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10 top spots for a team lunch in Shoreditch

OpenTable August 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

When it comes to the midday meal, you’re spoilt for choice in Shoreditch. Whether you’re celebrating a team win or catching up with a colleague, here are ten top spots for lunch.

Blacklock
Blacklock’s usually all about the chops, but come 12pm on a weekday, the steak sarnies and aged beef pie and mash steal the show. Provided you work locally, the ‘workman’s lunch’ is such that it should have you fed and back at your desk within the hour.

Rochelle Canteen
This old bike shed lives another life as the name might suggest – a pimped-up canteen co-run by Margot Henderson. Accordingly, the food (pork terrine, grilled mackerel, blueberry tart, for example) isn’t out to impress anyone with creative plating or vibrant colours. If good, honest food had an embodiment, it’d be this.

Tapas Brindisa
Few mini chains are as reliable as Brindisa. Of course it shouldn’t be difficult, as they import (and sell) only the finest Spanish produce. For a leisurely lunch, the paella works wonders, if not two or three smaller dishes – such as gazpacho or gambas al ajillo – if you’re in more of a hurry.

Lyles
Ratings have Lyles as one of London’s best. Dinner reservations, accordingly, should be made weeks in advance. At lunch however, competition for a table isn’t quite so high. Plus, the midday a la carte’s a bit easier on the wallet than the full whack £60 evening tasting menu.

Pachamama East
Pachamama, which leans towards vibrant Peruvian cooking, does a ‘pick and mix’ lunch menu where each dish is only £7. Choose from things like sea bass ceviche, Sichuan fried chicken, and caramelised aubergine. There’s also a great value £35 lunchtime tasting menu, if you have more time.

Ozone Coffee Roasters
Lying just off Old Street, Ozone’s chiefly a coffee roastery, but is deserving of more credit for what’s happening in its kitchen. The weekday menu involves all-day breakfast for your eggs any which way, and a large and eclectic choice of lunch dishes, from yakitori chicken to yellow pea falafel.

Pizza East
Great for larger groups, pizza is normally the democratic choice. But as delicious as they are at Pizza East, it’s only half the story – their range of dishes also includes lamb meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, red pepper and scamorza croquettes, fresh salads, and salt baked salmon.

Suvlaki
Souvlaki remains one of the greatest things ever invented to eat on the hoof. Here, you can do that (make a beeline for the corn fed chicken or the wild boar sausage), or take up a seat and linger over tasty extras like spinach samosas and prawns saganaki.

Gloria
Got a taste for the excess? With lunch on the company account? Call off the search. Gloria’s an all guns blazing riff on Italian comfort food – from carbonara to ‘giant’ beef carpaccio – and a good place to have a bit of fun on your lunch break.

Lahpet
For something a little more understated, Burmese restaurant Laphet is a good bet. To gain a proper intro to what they do, kick off with the tea leaf salad, and segue into a curry or noodle bowl. Lunch is served weekdays on Thursdays and Fridays.

Still hungry? Visit OpenTable to discover more Shoreditch lunch options, like Gunpowder, Tramshed, and Smokestak.

This is a guest post from freelance food journalist Hugh Thomas. He’s contributed to Foodism, Time Out, Great British Chefs, and is part of British Street Food’s small team of vigilant writers. Find him on twitter @hughwrites.

10 terrific neighbourhood restaurants in east London

OpenTable August 9, 2019 Leave a Comment

Hackney, Dalston, Bethnal Green. Heck, even Snaresbrook – east London has a lot up its sleeve when looking for somewhere to eat out.

Pidgin
Once a supper club, now a fully-fledged restaurant (and anything but squab), Pidgin has had critics in a fluster since 2015. And, on a relatively quiet road off Hackney’s main drag, it’s endeared itself to the locals too. To get the best idea of the kind of thing they’re serving, make your way over to their Instagram.

Lardo
Though it’s named after cured pig fat, the folks at Lardo have become wary of meat farming in their old age, opting more and more for vegetables in their stead. They continue to work within the modern Italian blueprint they’re known for and charcuterie will always have its place on the menu.

Bistroteque
Now fifteen years young, Bistroteque, based in an old clothing factory, is the best thing to come out of Bethnal Green since Patsy Palmer. The name may give you a clue, but though it appears a bit prim on the surface, dig a little deeper you’ll see they like to shake their hips. Expect dishes like steak tartare and salmon in miso broth, plus brunch at the weekends.

Brawn
Actually more brain than otherwise, Brawn has been described as a ‘near perfect neighbourhood restaurant’. It’s where you’ll find rustic, comforting European cooking, and though it receives plenty of praise and attention, it’s happy quietly doing its own thing.

Verdi’s
Verdi’s specialise in old-school rustic Italian food, via Stepney Green. As family-run restaurants often do, especially those operated by Italians, guests are treated like family. From rabbit pappardelle and beef carpaccio to wood-fired pizzas – the classics are all here.

Bright
During the first months of its opening, Bright was an essential stop for the food-curious, already famous for being the follow up to wine bar P. Franco. Since then, the heat’s died off a bit, but only to its benefit, mellowing out with locals and regulars keen on Bright’s short menu and good wine.

Bombetta
Snaresbrook has struck gold with this deli-restaurant serving Italian peasant food. Pig’s head bruschetta, pasta and risotto, and the bombetta itself: cuts of meat and cheese held together with cured meats. Try the original – pork with scamorza cheese and herbs, wrapped in pancetta.

Casa Fofo
Casa Fofo’s head chef (ex-Pidgin) brings a similar kind of modest progressive cooking as seen down the road. It’s tasting menu only, but this keeps the prices neighbour-friendly – £39 for seven courses, in this case.

Uchi
Sushi, sashimi, and other delights – tempura, robata grilled skewers, et al – is one way to sum up Uchi. There aren’t many neighbourhoods with their own restaurant knocking out first-class Japanese food such as this. Hackney’s one of the few.

Hill & Szrok
Hill & Szrok is your friendly neighbourhood butcher… that also happens to be a restaurant. As any good butcher should, Hill & Szrok has a nose for the best of these shores – Fosse Meadows chicken, 14-year-old White Park beef, Middlewhite pork. This, of course, means the kitchen and restaurant is getting some of the most flavoursome and sustainable meat out there.

Visit OpenTable to discover more top restaurants in east London.

LDN 195: Discover underrepresented cuisines at our London pop-up

OpenTable July 31, 2019

OpenTable launches LDN 195 to highlight the capital’s underrepresented cuisines.

This August, we’re teaming up with Marylebone restaurant Carousel to host a three-day pop-up showcasing some of the most underrepresented cuisines in the capital, according to Londoners.

Despite London’s culinary diversity, there are still some cuisines from the world’s 195 countries that diners say are less available across the city’s restaurant scene. More than 55% of diners we surveyed said they would like to see some of the less familiar cuisines receive greater recognition.

Demand for the underrepresented cuisines comes largely from London’s millennials, with 62% of 18-24-year olds and 66% of 25-34 year olds agreeing that under-the-radar dishes could be better highlighted in the capital’s booming food scene, as market halls and pop-ups continue to evolve across the city.

At our LDN 195 pop-up, we’re working with Carousel to bring London’s diners the top six cuisines they believe are most underrepresented, including Romanian, Goan, Polynesian, and Ukrainian. For three days only, the pop-up will bring these cuisines to life through a specially curated sharing style menu. Here’s what diners can look forward to:

‘LDN 195’ Menu by OpenTable and Carousel

Welcome Cocktail (Polynesian)

Sharing style
– Armenian Flatbreads (Armenian)
– Pork & Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls (Ukrainian & Romanian)
– Goan Fish Curry and rice (Goan)
– Ukrainian Barbequed Khorovats (Ukrainian)
– Traditional Potato Salad with Onion (Slovenian) served with a seasonal green salad

Dessert
Pistachio and Walnut Baklava (Romanian)

Digestif (Polynesian)

From Thursday 22nd August – Saturday 24th August at 7pm, 30 guests per evening will be able to make a reservation at Carousel for the sharing style menu, including six dishes, a welcome cocktail, half a bottle of wine and a digestif for £50pp. Book your table today at https://www.opentable.co.uk/r/ldn-195-london.

1 The exclusive research was conducted by OnePoll between 3rd – 13th May 2019, with 2,000 UK respondents who are residents of London and those who visit London regularly.

Winging it: Where to find London’s best chicken wings

OpenTable July 29, 2019

Whether it’s Nashville, Korean, or Buffalo, here’s where to get your chicken wing fix in London.

Sticky Fingers
Sticky Fingers is all-American, from the music to the diner-like décor, though going by the name you can guess the main draw. Go on a Wednesday for all you can eat BBQ and Buffalo wings with fries and a beer or shake for £17.50. Turns out Kensington locals don’t mind getting their hands dirty.

Louie’s
Louie’s is one of the very few joints in London to do it like they do it in Nashville. Which in this case means wings are marinated in spice, then floured, fried, and covered in a fiery cayenne sauce. Try it the traditional way – with sliced white bread and pickles – or dunked into cooling ranch or blue cheese sauce.

Big Easy
Big Easy are big and easy on their sharing dishes. Wings fall into that category, depending on the level of your restraint. It’s all about the BBQ chicken wings here, dry-rubbed and smoked in their pit room, partnering up particularly well with bit of slaw. Get your fix at their restaurants in Covent Garden, Chelsea, or Canary Wharf.

Flesh & Buns
If you hadn’t gathered from its Bone Daddies affiliation, Flesh & Buns is an East Asian-influenced setup, where there’s ceviche, sushi rolls, and Wagyu rump on the grill. The chicken wings pay a visit to Korea before landing on your plate, with a spicy sour sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Randy’s Wing Bar
With sites in Aldgate and Hackney Wick, Randy’s has become a local’s favourite more than anything else. Variety is what they do well here, with seven plays on the chicken wing, from the Casablanca (infused with harissa and served with a honey, pomegranate and mint dressing) to the Gravy Train (cheddar cheese sauce, chives, and chicken gravy).

StickyWings
Portion sizes at Sticky Wings come in US and UK variants, while flavours include jerk and classic Buffalo. Be watchful, as they’re also known to occasionally dish up strawberry-sauced wings. These won silver at the prestigious National Buffalo Wing Festival in New York last year – but the jury could still be out.

The Blues Kitchen
The Blues Kitchen’s Buffalo chicken wings, served with blue cheese dip, is the very first thing on their menu. And for a very good reason. Make a beeline for the Szechuan wings if Asian flavours are more your bag.

Wingmans
A strong contender for best wings in London, Wingmans hold various award wins – in Europe and the UK – to their grammatically questionable name. For a distinctly American experience, settle in under a TV while the NFL’s on and let Wingmans keep you fed and watered.

Chick ‘n’ Sours
Don’t feel like pandering to tradition? Chick ‘n’ Sours Disco Wings come two ways. Firstly, Kung Pao with soy, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli. The ‘Hot’ ones are slightly more down to earth, adorned with Frank’s Hot Sauce and a little Chick ‘n’ Sours sorcery.