Out Of Town

Out Of Town is quite a groovy little find. Down a quiet street in Clerkenwell, the neon sign of ‘Café Shop Bar’ tells the street exactly what’s going on here. There is an old scooter in the window too and some signage of daily specials to catch unsuspecting eyes.

Inside is visually very busy. At first glance it’s retro in that tatty, yellow and brown way, like one of the Brick Lane Sunday markets. On closer investigation, it’s quite an orderly and well-edited chaos. Everything for sale seems to be the rule here – and the space is decorated with vintage, retro and mid-Century tables and chairs, with plenty of nick-nacks, oddities, wonders and curios around the periphery of the shop. They sell a decent range of utilitarian and rockabilly men’s clothes (think Dickies and lesser known Levis denim series) as well as some vintage tees for good measure. Johnny Cash is the soundtrack, and the café counter is at the back.

 Today’s specials are smoked mackerel on toast and Welsh rarebit – it’s mainly drinks and cake I think, but they do a fine range of breaded products to capture the lunch market and provide some sustenance. There’s also beer I believe.

I order a croque monsieur (£4) which is a thing of great simplicity and beauty, and yet often messed up. The amount of times I have received a cheese and ham toastie, or a barely grilled ham and cheese sandwich is depressing. I’ve paid much more at places which should know better, such as Raoul’s, so I’m excited but also a little nervous. I don’t mind a flutter and this has echoes of that, albeit on a sandwich-led field. Although the rarebit special is a bit of a hint that it’ll deliver.

And it does; properly executed, with a tangy gruyere taste which is so creamy-that- it’s melted almost into a béchamel sauce, as I’ve had on posher croques in France. Nice ham. Plain bread. Just as it should be. Sadly no frites on the side, as at my guilty pleasure, Café Rouge, but I digress…

The Monmouth coffee is well made and 30 seconds walk from StAli, people coming into a random retro and vintage shop to grab their takeaway coffees is a great endorsement. I’ll definitely be back to try some other dishes – toasted if I were a betting man…

Food – 7/10

Drink – 7/10

Value – 9/10

Service - 8/10 (friendly, laidback)

Staff Hotness – 8/10 (couple of pretty well turned out blokes)

Out Of Town

30a Great Sutton Street, EC1, Clerkenwell

(Website not working?) - http://www.outoftownlondon.com/

Look Mum No Hands!

I headed to this temple to all things cycling for a quick lunch – I’ve heard tell of their baked goods so thought I’d swing by, a second class citizen on foot, and indulge.

This is so East London. Even though it’s on the City/Clerkenwell fringes, the amount of fixed gear bikes, the early Arcade Fire in the air and the rollie-smokers posing on picnic tables outside puts you firmly in E2 or these days probably E8. Inside it’s a mix of modern bike shop and a museum to cycling memorabilia and artwork, but overwhelmingly a café space.

 They sell booze for the evenings (well selected beers from Meantime, Bath Ales and some smaller Belgian breweries) and breakfasts, but I’m here for the pies. Alongside steak & cheese, thai green curry chicken and a few butternut squash veggie ones , the chilli beef and cheddar (£4.95 solo, £7.95 with a plate of mixed fancy salads) calls to me. It’s a shame the servers don’t…as my order is forgotten.

15 minutes later (they are not to order but pre-cooked and refrigerated by the till) and I check on my pie’s arrival. The servers are apologetic and aghast (almost worryingly so) and my pie takes another few minutes – reassuringly long enough to have gone in the oven I clocked, rather than a backstage microwave for brevity.

I’m comped some salad (I went for pie only) and offered a coffee on my way out, as well as more contrition. I almost feel bad now, but am also too hungry to worry about it – which is why the pie goes un-photographed. Oops.  The pie indeed tastes homemade, the chilli has a bit of piquant but not too much, and it’s cheesy.

 

My long black is Square Mile, nice and small as it should be, and well pulled. I think this places needs the benefit of the doubt – an honest mistake is more than compensated, they seem to care very much and juggle the café/bar with the bike repair and supplies functions rather seamlessly. And I don’t feel as unwelcome as a suit in Shoreditch, all smart and bike-less on my lunch break.

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Service – 5/10 (have to mark it down on my own experience, but I imagine it’s usually much better)

Value – 7/10

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (not as sporty looking as you might think, more WI…)

Look Mum No Hands!

49 Old Street, EC1

http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

Prolonged absence...

Just a very quick one - this blog has not been abandoned! Due to a holiday, moving house and moving jobs in quick succession, I haven't really had internet access or time. Lots of mini reviews and pics to come though...

Two new, more foodie locations should lead to lots of exciting new places to pig out, so hold tight my cherubs, I'll be back soon!

Misato

Katsu. Katsu. Katsu.

What did I ever do without you?

I must confess that having not been to Japan, I wasn't aware of it until Wagamama came along, and rather ignorantly, associated the two as synonymous. How wrong I was!

My good friend who is a phile of all things Japanese told me that it's a hugely popular dish over there - often with chicken but just as often with pork (tonkatsu). Always panko-breaded and fried, not always served with curry sauce or even rice. Curious indeed!

As an Englishman (or pig) I admire it for being both breaded, and curried. Tick tick! But as a boozer, I thoroughly enjoy its rather unique status as a meal to nicely line the stomach - not as heavy as Indian which can debilitate, and not as starchy or gloopy as Chinese, which (more temporarily) can also stop you in your tracks. It manages to provide the curry goodness, but also seems wholesome enough to bounce out of there, and onwards into the night. Or the Wagamama portions do anyway...

katsu with some sort of omelette

Misato's portions are a different story altogether. This is an unassuming joint on Wardour Street, but intriguingly with queues out the door most time I've been past. The clientele are a mix of hipsters and Japanese kids (and plenty of both combined) and the premise is a fast service canteen of sorts. It's cheap and rather cheerful. A veritable trough!

sake

They serve sushi and a few other tidbits here, but really people are here for the behemoth katsu and teriyaki plates. We have some delicious, piping hot fresh tori kara-age (about £4), which are also breaded, fried and chicken. Probably a bit too similar to katsu for my starter but there you go! We wash it down with warm sake, around £3 a serving, in nifty individual porcelain jugs. Beers are dirt cheap too.

The katsu plates come out and they're true to form. Enormous. Fresh. Hot. The right side of claggy and incredibly satisfying. There are many varieties - with rice or noodles, or in noodle soup, chicken, pork, fish.... but they're much of a muchness with that quantity of curry sauce. There are teriyaki dishes equally drenched in sweetness... all around £5. A steal. The final bill was about £13 a head, and we were well lubricated and stuffed to burst.

teriyaki something

However, you might not be fighting fit for a night out after finishing one of these bad boys. With no chance of dessert (and a bit of over-indulgence for one of my dining pals) we roll out of the door into the mayhem of the West End. Sometimes I get the occasional craving for a katsu which nothing but Waga's can fix - now I know better, but certainly won't be anticipating many beers afterwards...

Food – 8/10
Drink – 8/10
Service – 6/10 (busy so some service waits, food very quick though)
Value – 9/10
Tap water tales – 3/10 (requested, lukewarm plastic cups)
Staff Hotness – 7/10 (groovy, fun Japanese kids - in my own little world, I 'd prefer them zanier!)

Nordic Bakery (Marylebone)

Relatively hot off the press, and located right behind the heart of Marylebone High Street, is the second branch of Scandi coffee and cafe offering Nordic Bakery.

Marylebone is one of London's more interesting quarters, and has several good eateries and a few decent pubs, but for me has never had that many enticing coffee places. The Providores knock out a decent flattie, but you wouldn't pop in just for a coffee, and it's not that comfortable or relaxing to hang out in. I love the brunch, and the buzz is part of that, but it's a bit too cramped and once fed, I'm always happy to be on my way.

Quite surprisingly, Nordic Bakery feels extremely spacious, and less surprisngly, it's a very well designed space. The tables are huge, long communal ones with matching teak-y wooden benches - more dinner hall than cutesey 'pass the shared oversized jar of marmalade' nonsense. Moody grey floors and walls mix with wooden wall panels, red tiles and huge windows to create quite a towering effect.

We only stopped for coffee (standard filter, decent) and a quick snack. I had a slice of orange and poppy seed cake, and Piglet had some sort of eggy baked pancake with jam- both of a good standard too. My cake was a touch dry perhaps. Good crockery too, which is to be expected from a Scandi place in London.

I'd return with more of an appetite to try some of the dark rye smorrebrod open sarnies or the impressive pile of gleaming cinnamon rolls at the counter. Service was Scandi too; politely aloof and no worse for it. I liked it here, it's definitely the most chilled spot to refuel and rest the bones away from the madding Marylebone crowds.

Food – 6/10
Drink – 7/10
Service – 6/10
Value – 9/10 (can't remember exact prices, but coffee and cakes were around £2 each)
Tap water tales – N/A, not really expected for such a casual place 
Staff Hotness – 7/10 (bona fide brooding Scandinavians)

Nordic Bakery Marylebone
37b New Cavendish Street, W1

- Golden Square branch (new one not yet on Urbanspoon)