Giving Chains a Good Name

I've been a fan of Jamie Oliver since his first show, The Naked Chef. My mom and I used to watch it on  the Food Network. It was a great show: relatively simple recipes coupled with footage of East London markets. When my mother came to visit me, I naturally took her to Jamie's Italian, one of his restaurant chains. I'm usually skeptical about trying chains attached with chef names because it's all a bit gimmicky. However, Jamie's is quite legit. The pasta is made fresh, in-house every day. In the Oxford location, they even place the pasta machine next to the window, so passer-byers can watch noodles being made.

On our visit, my mother and I ordered the Crispy Squid as a starter, the Spaghetti Vongole and Seafood Bucatini as mains, and sizzling green beans as sides. Everything was incredibly fresh. This might also be due to the fact that we're in England. Good seafood is surprisingly hard to find back in the Bay Area unless you're willing to shell out major dollars (pun intended). The pasta was fresh, springy and actually tasted like pasta unlike the usual store bought stuff that let's face it, tastes of nothing. I highly recommend giving Jamie's a go if you're a fan or just an Italian food lover. We had a lovely experience and even went once more before she left.

Jamie's Italian (various locations)
Oxford:
24-26 George Street OX1 2AE

Mac across the Pond

Obvs taken on a diff occasion. This time out of it's bowl with a "Home-made Cod Fish Finger Sandwich"

Having lived in England for two years, I of course have craved some American eats. Along with burgers, mac & cheese (or as the Brits call it “macaroni cheese”) is probably one of my biggest misses. Bill’s, a strangely American- and British- feeling restaurant founded by an Australian guy, offers some tasty mac. If you prefer the dry creamier kind, then this might not be your fave, but if you’re into saucy mac, this will be your thing. Leeks are included to add an extra kick along with a blanket of breadcrumbs.

I want to take some time to also talk about the cute décor of the place. So it's sort of a chain in England, but it’s aesthetic is quite appealing. I like to call it industrial chic: exposed pipes chilling with chandeliers and vintage-y kitchen products. Sure, it’s probably being marketed to yupsters, but it’s pretty damn effective!

Bill's (various locations)
London:
St. Martin's Courtyard WC2E 9AB

Oxford:
Northgate Hall, St. Michael's Street OX1 2DU

Not Your Bog Standard Ramen

If you know me well, you know that I have a lot of opinions on ramen. I justify it with the excuse that I partially grew up in Japan, but let’s face it I’m just a ramen snob. After various pop-ups, Shoryu officially opened its doors (finally). I went for their signature ramen dish, Shoryu Ganso Tonkatsu: thin slices of pork, veg, seaweed, soft boiled egg, and noodles swimming in a sea of pork broth. One of the hardest things to find is good noodles. These were actually spring-y, which was a major plus. The broth was nice and actually tasted as if they bothered to boil some pork bones for a day.  Definitely give this place a try if you’re a ramen connoisseur. I have to admit that this is a bit on the pricier side (£10!). I’m hesitant to even pay $10 for ramen! But as we all know, Japanese cuisine is somehow always priced way above what it’s actually worth. But again, I’m probably just basing this on the fact that I could get a bowl of noodles for ¥700.

Shoryu Ramen
9 Regent Street, SW1Y 4LR

Borough Market Finds

One of my favorite places to go for lunch in London these days is Borough Market. No matter the day of the week, there is always a large selection of bites from which to choose. On our second visit, Fitz and I happened upon Rainha Santa, a roast hog stall. You know it’s promising when they actually have an entire pig in a roaster behind the stand. For only 5 quid, you get pulled pork with apple sauce, a touch of spinach, and topped off with crackling in some nice rustic bread.  I would highly recommend this dish for any pork sandwich enthusiasts.

On my third visit (this time with PH), I ventured back to Roast to try their Scotch Egg Butty. Scotch eggs are one of the British delicacies that I will truly miss when I’m back in the “New Country.” Just in case you’re unfamiliar with this morsel, it is basically a boiled egg wrapped with sausage meat, breaded, and then deep-fried. It may sound disgusting, but I assure you they’re tastier than their description. Roast offers homemade scotch eggs that are about the size of a tennis ball. For the butty (i.e. sandwich), they not only slice one in half, but also fry up additional bacon to place in between the slices of bread. It’s breakfast in sandwich form (one of my new loves in addition to all-day breakfast). This thing will keep you going for HOURS. And as a fellow ex-pat mentioned, it's the best hangover cure.

Borough Market
8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL

I'm Back!

After a long hiatus (nearly two years to the date, yikes!), I've decided to come back to the food blogging world. It's been a weird two years considering I've been mostly trapped eating food at my college. Don't get me wrong it's great stuff, but there's only so many meals, in which I can eat potatoes. Oxford has a few good local eateries, but London is the place to go to fulfill your Foodie dreams.

Recently, I ventured out to Shoreditch on a Sunday to visit the Brick Lane Market. It was a hipster's paradise. Not only are their various stalls and stores that offer vintage wares, but there's an equal amount of food stalls! I had mistakingly eaten before heading to the market, but I managed to fit in a snack.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a Takoyaki stall and made my way towards it immediately. The balls of pancake and squid were made fresh in front of me, and the guy slapped on some wasabi mayo, Japanese chili flakes, and seaweed! I sat down with PH on the corner of Hanbury Street (where apparently all the hip kids chow down on food from the Sunday Upmarket). PH started on his £5 plate of Turkish food that resembled Indian food more than anything (it was still delicious), while I started on my Takoyaki. They were a bit gooey for my taste, and each ball only had one piece of squid! It's called Tako-yaki not pancake-yaki for a reason! The sauces were delicious, but only barely made up for the rest of the concoction. I ran into the same issue a couple years ago at Takoyaki Yum. Although I was glad to see that the Japanese treats were gaining an audience, I was slightly disappointed. Perhaps, the vendor didn't want to scare off the public with too much squid? Or perhaps, they're just being way too thrifty.

Brick Lane Market
Brick Lane, Shoreditch E1 6PU