In Search of Good London Pubs?

You can hardly walk down a London street without finding a pub, but how do you know which one to pick?  My dream job would be to trot around town sampling each and everyone, but till then I will continue doing it on a sporadic "volunteer" basis. Here are a few of my favourites.  Working in Clerkenwell and living in South London, I realise that these pubs are all in those areas, but I will keep researching!  

The Easton near Exmouth Market.

The Canton Arms on South Lambeth Road. 

The Trinity right next to Borough Station. 

The Fentiman Arms between Vauxhall and Oval. 

You can expect quality food, beer, and wine at these pubs.  The menus at the Trinity and the Fentiman Arms consist mainly of well-cooked standard pub items, i.e. if you are craving fish & chips or a Sunday roast, these are places to hit up.  

The Easton and the Canton Arms, on the other hand, are "gastro-pubs."  My goodness that term reeks of hipster-yuppie-snobbishness, but I'm lacking a better word to describe the food at these pubs right now.  What does it mean?  You will find risotto on the menu.  You will also find a variety of fresh meats cooked to perfection served with the season's vegetables prepared in a clever and delicious way. You will find freshly baked cakes and homemade ice cream for dessert.  

Ps: Always leave room for the Easton Mess at the Easton. 

Green & Red Mexican Restaurant in East London

I recently went for happy hour and dinner at Green & Red Restaurant just off Shoreditch High Street. It must have been the first time I left a Mexican restaurant without unbuttoning my jeans while swearing never to touch a tortilla again.  

Green & Red keeps their portions small, the idea being that you order a couple of dishes to share.  We got quite excited and ordered 3 dishes each.  I recommend the Chorizo Quesadillas and the Ensalada de Jicama.  I'd never heard about jicama before (have you?), but was pleased to discover this very delicious root vegetable.  I rounded off the meal with Churros con Chocolate. And we are not talking any old chocolate here.  We are talking spicy, thick, rich, to-kill-for chocolate. Three words: mas, por favor! 

The place has an impressive tequila menu.  Not knowing my Jose Cuervo from my Gran Patron I stuck to the awesome house margaritas, but two of my friends sipped some fine tequila and looked like they enjoyed it.  It was certainly eye-opening to see tequila served in a tasting glass and without the usual slice of lemon and on salt on the side.  Yikes, is this a sign of adulthood??

We had a beer after dinner in the bar/lounge in the basement; it never really turned into a fiesta, but we were on the wrong side of midnight to be fair.  All the ingredients are definitely under the roof for a good time. And the staff are lovely. 

Roasting Time - Chicken and Autumn Veggies

It may still be warm here in London, but it is also October and my body clock has spoken: it is time for roasts! I adore the UK-tradition of Sunday roasts though I don't limit myself to making them on Sundays.  Yes, they take a while to cook, but they are quick to prepare.  Just turn on the oven as soon as you walk in the door, prepare the meat and veggies, shove it all in the oven, and put on an episode of Mad Men or two episodes of SATC while you let the cosy smell of roast spread all over the house (or, in my case, flat).

There are so many great autumn vegetables out there begging to be roasted: pumpkins, squash, parsnips, carrots, leeks, celeriac, swedes, beet roots.  And the best part is that these vegetables cost next to nothing!

Chicken Roast for 4 people:

1 chicken
fresh sage
fresh thyme
1 lemon
1 swede
5 carrots
3 leeks
3 onions
4 garlic bulbs (yes, bulbs!)
1 kg of potatos
olive oil
sea salt and pepper

1. Turn the oven on and let it pre-heat to 200 degrees.  Take the chicken out of the fridge.

2. Wash the potatos and boil them for 10 minutes (this will make them quicker to roast).  Add a whole lemon to the boiling water too (you will use this for the chicken in step 4).

3. Meanwhile, wash and peel the carrots and swede. Cut them into pieces.  Cut the carrots into quarters and cut the swede into 3cm x 3cm pieces.  Peel the onions and cut them in half.  Wash the leeks and slice each of them into 2-3 pieces.

4. Put some oil in the bottom of a roasting tray.  Place the chicken in the roasting tray.  Put thyme and sage inside the chicken and squeeze some in between the legs and the body too.  Take the lemon out of the boiling water, poke some holes in it with a knife (this is a Jamie Oliver trick) and put it inside the chicken.  Rub the bird with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  Arrange the vegetables and the garlic around the chicken in the tray.  Add a bit of oil, salt and pepper.  Mix it all around with your hands.

5. Put the potatos in a separate tray.  Add oil, salt, pepper, sage and thyme.  Mix up it and shake the spuds around a bit so that they get oil on them.

6.  Put the tray with the chicken in the oven for one hour.  Add the potatos for the last 30 minutes.

7.  The chicken takes about an hour to roast.  Here is a tip to make sure it is ready: take it out of the oven and break away one leg from the body.  If the juice is clear it is done.  If it is still a bit red then it needs more time.

Each person gets a garlic bulb.  Squeeze out the garlic and use it to smear over the meat and potatos. Bon appetit and who cares if your colleagues give you strange looks the next day? Could be worse - you could have forgotten to put on your skirt!

Rosemary Lane in Wapping, London

I discovered an absolute gem of a restaurant in London this weekend thanks to my friend, Stian, who organised an evening at Rosemary Lane to celebrate his birthday.  We had a 9-course tasting menu.  It is not simply because a new plate of food landed in front of me 9 times that I am raving as I dig through my lunchtime salad.  Every single plate was cooked and presented to perfection.

You should definitely make the trip east to Wapping (no longer a hassle thanks to the Overground) to sample the delights of Californian chef Cristina Anghelescu.   Based in a former pub, Rosemary Lane is wonderfully unpretentious and just a great place to enjoy excellent food without any fuss from snooty waiters or obnoxious wanna-be-seens.  

Spicy Sunday Soup

Do you also despise Sunday evenings?  Well, here is a soup to help you beat those awful Sunday blues.  I realise that I am in quite a soup phase at the moment, but having just discovered how easy they are to make, I can't seem to get enough!  Bon appetit and have a good start to next week!

To serve 4 friends: 

2 chopped leeks

300 g of sliced chorizo

1/2 deseeded and chopped chilli

1 chopped sweet pepper

3 chopped carrots

smoked paprika

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1 chopped red onion

1 can of haricot beans

1 can of tomatos

1 bay leaf

0.5L vegetable stock

salt and pepper

olive oil

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a big pot.  Add the red onion, chilli, chorizo and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes. 

2. Add the rest of the vegetables, 1 teaspoonful of smoked paprika, and the bay leaf.  Fry for a few minutes.

3.  Add the beans. Stir around before adding the tomatos and vegetable stock.  Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 20-30 minutes without a lid.

Serve with bread or just enjoy it on its own!  Add a tablespoonful of sour cream if it is too spicy for you. 

Friday Night Snack and Beer

Happy Friday!!  While Mr. Sprinkle prepares dinner, I'm digging into a "light" pre-dinner snack, an "amuse bouche" if you will, consisting of chorizo, olives, cashew nuts and some solid Belgian brew.  What better way to unwind and forget about the office?

If you can get your hands on La Chouffe beer then do it! It is one of my favourite Belgian beers; I discovered it while living in Brussels and, take it from moi, it is divine. 

Bon weekend! 

Birthday Bagel To The Max

It was my better half's birthday yesterday.  He requested what I like to call a Salmon and Cream Cheese Deluxe Bagel for breakfast.  As I nearly ruined his birthday dinner last year at London's overrated St. John restaurant by complaining about the food from arrival till departure, I saw little choice but to get up extra early yesterday morning and to put together this bagel sandwich of all bagel sandwiches.  It is absolutely delicious and, truth be told, I would get up early every day to whack together a bagel like this if it wasn't so unkind on the waist and wallet (compared to musli and milk - booooooooring, I know).

Ingredients:
bagels (sesame or multi-seed would be my recommendation)
a ripe avocado
smoked salmon
cream cheese
a peeled and chopped red onion
capers
lemon
dill (if it's your thing)

1. Toast the bagel. Apply the cream cheese.  Put a slice of salmon on top to cover the hole.  Add a few thing slices of avocado.  Sprinkle with red onion and capers.  Squeeze some juice on from the lemon and add dill if you like.

2. Dig in and make sure you have enough to make a second bagel like the one above.  They are THAT good.