london restaurants

xpost my first line was about dukes

i enjoy a nice burger as much as anyone but they're fundamentally ordinary comfort food to me - when i go out to a restaurant i want to taste stuff i don't usually get to taste, a dish that's not something i encounter in my everyday life or a combination of flavours i'm unfamiliar with. like i'd be way more hyped about going to ceviche or somewhere. st john easily passes that test despite being somewhat of a cliché (by now), it was the first place i'd ever had sweetbreads and they were SO NICE.

or this place, just been recommended it http://www.limalondon.com/

when i go out to a restaurant i want to taste stuff i don't usually get to taste, a dish that's not something i encounter in my everyday life or a combination of flavours i'm unfamiliar with

this is possible with some of the burgers being done, but i largely agree with your post. i can understand that people want to keep searching for an even better burger though, it's not by any means like all the pop up places are the same standard.

someone once told me dukes had become a big lesbian hangout t/f?

i had a lucky chip burger the other day for the first time in that boozer down the little alleyway on mare street, it was... yeah, alright? didnt twist my melon or anything

idk i think if i'm having a burger i want a great big fucker that will lay me out for a week

and yeah big cosign on wanting to go to ceviche

xpost Yeah I saw a v positive blogpost about Lima the other day, sounds good but expensive. Ceviche has had much more mixed reviews.

Honest burger did me aburger unlike any I've ever tasted, involving stilton and pig cheek and wild garlic and gawd knows what else, similarly the kimchi burger at Hawksmoor is pretty surprising the first time. Past that kind of thing the Lex OTM.

maybe try this then rtc:

http://www.pittcue.co.uk/main/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Big-Ode.jpg

i only like the original lucky chip one, not keen on the variations, but the original is pretty much exactly what i'd want from a burger.

that is odd about dukes, if true.

xpost was gonna say, i read a few bad reviews of ceviche and went to barrafina instead when i was around that way recently.

'the original is pretty much exactly what i'd want from a burger.'

yep

Oh and coal, London most certasinly has got "the artisan thing", yes, in pretty much any strand of food you feel like eating. Less so the locavore thing, it canbe fairly hard to source what you need within easy striking distance of London. Partly this is a scale-perception thing: I once saw a menu from somewhere in Seattle which proudly boasted that all of its ingredients came from within a 200 mile radius of town (I may be mis-remembering this but it was something along those lines.) In London that would include most of England and a chunk of France /Belgium. There was a restaurant called Konstam which sourced 85% of its ingredients from within the M25. It closed down, I miss it.

went to silk road the other day.. it was good, not like mindblowing but then the DUMPLINGS! were like 30p each (£3 for 10), so, you know!

lol at the ilx autocorrect

Is there a thread on locavorism? It's of questionable value:
http://mercatus.org/publication/yes-we-have-no-bananas-critique-food-miles-perspective

... hence the "seasonal and local" thing? Or is that still no good?

Yeah I think that's fine. Hopefully that's what most lovarishness is about, I just worry a bit when I see "we think air freighting food is bad so we don't do it!" on Pret packaging etc.

lovarishness whatever

gf + i walked up to rita's last night and it was really good! we had like half the menu, spent abt £30 (ex drinks)... enjoyed everything we had, and the ppl working there seemed to be really into the food.

can't wait to try it.

was just thinking today, one thing which does really bother me, and maybe is a cause of the ennui upthread, is the way the same 3/4 "streetfood" places keep appearing in newspaper articles, ad infinitum.

Had a great meal at Flat Iron Steak last night.

Turned up at 7pm and got seated straight away. Service was friendly.

Very reasonably priced too - the steaks are £10, with a special on at £14. Dessert was salted caramel mousse for £2.50. Cocktails started at £5.50.

damn that sounds good! will definitely give it a try

hackney beer ppl: the gross old pub on mare st called the cock tavern has been re-opened by the ppl who run the southampton arms (in gospel oak - not sure if anyone knows that place?) anyway... crazy beer selection, they even have kernel on tap which i've never seen before

Kernel on tap has appeared a few times in recent months, that's ace about that pub, looked a total dive before. it gets easier and easier to be able to drink nice beer everywhere.

for real! i hope they succeed. its a weird place to have a good pub

Morito is at Netil Market today btw, I may not make it but seems pretty exciting.

Has anyone tried that new Tasmanian restaurant at the posh end of the Old Kent Road, Hobart Canteen?

The first time I went I loved it. The food is served entirely in the dark, and as each plate arrives you're given a vocal indication of what's on it (finally a good use for all those unemployed-actor waiters). The descriptions are rather generic: "small mammal", you'll be told, or "bird" or "reptile".

In my case it was "amphibian" followed by "insect" and then "sea squirt". My companion got "marsupial" followed by "arborial marsupial". It was all delicious (apart from "insect", which I spat out).

You're also encouraged to scavenge around in the dark, wolfing down whatever takes your fancy at other tables. That's called "the scurry". And if, during one of these scurries, you encounter a guest who smells nice, a discreet bit of ankle-groping is tolerated.

I hear it's gone a bit downhill since they appointed theatre director (and Satanist) Robert Anton Winston as their Situational Designer in May. Winston added just one element, a murderous bright red electric eel which lashes out every hour on the hour, killing anyone in the path of its tail. In interviews Winston has said this is all about getting rid of the boredom resulting from the lack of risk in modern life, but the upshot is that before you enter the dark room you now have to read through and sign a big legal document agreeing to the possibility that you might be killed by the eel, which rather takes the spontaneity and joy out of the whole thing.

Some gay friends of mine have sworn never to go back to Hobart Canteen after both being killed by the eel last Friday night.

just had the suckling pig leg at burnt enz, it was amazing. that guy really knows what he's doing

I'm in Berlin, any tips?

No! I've never had good luck there unfortunately...

finally made it down the road to shane's today. delicious, worth the hype. ham hock croquettes, amazing venison, chocolate pots with rosewater jelly mmmmm

I'm in Berlin, any tips?

― Know how Roo feel (LocalGarda), Sunday, July 29, 2012

If I return to Berlin then this will be the first place I go... http://www.henne-berlin.de/

same (xposts) all the restaurants we went to in berlin were v good, but nothing to write home about y'know. i think we were in the wrong areas for posh food.

the old bar on glogauerstr. 21 between the canal and park in kreuzberg/neukölln is very cool, a friend of mine runs it, ask for their best vodka. if you get the david cross lookalike american guy he'll get you wasted.

this popped up on my facebook thing http://www.kinderhook-caracas.com/ the opening is tomorrow could be a good way to start a night off

Saw on Friday that a new Polpo has opened on Cowcross St in Farringdon. Hopefully the location will make it a bit easier to get a table when dropping by.

I wouldn't bet on that, Farringdon is kind of foodie central.

too late for berlin?
http://www.thebirdinberlin.com/

angry hour every night: 18:00-20:00 napalm wings 75cents each (very hot?) and buy one get one beer free to wash it all down. nice steak (although tbh I was wasted by the time we sat down last time)

this is good news also
http://www.thefoodpeople.co.uk/news/2012/05/the-draft-house-crosses-the-river-to-fitzrovia

Not to be confused with Angry Chicken though if you're drunk in Kreutzberg at any point...

And of course over by Mehringdamm, Mustafa's Gemusse Kebap. No bookings, as it's a kebab stand.

We did not eat finely, in Berlin. Well, but not finely.

my lil sister got a waitressing job at that new polpo. i went to ritas on friday, was nice but the tacos were very tiny for £5. margaritas were good tho.

the ox heart taco was delicious tho

was at ritas on friday as well... i know what yr saying with the tacos but it seems pretty easy to order some other dishes and only spend abt £12 each

Yeah I went on thursday - cosign all of the above. Ox heart taco the highlight, pork cheek one good too. Patty melt was delicious but coronary inducing. Only two (totally mild) disappointments for me:

-the mac and cheese was only ok
-the waitress told us there were no menus so "take a photo of the blackboard with your iphones". Ugh.

Really good value though.

ooh must try that, sounds filthy

anyone tried the big eggs off the broadway market egg lady? they always look so good!

Ive had similar experiences in berlin, most eating i did was a means to an end. Lots of surprisingly good sushi though

Ive just come back from my first week in new york and I have to say london needs to pull its socks up grub wise. Fette Sau in brooklyn wiped the floor with all of the dumb overpriced junk food that hackneys dripping with. I can recommend Vinn Goute though, thyere based in the Acklam rd market but do the streetgrub circuit as well. Their seychelles octopus curry is amazing and also sell their own mindbending scotch bonnet sauce

Not too late for Berlin, gonna try the bird at the weekend, read about it. In hamburg till Friday, any hamburg places? Having a great time btw.

Btw is hackney dripping with overpriced junk food? Not in my experience of hackney.

I can tell I'm paying more attention to London food these days because my reaction to the opening of a new craft beer and burger place is roughly the same as my reaction to an overhyped indie band.

haha ditto

xxpost i have a friend who lives in hamburg! he always complains abt the food, except for some super authentic thai place - interested?

Ive just come back from my first week in new york and I have to say london needs to pull its socks up grub wise. Fette Sau in brooklyn wiped the floor with all of the dumb overpriced junk food that hackneys dripping with

truth bomb

yes, london food is "getting better" but it's like OK, let's get beyond "traditional british food with a modern twist" .. oh look, a roast bird, a burger, how amazing

i was in new york last week too and i have to admit that the general friendliness and competence of restaurant staff may be biasing me here

there's tons of great london food, it's just the biggest fad right now is deeply unimpressive

and it's gone from being unimpressive to unimpressive AND a boring cliché