What on earth are you doing in Rancho Cucamonga on your honeymoon??

Becks with her giant pancakes

It would be fair to say that I wasn't particularly looking forward to the long drive from Solvang to Joshua Tree National Park, so the night before we'd been looking at the map of somewhere to break the journey along the way. We settled on Corky's Kitchen and Bakery in Rancho Cucamonga as a point to aim at, a bit over half way and beyond what should be the worst of the LA traffic.

Corky's didn't turn out to be the idyllic American diner you'd perhaps be dreaming of, instead it was modern building in a small parade of bland shops just off the freeway. But we'd arrived and I was looking forward to a break from the driving so we headed inside.

Reuben sandwich

Detecting our foreign accents, one of the friendly servers asked us what we what we were up to. When we said that we were on our honeymoon we the rather startled, and priceless response, "what on earth are you doing in Rancho Cucamonga on your honeymoon?".

Eating enormous pancakes is what Becks' was doing. The pancakes were so large that the accompanying scrambled eggs and bacon had to be served on a separate plate. They were fearsome looking beasts but Becks put in a valiant effort only leaving a amount for a takeaway box.

My reuben was thankfully a lot more modest.

Rolling back into the car we completed a trouble free drive to the Air BnB apartment we'd rented in Joshua Tree just outside the National Park.

Our Air BnB house in Joshua Tree

In the evening we took a load of washing to the laundrette and sat there while it was going round in the machine. There were some 'characters' who came to do their washing while we were including one women, who after studying us, decided to come over and tell us that she thought we were a well suited couple.

Fed up of eating out we made our maiden visit to Walmart to pickup some supplies for the next couple of days. The US hypermarket was a sadly underwhelming experience and not that different to big supermarkets in the UK or France (or at least the Joshua Tree branch wasn't).

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara Pier 

For the second morning in a row I started the day with a run up San Vicente Boulevard. Essentially in the middle of a dual carriageway, but this being California it was a lot more glamorous than trying to run on the A34 in the UK. It was much quieter on my second morning without the running clubs to keep me company.

Back in the hotel we checked out, leaving our bags in reception to come back and pick up later with the hire car.

We strolled across town to the hotel where housed the hire car location. On the way I realised that I was actually quite nervous at the prospect of driving in America. A strange car in a strange country. (Driving only three or four times a year I've realised I find driving a more and more alien experience these days.)

My nerves meant that I'd carefully plotted our route onto the Pacific Coast Highway that we'd take all the way up to Santa Barbara and we were quickly onto Route 1 and heading through Malibu and out of the city.

The coast road was definitely more scenic, if slower, than taking the in land motorway. Around Oxnard we passed huge fields growing strawberries. Must be back breaking work to pick those huge fields of fruit!

The lobster roll from the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company

We arrived in Santa Barbara in mid afternoon, parked the car and went to explore. With the sun slowly sinking in the sky we walked out onto the pier taking a look in a couple of the tourist shops and watched people fishing at the end of the pier for a while.

I was in need of some lunch so we decided to stop at the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company who have a small shack towards the end of the pier. We wrote our names on the list outside the door and luckily didn't have to wait too long before we were shown to a table outside, result!

I ordered the lobster roll. It was on my wish list to have a lobster roll while we were in America and sitting by the sea seemed like a good moment. The lobster roll was excellent. It had lots of lobster, wasn't overwhelmed with mayonnaise and nicely seasoned with chopped cornichons. I definitely could have eaten a second.

Fried calamari and scallops

Becks ordered the fried calamari and scallops which was also pretty good. The scallops were quite a bit smaller than the ones we get in the UK, but they were a lot cheaper and seemed to be more plentiful.

After lunch we went for a walk along the beach and sat on the sand for a while to take in the views. We'd noticed on the drive up that there seemed to be a lot of small oil rigs quite close to shore along the coast and we could see a few more for the beach.

With the sun setting and our parking we'd paid for about to expire we headed back to the car and drove inland to our next overnight stay in Solvang.

Sunset in Santa Barbara

In-N-Out burger and Stan's Donuts, Westwood, LA

In-N-Out Burger, Westwood 

On our way home from the Getty Museum we had to change buses in Westwood, which my research had discovered contained an In-N-Out burger. We weren't going anywhere else for dinner!

The burger joint was pretty packed on the Friday night with uni students and some very dressed up high school kids who looked like they might be on their way to some sort of school ball (or should that be a prom?).

Despite the presence of the secret menu, and the secret secret menu, we just ordered a pair of cheese burgers and fries from the regular menu and took a seat while we waited for our number to be called.

Cheeseburgers

There is a lot of hype around In-N-Out's burgers and having now eaten one, I think that is pretty justified. They were good burgers. Style wise, they are quite a basic construction similar to other fast food outlets. This isn't an over engineered dude food burger.

The quality of the bun, patty, burger sauce and construction just moves them to the next level compared to every other mass produced burger. They are how you'd want every fast food burger to taste and at under $7 for the meal no more expensive. It was just a shame that this was my only In-N-Out experience of the holiday!

Peanut butter doughnut at Stan's

Walking away from In-N-Out we passed an independent burger joint just a few doors down that was also pretty busy. To be able to stay in business with such high quality competition next door I suspect that they might serve a pretty good burger as well. One for the next visit....

As we walked past Stan's Donut's I talked Becks into stopping for a quick dessert and we shared a peanut butter donghnut. It wasn't that great if I'm honest, but it is hard to be disappointed in any dinner that contains your first In-N-Out cheeseburger.....

From Christchurch to Santa Monica - when you remember how the international date line works

Santa Monica beach 

After a lovely farewell with Becks' parents at the airport we jumped on an internal flight from Christchurch to Auckland. While we were waiting for our international flight to LA we realised we'd forgotten about the international date line when booking our hotel and we didn't have a room for the first night of our stay. Whoops.

I called the hotel, but there was no answer from reception (it was the middle of the night). I checked online and could see that they did have rooms available, but there online booking system wouldn't actually let us reserve a room. As a last resort I sent the hotel asking if we could book for another night and we both got onto plane relatively content we'd have somewhere to sleep once we go to LA.

It was another relatively painless flight on Air NZ (I rate them up their with Emirates as the best airline to fly economy) we arrived bleary eyed in LA at an ungodly hour of the morning, caught a free shuttle across to the public bus terminal and then a $1 bus across to Santa Monica. If you are going to be arriving in the world of Hollywood celebrities you might as well do it in style, right?

The cheeseburger at Pono Burger in Santa Monica

Luckily the hotel could extend our stay for an extra night. After dropping off our bags and having a quick freshen up we headed out to explore Santa Monica. The beach was just like the one I saw on Baywatch as a kid with golden sand and lifeguard huts. In fact it might have been the beach I saw as a kid as the show (I think) was filmed just north of Santa Monica.

After a stroll along the beach we had a drift round the pier. Full of cheap looking tourist attractions it was just waking up for the day.

After the pier we drifted back in land. Before going to America I'd been asking Becks how many burgers she thought she'd be able to eat in a day as I was keen to sample a few of the local offerings while we were there. As it was approaching lunchtime we drifted towards Pono Burger which has come up in my research before we'd left.

I thought it was both very Californian and very American. Californian in the sense they were placing and emphasis on local, organic and farmers market ingredients. American in the sense that the restaurant had and 'experience' and 'Chef Makhani' (who?) wanted to recommend you had your burger was cooked a certain way.

My cheeseburger was decent, if a little sloppy. The sweet potato fries were limp rather than crisp.

After lunch we headed back to the main shopping street in Santa Monica, drifting in and out of a few shops and identifying places to go back to rather than actually buying anything. Post window shopping we returned to the hotel hoping we'd be able to access our room and take a shower after the long flight.

It was tempting to crash early from the jet lag, but after a while resting in our room we decided to force ourselves out for dinner. Dinner was at a cheap and functional diner on Montana Avenue. We had frozen yoghurt on the way home and spied a ice cream shop that we made a silent pact we'd be returning to.

Longhorn, Crofton Park

Cheese burger and fries 

Just to demonstrate how well our healthy eating in 2016 is going we decided to visit Longhorn in Crofton Park for a quick lunch today. A classy Valentines Day lunch if ever there was one!

The menu is dominated by burgers and Becks chose the cheese burger and fries (£7.50), the classic order for determining how good a burger joint is. I was drawn to the full rack of ribs (£13) which includes one side. I opted for the mac 'n cheese as Becks had already ordered fries.

A side of mac 'n cheese

While we were waiting for our food the very friendly waiter bought over some complimentary tortilla chips and salsa to snack on (impressive with such keen prices). He also bought over extra serviettes and a packet of baby wipes that he advised I would be needing with the ribs!

All of the beef for their burgers comes from Longhorn cattle via Smithfield market. Their cheeseburger came unadorned without any sauces or condiments inside the bun, but was well seasoned and tasty. Adding a bit of American mustard enhanced the flavour even further for me.

It is a different style of burger from the dude food burgers going round London at the moment, which have a much higher fat content and generally come adorned with candied bacon. It was absolutely no worse for that and I'm definitely keen for another visit so I can order one of my own rather than eating half of Becks'!

Rack of ribs

Mac 'n cheese in a restaurant is so usually a disappointment and I find it becomes pretty monotonous to eat, but the four cheese version at Longhorn was one of the better ones I've had. Personally I would have added a little more pepper.

The full rack of ribs was a really generous serving (I wouldn't have ordered the full rack if I'd realised how big it was). The ribs were nice and tender. I liked the BBQ sauce without being wowed by it. Perhaps something a little smokier and less sweet would be better?

It was our first visit to Longhorn and we were impressed with the friendly service, large servings and good value. It's big dangerous having such good burgers so accessible...

Longhorn

364 Brockley Road

Brockley

London

SE4 2BY

Berlin Wrap Up

Part of the Kent AC team who ran in Berlin

After the Berlin marathon I headed back to the apartment for a shower and stretch before heading back into town to the Georgbraeu brew house which had been nominated as the post race venue. It was a pub that I'd visited three years ago when I was in Berlin with my uni friends.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting about our races in the late afternoon sunshine over a couple of beers. Even though we were genuinely all on our best behaviour and no one was drunk told us it was last orders and stopped serving us even as they continued to serve nearby tables. We'd obviously done something to offend and running up a 300 EUR tab obviously wasn't good enough business for them!

Swiss Miss from Zsa Zsa Burger

I surprisingly wasn't that hungry after the marathon but decided that I'd better go out for dinner so headed to Zsa Zsa Burger which was close to the apartment and recommended by the person we'd rented it from.

I decided to wear my medal to the restaurant, hoping it would be a conversation start so I could tell someone about my epic 2:49 or perhaps even a free drink. I noticed a few other runners in the restaurant from the blue wrist bands and none of them were wearing their medals. Deciding it perhaps wasn't the coolest thing after all I tucked my medal inside my jumper.

The burger was pretty good. In London the trend is very much for decadent US style burgers and I'd assumed it would probably be the same here, but it was more a Berlin take on a burger. The coleslaw had a sauerkraut edge and the cheese was a punchy raclette rather than the mild American style cheese.

Half way through the burger I thought my stomach had finally come back to life and I was going to have to order a second, but I was forcing it down by the end and decided not to have dessert.

Inside the Pergamon Museum

My flight back to the UK wasn't until 6pm on the Monday and I'd bought a museum pass so that I could check out a few of the exhibitions on Museum Island before I left the city.

My first stop was the Pergamon Museum. It's currently undergoing a huge renovation project and two of the three wings are currently closed, including the Pergamon Alter that I was hoping to see.

However, the wing which was open was still pretty impressive. Most of the exhibits were on an epic scale like the theatre entrance you can see above. The website describes some of the exhibits as architectural superstructures from Greek and Roman antiquity and I think that is a pretty fair description.

I couldn't help thinking whether they get in any bother for having these superstructures in Berlin like we do for having the Elgin Marbles in London?

After an hour looking round the Pergamon my legs weren't thanking me for so much time standing up.

Neues Museum

My next stop was the next door Neues (New) Museum. I'd read a review that morning saying to go for the architecture of the building if nothing else and it certainly was a beautiful building.

I haven't looked into the history of the building so I don't know how much of it was there pre-war, how extensive the repairs were post war and what type of state it was in at re-unification. However, the latest renovation is a thing of beauty. The different eras of the building have been moulded together brilliantly with a simple palate of materials. It no doubt cost a fortune.

I spent another hour wandering around the Neues museum and my legs certainly weren't thanking me by this stage so I decided to make my way back to the apartment.

East Berlin's TV tower / observation deck

On my way back I walked past the Altes (Old) Museum . The pass I'd bought entitled me to free entry to this museum as well, but I secretly thankfully it was close on Monday's as it gave my legs a break.

Back near the apartment I had some lunch and an ice cream, before buying a couple of gifts for Becks, putting my feet up for an hour and then heading out to the airport.

The plane on the way home was definitely the 'marathon express' with quite a few people wearing their medals and lots of others sporting the distinctive blue wrist bands. After looking distinctly un-cool the night before, my medal was firmly in my bag and I'd cut my wrist band off. Was I the quickest runner on the flight? I'd like to think so.

Altes Museum

Chicago and New York Eats

A couple of weeks ago I had a flying work visit across to Chicago and New York. I arrived into Chicago in the early evening on Sunday and in an attempt to keep myself awake for a couple of hours before it was a respectable time to go to bed I went out for a walk determined to see the 'coffee bean' which I'd run tantalisingly close to on my previous visit to Chicago, but not actually seen. It's a very cool piece of public art.

On my way back to the hotel I passed the Citroen van above. Turned into a food truck selling donuts I was quite surprised to see it so far from home. It is clearly not just the London street food vendors that are sucking all the retro Citroen vans out of France. There can't be any left in France by now!

I didn't take my camera with me and barely took any phone pics either, but here's a quick roundup of some of the highlights of what I ate.

Chicago
On Monday lunchtime I made a beeline for the Montreal pastrami sandwich from the French Market in Central Chicago. It was every bit as good as the first time I tried it on my previous visit back in April.

Montreal Pastrami sandwich

For my only dinner in Chicago I went to David Burke's Primehouse with a couple of people from the office. We were told to try the Caesar salad and it was fantastic. Made on a trolley that they wheel to the side of your table the salad is made by the dressing. It's not a heavy mayonnaise based dressing, but a tangy parmesan laced version which perfectly coats every leaf. Definitely worth trying.

As a main I had the 40 day aged ribeye steak. It was quite enormous, quite heavily salted and very tender. I, inadvisably, ate the lot and was in a protein coma as I walked back to my hotel.

New York
I only had two nights in NYC and on the first evening I met up with my friends Rohit and Pryanka to try Amma and Indian restaurant that had been recommended to me and they had heard good things about to.

The restaurant is smaller than expected, located in a converted house on 51 St over on the East side. None of us realised it was restaurant week, where lots of establishments across NY offer fixed price menus for $38. They can be great value if you manage to get a slot at one of the city's top restaurants, but when you are (nearly exclusively) eating the vegetarian options from the menu, in what is a mid priced restaurant anyway, it can actually turn out to be more expensive than going a la carte during the rest of the year.

The service was a bit rushed, the air con not working properly on a sweltering evening and the starters and desserts nothing to right home about. However, the mains of shahi paneer, vegetable Kohlapuri and lamb apricot were all pretty good.

Crab cake at Wild Edibles

On my second night in NY I headed back to where I used to live for a short time and had dinner at Wild Edibles. They've changed the front of the restaurant so I nearly didn't go in as I thought it had changed hands, however, they've just reconfigured the layout so that they can fit in more seats.

I ordered the crab cake to start which, just as the menu described, came with lumps of crab meat and had very little "filler" in it which was great. For my main I had the New Orleans style shrimp with corn. The prawns and broth had the perfect amount of spice and I very nearly ordered some bread so that I could mop up the sauce that was left in my bowl.

Shrimp at Wild Edibles

During Thursday lunchtime I jealously watched a couple of people in the office devouring these hug looking buns which came from a place called Kobeyaki, so on Friday I headed out in search of one and, on the advice of my colleagues, ordered the soft shell crab bun which came served with japanese mayo, crab meat and shredded cabbage. It wasn't blow my mind amazing, but it didn't last very long either!

Soft shell crab sandwich from Kobeyaki

A quick trip to Charlotte and Chicago

Shrimp and grits at The Kings Kitchen in Charlotte

Last weekend I was at Heathrow twice. First on the Saturday to pick up Becks from the airport and then, only fourteen hours later, back again to catch a flight to Charlotte North Carolina. It was an incredibly poorly timed work trip as it essentially means that Becks and I haven't seen each other in just over three weeks.

Here are some of the highs and lows.

Charlotte
The first high has to be that I didn't loose my phone down the side of the seat on the plane (which luckily shot out due to the forces on landing).

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip with only two days in Charlotte. I stayed in the rather plush Ritz Carlton hotel which had a lobby with a subtle smell of chocolate (although sadly no free samples). The room was well appointed, but mine faced into an internal atrium so it didn't have a great view.

The Tick Tock Diner seems to have closed down.

I did manage to fit in a couple of good meals while I was in Charlotte. The first was a lunch with work friends at Mert's Heart and Soul. Mert's is a classic Southern American restaurant and I decided to embrace with my Daily Fixin' of blackened pork chops, cornbread, collard greens and ocra and tomato ($12). It was tasty and (a bit too) substantial for lunch. 

That night I returned to The Kings Kitchen which I visited on my previous trip to Charlotte. The social enterprise was still serving up some great, and well presented, food with friendly service. I had another southern classic of shrimp and grits ($19). Their prices have edged up since I last visited, but not dramatically so.

Forty eight hours later I was back on a plane and heading to Chicago. The trip wasn't great (delayed flight, dreadful service and a taxi ride that made me feel queazy).

Chicago
It was my first trip to Chicago and the city immediately impressed me. It had the feeling of a less intense New York. A lot of the same architectural styles, but friendlier and slightly slower paced.


Unfortunately I didn't managed to explore much of the city while I was there, although I did fit in two runs along the lake shore. On Wednesday night I headed north, and despite getting slightly lost at one point, stuck to the shoreline most of the way. I was then back out on the Thursday morning, heading south along the lake. There was quite a chilly breeze in the early morning and I could have done with my gloves!

Pastrami sandwich from The French Market

I managed to fit in a few good eats while I was there. The best was the pastrami sandwich ($9.99) I had from The French Market. Warm slices of tender beef, with some of their pickling spices still attached to the crust, were sandwiched between two slices of rye bread. Your choice of mustard came in a small pot on the side so you could add as much, or little, as you liked. It would have been great to get a pickle on the side as you do in many of the the NY delis.

We had a team dinner at the Kenzie Chophouse. I haven't been to a steak restaurant in a long time and I really enjoyed the ribeye that I ordered. We were quite sensible with the side orders which I think was a smart move.

While we were at dinner the Chicago classic Italian Beef Sandwich was discussed so I resolved to have lunch there on my final day. A quick bit of research and I discovered that this place was featured on the US TV show Man vs. Food. The beef sandwich was good, but not up to the standards of the pastrami which I'd had the day before.

Lunch consumed it was straight to the airport for the flight home!

Ben's Canteen, Earlsfield

Ben's epic scotch egg

Last Thursday night I was invited by Go Earlsfield's to dinner at Ben's Canteen with a few other local bloggers. It was good to begin the night with a tasty gin cocktail and start unwinding from the day which had been a bit more stressful than usual.

While the calamari and pulled pork nachos caught my eye, I decided to order Ben's epic scotch egg (£6). There was a slightly runny yolk and it was a pleasant surprise to find the scotch egg sitting on a healthy smear of Dijon mustard which provided a nice bite.

I managed to grab a taste of GE's Baba Ghanoush and Lentil salad (£6.50). It was a tasty little combination of aubergine, bitter leaves, pomegranate and lentils. There was one ingredient which was cold (I think the lentils) while everything else was a room temperature. It weirded me out a little bit, although GE didn't even notice.

The BC burger 

Our host was selling the steak, but I decided to go for the BC Burger with sweet potato fries (£12). The menu describes the burger as "one of London's best" which is a bold statement when you consider some of the competition.

I expect disappointment when people hype themselves up, but it was a good burger. Juicy, but not overly messy, cheese and a decent homemade burger sauce. On top of the burger was a medium cut slice of salt beef which added a welcome extra dimension. It was a good size so you could pick it up with two hands too. I think it is a fair call to say it is one of London's best.

Peanut butter and chocolate brownie

For dessert I went for the peanut butter and chocolate brownie (£5) served with peanut butter ice-cream. It was a rich and intense brownie that I could only manage half of. It is quite unusual to for me to be beaten by a dessert!

With friendly staff, some great cocktails and a good burger, it was a fun evening out.


GoEarlsfied and I dined courtesy of Ben's Canteen

All of my London eats are located on a handy map.

Ben's Canteen
422 Garratt Lane

Earlsfield

SW18 4HW

Restaurant Review: Rox Burger, Lewisham

The ROX Burger selection

Dinning at Taste Inn a few weeks ago we couldn't help but notice ROX Burger next door. On a road dominated by rather drab looking chicken shops, Chinese takeaways and Indian grocery stores, ROX Burger stands out with its clean look and uncluttered window. Exhausted from moving house we headed to ROX Burger last week for some guilt free fast food.

Deserving of a beer, our friendly host sold us on an organic Czech larger Celia. It was a clean and crisp tasting drop, although I thought serving the beer with a jam jar was a little unnecessary. Lewisham should do its own thing rather than simply following a hipster craze.

I ordered the Rox Classic (£5.50) and we shared a serving of the Rox Fries (£3.00). The parmesan and oregano chips were easily enough for the two of us. My burger came in a brioche bun and was served with cheese, lettuce and Rox mayo. While my burger was good, it didn't hit the heights of Burger Bear, my current No 1 burger. The pattie wasn't a succulent as I'd hoped, being cooked over the advertised medium and could have done with more seasoning.

The fact that regeneration is coming to Lewisham is obvious for everyone to see, but it is a bold entrepreneur that seeks to be one of the first people to ride that trend. Good luck to the owners of ROX Burger and I hope Lewisham gets a few more places like it. I hope to be back to try the chorizo I saw heading to a couple of neighbouring tables.

ROX Burger
82 Lee High Road
London
SE13 5PT

Restaurant Review: Duke’s Brew & Que, Haggerston

Buttermilk Pancakes

A couple of weekends ago Becks and I took the Gingerline north of the river for breakfast with friends. Searching on where to go I stumbled across Duke's Brew and Que in Haggerston. The dirty American food immediately appealed, choice made.

With everything in Hackney being so on trend we feared that we might struggle to get a table. However, when we arrived at 1pm there were only a couple of other tables taken inside and we were given the pick of the room.

The slowed cooked BBQ meats from the dinner menu are sadly scarce in the brunch offerings. However, there were still plenty of calorie laden indulgences on offer.

I decided to go for the BBQ Omlette with a side of the Cowboy Baked Beans (£9.95 + £2.50). Being the only brunch dish on the menu with a taste of the pulled meats I had to order it. Sadly the pulled pork and burnt beef ends were hard to find in the folded omlette that was instead packed full of peppers. The home friend potatoes were a good accompaniment, as were the side of beans (even if they were totally unnecessary).

BBQ Omelette

Becks went for the Buttermilk Pancake and a side of bacon (£6.95 + £2). The generous serving of vanilla scented pancakes came accompanied with real maple syrup. The menu specifically stated the side of bacon was three rashers, but Becks' dish only came with two. The pancakes were slightly under cooked in the middle which created a rather doughy texture on the roof of the mouth, although I still enjoyed my taste.

As we ate the room filled up with other diners. It's a great space which sits on the right side of being themed (the sink in the toilets excepted).

All my London eats are added to my map.

Duke’s Brew & Que
33 Downham Road
De Beauvoir Town
Hackney
London N1 5AA
020 3006 0795

Restaurant Review: Wild Edibles, Murray Hill, New York

Molluscs on display at Wild Edibles

I had a flying four night visit to NY last week. Too short a time in such a fabulous city. My hotel wasn't too far away from the area of Murray Hill where I spent three months back in 2008 and I had a strange nostalgic yearning to check out my old haunts.

In fact I visited Murray Hill three nights in the row. The first night was just to grab some items from the local supermarket. On the second night I was hoping to visit a Mexican deli on the other side of the island only to discover it had closed down. Stuck for inspiration on where to have dinner I walked seven avenues back across town to Hudsons Place, the 'smart restaurant' on my old block. The steak I ordered was nothing special and I'm sure I could have done a lot better for the price.

The evening, however, was saved by the self obsessed girl at the table next to me telling her friend about her second marriage and the wonderful painting she'd bought that day. It was amusing to listen in, but I wouldn't have liked to have been the friend who was clearly expected to nod in all the right places.

Pan fried pollock with salsa verde

My third night back in Murray Hill was at Wild Edibles a fishmongers come restaurant that I'd noticed six years ago, but never visited.

I'm not a fan of dining solo, but decided to embrace the experience and sit up at the counter so that I could interact with the staff and locals a bit more easily than when sitting on my own at a table.

The first thing I noticed was the number of regulars in the restaurant. As the lady to my left knocked through her big bowl of mussels she told me how it was one of her favourite places. The gents to my right were given some amazing looking fish tacos that weren't on the menu and would certainly tempt me into becoming a regular.

I wasn't overly hungry so decided to decided to skip their speciality oysters and just order a main course of the pollock with salsa verde and a side of brussels sprouts.

Side of caramelised brussels sprouts

The food took a while to come which slightly disappointed me as they didn't seem to be that busy. But perhaps I was being over sensitive as I was dining on my own and therefore more conscious of the wait?

The pollock was just cooked and flaked easily, while the rocket salad was nicely dressed. Despite appearances in the photo the skin sadly wasn't that crispy.

The caramelised brussels sprouts weren't overly sweet, but were so dark in colour I wondered if they had been deep fried? They were a little greasy but tasted good with the aioli drizzled on top.

Wild Edibles was good fun. It was nice to see customers come in to buy fish during the night and for the chefs to grab fish from the ice before cooking it for you. The food perhaps didn't hit the heights that I was hoping for, but it tempted me enough to want to go back next time I'm over in NYC and staying in mid town.

Restaurant Review: Burger Bear @ Old Nuns Head, Nunhead

The Greedy Bear

Burgers have been on my mind for a while. In Paris we were going to chase down the Le Camion Qui Fume burger fan, but its locations didn't quite fit in with our plans. Then there is Mother Flipper at Brockley Market that I still haven't tried.

Yesterday afternoon, with a burger on my mind, Becks and I walked over to Nunhead to try a Burger Bear who have taken over the kitchen at the Old Nuns Head pub on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Becks chose the classic Burger Bear (£6.50). I decided to try one of the bacon burgers. The single patty was £9 and for only a pound more it had to be the double patty Greedy Bear (£10), purely on value terms.

When the burger arrived it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to eat it all in one go, so I flipped out the extra patty and some of the bacon and dived in.

It was a good burger. A really good burger.

The patty was cooked medium rare and just melted in the mouth, with the bacon / bacon jam  packing lots of flavour. I didn't really notice the melted cheese or the soft white bun, but the overall package was great. I'd put it on a par, and perhaps even say it was a little bit better than my current benchmark, the Shake Shack burger.

It was a bit sloppy to eat and the top of the bun a bit greasy, but a great burger is meant to be a bit messy right?

I was surprised when the bill came to £30 for two burgers, two sides of fries and a couple of shandies. It felt expensive for a burger and a couple of drinks. I had a quick look at the Shake Shack London website and the burgers compare well on price (£1, but the patties are bigger). I standard fries and the drinks were the expensive bit.

Old Nuns Head
15 Nunhead Green
London
SE15 3QQ

Restaurant Review: The King's Kitchen, Charlotte, North Carolina

 Cornmeal fried green tomatoes, chili aioli, black eyed pea salsa

When I learnt I was heading to Charlotte for work, even before I'd booked my flights, I started researching places to eat. It turns out that wasn't such a clever thing to do, as by the time I came to book the flight I wanted, it was full. But food research is more important, right?

I checked out a few of the Chowhound message boards and asked colleagues who had visited previously for advice. The recommendations coming back weren't terribly exciting, especially in the Uptown area where I'd be staying.

Queen City Q was suggested as the best BBQ in town. The tasting plate of 16 hour pulled pork, brisket, chicken and sides was enormous for a modestly priced $21, but it didn't knock my socks off.

I had a good chat with the lady from Manchester (England) who works at the Tic Toc Diner. Their sandwiches are filling and made to order, but nothing to write home about. Why the NY Strip Steak at Roosters Kitchen had to be smothered in an overpowering sauce I don't know. It ruined what would have been a good steak.

 

Aunt Beaut’s skillet fried chicken

I was beginning to despair slightly at Charlotte's food. On my final night I checked out the not for profit Kings Kitchen and had the best food of the week. All of the money raised by the restaurant is used to feed 'the poor' in Charlotte and the staff they hire are looking for a new beginning.

I started with the cornmeal fried green tomato, chilli aioli and black eyed pea salsa ($5). The salsa and aoili went well with the tomatoes. It was a nicely balanced dish.

They'd sold out of my first choice main course of the soft shell crab, so I went for the Aunt Beaut's fried chicken ($14) instead. The chicken came with a choice of three side and either corn bread of a biscuit. Not quite sure what a US biscuit was I chose the corn bread.

The chicken was moist and tender underneath it's very crisp and crunchy corn batter. The collard greens and braised green beans were the best I had of the week. There was a slight spice in the collard greens which I enjoyed. The mac 'n cheese was overly rich and didn't have any bite from the white cheese used, but that was the only let down in the dish.

I suspect my waiter on the night was one of the people being helped by the restaurant. He was friendly, efficient and confident in the recommendations he gave to me. I couldn't have asked for me.

The King's Kitchen
129 West Trade Street
Charlotte
NC 28202
USA