Franco Manca - Odonno's - Babylon at Kensington Roof Gardens - Bangalore Express

A few odds and ends to mention from the last few weeks, starting with some food on Northcote Road:

Wednesday 12th June - After failing to get in to the private launch party of the Toyshop Bar in Putney (more on that when I actually finally make it!), List Leader Natalie and I moved on to Clapham Junction to have a drink somewhere fun.  We were too late for the excellent happy hours around (King of Ladies Man / Dime Bar / Southsider all good choices) and instead of making the sensible choice of having a swift pint in the excellent Northcote Draft House, we greedily decided to have our second dinner of the evening at Franco Manca.

They only take reservations for large groups so there is often a wait for a table, but they are quick to give you a No Logo bottled beer to pass the time.  As it was quite late, we were seated after only 10 minutes.  The menu is simple and incredibly cheap - the pizzas range from £4.50 to £6.95 which is astonishing considering the quality.  They also do takeaway, but sadly not delivery - Domino's wouldn't last a day.  The pizzas arrived quickly and were dispatched even quicker.  The dough is wonderfully squishy and moreish, and the toppings are delicious. I could definitely eat two or three in one sitting, especially at under £6.95. Head to you closest branch (Brixton Village, Westfield, Chiswick, Battersea) as soon as possible, and stop going to Pizza Express.

Odonno's late night ice cream parlour is dangerously situated just over the road from Franco Manca.  I couldn't resist, and I was confident that despite her claims of being full, Natalie would give in to peer pressure.  I also needed to start investigating more gelaterias after my completely unfounded claim to a randomer that Gelupo served the best ice cream in London.  Sure enough, once we got inside, Natalie caved and ordered two enormous scoops - she was seduced by Peanut Butter and Pistachio.  I went for Salted Caramel and Hazelnut to directly compare with Gelupo, and they are hard to choose between.  I have to say that there were more flavours in Odonno's that got my heart racing, which led to discussions with people in the queue about getting one of everything as a team.  I can see the Franco Manca + Odonno's double bill happening again soon, especially if we ever get anything resembling ice cream weather.

Tuesday 28th May - This was a long time ago now, but I thought I would fit in with some other foodie mentions.  I was lucky enough to be treated to lunch at Babylon in the Kensington Roof Gardens complex by an extremely generous parent of one of my violin pupils.  Babylon is situated on the 7th floor and has lovely views over London and the gardens below.  The prices aren't astronomical considering the location, and there is a very reasonably priced lunch menu.  We worked our way through 2 excellent courses and coffee which came with a cute complimentary box of chocolates.  The drinks menu is interesting - the Sunbeam cocktail with Proseco, Peach Liqueur and Sunflower Tea Tincture stood out.  There also 4 bottled aged cocktails to choose from - Negroni, Martinez, Manhattan and Hacienda.  They amusingly list their free water in the wine and champagne section - Thames Cuvée Brut - simple, light and refreshing.  The much loved water of the Thames lightly carbonated to give a defined mousse.  This year's vintage is quite amazing.

Afterwards we went for a wander around the gardens that form part of the club downstairs.  There are three themed gardens to explore - Spanish Garden, Tudor Garden and English Woodland.  During the height of summer this has to be one of the best places to go out in London, if you can get in.  Where else can you sip on a cocktail with Virginia the cow and a bunch of flamingos (Bill, Ben, Splosh and Pecks) wandering around?  Dress to impress and keep yours fingers crossed - the club is open on Fridays and Saturdays.

Friday 14th June - Last one to mention is Bangalore Indian restaurant next to Waterloo Station.  Similar to Buona Sera At the Jam on King's Road, Bangalore has bunk tables that you have to reach via a ladder.    The design isn't quite as cosy as at Bueno Sera as the restaurant is much bigger, but it is still a fun concept especially after a few drinks.  Book ahead for those as we didn't manage to get one when we turned up without a reservation.  We stayed anyway as we were starving after an evening of wall climbing, and Maggie (flatmate / climbing guru / monkey) highly recommended the food.  We shared some fantastic naan wraps and enormous dosas which were very good value, and a welcome change to the usual poppadom, naan, rice and curry combo.  Delicious, cheap and extremely well situated - Bangalore is a no brainer.

Three more points for that pesky List Leader (please keep coming out) and 1 for flatmate Maggie which edges her ahead of flatmate Ali.  The current List Leader has spoken of saving money and cutting back on List trips - could the door be opening for Sam or Tim to mount a challenge in the second half of the year?

Samba Swirl, Honky Tonk + More Pre-List Favourites

I'm going to quickly run through a couple of random places today (rather than one of my bar-hopping posts - London Bridge and Shoreditch #4 coming soon) alongside a few old favourites that I visited 'pre-List'.

Last Saturday (April 6th) I had my first taste of Froyo (Frozen Yoghurt) from Samba Swirl on Northcote Road (there are others in Chiswick and Islington) having avoided it for years on the grounds that it could never be better than ice cream.  However, the fun is not in the eating, but in the self-serving.  You grab a pot, squeeze some different flavoured yoghurts in, and then go nuts adding unhealthy toppings that completely defeat the point of choosing yoghurt over ice cream.  I was clearly a first timer as my pot was covered in oreos, caramel shortbread, crunchie bars etc whilst Lauren went for the fresh fruit.  It was enough to distract me from the fact that I didn't actually want any yoghurt, but I will probably head straight to Odonno's over the road for ice cream next time!

The oreo capsule was full before I started

On Wednesday (April 9th), I went for dinner with Jason (picking up his first non ping-pong based point) at Honky Tonk in Chelsea, a NY-inspired bar and restaurant on Hollywood Road.  They sat us on a man-date table in the corner which was great for people watching but I would probably sit up at the bar next time for more atmosphere.  The macaroni cheese with truffle oil was tasty but the main event was pudding.  Make sure that you save space for their excellent Apple or Pecan Pie (or any of the others!).  We didn't get on to the cocktails but if you live nearby it would be worth heading over to the attractive bar for a drink or two - look out for the amusing artwork dotted around on the walls.

Now onto a couple of old places that are worth a quick mention.  First up is Cah-Chi - a Korean BBQ restaurant in Earlsfield (or Raynes Park) which stands out as you have to cook your food using the sizzling plates built in to the table.  You then take a giant lettuce leaf and stuff it with all sorts of tasty things, wrap it all up and consume! There are Korean drinks on offer but you can also BYO wine if you so wish.

One of my favourite places in Covent Garden is Guanabara - a large Brazilian bar which serves great food, has fantastic live music, gives dance classes, cocktail masterclasses, percussion masterclasses etc etc. There is a very generous happy hour from 5-8 every day.  Watch out for occasional door charges later on in the evening when there is a band playing.  It is not very visible from the street - head to Parker Street off Drury Lane (where the muffin man lives) and look for the Guanabara logo.  Inside it looks like a conference centre - head up the big staircase round the corner to find the bar!  If you want to watch a football match involving Brazil, this is the place to be.

That's all for now, though I am pretty excited to have discovered Deliver Me, a website for ordering food in London up until 6am!  More standard List posts are on the way, depending on how much football and golf I watch today.  Team List points for Lauren, Luke, Natalie and Jason.  I will give a leaderboard update soon - has Natalie overhauled Tim's Paris points?  Does she realise he is back in the country to keep the pressure on?  It doesn't get more exciting than this.