Cooking The Books

City Caphe

A while ago a lady contacted me about banh mi, saying how she was starting a new Vietnamese food venture in the city and how my banh mi post from Hanoi had inspired her to recreate the pointed ended baguettes of that region when they did.  I was more than intrigued so soon as I'd heard it had opened - not from her I should add, but from London Eating - I hopped on the tube and made the rather-long-for-lunch journey from Mayfair to Bank. 

Upon entering I was struck by the decor.  They've tried to recreate the feel of Vietnam here and, outside of the lack of 35 degree heat and uncomfortable humidity, they have succeeded.  I love the sun bleached colonial yellow walls, the handwritten food related Vietnamese messages around the tables and the inclusion of a real life banh mi hawker cart, imported from Vietnam and stuck at the end of the counter, is the kind of attention to detail I like.

On this trip I was mortified to find they didn't have banh mi yet due to a lack of baguettes, my mortification was short-lived though when I turned to the old faithful beef pho, which was a respectable example of this dish.  The stock - made themselves - had good flavour, a strong beef aroma and nice aromatics. One of my favourite things about it was the cut of beef which came complete with a little grizzle and fat, maybe not to everyone's taste but I wouldn't want it any other way as it provided variety of texture and flavour and reminded me of Vietnam. I was pleased to find the accompanying sliced red chilies had a bit of heat, which isn't always the case. 

My dining companion's rice with char-grilled pork was described as having lots of flavour, a bit of chew but nice and moist. A free salad comes with the main dishes which is basically some pickles, cucumber, coriander and some animal - mine pork and prawn, my friend's chicken - which makes a nice side to the meal. One criticism would be the pickles were a little flat, the vinegar not coming through as much as I would have liked.  We shared some summer rolls too which had a good balance of herbs, noodles and prawns, the dip that came with them was an interesting peanut affair that I'd not had before.

Along with the salad all customers were given a free cafe sua da, a cold Vietnamese coffee topped with condensed milk - I'm assuming as an introduction with the hope of repeat trade.  Julie has since said they also add fresh milk, to improve the taste for the Western palate, but I was instantly transported to a Hanoi street corner by the chicory overtones of the bean, which is bought from Ca Phe VN on Broadway market.  If you've never had one of these before I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

After my first visit I got in touch with the owner Julie to let her know I'd been, saying I would introduce myself next time, and she invited me back the next day to taste their pre-production banh mi.  I could hardly turn down that offer so after work I made my way back across town to see if their dedication to finding the right baguette had paid off.  The bread, which is by far the most important thing in a banh mi, was light and fluffy on the inside with a thin, crisp crust - just as it should be.  Julie said they'd spoke to a number of Vietnamese bakeries, in Vietnam and abroad, before settling on the recipe which ended up being pure wheat flour, which was in line with other bakeries they'd spoke to.  A lot has been said about the importance of rice flour in banh mi but here it's definitely not missed.

I ate all the fillings and favourites where the classic (rolled belly, pate and Vietnamese luncheon meat) and chargrilled pork, the five spice in that setting the banh mi off a treat.  Chicken was chicken, beef fragrant with lemongrass and the vegetarian fried tofu with oyster mushrooms surprisingly meaty.  Whilst eating I got to meet the family behind it, who were all lovely, and regale them with my tales of eating in Vietnam on my travels.  Well sated I left promising I would return for the production item. 

I was worried that the location was a bit out the way but having returned now they're fully in operation that doesn't seem a problem, there is no shortage of customers.  I needed to try the banh mi proper so ordered the classic (I just can't turn down all those different porcine delights) to see how it compared to my tasters.  As before the bread was light and crispy and the fillings crunchy and flavoursome, being a glutton for heat a little squirt of the provided chili sauce takes them another step up.  Trying to work my way through the menu a bit the banh mi was joined by some fried spring rolls, nice and meaty with a gorgeously pungent nuoc cham (fish sauce and vinegar based dip).

Having now been twice I'm happy to say City Caphe is definitely doing things to my taste and it won't be long before I hop on the bike again for a Mayfair to Bank lunch time banh mi.  A welcome addition to London's burgeoning banh mi scene.

City Caphe, 17 Ironmonger Lane, EC2V 8EY

X-Burger House, Kilburn

The first thing one notices about X-Burger House, the new Brazilian burger house in Kilburn, is that it is in the middle of nowhere.  Well to those that live in Kilburn or Willesden (or wherever it is to the south of these) it won't be but if like me you've come from the West End you're talking 7 stops on the Jubilee line and a 10 odd minute walk from the tube station.  A veritable marathon.  I've just changed team at work though and a long goodbye lunch was on the cards so I grabbed a couple of colleagues and set about the journey. 

Once you've made the trip it's a pretty nice place, decked in clean lined modern furniture and light and airy from the large south facing windows.  The kitchen is open and a till area deals out takeaways to what amounted to 4-5 people in the hour we were there.

The X in X burger is short for Xis, or Cheese, and every burger here has the magic ingredient.  On top of this we're treated to various toppings from the usual bacon and fried egg to the less usual chicken hearts, peas and sweetcorn - which I'm guessing show off the Brazilian heritage.  Sides again run from the usual chips and onion rings to the less usual polenta chips and chicken hearts.  It is cheap dining, with burgers running from £4.50 to £7 something, sides about £2 a glass of coke a quid.  The menu also had some steak sandwiches and hot dogs but I didn't get to try those. 

I decided to eat the bacon X (cheese) burger and went for the 7" - over 5" - option.  I wasn't sure if the " was a dodgy shorthand for oz or if the burger would be 7" tall, out the two I was guessing 7oz but it may have meant 7" diameter as this was the widest burger I've ever seen.  With such width, 7oz of meat or not, it has got to be a thin burger and my guess would be around the centimetre mark, it definitely looked like it had been made fresh though, the rough edges a tell tale sign of something hand shaped or squashed flat on the griddle. 

We weren't asked how we wanted our burgers cooked and mine arrived moist with the slightest hint of pink. With such thin burgers it's going to be hard to have them much less done if you want a decent amount of charring though, which is pretty important for flavour and definitely wasn't lacking.  Unfortunately the burger seemed to carry on cooking at the table and whilst the first half was pretty moist it got a bit dry towards the end.  From the toppings bacon was streaky and salty and and in decent quantity and cheese of the thin sliced real variety, sliced tomato added to the moisture. 

All in all it was a decent burger, although I would've preferred it less cooked through.

Sides were pretty damn good.  Homemade chips were crisp on the outside and fluffy inside, quite roast potato like in flavour.  Onion rings had a great crunch but maybe lacked a bit in onion.  Polenta chips were a revelation, perfect chip shape with crisp exteriors that gave way to buttery soft polenta - get in there quick though as by the end the last couple had lost their crunch due to the steaming middle.  One criticism of all three would be the portions were a bit small (we only ate two polenta chips before I took that photo), this criticism certainly couldn't be levelled at the chicken hearts with onion though which - at less than £4 - was absolutely huge, literally hundreds of the things griddled till brown and with a hint of thyme - absolutely gorgeous.

Whilst it may not be the best burger in London X-House Burger is a cut above the average burger bar and definitely superior to the average Kilburn offering.  The Brazilian influence makes for a really interesting menu, with great sides, and I may even return to see what peas and sweetcorn are like on a burger.  I'll even go so far as to add it to my list of reasons to go to Kilburn which now contains - The Luminaire, The Tricycle Theatre, Angeles and X-Burger House.

Cerveceria Catalana, Barcelona

A quick glitch in the space time continuum here as I jump back to Barcelona for the last time.  Someone had recommended Txapela to me and I also wanted to try Cerveceria Catalana after reading about it on trip advisor. There was only one meal left though so the names went in hands behind my back (have to choose somehow) and the gf chose right, which turned out to be Txapela.  We were borderline busy time, at around 8.30pm, so rushed from the Metro to Txapela and luckily grabbed a table for 2.  The waitress acknowledged us then proceeded to ignore us for ten minutes so we got up and left.

Unluckily for us the walk to Txapela and back, along with 10 minutes of invisibility, had left Ceveceria Catalana absolutely heaving so our names were put on the list with a suggested wait of 30-40 minutes.  About 5 minutes later I went to ask the hostess if we could buy a glass of sangria and got the reply 'Come, I think I can squeeze you on a table now' and we were promptly whisked away to a lovely table for 2, completely jumping the queue.  Score!

Compared to Tapas24 this place is huge, with bars down each side as you walk in were folk noisily order the tapas from glass displays in front of them, the staff pouring cerveza after cerveza and handing them over diners to slake the thirsts of the masses waiting in the queue I just jumped.  The menu was more ordinary, which isn't a bad thing, covering all your standard tapas along with lots of grilled seafood and a large section of filled flautas, the thin baguettes that I had breakfasted on that morning in Matamala.

We ordered our first jar of sangria (a very reasonable €11 euro for a litre) and settled down to order and eat.  Grilled sepia were fantastic, a favourite of mine when in Spain and these were fine examples - charred and smoky whilst remaining juicy and tender.  The truita (tortilla in Spanish) was filled with melt in the mouth oily potato and onion and the middle was still runny.  Padron peppers, a huge portion compared to Tapas24, were good but didn't throw up any hotties.  Manchego was, for want of a better description, manchego like. Our first flauta was butifarra blanc, which was a shame as I'd ordered butifarra negra.  On the plus side I've never had the blanc before and it was tasty enough, in a haslet sort of way.  

By this point we were getting full enough but one dish on the menu had caught our eye and had to be ordered, flauta with foie gras and Roquefort (served hot).  When it turned up it wasn't foie gras, just normal pate (lost in translation?) that was warm to the point of nearing separation and topped with lumps of melted Roquefort.  As you can probably imagine it was a tad on the rich and full on side, the Roquefort somewhat overpowering.  As the gf said in a John Torrode accent 'We've got lovely crusty bread, smooth rich pate then - WHAM! - the Roquefort hits you like a train and overpowers them both'.  It was definitely an experience but I couldn't decide if it was a good or bad one.

All told this was another €20-€25 meal and train of Roquefort aside I really enjoyed Ceveceria Catalana and was glad that we had to leave Txapela, which whilst probably serving good food (it comes highly recommended) did feel like we were sat on Leicester Sq eating.  Ceveceria Catalana on the other hand felt more local, even though with so many reviews on trip advisor it must be frequented by lots of tourists too.

Goodman City

Yesterday morning Richard Vines tweeted about a soft opening at the new Goodman City branch offering 50% off food.  I adore Goodman's restaurant in Mayfair and this is without ever having eaten a steak there, their burgers are enough for instant infatuation for me, so when the opportunity arose for 50% off I jumped to it.  50% offers abound - sure - but I normally think of them as a sign a restaurant isn't doing as well as it could and this certainly doesn't apply to Goodman.  I rallied some troops and a table for 8.15 was booked.

The interior of the new branch is much like the original, albeit with a bit more of an industrial feel with the exposed pipes near the ceiling.  There's the dark leather, dark wood, some booths and a bar.   One welcome addition though is the huge window to the meat aging room.  A dining room table sized opening into a world of stainless steel shelves and vast lumps of beef in varying stages of controlled decay.  Our waitress said it reminded her of Damien Hurst but for me it was like some huge food porn cinema screen stuck on pause.  I was transfixed.

When dining with others the grass isn't always greener, I don't always have food envy, but I do always want to try everything.  The Asian way of dishes in the middle of the table is far better suited to my inquisitive (greedy?) nature and whilst it can't be used for everything one western meal that it works perfectly for is steak, assuming the restaurant in question is like Goodman (or Hawksmoor) and has enough variety to get a good spread going. 

We did just that ordering a Wagyu ribeye (300gr), 2 x USDA Ribeye (400gr), a USDA sirloin (350gr) and a USDA on the bone sirloin (650gr), aiming to stick it in the middle so everyone could try the different cuts.  Everything was ordered around medium-rare to let the marbling melt down nicely.  We had wanted to try the grass fed Belted Galloway - as recommended to me by the Goodman grill-man himself - but alas our procrastination in ordering led to them being sold out, a 650gr on the bone rib would have been perfect too.

The wagyu was a melt in the mouth delight, the meat was tender but the most amazing thing for me wasn't the effects of the intramuscular marbling - as gorgeous as it was - but the intermuscular fat.  This was the softest, most tender fat I've eaten, collapsing under the teeth and probably so soft (alas I didn't try it) to suck through the teeth. I enjoyed the sirloin, especially the dry aged on the bone, but for me the star was the rib-eye, having the perfect combination of juicy fat and meaty chew, not to mention the perfectly seasoned and charred outside common to them all.  It's hard to put in to words just how good a steak these guys turn out though and I think a picture says far more anyway.

Accounting for the bone we probably ordered dead on 2kg of meat between 5.  I'm guessing the ladies probably managed 250gr each which left the men at the table 500gr each.  Nothing compared to some but with starters and sides I was well stuffed by the end, the last 150gr going down a lot slower than than the first 350.

With the 50% off food our bill of 3 starters, steak, a few sides, 2 puds and some dessert wine was a very good value £43 each.  Without the soft opening it would have been nearer £70 but even then I'd definitely have felt I got my money's worth and will be returning in the not too distant future to try their grass fed offerings at full price.

I've now had steaks at both Goodman and Hawksmoor and would find it hard to call a favourite, they're both so very good at what they do.  The burger has only been tried at Goodman though and it would be unfair on them, and myself, if I didn't give Hawksmoor's burger a go too.  That will have to wait to the new Covent Garden branch though as a midweek lunch in the City is a no go for me.

Babia, Barcelona

The Gothic Quarter in Barcelona is a fantastic high-walled maze, whilst the wide main roads make London's aged streets look too narrow for purpose once you step off them the alleys seem from a time forgotten back home.  Dark and identical to the untrained eye one can lose muchos minutos meandering through them.

Post Tapas24 we found ourselves doing just that and stumbled across the kind of place you really wish you'd not eaten half an hour before finding - Babia.  Whilst I'm sure the outer reaches of Barcelona are littered with local haunts that's not the feeling you usually get around Las Ramblas and Plaza Catalunya yet that's exactly how Babia felt.  It was cramped, noisy with Catalan and people smoked while they ate, something I can't remember people doing in England even when it wasn't banned - it was perfect. 

All the tables were gone but we managed to squeeze in at the bar and ordered a couple of cervezas, everyone else seemed to be eating so I scanned the menu for a name I didn't recognise and ordered some lacon, declining the potatoes we were offered with it having just eaten a full meal.  Lacon turned out to be ham, which I should have known already, but it seems to be a different cut than in England, even if the cure is similar.  It was tender and salty, bathed in olive oil with the sprinkling of paprika adding warmth.  Pa amb tomaquet was fresh baguette rather than toast and very good.  I wish I could tell you more but we really couldn't fit anything else in.

Just from our tiny nibble I can't recommend the place enough and it's well worth searching out, good luck finding it though as Google maps doesn't even seem to know the road.

Babia

Carrer Sagristan, 9,

08002 Barcelona