Tag Archives: london

Pimps and Pinups, Shoreditch

7 Apr

I thoroughly enjoyed my bank holiday weekend. Four days and five nights of relaxation, drinks with friends and lots of indulging. The first day back at work after any kind of holiday is not the easiest, unless you have an incentive to get to the end of the day. Mine just happened to be heading for a cut and colour before popping down to see a new band at The Borderline.

I have visited a few salons over the last year and each has been different and unique in its own right and Pimps and Pinups, my hairdressers on Tuesday, was no exception.

I remember walking past this salon years ago when I first moved to London and it almost embarrasses me to tell you that the thought of entering used to scare me. You see, the people inside just looked way too cool for my 18 year old self. Fast forward a good few years and as I walk up to the door I realise that all fear has diminished. I also realised as I stepped inside that my 18 year old fear was completely and utterly ridiculous. I was warmly welcomed to the salon and before I even sat down was asked what I wanted to drink ‘tea, coffee, beer…?’ Hang on. Beer? Well this is certainly new to me. And I quite liked it. A few minutes later, bottle of Becks in hand, I was greeted by my stylist who ushered over to the far corner chair.

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After a quick consultation (because I knew exactly what I wanted) my stylist was off to grab the colour and I was left to take a few snaps. When he arrived back we engaged in hairdresser chat and laughed and smiled our way through the colour application. Time flew by and before I knew it I was sat back in the chair, hair freshly washed, ready for my cut. My split ends were trimmed and the front of my hair subtly shaped. Then, armed with a hairdryer, my stylist proceeded to give me the movie star tussled waves that I so love.

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Verdit?

I really liked Pimps and Pinups. The music was diverse but at times a bit too much (I’m not a fan of rock music) but the staff were friendly and most importantly I walked out with a hairstyle that I love.

A semi permanent colour and a cut costs around £100.

Pimps and Pinups
14 Lamb Street
Spitalfields
London
E1 6EA
0207 426 2121

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Inn the Park

18 Dec

The joys of living in London. There is literally always somewhere new to visit. Despite living only a twenty minute walk from St James’s Park in my first year of university I never visited. And despite having worked no more than a ten minute walk from the park for over a year, I still never visited. Until last weekend.

I have heard may good things about Inn the Park, which is a cafe / restaurant from Oliver Peyton of Peyton and Byrne fame. You might also know him off the tele – his face has graced our screens on Great British Menu for a while now.

We visited last Saturday at 2.45pm, which was the last lunch sitting of the day. It was a beautiful crisp (very cold!) day in London and the warmth that greeted us as we walked through the door was very welcome indeed.

We were seated and provided with the lunch menu. Almost immediately I knew what I wanted to order. Jack and I pretty much always share so that we can taste more of the menu and we decided on the wild mushroom soup with girolles and rosemary oil and a beetroot salad with whipped goats curd and a salted walnut praline to start, followed by grilled crown Prince squash with baked barley and chestnuts and grilled herb chicken with bubble and squeak and chestnuts for main. We shared a dessert but I’ll go into that later.

The mushroom soup was not quite what I expected. The soup itself was a little too thick, lacked seasoning and the girolles that sat on top were a little bland. There was not enough of the rosemary oil and the flavour didn’t really shine through. The beetroot salad however was a different story. Not only did the plate look extremely pretty, the range of flavours on the plate complimented each other very well. The salted walnut praline was dotted about and hidden in the pillowy goats curd so that each mouthful was a joyous mix of creamy goats curd, sweet beetroot and sweet and crunchy walnut praline.

Our mains were just as impressive. Both were presented well with balanced flavours. The chicken was delightfully tender, the bubble and squeak seasoned perfectly. The chestnuts gave the dish a new texture dimension and finished it off well. Both of us adore squash and had always thought Polpo serves the best dish – pumpkin with speck, cheese and pumpkin seeds. Inn the Park has a dish to rival this with the Prince squash. Again, chestnuts featured on the plate but this was no bad thing.

We were full but felt that we just had to try a dessert. We opted for the treacle tart with clotted cream and it arrived very quickly. It was a mini tart for one with a perfectly formed scoop of cream on top. At first I was disappointed that the tart wasn’t warm but then I realised that a treacle tart is hardly ever warm and by the second mouthful I was in heaven. The cream was thick, dense and utterly moreish. The tart filling was sweet, the pastry crumbly.

It wasn’t just the food that I enjoyed at Inn the Park. I loved the decor – Mid Century Modern, all encased in a wooden shell. The view wasn’t half bad either from where I was sitting. We left Inn the Park and had a quick stroll around the park before darkness got the better of the day. I am looking forward to heading back to Inn the Park in the warmer months so that I can enjoy the beautiful surroundings al fresco. Roll on summer.

For further information, please visit the Inn the Park website.

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Ottolenghi, Islington

11 Feb

I have already done one post on Ottolenghi but I was very hungover that time and I figure I should just do it again.

Ottolenghi is a vegetarian or cake lovers heaven. It is also one the best places to go for brunch and lunch in London – in my opinion anyway!

The word vegetarian has been tarred with the wrong brush over the years. People expect vegetarians to live on a diet of Linda McCartney sausages, carrot sticks and celery. Ok, maybe that is a bit far but Yotam Ottolenghi has shown us over the last few years just how exciting the humble vegetable can be.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting his restaurant in Islington (or the three take away cafes branches in Notting Hill, Belgravia or Kensington), you may have been lucky enough to see one of his two cookbooks. The first, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook was written by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi and took influence from their home towns of West and East Jerusalem. But their culinary repertoire does not stop there as the book also features recipes with Italian, American and Lebanese infuences to name a few. The most recent book, Plenty, is yet another delectable mix of cuisines and lets face it, proper food porn.

Ottolenghi doesn’t just like to make dishes taste great, he uses vibrant colours and mixes them together to make the dish look appealing to even the biggest carnivore. It is refreshing to know that Ottolenghi himself is not even a vegetarian – he just understands that the humble vegetable can be so versatile in both taste and visually.

So it’s no surprise that his salads are renowned – there are non veggie options in the restaurant but everything is served cold. Don’t let this put you off though as the seared tuna, seared beef, lamb kebabs and salmon fillets are tasty winners.

Ottolenghi scrambled egg

Every time I have been, I say to myself that next time I visit I will order the French toast but every time I go back I can’t help but order the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on toast with a rocket salad. He uses Foreman and Field smoked salmon, which I know from visiting the Foreman restaurant is top quality salmon. I wondered for a long time how they managed to get the yolks so orange until I recently came across Clarence Court Burford Brown Eggs. My boyfriend and I had tried to recreate it a few times at home and added a bit of Turmeric to the eggs before scrambling, which worked but we soon realised that this is not the method used in the restaurant! I’m not sure if Ottolenghi uses Clarence Court Eggs but the yolks have the same rich orangey colour and taste fantastic.

Ottolenghi Welsh Rarebit

We also ordered the Welsh rarebit and shared the two dishes. It was a huge error on my part – I totally forgot that Welsh Rarebit has a big dollop of mustard smothered over the bread so I was slightly disappointed as I am not a fan of mustard. At all. My boyfriend lapped it up though and left me with the majority of the scrambled eggs, which I was grateful for.

We ordered a plate of corn bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a side dish to share. I am gutted that this recipe isn’t in either of the books – I really want to know how to make it. It is utterly delicious – sweet but with a slight hint of spice from the chilli.

Ottolenghi cheesecake

For dessert (yes you can have dessert at breakfast time too!) we ordered the cake that my boyfriend has become utterly obsessed with, the Macadamia Caramel Cheesecake. I have tasted a lot of the Ottolenghi cakes and I have to say that this is my favourite too. An absolute winner – with a biscuit base and a not too rich cheese centre, a creamy caramel sauce, crunchy macadamia nuts and crunchy caramel. Definitely not one for the health conscious. This recipe is in his first book but I haven’t tried making it yet – I just have a horrible feeling that after all the effort (there are a lot of stages), I will be disappointed with my attempt.

I ordered a pot of tea to go with the cake at the end of the meal – I just love the tea pots that are served at Ottolenghi. Another great thing about the restaurant is that the fresh produce is on show and the chefs have to come out of the kitchen to grab another aubergine or tomato. There is one long communal table, which spreads out along the length of the restaurant but there are also a few tables to the side for couples.

Chances are you have walked past it a few times – so you’ll know what I mean when I say that next time you pass the cafe/restaurant with the huge merringues in the window, you must go in for brunch or a cake and a spot of tea.

Ottolenghi
287 Upper Street
London
N1 2TZ
020 7288 1454

Ottolenghi on Urbanspoon

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Msmarmitelover’s Christmas Market – oof

9 Dec

It’s the day after Msmarmitelover’s Underground Christmas Market and I’m shattered. But I’m still buzzing from the fantastic time I had yesterday.

At first I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew by taking a stall. I then heard that around 300 tickets had been sold and the panic alarms in my head went off. With the help of my very understanding boyfriend, I made everything on the stall completely from scratch and bagged, ribboned and tagged, ready for purchasing. I had a week to do it and each night after work I spent my time in the kitchen beavering away.

You may have already seen some of the results but I have more pics of the stall from yesterday.

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We arrived at 10am to set up and were ushered into the living room where the other stall holders were unpacking their goods. I was situated next to Bake Me Happy and her delightful cupcakes. She had a great range of flavours from Chocolate and Peppermint to White Chocolate and Cranberry, Gingerbread and even a Mince Pie cupcake, very interesting. I tried one of her cake pops in the shape of a Christmas Tree. It was Chocolate and Coconut flavour, very moist and absolutely delicious!

Also in the same room was the Rambling Restaurant selling home made fudge, popcorn and edible cards amongst other things, Ubuntu and French Made.

I didn’t get a chance to walk around much or take any photos of the rest of the market because I was so busy but I could smell the delightful Mulled Wine and Bacon sarnies from the garden.

The first punter walked into the room an straight away purchased two jars of Chilli Jam. Great start! It is exciting selling your own creations! The flat was constantly busy until 5pm when it started to die down.

The best sellers were the jars of Chilli Jam, Spiced Pickled Cabbage and Peanut Butter, the Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies and the Rose Shortbread. Surprisingly people didn’t want cake to eat there and then, although the Mince Pies sold quite well.

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I made a Spiced Apple Bundt cake and put it out as a tester. It was the first time I had attempted a Bundt cake and I was so happy with it – it was so moist and packed full of flavour. Many said they loved it but were reluctant to buy a slice… The cake was pretty big. A few women asked for mini slices.

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Pfeffernusse also went down quite well – and I have to say it’s probably my new favourite thing. It is DELICIOUS – granted it feels like a rock from the outside but the middle is deliciously chewy due to the ground almonds and the Golden Icing Sugar and Candied Peel on top gives is a sweet and tangy taste.

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I was surprised that the Christmas Rocky Road with Cashews, Peanuts, Almonds and Cranberries didn’t sell too well – although not necessarily a bad thing because my workmates enjoyed it!

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Jack’s homemade Christmas cards also went down a treat. Fantastic Vintage prints and not available to buy in any shop! If you do like the look of them, we have a few left over so do contact me if you would like to purchase one.

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We sold one of the Gingerbread houses and gave the other to Msmarmitelover as a thank you for letting us hold the stall. She had been admiring it earlier in the day so I knew it was going to a good home!

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It came to the end of the day and as most stalls had some goodies left over, the trading commenced. For my mince pies, I received in return a bar of Pistachio Dark Chocolate from Ubuntu, Ginger Fudge from The Rambling Restaurant, a Sausage from the BBQ, a Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and a glass of Mulled Wine.

I also have to say that the Mrs Monks salad dressings were a delight. I’m not normally a fan but it was delicious. I wish I would have bought a bottle but I didn’t get around to it as I was so busy.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would do it again next week if I could!

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Clarence Court eggs three ways

1 Dec

There’s something magical about Hix, Soho. Maybe it’s the open dining room with high ceilings, the countless pieces of fabulous art or the snuggly bar in the basement. Whatever it is, I feel special every time I walk through the huge wooden door on Brewer Street.

I haven’t been fortunate enough to eat in the restaurant yet (I really should get round to that) but I was lucky enough to be invited to an event in the private dining room by the lovely people at Clarence Court.

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The event, for bloggers, was an attempt to show us just how fantastic Clarence Court’s fabulous eggs are. After all, according to their motto, Clarence Court produces fabulous eggs from fabulous birds and if the recent adverts are anything to go by, I truly believe them. I wonder how they got their feathers so ruffled!?

We had a surprise visit by Mark Hix himself who plonked himself down and explained a few of the reasons that he uses the eggs in his restaurants. We were then treated to two taste tests. Boiled eggs were brought through in amazing little egg cups that spelled out ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg?’ and we were asked to tuck in and firstly choose our favourites, second and third best and also which egg we thought was which. We had three options. 1. Clarence Court Burford Brown 2. Happy Egg 3. Regular free range barn egg.

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I thought it would take a miracle to serve all of the eggs soft boiled and it seemed to prove slightly difficult. That didn’t deter any of us from ripping into the eggs and scooping the yolk out onto a chunk of toast and gobbling them down though. As a Clarence Court user, I could easily see the difference without cracking into it. The Bradock Brown shell has more of a distinct brown colour compared to the other two. The yolk was also a lot richer and more orange. The taste, well what can I say? It is superior.

Unsurprisingly, everyone guessed the Clarence Court egg and every group put the Happy Egg at the bottom of the three. I find this extremely interesting because when I first clocked eyes on Happy Eggs, I bought them. Why? I’m obviously a sucker for packaging and a good brand name. The name denotes happy little birds playing around but recent reports don’t seem to agree.

The next test was scrambled egg. Three large plates were brought to our table and again, immediately everyone could tell which one was the Clarence Court plate. I am a huge fan of Ottolenghi and order the Scrambled egg whenever I go. I am always amazed by the colour of it – orange as if it has been dyed. My boyfriend tried to recreate it at home and added Tumeric, which of course made it taste of the spice. I have come to realise over the last few weeks that he must be using fabulous eggs. I’m not sure if they’re Clarence Court but the Scrambled Egg is the same colour! Not surprisingly on this taste test, the results were the same.

Annoyingly the photo of the Clarence Court scrambled egg was really blurry but this was the Happy Egg.

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After the taste tests, we then had a full three course meal to come with the main ingredient of each being, you guessed it, Clarence Court eggs.

First up was Smoked Haddock with soft boiled free fly Quails Eggs and I loved this dish. The quails eggs were perfectly cooked, the yolk nice and runny.

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Next was Breaded Blytheburgh Pork with Capers, Anchovies and a Fried Burford Brown, which reminded me of a dish that I love to eat when I go skiing in Austria. I managed just over half of the dish, similar to everyone else. It was delicious and I wish I could have finished it but my stomach was saying no. The colour of the Burford Brown yolk was fantastic – why is it that the richer orange yolk makes it more appealing?

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The pudding was Sea Buckthorn Berry Posset, something that I have never tried before. I have a real sweet tooth and demolished it promptly. The orange jelly on top was very tart but when accompanied by the creamy bottom, was delicious.

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We were given a goody bag filled with eggs to go away with. I’m quite excited about cooking with my Quails eggs this week!

Hix, Soho
70 Brewer St
Westminster, London W1B 5
020 7292 3518

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Coach and Horses, Farringdon

13 Nov

A friend of mine was recently pronounced head chef of The Coach and Horses. Having never tasted his food before as he used to work outside of London, a big group of us decided to go down one Thursday evening and try it out. His name? Harry McKenzie. Remember that one.

I have read some great reviews and fellow blogger Neil Davey (The Lambshank Redemption) hails it as his favourite pub in London. I can see why.

The menu is not for the faint hearted (or the veggie). However, knowing that 2 of our group are vegan, Harry concocted an extra special 3 course meal consisting of Wild Herbs and Sea Vegetable Tempura to start, Celeriac, Candied Beetroot and Squash Lasagne with foraged Mushroom Risotto, Wild Chervil and Cobnuts for main and Chocolate Mousse, Apple Sorbet and Herb Crisps for pudding!

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The Coach and Horses homemade Scotch Egg has been the talk of the town for a while so I decided to order it as my starter. It is on the bar menu but I was allowed to substitute this. My boyfriend and I generally share everything we get so he got the Potted Cornish Mackerel with Toast and we swapped plates half way through.

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The Scotch Egg came and it was huge. Inside was a Duck Egg with a runny and rich yolk. You may have read my post recently after I had baked a cake with Duck Eggs. I’m becoming quite a fan! The Sausage meat was fatty and hearty, JUST what you want from a Scotch Egg.

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The Markerel was rich and creamy with a delightful fatty layer on the top. It was presented very nicely on a wooden board.

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For main I ordered Pork Belly with Mash, Roast Beetroot, Spinach and Ceps and Jack had Cornish Brill with Clams, Sea Vegetables, Baby New Potatoes and Bisque. I told him that the meat options would be better because the menu is mostly predominantly meat plus Harry is a meat fanatic (or at least that’s what I gather from my conversations with him). My pork was definitely the best option but maybe i’m biased because I Pork Belly is always one of my favourite dishes. I don’t think I’ve ever had Roasted Beets before but they were absolutely delicious with a hint of sweetness.

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For pudding, I couldn’t resist trying the Popcorn Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Doughnuts, Toffee Popcorn and Apple Sorbet. One word – yum! The apple sorbet is one of the best I have ever tasted. It was bright green, which made it look super fresh and was tangy and sweet at the same time. Harry shared the recipe with me after our meal and I’ll no doubt be making it soon. Watch this space.

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Popcorn is popping (excuse the pun) up everywhere at the moment. There’s something comforting about it – probably because it reminds me of when I was a little girl being treated by my parents at the cinema. That was (and probably still is) one of the best parts of a cinema trip wasn’t it?!

The pub wasn’t all that busy on a Thursday evening. There aren’t a large number of tables but we took up most of the dining space! I heard that there is a room off the back with a terrace but I assume that is only used in the summer.

I clocked that they do Sunday roasts just before I left and have already penciled a date in the diary to return!

Coach and Horses
26-28 Ray St
City of London
EC1R 3DJ
020 7278 8990

Coach & Horses on Urbanspoon

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Ginger and White, Hampstead

13 Sep

Australians are taking over London, yaaaaaaaay! Well, I’d actually like to think so purely based on the fact that they are bringing their incredible cafe culture to London. Please sirs, we want some more!

I’m talking about Ginger and White in leafy Hampstead. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better day last Sunday. I woke up at 9, hopped in the car and drove to Hampstead. Nestled down a quiet countryesque lane next to houses built for our shorter predecessors, Ginger and White boasts a cute range of breakfast, brunch, teas and coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker myself but I adore looking at a silky smooth flat White.

GInger and White

The first thing you notice as you walk through the door is the vast amount (or maybe it looks vast as the counter is teeny) of home baked cakes, breakfast muffins and pastries. All housed in front of shelves stocked with kilner jars full of pulses and spices and delightful pastel tea sets.

Ginger and White cakes

Venture further inside and you’ll find a large communal table (above which a large picture of the British flag resides – ironic as every waiter/waitress is Australian), window seats and sofas toward back of the room, which offer a more secluded newspaper reading setting.

The menus hang from the wall on wooden clipboards and you can’t help but notice the chalk board wall reading ‘Keep cups £8.50 – first coffee free’ nice idea, especially if you are a resident nearby (I WISH!)

So what did we order? The sausage sarnie (substituted brown sauce for red) and the ham and cheese croissant. My boyfriend did proclaim that ‘it’s only a sausage sandwich’ when I started snapping away and I agreed but a bloody good looking one at that.

GInger and White Bacon sarnie

My mouth waters now thinking of the buttery ham and cheese croissant – afraid there’s no pic of this as my boyfriend devoured most of it before I’d even finished the photo of the sausage sarnie.

To finish (yes, you can have dessert at breakfast time too) I had a slab of banana cake with a dollop of buttercream and a banana chip on top. I thought that the banana chip was a nice touch.

Ginger and White banana bread

The condiments that come with the toast on offer were all laid out on the tables along with the obligatory jar of Marmite. It was pointed out that maybe this should have been Vegemite!

There are also gluten free options and kiddie options (mini cupcakes) – they know it’s yummy mummy ville.

Finish with a pot of tea and a walk around Hampstead Heath and there you have the recipe for the perfect ‘lazy’ Sunday.

GInger and White tea set

4 Perrins Court
London NW3 1QS
020 7431 9098

Ginger and White on Urbanspoon

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Taste of London 2010

19 Jun

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I only had two hours to hot foot it around Taste of London this year before jumping on a train to Nottingham and my aim was to try as many dishes as I could in a short amount of time.

I was on a mission – the tube journey on the way consisted of revising the programme and circling every restaurant that I wanted to visit and every dish that I wanted to try. There were quite a few and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to try them all due to time, money and stomach restraints (I did however skip breakfast so I could fit a little more in). To me, there didn’t seem much point in choosing dishes from restaurants that I have either visited before or that are easily accessible to me in terms of price.

I chose to ignore the four lip-synching Malaysian dancers that greeted punters and headded straight to The Grill at The Dorchester where I ordered Pan roasted scallop with sardine pie and a cauliflower puree. A dude in the queue next to me seemed slightly shocked by the portion size and claimed that he wanted to opt for something ‘that fills the hole’ – he missed out. The sardine pie resembled a sausage roll but as you took the first bite, the sharpness of the sardines was surprising – but good!

The Grill at The Dorchester - Scallop with sardine pie and cauliflower puree

Next stop – Toms Kitchen to purchase his 7 hour confit lamb with balsamic onions and mash. The lamb was impossibly tender and the ‘mash’ was of a foam consistency. I can’t make my mind up about it. A couple of bites of the balsamic onions made it to the bin as they were slightly too tangy and took away some of the wonderful flavours of the lamb.

I was on my way to find L’Anima when I stumbled upon the food theatre, a great big open tent where different chefs showcase their talent during the course of the weekend. Francesco Mazzei himself was cooking as I walked past so I stood and watched before forgetting where I was going – I never made it to L’Anima.

Taste theatre

Le Gavroche received my next 10 crowns. When you arrive at Taste, you need to purchase crowns, which enable you to ‘purchase’ your food and drink. 2 crowns = £1. I ordered Daube de boeuf with olives and soft polenta. It was slightly cold but the beef dissolved as soon as it hit my tongue and the polenta added a welcome roughness to the dish. I didn’t get any taste of olives but that was a blessing in disguise because i’m not a fan.

Le Gavroche - Braised beed with olives and soft polenta

You can wander around stalls selling fresh produce, sample testers and even play games such as ‘wheel of fortune’ at the Whole Foods stall and ‘hook a duck’ on the Good Natured stall before knocking back a glass of bubbly and heading to the next restaurant.

I was on a quest to satisfy my sweet tooth and was a little disappointed by the lack of desserts on the menu. I spotted Beas of Bloomsbury and yes I do find her pecan pie hard to resist, but remember my objective? So the pudding rather than the name of the next restaurant drew me to spend my last crowns of the day there. I’m a sucker for custard tart (the best in the world can be bought from Birds Bakeries in the East Midlands) so I opted for the Baked egg custard tart with raisin syrup from Rhodes 24. The custard was smooth and silky and it more than satisfied my needs but I would be disappointed to find it on my plate in a fancy restaurant.

Rhodes 24 - Baked egg custard tart with raisin syrup

Two hours literally flew by and I loved every second of it. Next year I’ll have to look at rearranging fathers day celebrations or get my dad down to Taste for the day.

Oh yea, and before I leave you I just wanted to say thank you to the man who laughed at me for forgetting to take the lens cap off my camera. You made me laugh.

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Taste of London
17-20 June 2010
Regents Park

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Moroccan Tagine, Golborne Road

14 Mar

I bought my mum a train ticket to come to London for Mother’s Day this weekend. I normally go back home rather than her visit me but I really wanted to treat her this weekend. She arrived on Friday afternoon and I met her from the station. I had decided mid week that we would go for a Moroccan – partly because I have been wanting to try a Moroccan restaurant just off Portobello Road and partly because she mentioned that she would love to go for some Moroccan food.

I’m not sure where I had heard about this place but I know that the name and a description by one person ‘a hidden gem’ stuck in my head. So off we went to Ladbroke Grove – I have only ever walked down Portobello Road when the market has been on so it was quite odd to see next to no people around, even the pubs weren’t busy. We had a couple of girly wines and walked to the address that I had written down on a post it note earlier on in the day. We arrived and from the outside it looked like a kebab house – although there was no food in the counter or meat on the kebab machines. I thought that there would be a restaurant area in the back – I was wrong. We walked in and saw three small children running around and a few adults standing. The gentleman who turned out to be our waiter asked us where we wanted to sit – I couldn’t believe that we might actually have to sit in the front ‘kebab’ looking room. I saw a room through the back but the tables and chairs were all stacked on top of each other. When asked ‘would you like to sit through here’, we of course said yes and the waiter proceeded to un stack the tables and chairs.

I knew that I had made a bit of a mistake but all that kept going through my head was that I had read that the food was fantastic and very well priced. We got the menus and sure enough the food was cheap as chips. We ordered three starters – lentils, white beans and hummus (the latter not being on the menu – we had to ask for it). The food came quickly and the waiter bought us napkins but no plates. My mum asked for some plates and the first of three funny comments to leave his mouth during the course of the evening came. ‘Ah, I wondered if you wanted plates. I’ll just get you some.’ The laughing had started – I must let you know though that we were laughing at the experience, not the waiter. He was an absolute delight, striving to make sure that we had a wonderful experience in the dead cafe/restaurant/kebab house that we had chosen for our Friday evening treat.

I had a feeling that the food would be good, despite my company disagreeing with me and I was so right. The hummus was fresh, a little salty but smooth and just how I like it.

The lentils were a delight and the white beans were my favourite – tasty and packed a punch.

After the first round, we were starting to fill up so only ordered one main to share – I wanted the lamb tagine but my mum doesn’t like lamb (something that I’m not overly happy about) so we got chicken. It came sizzling away in a small authentic tagine and came with carrots, potatoes and mango (not mentioned on the menu much to my boyfriend’s dismay). It was tasty although the sauce was more water and chicken stock based than the thick prune sauce that I was hoping for with the lamb.

We also ordered a side of spiced potatos, which despite tasting beautiful, were a glorified potato wedge with some paprika sprinkled on the top.

Too full for pudding or a even a coffee, tea, hot chocolate or mint tea, we asked for the bill. It was comforting to know that £18 ensured that the three of us were all full to the brim and our taste buds had been entirely satisfied. Now, although the experience might not have been somewhere you’d want to take a date (or your mum, unless she has a good sense of humor – luckily mine does), it’s a good place to get some good, honest and authentic Moroccan grub. The waiter, if I am allowed to say this, was the star of the show. Refering to my mum and I as my boyfriend’s ‘Mrs’ and telling us that it is cold outside so we should take the warm radiator outside with us, he was a delight. After hearing that it had been a pleasure serving us and that he hoped to see us again soon, we left into the cold drizzly night to travel home.

I think we’ll all agree that it was an evening that none of us will forget and it is highly likely that I might actually see that waiter again soon.

Moroccan Tagine
95 Golborne Road
London
W10 5NL
020 8968 8055

Moroccan Tagine on Urbanspoon

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