Honest Burgers, on this particular day, was a life saver! I was starving and on the hunt for a good quality cure. I strolled into Honest Burgers whilst roaming the streets of Covent Garden and was more than pleasantly surprised.
Considering it was a Friday night, I was seated immediately, which was a bonus, and was greeted with a cozy walkway and friendly staff. Immediately the music put you at ease, playing remixes and reggae. Once we were seated we got started with drinks and the beauty about Honest Burger was the small, quality menu.
I went for the classic Honest Burger which came with Rosemary Fries. The burger consisted of a beef patty, red onion relish, smoked bacon, cheddar, pickled cucumber and lettuce. This was served on a classic brioche bun. It was lovely. The patty was served medium rare and you can’t really go wrong with a burger and chips around the £10 mark.
Honest Burger with Rosemary Fries and a likkle bit of mayo
London which I’m sure will offer the same delightful experience.
Leather Lane is abundant in great food finds, so I decided to venture into Brothers Cafe which sits at the beginning of the street. There was no particular reason I was drawn to this place, aside from the fact that it had been recommended to me as a satisfying lunch spot.
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with the food. I went for the small lamb wrap (and I’ve gotta say, it was not minuscule in any way) and a halloumi roll (halloumi wrapped in semi sweet pastry and deep fried). This all came to less than a fiver (take cash, unless you plan on spending more than that). Brothers also offers chicken, falafel, halloumi and salads too.
The Lamb Wrap was fab, served in a warm flatbread, the lamb was grilled on a skewer and served fresh after cooking. I had all the salad, hummus and chilli sauce to accompany my salad and I can confirm it was a good choice. Brothers offers a range of salad and you can choose exactly what you want. The halloumi roll on the other hand was good, but it was reheated in the microwave. The pastry was very similar to that of a samosa so goes a tad soggy when re heated in the microwave. I can imagine that straight out of the fryer, this side is an absolute delight!
Lamb and Salad Wrap
The shop front would not lead you to believe that the quality of wrap is as good as it is. It looks very old and the seating area is very basic. At the front of the cafe there is buffet of hot food and then at the front is where you can order your wraps. The service here seems very friendly as is very quick paced during lunch so try and have your payment ready to keep the line moving.
Don’t let the decor fool you, the wraps here are top notch!
As a group of three, we headed to the Hanway Place branch to get our dim sum on. There seems to be a recurring theme here, but I promise I do eat other foods!
THE TASTE OF HAKKASAN
Hakkasan is a contemporary Chinese restaurant and is not for those who are living the London broke life. However if you go before 18:30 you can enjoy a set menu for £38. So I guess that’s something… As we were going for dinner, we went for the after 18:30 menu that was £65 and we added extras on too. If you’re a total baller and going for A La Carte be prepared, as there are some dishes that you can pay up to 300 quid for.
With two London locations, Hakkasan offers contemporary Chinese cuisine. From delightful duck to stunning sea bass, Hakkasan provides the best Chinese flavors in a refined manner. I had the pleasure of dining in Hakkasan, Hanway PlaceT
Our meal began with a Dim Sum selection and this was delicious. With a prawn and chive filling, scallop and pork and prawn these mouthfuls were delightful. Following this I had a starter of hot and sour soup and chicken and sweetcorn. Hot and Sour was Peng! The chicken and sweetcorn seem pretty standard to me, you could probably pick this up for a fraction of the price in Chinatown and it would be fine.
DIM SUM SELECTION
For my main, I had Spicy Prawns (with lilly bulb and almond), Peking Duck and Pancake, Sweet and Sour Pork and this was accompanied by rice and noodles. In comparison to the starters that we tried, the mains did disappoint. Although they were still tasty, next time I would happily exchange my main dishes with more dim sum or another starter. The meat was tender, however the noodles tasted like something I could probably remodel at home.
Finally, the dessert offered a different take on Asian desserts. Until my visit to Hakkasan I have never been impressed with Chinese desserts. We ended the meal with the Matcha Apple Custard Bun and the Jivara Bomb (milk chocolate and praline desert). These were a delight, they were not too rich and encompassed eastern flavours with a subtle sweetness. The Matcha bun requires an acquired taste, but I loved it. The pastry was lovely, and if you like green tea this will be a delight.
SERVICE
So the food ranged from delicious to standard, but I must say the service was notably mediocre. Considering the price tag of eating here, you would expect the service to be on point. Because of this we decided to remove the service charge ( which I don’t often do) and this caused all sorts of drama which cemented why we took it off in the first place.
Hakkasan is definitely worth going to and is perfect for a special occasion or date night as the atmosphere welcomes occasion, but better service would have made me more tempted to come back here. There are more places around London where you could have equally tasty dim sum.
TIP: Don’t over order (as there is no option to take away any remaining food). Order as and how you want more food. They bring it out quite quick and it’s better than wasting money.
I love food and I’m sure people with a hearty soul do as well. It brings memories to people and brings them together. I myself try to eat as much food as I can as much and as many different types. I just wish I could cook as good as I eat!
This year, I had the privilege of being taken to learn to make Dim Sum and it was fantastic! I went to the London Cookery School in Holborn in London.
With Dim Sum being one of my ultimate go tos, what better way to indulge in these bite size delights than learning how to make them. With Chef Will at the helm, the class got to work.
Dim Sum translates as small heart, which refers to the bite size nature of these Chinese delights. From light fried pastries to steamed dumplings, dim sum is (as referred to in class) in a way Chinese Tapas. The techniques used to make dim sum have been around forever!
I attended this class on a rainy April morning, and I hadn’t even waltzed in yet and I was already starving! I walked into the class and was greeted with a selection of Chinese teas, including Oolong and Green, alongside a recipe booklet. This was a great way to ease you into the class and get you ready for lunchtime.
Once the class was settled, with their tea, Chef told us about the type of dumplings we were going to be making and the etiquette of dim sum. The dim sum we were making were steamed, but there are of course fried ones too. Chef proceeded to demonstrate each dumpling and then we weighed out our ingredients and got to work.
We were taught how to make three dim sum:
Pork Sui Mai: Open top pork dumplings
Har Gow (prawn dumplings)
Chiu Chow Fun Gwor (Steamed dumplings)
Once we had gone through each recipe, they were steamed and we could dig in! We were given chopsticks, dipping vinegar and soy sauce. As it happens, dim sum are not actually supposed to be eaten with soy sauce as the Chinese believe that each individual ingredient should be tasted for what it is. This style resonates throughout Chinese cooking, particularly with dim sum, the natural flavours of the meats and veg is what shines through! If you notice, it is not the done thing to cover Chinese food in lashings and lashings of sauce.
I’m trying!
Overall I would highly rate this experience, and Chef was fantastic. Not only did he show us step by step demonstration, but he came round and offered solo help to let us know we were doing OK. Chef highlighted the best accompaniments, dim sum eateries and facts about Chinese cooking as we went along. He was personable and a great teacher!
Perisha Kudhail 