Wednesday 19 August 2015

Addis, Caledonian Road - Restaurant Review

 Another new cuisine for me. Ethiopian. I'm not sure what I was expecting - beans and rice maybe. At Addis, we were served by a Macy Gray lookalike, smiling but abrupt. We did take an awful long time to decide... My friends had been before and just remembered it all being good, so I was sure to be in for a tasty meal.
Ethiopian Red Wine

And I was. The Ethiopian wine was a must, just because. It was a light red and went well with all the dishes. We had an aubergine salad with tahini and yoghurt to start - Selata Aswad. If you're a fan of aubergine, this is another take on it. Creamy and savoury with a hint of sweetness.

For mains (and in Ethiopia they usually only serve main dishes), we ordered four. The most traditional dish is the Wot, a hot pepper and spice stew with the meat of your choice. I ordered the Doro Wot (Hot) and Macy Gray looked at me as if it were too hot for me, was I sure? I was. It wasn't. It was delicious. All dishes are served on a large Injera, which is a type of soft pancake. Each person has another rolled up on the side (and more if you require), and all the dishes are poured onto the centre. We had Awaze Tibs, a lamb dish, fried cubes of meat with Ethiopian peppers, onions and spices; Shiro Wot which is a chickpea sauce; and Fuul Musalah, a fava bean stew with feta. Each dish, all of them a 'stew', was unique, full of flavour and eaten with the fingers, by rolling up a piece of unleavened bread and scooping it up. Don't come to eat here if you are OCD.

Selata Aswad; Fuul Musalah; Doro Wot; Awaze Tibs; Shiro Wot
Only a couple of minute's walk from King's Cross station, my first foray into African cuisine certainly won't be my last. We didn't have time for dessert or coffee but apparently the ceremony surrounding the coffee is worth coming back for alone, as if the exceptional Ethiopian food wasn't enough. 


40-42 Caledonian Road
N1 9DT
Meal for two with wine ~£40

Square Meal Click to add a blog post for Addis on Zomato

Thursday 6 August 2015

Ziferblat, Old Street - The Time Café (ZomatoMeetUp#2)

Time is money. In Ziferblat, you only pay for your time. A 10 minute walk down Old Street (keep going, you'll find it!), on the junction with Shoreditch High Street, you'll see a non-descript shopfront with a door to the flat upstairs. Get yourself buzzed in, take a clock and enjoy the relaxed homely feel of somebody's living room. You can work, you can chat, you can drink coffee. No menus or table service, you can avail yourself of whatever you find in the kitchen: tea (of many varieties), coffee, cereal, bring your own food and heat it up... There are board games, bookswaps, and even a piano. Can't be bothered to hoover? Host a book club or an informal meeting here instead of in your house.

With free Wi-fi and comfy chairs, endless tea, and biscuits, you could end up staying for longer than you mean to. At 5p per minute, your clock ticks but you don't notice. The lovely David will help you with whatever you need.















I was there for the Zomato Meet Up. A bunch of lovely food bloggers, who all write reviews on Zomato, as well as their own fabulous food blogs. All foodies, all singing from the same hymn sheet. We all brought a dish of our own to share, and devoured each other's. David made us tea, and Zomato's Alexandra and Sheepa made us feel like VIPs.

Tea

Tea

Malaysian Curry Puffs by Vi Vian
Vi Vian's Food Blog


Ricotta and Chocolate Bundt Cake by Federica
Whatever Gets You Through The Day


White Russian Cupcakes by ME!
Recipe from KatieCakes
I made 'em, I didn't invent them!

Salted Caramel Brownies by Sheepa
Food That Makes You Smile

Dairy-free Zebra cake- with Nutella!  by Naomi
Make-Bake-Travel
                                     

Feta and Spring Onion Bouikos by Sheepa
Food That Makes You Smile

Roasted Vegetables and Couscous with Balsamic Dressing by Ellie
The Young Domestic Goddess

Vietnamese Mango Noodle Salad by May
Red Velvet London



Initially I was apprehensive about the absence of alcohol, but I came away at the end of the evening just as buzzed up and feeling as though I'd been drinking wine all evening. The chat, the food, and the common love of food and writing made it an event to cherish.

Thank you Zomato, and Ziferblat for hosting.

All photos by Sheepa.

Square Meal Click to add a blog post for Ziferblat on Zomato

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Kaspar's at the Savoy - Hot Table review for Fabric Magazine

This month's issue of Fabric Magazine is out and on page 49 there is a Hot Table feature. Written by yours truly:

Hot Table: Kaspar's at the Savoy

Amazing food. Amazing feeling!

Here's some shots of the food I had:

Seafood Starters: Salmon tartar, oysters in apple and celery with caviar, lobster bisque, scallops on squash puree, tuna sashimi, and smoked haddock in watercress soup with a poached quails egg.


Slow roasted lamb with chorizo risotto
Sea Trout with asparagus and Jacqueline sauce
Red Mullet on fennel puree with dessicated olives

After Eight and Balsamic Eton Mess
Big thanks to Fabric for sending me along.

Fabric Magazine
@LondonFabric
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