Restaurants
- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at Da Terra at Da Terra
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at StreetXO at StreetXO
Popping in back in February 2020 to try some new dishes at StreetXO London which unfortunately I hear has closed now.
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Lunch at Bocca di Lupo at Bocca di Lupo
A more positive vibe now following me whining about Hand & Flowers in my last post. Lunch a while ago at Bocca Di Lupo in London. This is my kind of place, a bustling counter where the food is honest and most importantly tasty. Since 2008 Bocca Di Lupo has been turning out regional Italian cuisine and is a humble trattoria at it’s heart. With an emphasis... More
A more positive vibe now following me whining about Hand & Flowers in my last post. Lunch a while ago at Bocca Di Lupo in London. This is my kind of place, a bustling counter where the food is honest and most importantly tasty. Since 2008 Bocca Di Lupo has been turning out regional Italian cuisine and is a humble trattoria at it’s heart. With an emphasis on top quality seasonal produce everything here is made in-house from the bread, gelati, sausages, salami, pickles, mostarda and of course the pasta. My recommendation is to do as I did and grab a seat at the end of the counter by the pass and just check out what’s coming out and if it looks tasty (which all of it does) then simply point and order. Who needs a menu Less
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at Peel's at Peel's
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at Carters of Moseley at Carters of Moseley
Carters of Moseley is a restaurant that I’m kicking myself for not having visited earlier. Named of chef/proprietor and local lad Brad Carter, the food here is fiercely local and peppered with British ingredients. Coppa is made in house using Tamworth pigs from just up the road in Stratford, Orkney scallops, Exmoor Caviar, English wasabi, Cornish... More
Carters of Moseley is a restaurant that I’m kicking myself for not having visited earlier. Named of chef/proprietor and local lad Brad Carter, the food here is fiercely local and peppered with British ingredients. Coppa is made in house using Tamworth pigs from just up the road in Stratford, Orkney scallops, Exmoor Caviar, English wasabi, Cornish oysters, Hogget and saffron, Highland pheasant and even the gin is from Bristol. They even make their own British version of XO sauce called Brex-O sauce (🤦🏼♂️).
“The overall philosophy is to be a true expression of British terroir within the moment.” A fancy way of saying local seasonal grub. And it is good grub, married with warm, relaxed but attentive service from Maitre d’/Proprietor Holly Jackson and team. Genuine Brummy hospitality. I really enjoyed Brad’s cooking, it’s very honest. Hogget is not French trimmed and prettied up but instead the fat is left on the bone and is perfectly rendered to an unctuous melt in the mouth explosion of flavour and perfectly complimented by the lava bread. Ribs are served on the side to gnaw on at one’s leisure. It’s all about the flavour here. It reminded me very much in some ways of Gareth Ward’s restaurant Ynyshir where flavour is king and overly fussy presentations are rightly banished in favour of flavour. The exact opposite of style over substance. In fact I believe Gareth and Brad are good friends so maybe that shouldn’t surprise me at all (please tag Brad if you can Gaz).
I am also a big fan of Carter’s Instagram stories where they regularly post their staff meals being prepared from beginning to end. Another true reflection of Brad’s focus on flavour even in the food his team cooks for themselves and their colleagues. Worth checking out at @cartersofmoseley .
So get up to Birmingham (or down or across) and give Carter’s a try, you’ll leave with a smile on your face I promise.
Insta: @achefabroad (👈🏻me) Less
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at Mãos at Mãos
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Dinner at Carousel at Carousel
Carousel is a restaurant in London that hosts restaurant and chef pop-ups. A chef or food producer will do a residency for a few days to promote a new opening or just to get their name out there. Sven-Hanson Britt was runner up in UK Master Chef the Professionals and was promoting his new project Oxeye.
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Lunch at Ikoyi at Ikoyi
I am around two months in arrears in terms of posting meals, but I had a lunch yesterday in ‘that’ London that has prompted me to forget about posting my meals at Mugaritz or El Celar de Can Rocca or indeed the insanely good 3am kebab from ‘Big John’s’ in Aylesbury that I woke up next to this morning.
I’ve been to Ikoyi a few times now... More
I am around two months in arrears in terms of posting meals, but I had a lunch yesterday in ‘that’ London that has prompted me to forget about posting my meals at Mugaritz or El Celar de Can Rocca or indeed the insanely good 3am kebab from ‘Big John’s’ in Aylesbury that I woke up next to this morning.
I’ve been to Ikoyi a few times now and it was a restaurant that it seemed (from my point of view) that there was a certain buzz about. I mean, show me another West African restaurant with a Michelin star in London....or the UK for that matter. Or Europe? If you can, I’ll go there.
Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale cornered the market for soon to be Michelin star West African food in the centre of London. All well and good. The foodies and press were all over it for a time. And rightly so. They may well still be, but I haven’t heard a peep.
I decided to go for lunch yesterday very last minute. I was in bed in Aylesbury at 10am just flicking through the Internet as you do. I’d posted the day before about a very mediocre £55 steak I’d had at ⭐️⭐️The Hand & Flowers the previous day and someone suggested that I come and try the beef at Ikoyi.
This is what prompted me to jump out of bed, shower off the kebab remnants and hop on the train into town and have one of the tastiest lunches I’ve had in quite a while.
It really is a rare skill to be able to produce a tasting menu where 90% of the dishes are spot on delicious. The type of plates that you wolf down and can’t get enough of. This is speaking from someone who, for better or worse, actively travels the world in search of good food. So I’ve had a lot of lunches🤷🏼♂️
This was a great lunch.
It seems that Jeremy Chan and the team are really buzzing now. I see him travelling and doing collaborations, and this seems to have had a very positive impact on the menu at Ikoyi.
I urge those that haven’t been to go, but most of all I urge those that went a couple of years ago to go back. It’s much more confident now. I know some found it maybe mediocre before, but the menu I had yesterday was exceptional. (And no I wasn’t comped to write this) Less
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Lunch at Hand and Flowers at Hand and Flowers
Lunch a little while ago at the eye-wateringly pricey ⭐️⭐️ Hand & Flowers in Marlow where a mediocre fillet steak will set you back £50.50 excluding service charge. It seems that Tom Kerridge is very much taking advantage of his celebrity chef status here. The cheapest main course is £39.50 for pork belly plus service and sides if you want... More
Lunch a little while ago at the eye-wateringly pricey ⭐️⭐️ Hand & Flowers in Marlow where a mediocre fillet steak will set you back £50.50 excluding service charge. It seems that Tom Kerridge is very much taking advantage of his celebrity chef status here. The cheapest main course is £39.50 for pork belly plus service and sides if you want them. Compare the price of this very unremarkable fillet steak with some of the most respected steak joints in London, Hawksmoor £36, Smith & Wollensky £40, Temper £33, Hix £42 and for an equivalent steak at Cut at the Dorchester, it will set you back £30. (I am suddenly conscious that this is sounding like a Jay Rayner review with all the moaning about price🤦🏼♂️). The other dishes were fine but nothing that warrants the two michelin stars in my opinion. I am always a bit wary of a pub where the car park is exclusively filled with Aston Martins, Jags and Audi R8s. It usually suggests a clientele that really don’t care (or know) when they are being taken to the cleaners. And here it seems that Kerridge is eager to oblige. Harsh maybe, but if you are going to charge me fifty quid plus for steak and chips then it better be fucking tasty. Less
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- Neil Walker added a new meal Lunch at Noble Rot at Noble Rot
Another fantastic meal a short while ago at Noble Rot. I never get tired of the cooking here and can’t praise it highly enough. Exciting times are ahead for the group with the new opening in Soho’s The Gay Hussar and the current sous at Lamb’s Conduit Street heading over there. Personally I am glad to hear that Paul will be staying to run the... More
Another fantastic meal a short while ago at Noble Rot. I never get tired of the cooking here and can’t praise it highly enough. Exciting times are ahead for the group with the new opening in Soho’s The Gay Hussar and the current sous at Lamb’s Conduit Street heading over there. Personally I am glad to hear that Paul will be staying to run the show. Noble Rot is one of those restaurants where I fear change. It’s just at that sweet spot where I very selfishly want it to stay....forever. Less
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