I know that this post will bore some of those who aren’t in Calgary. I just feel a certain duty to blog about places I’ve eaten to benefit those who might stumble across this post some day. Feel free to skip this if you want. Follow on to read all about it. Read more “Eating out in Calgary”
Imli
I’d read a little bit about Imli in a few places and, for the most part, appeared to be a pretty good place to eat so we went along to this modern ‘tapas’ take on Indian cuisine. The restaurant isn’t massive, located in the heart of Soho and it looks extremely modern and clean. The menu is simple and split into the different types of meats and a separate section for vegetarian and other side dishes. They serve all of the curries with rice on the side. It was the first time that we’d all come here so the waiter first explained how the menu worked and the recommend of two to three dishes each, or the alternative of a set menu that sounded a bit more thali-like and less shareable.
We tried a huge variety of different dishes between the four of us, following the waiters advice. They served it in about three rounds, giving us some time to clear out the table although the end result still looked like a bomb had hit it. Next time, I wouldn’t follow the waiter’s advice, instead sticking to one or two dishes between everyone and then perhaps ordering more at the end if you’re still full. The combination between different types of dishes, lots of rice accompaniments (as part of the tapas plate) meant that the sheer volume of food defeated us. In one way, it’s not bad for money although we ended up wasting some of ours since we followed the waiter’s advice.
One huge disappointment and shocker for this restaurant is their policy with their “bottled” water. In a way, we’re partly to blame as we missed the not very obvious hints. We should have picked up on the first tip when they said that they don’t have sparkling water, and then then seen the second when they brought out their tiny “Imli” branded glass bottles with the rubber stoppers you push backwards. At £1.95 for, what looked like, a 400mL bottle of filtered water we were stunned when we received our bill four bottles later. The worst thing is that they didn’t even warn us about it when we hesitated at the first one.
I really wanted to like this place. The food is reasonably priced, fairly tasty and presented in a comfortable atmosphere to share with friends. I’m still left with a very bitter taste, one from the recommendation of ordering far too much food, and the second not being warned about the bottled water that I definitely don’t think is worth the price.
Details: Imli
Found at: 167-169 Wardour Street, Soho, London, W1F 8WR
Highlights: Small plates of Indian food perfect for sharing with a number of friends
Room for improvement: £1.95 for water you bottle yourself? Pfff.
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10
Spitalfields Taste Festival
After having dinner with Marc and Amanda last week, I noticed Spitalfields had a Taste festival this weekend. Less of a farmer’s market and more of a food festival with lots of samplers, Spitalfields appeared much busier than it normally is on a Saturday with a number of new stalls bolstering the handful of the normal ones just outside where Giraffe and Canteen sit.
A few street entertainers including a number of chefs on stilts, another juggling chef, kept the audience mildly amused by walking the small kids surrounding the small petting zoo. As I mentioned previously the food focused on selling sample wares from local restaurants. Everything appeared there from fresh scallops, mushroom risotto, ox heart burgers (of course provided by St John’s restaurant), and plenty of stalls to keep everyone happy. They even had a number of places offering free New Zealand lager and best of all, an organic cider place that proved perfect protection against the chills of the cold spring winds.
I’d definitely go back to Taste next year, although I hope they put the central stage somewhere other than in the middle of the crowd where it effectively blocks all pedestrian traffic whenever a show is on.
Dragon Castle
Elephant and Castle isn’t exactly well known for its thriving Chinese community and so Dragon Castle is a great surprise for those craving Chinese food on the south side of the river. You enter the restaurant through one of two doors alongside a towering red gate fronted by two standard Chinese lions only to enter a small foyer entrance. Compared to the other restaurants found in Chinatown, I thought this place looked much larger in space.
Given the large spaces, I thought the waiters and waitresses would push carts around though it turns out I was wrong. Instead, you walk down a large and grandiose path placed alongside the wall of the stretched out room and then shown to one of the tables clustered next to each other on the other, ordering from a small menu.
The attendants really earn their service in this place. Unlike many other dim sum places, our pot of tea always remained piping hot, constantly filled without any requests. The little parcels arrived at a steady pace without the sudden overcrowding other places give you and they quickly whisk the dishes away as soon as you’re completely done and, most importantly, not when you’re almost done with your chopsticks still picking up the food.
The food is excellent value and the quality reasonable though I wouldn’t claim it’s the best that I’ve had. The dim sum menu isn’t as overwhelming as many other places, instead keeping to a core set of favourable dim sum favourites. We also managed to order a main dish that remained off the dim sum menu and they seemed happy to oblige.
Details: Dragon Castle
Found at: 100 Walworth Road, SE17 1JL, London
Highlights: Decent quality dim sum at extremely reasonable prices in the place you’d least expect it.
Room for improvement: Would be a much better experience if they used carts to wheel food around for a more authentic experience.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Candy Cakes
The bright colours and huge display of cakes in the window attracted us to this little cafe off the side of on the seven dials streets in Covent Garden. £2.60 will buy you one of these colourful cakes with plenty of flavours including Banoffee, Lemon and White Chocolate, Carrot, Raspberry and Peach and many more, with all of them uniquely decorated and distinctly eye catching.
When I bought one, it seemed too big to be a cupcake, yet too iced to be a reasonable sort of muffin and I guess when I tasted it, also seemed to have that confused identity just as well. If it was a muffin, it was a little bit too tough, and if it was a cupcake, definitely not moist enough – either way the batter seemed like it’d been overmixed when put together. I made the mistake you normally don’t make with a balanced muffin/cupcake by eating the top bit separately from the rest of the cake. Without the super sweet icing, the base cake just seemed rather bland, and then with just the icing top and the top, the sweetness and raw flavour overpowered what cake was left.
Unfortunately I don’t think these cakes are for me – the excessive sweetness imbalance out weighing the attractiveness of this cakes. Had I needed something to display on a table, or needed a super sugar rush, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them though I think it’d be a plain waste. It might suit some people out there though.
Details: Candy Cakes
Found at: 36 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9HB
Highlights: Eye catching colourful cakes attract you to an equivalently brightly decorated cafe
Room for improvement: Excessively sweet (at least for me) and the cake wasn’t light enough or crumbly enough to make it a truly satisfying cake.
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10
Mexicali
One of the greatest things about being in our office is its location right on the corner of Covent Garden with so many places accessible by foot. Our lunch time outings seems to have formed a little ritual I will miss when I get back on a project. The other day, we went over to Mexicali, a place I’d noted when I’d visited Yauatcha. Although I consider myself a huge supporter of the Daddy Donkey stand, it doesn’t mean I can’t try other Mexican places such as this.
£5.20 will start the process of a soft fresh tortilla pulled from its stack, then wrapped around chunks of whichever meat you order, beans and a fairly ordinary salad together. I ordered a pork burrito that, although tasty, wasn’t as flavourful as the adobo one that Freebird (a Mexican stall at Exmouth market) offers. According to Luca, the flavour of the chicken also didn’t cut through the 50p guacamole and the beans. Mexicali’s establishment appears extremely new filled with some fairly casual tables and chairs, each topped with their very own cactus and Cholula hot sauce that does wonders to pep up your non-customisable burrito.
They have several other options on the menu although we didn’t get a chance to try them out. Unlike other places, this place also offers their burrito with a small serving of corn chips although they’re pretty tasteless without any options for salsa on the side and the like. I didn’t like the fact that they don’t offer upgraded chilli levels.
Details: Mexicali (website still in progress here)
Found at: 4 Berwick Street, Soho, London
Highlights: Reasonably priced burrito with extra hot sauce on the side
Room for improvement: Average taste with no room for customisation.
The Kua Rating: 5 out of 10
Where’s the good coffee? Caffe Vergnano
I’ve been meaning to go to this little cafe for some time, and it was only recently with some Italian colleagues of mine that we visited here. Voted as the best coffee store by Time Out one year, I’m surprised this coffee shop isn’t as busy as other places. Like most other coffee stores in London, this store doesn’t have much space for staying with a few small tables and chairs ideal for a few people catching up.
The main attraction here is the coffee bar, complete with one of the best looking Elektra machines I’m yet to see. Like most of their other machines, this Elektra espresso machine is made out of shiny sleek silver, brightly polished. This particular machine is much taller than other espresso machines, with an a matching silver eagle mounting its peak. Three spouts extend out of its circular sides onto tiny little platforms, drawing the luxurious black liquid into whatever receptacle that sits below.
In true Italian fashion, we ordered an espresso each, served on a small pewter train and accompanied by a small glass of cold water and an almond based biscuit – the perfect after lunch condiment. Of course, we drink this standing at the espresso bar. For those partial to the cappuccino, ask for the sprinkled chocolate dusted over their signature 1882 template.
Location: Caffe’ Vergnano is found on 62 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0BL (Google Map link)
The week in (notable) food
It’s been yet another busy week with lots of events during the week and probably a little bit too much eating out. It started off with a dinner at Chelsea’s Big Easy on Monday when they have an all you can eat BBQ meat fest. It’s only £14.99 and that gets you as many BBQ ribs, chicken as you can eat with BBQ beans, coleslaw and a beer or soft drink. Of course, it’s pretty good value already for just a single serving. They also offer half a lobster for the same amount if you’re inclined though it just feels wrong to order it in a place well known for its decent BBQ (okay, it is also known as a crabshack though why waste the opportunity for some decent BBQ fare in London’s zone one?)
Tuesday lunch we went out to Kastner and Ovens, a boutique cafe offering freshly made foods and unsurprisingly busy given the quality and prices. Three mixed salads and a quiche costing only £5.50. I had amazingly flavourful salads and will be back here again soon. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful, pointing out what dishes had meat after I’d asked for some vegetarian dishes. They also offered appetising looking cakes, pastries and slices though I didn’t get a chance to try them. Highly recommended.
Coming back from a late lunch after presenting to a potential client, I ducked into one of Timeout’s Top 50 restaurants, Food For Thought. It’s all vegetarian and offer a few different selections including soup, salads, and a couple of hot dishes. Choose to eat in, or take away as I did. I had a slice of the freshly cooked broccoli quiche with some salads to take back to the office setting me back £7.50. The evening I spent with some after work drinks and dinner at Cubana. Their happy hour finishing at about 6:30pm includes two-for-one cocktails including the ever divine mojitos. My meal for the night was Congri Santiago (a pork, chorizo, tomato based stew served over rice) that went down a treat with the flavourful jalapeno sauce. A great meal with great company.
Thursday sees me end up near Reading for work and I return home for a very, very late lunch. I decided to make a return visit to Piada, home of Italian slow cooking and the ever delicious Piadina, an flatbread from the north east of Italy. It’s definitely a good sign when you walk in and all the signs are there. People pack the place, a number of Italians ahead of me order in their own language they make Illy coffee and they the wonderful Chinotto drink. An Otto (vegetarian) Piadina sets me back £4. The evening ahead of me, sees my flat mate and myself head out to Exmouth market’s The Ambassador. Serving small twists on continental dishes, we have a lovely evening. My evening starts with a flavourful spinach and fresh ricotta risotto bursting with flavour, john dory cod fillets with capers, salad and mash (a little bit on the salty side) and a sticky date pudding, butterscotch sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh, and apparently they’re hiring if you’re looking for a job as front of house.
Friday lunch I take some people to okonomiyaki specialist Abeno. I’d been here before so I opt for the Om-Soba (soba noodles encased in a very thin omelette). Nice and authentic though I think I’d go for the Japanese pancake next time.
Sunday starts with a breakfast meal I haven’t had for a very long time at one of my favourite haunts in Notting Hill, Nicole Farhi’s 202. The maître de recognises me and asks how I’ve been doing. I’m very pleasantly surprised and quite honoured since I don’t think I’ve been there since I moved to the east side of London. I’m very humbled that in this place, apparently known to be one of those fashionable places I’d normally avoid or take no notice of, I’m still recognised. I’ve always found the staff helpful and friendly and this just reminds me of all my previous visits. I take my sister who’s never been and who’s heard me rant about how great their French Toast dish is. Like always, the bread, dipped in one of the yellowest eggs you’ll ever see, beautifully crusted and served with a (very salty) bacon and perfectly complemented by real maple syrup and only £5.95. They also do great coffee.
THE DETAILS
Big Easy BBQ and Crabshack is found on 332-334 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 5UR. Contact them on 020 7352 4071 or enquiries@bigeasy.uk.com.
Kastner and Ovens is found on 52 Floral Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DA or call them on 020 7836 2700.
Find Food For Thought on 31 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9PR or ring them on 020 7836 9072.
Cubana is located very near Waterloo Station on 48 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RG. Contact them on 020 7928 8778 or info@cubana.co.uk.
Piada has two locations one in Farringdon (12-14 St John Street, London, EC1M 4AY and phone number – 020 7253 0472) or Soho (50 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SQ and phone number – 020 7287 6263).
The Ambassador is found 55 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QL or call them to book ahead on 020 7837 0009.
Abeno is found on 47 Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY and can be contacted on 0871 075 3973.
Find 202 (unsurprisingly) on 202 Westbourne Grove.