YBA Cupcakes - Growing Up: YBA’s at 50 Book Launch - £0

Proving, once again, that it’s not a party unless you have some baked goods from the ever-so-delightful Bailey Anna Cakes. You will have seen her Cuban themes cupcakes at the Havana Santiago Event and the AMAZING Pizza-Cake she made for the Things We’ve Eaten party. The latest instalment came in the form of these YBA inspired cupcakes for the book our good friend and TWE extended family member edited, these confections were filled with funfetti (which I take it is the baking equivalent to a Damien Hirst Spin Painting). These didn’t just look awesome, they tasted awesome as well. 

Morgan  

A$AP Rocky @ Some Café Near the Eiffel Tower (Paris) - Crêpes, Confiture - €8

Was recently in Paris for A$AP Rocky’s forthcoming video - Though the intense shooting schedule meant I didn’t get to invest in the culinary extravagance that is usually reserved for this city on our last day of shooting we did manage to all grab a nice ‘Petit Dejeuner’ at a Parisien Café - I particularly loved the french waiters insistance that the chef was unable to make Rocky scrambled eggs though they blatantly had all the ingredients and tools to make an omelette, he went for another french staple instead, and accordingly these Crêpes were described as both ‘swag’ & ‘trill’. 

Thanks to Danny Sangra for taking the photo see more of his amazing shots here. 

8/10 

Morgan 

Needoos (Whitechaple) Lamb Chops, Peshwari Naan, Wednesday Special Lamb Korma (not your average yellow one), Dry Meat, Rice, 2 Roti - £28 for two (BYOB)  

If you are trolling through food review websites let me tell you Needoos Grill in Whitechaple is the best Indian food around, it is fucking incredible. If you have more time read on. What is great about Needoos is that it’s the place everyone will be going  in 6 months time. Put it like this, Tayyabs Resturant around the corner from Needoos is James Blake, still awesome but all over Time Out and you have to queue to get into his shows. Needoos on the other hand is Ifan Dafydd, fucking awesome, delivers on quality but there is no queue around the block. Needoos is busy but you can get a table no problem, the staff are amazing, polite, happy and fast. You walk into the canteen like entrance and fresh food is plied high (neatly). Lamp chops, kebabs, fresh and fresh coriander wink at you as you are shown to your table. It’s BYOB BTW which slashes the final bill significantly and you dont feel guilty when a bottle opener is handed to you like a reward. I don’t know what else to say, the only fault is the music on their website. So if you decided to go make sure you order the daily special (every day has a recommended dish) lamb chops and the dry meat.. 

Not to be missed/10

Tickle

Koba (Fitzrovia) - Birthday meal of Sweet Chilli Squid, Pork Belly Bibimbap, Koba Special BBQ platter, Mixed Kimchi, Toasted Seaweed, Koba Special Ice Cream (Black Sesame, Green Tea, Red Bean) - £90

I have lots to post this week. Even though I am as busy as Lindsay Lohan’s white blood cells preparing for Pick Me Up.

First up is my birthday dinner at Koba. Korean BBQ! Ace. Cook your own, or let the chef do it as he darts between tables, turning pork and prawn. The Bimbimbap was delicious, savoury and morish. The kimchi (pickled cucumber, cabbage and water chesnut) was also mouth watering with a much needed bite and crunch to the meal. 

The Koba special BBQ platter was great to. A big plate of raw animals chosen and killed for our delightful pleasure. Baby Octopus, spicy chicken breast, tiger prawn, belly pork, rib eye beef and steak. Each serving slapped on the red hot hub cap sat in the middle of our table and cooked before our very own eyeballs. Once cooked, you arrange a lettuce leaf, soya paste and spring onions onto your plate, dunk the meat into BBQ sauce, and then roll the whole lot up in the leaf like a oriental fajita. Then next step is easy, as you stuff it into your fat, fat face. 

Its a great way to dine. Theres action and involvement, a sense of adventure at times (popping an entire charred child octopus into your big slobber gob) and a healthy element to the meal, very little oil is used. I rate it highly. I’m sure there are more authentic places out there, but for my first ever Korean-B-Q, I had a great time. The dessert of authentic Korean flavoured ice creams was also brilliant. All so subtle and interesting that you took time to savour them, trying to work out just what was happening on your taste buds. 

Friendly staff and attractive decor, a birthday treat to totally delivered.

Rating: 8.2/10

Robbie

(I tried really hard to come up with some sort of pun re: Kim Jong Il, but all I could get was “Din done ill”… still pretty good though)

Hawksmoor Bar (Commercial Street, Spitalfield) - Food: Shortrib French Dip, Chilli Cheese Dog, Hot Dog, Chicken Wings, Shortrib Nuggets, Triple Cooked Chips, Oxtail Poutine, Chicken Poutine, Lemon Meringue Pie, Sticky Toffee Sundae (with Salted Caramel Ice Cream). Cocktails: Green & Red Margarita, Marmalade Cocktail, Tobacco Old Fashioned, The Puritan, Morning Glory Fizz, Eureka. £35 per head (group of 4)

Hawksmoor and Things We’ve Eaten are chums, remember THIS? What about my review from September? So getting a table at the extremely fully booked soft launch of their new underground cocktail means one thing: I’m a very lucky guy.

I won’t wax lyrical about just how good the award winning Hawksmoor is. Its obvious, its already been said. It is the best steak in London. It is one of the finest restaurants around, from menu to decor to staff (who were wonderful) Hawksmoor has everything covered and perfected. The cocktails were delicious and insanely well prepared. The bar menu was a complete joy (and 50% off!) and had us just staring at each other with bloodshot eyes. I remember at one point during the Shortrib French Dip, as it was soaking up the bone marrow gravy, I looked around the table. 4 of us sat in giddy silence, eyes closed, mouths dripping with delight. The booth of turquoise tiles and a brass ceiling holding us in place with a warm motherly hand. It was idealism and dream like, from arrival to evaporation. Even on requesting the salted caramel ice cream addition to the already perfect sticky toffee sunday, not even an eyelid was battered. We were like pigs in really really good shit.

Take in the photos. Let them seep into your eyeballs and replace the best things you’ve dreamt up. The softlaunch ends this week, after which the menu will become its full price. But even then, there are few places I would rather spend such an evening. You can be a pleb and sit there saying “oh its SO Brookyn” or “its TOTALLY Berlin”. But you shouldn’t. You need take it all in, enjoying it for what it is and for who it is: Hawksmoor, doing exactly what they do best.

Rating: 10/10

Robbie

Due Sardi - Kingsland Rd - Calamari, Pizza, Bannoffee Pie, Zuchinni Fritti, Beers - £24ea

It’s friday, we’re in the Shoreditch area and require some food. It’s 8PM so basically anywhere decent is going to be rammo. The brief is Pizza - we try Story Deli on redchurch st. though it’s full of people eating the door is locked and it says ‘closed’. Next we try Pizza East who are advising a 1 to 2 Hour wait. The ‘hanger’ slowly building, none of us wanting to engage in a culinary traipse, we cautiously head to Due Sardi on Kinglsand Rd.. The place is also packed, but we’re instantly taken care of, warmly received - placed at the bar/holding area and though there is not much space and the staff is busy, we’re never made to feel as an inconvenience. We order an assortment of pizzas and staples (Calamari, Zuchinni Fritti) Couple of rounds of beers - and are generally impressed and delighted at the service and quality bestowed upon us in an area which on a friday night has pretty much become the east ends answer to Magaloof. 

9/10

Morgan  

De Clieu (Fitzroy, Melbourne) - Andrews choice black pudding with grilled asparagus, confit egg yolk and toasted ciabatta $15.50 (10GBP) 

De Clieu is part of the Seven Seeds family and they make the best coffee in Melbourne. Its just up the road so has become a regular spot for me. I hadn’t had black pudding for about 7 months so there was only one choice for breakfast.

It arrived and I was amazed, there was a copious amount of black pudding smothered on the ciabatta. I didn’t know what confit meant, my only association being duck leg, so I asked what it was all about. I now know that confit is a slow cooking method. They cooked the egg whole in a special oven for 6 hours which gives the yolk the texture of nutella and separates it from the runny egg white. 

The pudding was rich, pepper spiced and delicious. The asparagus grilled but tender. Egg yolk soft and creamy. Bread crisp. All mixed together with refreshing pieces of tomato and cress was delightful. One of the best breakfasts I have ever eaten. 

9.5/10

Big Al 

Acoustic Cafe (Newington Green) English Breakfast - £5.95

Situated between Islington and Dalston is Newington Green, a members only area of North London that is the closest thing to village life your likely to get. Independent cafes and restaurants, vintage furniture shops (shout out to the Peanut Vendor) a little green and the BEST grocery store for miles. All the cafes are brilliant and the Acoustic Cafe is wonderful. Turkish owned, you maybe a little worried about the English breakfast standards, especially if you are going by the rubbish served on neighboring Church Street. Fear not, these guys have got it down - free range runny poached eggs, decent bacon, excellent, chunky, cumberland sausage, buttery mushrooms, grilled ciabatta and beans served in a ramekin (in my opinion the most Premier Ship way to serve beans). Hands down one of the best full English breakfast for months and possibly the best in the area…. this one is not to be missed.

excellent/10

Tickle

Notes: Glass bottled Coke, local ingredients and fantastic hustle and bustle. 

Canteen (Royal Festival Hall, South Bank) - Granola & yoghurt with rhubarb compote. Fried eggs, bacon and bubble & squeak - £11.50

Look, the sun came out at the weekend, so its basically now summer. Lets all cycle somewhere and eat shiny looking breakfasts in the blistering 13 degree heat. Lets wear shorts and pattern shirts, sunglasses and peaked caps. Lets drink fruity lager, gin and tropical zests. Lets all punch the air and forget about how its definitely DEFINITELY not winter.

Rating: 7/10

Robbie

House of Clement, Jamieson-Cook, Lindow, & Parkhill – Pancakes - £ N/A

Naturally all of us were celebrating the day when Jesus turned Mary Magdalene into a pancake, and we at TWE didn’t want to pass up the chance to do it right. To our minds, this consisted of a midweek knees-up with some friends and the Brit Awards on a big-screen TV. Despite the repeat appearances of a walking piece of roadkill they call “Ed Sheeran” or something, and a depressingly dead-eyed performance from Blur, it was a success.

Naturally there were all the best fillings, Nutella, fruit, ice-cream, ham, syrup etc etc. But the star of the show was definitely our mate Anika’s contribution: a comforting sludge comprised of mushrooms, cream, cheese and obscene quantities of elephant garlic, splatted on a pancake and topped with spinach, more cheese and pinenuts. This was totally delicious, and hit the spot big time. You have to love it when a vegetarian comes through and knocks it out of the park. Although Morgan and I still agree that you can’t beat good old lemon & sugar.

Anyway, happy Lent people, I’m going to give up tramp-wrestling.

Geoff

N/A/10

Huxtaburger (Smith St, Melbourne) - Denise ( the hot one) - $9 (6GBP)

I’ve come to realise, that all that fancy burger stuff is just a farce to make up for the lack of good quality meat and ingredients. It’s unnecessary and absurd.

What Huxtaburger put their efforts into is essential ratio control. Each and every bite gives you soft sesame glazed bun with juicy, slightly charred Wagyu-beef pattie, laced with layers of ketchup, homemade pickles, mustard and mayo. This burger is the bomb.

If your this way inclined, Denise, ‘the hot one’  is the choice to make. It’s the standard huxtaburger with jalapenos and spicy sriracha mayo. And if you want a triple treat add bacon and you’ll be patting yourself on the back for days.

10/10 

Big Al (& Tassia)

Fire and Stone (Oxford) - Pizza’s representing the cities of: San Sebastian, Capetown, Texas and Canberra. - £30

On Saturday I went on a day trip to Oxford. To escape the dredge and pull of London at the weekend we boarded a train and shot out of Paddington’s arse and into the slightly overcast horizon.

Oxfords lovely, but thats obvious. When it came to pre last train dinner time it was however a far more different situation. We had plumped to dine at  a Jamie’s Italian, but the que was down the street! So our other attempt was at Gourmet Burger Kitchen… same deal! But over the road was a rather large, rather weird looking Pizza place. On entering it feels like some sort of Belgian hostel, with zainy signage on the walls and photo stock images of “the world” pasted up here and there. After waiting 20 minutes for a seat we were told by our waitress (Victoria) that “… Fire and Stone do pizza’s with a twist!”. The blood left my face and I sat there frozen with fear. Anywhere that deems it important to describe its food as having a “twist” needs to pipe down. I really REALLY wasn’t sure what was about to happen. Then I saw a ‘specials’ menu infront of me that described one pizza as having a “gravy and mint sauce base”. Once more…..”A GRAVY AND MINT SAUCE BASE!” Oh no…

The pizzas are categorized via continent, you can travel from Africa to Asia in but a few bites. Here’s the roll call: From Europe ‘San Sebastian’ - Mozza, spicy chorizo, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, red peppers and aoili. From Africa ‘Capetown’ - Mozza, spicy pepperoni, spicy ground beef, green chillies, basil and oregano. From Australasia ‘Canberra’ - Mozza, roast chicken, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, cherry toms, olives, crushed macadamia nuts. And finally from America ‘Texas’ - BBQ sauce, mozza, BBQ rump steak, roasted red onion, roast mushrooms, sun-dried tomato salsa.

We divided these 4 plates of national pride into quarters and dealt each other with our trip round the world. The thing is, there is so much going on with each pizza that it was impossible to work out just what it was exactly you were eating. There would be a ultra sweet chillie sauce that glues your mouth up, then that would be hit back by the too rich and sugary BBQ sauce, bland chicken strides in somehow bathed in aioli. These flavours and textures mull around your mouth for a while introducing each other to the reasons they should never be mixed, then you gulp it down and stare at your dish, ground beef sat on mozzarella drenched in garlic mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce, a hat of roast potatoes and salsa… what the fuck is going on? Its like taking a mouthful of pick ‘n’ mix and being asked to explain exactly what flavours you’re eating, what is it? What do you like about it? Should we add more bullshit or is this just the right amount?

One diner described this meal as “a plain and boring woman in too much make up.” I could only describe it as “completely fucking mental”.

I will never eat at this GSCE project of a restaurant again. 

Rating: 2/10

Robbie

Viet Taste (Curtain Road/Shoreditch) Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi (Baguette for the English) - £4.50

At the beginning of 2012 I kinda promised myself not to each Banh Mi again, I work across the road from Keu, a very respectable Banh Mi spot on Old Street, I ended up eating there 3 times a week, total over kill and couldn’t face another. Still I broke my promise and popped in occasionally through January but the place has gone a bit downhill so I’m never going there again. This week has been a heavy take-away eating week, fish and chips, fried chicken, Bodeans - my body isn’t happy so this lunch break I was making a b-line to Itsu. Walking down Curtain Road I spot Viet Taste who proudly display they serve Banh Mi….. fuck it i’ll check the competition. Viet Taste have not put interior at the top of their priory nor dress code, the staff look like a Ross Kemp On Gangs episode, covered in Fubu denim and G-Star - still I was called Sir, which is more than I got at Keu. Now.. the food, it was pretty basic, the bread was bigger than the bread at Keu, there fillings are greater than Keu and they undercut Keu by 50p - winner. I got it back to the office and you know what… it was rubbish! the bread was stale, the chicken dry and the garnish depressed. Should have kept my head down and smashed in Itsu.

5/10

Tickle

LA Food & Wine/El Carajo - Filletes de mignon, wine: Chilean Carmenere - Miami, Florida - £26 

So this is a fun one, a seemingly normal gas station on the US-1 road in Miami, with a seemingly normal Kwik-E-Mart style shop, all seemingly normal until you notice that the wine & beer selection is markedly above the average standard. As you move further behind the gas station checkout counter you notice there is a wine & tapas bar housed in the back. This was not made intentionally to be some gimmicky speak-easy but rather it started as a pragmatic use of available space and has since blossomed into a charming restaurant with an excellent wine selection (pleasantly surprised by a Chilean Carmenére) and tasty grub (Filet steak strips). 

8/10 

Morgan 

AC’s Icee (Coconut Grove, FL) - Large Iced Lemonade - $5

Coconut Grove is a suburb of Miami which used to be a hippy/artist settlementin the 60’s & 70’s - but it now has a GAP and Banana Republic. AC’s Icee, set up in 1973 by AC himself is the classic Ben & Jerry’s style american hippy success-story as his Frozen Lemonade Truck now sells T-shirts, Towels and Bum Bags as well as the infamous Icee’s which are just as good as you’d expect - perfect after a day out on the beach but nothing overly challenging on the taste buds. 

Rating: 7/10

Morgan