Akari - Japanese restaurant on Essex Road

A couple of weeks ago some friends and I were trawling down Essex Road in search of a bar that was showing the Eurovision Final. En route we passed Akari and my friend, Kristian, exclaimed that it is an excellent Japanese restaurant.  I've now had lunch there twice and can only agree with him.  

I walk past Akari every day on my way to work and have long been wondering what the deal is.  From the outside it looks like your standard pub.  Even once inside the decor is akin to many other London pubs with lots of dark wood, green ceramic tiles, ornamented mirrors and so on.

The menu, however, is entirely Japanese - noodles, sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, edamame etc.  It always looks quite busy in the evenings and on both visits we were surrounded by several other groups of people.  Unlike the cafes and restaurants on Upper Street which are packed on Saturdays for lunch, you can easily get a table at Akari. It is just far enough away from the crowds. A big plus in my world.

At lunch you can choose between a set of lunch specials and the regular dishes - not necessarily practical for someone as indecisive as me, but an impressive choice nonetheless.
The lunch deals are reasonable, e.g. £9 gets you salmon teriyaki, a big bowl of rice and miso soup or 4 big salmon & avocado hand rolls and miso soup. I tried both these today and very much enjoyed them.  Last week I tried the chicken teriyaki and chicken katsu.  Both were delicious.

The sushi is also good and there's no stinginess on the wasabi or pickled ginger. 

All in all, I'd recommend Akari. I'm not sure I'd cross London for it, but I'm very happy to have it in my neighbourhood. The food is good and the service is friendly and efficient. Mr. Sprinkle, my mum and my cousin who I've shared my meals with here have all been happy with the food and overall experience too.    

                                         


Akari is located on the corner of Essex Road and Canonbury Road across from Essex Road rail station.  It is a 20 minute walk from Angel tube station.  196 Essex Road N1 8LZ. Tel: 0207 226 9943

Easy Thursday dinner: bangers, beets, oranges, spuds, spinach

I like week night dinners that are tasty, healthy and quick to make.  From prep to finish, I don't want to be spending much more than 30 minutes.  This evening I put together a meal for Mr. Sprinkle and I that ticked all the boxes (score!): sausages with potatoes and a salad consisting of spinach leaves, orange, feta, beets, and sunflower seeds. 

Salad for 2-4 people:

4 diced cooked beet roots

1 peeled and diced orange

100g spinach leaves

feta cheese

sunflower seeds

salt & pepper

1. Mix together the diced beet roots, orange and spinach leaves.  Sprinkle with feta, seeds, salt and pepper to your liking.

I served the salad with sausages and boiled potatoes.  I bought the sausages from the Stocks Farm stall at the wonderful Organic Farmers' Market in Stoke Newington.  I highly recommend the sausages - they were delicious!

The Organic Farmers' Market in Stoke Newington is on every Saturday from 10am to 2.30pm at William Patten School on Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX.

Chorizo & potato salad

I hope you all enjoyed the bank holidays! I took off the three days between Easter and the Royal Wedding which means that 11 days of vacation are about to reach an end.  11 days spent in the wonderful company of family and friends over numerous great meals and slightly excessive amounts of drink but, as the good old saying goes, when in Rome...or rather when in Naestved, Copenhagen and London. 

In an attempt to cure the inevitable end-of-holiday-blues and wind down Mr. Sprinkle's and my own excessive food and drink consumption, I just put together a simple chorizo & potato salad which I served with a green salad. 

It took about 30 minutes to prepare both salads. I made four portions of the potato & chorizo salad allowing us to bring in lunch to work tomorrow (I am desperately trying to minimise the trauma of my alarm tomorrow morning by getting back into the swing of normality).

Chorizo & potato salad for 4 friends:

1 kg of new small potatoes

3 sliced cooking chorizos (I used Brindisa)

1 diced red onion

chopped fresh dill

salt & peper

olive oil

1. Wash, peel, (if you like) and boil the potatoes.

2. Meanwhile fry the red onion in a bit of olive oil.  Add the chorizo once they've turned light brown.  Fry for another couple of minutes until the chorizo is done.

3. Once the potatoes are boiled, chop them into bite-size pieces. Place them in a bowl and pour the chorizo, onion and olive oil from the pan over them.  Mix it around and add some salt & pepper before sprinkling the fresh dill on top.

I served the dish with a salad made from romaine leaves, tomatoes, red pepper, feta cheese, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Have an excellent week!

Tapas for two

On Saturday Mr. Sprinkle and I took a trip to the Organic Farmers' Market in Stoke Newington.  A great little market where you can find an excellent selection of meat, fish, cheese, bread, vegetables, greens and pick up a coffee or small meal.  We went at a dangerous time i.e. right before lunchtime and went crazy picking up sausages, wild garlic, potatoes, cheese, lettuce and delicious sandwiches from "The Mushroom Table".  These consist of mushrooms fried in a bit of olive oil with herbs served on tasty bread with a wonderfully generous amount of freshly grated parmesan on top.  Simple is sometimes the best way forward.  Bearing that in mind and inspired by the warm, sunny weather we decided to turn our kitchen into a mini-Madrid tapas place for the evening. 

On the menu: patatas bravas inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe, fried chorizo, cheese from the market, bread, olives, a salad, and a bottle of wine (Chianti, I must admit).  I used cooking chorizo from Brindisa which I picked up in my local food mecca, The De Beauvoir Deli. The bread and olives were also from the deli.

The salad was made up of chopped lettuce, sliced tomatoes, diced feta cheese, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I dressed the salad with olive oil, vinaigrette, salt and pepper. 

Patatas bravas for 4 amigos: 500g of potatoes
1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 can of tomatoes
sherry vinegar
smoked paprika
fennel seeds
1 peeled diced onion
1 peeled and finely chopped carrot
2 peeled and finely chopped cloves of garlic

1. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile make the sauce by frying the garlic and onion in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes then add the carrot. Add the canned tomatoes and a tablespoonful of sherry vinegar after another few minutes. Stir and bring the sauce to a boil then lower the heat and let it simmer.
3. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.  Pour olive oil into a pan and fry the potatoes until light brown.  You will probably need to fry them in batches. Place the potatoes in a dish with a sheet of kitchen towel as you finish frying them.  Fry the rosemary with your last batch of potatoes. Sprinkle the potatoes with the rosemary, smoked paprika and fennel seeds.
4. Serve the patatas with the sauce. 

It was a perfect little meal to wrap up a gorgeous day - I think I will be making more tapas this summer! 
The Organic Farmers' Market in Stoke Newington is on every Saturday from 10am to 2.30pm at William Patten School on Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX.

The De Beauvoir Deli is on 98 Southgate Road, N1 3JD

Proper posts on both are coming up.

Explaining the queues outside the Breakfast Club

For a while I'd been pondering about the long queues that seem to form every weekend outside The Breakfast Club in Angel and Hoxton.  I mean how desperate can you be for a full english? Why are people spending precious weekend mornings in lines that goes half way around a block?   Can eggs benedict be that good?  Do you get infinite bloody mary refills?  Do the staff serve the breakfast naked?  

Last Friday I set out find answers to all my questions on my cheeky day off with Mr. Sprinkle.  I intentionally went on a Friday as you haven't met a bitch until you've met me in a queue waiting for breakfast.  We fortunately waltzed right in to the BC in Angel and got to pick between 6 or so different tables.  I quickly noticed that the staff is dressed so I crossed the "naked staff" explanation of my list of possible explanations as to why people stand in line for a table.  Upon examining the menu I found a pretty big clue about the queues.  List every single awesome breakfast dish you've ever had and you've got the BC's menu.  Nostalgic for the breakfast you had during your trip to New York?  Have the All American.  Really hungover?  Have the Full Monty. Desperate for something sweet?  Order some French toast.  Something healthy? Try the porridge. 

Mr. Sprinkle went for the Full Monty while I had the breakfast burrito.  I'm still dreaming about my burrito which was filled with scrambled eggs, chorizo, roasted pepper, guacamole and cheddar.   It was quite big, but I was determined to enjoy every bite of it and did.  Mr. Sprinkle was very happy with his full Monty which had everything you would expect from a full English. 

Not only is there a great choice of dishes, but they also serve up freshly squeezed juices, homemade smoothies and delicious coffee.   Best part?  Not one bit of stinginess - you order a smoothie and you get a nice big glass of it.   Likewise with the juice.  No two mouthful glasses here.  Mr. Sprinkle had a delicious smoothie while I had the freshest tasting apple juice in my life.   No coincidence there - I walk past the BC in Angel on my way to work and see the amounts of fresh fruit that goes into their kitchen.  

I can only speak for the BC in Angel, but the place is bound to brighten up any old grey morning.  Bright colours, 80s nostalgia on the walls and a giant orange SMEG fridge.  Moreover, the staff are friendly and welcoming.  

I will definitely be back on my next time I have a day off work or if I happen to wake up very very early on a weekend.  The Breakfast Club is truly awesome.  I can understand why people queue patiently outside every weekend though I best not try given my temper. 

The Breakfast Club has 3 locations in London at the moment (with a forth one planned around Spitalfields):

Angel: 31 Camden Passage N1 8EA

Hoxton: 2-4 Rufus Street N1 6PE

SoHo: 33 D'Arblay Street W1F 8EU

There is reason behind the Hawksmoor hype

After reading and hearing about Hawksmoor for months, Mr. Sprinkle and I decided to go for dinner at the Spitalfields branch last Friday. Boy, what a great idea that was.  It was one of the best meals I have had in London.  Basic ingredients cooked to perfection.

Between us we had a plate of oysters, a lobster, a fillet steak, a rib-eye steak, a brownie with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream and sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream.  

Here is how the meal went.

I haven't eaten oysters on many occasions so unless the oyster leaves you with food poisoning, I am not sure there are different degrees of oysters (any thoughts on this?). I had half a lobster prepared with garlic and hazelnut butter. It was tender, pretty and delicious.  I could eat a Hawksmoor lobster every day. 

Next up were the steaks which the lovely waiter had helped us select.  Mr. Sprinkle's fillet steak and my rib eye steak were tender and full of flavour; both had a perfect char taste which I know is tricky to produce.  Cook it a second too long and you end up with a steak tasting like charcoal. Mr. Sprinkle had his half lobster with the steak surf 'n' turf style and we shared some triple-cooked chips, roasted root vegetables and a salad.  The chips were divine, the salad was fine while the root veggies were a bit disappointing.  I was hoping for crisp veggies but these were soggy.

As you can imagine we were pretty full at this point, but a quick glance at the pudding menu made us conclude that "when in Rome". Thank goodness because the desserts placed in front of us were mighty fine.  I had the brownie with salted caramel ice cream - need I say more?  It was delicious! Hot and cold, sugar and salt on one plate. Not surprising as the latter set of opposites is McDonalds' secret to selling millions of burgers across the globe each year. Mr. Sprinkle meanwhile enjoyed a sticky toffee pudding with a dollop of clotted cream.  The opposites weren't as extreme as in my pudding, but the round taste of cream went very well with the salty toffee.  

In short Hawksmoor is a meat-eaters paradise. The dimmed lighting, exposed red brick walls and dark wooden furniture creates a perfect setting for eating steak.  Our table was close to the busy bar so it was a bit noisy, but that is only to be expected on a Friday night in Shoreditch.  

Ironically, Hawksmoor has put me off eating meat.  Since that rib eye last week I've decided only to eat good meat.  In London this choice unfortunately often comes with quite a price tag so from now on I will be exploring the world of vegetarians. I will of course continue to keep a (rib)eye on the prize.

Hawksmoor Spitalfields is located on 157 Commercial Street E1 6BJ

*sorry for the poor photos - as mentioned the lighting was quite dim and I was trying to be discreet.

Exploring new neighbourhoods

Apologies for the long silence; these past couple of weeks have been pretty frantic.  I've started a new job and moved to a new flat.  So long office in Clerkenwell and flat in Stockwell, lovely to meet you office by Great Portland Street Station and flat in De Beauvoir Town.  Oh and nice to finally be online while sitting on the couch in my pjs.

I'm loving my new neighbourhood though I already miss my regular places in Stockwell and its vicinity: the Old Post Office Bakery, the Canton Arms, Brunswick House Cafe, the Oval Lounge, and the Oval Farmers Market.I will also miss the lively strip of Portuguese restaurants and shops on South Lambeth Road not to mention popping into Nardulli's across from Clapham Common for a cheeky gelato.  Luckily I've only moved across the river and, though switching banks is a big deal in London terms, I have every intention of visiting my old pastures every now and again.

I haven't explored my new office neighbourhood much yet, but I'm hoping to discover places that will make up for the fact that I am no longer in lunch-distance from Pho, Burrito Bros, Look Mum No Hands, the Larder and the White Cross Street Market. So far I've enjoyed a delicious lunch and dinner at The Queen's Head and Artichoke on Albany Street.

Meanwhile my two favourite discoveries in my new neighbourhood are the De Beauvoir Deli and Sabor. I will do proper blog posts on these and much more very soon. Just wanted to say that I am back!