Drinking out

After a long weekend in, I decided it was high time I get out of the house (and celebrate the sucessful completion of my presentation) for a few pints.

Among the places I hit up was London's oldest licensed pub (anything to claim fame or justify why the pub is in shambles). The White Hart actually isn't as old and shabby as I thought it might be and considering I visited from the hours of 4pm to 7pm on a Friday I was astonished at how busy it was.

Where: 191 Drury Lane

The Scene: Drinks after a long week with four friends

Delight: Good choice of beers, good prices

Disappointment: crowds, but who am I kidding, this is London.

I am definitely going back to the White Hart. Great vibe, good beer. I'm not sure I need to try their rendition of really average pub food, but you will definitely find me here again throwing back a pint or five.

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Tonight, I'm stuck inside

It's Saturday and I should be out drinking the night away. But instead I've placed myself on house arrest, forced to work on a big presentation I have to deliver on Tuesday. Tuesday is days away, I know, but I get really nervous unless I am well practiced. I thought I might sneak out for a quick trip to the store so I could pick up some comfort food. Something like this...

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My Old Dutch

I went to My Old Dutch a little bit ago and am just now getting around to blogging about it. This was my first visit to the chain and I visited the Holborn location. 2 words: huge portions

Where: 131-132 High Holborn (near Holborn station)

The Scene: Friday night dinner for a friend's birthday

Delight: Desert - YUM!

Disappointment: Pizza

My Old Dutch is a Dutch pancake house that serves sweet and savory pancakes (similar to an open face crepe), waffles, salads and snacks. I visited this restaurant for the first time with a large group for a friend's birthday. Had I been aware of the portion size I would have tried to split my meal with someone. I ordered the Chili con Carne "Savoury Pannenkoeken", a crepe filled with chili con carne (duh) with guacamole and sour cream on the side. The sweetness of the crepe was interesting but I think I prefer a wheat tortilla. I had a sampling of the pizzas at the table (Four Cheese, Hot Dutch and the Hawaiian) and was not impressed. I think the crepe base should only be paired with sweet things. The contrast of the crepe and pepperoni on the Hot Dutch was really vile. The entire pie was too soft and mushy.

Overall the mains weren't very satisfying but the deserts were incredibly good. I only ate half of my Chili con Carne so I could save room for desert, which I was hoping would be much more fulfilling. I ordered a pancake with caramel and vanilla ice cream on the side. Although very simple and probably could be done better at a traditional creperie, I was very satisfied.

Because I sampled a few of the mains at the table I don't feel the need to come back here for a meal, but possibly for desert.

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Maki Yaki

This is my third trip to Maki Yaki in South Wimbledon since moving to London. I would honestly go a lot more often if I found myself in the Wimbledon area more frequently.

Where: 149 Merton Road (Near South Wimbledon tube)

The Scene: Dinner with a girlfriend on Friday night

Delight: Baked sushi and reasonably priced beer

Disappointment: This time, having to sit next to the door (brrrr...)

Don't let the location fool you (across from a service station), Maki Yaki is truly one of the best sushi places I have been to in my life. I absolutely love their baked sushi. The heated fish and avocado just melt in your mouth for a truly unbelievable eating experience. The sushi is very reasonably priced at £7 - £9 per roll. Miso soup is included with your order so between miso soup, one sushi roll and a few beers (£2.70/bottle) you can feel full and easily spend under £15.

All the food is extremely fresh and the staff very pleasant. On previous visits I have had the sashimi which was excellent.

Tonight, my friend and I didn't have a reservation, but thankfully there was one table for two left! I ordered the baked California roll and my friend the 'crunch' roll which is your typical tempura roll. This visit was more about catching up with my girlfriend rather than experimenting with lots of food. But should you try Maki Yaki I would recommend these:

Ocean roll (baked)

Lion King roll (baked)

999 roll (hot & spicy)

Tuna & garlic salad

Any of the maki rolls

I've also heard that their tempura ice cream (is that authentic Japanese?) and green tea ice cream are very good, but I have yet to try those.

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Combing the Strand

I've been walking the Strand everyday for nearly 5 months now, so you would think I would know if there are any good places to grab a bite for lunch. I'll have to start taking notice of what I walk past everyday. I was a bit worried when I set off to find a place for lunch because the Strand can be so touristy (read: expensive) but I was able to find a little jem: Brunel Sandwich Shop.

Where: 211 Strand

The Scene: Freshly made sandwiches in a tiny little shop

Delight: Good sandwich and fast and friendly service

Disappointment: Not very unique sandwiches

Brunel was absolutely packed when I stopped in for lunch the other day. The place is tiny, so it's not that hard to fill but I took the massive line outside to mean it's probably worth a try. I ordered a tuna sandwich on wheat bread with all the toppings (which included only lettuce, tomato and cucumber). The sandwich strangely came with butter on it. I had the option to not have butter but everyone in line in front of me was doing it so I figured I should give it a try, just in case it was really amazing. Adding butter to a tuna sandwich, I discovered adds about billion grams of fat and not much else.

The sandwich I got tasted great and the service was so efficient, I was in and out in no time. I was a little disappointed that they didn't do more interesting sandwiches. They didn't offer a variety of sauces or veggies which sort of made me feel like I could have easily made the exact same sandwich at home for far less money. But I'm definitely going to go again. This time to try the coronation chicken sandwich.

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New Year. New Resolutions.

Yes, it's been a million years. I haven't gotten off to a very good start with this blog. But, one of my new year's resolutions is to visit as many new coffee shops, cafes and basically dine out as much as possible for lunch near my headquarters: Covent Garden. This will not be difficult. And while I didn't resolve to update my blog more often, I am going to try.

My first stop was Samurai Sushi a chain sushi & Japanese food place near Holborn station.

Where: 116 High Holborn (across from Holborn station)

The Scene: Quick dine in lunch

Delight: Individually wrapped sushi for buffet style eating

Disappointment: It's a chain that makes chain quality sushi

This place is your typical try and please everyone fast food restaurant. The hot food looked greasy and unappetizing. The refrigerated section was filled with the traditional bento boxes, sushi and sashimi sets and individual items.

From the individually wrapped section I got:
Thai Crab Roll
Duck Roll Maki

These were all average. I wasn't convinced they were fresh but they tasted alright. For takeout in a pinch I'd go back, but I doubt you'll ever hear me blog about this one again.

I walked into the Japan Center Food Ltd on Lower Regent Street about a week ago and decided I must try their sushi. It definitely looks fresh.

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Boho Mexica

Where: 153 Commercial Street (near Spitalfields)

The Scene: Dinner with friends on a Friday night

Delight: Amazing guacamole & strong margaritas

Disappointment: Lost our reservation & general disorganization amongst staff

The night as I remember:

We were meeting some friends for dinner post work on a Friday night. We weren't able to get a reservation until 8:00pm so we settled for a few rounds at a pub down the street called the 10 Bells. When we finally arrived at Boho Mexica we could barely get in the door, it was so crowed. A good sign, I thought to myself.

Boho Mexica opened about 2 months ago and there has been a lot of buzz about it as one of the truly affordable, truly authentic Mexican restaurants in London. Being from California, and sick of the Tex Mex food people call Mexican in London, I knew I had to give this place a whirl.

When we finally got the attention of the owner he said he had no reservation for us but we could wait until a table opened up. We knew there was little chance we would be able to get into any other restaurant in the neighborhood without a reservation so we decided to stay. The owner was kind enough to give us some free guacamole and chips while we sipped on our margaritas and waited for a table.

We finally took a seat at around 9pm. Our food was brought out shortly after we ordered it, which I was thankful for, because at that point I was starving.

Here's what we ordered (all tapas style):

1. Empanadas de Flor de Calabaza - made with zucchini flower and cheese, topped with salsa verde. I could have used a spicier salsa for more flavor. I also tend to think of empanadas as more traditional in Central and South America, so it threw me off a little that they were on the menu. But according to Wikipedia, they're a native to most Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico.

2. Enchiladas de Mole - The mole was a huge disappointment. It tasted of nothing. I wouldn't waste your time on this dish, as some of the tacos are much more savory.

3. Cochinita Pibil Yucantan - Mayan style pork served with pickled red onions reminded me of Korean food more than Mexican. An ok taco dish, but I would probably give it a miss next time.

4. Tinga Poblana - Shredded chicken with tomatoes and chipotle chili sauce. Very spicy! I really loved these tacos and was tempted to get another round.

5. Puerco a la Jamaica - Pork cooked in their secret Hibiscus flower sauce with a side of corn mash. The pork was very tough (almost hard to eat) but I loved mopping up the secret Hibiscus sauce with my corn mash. Yum!

6. Carne D.F. - Steak tacos topped with Pico de Gallo. These were a very well done version of a classic (simple) dish. Steak was much better prepared than the pork on the Puerco a la Jamaica.

7. Los Verduleros - Portobello mushrooms, raja poblana and cheese. This must not have been that great because I don't even remember what it tasted like.

And for desert...we ordered all 3 options on the menu

1. Elote de Domingo - Corn on the cob smothered in chili powder, mayonnaise, lime and and cheese. This reminded me of the many ears of corn I ate from street vendors in Mérida. I wish I had seen this prior, because I think it would have gone better with the tapas, than as a desert.

2. Copa Nevada - A cream and meringue desert that I think was supposed to be a modern twist on flan. I personally would have preferred some traditional flan.

3. Bunuelos de Nacidad - Homemade doughnuts drizzled with sugar cane syrup. These may have been good if they were straight from the oven, nice and warn and gooey. But the batch we got has obviously been reheated and poorly at that. They were a bit soggy but I know if you got them straight from the oven they would have been to die for!

There was mass confusion as our food came out, because we had more than 1 waiter. Even though we mentioned that 3 different people were serving us, none of them seemed to take notice. It was great being waited on hand and foot but putting your order in through 1 person and then checking on it's status through another was a nightmare. At one point one of our waitresses offered us a round of free drinks for all the confusion, but as she brought them out, another waiter rang them into the cash register, so we ended up paying for them.

The food was cheap, authentic and the atmosphere alive and buzzing. I did have some problems with the food and service but I think in a few months time all these kinks will have been worked out and it will be a true gem.

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