chicken kara age - simply cooked, needed more seasoning;
- Pork belly Hirata Bun (steamed buns filled with shoryu spicy meat, greens & kewpie mayo) - quite an unimpressive version with heavy bun, ugly lettuce and only a thin slice of pork belly.

I'd come back to Shoryu only if other people wanted to come here to try it and/or eat the side dishes. It isn't bad, I just feel BD and Tonkotsu are better. Shoryu does have a more extensive drinks (including alcohol and the abovementioned Matcha latte) so maybe that might tip you one evening.

Next time I would order the Char siu Tonkotsu for a safe dish, or branch out creatively to Dracula Tonkotsu (deep roasted tones from caramelised black garlic mayu, balsamic vinegar and garlic chips), Sapporo Miso (miso pork broth, bbq pork, nitamago, nori, sweet corn, seasoned beansprouts and spring onion) or maybe just their simpler signature Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu (tonkotsu & miso broth with added spinach & garlic).

The triad of London's ramen has arrived with many people debating which is the best of them - Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu or Shoryu. I greatly enjoyed Bone Daddies, with friends telling my Tonkotsu had better kara age but not as good ramen. There is no better reason to try it than to form a healthy debatable opinion.

- chicken karaage (horrible photo) - simple flavours, although I felt the chicken pieces had a bit too much fat layer;
- pork gyoza (horrible photo) - simple, juicy, nice;
- Tonkotsu ramen (rich, sea salt-based pork stock and thin noodles topped with slices of melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, half a seasoned soft-boiled egg, menma, bean sprouts and spring onions) - generous amount of beautiful fatty broth with excellent toppings;
- Mochi icecream (yuzu, salted caramel, black sesame) - chewy, cold interiors, sweet to finish.

I liked the Tonkotsu ramen better than Bone Daddies, but not the karaage. People will disagree.

Next time I would order Tonkotsu ramen again - no need to mess with the winning original and namesake formula. For a change, Tokyo ramen with lighter broth of chicken & pork with soy would be worth trying.

Hakkasan is often rated the world's best Chinese restaurant outside of China/HK. It's the only one (Hakkasan Mayfair) outside at least that ever features in the San Pellegrino list last year just scraping through at #100 in 2012 (and #60 in 2011).

Unfortunately I haven't found anyone with the time and dedicated bank balance to accompany me there to try their £130 signature banquet. Gladly the restaurant group opened HKK in 2012, as a more degustation menu, and from recent reviews is thought to be better value for money than the mothership.

8-course lunch costs a reasonable £48, while a 15-course for lunch or dinner is £95. There is no tasting menu listed on the website, so I assume it changes slightly quite frequently.

- Bai hua prawn (no photo) - 
- Dim sum trilogy - lobster siu mai topped with caviar, fried daikon, vegetable & mushroom. The brush is to paint on soy sauce.
- Poulet de Bresse & ginseng soup with silken beancurd - healing chicken & ginseng soup with goji berries, radish and flowers. Good for my sinuses;
- Cherry wood roasted Peking duck - a wonderfully cooked Peking duck, crispy skin and a tasty layer of fat that sits underneath it. Served with hoisin and a little sugar;
- Gai-lan, shimeji mushroom & lily bulb in XO sauce - tasty vegetable intermission;
- Jasmine tea smoked Wagyu beef with water chestnut - amazing soft delicious beef and an equally phenomenal sticky rice ball;
- Mandarin jelly with pandan sorbet & jasmine meringue - great in combination. Pandan sorbet was my favourite component;
- Pineapple fritter, salted lime jelly, vanilla icecream - kataifi pastry delicately surrounding a warm sweet pineapple core. Excellent.

Next time I would order the 15-course tasting menu. The a la carte items also sound worth trying, and using ingredients like crab, lobster, scallops, abalone and pork belly, you'd expect as much. On to Hakkasan next time.

The burger craze hit London. After the opening of MEATliquor and franchises, every food van and American company was suddenly announcing new venues. Not many of them are located in 5 star hotels in Knightsbridge and so it seemed reasonable to see if paying all that extra for a gourmet burger was worth it.

Although the burgers read like a dream of ingredients (BB - beef patty, foie gras, red-wine braised short ribs, truffle, frisee, horseradish mayonnaise, confit tomato, black onion seed bun; Piggie - beef patty, BBQ pulled pork, green chili mayonnaise, bibb lettuce, red cabbage slaw, cheddar bun), the sheer number and differing items made it difficult to appreciate. In fact, the much simpler green chilli cheeseburger at MEATliquor gave me distinct quality flavours, more enjoyment and at 1/2 to 1/3 the price.

The thick medium rare patties at Boulud were welcome but it seemed hard to justify the price in the end (especially when no sides are included).

My preference lies in MEATliquor and Tommi's.

My favourite London food place of 2012 had to be Pitt Cue Co. Neil Rankin was the ex-head chef of Pitt Cue Co before moving on to other ventures. His latest was moving into the bar John Salt in Angel. Although the menu didn't seem to feature the complete meat focus of Pitt Cue Co, it looked like a great reason to try for a special occasion in February.

Their is a large bar downstairs for casual stragglers and a more formal dining area upstairs for bookings.

- Raw beef, pear, sesame - cubes of nice chewy beef and pear with an Asian inspiration;
- Cod, foie gras, tempura, blood orange - perfectly cooked cod complemented well by tart blood orange. Couldn't detect any foie gras;
- Crab & fennel on pork skin - salty crisp pork skin was a bit too powerful to eat with the salad of crab meat, fennel, dill;
- Mussels - unfortunately small meat but cooked in a delicious orange spicy sauce of white wine and nduja (a southern Italian pork spread);
- Pork hash - pork belly, shoulder and shin, crispy fried potatoes, egg yolk. Beautiful flavour and textures in all ingredients;
- Skirt steak with kimchi hollandaise - beautifully tender medium-rare beef cutting easily, a rich spicy kimchi sauce of magic;
- Aged dripping frites with pulled pork, kimchi, cheese - not the best fries themselves, but topped nicely with pork slivers, cheese, spice;
- Keveral salad - raw greens, nothing more, nothing less;

After the feast above for 3, dessert was tempting. We only ordered the trifle, but as it was a busy night we were complemented another for the wait.

- The banana dog - squishy banner, an incredibly sweet caramel coating and some refreshing ice-cream;
- Old fashioned trifle - sweet cream topping blood orange, meringue pieces and sprinkles.

Next time I would order with my focus on the mails. For me the Pork Hash and Skirt Steak were easily the best two dishes, and the Mussel sauce equally great. I imagine the Rib for 2 would be fantastic - just like every meat dish from Pitt Cue Co.

I wanted to eat somewhere nearby home and new. My first choice was sadly closed for the Christmas season so wandered down the road and came across a name I remember reading on the hot-dinners website so decided to wander inside.

Lupita is a Mexican chain with a new branch in Spitalfields. It isn't in the main market area, but further down along the quieter parts of Commercial Street, which possibly partially explains why it wasn't particularly busy.

- Horchata - I like this Mexican drink, although I felt they added too much cinnamon that it formed chunks;
- Tostada de Atun Intramar (yellowfin tuna slices on a crispy corn tortilla with caramelized onions, avocado, chipotle sauce & lime) - tuna had been cured for so long it had cooked through. The combination of avocado, chipotle & lime was adequate;
- Taco Carnitas (Mexican-barbecued pork with cheese) - basic-flavoured pork with the cheese adding no flavour;
- Huitlacoche (Aztec 'truffle' served as a taco) - recommended as an unusual mushroom dish, which did have a few nice earthy flavours but nothing I'd consider special.

The place itself looks a bit too much like a school cafeteria. The wait staff are excellent however.

Next time I would order from Boho Mexica instead - excellent Mexican food, not far down the same road, lovely evening atmosphere.

A newcomer to the London food scene in 2012 was based upon American-style barbecue ribs. I can't think of any other place here that specialises in these and they were a welcome addition to the options on my list. It still took me 6 months to get here but I'm glad I did.

As they have a no-reservations policy, both times I've gone mid-afternoon and thus not needed to wait at all for a single lonesome seat upstairs at the bar.

The menu concept is simple - select a meat and a side and decide if you are hungry enough for extras.

I've always liked pork ribs more than beef ribs since I had them at The Slanted Door, but the waitress on my first visit thought the Beef Ribs was better. There were tasty but chewier meat than I expected for something cooked on the bone. I left satisfied but expecting something more.

Luckily on my second I followed my instincts and order Pork Ribs. The meat was tender, delicious and a pleasure to chew through - much preferred to than the Beef Ribs. Being greedy I also ordered the Hot Rib Tips which are the end bits of the pork ribs deep fried with chilli sauce. They were similarly fantastic with even more flavour to the meat and sauce than the ribs themselves.

Both times I ordered the side of Green Chilli Slaw which is a great combination of red cabbage, Spanish onion, green chilli and some kind of orange crispy rice that contrasts well with the dense meat flavours. Sliced green pickles were also provided but the bread slice was pretty average.

Both times I drank the awarded Cornish Orchards Cider which was too big for me to finish on my own during an early afternoon but would be great for socialising.

Next time I would order either Pork Ribs or Smoked Beef Brisket with Green Chilli Slaw. Hot Rib Tips are great and so you could get these instead of the Pork Ribs and have an alternative main instead.

2013

I returned a few times in 2013. The food remains good, although I was consistently disappointed to find that the hot rib tips had been removed, pork ribs were no longer available, and often beef ribs weren't on the menu or had run out. Smoked featherblade became a regular feature as were some lesser known cuts. All were still good but I miss the items that made them famous and made me think of them as my #1 favourite place to eat in London.

Looking for a dinner close to home that was untested had few options. Luckily with the thriving food options of Shoreditch and Spitalfields, there is always something available. Androuet is a dedicated specialty cheese shop in Spitalfields market that happens to have a dining menu that makes use of their products.

It might seem excessive to have an entire meal based on cheese, especially when I'm not the biggest fan, but worth trying once.

- Bleu des Cousses (blue), Gratte Palille (soft), St Nectaire (medium hard), Trufflew with white truffle honey with Caramelised Walnuts with Honey & Thyme, Caramelised Onion Chutney - a selection of cheeses from their store. Trufflew was a sweet favourite. Other comments were that the blue wasn't as strong as expected;
- Selection of Nibbles (parmesan & cardamom crisps, croquette with brie & prosciutto, Welsh rarebit with Westcombe cheddar) - Welsh rarebit was my favourite dish with aged cheddar melted on baguette. The croquette was smooth and rich also.
- Selection of Charcuterie (guinea fowl & cepes terrine, speck, rillette, saucisson de Montagne, pickles) - meaty terrine and a spreadable flaky rillette were the choices from this platter;
- Chorizo Iberico - simple, straight forward;
- Androuet Cheese Burger (29 days aged beef, bacon, Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese, hand cut chips) - unexpectedly the chips were some of the best I've had as crispy perfectly shaped rectangles with good salt and crispy outsides. The burger was a good medium rare to order but the cheese wasn't very strong amongst the other elements;
- Camembert baked with Almonds, Honey & Pears - an intense dish of molten cheese, incredibly strong with some honey to balance out the flavour. Not a dish to ever have on your own;
- Androuet Tartiflette (layers of potatoes, bacon, onion, cream topped with rich Reblochon cheese from Monsieur Paccard) - a baking dish of potatoes topped with cheese & bacon sitting in oil and a cheese rind on top. Again a bit too heavy on cheese.

Other than the burger, I enjoyed the starters most. The mains do seem to be suited toward cheese fanatics who can eat large amount of it in one sitting, much like a fondue. For the rest of us, I think stick to the less intense dishes.

Next time I would order Welsh rarebit, Croquettes and Selection of Charcuterie to start, Cheese Burger for main, and an additional order of hand cooked chips. Only if you are in a group that likes fondue would I ever suggest considering any of the heavy cheese mains.

The variety of Shoreditch restaurants has Eyre Brothers representing in Spanish and Portugeuse flavour. The menu items sound fantastic with a great selection of ingredients and mixes. We sampled some of the following on our evening:

- Grilled Chorizo, Lentil & Parsley Salad with Sherry Vinegar;
- Salchichon Iberico (with Globe Artichoke, Broad Bean & Chive Salad);
- Pressed Madeira & Porto marinated Duck Foie Gras (with Chive Oil & Toasted Almonds);
- Grilled Mozambique Tiger Prawns Piri-Piri (with Pilaf Rice, Cucumber, Coriander & Sherry Vinegar);
- Grilled Fillet of Acorn-Fed Iberico Pig (marinated with Pimenton, Thyme & Garlic) served with Patatas Pobres (Oven Potatoes with Green Peppers, Onions, Garlic & White Wine);
- Beef Sirloin with Vegetables;
- Hake & Clams;
- Farofia (Portugeuse poached Meringue with Vanilla Custard & Fresh Raspberries);
- Three Spanish Cheeses with Quince Membrillo & Walnut Bread - mix of pasteurised and unpasteurised ewe's and goat's milk cheeses. Strong.

All of the dishes were fine, with the Fillet of Iberico Pig being the best of the lot. But it wasn't a meal that sticks in my memory to particularly recommend.

The River Cafe has a long reputation for fine Italian food in London. Much of it is probably due to the cooking careers of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but it did feature in the World's Top 100 restaurants for 2 years.

The one reason I hadn't tried it previously is simply that it is expensive, even by London standards. The menu is seasonal and changes daily making it slightly more difficult to prepare yourself for favourites, although there are supposedly signature dishes such as wild mushroom risotto, fish smoked in the restaurant's wood stove and chocolate nemesis.

The daily menu on this occasion had treats such as:

- Capesante in Padella (Seared Scottish Scallops with Fresh Cannellini, Cherry Tomatoes, Marjoram & Capers) - well seasoned scallops, slightly rare in the middle;
- Calamari ai Ferri (Chargrilled Squid with Fresh Red Chilli & Rocket) - soft tasty simple;
- Fegato in Padella (Calves Liver seared with Capers & Sage with Mixed Leaves, Roast Pumpkin & Speck) - mild crisp outside and firm jelly-like texture and a very powerful liver flavour, a little too much for me;
- Branzino al Forno (Wild Sea Bass roasted in Lunae Vermentino with Potatoes & Fresh Porcini al Forno & Salsa Verde) - fish smoked in their wood oven with the texture and flavour great;
- Panna Cotta with Grappa & Raspberries - vanilla pod panna cotta with a *strong* alcohol topping;
- Chocolate Nemesis - a rich chocolate mousse in the shape of a cake slice.

Not cheap but very tasty. I can certainly appreciate the quality of produce and cooking here. Save it for a special occasion meal and a nice walk along the Thames to and from.

Next time I would order more mainstream dishes and not get so creative as to think I can eat a large plate of Calves Liver. All the dishes are well executed.