Eating my way thru London... | FerrariChat

Eating my way thru London...

Discussion in 'Drink, Smoke, and Fine Dining' started by arizonaitalian, May 1, 2019.

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  1. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Oct 29, 2010
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    Spent last week in London. We love Indian and other ethnic foods, so the focus was mostly there. But had to fit in a proper chippie and somehow fit in a (fantastic) Michelin rated place too...I'll post several of the meals here...
     
  2. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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  3. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Next was the first of several southeast asian and ethnic places. This was the only "redo" for, all the other places were new. But this one, Tayyabs, is a favorite of mine. I can't say this meal was up to the levels of my prior visits, but still a good start to a week of robust, flavorful foods. We had their signature lamp chops, minced lamp skewers, tandoori prawns, tandoori chicken (not pictured), sauteed okra and keema naan.

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  4. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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  5. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    The biggest disappointment (not to mention absurdly high priced) meal was at The barbary. They claim to be a "northern african" restaurant. Whatever. I had some naan served with a bit of (bad) hummus and very good babaganoush. Then a whole grilled cauliflower and a very flavorful minced beef skewer and a grilled octopus. The food (except the hummus and octopus) was pretty good, but I'm someone that had never complained about meal costs - until this place. Total rip off and way over-rated.
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  6. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    So after the disappointment of The Barbary, we tried a similar concept (long "eating" bar, small plates) called Kiln. We waited over 75 minutes at 8pm on a Tuesday. This place is popular. And...deservedly so. Fantastic place, great food. Unique "kiln" cooking style that has the cooks working over real coal/wood and using large cast iron pots that sit on top of kilns. We had the lamp skewers (not pictured), the soy chicken, the sauteed greens, the Polluck and the wild ginger beef neck and the crab hot pot and the brown jasmin rice. All were excellent. And this place was less for the two of us than the Barbary was for me solo. Hands down, Kiln over Barbary.
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  7. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    My GF was busy interviewing for Doctor jobs during the days, so I treated myself to a long lunch at a fantastic restaurant called Clove Club. Supposedly earned some "best restaurant in the UK" and "Top 50 in the world list" mention and I think a Michelin star. Without doubt, this place earned all that imho. A truly great lunch. The cuisine is certainly stylish and thoughtful, but doesn't come across that way when eating it. It comes across as light and even soulful. Honestly, I get that the food looks "michelin-y" but the flavors and vibe were country cottage, not urban molecular. I loved it. I include a pic of the small tasting menu I did (I choose the chicken for the main and substituted some excellent cheese for the dessert). Highly, highly recommended. And a bargain imho too.

    The first two pics following the menu are worth mentioning. First is a pic of some partially devoured butter. Why? Because it was far and away the best butter I've ever had. I had to ask about it and learned it is made from a few cows they buy milk from in some countryside town and they bring it to the restaurant and the staff churns it each and every morning for service that day! The next pic is a set of four amuse buche they bring. All were fantastic; a smoked trout sushi, a pine scented fried chicken strip, a crab tart (served in a giant shell) and a Cheese puff ball.

    The main courses of fish and chicken were perfect - the veggies and black truffle puree on the fish were great, the chicken and skin were perfectly cooked and perhaps the finest chicken I've had. The pic of the ceramic chicken shows how the serve the crispy fried chicken feet skin with a cheesey sauce. Yum.

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  8. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Next stop was a well known place called Tandoor Chop House. We really liked this place, perhaps more than Tayyabs. This will be a place we visit a lot when we move to London later this year. We had their first-rate tandoori chicken, a lamb meat dip with naan, a beet and beef skewer, bone-marrow naan and cauliflower with pomegranate and chutneys. Great food. Casual and cool place.


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  9. arizonaitalian

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    Final stop was a pre-theater meal at Mangal 2. In London's turkish district (from what I'm told), on a street with many "Mangal" (turkish BBQ) places. This was fun and flavorful and casual. Will go back. We had an appetizer of roasted eggplant puree with puree of red pepper and yogurt. Then grilled halloumi cheese. Then a mixed platter of skewered and grilled meats, including minced lamp, lamp chops, lamp chunks, chicken wings. I also ordered an extra plate of the marinated lamp chucks because they were amazing.

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  10. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Whew, that was a lot of posting...I think there are 9 meals and restaurant reviews here.

    Thirty years ago I thought of London as perhaps the worst major city for foodies. Now - as has been well documented over the past decade plus - its among the very best.

    So many types of cuisine...love it. Looking forward to living there starting in October!
     
  11. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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  12. NbyNW

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    Think I hit Like on most of your posts! Looks awesome. Ive only been to London once and it was a while back - not quite 30 years ago - and it didn’t have a very good food reputation then. Seems they got things straightened out! Look forward to seeing what else you find.
     
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  13. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Like is not enough, this deserves a heck yeah!
    Hole in the wall joints like this are my favorite.
    T
     
  14. ttforcefed

    ttforcefed F1 World Champ
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  15. ross

    ross Three Time F1 World Champ
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    good summary and pics.
    thanks
     
  16. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Thanks for the recs, we will try these when we move there.

    We did seek out dim sum in london while there. Oddly we found lots of "michelin-y" dim sum places...which sounds decidedly oxymoronish to me.

    We actually booked at one such place and walked in and sat down...only to decide to gtfo and find a real dim sum place. Walked into chinatown and ate at Dumplings Legend. It was "okay" ("good", but not "picture good" - thus no pics in the thread). Had much better in NYC, east LA, and SF, and even in London on prior visits. We will continue the dim sum search when we return (starting with your recommendation above).
     
  17. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Same... 33 years ago for my first honeymoon. Turns out, these many years later, the food was the most memorable (the marriage was a disaster).
     
  18. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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    It's been way too long since I've had good Tandoori cooking. Thanks for the reminder.
     
  19. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

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    I'd say last 15 years. You can eat well there now rather easily. It used to deserve every joke ever made.

    I love Indian food and its a good place for it.
     
  20. Jaguar36

    Jaguar36 Formula Junior

    Nov 8, 2010
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    Man all that food looks amazing. We're going there in a month or two, would any of those places be appropriate for kids?
     
  21. Echo Charlie 1131949ZULU

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    Edward C. Chewning
    How about the bread pudding? Had some there it sure was tasty! Edward
     
  22. arizonaitalian

    arizonaitalian F1 World Champ
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    Mangal 2, the turkish place for sure. Not spicy and there were kids there when we went.

    Poppies Fish and Chips for sure (again kids were there when I went)

    Tandoor Chop House would be okay I think too.

    I don't think you want kids at Kiln, Barbary, Clove Club, Tayyabs or Roti King.
     
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  23. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
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  24. Jaguar36

    Jaguar36 Formula Junior

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    Thanks! Tandoor Chop House looks awesome and we are staying nearby so we'll definitely stop by there.
     
  25. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    I've never had fish and chips in London! I generally subsist on two items: Cornish Pasties and Chicken Tikka Masala. Both are widely available!
     

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