John Doe - Street Feast Hawker House

Dry January is over!  This is of course bad news to those of us who have enjoyed visiting quiet and peaceful pubs and bars in your absence, but welcome back to civilisation the rest of you.  If you are looking for food & drink in equal quantity and quality, then look no further...

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Saturday 31st January - First up, a fantastic restaurant in West London that is truly worth the trek. John Doe (on fast improving Golborne Road) specialises in "Wild British produce, cooked over wood and charcoal".

We were first through the doors for lunch at 12.15 and settled on a table rather than up at the counter. Staff were wandering around singing along to an eclectic soundtrack ranging from Chesney Hawkes to Foo Fighters, reminding me of the equally lively Palomar but with some space to move your elbows.  

The smell of sherry vinegar filled the air, making it hard to pick from a mouth-watering menu full of goodies.  Ash roasted leeks, smoked roe tartar, and confit duck leg are just a few of the dishes that we had to leave behind.

Picking a drink is no easy task either.  A John Doe Negroni with Portobello Gin, Rosehip and Dry Vermouth called to me, but I couldn't resist dipping in to the fine beer list.  I opted for two Wild Beer Co. brews, starting with a dark and sour 7% Modus Operandi on tap, followed by an interesting 3.6% Sourdough bottle - both outstanding and in keeping with John Doe's wild ways.  There were also three Thornbridge taps, plus more bottles from Wild Beer Co., Siren, Freedom, Bad Seed, Bear Hug, Harviestoun and Otley Brewing.  Impressive stuff.

A complimentary plate of moreish Venison & Goat Charcuterie made its way over to ease us in to a gamey mood.  This was swiftly followed by our outstanding starters:

Mum The List - Stuffed Mackerel, Pomegranate, Cauliflower Cous Cous & Harissa

Dad The List - Seared Duck Hearts, Sherry Vinegar & Parsley

Matt The List - Octopus, Chickpeas, Aioli

Mum The List probably edged it with her generous mezze-style plate including standout Cauliflower Cous Cous, though I implore you to try the Duck Hearts if the thought scares you.  That sherry vinegar was certainly put to good use.  My off-menu special of Octopus was worth arriving early for - ask nicely and you shall receive.

Venison & Goat Charcuterie

Octopus, Chickpeas, Aioli

Stuffed Mackerel, Pomegranate, Cauliflower Cous Cous & Harissa

Seared Duck Hearts, Sherry Vinegar & Parsley

Three of the eight main courses on offer showcase their venison skills, making use of wild Roe Doe from the Cotswolds on this occasion.  We nearly got the full house:

Mum The List - Roe Doe Haunch Steak, Bone Marrow, Watercress Salad & Fries

Dad The List - Venison, Mutton & Bone Marrow Sausages, Choucroute & Mustard Sauce

Matt The List - Roasted Bacon, Slow Baked Brown Beans, Apple & Horseradish

Plus some Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes, and Chicory, Blood Orange and Hazelnut Salad to share.

Three more winners, and a zingy side salad to boot.  The Roe Doe Haunch Steak didn't come across particularly gamey, but there was no hiding the venison in the sausages (always a hard dish to present attractively!).  And that Bone Marrow... look at it! Then devour it.  My Roasted Bacon was also a delight, reminiscent of a glorious smokey BBQ meal at Big Crow in Toronto.  

If none of those take your fancy, you might be interested in the Beer Butt Partridge with Stinking Bishop Mac & Cheese, Greens and Bacon - a sight to behold with a small Schweppes Tonic Water can (filled with beer) shoved where the sun don't shine.  Only in-flight bars and hotels have beers that tiny. 

Roe Doe Haunch Steak, Bone Marrow, Watercress Salad and Fries

Beer Butt Partridge, Stinking Bishop Mac & Cheese, Greens & Bacon

To finish:

Mum The List - Valrhona Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Cream

Dad The List - Valhrona Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Cream

Matt The List - Valrohna Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Cream

Pick your favourite spelling, it's wrong on almost every menu I come across. Answer below.

Whilst the rich slab of chocolate was popular all round, we did feel that this part of the menu needed some more variety.  Two Valrhona (hint hint) choices, Rice Pudding and a Cheese Plate didn't set the heart racing in the same way that the savoury selection process did.

Valrhona Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Cream

Valrhona Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Cream

Ladbroke Grove locals have got a real winner here, and due to its awkward location, they can probably expect to have first dibs for a while yet.  That said, Golborne Road is on its way up and the rest of London is starting to take notice, with the likes of Snaps & Rye and West Thirty Six opening recently.

Our excellent lunch was raised to another level by the charming, witty and helpful staff who brought smiles (and delicious grub) to every table.  Best meal of 2015 so far.

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Post lunch, I zoomed over to East London to kill some time for a few hours before the opening of Street Feast.  A frustrating wait at the problematic Draughts (sort out that system) was soon forgotten with a Signature Brew Backstage IPA at the candlelit Trip Kitchen next door which looked after us for the rest of the afternoon.

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Hawker House is back! Street Feast have finally opened their indoor food & booze Winter hangout in a new site opposite their old Merchant Yard haunt.  Set over three floors filled with the now customary funky lights, you can find London's finest street food traders, and six bars. SIX.  

Level 1 : Rotary Bar + 3 traders

Level 2 : Craft Beer Bar // Kamm & Sons Spritz Bar + 3 traders

Level 3 : Milk & Honey Mercury Lounge // Wine Bar // Whisky Bar + 1 trader

Considering that there are six (SIX) bars, seven street food traders seemed a little light to me, and by 9pm on Saturday, it was pretty hard to get near the stalls.  Ideally there would be closer to ten traders on rotation but I guess space is an issue.  Also, the three floor system leads to carnage on the stairs and one-in one-out queues between rooms, leaving you stranded with someone else's tempting food in hand.  This doesn't compare well to the sprawling Dalston Yard

Anyway, get there early, get stuck in to the food, and then settle on the stunning top floor.  After sharing some top notch sliders from Sambal Shiok and Boom Burger, I spent the rest of the evening in the company of the Whisky Bar and the Milk & Honey Mercury Lounge.  I was so distracted by Penicillins (invented by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey New York) that I barely took any photos this time around.  I highly recommend taking a look at Chris Coulson's atmospheric photos here.

Did I mention that you can play WHISKY ROULETTE? £8 gets you a spin and a dram, most of which are priced above £8 usually with the exception of a couple of £7 treats including the Peat Monster, so you can't go far wrong.  If you land on a 0, rather than the house winning, you get an entire bottle of whisky to take home! There were eight winners on the first weekend...

Sambal Shiok Sliders - Beef Rendang and Chicken Satay

Whisky Roulette

Whisky Roulette

Milk & Honey Penicillin - Scotch, Peat, Honey, Ginger, Lemon

Whilst I'd rather brave the cold and huddle around bonfires at their sprawling Dalston Yard and Model Market style spaces, Street Feast's new Hawker House is a big improvement on last year, and the top floor is magnificent.  It's open every Friday and Saturday from 5pm until the 4th April (£4 after 7pm), and there's still nothing else quite like it in London.  Though it gets busy, the atmosphere is always electric.  Enjoy!

La Polenteria - Concrete - Boom Burger

Tuesday 18th March - March has been a bit of a restaurant fest on The List but I've got to eat somewhere and pasta & pesto won't cut it every night of the week (actually it probably would).  

Last week I made my way over to La Polenteria in Soho with one of my siblings, Sister Jo, hoping that she might produce some overdue birthday presents. She sadly arrived empty handed, but I soon forgot once we were greeted by our awesome waiter, Francesco, who kept us royally entertained throughout our meal.

La Polenteria specialises in, surprise surprise, polenta-based dishes. Fat free, gluten free, high in fibre, no cholesterol - makes a change from pulled pork, burgers and triple-cooked chips!  Polenta dishes are hard to come by in London, unlike in the north of Italy where polenta is said to "run inside the veins" of the people, so La Polenteria may just be on to something.

We started with a plate of tiddly Polentini, tasty polenta-based canapés including one bold combination of blue cheese and raspberry jam that got the thumbs up.

Polentini at La Polenteria

On Francesco's advice, we went for the Wild Boar and Tuscan Sausages with Borlotti Beans for mains.  Whilst they weren't the most photogenic dishes in the world, they were comforting, generous plates of delicious meat & polenta mash.  They will be soon be adding a Cuttlefish in Black Ink Sauce option, but fish wise there is already the traditional Baccala'alla Vincentina, salt cod with a bone that you can unsheath like a sword apparently!

The meal flew by with Francesco's tales of his D&G sunglasses model days and his proud presentation of the Evening Standard review which was dominated by a huge photo of him.  Before we knew it, we were onto dessert.  Whilst you can go for the full house with a lemon polenta cupcake, I decided to go for the attractive Ferrero Rocher cupcake.  It is impressively entirely vegan, though it is most definitely not healthy.  Most of the puddings would feel more at home in a café, but La Polenteria is such a laid back place that it gets away with it.

We shared a lovely bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on our visit, but I would return for the interesting beers, including the large wax-sealed Baladin Isaac & a smaller Birra Antoniana, neither of which I had seen before.

Thanks to Francesco & co for a very pleasant evening.  La Polenteria offers something a little bit different in Soho, and is perfect for a speedy, filling, affordable meal in London.

Francesco!

Afterwards, I wandered over to Southbank for a couple of drinks with Team List regular Tim, with no particular place in mind.  We soon settled on an old favourite, the relatively unknown and underrated Concrete which is tucked away amongst the raised walkways around the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

By day, Concrete is a café with pastries, salads and hot food. At night, Concrete becomes a bar with eclectic music playing in the background.  Get there from 5-7 for "laughing hour" 2-4-1 deals on selected drinks, or just settle in with a Curious Brew later on.  I spotted some Southbank Gin behind the bar - I would imagine it is a standard London Dry Gin.

Concrete displays regularly changing works of contemporary art, and a concrete-mixer outlined by fluorescent pink strip lighting - created by artist David Batchelor - is displayed outside the cafe.

Concrete mixer by David Batchelor

Tim chanelling the Sistine Chapel with some exposed cables

Wednesday 19th March - The next day, I was out for food again, this time in the wild West of London near Ladbroke Grove. I was happy to make the journey as I knew that Boom Burger was waiting for me at the far end of Portobello Road.

I wrote about Boom Burger when they popped up at the Earl of Portobello pub last year, and I have been dreaming about their bacon jam, plantain fries & chicken wings ever since. Now, Jamaica-born Josh de Lisser has found a permanent home for his burger joint that started life in his Notting Hill garden.

Caroline joined me in Boom Burger's funky little new house, which has seats in front of the kitchen, a couple of booths, and some outdoor tables which will come into their own in a month or two.  There's a little bar in one corner from where sweet Pina Colada, Rum Punch and So Sorrel cocktails appear. Red Stripe is probably the way to go considering the food though.  You order everything at the counter, fast-food style.

No, it's not a lifestyle blog, it's just an AWESOME PACMAN NECKLACE

We started with Stamp & Go, saltfish chilli and herb fritters which were enjoyable, but these were totally upstaged by Boom Burger's Jerk Wings marinaded in a house jerk sauce & served with jerk mayo.  I am going to put it out there and say that these are my currently my favourite chicken wings in London, though I will admit I need to a little more research in this department.

The wings are a tough act to follow, but the signature Boom Burger (with cheese & bacon jam) and Jerk Boom (jerk chicken, with fried plantain, rocket, mango and pawpaw sauce) coped well with the pressure, and deserve to be considered amongst London's best burgers. You can also order Veggie, Brunch & Fish Booms, as well as a couple of Boom Salads.  Whilst they all sound delicious, it would take a lot of willpower to not order exactly what I had again!

Last but not least - the plantain fries.  So simple but so good, served up with a load more jerk mayo. You may not want to share these.  

Make sure you go hungry to Boom Burger, as prices are low, portions are generous, and you will want to eat everything.  We had to go for a 45 minute walk after our feast before we felt we should sit down again.  Fingers crossed, Boom Burger will expand to Battersea soon so someone can just roll me home next time.  

Boom Burger thoroughly deserves to keep its spot on my Favourites page - go and eat there now, thank me later! It is closed on Mondays - for full opening times and more details, head to their cool, colourful website - www.boomburger.co.uk