Brick Lane’s Beigel Bake | Salt beef or smoked salmon? | London

Beigel Bake on Brick Lane is a London institution that’s been around for as long as I can remember. It’s open 24/7 and there is always, ALWAYS a line. Not really surprising considering the value for money those guys offer!

It’s all made on site (watching the bakers make the bagels will keep you busy while you queue!), very generous (I swear there was half a pack of cream cheese in my bagel!), and stupidly cheap too!

It might look a bit dodgy, but do not run away!
Decisions, decisions… (I wanted everything!)
That time I manage to click a perfectly non-blurry picture… of the brown paper bag! #failThe smoked salmon + cream cheese: fresh, slightly sour cream cheese and the most melty salmon; a real beauty! And look at the bagel dough! Very springy, but still soft and pillowy…
But the kind of all bagels is without a doubt Beigel Bake’s Salt Beef! Generous chunk of meat, just teased by the spicy taste of American mustard… it doesn’t get much better!And a picture of Shoreditch, just because!

What: Beigels in all their glorious forms. But it would be a mistale not to get the -massive- salt beef. Or the -ridiculously indulgent- smoked salmon with cream cheese!

Tip: When you’re there, you might as well grab 6 plain bagels to put in your freezer and use for emergency breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner… You know what I mean!

How much: Ridiculously cheap: plain beigels are £0.30 a pop; smoked salmon + cream cheese will set you back 1.60 and London’s best salt beef beigels are a bit over £3.

Where: Brick Lane Beigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB

Herman Ze German | Wurst + Pommes bitte! | London

They claim that their Wurst is Ze Best… I had a bit of time to kill (and needed to grab lunch before taking a very special cab back to work!), so i thought I’d check out if Herman Ze German lived up to its expectations!

I like short menus(= it takes me only 10 minutes to decide between 5 types of sausage!)Bready goodness or healthy sides?All the Fritzt drinks!! Cherry or melon?Isn’t the branding too cute?Hooray for lunch in the sun! Currywurst mit Pommes. The wurst was good (not too greasy, good flavour), but I’m not sure I liked the curry sauce that much (it was a bit too sweet for me). The chips however were very VERY good (with loads of curry-salt)!!

What: German sausage in all its forms (including vegetarian), grilled and served in buns, with chips or a side salad. But trust me, you’ll want the chips! Other German goodies also available (giant pretzels, sauerkraut…).

How much: Currywurst + Pommes was £5.95 I think. Rolls around £5. Sounds like a great lunch deal to me!

Tip: No matter what you do, GET THE CHIPS (and probably the free crispy onion topping too, because YOLO)!

Where: Herman Ze German |19 Villiers Street, London WC2N 6ND

My drive back to work! The Lindt Bliss taxi no less! Want to win your own trip (inc. Lindor and the most adorable driver in London)? Click here!

The Diner – Islington

Brunch is probably my favourite meal of all. Which is kind of weird because I used to HATE eggs as a kid. Luckily, I’m back on track (not liking eggs, what a weird idea!), and I’m trying to catch up in terms of egg-eating!

So if you ever wake up next to me on a weekend (you lucky chap!), I can already tell you that the first words that will come out of my mouth will be “I want breakfast”. And by that, I obviously mean eggs in one form or another.

So just imagine how happy I was when I found out that the perfect brunch venue was just a few steps away from my own door! Let me introduce you to The Diner!

I kind of fell in love with the massive “Diner” sign and am strongly considering building something similar for my own living room. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

We had to wait a bit for our table, but luckily we found ways to stay entertained… Shooting pool and cocktail day-dreaming, what more could we possibly ask for?

Once we were seated, it only took us a few minutes to decide what we wanted… But that might be related to the fact that we were kind of familiar with the menu, since we had been there the evening before (oops)!!

He made the best choice with The LumberJack Breakfast. Two fried eggs, crispy bacon, maple syrup and a stack of delicious pancakes! This is dream breakfast material for sure!

Seriously, look at how fluffy these pancakes are! (tip: DO replace the regular pancakes with blueberry ones, and order side hashbrowns (more on that later) for optimal dream breakfast. You can thank me later.)

 I couldn’t find anything I was a 100% happy with in the menu (especially since I swore not to have garlic butter fries two days in a row…), so I kind of built-my-own. I looked a bit sad, and I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth, but it was okay (especially when mixed with elements from the previous dish…). But there was one clear winner on this plate… Yup, the hashbrowns!

I mean, look at them, they’re so golden and crispy, it’s impossible not to fall for them!! And with eggs+bacon+maple syrup, it’s heaven. I have noother way to describe it.

We had considered getting sides but somehow forgot when we ordered. I have no idea how this happened. Don’t do the same mistake, do get those garlic butter fries (I’m still not quite over them, and I had them a week ago!). Or the Tater Tots. Or bring all your friends and get ’em all, and then some more! Sounds like the best option, doesn’t it? 

When you’re at it, if you could get me that Diner sign, you’d be a total legend! 

Senor Ceviche

Since I first visited the little gem of a restaurant that is Señor Ceviche, I have been victim of this weird thing that is “new restaurant paradox”. You know, that moment when you’re not sure if you want to tell the world about this great little place you’ve just been to, or just keep it all to yourself (and make sure they’ll always have a table for you…).

But Señor Ceviche is hardly a secret anymore since it has received RAVE reviews from… well, pretty much everyone. And I’ve already tried half of their cocktail list, and a significant number of their dishes as well, so I thought it might be time for you to do the same!

Out of the many cocktails we got, my favourite was the Barranco Babe. I never had a cocktail with basil before, but this was a revelation. The Pisco Sour and the Mamacita also come highly recommended, and if you’re really into spicy things, the Nazca Heat is definitely worth a shot!

Like many other restaurants, dishes at Señor Ceviche are small plates meant to sharing. Which I love. Mainly because it means you get to try more things. And the more people around the table, the easier the choice, since you can pretty much order the entire menu. And that’s pretty much what we did!

We started things off with a few nibbles. Yucas came with a finger-licking good aji mayo.

And Chicharonnes. Also know as “slow cooked, crispy pork belly with sweet soysauce”. And yes, they are as good as they sound. Take my word and order them. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

A good third of Señor Ceviche’s menu is made of ceviche. I tried a few but my favourite was the Mercado Mixto; a perfectly balanced sea bream and salmon tiradito with orange and pisco tiger’s milk (no worry, no tiger was hurt to produce this dish!). The zing from the orange and the freshness from the pisco really made that dish for me!

The Limeno Classico was pretty as a picture too, but didn’t quite compare to the Mercado Mixto in terms of taste. It was just missing a bit of acidity for my tastes.

The vegetarian ceviche, the Chimbote was even prettier and I really enjoyed the different textures in this dish, but once again, it wasn’t quite zingy enough for me.

We were feeling a bit peckish, so we also ordered another fish dish. The Chancaca Salmon was cooked perfectly and the accompanying fennel salad was crunchy, fresh and really enjoyable.

Now, what do you do when you read the words BBQ Chicken. You order it. And then you gobble it down and consider getting a second serving. Obviously.

Alright, that was a lot of protein, which we balanced out with a bowl of Patatas Fritas. Chips with melted cheese and tomato fondue; resistance was futile.

I suppose it is not really surprising that we were not quite hungry enough for dessert after all of these. I’ve been told that the brownie’s pretty nice though, so I’m not saying I won’t be back for cocktails and dessert one of these days… The only question is, will you?

Señor Ceviche: Kingly Court, London W1B 5PW