london restaurants

although i haven't yet worked out what to drink at rowan's now the bottles of lech has gone up to £4 a bottle from £3.60.

i think options are coors or becks vier.

How much are the pints at Rowans? I remember them being fairly reasonable in the past.

The price has just changed but I think they're £3.50 or so for a pint. It used to be really cheap when we first went like 10 years ago (£1.60 as i remember - we discussed the relative cost of the £1 entry fee back then compare with cheap beer) it's gone up quite a bit over the past 2 years but I think that's partly the Tories' fault.

Guinness is £3.60 I think now (up from £3.50). I mean the cost is not much but since I go there and neck 3 or 4 lechs every tuesday for the league the amount does add up!

bowling league.. not drinking league

Beeeeargh.

Not a restaurant but had to restrain myself from buying ready-marinated/grill at home chicken saffron kebabs from Phoenicia in Kentish Town. *drools* Damn, I love that shop.

it's weirdly expensive tho? i mean, i shop there (when i'm in town) but so much of their grocery stuff can be found cheaper just down the road in archway.

their baklava is pretty damn nice, mind.

After more than a week of eating crap German food, I am feeling a lot more positive about London. Everything here is so bland, apart from an occasional kebab or pizza.

I quite fancy eating at the top of the Heron Tower at 2am...

https://twitter.com/DuckandWaffle

"they will be open 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. With panoramic views of London from the 38th and 39th floor of Heron Tower in the City"

http://media.city-eating.com/menus/42226.pdf

you know what is really weird about the food court style catering businesses inside the Excel Center, etc for the Olympics - there is no branding on them whatsoever, so you get an Italian place selling pizza and pasta, and their joint is all designed with photos of i dunno, olive trees and red and green bunting and stuff but the big sign just says "ITALIAN". or a bagel place called "BAGEL". a fish and chips place with ye olde font spelling out "FISH AND CHIPS."

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/373706_368753179846842_954246577_n.jpg

duck & waffle menu looks v promising, want that seafood pot roast on my tongue right now

Presumably they're just jobbing festival food stall dudes who have relocated to the Excel Center for the Olympics? I mean if you're at Glastonbury then stalls called things like PIZZA AND PASTA are a very common sight.

Went to Ritas on Saturday, one of the nice things about being old and lazy is that you can turn up at 7 because you're only going on to the Superstore for a few cocktails afterwards and not actually off out clubbing.

Kind of annoyed at the "oh the the menu is at the bar but you have to order at the table", because the size and general attractiveness of the food would be ideal for "if you're having that then I'll have this" which menus are handy for.

That said, four of us basically had all the menu, the food was really nice but oh man it was the worst service I have ever had ever, topped off a 10-minute wait to get the bill, and then a hilarious you are fucking kidding me where the waitress, standing at the table, with the card machine in her hand, paused 30 seconds so she could answer a text.

No, the ones in the main corridor (assuming he means them) are permanent installations. Excel xpost

(Americans cover your ears - we didn't tip)

xps, yes, noticed that on friday. It seemed weird & i had an ill-formed hypothesis about how all the brands one would have heard of have been pushed out because they are not sponsors, and these are either a) what's left or b) tentacles of a weird olympian subcompany operated by some relative of jacques rogge that profiteers from mininally branded national foods.

or c) rebrands of non-sponsors, so Square Pie becomes TRADITIONAL PIE? I dunno.

Yeah, at the Olympic park, non-sponsors' drinks had to be non-branded, so "Ale" and "No 1 cup" were written up at the bar, rather than "John Smith's" and "Pimm's". And most of the hand dryers had the logo taped over.

Is there a rival hand dryer manufacturing sponsor who will get upset as a result?

Probably.

you know what is really weird about the food court style catering businesses inside the Excel Center, etc for the Olympics - there is no branding on them whatsoever, so you get an Italian place selling pizza and pasta, and their joint is all designed with photos of i dunno, olive trees and red and green bunting and stuff but the big sign just says "ITALIAN". or a bagel place called "BAGEL". a fish and chips place with ye olde font spelling out "FISH AND CHIPS."

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 6 August 2012 15:29 (18 minutes ago) Permalink

maybe they're all run by st. john's?

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcREVsQQ7XA9oKCqSJPmX4dt2GGCdw4VVzxWty7TdqaGlioqtAEJSg

I think it's kind of cool. I realise it's fashionable to detest the way the Olympics pitilessly hunt down unsanctioned branding but... isn't that better than the alternative? i.e. truckloads of tat and "special Olympics sale!!!" etc? Don't we all roll our eyes at cynical bandwagoning in other contexts? Am I thick?

No, I think it's OK too. Obviously, in pure Olympian ideal terms it would be nice if we could have no corporateness at all, but if the realistic alternative is Altlanta where it's a free for all then I guess this makes sense as a compromise. I was quite impressed that the McDonalds cost no more on site than normal. The corporate seats thing, now that's a different matter.

Atlanta, rather.

where i ate when i was in london

st john
eagle? gastropub
elliot's café (amazing)
that place in arnold circus... fuck what's it called... rachelle's canteen?
atelier joel robuchon (lol)
pulpo (i think that's what it's called... anyway it was amazing)
various markets

and other places i'm sure i'm leaving out

yeah, certainly on my trip to excel the debranding was more noticeable than the official sponsor branding; also, there wasn't really much of an attempt to get us to buy tat - only noticed a smallish 2012/Team GB shop on the way out.

xp

to get back on topic that sounds like a well-judged London food trip.

i was staying with my buddy who is a food/lifestyle writer (and i guess i am too), who was super on top of everything and had a laundry list of places he wanted to check out. plus excellent guidance from the lex!

Blimey, you must have eaten well. I'm not too keen on the Eagle but more for reasons of comfort, but otherwise those places are all excellent (nb not been to Atelier Joel Robuchon).

(It's Rochelle Canteen btw)

xp Haha yeah nothing better than someone who treats your visit as an excuse to cross things off their list :) That's how I ended up in Colonie "Bruijkleen" last time I was in New York.

oh i ate so well.

eagle was fun—we went there after snacking at st john (to which i would later return for a proper meal).

robuchon was ridiculous, so 90s and over the top, just felt like a complete anachronism. but the food was perfectly prepared. we went for a pre-show prix fixe and it was quite affordable.

but yeah - really recommend elliot's café, we had such a great meal there. i miss london!

oh we also had a late night stop at BEIGEL BAKE

oh shit i forgot, one of the real highlights of the trip, that spanish tapas place in soho, no tables, only counter, what's it called again? it was phenomenal

Barrafina! Best tortilla I've ever had.

yesssssss

Barrafina is awesome.

so awesome

i was there a few weeks ago and my pal was asking the waitress about the way the olives are prepared, and she gave her a long and detailed answer about barrafina's technique v her grandma's, it was really nice and she was v passionate, she finished halfway through our meal and came back for a little chat.

i have never eaten at barrafina! shame shame

it's really informal and nice, good for a sunday afternoon.

Went to the Tramshed again yesterday. Last time I had the steak, which was good. yesterday I had the chicken. And it was, really, just roast chicken. Service was a lot better though.

im off for the ox heart tacos at rita's pre cafe oto tonight

i was at tramshed last night too! not impressed at all

Has anyone been to Yipin China on Liverpool Road? Was in there last night - on Googling, I discover it's had some rave reviews. Hunanese and Sichuan cooking - a lot of intestines and a lot of chili. We avoided the intestines, but you can't avoid the chili. Best Chinese meal I've had in London outside Yauatcha and Hakkasan, though - because the flavours are made with real ingredients, because the cooking is excellent, and because it's not the same bloody dishes you get everywhere. Really recommend it. Two of us has two mains, two rice, a vegetable and two beers - £44 inc service.

Went there for lunch yesterday!

I avoided most of the very spicy stuff (can't cope with hot food very well), but really liked it too. Did you have the chilli chicken?