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Guerrila Burgers, Marylebone

2010-03-09T07:00:00+00:00

Guerilla Burgers
35 James Street
W1U 1EA

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, February 18th, 2010

The Victim: Niamh

The Damage: Free to those who RSVPd.

The Background: Here is something you should know about me. I can never remember how to spell "occasionally." Or "sandwich." And, apparently, "guerilla." I didn't know about "guerilla" until recently, when I tried and retried starting a post about London's latest burger offering, Guerilla Burgers. Guerilla. Guerilla. Guerilla. One R. Two Ls. I will try to remember. Unless Guerilla Burgers makes me forget.

I do like a good burger. I'm American, after all. So when the very social-media savvy Guerilla Burgers popped up on Twitter and promised burgers AND fish tacos, well, I couldn't not respond to their oh-so-tempting offer. (There was no champagne involved. But there was plenty of wine.) So I did RSVP. And found myself at a soft-launch-type event, surrounded by many others who had been lured in by the promise of good (and, well, free) burgers.

Buns, not guns! Power to the patty! Gosh darnit, but I really wanted to like the place based on the decor alone. Badly. And after meeting our charming Canadian server as well as the woman behind Guerilla Burgers' Twitter account, I wanted to like them even more. The staff here are friendly, knowledgeable, and nice. (And kudos to our server for recommending that we mix the chipotle tabasco with the mayo. That was pretty fantastic.)

On this evening, we were treated to free chips--both crinkle cut and sweet potato--and free mini-burgers. And free wine. And free margaritas. There was a lot of free stuff. I think we could have even had free dessert if we wanted to.

The burgers were pretty cute. I wanted to like them. I really wanted to like them a lot. They get points for presentation and concept. (Although maybe the mini burger was the hors d'oeuvres--something else I can't spell--of 2007.)

So you can probably guess what happened. I didn't like the burgers. They were dry. They were hard. They lacked flavor.

But they were free. There was that. (Should free food taste better because it's free? Or is this just an accident waiting to happen?)

On the other hand, I liked the sweet potato fries. Being partly Floridian, I eat a lot of sweet potatoes. I don't think they get enough table time in this country. So I was glad to see the sweet potato fries on the menu at Guerilla Burgers and happily polished off the bowl. (Sorry, Niamh.)

The crinkle cut fries were another story, however. These were limp specimens. But maybe I ate too many Nathan's fries as a kid. So I had to remind myself as I downed another glass of free wine...they were free.

The Verdict: There's a lot to like about Guerilla Burgers. The location is great. The concept is cool. The staff are lovely. (Long may they stay that way!) So I will give this another shot, even when it's not free. (That was me trying to be funny, for all you out there who take me too seriously.) But my initial impression, on a night it was all free was that the mini burgers were not as enjoyable as I was hoping. But at least I can remember how to spell "guerilla" now.

Ms. Marmite Lover's, Kilburn

2010-03-03T06:00:00+00:00

Ms. Marmite Lover's
Kilburn
London

Date of Last Visit: Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

The Victim: Me and a bunch of people I've never met before

The Damage: £30

The Background: Ages ago, I told Ms. Marmite Lover that I'd totally come by the Underground Restaurant if she ever held a singles' night.

I try to stay true to my word. So when I heard Ms. Marmite Lover was having an Anti-Valentine's Day party for all the singletons this year, I bought myself a ticket. And that's the funny thing about the Internet. I figured Ms. Marmite Lover would see my name on the list and think, "Oh, Krista's coming!"

But I forget that there are probably lots of other people named Krista out there. And Ms. Marmite Lover doesn't know my last name.

And so as it turned out, my presence was (I hope) a very pleasant surprise.

Ms. Marmite Lover's abode was also a pleasant surprise. I really dug her flat. And her plates. A lot. Very cool. I thought her daughter was a riot. And I liked how we were greeted with a glass of cider upon arrival.

What I didn't like, however, was
the
lack
of
men.

As Ms. Marmite herself states in her wrap-up post, there were 17 girls. 3 guys. Gentlemen, really. I mean...really! This could have been your night! And two of those guys...they were more on a reconnaissance mission than anything. (The details are hazy but I think one of them admitted to having a girlfriend?) They're opening their own underground restaurant in Dalston (Called 99). So my hopes of Ms. Marmite Lover introducing me to my future husband...dashed. (In a last minute bid to help, I e-mailed every single single male I know in London and tried to get them to come. No dice. Their loss!)

That being said, us 17 girls and 3 guys made the most of it. We bonded over Foursquare. And social media. And underground restaurants. And when some guests split immediately after dinner, we drank the rest of their wine. The three men rotated tables like at a bad speed-dating party. (Are there ever any good speed-dating parties?)

The Menu: As it was Shrove Tuesday, it was all pancakes. This is not an American thing, this pancakes on Tuesday thing. (I had to turn to Wikipedia for the answer: Pancakes and doughnuts are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent.

We started off with smoked salmon and blini. As Ms. Marmite Lover notes on her own blog, the blini were particularly fluffy. Well done.

This was followed by a cheese galette, which had been baked in the oven. I could have had a 2nd one of these but felt weird asking for reinforcements.

Some lovely heart-shaped cheese. Where the heck do you buy heart-shaped cheese in this city?

And then there was a Crepes Suzette, but my photo didn't turn out so you will have to imagine it.

The Verdict: At the end of the day, I'm glad I went to Ms. Marmite Lover's. She's a great hostess and her kitchen is fab, as are her plates. Bummer about the guys though.

Pizza East, Shoreditch

2010-03-01T06:00:00+00:00

Pizza East
56 Shoreditch High Street
London E1 6JJ

Date of Last Visit: Friday, January 29th

The Victims: Feathers, Jen, Niculie

The Damage: £10ish each

The Background: On Fridays, if I do go out for lunch, I refuse to go out for a 1 p.m. booking. Because here's what happens. EVERYONE goes out for Friday lunch. At 1 p.m. They sit down, they chat. Maybe they order some drinks. And then they all put their orders in between 1:10 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. which means that the kitchen gets slammed and you don't see your food until at least 1:45 p.m.

If it's a Friday booking, I'll only do 12:45 p.m. Beat the crowd by 15 minutes, you know?

So it was that we found ourselves at Pizza East on the last Friday in January. Promptly at 12:45 p.m. And you know, I didn't expect to like the inside as much as I did. This is a pretty cool space. Check out the front deli area. A little retro modern...

Pizza East is also pretty massive. Caterer Search says that on a busy night, they can do 600 covers. The restaurant seats 200. I don't mind massive, as long as you have a good product. And I think Pizza East is off to a pretty good start in that respect.

Based on some recommendations from the friendly folks on Twitter, I went for the spicy sausage and sprouting broccoli pizza. Liked it. Big time. Except for maybe the too puffy crust. I left a lot of the crust behind. Carbs are evil anyhow. The sausage was spicy, as advertised. But I've never been quite sure what "sprouting" broccoli means so I can't comment there.

The Verdict: I really liked the space at Pizza East. (Sucker for subway tile, sorry.) My one pizza was pretty good too. I'd go back here. Even just to check out the deli and drink some of the "wine on tap" business.

Civet Cat Club, Newington Green

2010-02-24T06:00:00+00:00

Civet Cat Club
Newington Green

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Victims: Feathers, Jen, Kellie, and many others

The Damage: £30 each, plus BYOB

The Background: Ages ago, Tess from The Civet Cat Club suggested I drop by. You might know how I feel about invites and everything that goes along with them. So part of me was in no rush to drop by, but part of me was still suitably intrigued. Especially because I could more or less take a bus to the Civet Cat Club. I mean, I'd still have to walk, but it wasn't in Kensington or anything. It was my side of town. Points.

And it was underground. And mysterious.

So combine that with the needs for a girls' night, and we four (Yanks, all of us) found ourselves in Newington Green one Thursday evening. Feathers and Jen totally knew what we were up to (i.e., underground supper club). Kellie just thought we were going out to a restaurant. (And as such, she must have thought I was a total bitch when I emailed the gang on Wednesday telling everyone that if they were going to back out, they needed to let me know asap because I knew the restaurant was going to have to buy ingredients for us.)

The Entrance: Totally retro-modern. I could live here. Easily. In fact, I'd like to move it. Is this okay? Honestly, we were all salivating over furniture, not food, upon arrival.

Our hostess showed us to our table--a table for eight--and we introduced ourselves to our fellow dinner companions. Two couples who didn't know each other or us. But hey, we were mostly all on Twitter, so of course we exchanged contact details.

Up first is salmon sashimi with wasabi, shallot crunch, and a lotus root crisp. I liked the wasabi cream. (And the salmon of course.) Less a fan of the lotus root, but I think that's more a generality. I also like my new iPhone, as you can see in the photo. I can't let it out of my sight. I believe I'd had it for about 3 days at this point.

Star anise and mussel broth with sourdough bread...really luscious broth. Good for scooping up with the bread. Star anise was just a lingering flavor...not overpowering, which we had worried about after reading the menu.

Best dish of the night in my opinion...mackerel with a spicy peanut noodle salad. I love mackerel. I love peanuts. And I'm a sucker for lime. So this all triangulated for me. Perfectly so. Feathers begged me to get the recipe afterwards. (But she must have been very drunk because when I produced said recipe, she said, "I wanted this??? Honestly no idea what I wrote on that comment card I was so drunk! LOL. Can't wait to try though it might stink up the house." Ungrateful wretch, isn't she?)

What Feathers Said: The next day, Feathers sent an e-mail to all her girlfriends around the world (she had many friends in far away places)--all about the Civet Cat Club. I kid you not. Here is what she had to say, in her own words:

Thanks to Krista for inviting Kellie, Jen and me to a secret supper club. The idea of a supper club is someone creates a restaurant for the night, takes a small number of reservations, and a chef gets to try out a menu. [NB: I don't exactly agree with this definition, but it's Feathers' and we'll let it rest.] In this case the person hosting does a supperclub at their home about once a month. The home was amazing. The whole house was perfectly decorated with fabulous modern design. There was a vaulting horse in the living room and some random stuffed animals-like taxidermy stuffed. It sounds odd but was sooo cool.

So we get there at 7:30 and head up to the top floor which is an amazing open kitchen with a deck off it. They have set up three tables-one of 8 and one 5 and one 4. Krista ensured we go the big table. [NB: I didn't do anything to get us on the big table.] They put the four girls in the middle and we had a couple on either end. I think half the reason we had fun was both couples were cool. I have never laughed so hard in my whole life. Oh and it was BYOB and we did bring a lot so that helped. At one point people were trying to talk to people at the other end of the table so we developed a rotation so everyone would get to talk to new people. It was like speed dating for friends. It started out interesting talking about social media and books we have read and then at the end of the night Jen was telling them about the Wiener Circle in Chicago and everyone was laughing so hard all the other tables were staring. I apologized to the Englishman next to me and said sorry this happens a lot when you have Americans at dinner and I know the English stare so you must be embarrassed. He said, "Oh no! They are staring because they are jealous we are having more fun. It's great." I never thought of it that way. :-)

And the food. It was amazing. I was not so excited about the menu. I don't like star anise, not a fan of lychee and wasn't sure about mackerel. It was all fabulous!!! Still dreaming about the mackerel in peanut noodles (menu attached). [NB: It's not attached.] There was a slight issue with the fish smoking up the kitchen and we had to open windows but other than that it was fine.

So that is my tale of the secret supper club in London. I want to go to another but don't know how it can live up to last night. I didn't get home until midnight and am a bit hungover today but all worth it.

The Dessert: (Back to regularly scheduled programming.) You know I love lemon so I can't possibly write anything that's not biased. And the deep-fried lychee? I was totally okay with that. (Normally not a huge lychee fan.)

The Verdict: Unbelievably amazingly good time at The Civet Cat Club. Great food, great dinner companions. Much fun had by all. Did not want the night to end. Would do it again in a heartbeat. You should go. Contact the Civet Cat Club now and book your table!

Itadaki Zen, Kings Cross

2010-02-22T06:00:00+00:00

Itadaki Zen
139 King's Cross Road
WC1X 9BJ

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

The Victim: Reiko

The Damage: £35 each

The Background: You might remember that I was in Cardiff towards the end of November. At some point, after the Australia-Wales Rugby Match, we ended up in a random Malaysian restaurant. (Never wrote about it, sorry!) I was with Craig and his wife Leanne. Craig leaves to go to the men's room and Leanne and I are sitting chatting. I make a comment about the people waving Australian flags in the restaurant. (Craig and Leanne are from Downunder.) Leanne follows my gaze and yells, "Oh my God! That's my cousin!

Yes, she ran into her cousin Taman at a random Malaysian restaurant in Cardiff. He was with his girlfriend Reiko, and we all got to chatting over the rest of our meals.

I told Reiko about my blog and my trip to Tokyo in 2008 and she pronounced herself a willing victim for any meal. So it was that we found ourselves at Itadaki Zen in King's Cross on a Wednesday night in January. This was Reiko's choice, and I was intrigued. It's a vegetarian Japanese restaurant, and I'd never heard of it. Never. I like never hearing about places.

But then of course, the week before we're supposed to go to Itadaki Zen, what happens? Time Out runs this review. I was kinda bummed. Mainly because I wanted to go someplace I knew NOTHING about. But I couldn't not read Guy Diamond's review.

The Entrance: Itadaki Zen is all light wood and quiet. They had an architect in from Japan who designed the space, and apparently, he thought people would never eat in groups of three or four because he built this huge mega-wide bar down the side of the room. Not so good. I was glad it was just me and Reiko.

The Food: I put Reiko in charge. I don't know what I'm doing. Reiko had the chef brought out so we could all chat. Or, well, that Reiko and the chef could chat because it was all in Japanese. So we started with the vegetable sushi and you know what, I wasn't so impressed. Vegetable sushi is boring. (And high-margin.) Luckily, I snagged the fried tofu bit.

The spinach and tofu, on the other hand, I really enjoyed. Dense and savory. I could have had more of this.

The beans...I could have passed on these. I'm not exactly sure what they were--soybeans of some sort. But they didn't talk to me. At the end, this was the only dish we didn't finish.

So I was worried about the agedashi tofu because Guy Diamond in Time Out said "...mirin and shoyu (soy sauce) broth called tsuyu – should have intense flavours to complement the delicate tofu, but this version disappointingly lacked great depth." But I actually thought this was one of the better examples of agedashi tofu that I've ever had. Normally, I find the broth too watery and lacking flavor, but I thought this one was pretty good.

I really liked the spring rolls. A lot. Eons later and I'm still thinking about them. I would tell you more but I've written this post like three times now because Typepad and my computer are not getting along at the moment. So I'm kinda highly annoyed.

Then there was the tempura. The carrot and onion mish-mash was pretty fantastic. The rest was good, but would have been better with the tempura dipping sauce I'm used to. (At Itadaki Zen, the tempura is served with just the salt. I don't know enough about dipping sauce vs. salt to comment.) Once this stuff was cold...well, not so great. (In comparison to say, cold fried chicken, which only seems to taste better the next day!)

And here's the sesame pudding. I'm a sucker for anything sesame but I can see many people not liking this. But you know what, I don't care what you think. I really liked this. Anything sesame is delicious to me.

The Service: Sweet. Not Japanese. (Just stating some facts.) Very knowledgeable about the food and what they're trying to accomplish. I like that.

The Area: Sketchy.

The Verdict: I'd seriously go back for those spring rolls. And the carrot and onion tempura. And some sesame pudding. Oh, and some more of that spinach and tofu mixture. Don't be worried about the lack of meat and fish. There's enough choice here to make up for that.

Tenshi, Islington

2010-02-10T06:00:00+00:00

Tenshi
61 Upper Street
N1 0NY

Date of Last Visit: January 17th, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £15

The Background: You have to imagine me, sitting in my flat on a Sunday afternoon thinking, "I really want sushi." But it's Sunday. Pham is closed on Sundays. And I don't want to get on the tube. Why why why is there no sushi in Islington???

Well there is now. Thanks to Tenshi. And I'm pretty happy about it.

I liked Tenshi's spicy tuna rolls. Nothing special. Just honest.

Service is prompt and efficient, or at least it was when I was there. The atmosphere is VERY basic. This is really more of a take-out place. The good news about that, though, is they'll be open ALL the time. (I hope.) Not just from 12 to 3 p.m. and then 6 to 10 p.m. like Sasa Sushi down the road. So if you want sushi in Islington, you can have sushi whenever you want.

You can also have chicken katsu whenever you want, and this was a fine example. I'd eat it again. Good panko crust. I still like chicken katsu curry better, though.

The Verdict: (Relatively) cheap fun. Welcome to the neighborhood, Tenshi. I'm sure I'll be back many times.

Dubai Round-up

2010-02-08T06:00:00+00:00

Dubai is a strange place. It's like being back on Long Island, where the only thing there is to do is go to the mall. (Before my fellow Strong Islanders jump all over me, I realize this is a sweeping generalization. I grew up by Jones Beach, after all, and thus spent many a weekend not at the mall.)

But in Dubai, you really do spend a lot of time going to the mall. Talking about how you're going to get to the mall. Getting to the mall and figuring out where exactly you're going to go in the mall. Trying to find what you need in the mall without getting lost--or buying stuff you don't need. And then figuring out how to get home from the wall.

And after you're done with the mall, you start talking about dinner and drinks. Where are you going to go for dinner? How will you get there? Do they serve alcohol there? And what time will you be coming back and how will you get back?

Thyme
Oasis Beach Tower
Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Date of Only Visit: Thursday, January 7th

The Victims: Rutton, Richard, Mireia, Chris, Evelien, Al, Louise

The Damage: A confusing amount of Emirati Dirham.

Our first real dinner was Thyme, mainly because it was conveniently located in our hotel, the Oasis Beach Tower. And also because we had heard the food was pretty decent. And it was decent. But the service was crap.

I liked my pumpkin soup a lot. Hearty. Spicy, in the best possible way. If only it hadn't taken so long to arrive!

My sea bass, on the other hand, was terrible. Half of it was undercooked! Undercooked! Ridiculous. More ridiculous still was the amount of time it took to get our mains. We basically had to tell them that we were cancelling our order before they would deliver the food.

Thyme is a food court, really. A food court with table service. I'm not so sure how I feel about that.

Cafe Blanc
The Dubai Mall
Downtown Burj Dubai

Date of Only Visit: Friday, January 8th

The Victims: Jose, Roman, Sherry

The Damage: Unknown because it was all Monopoly money to me.

The next day, we found ourselves at The Burj, the world's tallest building. We took a table in the shade at the Dubai Mall and ordered ourselves some hummmus and labneh. Very generous portions.

Along with the mint lemonade, this was a nice start to the meal. We were all very happy. Even more so with the mint lemonade. Mint and lemons...only two of my favorite things!

Things went downhill with the mains, however. My mixed grill was dry and boring. It was also a huge portion that I couldn't finish. (I liked the chicken best.)

In hindsight, I learned that this place is a chain. There's nothing wrong with that, but that took away a bit of the "sitting outdoors and looking at the world's tallest building" magic.

Other places we visited in Dubai include...
On the Border, a Mexican chain close to our hotel. They make guacamole right at your table, and that's a good thing. We spent a happy hour or two here, drinking non-alcoholic beers (who knew they'd be so good?) and downing three bowls of guac and chips. Also, very excellent service. Almost too excellent for a place akin to TGI Friday's. (And much better, for example, than the service at Thyme, which was much more expensive.)
400, the nightclub at The Fairmont. Largest bottles of vodka I've ever seen. My friends Dev and Connie got yelled at for kissing. I don't want to ask how much our evening here cost. Luckily, I wasn't paying.
Barasti Bar, at Le Meridien. It's on the beach sort of. But it reminded me of being at spring break in Cancun. In a bad way.
Pai Thai in the Madinat Jumeirah. Worth it for the boat ride alone. And the hotel is LUSH. All the restaurant staff were Thai, which was impressive. Lovely colonial feel to the whole setup. Food better than good, less than excellent. (Too dark for photos.)

The Verdict: Dubai is interesting. Good people watching. Good shopping. I'm sure I only just scratched the surface, but would I go back? Not sure.

Soju, Soho

2010-02-05T06:00:00+00:00

Soju
32 Great Windmill St
W1D 7LR

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, December 12th, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: About £15

The Background: Sometimes, a crazy urge grips me. The urge for dolsot bibimbap. The 12th of December was one of those days. So as I was wandering around Soho, I got out my phone and Google Maps and started searching for my nearest Korean.

Soju was the answer. But it's also known as Korean Kitchen. Don't let that fool you.

The Entrance: The ground floor of Soju is very tiny. There are a couple of tables full, some with Koreans, others with tourists. The Norwegian couple next to me have stepped into Soju specifically because they've never had Korean food before and they are up for an adventure. I admire this.

The Food: My sweet server brings me my dolsot bibimbap and before I can snap a photo of it in its loveliness--the raw egg on top is glistening--she stirs it all up for me. So forgive the photo. (To see a before photo of dolsot bibimbamp, check out my Han Kang review.)

This is good bibimbap--better than Han Kang's--but the beef is still tough and leathery. There's no juice. This doesn't stop me from eating. I'm just saying. Someone's got to be able to make me a dolsot bibimbap with some nice juicy beef.

The Verdict: Good. But really just good.