Kimchi Cult Returns to the Black Heart in Camden

 

After a successful stint earlier in the year Kimchi Cult return for another residency at the Black Heart in Camden where they will serve up their Korean inspired street food including K-style burgers, fries, and chicken wings.  

Kimchi Cult spent 2 years grazing the streets of Korea to perfect their Kimchi recipe so no wonder they have made such an impact since hitting the London street food scene. They offer a great fusion of much loved American comfort foods with exotic sweet and hot flavours of Korean food.  

For some good inexpensive food head down to the Black Heart in Camden Wednesday to Friday from the 4^th April. 

 

From 4^th April

2-3 Greenland Pl, London, Greater London NW1 0AP

Real Street Food Festival this Bank Holiday Weekend!

Real Food Festivals are holding their first in a series of quarterly street food festivals. The festival will take place form 29^th March – 1^st April at the Southbank Centre and features an extensive list of London’s best street food traders including; Búntà, Speck Mobile, Bleecker Street Burger and Horn OK Please. You can check out the full line up of traders here. As well as food there will be live music on hand to keep you entertained as well as the many activities on offer along the Southbank. 

 

“Combining the amazing multiculturalism of London’s street food scene, with the ethos and philosophy of Real Food, the Festivals will offer well sourced, great quality food made by serious traders who truly care about what they do and how they do it, and all at one of London's most beautiful, iconic riverside locations.”

 

Free

29^th March – 1^st April
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Link

Fingers & Thumbs Shellfish Pop-up

Are you a fan of shellfish? Then this pop-up is for you! Fingers & Thumbs are back for three nights over Easter offering up their buckets of Lobsters, Whole Brown Crabs, Scottish Langoustines, Mussels and Clams along with home made bread to mop up their delicious sauces. Their motto this time around is Go Big or Go Home! promising bigger and more shellfish than ever.

They will be running for three nights from the 28^th to 30^th March at Babble Jar in Stoke Newington. Their previous events have proved to be very popular so book early to avoid disappointment. 

Booking:

Tel - 07815808735

Tweet - @FingAndThumbs

FB Message - Link

28th - 30th March, 5-9.30 (6.30-9.30 Thurs)

76 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 7JL

Street Feast is Back!

 

 

After hosting hugely popular weekly night markets throughout last year as well as some recent one off events such as #BROOKLYNFEAST Street Feast are returning with their weekly Friday night markets offering up some seriously good food, drinks and vibes.  

 

They have found a new home in The Merchant Yard on Kingsland Road with an indoor cocktail bar, an outdoor bar and lounge area and a raised dining terrace. 

 

The line up of traders announced so far is very special indeed with the likes of The Ribman, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Anna Mae's and Luardos to name but a few.  

 

If that wasn’t enough Stripped Back by Ben Spalding is back bringing his refined culinary skills to the street serving up his unique take on street food inspired by his award-wining professional career that boasts 10 Michelin starred kitchens in 4 different countries.

 

Every Friday 5pm-Midnight from 12th April

317-319 Kingsland Road, E8 4DL

 

www.streetfeastlondon.com

Free Pizza from the Slice Girls!

 

To launch their partnership with Ridley Road Market Bar the Slice Girls are serving up their wood-fire stone oven pizzas for free on Sunday 24^th March. The fun doesn’t stop at free pizza either, they have a traditional Routmaster bus pumping out 90’s classics which will play host to an open decks session allowing you 15 minutes to impress the crowd with your best 90’s inspired playlist, there will be a prize for the DJ that gets the most people dancing.

The Slice Girls will be at Ridley Road Market Bar every Sunday from 3pm onwards but the pizzas are only free on the 24^th March for their Launch.

Pizza menu:

Mama – Rosemary Bianco Pizza

Viva Forever – Margherita with Islington’s Pico Salumi Salami

Wannabe – Margherita with Rocket

2 become 1 – half & half

Drinks menu:

The Ginger One – Ginger Mojito

Baby Pink – Tequila and Freshly Squeezed Grapefruit Juice

Tropically Posh – Pina Colada

Fierce Spice – Cuba Libre

Sporty – Gin Tang

24th March
49 Ridley Road, E8 2NP
Event Link

London Coffee Festival

The London Coffee Festival takes over the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane between 25^th to 28^th April.

The old brewery will be transformed into a coffee Mecca with 8 uniquely themed zones including; True Artisan Cafe – a place to sample the best independent coffee from around the globe, The Lab Stage - hosting  an exciting programme of live interactive demonstrations, workshops and debates,  and The Roastery – live roasting demonstrations filling the air with aromas of coffee, caramel, nut and chocolate.

Thee will also be live music all weekend from some of London’s best acoustic talent and a host of food on offer including; Hog Roast, Gourmet Burgers, Indian Rhoti Wraps, Dim Sum and more.

The festival will be kicking off in style with Espresso Martini launch party in the evening of the first day.  

For more details and tickets check out the official website - Link

Tickets £9.50 Advance, £12.50 door
25th - 28th April
91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL

FEAST

 

Last weekend FEAST food festival returned with a bang, a very big bang. This time round the 4 day event was held at tobacco dock, this was a somewhat last-ish minute change of venue (they announced the change in venue shortly before tickets went on sale) and it is easy to see why they did. The venue offers both intimate underground vaults downstairs and a warehouse style upstairs with lofted semi open ceilings, the perfect setting for what was so much more than just a food festival.

The FEAST experience offers a mix of the top names in street food and some of the most exciting new restaurants as well as live bands and fully stocked bars, a great mix that creates an exciting and buzzy atmosphere, so much more than a lifeless food festival in an exhibition centre.

If you haven’t been before I would highly recommend going to the next one, I have heard rumours that they have already started planning one in June, it seems each event is getting bigger and more popular so keep an eye out for the announcement of tickets.

Here’s my take on the food stalls I managed to get round:

First up was Beard to Tail, the meat centric restaurant based on Curtain Road were offering pulled pork sliders and wild boar faggots, I went for the pulled pork slider. I have to say pulled pork is always a winner and a bit of a safe bet so I though it was going to be hard to make a judgement, however I only managed to get half way through my slider before the rest was demolished by my friends, all of whom ended up getting their own afterwards which says it all. The pork was nice and tender and dripping in a sweet flavoursome sauce, defiantly one of the better pulled pork buns I have tried. Although I have read mixed reviews about their restaurant I think they are defiantly worth a go after trying their pulled pork.
 

Next I tried Beagle the restaurant / bar / coffee shop opening its doors under 3 railway arches in Hoxton later this month. James Ferguson previously head chef at Rochelle Canteen will be heading up the kitchen offering a daily-changing menu based on seasonal produce-led British dishes. I opted for their buttermilk fried rabbit with black bean salad. The rabbit was nice and succulent whilst the batter beautifully crispy without distracting from the meat, the bean salad was nice and fresh and a good accompaniment to the rabbit. Defiantly worth a visit when it opens its doors.

 

Being the burrito lover I am and missing my regular burrito lunch to save room for the night’s feastivities it was inevitable that I was going to have a Luardos burrito, the street food vendor based in Whitecross Street. Having heard great things about these burritos they have been on my burrito hit list for some time now and boy they did not disappoint, the tortilla was fluffy, the meat was succulent and tender with a good choice on offer, the fillings fresh and the guacamole was smooth and refreshing. However it was the little touches that made this burrito stand out, as they heat the tortilla they add the cheese allowing it to melt, they add a sprinkle of fresh coriander to liven things up and they have very good sauces, beware the hot is not for the faint hearted. The one regret I had about the burrito was that I shared half of it with a friend, big mistake!

 

 

After a quick drink and a listen to the band I opted to try Pizza Pilgrims the street food operation based in Berwick Street serving freshly baked pizzas out the back of their 3 wheel van. I opted for the ‘Nduja’, dubbed the bad boy sausage pizza which as it turns out has a bit of a kick to it which was a nice surprise and I have to say it was an exceptional pizza, the dough was soft and all the ingredients excellent, defiantly one of the best and most authentic pizzas I have had in London.

 

I had room for one more little portion, having been to a few of these events but never getting round to trying them I went for a HIX's Fish Dog, the posh fish finger street food joint, well actually they were doing doughnuts as well so I tried both. For me fish fingers have always been just good comfort food, something you enjoy when you can’t be bothered cooking which is probably why they were never my first choice at these events. However after tucking in I realised how good simple comfort food can be if done properly, the addition of mushy peas and a vibrant tartar sauce to a freshly prepared fish finger took the simple fish finger sandwich to a new level. The doughnuts weren’t bad either.

 

Before being ushered out of the venue I was lucky enough to be offered a free Big Apple Hot Dogs! These guys have several street food stalls around London and are the big hitters when it comes to hot dogs. Having a few dogs left and not wanting to want to waste they gave them out to the last few people in the venue, you wouldn’t see your high street chain doing that! I have had BAHDs before and have to say they are the best in town, proper dogs made from proper ingredients, if you haven’t tried one do, they will change your perception of the simple hot dog.

 

 

Although not having had one on the night myself most of my friends did so I thought it only right to give a shout out to Patty & Bun, the newish burger joint based behind Bond Street tube. I was lucky enough to find this place soon after it opened and before the queues got to big. They are great burgers and one of my favourites in town, they seemed to have managed to get the balance of different ingredients and toppings just right. The massive queue they had all night spoke volumes about the quality of their burgers.

 

Check on presents... 'Hen Party'

Since their first sell out pop up success 'Northern Invasion, the check on lads are back to take on the traditional Sunday roast with a four course sharing menu based around Reg Johnson's free range Goosnargh chickens. The two events are on Sunday afternoons at The Endurance in Soho on 24th March & 7th April. Get your tickets here

Don't just expect meat and two veg! 

Menu:

Chicken Dippers

Tea & Dumplings

Spineless Chicken & Truffled Chips

Eggs & Soldiers

Tickets £30

24th March & 7th April

90 Berwick Street, W1F 0QB

Burger Monday’s London Burger Bash Returns!

Young and foodish are holding their next Burger Monday's London Burger Bash! Five of London’s and one of Manchester's top burger joints competing for one Golden Patty prize and a place in the LBB final. A ticket will get you six half burgers and two half pints, a half burger from each competitor so you can make your own mind up as to who serves up the best burger in town. 

Taking part are:

Tim Anderson - Nanban

Manuel Andrades - Mother Flipper
Marc Brown - Joe Allen
Joe Grossman - Patty & Bun
Beau Mayers - Almost Famous
Richard Turner - Hawksmoor

The event will be held over two days (two sessions) at the Camden brewery in Kentish Town.

Tickets have just been released but will sell out very very quickly as all of Burger Monday’s events do. You can get your hands on them here.

This is a must do for all burger lovers out there.

Tickets £50

7th & 8th April

55-59 Wilkin Street Mews, NW5 3NN

Mussels & Prosecco Pop-Up

The Mussel Men are back popping up in several locations across London throughout March and April. What started as a street food company offering, you guessed it, mussels has taken to pop-ups. Having already run several successful events earlier in the year the team are continuing their assault across London. An advanced ticket (£35, £40 on the door) for two people will get you a kilo of Shetland mussels, skinny fries, a bottle of Prosecco and a waffle with ice cream and chocolate sauce to share, not bad going for £17.50 each!

 

20^th – 21^st March – The Shop NW10 – 75 Chamberlayne Road, NW10 3ND

28^th – 31^st March – Brew for Two – 101 Morning Lane, Hackney, E96ND

12^th – 14^th April  - TBC

26^th – 28^th April – Fabrica – 582 Kingsland Road, E8 4AR

 

Tickets

Secret Cinema Tickets Now on Sale

You won’t know what you’re watching or where you will be watching it but that’s half the fun.

Expect an immersive experience that makes you feel like you are walking into the movie itself with cleverly designed surroundings, actors and performers popping up around you telling you where to go, and creating scenes that eventually lead you to watch the movie. 

To find out more on what to expect check out the Evening Standard review by Nick Curtis of their previous screening of Shawshank Redemption - Link

 Tickets went on sale this morning for dates throughout April to June, the first few dates of which have already sold out.

24th April - 9th June

Tickets Here

Pop Up Ping Pong Launch Party

This is a bit of a tongue twister but here goes.... Pop Up Ping Pong are launching their new ping pong pop up events on Saturday 16^th March in an unused pub in Kensington. 

There will be 3 full sized ping pong tables hosting a tournament for those that fancy their chances.  

#BRGR (www.hashtagbrgr.com) will be serving up mini burger duos in soft brioche buns (£7). 

Drinks (starting from £2) and music will keep the party going till late. 

16^th March 6.30pm – 1.00am

Ticket £5 on the door or in advance – Tickets

54 Russell Gardens, London, W14 8EZ

Twitter

Website

Mother Clucker’s Residency at the Endurance Soho

Posh fried Chicken defiantly seems to be the major food trend of 2013 so far and it looks like it is set to continue as Mother Clucker take a six week residency at the Endurance Soho. They will be serving up traditional Southern, twice fried, free range chicken, marinated in a sweet tea brine, coated in buttermilk and a secret blend of spices served with a myriad of hot sauces from around the world.

 

18^th March  - 28^th April

90 Berwick Street, London, W1F 0QB

Link - Mother Clucker

Link - The Endurance

Apply for the best jobs in the world

 

Feeling the Monday blues? Then apply for the best jobs in the world!

 

Back in 2009 Australia tourism advertised what they called ‘the best job in the world’, offering a 6 figure salary to work as Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef. Well they are back at it again but this time there are six jobs up for offer all with six figure salaries. The jobs on offer this time round include; Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne), Chief Funster (New South Wales), Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory), Park Ranger (Queensland), Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia) or Taste Master (Western Australia). You can find more information and apply via their website.

What's On - Quiz Night @ Disco Bistro with Howard Marks

Disco Bistro will be holding their first quiz night on Wednesday 27th March hosted by the one and only Howard Marks, the author of Mr Nice! Tickets go on sale later this week, to be in with a chance of getting your hands on some follow @DiscoBistroEC4 on Twitter and look out for the announcement.

Tickets: £TBC

Wednesday 27th March

61 Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5DY

 

http://www.discobistroec4.co.uk/

What's On - Spit & Roast Jamboree

Spit & Roast are hosting their 2nd Jamboree! Spit & Roast welcome fellow street food traders The Orange Buffalo, Bleecker St Burger and Sorbitium for the second in their series of special nights of great food and great vibes in the upstairs of the Alice House Pub in Shoreditch. Tickets include 4 courses and a glass of Prosecco on arrival.

 

Tickets: £32.5

Friday 15th March

40 Commercial St, E1 6LP



http://spitandroast2.eventbrite.com/

What's On - Wax's Hogo Shake Up

The Upper Street favourite Wax Jambu closed down last month much to its regulars despair, however fear not as Wax Jambu have opened their new rum and whisky pop-up; Wax’s Hogo Shake Up at the William IV pub in Shoreditch whilst they search for a new permanent home. The pop-up will have some great nights of entertainment with cocktail competitions, tastings, premium whiskeys and rum. The pop-up will run until 1^st May.


Free
Now – 1^st May
7 Sherpedess Walk, London, N1 7QE

http://www.waxjambu.co.uk/

Review - Disco Bistro EC4

Disco Bistro is home to Carl Clarke's latest venture, a six month residency at the Rising Sun pub in St Paul's. There's a not so limited bar menu downstairs in the pub and full menu in the fifty seater dining space upstairs.

After seeing the rave reviews and pictures of the mouth-watering menu all over twitter soon after its launch I knew this place would be worth a visit, and I couldn’t have been more right.

The place is dimly lit with a brick-a-brac decor, the staff are friendly yet laid back and seem to genuinely care. The crowd is a 20-30 something mix of couples and groups. The combination gives the place a relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere.

Whilst you wait for your food you get a small sugary bread roll just to let you know what a treat you are in for.

The menu is not extensive but is one of those that frustrates you by making you chooses just one but wanting everything.

For starters I tried the sticky chicken wings and the Grilled ½ shell scallops with black pudding & apple. The chicken wings were a chicken lover’s dream, the chicken was tender, batter fluffy yet crispy and the meat fell of the bone, these were worlds apart from your drunken late night stop in the fried chicken shop. The scallops were perfectly cooked with a great consistency and texture throughout whilst the accompaniment of the black pudding and apple gave a great blend of sweet and savoury flavours to the dish.

 

 

 

For the main I tried both the Buttermilk fried chicken roll with Pat's hot sauce, avocado, bacon and spicy mayo, and the Disco burger – Pure Devon Ruby patty with cheese, bacon and BBQ short rib. I have eaten a lot of good burgers over the last year since the explosion of London’s burger scene so these two had some stiff competition.

 

First off all the chicken burger, this for me was a real knockout, it had everything I liked done to perfection, the noticeable but subtle hit of the spicy mayo balanced out by the fresh creaminess of the avocado with a juicy, tender bit of fried chicken in the lightest crispy batter, all those flavours exploding and mixing perfectly with every bite.

 

The Disco burger was no disappointment either, the patty had great flavour, was crisp on the outside and blushing pink on the inside just how I like it, the bun was soft and the balance of other ingredients in the burger was done well. However the real treat in this burger for me was the BBQ short rib, this just added a layer of flavour and softness to each bite, it did make things a bit more messy but when the mess tastes that good who cares.

They also do a short but inexpensive cocktail list which are well thought out and well worth a go.

This is a must go before it ends.

Rating: 5/5
Price 2 course: £17-28
61 Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5DY

http://www.discobistroec4.co.uk/