Joe’s Southern Kitchen, Covent Garden

American Diner style eating has become absolutely HUGE in London in recent years, you really can’t move for Southern barbecue dishes, mac’n’cheese and burgers. Some of it is great, a lot of it, however, is distinctly average. Too many places have jumped on the bandwagon and assumed all they need to do to get a…

The Loft Bar & Bistro, San Jose

I accidentally stumbled across The Loft one Sunday evening when I was wandering around trying to find somewhere that was actually open, as the Thai and Japanese places I had wanted to try were both closed. The Loft looked pretty quiet but the menu sounded good and everywhere else that was still open was fast…

Clarke’s Charcoal Broiler, Mountain View

One lunch time while out in San Jose we took a little drive to Mountain View where I was promised we’d have a truly American dirty burger joint experience. We arrived at Clarke’s, which doesn’t look like much from the road, it’s a bit of a shack and not remotely fancy and you could easily…

Kettner’s Brasserie, Soho

Planning my latest dinner date with my best friend, we couldn’t decide where to go so rather than trying somewhere new, we settled on an old favourite that we both love: Kettner’s. We’d not been for a while and I was vey much looking forward to going back to the luxurious and stylish townhouse in…

Beef Ragu with Homemade Pappardelle

I was cooking for my family and The Boyfriend last weekend and had some stewing steak to use up, I wanted to do something a bit different from the norm as I have served up a Steak & Mushroom Pie so so many times in my house. I remembered seeing The Hairy Bikers make a wild boar…

Thai Beef Massaman Curry

Whenever I go to a Thai restaurant, I always find it difficult to choose between my two favourites: Thai Green Curry and a Massaman Curry. I’ve made a green curry a few times now (yet to be blogged about) so I thought it was about time I gave this a go. A Massaman curry is…

Bodean’s BBQ Smoke House, Soho

Bodean’s… Everyone’s favourite barbecue joint. It seemed as if the whole of my office had made it their go-to place for a blow out lunch and for ages I still had not tried it myself. So one rainy evening in Soho, having tried to eat somewhere else, been asked to re order twice because half…

Honest Burgers, Soho

Burger and chips was something that I never really fully appreciated until my visit to Byron a few months ago. I’d always thought it was a bit of a boring option and thought how could a burger and chips really vary that much from place to place….. it turns out, quite a lot! Honest Burgers…

Brasserie Zédel, Piccadilly

Eating out in London, whilst one of my favourite past times, can be quite expensive and I therefore reguarly take advantage of pre-theatre menu offers, voucher deals and fantastic schemes such as the Tastecard. I was however pleasantly surprised when I discovered Brasserie Zédel as an affordable restaurant in the middle of the West End…

Steak & Mushroom Pie

I’ve always found one of the most satisfying things to bake is a pie. No other meal you cook will be received with quite so much enthusiasm and anticipation as a homemade pie fresh from the oven. I have two favourites that I make quite regularly and since I featured the Chicken Pie recipe on…