As always, I wonder why it is I do the things I do. One morning, I woke up and thought, "I'd really like some Linzertorte." Who thinks these things? Me, apparently.
So off I went, in the rain, in search of Linzertorte. Kipferl, London's only Austrian delicatessen, was happy to oblige. £22 later, I started off for work, Austrian cake in tow. In the rain. But I possess a very very large umbrella.
The Linzertorte disappeared immediately. Before I could even help myself to a second slice. Or take a picture. It's the type of cake that's good for breakfast. And good with coffee. It has a little jam in it. This particular specimen was a little burnt around the edges, but no one seemed to mind very much.
On the downside, the store was very very warm. And it's not overly large.
The Background: Do your brain cells die as you get older? Does stress just zap your memory? All I can tell you is that there is something wrong with my mind. Every weekend, without fail, I wake up and think, "Hmmm...I should go have a coffee somewhere. Read the paper. Catch up on world events." And I think "But where should I go? There's nothing around here. Hmmm...I suppose I'll have to go to Coffee@. But I'm a little tired of their pastries." And then I go to Coffee@ and I have a croissant or something and I think, "Boy, am I tired of these pastries."
But it occured to me this morning lying in bed--as my brain was functioning--that actually, there is a patisserie in Exmouth Market. A good one! Sweet. (Both the exclamation and the shop!) And I went. And one veggie and cheese croissant later (along with a lemon tart for the road) I was very happy.
The Verdict: I'll be back.
P.S. Don't forget...you have until midnight on Friday, April 18th to submit your GUEST LONDON RESTAUARANT REVIEW for my fantastic contest.
If you're a blogger, this is a great way to get some extra traffic to your blog. If you've always wanted to try blogging, this is a nice, no-risk, no commitment sort of way to give it a shot.
E-mail your review to kristainlondon at gmail dot com.
Fox & Anchor 115 Charterhouse St EC1M 6AA 020 7250 1300
Date of Last Visit: A Wednesday or Thursday night in February.
The Victims: Geoff, Bevin, Karen, Chris
The Damage: Unknown. Bevin paid.
The Background: I've been wanting to try the Fox & Anchor for ages and having some American colleagues in town seemed like the perfect excuse. American colleagues are often in search of Fish & Chips in London. I thought the F&A might deliver on that aspect. No one got the Fish & Chips, but that is not my fault.
The Entrance: It's PACKED. This is not a relaxing place to have a meal on a busy night. Lots of traffic back and forth. Make sure you get a bench seat facing the bar...if you don't, you'll have people bumping into you all night.
Tap Water Test: Jug provided. Frequently refilled.
The Food: Steak and oyster pie. Pie was full of steak. That was good. But there didn't seem to be anything else in there? It was just steak. Is that weird? This was my first steak and oyster pie ever. Are they all like this? Why? I'm very confused. Was I ripped off? But the oysters were delicious and the side of spinach was nice.
Service: You know, it's interesting. After four years of blogging around town, I guess I must have low expectations of London servers. As long as they are cheerful and friendly and helpful, I can forgive most things. Because at the end of the day, cheerful and friendly and helpful is more than you get at most restaurants. So I thought our server was pretty good because she was cheerful and friendly and helpful. But as Geoff pointed out, she didn't seem to know a whole lot about anything on the menu.
The Verdict: Hmmm. The burgers looked great. And I liked the atmosphere. If I had friends in town from the U.S., I'd take them here for some upscale pub grub if they put in a specific request for pub food. But I wouldn't get the steak and oyster pie again.
Firstly, there were the rumors that Coffee@ was moving in. Those had to have started about a year ago. Secondly, there was all the painstaking work to remove the awful red paint from those beautiful tiles. (Why people paint tile and woodwork, I will never understand.) Thirdly, it was the sign that went up saying that Coffee@ was opening, and then a puzzling "Canceled" stamped across it. But fourthly, London's latest Coffee@ is now open! As of Tuesday morning. (Saturday soft launch, but I think I walked by Saturday a.m. and there wasn't much going on?)
I love these guys. Monday through Friday, you'll find them serving up some pretty excellent coffee on Whitecross Street. It's really good stuff. On Sundays, you'll find them off of Columbia Road. (They're in the courtyard on the street that runs sort of parallel to Columbia Road.)
I keep trying to give up caffeine, but I can't. And these guys make it even harder.
The Background: Matt and John are leaving me...flying back to the U.S. next week. So I decided to take them out to lunch and invited Jon along for the trip.
I don't know why I haven't written about Shish before. God knows I've been there enough times. I like Shish because I am cheap. A big group can eat there for £10 a head. I also like Shish because I like hummous and pita.
The Food: Above, I wrote that A. I like Shish and B. I like hummous and pita. You would think that would mean that I would enjoy the intersection of the two (or three, as the case may be)...the ven diagram, I suppose. But you know...I'm not sure. I am not a huge fan of the hummous at Shish. I like the pita, but I bet it comes from a plastic bag. The hummous needs salt. (But remember my nationality as you read that.)
But I do like the meal deal at Shish. That's why I keep coming back. for £8.95, you get two mezes (hummous & pita for me, plus some red peppers with feta cheese) and a main dish. Plus a drink! My main was a chicken skewer with rice and a little bit of salad. It was good. But just good. I think the chicken was just the slightest bit underdone. Hmmm.
The Loos: I do not ever want to use these again. I could not wait to get out of there. Uggh. Purell!!
The Verdict: I betcha I'll be back to Shish by March. I know. Don't hate me.
The Victims: Marcos, Colleeen, Isabelle, Aya, Nanta, Christine
The Damage: More about this later.
The Background: So more than a year ago, I got big time suckered into a Taste London card. £40 or something for a green and black plastic card that gets you discounts at restaurants around town.
This made me bitter because TopTable.co.uk doesn't charge you anything for discounts...so £40...hmmm...steep.
And then for the kicker--Taste London auto-renews your subscription, so you get stuck with it for another year if you're not paying attention.
But you know...I say "got stuck with it" very loosely because after our dinner at The Clerkenwell Dining Room on Tuesday--with our 50% discount--I'm sorta hooked! This was a very nice dinner for seven for £170 quid. That's £24.29 each. Not so bad. Sure, we went light on the wine and only 28.6% of us had dessert, but six out of seven of us had a starter. And all of us had coffee. So £24.29 each is a good value. Let me tell you some more.
The Entrance: They take our coats. This place is a lot fancier than I thought it would be. I'm in jeans and trainers. The patrons are all doing business in their cufflinks over their sea bass. Ack...the drawbacks of working for an "everyday is casual day" company.
The Service: Is SURLY. I accidentally tell them we're eight people, not seven. And they reset that table like they were about to walk the plank. It was funny.
The Starters: Mine was squid. It was okay. Better was the salad that it was served along with. Zingy.
The Mains: I went for the sea bass and it was a hugely generous portion and it was served with three HUGELY insane scallops. (No cutting in half to make them look like more here.) I was really impressed with the portion size and the general tastiness. I looked around later and there wasn't a scrap of food left on the table.
The Tap Water Test: Our surly server brought the jug, poured me a glass, and then took the jug away. Others at the table fell for "Still or Sparkling?" and when I wasn't looking, the server filled my glass up with paid-for still water. I was HAD. Don't let this happen to you.
The Verdict: I would take a business dinner here. Particular ones where there are Americans present and they are a bit sensitve about the exchange rate. (£1 = $2.07 according to Google today.) And I would use my TasteLondon card again. It takes a little bit of planning (the first couple of places we tried on Tuesday afternoon were booked) but it's worth it.
The Background: Stephanie, my cleaning lady extraordinaire, is leaving me. She's having a baby. I can't even tell you how guilty I feel about having a cleaning lady. Make it a pregnant cleaning lady and well, I am swimming in guilt.
But life goes on. So here I am, working from home, making sure my new cleaning lady doesn't rob me blind. (I have such trust in people!) Her name is Lily and she seems really nice and I can't imagine her robbing me, so that's good.
So I take a break for lunch and head over to Exmouth Market for a burrito! I am so excited! I have been wanting to try Freebird for ages, and it's not too far from me, but it's been hard to get a day at home where I can give it a try.
The Approach: The stand is quiet when I get there. I'm the only one there. Then I recognize the two owner dudes from my night at Mucho Mas and try to drum up a conversation. I remind the one guy that I met him at Mucho Mas. I don't think he remembered me. I think he just thought I was a crazy American who was really excited to have a burrito for lunch.
The Product: I get a pork fajita burrito. (Pork = Carnitas.) They make it in front of me, which is cool. I get a little worried though when they wrap it up. They don't wrap it so well. It looks like it's going to fall apart. But I take it and go. Not before forgetting to pay, of course. I am nothing if not classy.
Back at Home: I unwrap it and it falls apart. It's just not very burrito-y. It's a mess. A delicious mess, but a mess indeed. I like the carnitas. Really nicely seasoned. But then--I went with the medium salsa, and it's not got much of a punch to it. It's just a bunch of corn. Hmmm.
The Verdict: Not bad. But not knocking my socks off either.
The Background: I was having one of those days. It was only 1 p.m. and I'd already been on and off more trains and buses than I've ever been on in one single day in London. Most of this was related to my stupid bankcard. (Defining moment: Me, yelling (ok, speaking harshly) at my bank about their inability to deliver my bankcard and thus my inability to obtain cash.
The customer service rep: "Well, you could just go to the nearest branch."
I was, I am, I forever will be ashamed. I live in such a paperless world that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind!)
So on my way home from Selfridges, which does accept American Express (John Lewis does not), I decided to stop into Sasa Sushi. When I first moved to Clerkenwell, there were few sushi options. There was just Pham on Whitecross Street. (Which my Japanese former-coworker explained was actually Vietnamese and not Japanese.) And I suppose there's the Yo! on Farringdon. But now there's Life. And Saki (still need to check out Saki--let me know if you're interested). And Sa Sa Sushi.
The Entrance and Service: I am greeted warmly, but I am the only one there. Two groups of people come in to place take-away orders. It's a little lonely. My server is very sweet but I have a hard time understanding her. I feel awkward. The decor is uninspired. They are trying to sell the pictures on the wall, but I think they can do it in a much more classy way. And the menu is way too disjointed and complicated...simplicity is key! I want to help them.
The Food: I order a crunchy tuna roll and it is a very generous serving. I am very happy. It's pretty good. But then I get the Katsudon (pork cutlet in rice with a fried egg) and it is not very good. It was missing pretty much everything. Really. I did not like this dish. At all. It needed some more salt. And this is even me knowing that whenever I eat at Wagamama, I need to drink a gallon of water afterwards.
The Verdict: Eh. I might order a bunch of crunchy tuna rollls as takeaway. But I'd rather go to Pham.
The Story: So for the last couple of weeks, I've been walking past this Japanese place at the intersection of Old Street and Goswell Road, waiting for it to open. Personally, I think one of the secrets of opening a new restaurant is to minimize the time-to-launch. Man, did these guys take a long time. Or so it seemed. Or maybe I was just desparate for sushi.
I WAS desperate for sushi. You see, after a week in Sardinia (where seafood is not really the thing, surprisingly), I just wanted something light and refreshing and NOT Italian. So finally I saw that Life would be open for dinner on the 29th. After a good workout (yes, still trying to practice clean living), I made my way over.
The Entrance: I like the space. It's loft-like. It's all bare brick walls, and then one wall has this cool wood paneling thing going on. I also like the little chopstick rests--they are little paper-mache bows.
The Service: Is sweet, but TOTALLY clueless. I ask for a glass of wine and she has no idea what I mean. I repeat and repeat and repeat again. I show her the menu. She has vision problems. She holds the menu 3 inches from her face and then proceeds to write down C-l-o-u-d-y-B-a-y-C-h-a-r-d-o-n-n-a-y-£-1-0. (I also think £10 is a ripoff.)
Someone needs to add numbers to all the options on the menu, pronto.
I ask for recommendations and it's clear that she hasn't tried anything. She then points to the braised pork and says it's good. So I go for it. I'm tired and don't want to think anymore. Oh, I also get a spicy tuna roll.
The Food: The spicy tuna roll is nice. It's not bad. It's not particularly exciting either. But they definitely get points for presentation. I liked the platter it was served on.
The braised pork turns out to be some decent sized chunks of very tender pork served with what my mother, the German, woudl call butter noodles. It's a thick pasta. And I am so peeved at myself for falling for the only Italian Japanese dish on the menu. But you know what? It's pretty good.
More about The Service: The servers spent more than a little time standing in the entranceway to the main dining room, staring at everyone. This weirded me out. Oh, and then they kept turning down the lights and it was just SO dark. And then when I really needed them, I couldn't find them anywhere.
The Verdict: I'm going to give this place another shot. It was opening night, so I'll forgive the service. But they gotta sharpen up. And next time, I'm not asking for recommendations.
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