Eat Like Ushi

After the wonderful fish 'n' chips experience in Brussels (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bia-mara-brussels-03-2018), I had to try the equivalent branch in London. Luckily Hook in Camden is a medium walk from King's Cross and they also happened to coincidentally have a 40% discount from Mr. Hyde. We went there one fine evening to see whether the quality would be transferred.

There's a bit more variety here and the prices are higher especially with service. Obviously the 40% accounted well for all of that.

- Hot wings with smoked applewood sauce £6 - very good wings with an excellently flavoured but only mildly hot sauce;
- Charred octopus with curried apple & fennel salad £10 - very soft and tender. I liked the salad although others felt the raw fennel taste was too strong. Not for me though!;
- Whole seabass with tamarind & lime sauce, pancakes, pickles, sambal £18 - an impressive dish of fried fish to pick apart and wrap in thin sheets with sauce and herbs. The fish wasn't the softest but it was perfectly adequate;
- Lemon & basil in tempura batter with garlic truffle sauce & seaweed salted chips £12 - I was looking forward to this so much. It was fine but nowhere as exciting as the Bia Mara version. Most disappointing were the chips that lacked the crunch (and possibly also the seaweed salt seasoning) that was so distinct;
- Jerk in panko breadcrumb with spiced mango ketchup & seaweed salted chips £12 - a smoother batter version and I think a bit too overfried;
- Peas & dulse £3.5
- Salt caramel & pretzel pie with vanilla icecream £5 - I think pretzels were crushed to form the base and it had too much salt in it. The caramel was sweet but the best bit was the icecream.

So the fish and definitely the chips were inferior to that in Brussels. But the other dishes actually made up in terms of variety. I don't think I'd go back there for full price fish 'n' chips. I'd go to Poppies instead (accepting I haven't had it since 2013 so maybe it's changed...)

On Easter Sunday it was lucky to find a place with live music and good food. Even though the event was supposedly sold out and entry at the door was £6+, getting a table reservation 30mins before attending and therefore also skipping the cover charge was brilliant.

The band was a soul group with the coolest Afro-sporting, sunnies-wearing black guy on drums, an exceptional white girl as the main singer, and a host of other white bandmates including an excellent saxophonist.

- Cajun popcorn squid (with sriracha mayo & burnt lime) £7.25 - small morsels but not that exciting;
- BBQ (beef brisket & St. Louis Pork Rib) with fries & coleslaw £15.5 - brisket was remarkably soft and tender with a little cartilage within the slices. Pork ribs were very meaty and quite well cooked but there wasn't much intrinsic flavour. The fries were straight forward, well salted and good. A third meat for the extra £2 is clearly worth the deal (I suppose unless they cut down the serving size of each meat...);
- Wings & Things (buffalo wings, BBQ pork ribs, burnt ends, sweet potato fries, dips & blue corn tortilla chips) £17 - the wings were large with a good spicy and crunchy coating - truly great. The burnt ends were soft and smothered in a sweet wet sauce and a good contrast to the drier and more savoury other meats. Sweet potato fries were not particularly salted but their own flavour therefore came through well. The pork ribs were the same as the BBQ plate except cut into small segments. The corn tortilla chips were fine for something different too.

Next time I would order the buffalo wings, burnt ends and/or brisket with or without the beef rib (although it is £4 extra) and fries. It would be an outstanding meal. However I suppose that means I'd never try any of the other dishes...

One of the benefits of moving to King's Cross is being so close to Dishoom. I still fondly remember my first visit to the Covent Garden branch and the exciting opening of the even cooler Shoreditch one (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/dishoom-london-10-2012). Even though the crowds and queues have now vastly multiplied, it's still definitely worth the visit. I can't say it's worth waiting for too long (maybe that's my impatience) so trying to get a small lunch booking is probably the easiest.

I've made it an unofficial resolution to try every dish at Dishoom this year. I don't think it will be too difficult with a few group visits. Admittedly I'm not that big on their breakfasts so would be content just with the main menu.

The trio of dips - coriander, tamarind, red chilli - are always good accompaniments. I vary between my favourite being the coriander or red chilli but that's not so important.

1st visit

- Okra fries (fine lady’s fingers for the fingers) £4.5 - okra fries with a crisp spicy coating. Not bad at all;
- Jackfruit biryani (delicious, savoury jackfruit and delicately saffron’d rice, potted and cooked with mint, coriander and sultanas) £9.5 - savoury not sweet jackfruit (akin to the vegan places using this as pulled pork) inside a drier (ie. not soaked in ghee) rice base. The flavours are lighter than the heavy biryanis at other places (and may or may not be sometimes preferred). It's a good accompaniment rather than a big standout eatalone dish in my mind;
- Lamb boti kabab (pieces of tender lamb marinated with red chilli, garlic and ginger. A top-notch Bademiya-style classic) £10.2 - decided to try this instead of the lamb chops and it was a mistake. Expensive for the amount of lamb in the dish and it wasn't overly tender either with relatively dense meat. It wasn't overly chewy to be fair, but just ordinary;
- Roomali roti (soft handkerchief-thin bread, thrown, stretched and griddled to order on an upturned tawa) £2.90 - a change from the firmer crisp naan with a softer more delicate bread. Very nice.

2nd visit

- Prawn koliwada (Bombay’s Koli fishermen Wada district recipe: a bowl of delicate, crispy morsels with tamarind and date chutney) £6.5 - small prawns fried up simply and needing the sauces to add more punch to it;
- Dishoom calamari (tiny tender squid, grainy crumb crunch, quick-fried and tossed into a bowl with Dishoom drizzle) £6.2 - small bits of calamari fried up with some spices. Simple but not overly special;
- Spicy lamb chops (they lie overnight in a special marinade of lime juice and jaggery, warm dark spices, ginger and garlic. Blackened by the grill, but juicy inside) £12.9 - 3 fat chops cooked to tender perfection with excellent flavoured crust. Expensive but outstanding;
- Murgh Malai (chicken thigh meat is steeped overnight in garlic, ginger, coriander stems and a little cream. Still slightly pink when fully cooked) £8.50 - this extremely heavily flavoured/salted dish was one I remember from the now-discontinued pomegranate and slaw salad. I suppose with the salad, the flavour is balanced out really well, whereas on its own it may be too heavy on the seasoning. The pomelo version isn't as good as pomegranate, but I'd have to order it again to add it to this post;
- Mahi tikka (in Bombay, mahi can be any fish, but this is sustainable Asian basa fillet in a subtle yoghurty marinade) £8.70 - it seemed minimally flavoured to me. I was told perhaps it was because I ate it after the other dishes like the murgh malai. In any case not something I would get again;
- Nalli Nihari (a robust lamb-on-the-bone stew with generous spice, for strength and protection against faintness of heart. First relished by Nawabs who then employed its fortifying properties to fuel their labourers. Served with sesame-onion-seed naan. Add Bheja (lamb brain) for more taste and more power) £21.9 - the special of the King's Cross chef is this expensive dish comprising of a lamb shank in a quite standard curry sauce (it grows on me) but served with soft fried lamb brains that are less creamy than I'm used it but retain some of that firm gelatinous texture to it. There's also some herbs and fried onions. Each element is nice on its own, but combined on naan are an incredible combination. I didn't like the sesame on the naan so much though;
- House black daal (A Dishoom signature dish - dark, rich, deeply flavoured. It is cooked over 24 hours for extra harmony) £6.2 - warm smooth and earthy. It's a nice dish, albeit not near the level of Bukhara (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bukhara-delhi-01-2015);
- Plain naan (freshly baked in the tandoor) £2.9 - nice and simple. Although for the price, the garlic naan or roomati roti is better I think;
- Garlic naan (with minced garlic and coriander sprinkle) £3.2 - an upgraded version with a reasonably strong garlic element.

I await the next visit!

Current list for the ultimate Dishoom meal
- Spicy lamb chops
- Nalli Nihari with lamb brain and ask to replace the sesame roti with garlic
- Jackfruit biryani
- Garlic naan and roomali roti

After walking to Islington to welcome in the latest Kanada-Ya, the 50% opening offer meant that every Asian student had the same idea. So the wait was probably going to be at least an hour. Given it was a bit chilly, we weren't prepared to do that and so looked around for somewhere else. Breakfast Club had a queue and surprisingly very few cafes looked that enticing.

In the end Appestat won and we were lucky to get the last seats against the back wall.

- The Full English £10.5 with grilled halloumi £2 - toasted sourdough, fried organic eggs, homemade organic baked beans, free range pork sausages, slow roasted tomatoes, grilled field mushrooms, free range streaky bacon and halloumi. The standup memories were the eggs were actually fantastic and had outstanding flavour, the bacon was very strong but unfortunately had too much fat ratio, the baked beans tasted similar to the canned versions, and the halloumi wasn't overly salty or squeaky.

It was an adequate breakfast but nothing overly special. I'd try somewhere else next time.

The Michelin Pub of the Year 2017 (ie. for the year 2016) was The Marksman. It's been on my list for a year and even though I lived east it wasn't until I moved north that the opportunity arose (and they had availability) to eat there. It was preceded by a visit to the Columbia flower market and the close proximity (as well as the reputation) means that every Sunday is an extra busy day. A lot of tables also bring their new-bought flowers and plants, as well as the usual pub dogs and prams.

Unlike standard pubs the serve a fixed price menu of £29 for 2 or £33 for 3 courses.

They have cider (and obviously beer) on tap including a custom made one for themselves which is dry and flat, and also a sparkly fruity one. The dry and flat is what I consider to be a traditional cider and reminiscent of the Cornish Orchards one I enjoyed many many years ago.

- Devilled mussels & monk's beard - delicious mussels with crunchy seaweed in a chilli seafood sauce;
- Tamworth, blood pudding & parsley - a flavour explosion of a deepfried cracker base smeared with black pudding sauce and topped with Tamworth pancetta and a parsley, baby capers, onion salad. The full combination of the ingredients was incredible;
- Braised lamb, peas & wild garlic - pulled lamb wrapped in caul (I assume) and served on a pea sauce with small potatoes. The lamb tasted like earthy lamb, not heavily seasoned at all;
- Roast Hereford Rump & Yorkshire pudding - I really wanted the beef wing rib for 2 but couldn't justify the additional £30 to order it. This rump was incredibly tender and had minimal seasoning. It just tasted like pure beef. It was served medium rare without my asking and came with the best Yorkshire pudding I've eaten without a hint of dryness or burnt char like every other pub has. The carrots were good and mash was adequate. It was served with a reasonably unflavoured gravy, a slightly more useful horseradish cram, and a maximal quality set of potatoes which were minimally seasoned but perfectly crisp with soft insides;
- Chocolate, burnt milk & barley - the dark chocolate tasted like strong dark and not much sweet, whereas the icecream didn't taste like much;
- Sheep's yoghurt, rhubard & rose - a very mild sheep milk yoghurt with some tangy rhubarb that could have been sweeter in my mind;
- Brown butter & honey tart - the best of the 3 desserts tried with a soft sweet eggy filling and a crisp shell for texture.

I'm nore sure if the lamb was meant to come with Yorkshire pudding and potatoes - other tables seem to get this with their meals. But for us 3, only one serve of each arrived. The rump and accompaniments was a much better value selection than the lamb (although the lamb definitely had effort put into it to pull it, combine it and then cook it again).

Unfortunately the service wasn't up to standard. Despite having a 2pm booking, our table was only ready at 2.30pm. Our mains were forgotten about and they only discovered this when they tried to place dessert spoons on the table and we looked perplexed - around 3.40pm. Then after the meal finished we had to ask for the bill twice and ask to pay the bill another two times. It wasn't because it was too busy - by that point the server was just standing there when he was gently reminded.

I still paid the 12.5%. I suppose I really shouldn't have. But I would go back for the food.

The new King's Cross developments are coming quickly with the next giant opening in autumn this year. For the moment Dishoom and the nearby Caravan are holding my attention. A friend mentioned their excitement that it was there and I remember thinking what's the big deal - they didn't impress me in Spitalfields. Then I realised there is no Caravan in Spitalfields and I was actually thinking of Giraffe.

Caravan is a different type of beast. The King's Cross one benefits from the industrial building with high ceilings and nice decor. There are bar areas to wait and a very cool vibe with a predominantly young (with or without prams) demographic.

Golden spiced milk £3 is the most intensely yellow beverage I've ever seen. The potent turmeric flavour accounts for this. I really like the earthy root flavour of this.

- Paprika and spring onion waffle, wild garlic, thick cut bacon, maple-date butter £12 - I didn't like the waffle that much. However the thick cut bacon was dense, slightly chewy and delicious;
- Seasoned brown rice, sesame salmon, avocado, miso mayonnaise, mung beans, pickled ginger, radish, furikake £11 - this cold dish had excellent sashimi salmon with a collection of beans and grains with tiny shiso leaves and avocado making up the flavours. Really enjoyable.

It doesn't have the same queue time as Dishoom (although there's still a wait on weekends) and the food is great. I'll definitely be back.

Delicious Middle Eastern food in a tucked away corner of Aldgate. The food is excellent with generous servings (particularly with the 50% off opening special). It was a bit strange that they gave us two similar menus with different prices. Clearly they've decided to increase the prices within the first few days of opening... or perhaps it's a bit higher just for the soft opening...

Who knows.

My first outing into Cambridge this year for a solo (early) dinner included meandering through the town square, through the market, buying some bread, looking at some fruit, and noticing that the choices of food isn't really that bad. I mean I suppose after living there for a while it might seem repetitive, but for the moment there is some glory. The Italian place Aromi really took my fancy with its stacked £4.5 pizza rectangles and gelato hidden in silver cannisters - but that will have to be for another time.

I decided to treat myself to a smokey dinner at Smokeworks instead. And I am very glad I did.

Upon wandering inside the Free School Lane branch the embedded smells of cooking meats are obvious. And then on to the food. I'm a bigger fan of beef ribs than pork ribs (a real turn around since Pitt Cue Co. in 2012-2013 had me the other way) due to the larger slabs of meat on each bone.

- Chilli cheese fries (pulled pork, jalapeños, spicy buttermilk sauce, cheese sauce, red chillies) £6 - crisp fries, tasty stringy chunks of pulled pork (some tender, some more stringy and wirey but overall good) with sauce and mild jalapeños and moderate heat red chilli. Very good;
- Smoked beef short ribs (700g) £19.25 - 3 short ribs with a large slab of caramelised sweet wet rub and some of the most obvious smoke flavour infusing the edges. It was outstanding in flavour and in texture.

The honey mustard added an extra variation although the BBQ sauce was much too sweet and the tomato sauce not necessary. I ended up only eating half the rib and saving the rest for a rainy day.

When I paid I noticed their business card advertising another branch near Cambridge Station. Lo and behold it's only a 5min walk down the straight road opposite the station. One evening I decided to get some takeaway. The order took about 25mins to make but the bigger problem is that due to signal failure (they can't handle the rain), the trains to London were delayed and I waited in the cold for 1 hour. By the time I ate on the train, the food was cool but still enjoyable.

- 6 southern fried chicken wings + 1 dip £7 - these wings were very well flavoured (brined perhaps) and had a crisp coating that even held up somewhat when cold and steaming in the box. Impressive;
- Pitmaster fries (smoky BBQ beans, cheese sauce, pulled pork, grated cheese) £6.5 - the BBQ beans were similar to baked beans and overall the dish didn't have the same impact as the chilli fries.

Smokeworks you have won me over. Ever since the new Shoreditch Pitt Cue (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/pitt-cue-london-06-2016)  disappointed me, you have come through where Meatmaiden (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/meatmaiden-melbourne-10-2015) and Belle's Hot Chicken (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/belles-hot-chicken-melbourne-02-2016) have left off.

I've been meaning to try Piebury Corner for a while, ever since National Pie Week 2017. Lo and behold fast forward to National Pie Week 2018 and Timeout advertising a discount voucher for them to celebrate the week. As per usual Timeout overexaggerates the savings, stating the pie/side/sauce combo is £14 eat-in or £13 takeaway. Actually it's £10.5 eat-in or £8.5 takeaway, but it's still a saving with the voucher at £7 eat-in or £6 takeaway.

You're limited to selection from the 2 pies-of-the-day, which seems to be one meat and one vegetarian. On this day I was blessed to have the excellent sounding Ox cheek & venison as the special. The pie filling is thin but still nice and chewy and not crispy dried like others recently. The meat chunks of the cheek are tender and the venison is a little more stringy, as expected. My choice of side horseradish mash was a very large serve with pickles and mild horseradish noticeable throughout. The suggested red wine sauce wasn't really needed for the pie but it added an extra element to the mash.

I'll be back. Not only because I have 3 vouchers left to use but that does make it easier. And the Timeout deal goes until June...

I was looking for somewhere to eat before watching Girl from the North Country at the Noel Coward theatre. Luckily being very central there are no shortage of options. And since the lines and security are minimal, it really means you can take your time dining beforehand. Com Viet was just around the corner (with Amorino gelato opposite FYI).

The menu is very good and has a host of homestyle dishes including banh xeo and bo luc lac, which are less often found.

- Green papaya salad with prawn - a nice version with quite a strongly vinegared nuoc mam dressing. The prawns were juicy and there was a good amount of peanuts added;
- Fried quail - the quail itself was cut into 6 segments, quite tender and flavoursome. However the dipping salt was extremely heavily seasoned with full crystals of MSG visible throughout;
- Beef pho - a decently flavoured beef broth (MSG added no doubt) with excellent noodles that were cooked perfectly and not soggy at all. The raw beef had been dropped in and there were slivers of raw ginger, which seemed out of place;
- Bun bo hue - decently flavoured pork/beef broth although wasn't anywhere near chilli enough.

They didn't serve any Thai basil or sawtooth herb for pho or the laksa leaf for BBH, but instead coriander (which is fine in pho) and mint (which is ok for BBH).

The food is nice (with MSG) and the prices are a little more than the standard Vietnamese in London (owing to location). I'd eat there again although the overt MSG in their food may play on my mind a little...