Sunday Roasts at The Old Queens Head, Angel

Well and truly diving head first into the Autumn season I've been trotting around town filling as many Sundays as possible with an epic roast dinner. So much so my pals and I even have a Whatsapp group aptly named 'Roast Club / Fight Club'. Trust me, there's many lengthy conversations on gravy alone.

So when an email dropped in my inbox claiming to be offering 'London's best Sunday roast', I could not resist the opportunity to give it a try.

Warm and welcoming, The Old Queen's Head in Angel is the ideal Sunday hang out. Complete with traditional Sunday roasts, burgers, board games, live music, a roaring fire and of course a bloody great selection of Bloody Mary's.

In true Sunday style, we went straight to the traditional roast menu where choices include: 32-day aged longhorn beef with marrow gravy (£15.50); old spot belly pork with crackling (£14.50); roast corn-fed chicken with garlic aioli and smoked gravy (£13.50); and a mushroom wellington served with vegetable gravy (£12.50). All come served with roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, seasonal greens and a yorkshire pudding.

We opted for the beef, served gorgeously pink and the pork with an incredibly perfect serving of crackling. Whilst the beef's marrow gravy was a little lacklustre, the pork's was significantly better and I thoroughly enjoyed dunking my yorkshire into the lashings of it.

Which leads me to the yorkshire pudding. Giant in size, homemade, crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Need I say anymore?

Alongside, we opted for a side of cauliflower stilton gratin (£4.50). Growing up each Sunday my mother would pile our plates high with dozens of different vegetables claiming to be 'preparing' us for the week ahead. And so, just like my Mumma taught me, I added some extra veg to the pub's generous offerings. But only because it was laden with oozy grilled stilton.

All in all, we enjoyed a generously portioned roast at The Old Queen's Head and would definitely return. Particularly to stick around long enough to catch the live house band from 5pm.

Find out more and take a look at the rest of the menu, here.

Note: I received a complementary meal in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

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Rum & Sugar, West India Quays

Situated in an old Grade 1 listed warehouse in West India Quay, Rum & Sugar offers one of London's most extensive rum collections. Showcasing our Dockland history, this is exactly where rum and sugar was stored in London when it was shipped over from the Caribbean. Now reincarnated into a rum bar with a modern British menu, you couldn't get a better location.

Last week I was invited over to try out their new Spring menu and to try my hand at making some rum cocktails. Sounds pretty harmless, right?

We settled in with a little initiation to our evening with a cocktail made with rum, vermouth, apple and ginger. Some bar snacks including pulled chicken twists, chilli cheese fritters and sweet potato crackers. Anywhere with snacks before the main event is a winner in my books.

Then to actually start we had beetroot cured salmon, smoked potato salad with a beetroot and spiced rum purée. Beetroot has a natural affinity for salmon, perfectly earthy and great with smoked potatoes and the tang of the purée.

Next up, herb crusted cod, red pepper ragù with a peppered leak velouté. Deliciously tender cod with a fresh lift with the piquant ragù. Who needs fish and chips when you can have crispy leaks like this.

Sweet cajun glazed chicken salad: avocado mousse, crispy shallots, semi dried tomatoes, grilled baby gem and parmesan crisps. I'd eat salad every day if it could be like this one. 

And my absolute favourite, baked chocolate ganache, orange caramel, salted nut brittle and clotted cream. There's no doubt that I'm going to try and recreate this at home.

Suitably stuffed, we moved up to the bar to learn some cocktail making tips. It turns out that free pouring isn't as easy as it looks but great fun for giving generous measures! We started off with a dirty mojito made with Ron Barceló Gran Añejo, a dark rum aged for 4 years in an oak barrel and then passed through a charcoal filter. Mixed with equal parts of sugar syrup and lime juice, some slapped mint (a little trick to intensify aromas) and muddled with crushed ice.

Then onto another favourite of mine, Cosmos. Instead of the regular Cointreau we went for an apricot  white rum, shaken with two parts lime juice and one part cranberry juice. I may need to practice my Boston Shaker moves but my drinks cupboard is definitely going to be stocked with more rum now so I can recreated this at home.

My night at Rum & Sugar reminded me of a holiday in the Dominican Republic a few years ago, rum-soaked and full of great food. I shall most certainly return to try the rest of the menu. Its been a long time since I've been this excited by a restaurant in London.

Thanks to the fabulous Rum & Sugar team and Shy PR for inviting me and for their hospitality. All rum-soaked opinions are my own.

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Cooking with the Tefal Cook4Me

Today I'm not saving the best until last. Especially when it includes a steamed pudding from scratch in just 35 minutes. A chocolate croissant pudding with salted caramel to be exact. No bread and butter pudding can trump this.

How, you might ask? Tefal's Cook4Me is an intelligent gadget that takes the stress out of cooking and speeds everything up. Think of a slow cooker, but quicker, you throw everything in and it'll work its magic. And you won't even need any of your own recipes.

Intrigued? So was I when Tefal popped over an invite to try it out. 

Sitting a little taller than a regular slow cooker or pressure cooker, the Cook4Me will make meals and desserts for 2-6 people. The inside dish is removable, perfect for serving straight at the table and making it easy to clean. It also comes with a removable steaming tray, ready for rice, meat, fish and vegetables.

This gadget comes with 50 pre-programmed recipes for meals and desserts. Simply select the recipe on the digital screen and it'll walk you through step-by-step what to add and when. 

For example, it'll preheat itself with oil to brown meat and onions, then tell you when to add the rest of the ingredients like stock and sauces. Once everything's in, give it a quick mix and close the lid. It'll rapidly steam or pressure cook your meal for you. The result is a perfectly cooked meal based on the number of servings selected and the weight of ingredients. There's also an option to reheat meals or keep warm if you're not quite ready to eat. 

I teamed up with Megan and Binny in a cook off against Sandy, Daniella and Marie to put the Cook4Me through its paces. Armed with ingredients and a Cook4Me each we set to work.

Between us, we made a 3 course meal with vegetarian options:

For starters, Asian pork meatballs and butternut squash soup. The Asian meatballs with shitaki and chilli took only 10 minutes to cook in the steaming basket. And the soup, 15 minutes. All the preparations we needed were to roughly chop vegetables for the soup and to mix the pork mix and roll the meatballs.

And onto the mains, farmers chicken cooked in red wine (15 minutes) and a vegetarian sausage bean stew (9 minutes). For prep, browning the chicken and sausages and then throw everything else in.

Throughout the process, the on screen guide will not only walk you through the preparation steps but also its cooking progress. A countdown timer will be displayed, a few quick beeps and then the steam will be released. You can either leave it to stay warm or open up and serve.

By this stage I was impressed. Little did I know that the dessert would blow everything else out of the water. Using the on screen digital countdown as a guide, 9 minutes till the sausages were done, we set to prepping the pudding. 

A chocolate croissant pudding. Chunks of croissants, chocolate, salted caramel and fruit drowned in cream, eggs and sugar. Wrapped up in a foil jacket, we popped these in a straight into the Cook4Me, swapping the sausage dish for the steamer basket. 

Whilst working through our main meal, the croissant pudding was left to steam for 35 minutes. Mind blowing. Usually a steamed pudding would take at least an hour or two.

What I loved best about the Cook4Me is that not only are the pre-loaded recipes so vast, you can also use a manual setting. Simply choose roughly what you need from the screen, like to steam rice or brown meat, and away you go. 

Whatever recipe you'd usually use in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, you'll be able to use here. Just don't forget most meals will be cooked in under 30 minutes! You can set it to a delayed start as its so quick, that way you'll be ready for dinner at any time you choose.

The verdict? Seriously impressed at the speed of cooking with no loss in flavour or tenderness that you gain from slow cooking meat. Could this replace my slow cooker? Most probably.

The Tefal Cook4Me retails for around £249. Much more expensive than a regular slow cooker or pressure cooker. But with 5 intelligent cooking modes and servings of up to 6 people, this could quite easily take over how you cook daily. Well worth it I'd say.

Dear Father Christmas...!

Thanks to Tefal for hosting us and letting us loose in the kitchen. I didn't receive payment for this post, all opinions are my own.

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Review: The Arch Hotel Street Food Afternoon Tea

Tucked round the corner from Marble Arch, The Arch Hotel offers a modern take on Afternoon Tea, Street Food inspired in their Hunter 486 restaurant. Inspired by the International Street Food Scene, classics like scones and sandwiches are given a little upgrade.

A combination of two of my favourite things, I'd like to be able to say that I had the dedication to polish the lot off myself, as this photo suggests. Of course, I was more than dedicated in eating as much as possible, with the help of Boy who had booked this treat as a Birthday present to me (Boyfriends take note, if you're looking for something a little less girlie that you'll both enjoy, then this is your place!)

Stowed away in a little booth, Tattinger poured and camera out. 

We started with a selection of their savouries all beautifully presented and steaming hot.

Mini cheeseburgers with onion marmalade in brioche buns

Smoken chicken, chilli, avocado and mango tortillas

Homemade scotch quail eggs

Chicken satay with dipping sauce

Mini fish and chips with tartare sauce

The cheese burgers were perfectly cooked with a tangy marmalade, so good I would have managed a full-sized one in addition to everything else. The mini fish fingers were packed with steaming, fresh and flaky fish encased with crispy batter. One of Boy's favourites, the satay chicken was generously sprinkled in sesame and a nice chilli kick.

Next up, a board of miniature sweet treats. 

apple and cinnamon doughnuts

chocolate and pistachio macarons

coffee eclair

lemongrass, mango and coconut rice pudding

strawberry and pistachio tart

raspberry and victoria sponge

As much as I love scones, cinnamon doughnuts are pretty good contenders for a replacement. The Victoria sponge was gloriously light and fluffy. And my favourite, the coffee eclair. I was so glad to see these was much larger than everything else!

It was great to see a modern update on the traditional sandwiches of Afternoon Tea, not usually my favourite part. Both Boy and I loved it and would definitely love to go back again to have everything again in both miniature and full sized versions.

Love Street Food as much as we do? - Bookings and more information, here.

 

  We dined at Hunter 486 of our own accord, and therefore all views expressed are my own.

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Review: August Degustabox

I was so excited to receive August's Degustabox*, I think this is my favourite one yet. This is the final one I'll be reviewing so had high hopes of discovering some great new brands, and I did! 

Here's my round up and some tips on how to get the most out of the August box.

Dr. Oetker

I love mug cakes, I even have my very own mug with measurements inside for making them. Dr. Oetker has set out to make things even easier and now has a range of 3 flavours (lemon, chocolate and chocolate chip) where you just need to add milk and pop in the microwave. If you want to ramp up the flavour even more, I recommend adding a spoon of Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate chips, marshmallows, or my favourite, crushed Daim bars. Perfect for those moments where you have nothing in and you just need cake. 

Life Tonics

Fruity coconut water with added vitamins and no refined sugars or artificial sweeteners. I think I got the best flavour in my box, Dalandan Orange which is meant to be a little sour like lime and orange. Other flavours include coconut & mint and elderberry & juniper.

Ryvita

Ryvita used to remind me of diets but they've had a huge overhaul recently and their range of different snacks and crispbreads is huge. I'm a huge fan of their crispbreads due to the vast range in flavours and snack combinations with them are limitless. Their website is a great source of inspiration and even has a recipe selector that asks you exactly what you fancy. Recently I've been enjoying the sesame ones with cream cheese and marmite as a snack. Or for breakfast, I've layered some in a glass with fresh berries and my favourite yogurt. 

Bahlsen

I enjoyed Pick Up! biscuits so much, they remind me of Cadbury's LU biscuits. And you can't go wrong with Leibniz of any form. I spotted these again in my local supermarket so will definitely be stocking up again.

Barilla

Barilla takes pasta very seriously and have specially designed their Penne Rigate for optimum sauce holding. Lean and long, with angled ends and ridges on the outside, the arrabbiata sauce clings perfectly. 

Walkers

Is it me or do these remind you of hotels? Either way, biscuits of any sort are usually a winner for me. I'm just not too keen on these, their shortbreads aren't buttery enough and the other biscuits tend to be quite dry.

Primal Pantry

I've seen so much about these bars buzzing round the Internet so was very curious to try. Paleo, coldpressed bars free from nasties are meant to be a sweet and balanced snack. I just couldn't get on with them. I found them to be quite bitter and the flavours not so exciting.

Scheckters

I'm not a huge fan of energy drinks, I'd personally rather have strong coffee. Its a shame there's been a lot of negative press around them recently because there are a lot of good natural brands out there. In these Scheckters drinks, a blend of green coffee beans, green tea, guarana and ginseng is blended for an energy boost.

If you'd like to try Degustabox for yourself, shimmy on over here and pop in my discount code (98VWM) for £3 off your first box, valid until October.

Its been absolutely great receiving a box of treats every month and trying out some new things. Take a look at my round up of the previous boxes if you're tempted:

• June's box with a recipe for healthy coconut sugar brownies, here.
• July's box packed with snacks, here.
  

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Food in August

August has been a bit of a mixed month, in weather and in recipes. I've been baking less and eating out more, never a bad thing. But now seasons are changing, I'm excited for cooler days and to get my slow cooker out once again. I've been flicking through crisp new cookbooks and pinning away on Pinterest for inspiration.

So without further a do, here are some of my favourite things from the last few weeks.

As August is my birthday month, I always look forward to getting some new cookbooks. I did get a few and have excitedly flicked my way through each and bookmarked recipes I'd like to try. As always, I'm always looking to add more to my collection. What do you recommend?

I'm absolutely in love with Gizzi's newest book, its so well presented. Some of the meals may take extra time to make so will be saving that for days off and weekends. I also won Anna Mae's book on a Twitter competition, there's some great cheesy recipes but also sweets and pickles.

I never used to be too fond of Gin. I'd have cocktails with Gin in, but never a Gin and tonic. I don't know what happened but somewhere along the way I have now become almost too fond of it!

My favourite gin so far (other than Tanqueray, darling) is Half Hitch. Made in Camden Lock using a combination of traditional copper pots and modern day vacuum distillation, the guys at HH add black tea and bergamot to their gin, made in small batches for optimum results.

Here, I made my own version of a French 75 cocktail, a pink one! For these I eyeballed my measures, but something around 40ml gin, 15ml fresh lemon juice a dash of pomegranate syrup and topped up with your choice of fizz. I had some Lanson floating around and decided to use that, cava would work equally well.

New to the Fitzrovia area, Percy & Founders offer a great all-day menu. Tucked away round the corner from Goodge Street, there's space for 200 covers with a few different dining and lounge areas to tuck yourself into. I popped over there to check out their burger, naturally, and couldn't leave before trying their peanut butter parfait also.

I shall definitely be returning for more PB parfaits! I also really enjoyed their burger. Its one of those places you can take 'grown ups' and still have a burger yourself. I.e. parent friendly restaurants.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up August. Short and sweet. September is already looking jam packed and I'm excited to get cracking on those recipes!

I'll also be loading up a brand new blog header from the super lovely Angie B Studio. I'm excited to finally finish the last step of updating my blog and have loved working with Angie, she just knew exactly what I wanted (even if I didn't know before!).

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Review: Kerb, Southbank

Donostia Social Club - seared scallops with pisto and green chilli sauce

When the sun is shining, one of my favourite places to be in London is near the river. Combine this with friends, food and a few drinks and it can't get much better.

For a few weekends this summer, Southbank is hosting Kerb and all 13 of their traders. The next weekend they will be around is 4-6th September, so get your appetites ready.

Donostia Social Club - goats cheese with balsamic and strawberry

To start, Persephone, Flick and I went for some tapas from Donostia Social Club. The aim was to start small and work our way through as many of the traders as we could.

I really do wish that the guys at Donostia could park their van up outside my flat and feed me all day long. Those seared scallops were incredible and anyone that's generous with cheese is a winner to me.

Next up, a round of Camden Hells and a Kamm & Sons Spritz for me.

Bill or Beak - chicken caesar burger

Unfortunately, my burger soulmate (Bleecker St) was closed for maintenance on the weekend we went, so I was forced to try another burger. 

Absolutely, hands down, without a doubt the best chicken burger I've had. Bill or Beak's chicken caesar bun with plenty of parmesan, tempura capers and the BEST brioche bun I've ever set my chops on. I did not want this to end!

Bill or Beak - shredded duck and pork burger

For research purposes, I coerced Flick into lending me a few bites of her shredded duck and pork burger - tempura shallots, spring onions, chilli and plenty of coriander. I wouldn't usually go for duck, but this is incredibly tender and I loved the crunch of the tempura shallots.

Bill or Beak - chicken caesar burger

We hadn't initially set out to complete the Ker-bingo challenge. But with so many different traders to try, we couldn't resist. The aim is to get 5 stamps from different traders in order to get a 6th meal or drink free. Alternatively, for a full house, you can bring 5 friends back to another Kerb weekend and you'll all get a free meal.

In order make some room for more food we set off for a stroll along the river...

...took plenty of photos and came to the conclusion we'd all been ultra savvy in choosing for outfits with lots of room for food!

Ice Kitchen - Mojito & raspberry and lime ice lollies

The sun was shining down on us, with not even a breeze coming in from the water. Ice Kitchen was the perfect palate cleanser. Perhaps not for Flick after I made her eat the lime wedge in the centre of her Mojito lolly. Persephone played it safe with raspberry and lime (to match her lipstick obv).

Anna Mae's - The Don Macaroni

Persephone well and truly passed her initiation (not really, anyone can come eat with us!) but was seriously impressed when she went full out for her final order of mac n cheese from Anna Mae's - The Don Macaroni, mac n pesto, crispy bacon and basil oil.

Born and Raised - pepperoni pizza

Flick and I shared our final meal, so I opted for a pepperoni pizza from Born and Raised, sourdough pizzas made in the back of a Land Rover on a wood-fired oven, pretty epic.

Slightly more messy to share, but so worth it, Flick chose a beef burrito from Kimchinary for us. Ain't no party like a kimchi fried rice party that's for sure.

Feeling a little like extras in Gossip Girl we sat on the steps and traded yogurt for carbs, digging into each others and getting covered in kimchi and cheese. Its a hard life.

And just because I cannot control myself and say not to food. On the way back to Waterloo I stopped in Yo! Sushi to try their latest YOLO, the Japple Pie. Hot apple and vanilla gyozas, black sesame ice cream, chocolate pocky, rapsberry crumble in a waffle cone with a miso salted caramel syringe. Incredible!

Kerb will be returning to Southbank 4 - 6th September, find out more here.

Review: Tanya's Cafe, Chelsea

Tanya's Cafe in Chelsea is gorgeous. Filled the brim with flowers, greenery and positive affirmations (from the plants) if that's the sort of boost you're looking for. Everything on the menu is raw and ethically sourced. Sounds good, right?

I popped over for a sunny afternoon with Emily for a catchup. First up, we both ordered a matcha latte (£8.95) - my first ever! Honestly, I wasn't convinced. It tasted fatty and had bits in. I wouldn't have minded if it was dry lumps of matcha powder that hadn't fully mixed, but it seemed to have more woody pieces in. I made an initial attempt at drinking through my teeth (given the price tag, I thought I needed to give it a fair chance). But I gave up shortly, the meaty taste wasn't worth it.

For food, Emily went for the California Rolls, a raw version of her sushi favourite - nori roll, sunflower rice, avocado, cucumber, carrot, walnut meat, sprouts and a tahini dip. They looked seriously impressive; bright and colourful and a good size for lunch/light dinner.

I went for the Superfood Salad - broccoli, grapefruit and watermelon with a creamy lemon dressing. The menu has changed since our visit, I seem to remember this being around £13. It was nice, particularly the dressing, but for me I don't think a plate of leaves and raw veggies is quite worth the money.

To finish, we both opted for a chocolate hazelnut tart from the fridge of dairy, gluten and refined sugar free fridge. A nutty base, nutella-esque middle and crumbly topping. Its not overly sweet but definitely nice to have something almost guilt free for dessert. They do homemade peanut butter cups too, which are great to take away and keep in your bag for snacking.

Curious to try as much as possible, we also ordered a juice to takeaway (£6.35) - I was still a little hungry so this helped to fill me up on the train home (more due to my incredibly large appetite!). I'm going to be honest and say that I was perhaps a little disappointed to see that these are pre-made, bottled up and sitting in a fridge. I'd perhaps prefer something freshly made with a few add-ins if needed.

In total, everything totted up to £32 each (plus service). 

You know what? It is expensive for a lunch. But we'd both seen the menu and decided we were still up for trying it as something a little different. 

So yes, I'll pay £13 for a salad and £6 for a juice from time to time. But I was a little disappointed to see that their smaller café in Parsons Green has slightly different prices. A matcha latte is £4.35 instead of £8.95 and salads £6-7 instead of £11-13. Juices and smoothies are still the same.

I think Tanya's is a great place for those with limited diets/allergies; somewhere perhaps where you don't have to worry about the menu and whether there's going to be something you can eat or not. 

I'm not ruling out going back again for a regular latte and some peanut butter cups. But, can someone could explain why the prices differ between cafés? 

Find Emily's thoughts on our lunch, here.

Find out more on Tanya's Cafe on their beautiful webstite, here.

All views are my own. Emily and I paid for our lunches and were not asked to write this.