Earlier this year I joined H in london for a few days as part of a week and a half birthday trip to Europe. In addition to seeing a few friends who live there and visiting some interesting cycling, printing/stationary, and sherlock-holmes-themed stores, we enjoyed a lot of good food and drink. I posted a few photos of a St John birthday dinner and exploring local beer separately, but here are the other major highlights of the food:
Getting brunch at Ottolenghi including a delicious shakshuka (eggs, tomatoes, chili, cumin):
It was a bit of a trek to River Cafe, which I’d personally rate “very good”, with an excellent burrata, but the pasta with chard gets an A++: panzotti (a thin, filled pasta) with chard, nutmeg, a little garlic, and some astoundingly good olive oil. I also loved the amaro (Amaro Montenegro) we had with dessert– slightly bitter, slightly reminiscent of orange peel / dried tarragon / tea.
We also had a great dinner at Moro, where the menu leaned towards North African inspired small plates. The unpresumingly-named “mixed vegetable mezze platter” was amazing– from lentils to the eggplant to the spicy cabbage– every single component had a beautiful breadth of flavor and seasoning. A lamb plate there was possibly the most perfectly-cooked I’ve ever had. And for dessert, “orange blossom labneh (strained yogurt) with pistachios and pomegranate seeds and grilled apricots” was more interesting than any dessert I’ve had in a long time. And Moro isn’t formal or unreasonably expensive– I’d definitely go again.
Honorable mention: a 5AM salt beef bagel with pickles and mustard near Shoreditch. I wouldn’t say it was actually good , but it was an experience…
The Robot Must Eat 