Many moons ago, a heated (actually, a hungover) debate took place between @madgie and @jangleton about soup. It ended with Jane boldly proclaiming that ‘Soup is NOT food’.
We beg to differ and have set up a whole blog dedicated to the wonder of soup. It’s full of soup-y goodness, go take a look.
Two days off work, so the only thing to do was to kick start it with a few drinks with friends, followed by dinner and cocktails. We went to Burger and Lobster in Farringdon because it was easy and not too expensive. It’s on the site of the legendary old Vic Naylor’s, though there’s very little left that’s reminiscent of Vics – even the stair rope has gone.
Burger and Lobster is a chain but it’s really a very simple concept, there’s 3 things on the menu – burger, grilled lobster and lobster roll. In fact, there isn’t even a menu, and everything is exactly the same price, it’s that simple.
We had the grilled lobster, with garlic butter, which comes with fries and salad. Whatever you order is £20.00 – and the lobster always seems the better deal for that price.
I had Cosmo’s and @madgie had Old Fashioned’s, both of which were lovely, and we got to sit at the bar and eat (favourite thing, as you know). Good service, good drinks and good, simple food. It works.
The crazy week didn’t show any signs of slowing down come the weekend. We had a family dinner planned at Cafe Maurano in St James’ on Saturday evening, with cocktails first at Coya, a peruvian basement bar and restaurant on Picadilly. Both venues had been chosen by Madge’s mum, and we’d not been to either so were looking forward to it.
The Cosmo at Coya was lovely, if a bit sweeter than I prefer, but it took forever for the drinks to come, and when they did our round arrived without two of them. The bar is very lively, with a good atmosphere, but you probably need to order two drinks at a time, especially as the first one usually goes down quite quickly!
From Coya we headed to Cafe Maurano. I’ve been to the main Maurano restaurant in Mayfair before for lunch, so was really happy to know we were going to try this less formal sister restaurant.
It didn’t disapoint. The dining room has a lovely long bar along one side of the first half of the room, with chairs at the bar (fave thing!). The noise level and decor was perfect – informally classy – enough to know you are somewhere nice, without feeling stuffy or formal.
The menu starts with a selection of nibbles and runs to 5 courses if you want it to. I tried some of the anchovies as a nibble (lovely) but saved myself for the 3-course spectacular, starting with the dish of the night, which was succulent sweet roasted peppers with homemade ricotta. I followed this with squid ink tagliolini, crab and radicchio – which was also awesome. The main course was a chicken milanese with salad – which was lovely, though I couldn’t finish it, which was a shame. I was waaaay too stuffed to even consider a dessert.
The restaurant was very, very good and I would definitely go back. It was also really good value, not too expensive at all, and the staff were great – attentive without being overbearing. The ideal place for a family celebration – in our case a 60th Birthday.
Like an utter idiot I didn’t take any pictures of the whole evening – so you’ll have to imagine how lovely it was 🙂
After a long week, including an unexpected stay in London on Thursday night, it was nice to get back to The Shires to start the long-weekend on Friday. I even managed to side step the pub and get on a train slightly early – I must be getting old. Or sensible.
I was up and out and in the hairdressers by 8.30 on Saturday morning, which was pretty cool as I was all done and able to go and do the rest of the boring stuff early. Quick trip down the high street then back home to get ready for lunch at one of my favourite restaurants, The Chilli Pickle, in Brighton.
We’ve been going to The Chilli Pickle for ages, even before it moved to the large premises under the MyHotel about three years ago, when it was a tiny little restaurant in The Lanes. In that time it’s managed to do the seemingly impossible, which is to get better as it has got bigger, with a ever-changing fab menu and consistently excellent service. It’s never lost that friendly family feel and we’re always assured a warm welcome, and even have a ‘usual’ spot, up on the banana bar
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The restaurant décor is wonderful, with bright colours and indian artefacts, but done in a very boutique way. It plays warmly to the space and feels modern and light. The menu is inspired by different regions of India and there is always so much to choose from that it’s hard to decide. The Tandoori chicken and chips is a favourite, and unlike any other tandoori chicken and chips you might ever have had, but I was feeling a little more adventurous.
I ordered a cheeky lunchtime martini (well, late lunch) and we had Momo’s and Pani Puri to share, followed by King Thali’s for main course. The food at the Chilli Pickle is very different to any other Indian restaurant I’ve been to in the UK. Really delicate flavour pairings, with unusual dips and pickles to accompany every dish. I’ve not yet had anything I haven’t liked and usually have to resist ordering too much – though if you do, you can take it home with you afterwards.
If you like lots of little morsels of different tastes The King Thali is perfect. I had the Murgh Pulungari – chicken simmered in coconut, tamarind, squash, turmeric, curry leaf, mustard seeds and black pepper. It was awesome. The Thali comes with rice, bread, poppadum, dal, dhokla and a sweet rice pudding, as well as the wonderful pickles. And I’ve never managed to defeat a whole one yet!
A bottle of Prosecco washed the food down nicely and we happily wandered off home in search of an afternoon snooze 🙂
