Anna Mae's

Following my venison burger, it’s another quick one on Anna Mae’s Mac n Cheese. It’s kind of obvious what they’re hawking, but I think there’s a little confusion as I’m sure I saw them pitched up on the South Bank last year, battling Pitt Cue over for the pulled pork crown. A look at their website indicates they still do a range of ‘Southern Street Food’, but on Sunday in Marylebone, it was all about the mac.

Not a huge deal to say really. I had the Don Macaroni which was £5.50 and had some dried bacon bits sprinkled on top. They were good, in that there’s no such thing as bad bacon bits, but there wasn’t anything remotely culinary happening here. 

Yes it was cheesy, but it was all liquid and I do prefer the odd lump or slightest hint of solidity. The pesto was out of a clear squeeze bottle so I have no idea if it was homemade or not, but I’m not too hopeful. 

There is a place near Delicatessen in New York which only does macaroni cheese that I’ve never tried, so there clearly is a pinnacle in this niche which hasn’t been reached in London. Hawksmoor still have this one I reckon.

So Anna Mae’s aren’t pushing any provenance, or indeed any story. It’s comfort food prepped in bulk – the mac could have done with more seasoning, but it did have some bite which pasta at this school dinner scale rarely does. Decent portions and chirpy service. If you see it around, it might just be exactly what you’re hankering for, but it didn’t rock my world.

The Wild Game Co.

Bit of a street food theme for this post, and the next. The craze became a movement, and now it’s practically ubiquitous. Contemporary big hitters such as Pitt Cue and MEATliquor have their humble beginnings in vans, so there’s certainly a more slick, ‘eyes on the prize’ ambition in the whole affair now. The branding is considered, the provenance is tight and probably most important for the aim of going viral, there’s a good story.

City-type gone hawker has been done though; we had Brewed Boy a few years back and the lovely chaps at Pizza Pilgrims are making waves. That current street food operators are rather plummy, self-aware and well-spoken (read: well-funded) is inescapable. Stinky onion burgers at the funfair these are not.

And speaking of those Pizza Pilgrims brings me neatly onto their sometime neighbour The Wild Game Co. They've got their typeface down, their slingers are approachable and that tri-force of provenance, poshness and story merge into something quite reassuring and familial: the deer for their venison goodies are shot at the owner’s family farm in Scotland. 

All terribly media friendly, which is possibly why they won a YBF award for Best Street Food. But cynicism aside, surely the food measures up too?

It does. I had the burger which was a reasonable feed at £5.50. I’d wanted the steak for just a quid more, but it was sold out. As were the chips, and they only had four sausages left too, which left a few punters disappointed. So possibly their stock prepping needs some attention.

But back to the burger. It was thicker than it looked – very rich and gamey but thoughtfully the bun is specked with dried cranberry and has mustard powder through it, so it provides some offset to the venison meat. Filling, sweet, dense and smoky – I enjoyed it a lot but I was slightly relieved once I’d finished. Any more might be a struggle due to the richness.

It’s served with a bit of salad and some mashed up onions and melted cheese – almost Philly cheesesteak grill style with a little cherry tomato. So what could have been a fairly lumbering, plain burger actually had quite a few elements to highlight the quality venison.

I was gutted about the steak as it looked brilliant; medium rare pieces sliced into the same bun with the same accompaniments. And I’ll definitely return to try it, even though I felt a little guilty not getting my usual nduja pizza from the Pilgrims…

La Bodega Negra

Soho may have a new king of the castle already. It’s early days of course but a sniff of New Yorker-in-London headlines, mixed with a nod to the London street food craze is bound to lead to a lot of hype. My Twitter feed already attests to this also.

And as with London’s Mexican joints, it will no doubt include plenty of Americans loudly professing that it’s never as good!

Because obviously, the thoroughbred students, bankers, lawyers and media types from Ivy League schools are experts, reppin' the food trucks of the barrio.

Perhaps not, but equally La Esquina is vibes before food too. And America’s best Mexican food is not found in Chipotle or even New York, but in Texas and California. London doesn’t have much of a Mexican population, nor do limes, ancho chillies and nopales grow bountifully in these climes. So considering that, La Bodega Negra is a pretty damn good rendition.

It’s a starry line-up of Will Ricker of E&O (which I still love and is one of the only places in Notting Hill to retain an uptown buzz) and Serge Becker. Mr Becker is a nightlife and cultural guru in New York, and paired with hotelier André Balazs has created some of the best entertainment spaces in the city. Here in a complex which offers taqueria/café, a more formal restaurant and a future food truck, there is certainly a lot of choice. If you like Mexican, of course.

I could eat Mexican food and drink Margaritas for breakfast, probably daily, and I’m pretty bored of Wahaca’s assembly line feel, so I’d been very excited about this. And was not disappointed.

The cochinita pork pibil tacos with a side of green rice and cowboy beans (£10.50) was a great choice, if I don’t mind saying so myself.

Three tacos filled with shredded, tender pork, with wonderfully zingy tomatillo salsa and sweet red onions. They did not last long.

The green rice was relatively plain but nice to have, I had fun spicing it up with the various hot sauces I received.

The cowboy beans were quite the revelation, and pretty damn amazing. A meaty, beery broth, brimming with pinto beans, bacon and chorizo. The beans were cooked through but fantastically al dente. There were also some cherry tomatoes and onions for extra flavour. Not a drop remained.

Both were served in cute little cast-iron pots.

cowboy beans

My margarita (£7.50) was mixed with both Cointreau and agave syrup – a cross between a Classic and a Tommy’s. It was strong, sweet, sour and everything a margarita should be.

La Bodega Negra’s taqueria is quite a low key joint. The vibe is an understated upmarket, but with a worn-in feel from carefully placed Mexico City gig posters. The staff were great too.

I can’t wait to check out the proper restaurant, accessible through the façade of a sex shop. What better way of repurposing seedy old premises in Soho? London just gets better... 

Food – 8/10 

Drink – 8/10

Service - 9/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 6/10 (offered after my drink was served)

Staff Hotness – 9/10 (habanero hot - not surprising from such aesthetes)

Pizza Pilgrims

Your humble correspondent is somebody who tries to have their finger on the pulse, but I must confess that I've been not partaken in enough of the the street food phenomenon of the past 12-18 months.

Yes I’ve queued greedily at Daddy Donkey a few times, but I’ve not made it to Eat Street or the Dalston one. Shock horror but I never got to Pitt Cue on the South Bank either. Lucky Chip? Might as well be Essex…

But I do apply myself to the happenings of W1 with aplomb!

A Soho meeting was therefore a great excuse to check out Pizza Pilgrims, two brothers (who might be called Frodo and Sam) drove around Italy swotting up on pizza making before setting up said van with a massive (gas-fired) oven in the back on Berwick Street.

The irreverence and cheekiness of #MeatEasy and Pitt Cue is not found here. This is the most earnest and good-natured of City fugitive stories, and the guys are very friendly and approachable, as are the plummy serving girls they’ve roped in, probably on ‘exeat’.

the operation

But on to the pizzas themselves, rather than analysis of people I met for 30 seconds. I went for a margherita (£5) which was fantastic.

bite missing

Rather 80s looking cubes on buffalo mozzarella melted into hot, creamy, salty pools of gooey, oozing, moist….is there any innuendo free way of writing this? Suffice to say, the cheese was damn good.

The tomato sauce was sweet and full-bodied, and the dough was a spot-on Neapolitan rendition. One tiny personal preference for me is a slightly more charred crust, probably all of ten seconds extra in the oven.

Ideal size for a weekday lunch too, and perfectly priced. With no Franco Manca in W1 and Spaccanapoli (RIP) a victim of Crossrail, those Hobbity pizza slingers have Soho to themselves and a very big foodie future, no doubt. 

Food – 9/10

Drink – 6/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 9/10

Tap water tales – 0/10

Staff Hobittness – 9/10