Foodle

Dinner at @hoax_london

Amazing cocktails ✅️
Delicious food ✅️
Fantastic atmosphere ✅️
Secret cocktail bar ✅️

What else could you need in London????

I really love this restaurant/bar, the stuff are so friendly, incredible cocktails and fantastic food.
I started with sear duck on toasted brioche and a truffle puree, very generous starter, and tasted great. Second course cacio e pepe pasta, absolutely delicious, one of the best I've had. Mains was a slow braised beef cheek, potato puree, kale and peppers. The meat was perfectly cooked, the potatoes were so smooth and rich with butter, and the braising sauce was incredible.
Finished up with a classic tiramisu which was perfect. Overall I had a fantastic experience and can't wait to return to check out the bar!!

☆prinvite

#dalston #londonfoodie #londoneats #londonrestaurants #londoncocktails Less

Lunch at @canton_chinatownlondon

Showcasing their freshly-roasted duck and juicy pork belly in their window, it’s difficult to walk past Canton without being drawn closer by the scent of sweet and sticky barbecued meats.

Their simple offering is rough-around-the-edges, home-style Chinese barbecue, piled high on a plate. Hand-sliced noodles are just one of the traditional ways things are done here, as Canton flies the flag for the Chinese old school in a sea of modern restaurants.

The roasted meats were delicious, crispy pork belly, bbq pork and roasted duck with rice and pak choi. Its the perfect lunch for me! The chicken fried noodles were extremely good, nice prawn toast, pretty much standard. The dumplings were good definitely not the best in China town but still tasted great. So if you're looking for a proper old school chinese meal it's well worth a try

☆pr invitation

#chinatown #chineselondon #londonfoodie
#londoneats #roastmeat Less

Alex Kim, culinary director at Five Sails restaurants and current Canadian Culinary Champion doesn’t rest on laurels and he doesn’t park his culinary skills on a plateau. It seems to me, with every visit, he’s hoisted himself to another level. Upon experiencing his current spring tasting menu, well, he’s done it again. It’s a complete wow!
The menu is part of a seasonal series called The Altitude, inspired by a visit to Peru, and I’d guess, Central restaurant in Lima. There, one of the world’s top chefs, Virgilio Martinez, creates menus guiding diners, vertically, through various Peruvian ecosystems starting from sea level and ending in the Andes. His restaurant is a regular on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant, and it took top spot in 2023. I have visited this famous restaurant in Lima and was gob-smacked by the depth of research, scientific and culinary, through all the country’s ecosystems and by the exotic ingredients.
But, were I forced to vote on which restaurant gave me the most pleasure and excitement in the mouth, I would give it to Kim’s Pacific Northwest Altitude menu for the sensual flavours, gorgeous visuals, playful inventiveness and creative agility. The dishes journey below sea level, to shore, then elevate inland and upward. Out of the gate, his famous oyster tartlet has a shell so real, you must command your teeth to bite. At alpine level, wild berries, spruce tips, and wildflowers feel like a fresh, cool mountain breeze.
Dishes on tasting menus rarely hit home runs with every course but Kim pretty much did. Only one dish felt less than perfect — it dazzled with flavour and technique but was visually overwhelmingly white and pale — a silken rice and almond coverlet hid a couple of chicken surprises underneath, where some pops of colour would have clinched it. Overall, though, what an impressive choreography of story, taste, sight, and talent.
These are highlights from the dinner. Less

A reservation at @sendaiokagesan may come with the disclaimers and asides that read like ground rules for entering a celebrity’s hotel suite. It’s not personal. Nor is it unreasonable: if you douse yourself in Santal 33 while I’m knee-deep in the cartilage of a singular Takasaka bird that has given up its life so I can hunt for tertiary notes of char and funk, I’d banish you, too.

But this critic is semi-new to the serious yakitori game, eager to take on the full-bore, nose-to-tail expression of the terrific chicken promised by the chef, Sato Yoshimasa. Having planned a week-long trip to Tokyo around a single reservation at this Shokunin’s nine-seat perch, all I could think about on my two-hour Shinkansen journey there were the dangers that lay ahead: raw chicken and the barrage of smoke that would make my eyes water.

That raw chicken, though: three rosy, semi-translucent fillets, draped like thick handkerchiefs, over a pool of grassy olive oil, tasting (very) alive and sweet, not unlike yellowtail; its fatty liver in another course, almost like foie gras, except it’s both rich and clean; then, soy-cured tenderloin, rolled into temaki.

And the smoke: near-asphyxiation is the point. Good yakitori should wear the battle scars of prized Kishu Binchotan, and on a cold February night, the skewers here looked properly ravaged by the embers’ white-hot temper. The highlights were nearly everything across the 15 or so skewers. Notably uchimomo dakimi (skin-on inner thigh) ringed with char; seseri (neck meat); segimo (back liver); and the pudding-soft, iron-rich liver that made me question all the ones I’ve enjoyed before.

Sometimes the maximalism gets away from them. The tare can feel heavy-handed at times, and while it’s majestic to see dewy fat drip off each skewer like a cold beer on a hot day, this can feel a little recursive after 15 of them. No matter: if the excess is part of the experience, then so is the precision underneath it.

👊 for the Yakitorian sermons, @theone853 ; 👋 to meet you @theprofessionaleater ; 🙏 @mrmeat29 for paving the way.

📍Okagesan, Sendai. 🍽️ Feb ’26. Less

To experience Saito is to experience the man himself: the focused baritone, clean-shaven high priest in pressed whites running an eight-seat counter like a private ceremony.

Watching Saito’s hands — how he presses shari three, no more than four times into neta; how the wasabi lands with the same measured dab; how soy is brushed in one economical sweep — is to witness those of a young pianist who had finally become one with Liszt. But Takashi Saito has done this for 22 years at his namesake, and he doesn’t skip a beat as an an increasingly raucous gallery plies him with aged Burgundy, tall highballs, and conversation topics that grow more perverse by the half hour. And still, near the end, he keeps moving with that same rhythm, sending out nigiri in full color so pristine, so virtually flawless that you find yourself recalibrating what perfect is supposed to feel like.

I arrived late to this February reservation and, in the steps approaching the dining room, had a brief, unhelpful vision of my own excommunication.

Which is why my hands trembled through the otsumami — shiro ebi, delicate shirako, karasumi with a richness that made me think of the melting center (and color) of a great quesabirria taco that made me weep in front of an LA taco truck — then into the nigiri, where superlatives apply. I had sayori with shiso; custard-like murasaki uni, sans seaweed (a technical flex); toro whose fat and flesh knit together handsomely; and chewy but yielding ika, rubbed with salt and sudachi, melting slower than you expect, then all at once. The tremors left around the time when someone poured me whiskey. Yes, Saito has every right to excommunicate a tardy guest, but he doesn’t because he’s kind and giving, and so the room loosens around him too.

Saito’s craft is legible in the details, with a near colorless red-vinegar blend that stays neutral rather than bracing; soy painted with restraint so the neta still sings; and shari sturdy enough that it barely holds it together. Still, I left thinking about the end: how it never softened, nor reached for a flourish. A meal for the culinary ages. 🙏 TK-san for paving the way.

📍Saito, Tokyo. 🍽️ Feb ‘26. Less

Discovering Minhwa Spirits: A Must-Visit Spot in Doraville

For those of you on the hunt for culinary delights in the Atlanta area, @minhwaspirits in Doraville is a gem that deserves a spot in your regular rotation. Nestled just barely outside the Perimeter, this spot offers a unique blend of country charm within the city limits.

A Chicken Sandwich Sensation
The highlight of my visit was undoubtedly the KFC crispy thigh sandwich. Paired perfectly with house-made pickles and a spicy mayo, this sandwich has claimed its rightful place in my personal "Fab 4" chicken sandwiches list. If you're a fan of a good chicken sandwich, this is an experience you can't miss.

The Fab 4 Line-up
For those curious about the other contenders in my top chicken sandwich list, they include:
Java Saga in Chamblee
No Idea Burger in Norcross
Karachi Broast in Roswell

To Fry or Not to Fry?
While the fries at Minwah Spirits are fine, I found myself leaning towards skipping them on my next visit in favor of exploring more from their a la carte menu. There’s something about keeping room for more adventurous choices that speaks to my foodie heart.

What’s Next on the Menu?
With so many options to explore at Minhwa Spirits, I'm curious: what do you recommend trying next? Whether it's a hidden gem or a crowd favorite, let me know your suggestions!

Join the conversation on our Atlanta Grubber group and share your thoughts. Let's uncover the best of what Minhwa Spirits and other local spots have to offer! #MinwahSpirits #AtlantaEats #FoodiesUnite #ChickenSandwichLovers #DoravilleDining Less