Review: Whyte & Brown, Kingly Court, Soho

Kingly Court in Soho is one of my favourite places to go for a bite to eat. It's a cluster of brightly coloured restaurants offering cuisines from all over the world. This time we opted to head to Whyte & Brown, a specialist chicken restaurant on the ground floor. All of the chicken is free range from a grain-fed farm in Yorkshire. Making the most of the rare sunshine, we asked for a table outside and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Carnaby Street.

Coming from work, we were absolutely starving so promptly ordered some crispy chicken skins to keep our bellies ticking over. I wish we'd ordered more. And more. The thin, salty crisps were similar to pork crackling but a much lighter taste. Very addictive. Keen not to over order - as usual - we ordered a black pudding scotch egg to share. With a perfectly cooked bright orange yolk, the chicken meat made a nice change from the sausage meat - the black pudding gave it a nice tang.

For mains we opted for pulled barbecue chicken in a sweet bun topped with spicy jalapeños and sour cream and the puff pastry chicken and tarragon pie with kale, roasted red onion and a rich, creamy celeriac mash. Of course a side of parmesan and truffle fries were needed too. The tender pulled chicken just melted in my mouth and the brioche bun withstood the serious party going on inside. Anyone else hate it when they fall apart at the seams? The celeriac mash was a revelation. So creamy. So rich. So flavoursome. I may have finished off most of this portion...

Whyte & Brown is a good solid choice. The food is reasonably priced, tasty and it's in a great location in the centre of town. The food is hearty, tasty and varied. This is the second time I've visited and both times they've been on top of their game. It's not going to win any awards for being the most innovative but for British comfort food it can't be beaten.

These pictures were taken using a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. As a iPhone nerd I'd always wondered about the other side. And when I crossed over to the other side I was delighted. The camera on the phone is absolutely great and hands down is one of the best phone cameras I've ever used. An Instagrammers dream. 

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Recipe: Japanese turkey katsu curry

Goldfish brand got in touch and offered me some curry concentrate sauces with a cooking challenge to rustle up some delicious meals. Challenge accepted! Goldfish Brand have been making curry sauces for over 30 years and were founded by Mr Lee for professional chefs. As soon as I spotted the Japanese style curry sauce I immediately had a kind of Katsu curry planned. I wanted to make it a little healthy so opted for lean turkey escalopes and a cornflake coating instead of bread crumbs. The curry sauces are delicious, it tasted just like my favourite Wagamama dish. We opted for a thick sauce like you get in the restaurant. They're really simple to use and you just mix with water. You just add more water depending on how thick or thin you prefer the sauce.

On another note, anyone else struggle to make curries look photogenic?!

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 turkey escalopes
1 egg
A handful of cornflakes
200g white rice
100g Japanese style curry sauce*
300ml water
1 tsp of olive oil

Method
1. Put the rice in a pan of boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Crush the cornflakes into crumbs using your hands. Coat the turkey escalopes in the egg before coating in the crushed cornflakes. Put to one side on a white rack.

3. In a small saucepan, mix the curry sauce and water together until it has dissolved completely. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 2-3 minutes.

4. Fry the escalopes in the olive oil 3-4 minutes each side depending on their thickness.

5. Drain the rice, put on a plate and plate the escalope on top. Pour over the sauce.

As always I would love to know if you attempt this, make sure you drop me a tweet! Use the hashtag #curryoncooking

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An Instagram restaurant round up

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.

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