Eat Like Ushi

A new addition to the Soho scene and a very unique one. I was lucky enough to visit during the soft opening 30% off bill (including drinks). More than anything else, the intriguing menu ingredients of unusual meats and combinations is what drew me in. There is Asian, game, and a little weirdness. But it's different and although expensive (at full price) for small tapas plates, it's quite unique in town.

Smokey eyes £12 had a good balance of whiskey, sweetness from the plum wine, a mild chilli and smoke that made it taste like a mild (but good) mezcal. I liked it.

- Complimentary taster of Inari tempura pocket, coconut sambal, piccalilli;
- Zebra loin tataki, charred grapes, popcorn, sake cured egg, sriracha jelly, orange blossom labneh £12.9 - a smooth tender (surprisingly) less intense flavour than beef tataki, more reminiscent of mild horse (which kind of makes sense). Really good. The sriracha jelly was a new concept in a chilly and chilli form;
- Samphire & watermelon som tam, chilli, garlic, palm sugar, lime, crushed peanuts £6.9 - unusual version using samphire to add the saltiness where fish sauce would normally be. Creative and refreshing;
- 8 hour braised wagyu beef ribs, beetroot & kizami wasabi siu mai, smoked, bone marrow & garlic aioli £14.9 - I expected beef ribs with siu mai separately but instead received the most expensive and most divine dumplings filled with tender moist beef;
- Jungle curry, minced ostrich loin, aromatic lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, Thai chillis £12.9 - it could have been any mince meat in the very mild curry. Tasted ok but not strong enough. I wouldn't order it again;
- Singapore chilli lobster, birds eye chilli, palm sugar, lemongras, coriander, ginger (half) £15.9 - the lobster was a bit too sweet and the texture of it was mushy and soft. I wouldn't order it again;
- Deepfried banana spring roll, caramel wafers, icecream - the roll had the most divine crisp shell. Honestly I can't even remember if it was a banana filling the shell was so good. The other elements added more sweetness and textures.

I would gladly go back again. There's still the kangaroo (although less exciting an ingredient for me), miso lamb chops, a steamed fish (updated menu) and jackfruit curry. Keep up the creativity.

Macaroon wrapping around icecream. The macaroon is alright, the hojicha icecream was great. In the end probably sharing one between two is enough.

I've been to Broadway Market so many times and always eaten at the stalls, so much now that I don't eat at them and go to Netil instead. However on this occasion a friend led me (non-market day) to a Spanish brunch for a change.

What can I say - I've been missing out all this time.

Berenjena Asada con Marquez (roasted aubergine with tahini lemon & sumac, soft boiled egg, lemon gremolata, grilled Moroccan lamb marquez, with a side wholemeal flatbread) £9.5 was really excellent with all the flavours and textures coming together - smokey, spicy, tangy, grilled, delicious.

They also have shakshuka and Turkish egg dish that sounds great.

I'll be back.

Sichuan food comes to King's Cross. Ok so there's already Chillicool (Sichuan) and Yipin (Hunan) in the area for competition. I did think the mapo tofu at Kaki was better - and this was probably the only dish for comparison. I didn't take a lot of photos but managed to sample a lot of dishes. The chilli is numbing but not too hot (given the amount of chilli that is displayed in some dishes) although the rice is needed to offset some of the flavour and heat.

They offer a 20% discount for cash (offset slightly by 10% service charge, but better than 12.5% I suppose...)

I would re-order the dry fried lamb chops, mapo tofu and green beans. Soft shell crab was quite good too.

Fish came with an incredible amount of chillies and oil, with the soup/oil moderately spicy and very numbing. It was good but the amount of fish wasn't too significant. Aubergine was ok.

Pork ribs, winter melon soup, morning glory, dan dan noodles were all standard and nothing too special. Lamb skewers were northern China cumin style, but I felt lacked enough salt and cumin punch.

After enjoying the fries and chicken at Temple of Hackney, it was pleasing to see the other branch nearby between KX and Camden. When you walk along the river promenade, it is impossible not to smell the fried deliciousness wafting out of the building.

The "chicken" strips were expertly fried with a crisp coating. It doesn't have the texture or flavour of chicken, but it has fried tastiness in it. The burgers were also good, with my preference definitely going to the "beef" with some kind of deep tomato flavour.

Next time I'd go the double, with beef burger and chicken strips. And fries if I could fit it all in.

London's highest rated restaurant The Clove Club has opened a new place in Shoreditch. Two Lights (not sure where the name came from) doesn't look like anything too unusual from the outside, but the food inside tells another story. I was lucky enough to book the soft opening and get 50% off. It was the most decadent lunch I've eaten in a long time.

- Crab on beef fat chips £4.25 - I expected a bowl of chips topped with crab, similar to a type of chilli fries. Instead it was a chip of layers fried potato topped with crab and shredded elderflower. The potato, beef fat, crab and sour topping was an excellent combination. I could eat a whole bowl of those;
- Roast artichoke & sunflower seed miso £11.5 - it reminds me of the burnt cauliflower at Shawarma Bar (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/shawarma-bar-london-08-2018), and instead is a kind of collection of artichoke chips that you can peel and dip into the (surprisingly mild, maybe a little too mild) dip and chew off the soft end. Then inside is the soft roasted root of the vegetable to eat in chunks. A slow and relaxing way to eat;
- Roasted ray wing with dill pickle butter £20.5 - I haven't eaten stringray since Malaysia years ago so this was a good surprise. The ray was so soft and expertly cooked to slide off the thin finger bones. The butter sauce was quite classic and married well;
- Grilled shortribs, beetroots & pickled walnuts £22.5 - soft ribs sliced easily and required minimal chewing. The dehydrated then rehydrated beetroots provided a bit of sweetness. I couldn't really detect any walnuts;
- Custard tart & smoked caramel £8 - perhaps a little disappointing, the custard was quite thick and firm. The caramel had a smokiness and was topped with salt crystals.

Overall an excellent meal with quality cooking. We sat at the window counter watching the strange strangers of Shoreditch pass by.

On a lovely end-of-summer's bank holiday Monday, it was surprisingly difficult to find open restaurants to visit for lunch. Luckily a walk to the Barbican centre meant a route past Exmouth Market and both Morito and Shawarma Bar were open. I'm a big fan of souvlaki, shawarma, döner and all the like. My partner less so - but with a "gourmet" and middle eastern spin, it was easy to convince.

Unlike the nights of queues, there was space on this glorious day probably because the majority of London was sleeping off the alcohol and festivals.

- Iraqi hummus with fried aubergine, amba, boiled egg £7.5 - the hummus plate was beautifully set in colours with the clear highlights being the crisp fried salty aubergine slices (sadly I wanted more than just 2) and the smooth intense chickpea flavour bursting through the hummus. The added extras were nice for balance but I suppose there so the dish could be standalone;
- Lamb shawarma plate with harissa, sumac, onion, pickles £17.5 - I have to admit the amount of lamb for the price was a bit underwhelming. But it was tender and mildly flavoured, certainly not intense as I had hoped. The salad bits and chunky thick very spicy harissa were the bases for an excellent pita sandwich;
- Cauliflower shawarma side with tahini, rose, pomegranate £5.5 - the blackened surface gave a little apprehension but even though it did have a slightly char flavour to begin with, it blended nicely with the overall roasted flavour and the tahini, parsley and sweet rose and pomegranate.

Great flavours, textures, colours and combinations. I really enjoyed this meal and hope to visit Berber & Q (and get the cookbook) soon.

The new Gunpowder restaurant in Tower Bridge is a welcome addition considering the Shoreditch original has been on my list for a while. The setting is beautiful given the tall buildings, offstreet alley with majestic walls rising on both sides, and the view of tower bridge at the end for a nice walk after dinner.

During this 50% soft opening period, the service was a bit haphazard. The waitress didn't really know the food well - the thought the pork ribs was for only 1 rib, didn't know what a shrikhand was, and didn't know much about the drinks available. It took a little while to get attention (which is what soft openings are for) but once ordered, the food came out very very quickly.

- Porzhi okra fries £6 - better than Dishoom by a distance. Thin, reasonably crisp but coated in a great flavour of spices;
- Gunpowder aloo chaat £6 - potatoes with yoghurt and dressing. Not bad but could have used more spices on the potatoes;
- Spicy venison & vermicelli doughnut with fennel & chilli chutney £5 - delicious fried ball with crisp batter and warming mince meat inside;
- Chettinad pulled duck served with homemade oothappam £5 per piece - a disappointing dish with strange dry bread that cracked and broke when trying to handle (and so the duck fell out) with meat that didn't have any special flavour;
- Maa's kashmiri lamb chops £7.5 per piece - silly expensive (if full price) but a wonderfully soft and most ridiculously tender lamb chop coated in a spiced seasoning that didn't have/need much salt. Better than Dishoom and Tayyabs;
- Nagaland house crispy pork ribs with tamarind kachumber £9 - I thought Nagaland may mean naga spicy but it wasn't. The sauce was a little sour and a bit sweet and was cooked reasonably, but overall just didn't do much for me. Maybe it was because the lamb chops were eaten right beforehand;
- Karwari soft shell crab £9 - excellent texture and flavour with the lime cutting through the fry nicely;
- Saag with tandoori paneer £12 - expensive for 3 pieces of cheese in mild spinach sauce;
- Steamed rice with Gunpowder butter £3.5 - the waitress recommended Aunty Sulu's rabbit pulao but then told us unfortunately they had run out of serves. This inferior alternative was a large serve for 2-3, although one had a decent amount of butter and the other too little. I didn't feel the butter added much to the dish since it was eaten with strong curry;
- Old monk rum pudding £7 - there wasn't much rum to taste in the dense base and the icecream was vanilla. The extra shot of rum £2 would have been good;
- Dark chocolate & cinnamon with passionfruit shrikhand £7 - dense smooth heavy chocolate slab with some kind of nougat on top.

I really enjoyed the meal, with the caveats above. I'd really want to get those lamb chops again but full price just seems a bit too much. I'll have to seek out the cookbook now to make it myself. But overall would match Dishoom in my eyes.

A middle eastern meal awaited at Sarona. They had a 50% special which was lucky because otherwise I wouldn't have known about it. But I'm glad I went because the food was overall delicious and I'd even go back and pay full price. There were a couple of misses but choosing selectively now would be much easier.

- Heritage tomato salad, creme fraiche, fresh oregano £8;
- Fried cauliflower, tahini, sumak £8;
- Hummus masabacha £7 - chickpeas topped with chickpeas;
- Burnt aubergine, tahini & date syrup £8 - very nice too;
- Labneh with zaatar £4 - probably not needed with the other assorted mayo and dips. But cheap;
- Lamb arayes, tahini & harissa £8 - easily my favourite dish. Warm delicious earthy lamb in a (slightly too) crisp pastry shell;
- Prawn kebab, organic lettuce, harissa mayo £14 - a little disappointing with the prawns overcooked and tough;
- Chicken pargit, labneh, tomato seeds £12 - also disappointing with the chicken flat and dry;
- Tahini icecream £8 - I like black sesame icecream and now I also like white sesame icecream;
- Panna cotta, pistachios, date syrup £7 - good flavour but the panna cotta was too solid and had a gel layer on top as though left in the fridge for too long uncovered.

It was served with puffy warm flatbread to soak up and combine the dishes.

Overall very good indeed.