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

BOOM Burger - Trailer Happiness - Mau Mau Bar

Thursday July 25th - It's really hard to catch up with blogs when you keep going out, but I can't help myself.  Thursday was a particularly fatty day, starting with lunch at the wonderful Flat Iron in Soho with my friend Mary.  Read about my first visit a few months ago here.  Going at lunch on a weekday was a totally different experience as we were seated and served straight away.  The steaks are still as fantastic as ever - I can't bring myself to order the Flat Iron burger incase I get steak envy.  Anyway, a few hours later, having walked off all of the steak-based calories of course, I met my friend Stu at Westbourne Park to try out some places in Notting Hill.  Our first stop was BOOM Burger, which is currently located in the Earl of Portobello pub.  Check out their website as it is a work of art!

BOOM Burger started life in the garden of Joshua de Lisser, a burger afficionado who grew up in Jamaica. He has combined his foodie experiences in Jamaica and London to create a burger menu that manages to stand out from the crowd, with inventive ingredients and great flavours.  We ordered the BOOM Burger (beef, cheese and bacon jam - that's right, BACON JAM - BOOM) and the Jerk BOOM (jerk chicken with fried plantain, mango sauce and paw paw sauce) with a side of Plantain fries.  Be aware, it's a cash only service, and you are going to want to eat everything so come prepared.  The burgers came, and then quickly went into our tummies.  The Jerk BOOM was ever so slightly the winner, thanks to its slightly spicy sauce, but the BOOM burger with its bacon jam was still delicious.  The plantain fries were BOOMin' lovely - deep fat fried to perfection, and a welcome alternative to french fries.

We squeezed along our outdoor table to make room for some local BOOMtown rats and entered into a fair amount of BOOM banter.  They figured that I might be a blogger after reeling off way too many burger alternatives, and Nataliya from Peckham said "Are you a famous one? Are you Burgerac?".  Sadly not, but if you want all the latest burger news, read his blog here.  Stu and I got food envy as Griff from Hammersmith and Joe from Portobello tucked into their burgers, so we ordered some BOOM Wings for seconds.  They were outstanding again, with a tasty sauce on the side.  The food was some of the best that I have had since starting the blog - up there with everything that Street Kitchen produce, and the Lazybones pulled pork sandwich.  Make your way over there as soon as possible!

Our next stop was the delightful little Tiki cocktail bar and kitchen, Trailer Happiness, on Portobello Road.  The food menu including Porno Prawns and Tea-Smoked Duck is tempting but after a steak and a burger, it was a step too far.  The atmosphere is fun and relaxed, with a little DJ hatch playing some great swing tunes. Most importantly, the drinks are of the highest quality.  Corn & Oil is a drinkable rum twist on an Old Fashioned, and Om Nom Rom & Pom is a refreshing combo of spiced rums, lime and pomegranate - both beautifully made by one of the many excellent bartenders.  Rum is the order of the day, and I will need to return for their legendary Rum Club on Mondays - free events with talks, tasters and mischief.  See picture below for flaming the copper lined ceiling!

Our seats of choice

Our final stop of the evening was Mau Mau Bar, also on Portobello Road.  We were here to see the annoyingly talented pianist Corey Henry playing with members of Snarky Puppy (the best band in the world) on the tiny stage, all for £7 thanks to Jazz Re:Freshed.  It is ludicrous that you can watch guys like this perform close up for under a tenner, and I find it hard to spend £50 on stadium gigs when you can do this instead.  The bar itself colourful and quirky, and has its doors wide open with people spilling out onto the street most of the time.  The pool table is usually out, but as the gig gets close to starting, people pitch in to move furniture out of the way.  Two guys were lucky enough to bag seats on the sofa that was put on top of the pool table giving them a comfy vantage point.  The atmosphere was electric throughout the gig, and the barstaff worked very hard to keep everyone happy on the drinks front.  Prepare to get very sweaty, as it's a small hot room - it's totally worth it.

I'll leave you with a Snarky Puppy video - it doesn't compare to seeing them live (put it on your bucket list) but it's a good start - is there anything better than a Moog solo?  Notting Hill has many other delights, some of which I visited last time I was in the area - read more here. Thanks to Mary for steak and Stu for BOOM, rum and sweaty jazz times.