The Albion Pub

It was a Sunday and we had nowhere to be. I love that feeling. We donned our coats and put on our wellies (read converse trainers and some kind of girls shoe) and headed out into the Big Smoke. Where to go? Hmm, it was reasonably sunny. "Let's walk to Angel" I said. "OK" was the surprisingly keen reply from PJ (its a fair old way). So we did.

I had once been to a cracking little pub in Banbury in Islington. I forgot its name but after a quick iPhone Google job, we found it. The Albion.

Looking at their website, this place is much acclaimed with several awards from The Observer, The Independent and The Guardian with awards including "Best Sunday Lunch" no less.

We sat in their big garden (great for al fresco drinking) and watched a table of 20 cheer the arrival of a whole suckling pig. Wow. I'm definitely doing that for my birthday next year.

We both ordered the Cheeseburger (£10). Mine with triple cooked chips, and PJ's with a tomato and herb salad.

The burger was moist, meaty and succulent. Cooked medium. Perfect. A fresh topping of salad on a bun that was not too hard but not too soft puts this burger up the charts. Triple cooked chips were very good indeed and I devoured them with ketchup, slapping PJ's incoming hands as she inevitably lent across to steal some.



I retaliated and stole some of her salad. This doesn't sounds much like a fair exchange nor much comeuppance but actually the freshness of the tomato salad and herbs was actually very pleasant.



The service was slick, food was well above average for a pub and was offered at reasonable prices. I will definitely be going back to try the Sunday lunch. If the burgers are anything to go by, it will be a treat.

Monster Munch Rating: 80%

The Albion
10 Thornhill Road
Islington
London
N1 1HW

0207 607 7450
http://www.the-albion.co.uk/

Maltings Cafe

In my post about the fantastic upstart Italian restaurant, Zucca, I said that I wouldn't post about its sister cafe, Maltings, because I didn't want the inevitable crowds to come. Well, I went for another lazy lunch there a week ago and had to include it here. It really is one of the best cafes in London serving up great tasting, simple Mediterranean food at amazingly low prices.

The menu is limited to a few items that change daily. Beware, they are only open Monday to Friday for breakfast and lunch which is a shame as I'm sure many locals would happily wile away a Friday or Saturday night here.

The design is clean and modern, reflective of the food.





We were promptly seated and provided with a basket of good fresh bread and a generous serving of quality, peppery olive oil.



I went for the "Seared rump steak with a warm vegetable salad" (£7.95). The meat was cooked medium and the vegetables were nicely al dente. The whole thing was sitting on top of a pea puree which brought the dish together well. Simply and delicious.



PJ had the "Mafaldine with roast broccoli and pangrattato" (£5.50!). The broccoli had been cooked over an intensely high heat in a well seasoned pan which gave it a roasted, smokey taste. (It reminded me of an excellent side dish of Cavolo Nero I had here cooked in a similar way served with olive oil and fresh lemon). The pangrattato, which are just fried bread crumbs, (sometimes called poor man's Parmesan) provided that fried salty taste that really lifted this dish.



With prices like this we ordered a side of "Polenta with mushrooms and tomato" (£2.50). The polenta was creamy and provided a subtle backdrop to the zippy tomato sauce.



It was a Monday so we went for dessert and coffee too.

"Orange and polenta cake" (£2.95) was moist and pleasantly citrusy and "Raspberry and almond cake" (£2.95) was also pretty good. I don't have a huge sweet tooth but the cakes went well with a coffee and rounded off the meal nicely.





Altogether a great lunch that was light, fresh, seasonal and tasty. With all we had, the meal only came to £25 for the two of us. Sadly I have spent nearly my share of this meal in Pret a Manger before on a depressingly monotonous lunch. Maltings offers exceptional value food. Please open up on the weekend...

Monster Munch Rating: 88%

Maltings Cafe
169 Tower Bridge Road
London
SE1 3NA

0207 378 7961

The Palm Restaurant

A midweek dinner with some good friends led us in search of steak. We were 3 guys, what else were we gong to eat? London steakhouses are experiencing a bit of a Renaissance right now, so this place has stiff competition. I personally haven't been to either Goodman's or The Hawksmoor which are surely arch rivals, but one of our group had and he felt this place serves the best steak in London. Oh yes. Bring it on.

Its based in Knightsbridge not far from the station in amongst expectedly opulent surroundings. I arrived early alone and was seated at the bar whilst I waited for my friends. It looked like a serious bar, but I settled for a beer to ease myself into the evening. The first thing that struck me whilst waiting was the type of people here. Overwhelmingly male, hedge fund, alpha males type guys talking overly loud. Never mind, we were here for the food.

We ordered a portion of calamari to start and shared this. Most of the dishes are "family style" and this dish easily fed the three of us (£10.50). The opening gambit wasn't overly impressive to be honest. It lacked a fresh, just fried crispness and a lemon/acid hit you need with fried seafood.

For my steak, I ordered the 16 ounce Prime Aged New York Strip (£42 approx). OK, I admit, this place stepped up its game seriously here. I could smell how good the meat was as the vapour wafted up from my plate. Beefy, meaty, delightful. The steak was medium as ordered and incredibly juicy in the middle with the salty, beefy char on the outside they know you want.

We ordered some sides to share. Chips, creamed spinach and wild mushrooms (these were excellent). All sides are £10 something each. Not cheap but they are big.



This place does a serious steak. By far the best one I have ever had. Forget about Gaucho this place is where hardcore steak lovers should come. I am keen to compare it to the Hawksmoor but I can't see steaks getting much better than this. Its not cheap, and we spent £85 each for a 3 courses plus £40 bottle of wine. I place for a celebratory dinner I would say, like the fact that it's a Monday.

Monster Munch Rating: 88%

The Palm Restaurant
1 - 3 Pont Street
London
SW1X 9EJ
0207 201 0710

www.thepalm.com

Wild Garlic

I have wanted to try wild garlic for ages. I've seen it a few times on TV shows and the chefs always get extremely excited about it. Intrigue and curiosity aroused. We are incredibly lucky to have a local farmer's market very close to our house and I snapped at the opportunity to buy some Wild Garlic (also called ramsons) and try cooking with it.

Apparently they are only available for a short period of time, in the spring. This probably helps to explain some of the excitement chefs and foodies get from cooking with them. I also hear they grow very abundantly in deciduous woodland if you fancy foraging for some a la Hugh Fernley.



I got a big bunch from the market and hurridly took them home. The leaves were long and green and the first thing that struck me was how strongly of garlic they smell. Insane. I wasn't too sure what to do with them. Most recipes I have seen use them for soup. I have also seen a wild garlic pesto (use ramsons in place of basil) being done.

Since it was my first time using them, I kept it simple and went for a soup.

I sweated onion and the wild garlic in butter, added cubed potato and chicken stock and then blitzed.

Not bad for a first attempt. If I were doing it again I would definitely whizz the wild garlic into a pesto kind of paste and then sweat this in butter, maybe with leeks and onion. I would also add more potato as I prefer my soup thicker.

We experimented a bit more with the rest of the wild garlic, using it to flavour fish steamed "en papillote" and also in a potato salad at a BBQ (this was great). I recommend you go buy (or pick!) some.

Zucca - Modern Italian

We live near Bermondsey Street, near London bridge. The street's culinary scene has been dominated for a number of years by Village East and the Garrison Pub. I don't rate either personally, but they are always packed. I was once charged £8.50 for two (!) pieces of ravioli in Village East and was served up a sweet onion relish made with salt instead of sugar in the Garrison. I duly wretched. Unforgivable. The chef clearly didn't taste it. Staff are rude and brash. Go if you like this kind of thing. Bla. Both venues do pack style however, but in equal measure to their lack the substance.

These two local sleeping giants should be scared as there is a new kind on the block. One oozing style and serving up top, modern, fresh delicious, fairly priced Italian food. Welcome Zucca.

Zucca is run by the same guy who runs Maltings cafe. I won't tell you how great Maltings is, how fresh the food is, how tasty and simple it is, how unpretentious and great value for money it is. I won't do this because then everyone will be going there and then it will be horribly busy. Please wipe that from your mind.

Zucca describes itself as "a new restaurant serving modern Italian food". An apt description. We went for lunch one Saturday.

A nice warm welcome, very professional and attentive staff. We were quickly seated and offered 3 types of freshly cut bread and a good quality, peppery extra virgin olive oil:



Starters are all very reasonably priced, about £4.00 each. We had pigeon crostini with spec. Rich Pigeon, almost like a pate, salty spec and crusty bread. Yum

Italian ham with Pecorino. Good quality ham an' cheese.

For main I had the halibut with borlotti beans (£12.75). Perfectly cooked fish with a salty crispy top and fresh borlotti beans which were cooked with rosemary and drizzled with a light olive oil. A dollop of parsley rich salsa verde gave the necessary acidity to balance.



We also had the grilled squid with rocket. At last, a local restaurant serving my favourite fish without it being deep fried with tartar sauce! The squid was slashed and charred on a griddle. Soft and tender, drizzled with olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Superb. A very healthy portion too. I loved the combination of the peppery rocket with this. It went perfectly well with my accompanying glass of chilled Chardonnay.



I am not a huge dessert guy, especially at lunch, but this place impressed me so much I literally didn't want it to end. We ploughed on.

The chocolate espresso cake was surprisingly light but still with the desired gooeyness in the centre. No complaints.



We also had the cheese board. The Dolcelatte was great and went very well with the accompanying earthy beetroot relish and sweet raisin bread. The goat's cheese was nice too, but the other two were a bit bland. I am picking holes though and this was the only critical point I had about the entire meal.





I asked the waitress to recommend a dessert wine to accompany the cheese. She recommended something I have not had before, Moscato D'Asti. A sweet, slightly fizzy Italian wine served in a Champagne flute. Delicious. We ordered another glass and got tipsy.

This place is an absolute gem, a perfect lunch. I hope it stays this good when the crowds inevitably come. The food is unpretentious, delicious and reasonably priced. I also believe the menu changes on a daily basis. Local restaurants be scared. The bar has been raised.

Monster Munch Rating: 90%

Zucca
184 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3TQ

0207 378 6809
www.zuccalondon.com