let's talk about food

Hey Kids!  Today we’re going to talk about food.  Warning: this may make you hungry.

When we’re home, we don’t eat out a whole lot.  Part of this is due to the fact that I like to cook, but we also don’t want to spend the money on it.  It’s not because there isn’t good food to be eaten!  There are lots of great places to eat at home.

There are also lots of great places to eat here.  But there are a lot more places to eat here.  It is London, afterall.  I haven’t done extensive, scientific research, but I would guess that proportionally the number of good restaurants to not-so-good is the same here as it is at home.  Not knowing the lay of the land, it sometimes feels like we’re taking a stab in the dark when deciding where to eat.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t.  When we go into the city, we do try to do some research about what’s really good.  Unfortunately, most of the websites and articles we’ve found seem to mostly think expensive restaurants are good.  I wish there was a British version of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, so we could know the less fancy, less expensive, super-delicious places to eat.

Let’s take a look at some of the food we’ve eaten.

**I know I may have already covered some of this material in previous blogs, so I apologize for any redundancies.**

Wagamama

I got Chicken Raisukaree (left), and Tim got Firecracker Chicken.  My curry was ok, but not the best.  When you’ve had Blessy’s curry, though, you’re a little ruined for anything else.  Nothing compares to hers.  I think Tim liked his chicken.   It was labeled as "super spicy". We’ve often found that “spicy” dishes lead to disappointment in the flavor department, but I don’t think he was disappointed, based on the amount of sniffling and sweating going on.

Tai Won Mein

I've talked about this before, and how it was amazing and delicious.  Tim and I both got sweet and sour chicken.  I got mine with noodles (pictured below), he got his with rice.  We both agree that I made the right choice. 

The noodles themselves would have been a sufficient meal, though.  The sweet and sour chicken was great, but it was really a lot of food.  If I came with one of my girlfriends, I would share the dish I ordered. If Tim and I had shared, though, I think one of us may have walked away feeling slightly malnourished.

Le Boudin Blanc

One Sunday night we found ourselves stuck in a swanky neighborhood (Mayfair) with few restaurant options.  Oh no!  Whatever shall we do?  I guess our only choice is to eat at this nice (expensive) little French restaurant.

It's times like these that you really notice and appreciate the difference that quality ingredients make.  This place was The Real Deal. They had a staff person entirely devoted to wine-- recommending, serving, and walking around and making sure everyone's glass was topped up.  Also worth noting: he sort of looked like he was 16.  That's been happening to me more and more.  Does this mean I'm getting old? Don't answer that.. back to the food...

Even just the bread and butter was so good.  Like, so, so good.  How can one butter be better than any other butter I've tasted?  I don't know.  But it was.

I ordered some sort of sausage that was served with sautéed greens (spinach) in a balsamic sauce with roasted pistachios, and mashed potatoes drizzled with truffle oil.  Get a little bit of each of those on your fork in each bite...yum!  So yum.

Tim got the sole.  His before and afters are pictured above.  I think this is the dish that Julia Child cried over because it was so good (in Julie and Julia, anyway).  And with good reason.

PM got a ribeye that was covered in Roquefort.  I don't think that needs any explanation.  And that definitely made the list of "foods to make" when we get home.

So far, this has been the best restaurant I've eaten at here, with Tai Won Mein as a very close second.  The pricing schemes couldn't be more different.  Maybe the secret to delicious butter is charging customers a lot for food, so they think it tastes better.  And sitting them on a seat with throw cushions after they've been wandering all over the city.  Just maybe...

Giraffe

I got this quesadilla.  Cheesy and spicy sounded delicious to me.  It was neither of those things.  I was very unimpressed.  Tim on the other hand, loved his sandwich.

I think it was on the special menu, so I can't tell you what it was.  I know it involved chicken, and that is marinara sauce on the side.

This Giraffe restaurant said they do things a little differently, so don't judge all the restaurants by this one.  I'm pretty sure we'll go back, and I'll try something else.  Usually I like to try a place at least twice before I really pass judgment, because the first time I figured I just didn't order the right thing.  I think that was the case with Giraffe.

Strada

So far, Strada wins the "Best Italian Food" title for London, but there are many, many more Italian restaurants to explore.  Kind of like how the third person to do their routine/ run in finals is "currently in the bronze medal position."  But kind of not like that, because it is legitimately good food. 

Tim had come here during his November site visit, and had the Strozzapreti Luganega, and came home raving about it.  In fact, he came home Friday night, and we tried to replicate it at home Saturday night.  So of course I had to order that.  And it was good.  It was so, so good.

Kind of like butter, I always thought pasta was just pasta.  No.  There is good pasta, and there is great pasta.  I'm speaking of just the noodles here, regardless of the sauce. 

Amy- when I get home, we're homemaking pasta.  No if, ands, or buts about it.

I also need to mention the focaccia bread.  Oh, it was so good.  So soft and chewy.  That is also on my list of things to figure out when I get home.

And the tiramisu.  Yum.  Red was sitting across from me, and we both got it.  And we both sighed and groaned and closed our eyes while we ate it (please don't read too much into that).  And when we both got to our last bite, neither of us didn't want to eat it, because then it would be over.

Dirty Burger

Tim found this one online, so after Borough Market, and Platform 9 3/4, Tim, Beck, and I set out to find this place.  Have you ever been in one of those neighborhoods where you're like "I'm not so sure about this..." then you walk a block and you're like "Oh, ok, it's not so bad..." then in another block you're clutching your purse and trying considerably harder to keep up with the quick pace of your long-legged boyfriend and his freaky-fast cohort?

It was one of those neighborhoods.

It was not easy to find. The directions online say "around back."  We went around back and didn't see anything.  Finally we asked someone, and when we told us where it was, we went "around back" again and saw it-- a door under a stairway that you can only see from a certain angle.  We went inside and found ourselves in Dirty Burger-- and their 12 x 12 ft dining room.

I know this all sounds very sketchy, but I promise you it wasn't.

Delicious is what it was.

Tim came with his sights set on the "Dirty Bacon." When we got there, they had a special burger listed called the "Dirty Sanchez."  Since I'm generally not a fan of the way they do bacon over here and the Dirty Sanchez involved guacamole, I went that route.  Once again, Tim and I agree I made the right choice.  Everything was really fantastic, though.  Shakes, "onion fries" which are basically onion rings, only the onions are cut in half--all delicious.  I would go again in a heartbeat.

Zizzi's

If Strada is currently in the gold medal position for Italian, Zizzi's is in silver.  Yes, by default, but also by virture.  I wasn't super-hungry, so I just ordered a cup of soup.  But everyone else loved their food, and the service was fantastic.

He even stood on a chair to take this picture for us.  I don't really know what it was, but this meal was really fun.  I had a good time.  Next time we go, I'm ordering a calzone.

That's not everything we've eaten, but that's enough for now.  Maybe I'll have to do another post dedicated to pub grub.

Eating out is fun, but I really do miss cooking.  I also miss these crazies...