Byron Burgers

London has gone burger mad. From Shake Shack to Five Guys, there seems to be a new burger place opening every day.  But sometimes, it's good to go back to a classic. Byron Burger has been a fixture on the London burger scene for a good few years now and there's one reason for that...It does burgers well.

Burgerlicious

Oh and the onion rings....

The only slightly disappointing thing is that, as we all know, we are a cider making nation and the very best cider is on our doorstep - Herefordshire or Somerset ciders can't be beaten...yet Byron import an Australian one?? Think they need to review that one!

 

http://www.byronhamburgers.com/

Chocolate and Coffee tasting

Chocolate and coffee..the perfect combination?

I was thrilled to be invited to the Lindt and DeLonghi coffee and chocolate tasting in London a couple of weeks ago, as who doesn't love that combination.

The event was held at Kettners, in one of the private rooms upstairs, which was a bit of a bonus as i'd always wanted to see inside this old London staple. On arrival we were greeted with Cherry Espresso martinis which had been designed for De'Longhi by Rebecca Seal - so good.

I'd always had a fondness for Espresso Martinis but if you use a cherry vodka, rather than a plain one...you have a delicious cherry flavoured Espresso. Give it a go!

Once settled in the tasting room we were introduced to Robert Henry, expert Barista from De'Longhi and Stefan Bruderer, Lindt's Master Chocolatier, who led us through the tasting process. Pairing decaff coffees and regular coffees with the range of Lindt chocolates, we were shown how the two complement each other perfectly.

Pairings included:

 

• Lindt Excellence White Vanilla with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Long Black
• Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy with Brazil Fazenda Passeio Long Black
• Lindt Excellence Dark with a touch of Sea Salt with Brazil Cerrado Decaf Espresso

 

So give them a go at home!

 

The new De' Longhi Primadonna S range machines were on display throughout the event and used to give us our delicious coffees. Such lovely looking machines. I've already got a De' Longhi espresso machine in blue in the kitchen, but i'm already adding these to my wishlist - mint green please if anyone is thinking of buying me one!

It was a great event which led me to think about chocolate as more of 'an event' - why not pull out some bars when entertaining guests and see which pairings they like best.

For further information on De'Longhi and Lindt pairings, visit the new pairing website: www.lindt-excellence.co.uk

Burger and Lobster





There's a real trend at the moment in London for restaurants which you can't book for without a minimum party - from MeatLiquor and Bubbledogs to Burger and Lobster. I hate this trend. There's nothing fun about queueing for hours or having to go away and come back - so i've avoided them like the plague unless with a big party.

The one exception to the rule however, is Burger and Lobster. Who can resist? 

Yum Yum



At an upfront £20 for a whole lobster, lobster roll or burger, i'd have been mad not to try it.

And i've now been twice already, once to the soho venue and once to the Mayfair one and am planning plenty more trips!

Tip (you can book for a table of over 6, so worth getting a group together, if like me you don't like hanging around)




http://www.burgerandlobster.com/

Union Jacks - St Giles, Covent Garden (ish)

As you can probably tell by my review of our visit to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant, that the experience put me off not only him, but visiting any of his restaurants...so it was with trepidation that I went along to Union Jacks.

There are three things we discovered that this restaurant does really really well - pizza, ginger beer and service. 

Number 1: The staff at the Union Jacks we went to near Tottenham Court Road (St Giles) in London were fabulous.  So, if you are reading this 'Mr Manager of the restaurant' the whole team deserves a pat on the back.

The menu is slightly confusing but the team are well prepped to take you through it all, answer any questions and give advice. Great team.

Number 2: homemade ginger beer was a real winner too - I could just go back for that!

And finally Number 3: Pizzas. I went for the Old Spot, a favourite of most diners which saw the tomato on a regular pizza replaced by apple sauce and topped with pork scratchings and pork shoulder.  An interesting combination if a little too sweet. Delicious pizza though and the base was absolutely stunning as cooked in a wood fired pizza oven.

My other half went for the plain margaret (a typical tomato and cheese pizza) topped with pork shoulder. This was the most delicious pizza. The tomatos (jack hawkins) were so tasty and added a real flavour to the pizza. Definitely go for this one, if you visit as you can top with a variety of different options.

We'll be back to try out the others....

A Margaret pizza with shoulder of pork

The Old Spot pizza

http://www.unionjacksrestaurants.com/

Heston's Dinner

I seem to be the last person in London to have made it along to Heston's Dinner - but finally the other Friday we made it down to The Mandarin Oriental to see what all the hype over the last couple of years has been about.

I opted for the cucumber and lobster soup while Sean went for the meat fruit. Both were great, but the meat fruit was the clear winner - as it was bound to be. Smooth pate topped in a tangerine/orangey flavoured topping to create a tangerine for your pate.  Lovely stuff.

Main course was a bit of a gamble. I went for the special of the day which was an offal pie of sorts. It included kidneys, tongue and the usual bits and pieces usually discarded, all covered in deliciously buttery puff pastry. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it all except that a couple of the kidneys weren't prepared correctlyand included the gristle inside (which should have been removed). Sean went for another special - a rib steak. Deliciously melt in the mouth, he loved it.

We decided to forgoe any of the traditional puddings and hop right into the Liquid Nitrogen ice cream.  If you eat one thing at Heston's Dinner - this should be it.  The waitress comes to the table with a kenwood looking machine stuck onto a trolley (doesn't look impressive to be honest) but it is fantastic fun.  Dry ice is added to a custard to create instant ice cream which is served in a pastry cone and then you are given various topping options. We both went for apple popping candy.

Absolutely delicious and who doesn't look a bit of amateur dramatics at the table. We had people in the restaurant thanking us for ordering it, so they could watch.  A great little trick to get you leaving on a high.

The best thing about the entire experience was the service. We were made to feel important, welcome and were given a fantastically warm greeting. They were particularly helpful when it came to my nut allergy and made the whole evening really delightful.

A fabulous experience.  One day to be repeated!

A guest blog - The Stafford London by Kempinski

I was invited to join the team at The Stafford London for a Gourmet Soiree but due to more boring commitments, I couldn't make it - but my foodie friend, Nicole Wright, did.  So see below for her view on the event. Sounds like I missed a goodie:

Hidden away on a side street of the historic St. James’s district, away from the hustle and bustle of nearby Piccadilly, this is not an easy hotel to find. This is all part of its charm however, as once you are greeted by the doorman and shown inside you feel like you have found a well-kept London secret.



I went along to the first in the series of their (free!) ‘Pub Talks’ entitled ‘Gourmet Soiree’,lead by Executive Chef of the hotel’s Lyttelton restaurant, Brendan Fyldes. I was escorted down to the superbly replete wine cellars dating back to the 17th century. If you ever need a special private dining space for the wine buff in your life then this would be the place to hold it.

Word has obviously not got out yet about these evening talks as less than 20 people took part. A likeable mix of PR girls, hotel residents and genuine Foodies. Once everyone had a glass in hand Brendan began preparing his first creation; sea bass with rosemary and lemon. He made gutting and scaling the 12lb fish look like something everyone could easily try in their own kitchen, pointing out the techniques for removing the head and scales and how once removed the head and bones can be used to create a fish stock (make sure to remove the fish eyes!). The prepared fish was then whisked away and came back 20 minutes later beautifully grilled and ready for us all to dig in to accompaniedby a simple and delicious dip of blended chick peas and olive oil.


Following on from this we were shown how to prepare foiegras with rose salt and andPedro Ximenez (Spanish sweet wine from the Andulsian region). This reappeared later for us to try in the form of an incredible foiegras burger. I would definitely have indulged in a second one if Brendan had not whisked me away to the kitchen to try his freshly prepared Eccles cakes. The Eccles cakes alone make it worthwhile coming for afternoon tea here.


Throughout the food preparation and tasting we were encouraged to try a variety of different beers picked to match the food as well as being shown the different effects that different shaped beer glasses can have on taste. The final cheery beer was served elegantly in a martini glass.


I left having learnt how to gut and scale a fish, eaten well, sampled beers I never would have tried myself, made new friends, and with a new destination in my address book. There are 4 more Pub Talk evenings scheduled throughout September and October looking at wine and cigar pairing, cocktail making, custom jewellery and portrait photography and I plan to be at all of them!

http://www.kempinski.com/en/london/Pages/Welcome.aspx

Brendan’s recipe of the week can be found on the Lyttelton’s website: http://www.thelyttelton.com/Recipe-of-the-Week/