Best Brownies and Chocolates!

 Where do you go for posh chocs? Selfridges, F&M, Hotel chocolat or Charbonnel and Walker? Well I would advise you all that Paul A. Young is your next stop for a chocolate fix! Paul was head pastry chef for Marco Pierre White at Quo Vadis and Criterion. He started out on his own with his fantastic chocolate combinations. All his products are hand made using only fresh produce with no additives in sight! He has won many awards in the chocolate field and has opened up three London shops. His distinctive purple coloured shop fronts can be found in Islington, Soho and Bank. Strange but delicious flavours include Port & Stilton, Pimms Cocktail, rose and geranium ganache, sweet basil and his famous marmite truffle. There are traditional flavours for the more conventional customer. Champagne truffles, salted caramel centered chocolates as well as a good range of chocolate bars.



Paul promotes other British chocolate makers like Rococo and Davey's. You can also buy Paul's chocolate at Daylesford and he is selling his brownies in F&M. His brownies, oh his brownies, how haven't I talked about his brownies yet?! Paul's brownies are outrageously good! They are rich, very rich, so much so you probably only need one between two. The Pecan caramel chocolate brownie is probably my favourite. There was a short time which I wasn't  proud of, when I may have had a small addiction to these... It got quite bad I bought my Girlfriend a brownie, she ate half and left it in my apartment... long story short she's still upset about it. Anyway the fact is they are quite extraordinary and you should definitely try them! If you do get hooked you can ween yourself off with Paul's brownie bites.





Paul A. Young is considered one of the best artisan chocolatiers in the world and luckily for all of us he is here in London. I urge you to go and taste the delights of our very own Willy Wonker!

Jewish Comfort Food in Covent Garden

Mishkin's is a great little Jewish deli, come restaurant, come bar in Covent garden. Named after an old Jewish restaurant and restauranteur on Catherine street, Ezra Mishkin opened up her business in 1931. In 201 the same people behind Spuntino and Polpo, Russell Norman and Richard Beatty have resurrected E.Mishkin in the likeness of Katz deli in NYC. These restauranteurs have a proven formula that applies to all their establishments; small plates served up by good looking staff in a bare brick, hip, west end setting. I have to admit it works I love all their restaurants, the staff are attractive and attentive, the food is cooked to a great standard.

However when I first came to Mishkin's I was a little unimpressed compared it's sister restaurants. As a Jewish establishment there are some traditional offerings, some of which are well known to the general population like mac n cheese or salt beef. Both done wonderfully here and I would definitely reccomend. However I was quite adventurous and went for corn dogs and chopped lived with smaltchzed radish. Now I have never had corn dogs before and I have to say I wasn't greatly impressed. Essentially they are deep fried frankfurters, but this being a Jewish deli they are deep fried beef dogs. The chicken liver wasn't my cup of tea either I'm afraid.

However I went back for a friend's birthday party and on my second visit I played it safe and had the Mac n cheese, the cod cheek popcorn, both were amazing. Third visit, I sampled the salt beef sandwich which was also pretty special and of door stopper size! The cocktails are also fab, the gin sour is my personal fav, but the diamond fizz and the cucumber martini also pack a punch. This place has become one of my favorite restaurants for comfort food. The chicken matzo ball soup warms the cockles and the mac n cheese will fill you to the brim. They have a fab lunch and theatre menu 2 course for £12.50.  Go for traditional Jewish cooking, choose carefully from the food menu,
but the cocktail menu is all good!

Phileas Hog

Just a quickie today. Another street food vendor has escaped from the cold to open a pop up in a butcher shop. Phileas hog sells delicious roast pork sandwiches. But their not any old pig rolls, these bad boys are made with suckling pigs roasted over night. You can choose from four different sauces BBQ, mad Mexican, apple or maple mustard. Served up with rocket and crackling in a ciabatta roll this pork sarnie was a belter! You can find Phileas Hog at Harry's butchery and fishmongers on Kentish town high street next to The Oxford pub, or brick lane market at the weekends. Harry's supplies the pork to Phileas Hog and obviously this this new venture between supplier and vendor will help both parties. Harry's is a staple of Kentish town, the only butcher in the area surrounded by super markets. I hope this partnership allows him to sell some more of his great meat and fish!

Duck & Waffle- Do believe the hype!

I finally made it to Duck & Waffle the other day. After hearing mixed reviews, I was very interested in making the trip to the 40th floor of the Heron Tower on Bishopsgate. Duck and Waffle opened in the summer of 2012 and has been fully booked for dinner ever since. However don't be put off, the Duck and Waffle is now open 24/7! Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and offering a late night menu you could go up to check out the London sky line at sunrise if you so wished! To be honest you could just go up for the view which is incredible.  The Heron is Located right next to the gherkin and

dwarfs it! Panoramic views that match "the view" from the shard, for the price of a beer! The bar shares all the views the restaurant does and offers up some great cocktails. Plus you can get some of the food offerings here too.

 The menu consists of small plates and large plates. You can either get a selection of plates to share or a starter and main. The menu is mainly British/European and seasonal. We had deep fried pigs cheeks, pollock fish balls with lobster sauce, grilled octopus with chorizo, onion bread and the signature dish, duck and waffle.
The pigs cheeks sound a bit adventurous but they were essentially crackling strips powdered with paprika and salt...amazing! The Octopus wasn't rubbery but beautifully cooked with great flavours. The pollock fish balls were incredible, truly a great dish! The lobster sauce did not overwhelm the pollock but added to it, highly recommended!
The piste de resistance however, was the duck leg on a waffle, a topped with a fried duck egg with maple syrup and mustard. Now my reaction to all of these things combined, was a sight to behold according to my girlfriend. She described it as combination of facial expressions, eyebrow raises, head nods and pouting accompanied with a slight moan. All good expressions I hasten to add! This dish is fab, all aspects work together with the maple syrup to make the taste buds sing! Probably as good for breakfast as for dinner. This sweet and savoury dish is perfectly simple you could even make it at home. Yet is possibly one of the best restaurant dishes I've ever had.

If you have not made it up to the 40th floor of the Heron tower yet, then wait no longer and try some amazing food with your view!

Yum Bun, Indeed it is!

Hello everyone, starting to get a nice little following now, so thank you for reading and please share the blog with your friends.

Today I ventured out to old street to try out the latest street food vendor to have a fixed address! Following in the steps of MeatLiquor and Pitt Cue. Yum Bun has set up shop next to/inside the Rotary, on City road just meters away from Old Street station. Yum Bun serve up simple but delicious food and like many street vendors it comes in a bun, but not just any bun. Yum Buns are home-made steamed buns. These buns are soft, dense, chewie and make the perfect casing for some Asian flavoured fillings.

 Blythburgh slow roasted belly pork, hoi sin sauce, cucumbers, spring onions & schriracha is similar to a Chinese duck pancake, but with BELLS ON. The veggie option, juicy Portobello mushroom, toasted walnuts & miso glaze is delicious too. Also on the menu is a new offering, fried chicken and tartare sauce is possibly the best dish here. Luckily you can try all three in one sitting (like me) as they are not too big. £3.50 each or 2 for £6 they make a great lunch time snack. There is even a sweet bun filled with ice cream!

Yum bun's doorway is located just next to the Rotary and you can gain access from Yum Bun into the Rotary to eat your buns. However you do need to purchase a drink to seal the deal.
If I haven't convinced you by now don't just take it from me.Yum bun won the People's Choice Award at the 2012 British Street Food Awards which is high praise indeed!

More and more street food vendors are building on their success and opening up more indoor ventures. News yesterday that Pizza Pilgrims will also be opening up a fixed establishment in Soho!

I urge you to try Yum Bun it's so, so good. Might go back tomorrow!

Balthazar the Latest King of London Brasserie

The long awaited Balthazar brasserie arrived in London three weeks ago and has quickly become the hot ticket in town. Expat Keith McNally went to NYC twenty years ago and opened Balthazar on Spring street. Since then it has become "the" brunch spot for New Yorkers, with queues around the block at weekends. Persuaded back to London by Soho house's chief, Nick Jones to recreate the Balthazar hot spot slap bang in the middle of covent garden. McNally is passionate about creating a beautiful finish on not only the food but the restaurant as well. The design and layout of Balthazar is wonderful, taking you back to an old Parisian brasserie. Brass railings, red leather seats, large marble columns and big mirrors make this a grand affair. However I can't help but think it feels a little like a very posh Cafe Rouge.

The restaurant is very large with a bar and coffee tables on the right hand side and the dining area on the left. Next door is the Balthazar bakery which deals in artisan breads, rustic sandwiches and Parisian patisserie. The cakes, tarts and pastries are exquisite and make up a large proportion of the brasserie's dessert menu. While the bread is simply divine! Not sure I've had better bread in London to be honest!

The menu is again similar to a cafe rouge offering, steak frites, frisée salad, mussels etc. This style of catering in the capital is exploding at the moment. With the owners of the Wolsey opening three more restaurants offering continental brasserie fair in 2012 (The Delaunay, Colbert and Cafe Zedal). All of which have proved very popular, therefore Balthazar is in good company in London. I plumped for the frisée salad and country sausage with creamed potatos. While my fellow diner had the seafood risotto and the duck shepherd pie. Both starters were of fine quality, if slightly rich.

The mains offered up slightly more interest. The country sausages were dense and flavoursome, with a good amount of pepper and herbs. These were served with a very thick potato, so thick in fact, I think there may have been some cheese melted in. Delicious but very rich! The duck shepherd's pie was very similar, rich, with cheese topping the potato. However the duck makes a great change to lamb, with its gamier taste.

Pudding was a masterclass of patisserie with a chocolate/coffee rocher and an intense vanilla creme brûlée! Even if you can't afford a full meal here you can pick up a cake for under a fiver from the bakery. I would thoroughly recommend doing this!

 Balthazar has caused such a stir to the London food scene and while it is a welcome addition, I can't help thinking it is a place to be seen rather than a Mecca for foodies. Go here for French baking and celebrity spotting (we saw three in two hours).

Lucky Chip @ The Grafton

Lucky fried chicken has transformed into Lucky chip at The Grafton. Although having been sent a cease and desist letter from an unhappy (at being outdone) Colonel (KFC), Lucky fried chicken was always planned as a three week pop up. However sad we are to see the beautifully fried chicken go, it has been replaced by a stunningly seductive menu. This change reverts back to what Lucky chip do best in both it's slider bar in soho and its residency at the Seabright arms, Hackney.

Offering up the burgers that we in London seem obsessed by at the moment lucky chip give an excellent range. Not as greasy as Meatliquor or Dirty Burger, but still with enough glisten on the burger to stay well away from a dry tasteless English bun. I had a "Royal wit cheese" supposedly what the McDonalds in Paris call a quarter pounder with cheese. However, this Lucky chip burger has far more class than anything Maccy D's could offer. We also ordered some chilli cheese fries which were a meal in themselves! the chilli was hot with a good consistency not too dry or too runny. The coleslaw unchanged from lucky fried chicken, is fresh and delicious. The cheese and jalapeño fried balls however weren't very hot and a bit too greasy, but I guess they are deep fried cheese balls. My friends had the veggie burger and the "Kevin Bacon"(bacon and cheese burger). Both very good by all reports, all be it those reports came betwen full mouths and were interspersed with "Mmmms" and "ohs!"



The Grafton as usual, supply's the drinks and the service all to a good standard. The only down point being the plastic cutlery. But if you're a Londoner and you're after your fix of high quality American patties with all the usual sides make a trip to Lucky chip, either at the Grafton in Kentish Town or one of the other lucky chip establishments.