Tuesday 12 May 2015

Otto Lungi - Islington

It's not the kind of place that you could normally drag me into but I was with two mates who didn't actually offer a choice and for them it was the obvious place to go.

It's quite small there is a long table down the centre and lots of tables and chairs, they were all full. We were told we had just 40 minutes until closing time but were welcome to order.

I don't drink coffee for political reasons so I try to avoid anywhere that magnetizes picky coffee addicts and they give me a queasy feeling in my stomach! Unfortunatley my two mates are indeed picky, unashamed coffee addicts, which leads to interesting discussions and for me a need to drink alcohol!

The wine menu is of course excellent and the waiter was happy to discuss the various merits of the wines but I tend to know what I like and go for countries as much as grape sorts.

I have to say although my hackles rise at the price of food (and pretty much everything else) in London the standard of the food and service make this a very reasonable place to go. Apparently it's a favourite of theatre buffs heading for the Almeida, which is just across the road.

The Salads were exquisite, perfectly cooked aubergine with yoghurt dressing, broccoli with chillies and garlic, and a mixed bean green salad which all very delicious with the last being superlative, we had ordered a large salad and our friends a small one but we ended up with the small salad because they brought the large with a basmati salad and coleslaw, which I refused to eat as the rice was a little under cooked (In my opinion grains are supposed to be firm yet soft not nutty - only nuts as supposed to be nutty) and the coleslaw had more fruit than cabbage in it (YUK!)

The potions are reasonable to fairly generous and as I said the service from our Italian waiter and the maitre d' was excellent; friendly, chatty, helpful.

As I said at the beginning there are a lot of tables/people in quite a small space but it it light and has a feeling of space but any less of either and the priced would undoubtedly be higher.

Three coffees, one glass of wine, one small and one large salad came to just over forty quid.

Monday 11 May 2015

Byron proper hamburgers Shoreditch

It said proper hamburgers, I passed it on my way to buy a ukulele case. On the way back I decided I needed a treat so I went in.

It wasn't busy, there are a lot of tables in there. The menu was a stunner, including an explanation of why your beer is served in cans! What can I say? They do indeed make well proper hamburgers.

The service was excellent, unobtrusive but I was checked twice during the meal to make sure I was happy. In a way I wish I hadn't been so I know how they deal with issues but everything was fabulous, though I probably shouldn't have had the second beer.

I ordered 'Le Smokey' with chipotle mayo instead of chilli bbq sauce - no problem and no extra charge - with extra jalapenos and portobello mushroo, no bun  which meant that you automatically get a side salad which was great, baby spinach, beet greens and rucola, toms, cuke, a piquant yet smooth, herby dressing and not too much of it. (No bun is called a skinny burger, I couldn't bring myself to actually call it that and I'm sure the waitress had a twinkle in her eye when she said it!) The burger was a perfect medium, the portobello juicy, a serious portion of jalapenos and the chipotle mayo really tasted of chipotle. I had courgette chips and was seriously impressed by houw good they were, I make them at home but these wiped the floor with mine. two cans of Brooklyn lager 35,5 mls and 5,2% served in an iced glass and a second glass was no problem, when I asked for it (though I wasn't offered it).

It's the trendy end of London so it came to just under 30 quid with a tip which means that it's not like an American burger at all in the sense that they are not only great but usually cheap too!

http://www.byronhamburgers.com/menu