Sometimes I head out to eat and forget my camera or take my camera and the lighting is rubbish. So I use my handy old phone - thank god for iPhones eh? The picture quality isn't the greatest but sometimes you've gotta live in the moment and just snap a quick picture eh? Sometimes it's a bit of a chore to eat cold food after photographing it 50 times at different angles. It seems a shame not to write about them so here are a few mini reviews of the restaurants I've enjoyed lately.
Pix
Over the Bank Holiday weekend a few friends and I decided to take advantage of infinity Sunday at tapas restaurant Pix. For around £37 - including service charge - we had 90 minutes of unlimited cava and pintxos. Pintxos are typically eaten in the Basque region in Northern Spain in bars. They're typically served on bread with a cocktail stick through the middle to hold it all together. Now I've never had the real deal yet but these were absolutely delicious. My favourites were serrano ham on tomato toast, four cheese fritter, meatballs in a tomato sauce and chorizo with manchego cheese. I was really impressed at how attentive they were despite it being ultimately a self-service restaurant - all of the pintxos are situated at the bar. The price really couldn't be beaten and with my greedy friends, we definitely got our money worth. It was a fantastic way to celebrate Bank Holiday weekend.
Tony's Pie and Mash
As much as I love going out for a fancy meal and trying new cuisines, sometimes you just can't beat some childhood comfort food. The East End/ Essex favourite of pie, Mash and liquor isn't pretty or going to win any awards for being the most nutritious meal on the market. But there's something special about it. It reminds me of my childhood and whenever I tuck in, I can't help to be transported back to being a young child with my granddad as he tucked into his favourite meal. With lashings of vinegar, these mince meat pies with mash potato drowning in liquor sauce can't be beaten. Tony's is pretty famous in these parts, David Beckham for one is a frequent visiter among other well known people. At only 20 minutes away we really should make more of an effort to visit more.
Pan De Vie
I was lucky enough to be invited along to the launch night of a new Asian fusion bakery in Covent Garden. It combines European baking and patisserie methods with exotic Asian flavours such as matcha and green tea. I hasn't tried any Asian cakes or bakes so was pretty excited to try my first ones. I loved the addictive Japanese cheesecake and the green tea and white chocolate tart - a great combination of flavours that really complimented each other. It's a great place to go if you fancy a sweet treat that is a little out of the ordinary.
Voodoo Rays
Buying a pizza by a slice is still a novelty in London, those darn New Yorkers have everything. This pizza joints offers massive 22 inch pizzas sold by slice priced at just £4 each. Hannah and I decided to head to the Boxpark branch after I accidentally took her to the wrong part of town for a press event. Smooth. The pizza isn't the best I've had in London but it was good. I loved the thin crispy base, generous toppings and the portion was massive. It's a great place to stop off if you're in Shoreditch area for a quick bite to eat after a night out - it's open until 3am on a Saturday night.
Shackfuyu
After trying every other restaurant in the Bonedaddies group, it was left for me to tick Shackfuyu off the list. We all went out for Michelle's birthday when she got back from Hong Kong so obviously we decided to go all out. It's definitely not cheap but it's worth the money. The stand out dish for me was the Korean chicken wings. I just couldn't get enough - they were so incredibly moorish! I could have eat portion after portion. Make sure you order the famous Kinako French toast with green tea soft serve ice cream.
