London: An Indian Breakfast @ Dishoom, Shoreditch

Indian food.  Ember red appearance and melting pot of flavours where meat & spices fuse into a full bodied pleasure.  While lunch and dinner are the common meals one might have Indian food for, there are people in the UK who thought “Why not bring it to the breakfast table too?”.  This is the story of the highly successful Dishoom line of restaurants scattered over London city.

The entrance of its Shoreditch branch from the back brings you through a lush garden into a wooden accented indoor dining area.  The setting makes it feel as if you are taking a step back in time.  Dishoom’s menu is predominantly Indian classic as you might expect.  The only problem is that nothing on their menu seems familiar.  In saying that, nothing was to risky to try and this is some of the food we had.

A Chocolate Chai to start the day.

A creamy, and chocolaty delight with a punch of chai.  The whiff of cinnamon is unmistakable and the acidity of the drink paired with a mild spice keeps the usually rich chocolate drink  light for the morning.  If you like chai, you will like this!

My breakfast is the Kejriwal  £5.50.  

What is it?  A chilli cheese toast with fried eggs.  I was skeptical of the size when it hit the table.  Do not be fooled!  It was actually enough to be decently full but not overly filled.  The perfectly fried cheese on the sandwich with a mildly runny egg is so simple but so good.  I was expecting a chunky chilli topping but there was nothing I could see.  Just a mild burn from a spread underneath the cheese.  Very yummy!

My friends had a Bacon Naan Roll and a Sausage Naan Roll £5.50 each.

They are quite similar in appearance.  Taste wise, they were not too dissimilar. Each had fried eggs, chunky cut sausages or smoked bacon, and tangy chutney wrapped in naan bread.  I tried the sausage one and reckon that made a better breakfast because the sausages were still juicy.  This was because my colleague felt that the naan was a little dry and I agreed because it looked over toasted.  For this reason along, the sausage gets my pick! Pair  award winning sausages, mildly runny yolk and naan along with some delicious chutney.  How good does that sound?  Superb I would say!

Dishoom was an interesting brunch for me.  Who is to say that the brunch scene in London is boring?!  Well I guess I did and not I have to bite my tongue for it.  With the Riding House and Dishoom done, London actually has some decent brunch spots no kidding!  The prices and sizes are decent too.  Even more so when you put creativity on a plate into the equation.  Will I return to Dishoom?  Hell yeah.

WenY

London: Delicious Steak @ Hawksmoor, Spitalfields

Everyone tell’s a story about a good steak they had or at least they thought they had.  But what is a good steak.  Is it that thumb thick cut that you got from your butcher?  Or perhaps that $89.99 price per kg for a grade 5. Well, those are simply just the beginning.  From the ageing process, to the thickness of the pan and even the temperature of the steak prior to cooking, making the perfect steak is an art that can only be improved and never be mastered.

During my trip to London, I decided to take a little trip to Hawksmoor Spitalfields which was a short walk from the Liverpool Street Station. This establishment known for their steak caught my attention with its rave reviews.  So what do I eat?  All of their beefy offerings!  To start was a roasted bone marrow with caramelised onions.

A simple dish that is so easy to mess up.  At Hawksmoor the marrow was  creamy and the caramelised onions sweet.  The mixture spread like butter on the toasted sourdough.  While it was tasty, I felt like the marrow could do with more basic seasoning to avoid it tasting “raw”.

After that comes the highlight.  The steaks at Hawksmoor are not what one would call cheap and definitely is a place reserved for special occasions.  Starting from £8 per kg up to £14, Hawksmoor specialises in large cut steaks.  The best cuts of steak to cook!   This was the 1kg cut.

The steaks at Hawksmoor are specially selected from their butcher before they are aged to maturity.  One can tell that Hawksmoor does it well just by looking at the intensity of colour of the meat.   Pair that visual pleasure with the robust bovine kick really made it a sensational meat.  The high heat used also produced a consistent char on the surface giving it a nice “frying” that resonates beautiful smokiness.  Over all,  this was a seriously good steak.

For our sides we ordered some shrooms, triple cooked chips and mac & cheese.  Oozy unhealthy goodness!

While the mac & cheese really tasted good, I cannot help but feel that Rockpool makes a better one.  Then comes  the triple cooked chips, which Hawksmoor superbly well.  The crispness of the chips were unquestionable and dipping them in Heinz ketchup brought back childhood memories! 

Hawksmoor was a nice eat but was it the best steak?  Definitely not.  But like what Rockpool is to Australia, that is what Hawksmoor is to England.  When it comes to dollar value, service and ambience, I feel like the upmarket feel and service quality I receive at Rockpool trumped the one at Hawksmoor.  Putting both steaks side by side, thing then gets a little complicated.  While both had intense flavours, I felt that Hawksmoor charred their steaks better!  So which will I return for?  Hah, I am a glutton so I will return to both any day for a good bite!

WenY

London: Literally Burger and Lobster @ Burger & Lobster, Soho

Have you ever wandered into a restaurant only to be confused by a menu that goes on for ages?  So have I.  That is until I started blogging.  But one genius has came up with a restaurant that serves 3 dishes and only 3 dishes with no options for sides whatsoever.  It is so simple that they do not even have a menu.  This is the famous Burger & Lobster and its £20 menu.  If its name does not give it away, the restaurant literally serves burger and lobsters.   Coming in for lunch at 2pm on Saturday, I was thankful to have waited for a short 15 minutes before being seated.  I have heard other people who have waited for over 2 hours!   

Diners at Burger & Lobster have a choice between the beef burger, the poached/grilled lobster and the lobster roll.  Jacques and I decided to share a serve of poached lobster and the beef burger.

The kind chefs in the kitchen help split them in half for us so there was no need for any cutting whatsoever.

The burger half:

We asked the burger to come medium rare to get the best of the juicy patty.  The burger came brilliantly red in the middle so it was no surprise that the first bite was intensely juicy.  Simply seasoned with salt and pepper, it was delicious!  Jacques on the other hand thought it was a little too red.  I can see his concerns as certain parts looked really red haha.

The lobster half:

To get the best of the lobster, we opted for the poached one.  Having it poached means you get a flesh that amplifies the naturally sweet-briny flavours of the crustacean.   Not to mention, the flesh stays extremely juicy if poached for the right amount of time.  Then comes the best part, the meaty claw!  Biting into its meaty flesh was every bit satisfying!  Almost like biting into a giant drumstick!  Dip it in the accompanying parsley butter for an extra kick of flavour!  

Burger & Lobster served me an enjoyable meal that day.  If the queue is not too overbearing,  I would definitely come back for another meal.  Thinking back, if I came back feeling really hungry, I might even consider ordering one lobster and burger for myself!  They were both amazingly tasty dishes.  In saying that, I admit that the lobster alone would might really small.  In fact, the body of the lobster was rather small, but remember so was my £20 pound note!  Thankfully their perfectly fried fries and salad made help complete the meal.

Visit 2:

Burgers & Lobster was an enjoyable meal for me back when I was in London. However, there was a lingering feeling of incompleteness as I have not been able to try their Lobster Roll which is the final item on the menu.  Fortunately I revisited the London and brought a couple of friends to try out Burger & Lobster. 

Lobster Roll 

Filled to the brim with sweet lobster flesh and served between a brioche bun brings heaven a little closer to earth.  It was essentially eating a lobster without the fuss of peeling the shells.  But is it the exact same? Well this is a definite no.  Nothing quite beats the flesh of the plump juicy lobster flesh you get from a freshly prepared lobster.  The Lobster roll was a convenient thing but for the best flavour, I would definitely call the Lobster which I did too :)!

WenY