MEAT MARKET COVENT GARDEN

I have wanted to go to Meat Market for a while but every time we go to Covent Garden we end up in Shake Shack as that is Arabellas favourite….mine too to be honest. However I found myself in Covent Garden alone last week and so took the opportunity to visit Meat Market. I had gone to their sister restaurant Meat Liquor several years ago and had a fantastic and very filling meal!

Meat Market is a relatively small, no frills American burger and hot dog bar - it doesnt take bookings, the menu is on a board, you queue up, order and then your food is served on plastic trays, in greaseproof paper, with kitchen roll as napkins. 

The menu was right up my street and I was totally torn over what to eat - I wanted a bacon cheese burger, their famous dead hippie burger (two Frenchs mustard fried patties, dead hippie sauce, lettuce, pickles, cheese and minced white onions), and their ripper hot dog (deep fried bacon wrapped pork frank, Danish sauce, Frenchs mustard, spicy relish and onions). Although I ended up choosing the buffalo chicken burger which is a deep fried chicken burger covered in the house hot pepper sauce, lettuce, red onions and blue cheese sauce.

I obviously had to order a side too and could not resist the deep fried mac and cheese bites with marinara sauce. 

Service was very friendly and even though it was 2.30pm, I only just got a seat….a popular place! I absolutely loved my meal - the chicken was very tender and full of flavour…it was a little spicy for me and I could obviously have done with a lot more blue cheese but that is just me!! I was very pleased with my choice. Messy though - you definitely need the kitchen roll.

The mac and cheese bites were also a success - much better than chips and I reckon I could persuade Arabella to come here for these alone. A very satisfactory lunch and reasonably priced - £15 in total including a diet coke and I was absolutely stuffed. I will definitely be back to try more on the menu…..just not at peak times….Shake Shack has a rival!

Meat Market has several sister restaurants - Meat Liquor, Meat Mission, Meat Wagon and Chicken Liquor.

Meat Market

The Deck
Jubilee Market Hall
Tavistock Street
Covent Garden
London WC2E 8BE
Email: info@themeatmarket.co.uk

Read More..

THE IVY CHELSEA GARDEN CHELSEA

The Ivy Chelsea Garden opened up last month on the old site of Henry J Beans on the Kings road. I used to be a huge fan of Henry J Beans as it was where I had my first ever date (many years ago) and also the venue of many fun nights out. However now as The Ivy Chelsea Garden, it couldnt be more different…..it looks amazing! It really has the wow factor - very light, luxurious, lots of green and plenty of mirrors everywhere and the la piece de resistance is the beautiful garden and terrace at the back. 

Already the restaurant and bar are super popular and it is hard to get a table - the restaurant is open for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and supper. My friend Ceri and I decided to take a chance and go for an early supper on Saturday night at 6.30pm. Thankfully we lucked out (we had read that some tables for set aside for walk-ins but werent sure if this was true or not)!

The menu is pretty vast and Ceri and I actually had to sit in silence for a bit in order to decide what to eat - so much to choose from!

For starter I had smoked salmon and crab and chive cream with sourdough toast. This was well presented and tasted very fresh however it was also extremely bland. They either forgot to add the chive cream or only added such a minuscule amount that you could not taste it. Shame as it has the potential to be a simple yet delicious dish.

Ceris starter was much more successful - she ordered tuna carpaccio with spiced avocado, lime, creme fraiche and coriander shoots. This was incredible - the tuna literally melted in your mouth with an explosion of flavours - I will definitely be having this next time.

For mains we both went for the Chelsea Garden fishcake with creamed spinach, a soft poached hens egg and hollandaise sauce. I have had the fishcake at the Ivys sister restaurants and always been a fan. It was big and tasty and went really well with the hollandaise. Ceri found it heavy and too much though (she is not a little piggy like me)!

The pudding menu is a delight and we were definitely going to have something - unfortunately the restaurant had other ideas and tried to hurry us off our table despite never being given a time limit when we sat down and we had only been there 1 hour and 15 minutes! So much for the impeccable service.

Anyway I ordered the melting chocolate bombe with milk foam, vanilla ice cream, with a honeycomb centre and hot salted caramel sauce. This was phenomenal!! Probably one of the best puddings I have ever had - I cannot rate it highly enough. I will be coming back here whenever I need a pudding fix (which is often).

Ceri order the dark treacle tart with clotted cream ice cream and Jersey pouring cream. Unfortunately this was a let down as it was so cold - it tasted like it had literally just been pulled out of the fridge or freezer. Maybe it was because they wanted our table, that they didnt prepare it properly or maybe it just isnt one of their best dishes - who knows?

No time for tea and our meal was over. We both agreed that the setting was beautiful and outstanding, other than the timing incident, service was very efficient and friendly - the food was mixed however it was very reasonably priced for such a restaurant. I will be back though - I am keen to try the breakfast and the burger and I "need" to have that pudding again…..now!! Taxi!!

The Ivy Chelsea Garden

197 Kings Road

London

SW3 5ED

Tel: 020 3301 0300

Read More..

FLESH BUNS COVENT GARDEN

I had a really good weekend - shopping, theatre and lots of eating!! Pascal and I went over to Covent Garden on Saturday and it is wonderfully Christmassy, sparkling lights and Christmas trees everywhere and even Santa in his sleigh with all the reindeer built out of Lego. We saw The Woman in Black which was just as scary as it was when I saw it 20 years ago (gosh I am getting old) and wonderfully acted…Pascal did amuse me as he thought we were seeing a musical…obviously never listens to a thing I say!!

We went for supper at 6.30pm and despite the early hour all the restaurants were heaving, thankfully we had made a reservation at Flesh and Buns as I had wanted to go there for ages. As we were shown to our table, Pascals face dropped - they wanted to seat us at a HUGE central shared table - Pascals idea of hell (I am not too keen either). We asked if we could sit elsewhere which they thankfully quickly arranged - knowing how much we normally eat, we would have annoyed the other diners by taking up too much room.

The menu is full of sushi staples such as maki rolls, sashimi, ceviche and so on and then they also serve "flesh and buns" - a meat or fish, sauce, lettuce all in a Bone Daddies bun. (Bone Daddies is their hugely successful sister restaurant, both created by the ex head chef of Zuma and Nobu).

Like always we could have ordered the whole menu but actually we were quite restrained (for us). We started with chips and dips of rice crackers, avocado shiso and tomato jalapeño.

This was absolutely delicious - a perfect way to start a meal, light but tantalising for the taste buds. We then had the tuna tataki jalapeño ponzu and garlic chips. 

I was slightly worried when it arrived that Pascal wouldnt like it as he doesnt like sauce but it was very fresh and full of flavour - a favourite of mine.

We then had the fried squid with Japanese pepper and lime.

These were good but had quite the kick to them. Surprisingly Pascal adored them but they were a little spicy for me - at least they increased my water intake!!

We then had the chicken yakitori which are Pascals favourite - these were great, very tender chicken with a sweet and spicy, sticky sauce.

I could have ordered every maki roll on the menu but ended up just ordering the soft shell crab one with jalapeño mayo and chives, as I was trying not to overdo it. 

These were incredible and I resented sharing them!! 

For "mains" we had the flesh and buns - the crispy piglet belly with mustard miso and pickled apple and the crispy duck leg with sour plum soy and beetroot pickle.

The pork was the best I have ever tasted, so moreish - it was crispy yet also melted in your mouth. Unbelievably good. Unfortunately the duck didnt fare as well - it was a bit dry and tasteless - I would have much preferred to have more maki rolls or the tuna tataki again.

Unfortunately we were too full to order pudding which was a massive shame as the majority of people in the restaurant were toasting marshmallows over their own personal "fires" and it looked delicious, especially when they were then squeezed in between chocolate crackers - I think orgasmic is the only word…..

Anyway an AMAZING meal, I would really recommend this place, delicious food, efficient service, buzzy atmosphere and a great venue for groups. There is no reason not to go!!

Flesh and Buns

41 Earlham Street
London
WC2H 9LX
Tel: 020 7632 9500

Read More..

STUPENDOUS AFTERNOON TEA AT SCOFF BANTER COVENT GARDEN

Arabella decided she wanted to go and see Cleopatras Needle today - pretty random but considering I love sight seeing, I wasnt going to say no. Obviously I had to combine it with a meal and so decided to book for Arabella and I to go for a Mathilda themed afternoon tea at Scoff and Banter. I am currently obsessed with afternoon tea (my sweet tooth is out of control)!

We sat down and I ordered an earl grey and Arabella a strawberry milkshake. Then her favourite part of the tea - she was presented with a copy of Mathilda….I know what we will be reading tonight!

Then it was time for the food!!

We started with the savouries - the sandwiches - cheese, ham and mayonnaise, egg mayonnaise and cucumber and cream cheese.

Arabellas favourite were the cream cheese and cucumber whereas I loved the ham and mayonnaise. The cheese and egg mayonnaise were nice, but a bit plain.

Then we moved onto the scones.

I really enjoyed the scones. Unfortunately I dont think they had been freshly baked there and then, but they were still delicious (so good I had two)!

Finally we moved onto the final tier - the cakes!

I adored the trifle - it was more like a cheesecake than a trifle. Arabella loved the lemon cake - she even had mine. She loved the chocolate fountain with the marshmallows and fruit whereas I loved the raspberry slice. We both enjoyed the brownies. The biggest disappointment were the cupcakes though - they were revolting - I went to Hummingbird yesterday and these were no way as good as theirs - in fact they were so rubbish we didnt even eat them….not sure what went wrong there.

The tea was so filling - being the piglet that I am, I was wondering whether they refilled the sandwiches or scones - however there was no need!! We were fit to burst.

It was a good ish tea (£29.50 for adults and £13.75 for kids) but not the best I have ever had (not a patch on Browns or the Berkeley) but we enjoyed it as an alternative for lunch. However Arabella has informed me next time we are in the area we will definitely be going to her favourite Shake Shack - she cant resist their cheesy chips and in fairness, nor can I.

Stupendous Afternoon Tea at Scoff & Banter

20 Mercer Street
London
WC2H 9HD
Tel: 020 7845 8607
Email: coventgarden@scoffandbanter.com

Read More..