Orange Buffalo Chicken - Brick Lane

Oof! Now I'd been waiting white a while to go to Orange Buffalo and I'd heard very good things but is often found myself in Brick Lane at a non foody time, or I'd just stuffed myself at the stalls down the Lane itself.

HOWEVER, this Sunday a group of buds and I were there. We sat on a bench in the communal eating piece and the tome was now. My friend got a portion of the Buffalo wings and they smelt super tasty and zingy, so how could I refuse the opportunity?

Grabbed my wings and they were reasonably quickly served with a few celery pieces and a dollop of blue cheese sauce. They looked awesome and there was plenty of sauce all over the muthas.


When it came to the eating instead of the staring, smelling and taking photos, the sauce was fab. Buffaloish as it avoid be and reminded me of the Buffalo sauce that Franks do. Size wise they were good too and for £6 you do get a lot and the chicken meat was cooked nicely.
There was only one thing that kept me from uncontrollably wording there down...the chicken skin. It was covered in sauce which is great, but I like a crispy skin on mine so I did end up leaving a few. Which is criminal really.

These were still a bargain and I ate probably eight or so wings but they didn't hook me as some others have (Bbq lab especially)... I think if I'd have gone to Orange Buffalo sooner I'd have loved them more, but this summer I had some summer chicken wings lovin'... It took my breath away and it may have raised my future wing standards to dizzying unrealistic heights.

I'd still recommend these bad boys anyway because they were lushtastic, and grab some curly fries while you're there.

Twitter: @orangebuffalo

FlatIron Steak - Denmark St, no misteak.

Oh my jeez. Okay. I'd heard of this place and it had been on my 'go-to' radar for a while but for some reason I just hadn't been.

We were looking up places to eat in Soho and came across this name again. Bargain tenner for a flat iron steak and people rave about it, so we thought let's give it a crack.

We stood like idiots on Denmark St for a few minutes trying to find the restaurant front but our eyes started working and we saw this interesting looking restaurant peeping put with it's subtle name sign.

So, I'd checked their twitter before we'd gone in as I heard there were usually queues to get in...but we arrived around 3pm and it was clear to grab a table for four. There were specials up today of wagyu burger (£15) and short rib (£14) and the only main on the permanent menu was flat iron steak (£10). Perfect size menu for me. Sides were £2.50-3.50 which I think is pretty reasonable too.

The server was knowledgeable and told us where the cows came from, which bits the meat comes from and other bits and bobs which was a nice touch. She recommended medium rare for the steaks so I went with her suggestion (though I'm usually a rare kind of gal) and chucked some creamed spinach in as my side. They'd also put some popcorn on the table as a free sharer picky thing which was lush. I thought it tastes slightly beefy and looked it up later to find it was beef dripping popcorn! SWOON!

We didn't have to wait long until the food arrived and PHEWPH it was mouth watering. Awesome steak, little salad cup and the creamed spinach (a first try for me) was ace. I pinched a few chips from my eating companions and the chips were fab too, though I am glad I ordered spinach for something different. The beef was sliced and presented on a flat iron, and each diner had a mini cleaver branded Flat Iron to use during their meal which was a great little touch and a photo point.

All in all I'll definitely be back to FlatIron again and will recommend it to my carnivorous friends. Awesome price and really lovely food, set in a cosy restaurant where everything is presented splendidly. Well done!

Mmm...cow...

Twitter: @flatironsteak
www.flatironsteak.co.uk

Poppies of Spitalfields - Takeaway!

Avast ye!

Last week we were feeling lazy or didn't have anything in, or plans went askew...whatever. We ended up ordering takeaway through the DineIn site. We decided to go with Poppies of Spitalfields as I've heard great things but never actually been. Wah!!!

Order plaicing was fine and dandy, pretty standard through the website so I guess that's now down to Poppies but it took about an hour to show up. Though I probably should appreciate that it is a very busy place! Darn it.

The goodies arrived hot which was a good thing in little cute Poppies boxes.

 

We ordered the groundnut oil fried cod which came with chips and, oh my Cod! Cor blimey!, their reputation is built on very firm and delicious ground. The chips were light and didn't leave you feeling like you'd eaten a block of lard (that's a good thing) and the fish tasted fresh and not over battered. What a ray of light! The meal came with a little jar of tartar sauce too which I am not usually crazy on, but this stuff was really nice. I didn't use any other sauce or any salt/vinegar which is probably evidence to how good the food was by itself.

I was a bit worried about this order as a lot of grease and fish and chips of the past (of the past? what?) has made me feel a bit sicky afterwards but that didn't happen at all with Poppies. Maybe it's the different oil they fry in or something, I'm not sure.  (Hali)But I do know that I will definitely have to visit one of their sit down restaurants for a proper meal there.  And I would advise you to aswell.

End verdict: Poppies are eely good.

Sorry for the fish puns. But not really.

http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/
Twitter: @popsfishandchips

Pulled by Morito at Pump Shoreditch

Last Friday before the bank holibobs weekend I toddled off to Pump Shoreditch (www.pumpshoreditch.co.uk) with a chum and immediately the stall (is it a stall? Sort of a little beach hut style thing) of Pulled by Morito lured me in.. probably because it was bright red and had a list of pulled meats outside it.

 

Checking out the options I went for their Moorish Lamb and I am SO glad I did. It came with rice and a salad with a few sauces (no idea what they were but I trusted the guys to know what they were doing!) and phewie...awesome.  This was a dish of lamby cumin awesomeness where the meat was softy softy and full of flavour. They chucked on tons of lamb, rice, salad and a spicy yoghurt dressing and did not scrimp one bit. The dish I had was £7 and they definitely do not rip you off for the food you get, especially the meat which some stalls I have eaten at in the past try to give you less of in place of, let's say, rice.

 

I hadn't even finished my meal and wanted another one because it tasted so good! Lamb is a rare meat for me to cook at home so it was an extra special treat to have it here. Yumser.... A couple next to me asked about it (maybe I was too enthusiastic with wolfing it down?!) and ended up getting pulled meats too after my mad woman style raving. The friend I went with turned vegetarian last year but was drooling over the smell and cursing her meat free ways.

 

I am definitely going to go back to Pulled by Morito before it leaves Pump Shoreditch at the end of Summer so I can try the other meats they have on offer. Highly recommended though and definitely worth a lookee if you are in Shoreditch any time soon.  I'm not sure where they will be after Pump Shoreditch, but at the moment it's on Shoreditch High St near Boxpark and opposite Andina.

 

GO GO GO!!! Totally worth getting in your face. I pulled that night. Ho ho ho ho ho...sorry.

 

www.facebook.com/moritostreetfoodlondon

Twitter: @pulleduk

The Chesterfield - NEW OPENING - Bow

There's a new coffee shop round the corner from my flat, it opened on Thursday 30 April (my birthday, ooh) and it's already been a food filled bank holiday weekend so we thought we'd try it out today. From the outside, it looks nice - all bricky and leathery and wooden which is always welcomed by my peepers.   The tables are sort of random shapes and types, not like a chain where everything matches and there are leather sofas dotted throughout the place, plus a kids section with toys and things in the back to keep sprogs busy.
 

The Chesterfield has a pretty tasty looking sandwich menu and a little cake muffin cookie selection too. We went for their salt beef sandwich and the salami cheese and gherkin to share half of each between us... Both were nice but the salt beef won by miles. The salami didn't really have enough salami for my liking and tasted mainly of pickle and cheese, both of which I like, but that's not what you pay the money for really. The salt beef was thick, a lot of it, moisttttt and tasty... Would definitely order that one again but unsure on the salami. Good but needs mo' meat.
 

The coffee I had was the Brazilian bean thing (as recommended) and servings come in 8 or 10oz. I picked 10 and assume that's a large? Just a mug full which is fine with me but I wonder what the actual difference is.. Is the 'oz' just a 'different' way of saying regular or large? It was nice anyway.

We finished the sarnies and, as it's a nice place to sit, I went to get us some muffins (£1.80 a pop) to chew on. Banana for one and chocolate for the other. Both get a thumbs up! We also got tea and for £2 you get a filter pot thing full which gives you one and a half large cups,  all fresh leaf tea too which is nice to see. The milk is served in maybe a double size shot glass which makes for messy pouring but just have a serviette to hand in case it goes all over the table as it did with us.
 

So far this place gets my approval (wow, I'm so mighty with my approval) and it'll be a treat having this a minute from my doorstep. I'm sure I will try more of their goodies and post follow up soon.

Timberrrrrrr(yard)

Salutations, welcome to the Timberyard! And no, there aren't a lot of lumberjacks here, it's a ruddy coffee shop thing!

This one is another that I'd tried to get in once before and failed because it was too gosh darned popular! A mac user heaven, the computers nearly outnumber the people in here. It makes me envious but not because I'm not an apple girl.
However this time we were lucky and just as we came in a couple were leaving. We ordered stuff and it was brought over quickly to our newly nabbed table.... A chocolate slab thingy, a latte and a pot of tea. Delush.
The tea had a five minute timer to go with it to tell you when your coffee was brewed, which was cute. Tea ponce ahoy!

The coffee was nice (not woooooooow but very slurping) and everything is presented well on a nice little boardy thing. Places these days need to present food and drink on planks of wood..I'm far from complaining but it's probably rarer now without one. Chocolate slab thing was very rich and dark chocolatey. Worth the money..three pounds and something . 

Cool chairs and great atmosphere, could easily stay here all day chatting and I plan to bring a few friends here in future to do just that.
They've got tons more cakes to try next time and believe me...I'll be back.
Moowahaha.

Caravan Kings X

I've tried to get into Caravan before but the first time round we didn't want to wait 40 minutes for a table...however this time it was a 20 min wait and we were offered a seat at the coffee bar.  We were given a coffee bean (I think) bag with a number on and went to sit at the bar.
I ordered a latte and it looked pretty (I'm a sucker for a nice looking latte in a glass). The staff were all enthusiastic too. The atmosphere of the place was nice, not rushed around and just very chilled out and warehousey sort of feel...you know, cagey walls and pipes out, lots of wooden stuff.. Is that shabby chic? Dunno but it's good anyway. Pleases my eyes.  the clientele and staff looked pretty Hipster tastic but I like a good hipster so I'm down with that, son.
The menu is pretty quirky and my dining fellow had trouble picking what to have initially. For me I was picking between avocado on toast(I have an avocado problem at the moment) or baked eggs
.. Felt I should be different so picked baked eggs!

OH MY GOOD GOD THAT WAS AMAZING

Everything tasted awesome, such a good choice with the baked eggs and merguez sausage addition. Eggs. Sausage. Sour cream. Tomatoes. Oh my God. Amazing. One of the best brunches I've ever had. Hopefully that explains how tasty it was.

My boyman went for the caravan fry up and he said from looking at it he didn't think it'd fill him up but, by jove, it did. Fabulous. Strangely he couldn't pick what his favourite piece was and it ended up being between the bread (sourdough) or the tomato! For a big meat eater that's a very very rare thing so shows the quality of the food. I'm very into meat too and could have happily eaten the baked egg without the sausage too. Shocker!

We have brunch planned with my sister tomorrow so we are coming back straight away. Avocado is going in my face for sure!

Really good prices too and I feel fresh rather than greasy and full of yuck.

Coffee is really nice, similar taste to alpress in shoreditch. Less creamy but still all good.

Mmmmm
9/10! And I never give ten so that's saying something....

http://www.caravanrestaurants.co.uk/kings-cross.html