london restaurants

is it the kind of place you can nip into and then take food away? to eg eat at one's own house?

Yeah, you can definitely just pop in and take stuff away.

Finally got myself to Bodega Negra, really wasnt too impressed compared to the quality of my visit to L'Esquinas a few months ago. Saucy spot for boozy romancing though. Also had the pleasure of attending the opening of Barrio East with a writer chum which I would say is london/mexico's shark jumping moment, beyond fun-pub naff (aforementioned mason jar cocktails)but with surprisingly good food

Away from the world of ray banned street grub/upscale mexican I had probably the best turkish ive ever had at the newly refurbished selale (and ive eaten a lot of turkish)up the harsh end of green lanes. Amazingly tender lamb and a mixed kebab + meze was enough to cripple 2 grown men who used to be fat kids. This and a landlord charging 2005 prices will keep my ass rooted in the north london burbs for the forseeable future

Aye, I would find it very hard to starve anywhere on that run from there down to Harringay Green Lanes station.

Five Guys coming to London next year too

what other kind of food would you get excited about?

Was really impressed by the value of Five Guys when I finally had one earlier this year …

if yr near columbia rd on a friday (and maybe other weekdays, am unsure) then i definitely recommend the lunch deal i had last week @ brawn - £10 for really nice bread & butter, a main, a glass of wine, and an espresso at the end.

what other kind of food would you get excited about?

Is that second person singular or plural?

The Cheese & Biscuits food blog reviews Dishoom Shoreditch today: basically a favourable review, but agrees with my succinct 'lorra money for a curry' assessment

Most of the curries on the Dishoom menu are in the £7-£9 range, which doesn't strike me as unreasonably priced, especially given how many terrible places in the area will be charging more or less the same.

would rather knife myself in the face than eat a curry on brick lane, personally

none of the dishes i had in dishoom were curries anyway...

Used to be a second sommelier at Bentley's Oyster Bar near Picadilly. Is it still there?

anywhere good in kentish town? eating with a mate who eats fish but not meat, so abbey tavern or chicken shop are out.

Bull and Last? I'd normally send people to the Southampton Arms but it's too meaty for your friend!

tiny bit of a walk i reckon, gotta be on gaisford street at the other end for about 1930 for a play, though i have heard b&l is really good. may just eat at the pub we're going to, even tho it is average at best.

The Ethiopian place (called, I think, the Queen of Sheba) is a real fave of mine but for your pal to eat vegetarian you'd have to eat vegetarian also. Last time I was in Kentish Town we couldn't get in there because it was full (of Ken Chu) so we went a few doors down to an entirely pleasant, acceptable and unexceptional Japanese restaurant.

I mean it wasn't full of Ken Chu, that might be a bit terrifying, but it was full; Ken and his chums were a constituent part of that fullness.

Kentish Canteen's meant to be pretty decent? And my parents quite like Pane Vino iirc (& they are snobs about the quality of ldn's italian restos).

Kentish Canteen is so overpriced. Bengal Lancer is a decent Indian but beware: music journos.

I did try Dirtyburger on Tuesday, because I was in the area on otherwise fruitless shopping. Cheap, fast and good - if a bit on the small but manageable side. Not as good as my nearest Byron, though, and nowhere near as good as my own burgers. I mix finely chopped white onion into seasoned 20 per cent fat mince to make a very flat, wide burger. The rolls are always the lattice type from Sainsbury's, buttered to toast bread side down on a grill pan (so they don't disintegrate in use). Those rolls are better than they have any right to be. I fry off rounds of red onions - those go on the bottom of the toasted buns with good mustard (or French's if I'm feeling homesick). I also put fried onions *under* the grated cheese (melts faster than a square), then to finish, ketchup on to the melted cheese (to anchor one giant tomato round) and just mayo on the top bun (to anchor the shredded lettuce). If I can find the right pickle, that goes down on the melted cheese before ketchup/tomato.

This construction really limits how much of the burger and condiments wind up spattered on the plate instead of being snarfed up by the diner.

not really a fan of mixing onion into the meat, seems like its just filler? also makes it more meat loaf like

A small amount of chopped onion reacts well with the fatty mince that makes the best hamburgers. Meat loaf also has breadcrumbs and egg to bind, plus some herbs/spices, so totally different.

ended up just eating in the pub/theatre last night, avg fish and chips.

i liked dirty burger a lot, it'd be handy to have that near you, open till 0030, beats dodgy chicken/kebabs. liked the grilled cheese feel of the slightly burnt edges. don't really rate byron hugely but they seem to change a lot over time. central london really has gone crazy on this whole thing.

might go to the longroom tonight, beside st john in smithfield, it's just opened but i like the look of it: http://www.thelongroompub.com/

Looks cool but my bugbear is *DOWNLOAD MENU* so I guess I'll never know ;-)

is basically salt beef and grilled cheese sandwiches

either or

That is walking distance from my office. Could be amazing.

didn't know you worked near there, i meet friends in that area frequently on fridays. we should have a beer.

wish i worked in that area.

So I'm no Ramen expert but I've been to Tonkotsu and Ittenbari in Soho and I would happily make an effort to visit them both again, a reaction not inspired by the run-of-the-mill stuff offered by Wagamama et al. Haven't been to Bone Daddies because I can't say the name with a straight face, even if they bear no relation to any of the google image search results, and only just learnt of Shoryu on Regent St.

i went to bone daddies (+ yeah, terrible name) & had the tonkotsu, it was delicious but my stomach did have a bit of trouble digesting something that was 90% pork fat

Pork scratchings are a useful gateway drug.

bone daddies' tantanmen is really good: haven't had a chance to try anything else there yet. none of their side-dishes look particularly good, though, whereas Tonkotsu's are great. went there last night, for the third time, and finally had the kara-age everyone's been raving about and it's p worth the accolades (i'd had the karaage there before but it hadn't been particularly good - this time clearly had been cooked in a v different way).

i am excited for ittenbari and shoryu.

ok this is the right thread: went to mr buckley's on hackney road last night. not usually into small plates because i am a greedy fuck but it was really nice food and wine. didn't get to try the lobster mac & cheese tho :(

i gotta try these ramen places. some of my best meals in japan have come from pushing buttons at random on the magic ramen ordering machine.

Had the miso ramen at Ittenbari today - my first ever serious ramen. Broth very good, great depth of flavour; thought the solid ingredients were less memorable though. Keen to try a tonkotsu ramen next.

Went to Bone Daddies last night and it was excellent, we had the tonkotsu as well. I did spend the rest of the evening wondering how they managed to get the egg like that though.

been meaning to try mr buckleys, as mentioned above.

that longroom place i mentioned was shit btw. nice beer but awful room/crowd and the food was too pricey, and nothing special.

I was in the area so popped in there for lunch, I thought the room was okay actually, better than the Holborn Whippet but useless for big groups and too much standing room. Clerkenwell doesn't really need ANOTHER room that looks like that though.

Their salt beef sandwiches are not a patch on the Wenlock's though and about twice the price.

I was in the longroom last night. Nice beer, yes, but the whole place reeked of ill-grilled sandwiches. Get one extractor fan.

in that area, nice beer just isn't enough. you've got more great beer pubs around that way than anywhere else. as i said the friday crowd was unusually nasty for that area too, maybe it was something shit before changing.

good pubs/restaurants near to russell sq for ppl who like microbrews and meaty stuff?

Might try the Holborn Whippet, not that I've been there?

the london pub

Haven't been there in a while, but the Marquis Cornwallis maybe?

How important is food in this plan? The Whippet does a serviceable burger but it's no great shakes in that regard.

it's not for me, for a friend in london soon. think he's there for a few days in any case and willing to go further afield

asked me for food options & beer options

is there a london pub thread or is this it? skimmed for restaurant ideas but didn't see many pubs

The Lamb on Lamb's Conduit Street has good food. For good steaks, The Bountiful Cow. Not sure about beer situation, because I don't ever drink any.

When I get home I can be specific but If they're into beer, farringdon/clerkenwell is the Mecca, plenty food there too.