Ohh Vienna - Cremeria Vienna

I'd better post this one quickly, but I think .. I think .. it has stopped raining. Summer is here. Let’s celebrate. Ice-cream, anyone? As any fool knows there’s only one place in Islington to head for quality ice-cream. Blackstock Road. Yeah, you heard me.

Now firstly, I don’t really get why an Italian ice-cream place is called Cremeria Vienna. But who cares? Blackstock Road has been trying it’s best to become more interesting for the foodie for many years, and this is a more than welcome addition to the stretch. Being on the junction with Brownswood Road I make it just inside the Islington border. When you have a blog called ‘Foodie Islington’, you start to get pedantic about these things. You could very easily miss this place due to an oddly placed cashpoint right on the corner of the shop. In fact I did, several times.

This place is the actual real deal – they make their own ice cream and sell it fresh within 24 hours. The ice cream is very good – a sweet and refreshing quality, with flavours very prominent. Portions are generous and reasonably priced, certainly for the quality. They are possibly less heart-stoppingly creamy than the poshest posh ice-cream, but for a sunny day or a stop-off with the kids after school this is bang on.

I have no idea what a business like this does for the 350 days of the year that the weather is cold or rainy. But for those 15 days when the sun does come out, it’s nice to know they are there.



Cremeria Vienna
145 Blackstock Road
London N4 2JS

Bánh Mì Off – Phở Express v Bún Chả Cafe

While the rest of foodie London is in the grip of an apparently unquenchable mania for hamburgers, with new super-hyped burger enterprises and even burger iPhone apps emerging by the week (and I should say at this point that I love a good burger as much as the next man), I would have to argue the case for Bánh mì as the best sandwich ever invented. Like Phở and other Vietnamese dishes it is a pleasing and balanced marriage of French and South-East Asian cuisines, a baguette filled usually with pâté along with a selection of meats, fresh Asian herbs and vegetables. The Bánh mì is one of those rare foods that is at the same time delicious and indulgent, but also seemingly wholesome and not altogether unhealthy. There has to be at least one of the dreaded 'five portions' in every Bánh mì. The humble carrot, for instance, usually makes an appearance in julienned form, and I always feel that the carrot has finally found its calling when I feel it's crunch and sweetness balancing out the other elements in a Bánh mì.

I first ate Bánh mì on a trip to Vietnam, about a decade ago now. That first one has assumed a sort of Platonic-ideal status in my memory, containing as it did little pieces of pork crackling along with a bewildering array of other flavours which somehow integrated into a whole. I remember wondering why these sandwiches were not available on every corner of every city in the world. Ten years later and London is, thankfully, pleasantly sprinkled with Bánh mì outlets of one kind or another, with even the EAT sandwich chain having a go (and failing dismally). The Bánh mì is not quite as ubiquitous as it deserves to be (for instance, if I was in charge you would see them in schools and outside football matches), and in most city offices you will still meet the depressing sight of people eating petrol-station-style sandwiches from Boots or Tesco. But there is no doubt there has been a significant step forward for foodie civilisation.

In Islington, we have the tiny Phở Express on Upper St, and the Bún Chả Cafe on Exmouth Market. A little further afield, there are the many good Vietnemese places around Old St and Kingsland Road, plus a few around the Theobald’s Road and Clerkenwell Road area. The excellent Banhmi11 are also to be found on the 'Eat St' stretch of Kings Boulevard behind Kings Cross station on selected days. In the name of research, I decided to stage an informal Bánh mì contest between Phở Express and Bún chả Cafe for the borough’s best.

Phở Express, in case you have missed it, is a tiny, funky place on Upper St, roughly opposite Ottolenghi, with space for one or two diners slurping the Phở which they also serve (hence the name). The Bánh mì here is superb – served in a  warm and fresh baguette, baked enough to have the right brown colour and hard crunch with soft bread inside. Fillings are very fresh, and the grilled pork is delicious. Chilli is applied in enough quantity for you to know its there. This little place kicks so many of Upper St’s notoriously mediocre food options into touch, for a fraction of the price.

Bún Chả Cafe is a relatively recent addition to the veritable embarrassment of foodie riches on Exmouth Market. Perhaps Bún chả (grilled pork noodle soup) is their thing – I’ll be back another day to check. Not having visited before, I was hoping for a more exciting Bánh mì contest, and was even planning to document detailed scores for bread, pork, herbs, and the other ingredients. Unfortunately, the Bánh mì-off was over as a contest as soon as I saw the bread. There's not much in this world that gets my goat more than an undercooked baguette (food-wise anyway). Fillings had a lack of freshness, lack of chilli, and an unappetising mayo drizzled over the top. If there were Bánh mì top trumps cards, Phở Express would have won every possible permutation. Still, a definitive outcome at least – anyone looking for a top-notch Bánh mì in Islington can be confidently directed to one place: Phở Express. If I lived or worked close to Upper St, I would be down there on a daily basis.

Phở Express
149 Upper St
London N1 1RA


  Bún Chả Cafe
  49 Exmouth Market
  London EC1R

The Fat Of The Land – Foraging In Islington

As foodies know, what with NOMA and everything, foraging is all the rage. But can you actually forage food in the city, in a borough like Islington which is known for a shortage of green space? Apparently you can. I doubt very much whether you could survive by foraging alone and actually live off the fat of the land so to speak, but there is edible stuff out there, in the cracks of pavements (although with the number of dogs around, foraging on pavements might not be for me), in housing estates, parks, and community gardens. Wilderness centres such as Gillespie Park and community gardens such as the Olden Garden on Whistler Street, and King Henry’s Walk Garden in the Mildmay area are filled with berries and edible flowers and plants. Plants such as Dandelion and Elderflower, and many forms of cress, are found in abundance wherever you care to look.

I recently attended a guided talk on foraging at the hidden-away gem King Henry’s Walk Garden, given by Bob Gilbert, author of 'The Green London Way'. He identified many plants, generally discarded as weeds, which can be eaten. Whether you would actually want to is another matter and one I have yet to put to the test, but one or two were certainly very interesting. The common nettle can apparently be cooked like spinach (dock leaves too) and used to replace hops as a bittering agent in brewing. The blue flower of the Alkanet – known as “poor man’s henna” - can be used to decorate salads, as can a dog violet. The dandelion can be used in many ways – the leaves as a bitter addition to a salad, the flowers to make wine, and the roots can be dried and made into a coffee substitute, which by all accounts is revolting, so it's not clear why anyone would bother. Sloes can of course be made into Sloe Gin (although I prefer it straight myself). Wild herbs and forms of mint, including wild water-mint in ponds, are also abundant.

By far the most intruiging identification from a foodie perspective was ‘Jack By The Hedge’, or garlic mustard, a wild leaf with a very distinctive aroma and flavour of garlic (pictured right). I have since discovered that the internet is, predictably enough, full of recipes making use of this plant.

The next step for the budding forager will be to actually produce something from locally foraged material – and when I get there I will post more. This little post is just a few thoughts and musings on what is possible.

UPDATE 16/07/12: Anna Colquhoun has kindly pointed out that as Gillespie Park is on contaminated land it is inadvisable to pick leaves there, but berries should be fine. Anna is the author of Eat Slow Britain and runs Nordic cookery classes in Highbury, bookable via her website http://www.culinaryanthropologist.org.






King Henry's Walk Garden
11c King Henry's Walk
London N1 4NX

One Night At The Peranakan Palace - Plussixfive Supper Club Goes Stellar

Islington-based Singaporean supper club plussixfive is the kind of thing I am somewhat reluctant to spread the word about. While it has a significant and growing following, with events selling out within days of their announcement, the fact remains that if this operation was as popular as it deserves to be, yours truly would not be getting one of the 25 or so seats. The brainchild of confident and talented young Singaporean Goz, this supper club is a proper foodie joint - by foodies, for foodies. Food wimps need not apply. This of course has a positive effect on the quality of the guests, of which more later. Previous themes have included the 'Fish Head Curry' feast, including menu descriptions such as 'Fish Skin & Bones', a St John-esque description in terms of both the implied foodie challenge, and it's deceptive simplicity. The dish in question was utterly delicious and surprising - crispy, highly seasoned, like Asian piscine pork scratchings. Then there were sambal eggs from guest chef Shu Han (she of the jam-packed recipe blog mummyicancook), prawns cooked with cereal, the fish-head curry, and any number of delectable and unusual dishes. But I digress.

The latest plussixfive event was dubbed 'One Night At The Peranakan Palace', a celebration of Nyonya cuisine. This time Goz was teaming up with Jason, the flamboyant, ubiquitous foodie obsessive behind the excellent Feast to the World blog. This meal somehow managed to top the previous one, and has to go down as one of the best meals I have ever eaten, anywhere. (Cranking it up and up, rather than resting on laurels, is always a sign of a high quality food enterprise.)

The meal started with poh piah, a kind of fresh rolled wrapped in what seemed to be a homemade ‘skin’ rice pancake. The filling was a combination of delicious cooked ingredients and fresh ingredients with chilli, coriander, and bean sprouts. As with all the other dishes, I could happily have eaten this all evening.

Then came Mee Siam, a tasty noodle dish with a laksa-like spiced sauce, in a mercifully small portion. I was already starting to feel full at this point.

For mains we got Chap Chye, which was ostensibly a vegetable dish but full of pork products and made with an incredibly tasty stock. There was a chicken dish good enough to blow most restaurant dishes out of the water, which was overshadowed both in richness of flavour, and in the stomach capacity of most of the guests, by the beef rendang. This rendition of rendang (see what I did there?) was a glorious dish, cooked overnight, moist beef, dark, rich, homogenous in colour, garnished with chilli, somehow slow-cooked and caramelised at the same time, with an almost dry sauce, and enormous depth of flavour. Like an Asian version of a perfectly rich bourguignon (cooked by someone like Bruno Loubet), but with the added elements of coconut, spices, and the unique cooking technique. I ate as much of it as I could manage. There were short-rib bones for chewing too. I had followed a tip from beer expert Melissa Cole and taken along a Trippel belgian-style blonde ale to go with the rendang, and it worked a treat.

Dessert involved coconut, shaved ice (which the guests got to have a go at producing), and some sweet and undeniably testicular seeds, all of which was new to me and delicious despite the slightly disturbing mouthfeel. Then came Ondeh Ondeh, chewy, green, slimy, glutinous balls covered in coconut, to continue the nose-to-testicle theme.

There was, as ever, way too much food. This is in keeping with the atmosphere of generosity. We are not looking for perfectly balanced Michelin portions at a supper club. I want it to feel like Christmas with my long-lost Asian grandmother, who will be mortally offended if I don't force down some more rendang. And it is like that, only more hip and London-ish.

An unannounced dish arrived between courses, which involved minced pork and I'm not sure what else, wrapped in tofu and deep fried. Goz described this as a 'snack'. Just in case anyone was, y'know, hungry or something. It was, unsurprisingly, delicious.

The crowd is a lively mixture of Singaporean and Malaysian expats gagging for an authentic taste of home, and intrepid London foodies who have caught the buzz on this place from each other via twitter or elsewhere. I have met several like-minded foodie friends at these events and picked up some great tips as well. It has to be said that the atmosphere is helped by Goz, who has all the right personality traits for a supper club host - generous, open, relaxed and unflappable. His serene swan-like glide as the dishes come streaming from the tiny kitchen may well hide some furious paddling below the surface, but the overall effect is that everything is OK, it's cool, just relax and enjoy. And enjoy we did. Goz has been making noises about taking plussixfive in a different direction. I have no idea what that means, but whatever it is, I hope it stays around these parts, and I hope they keep letting me in.

plussixfive supper club

http://plusixfive.wordpress.com/

http://www.edibleexperiences.com/

Medcalf – Please Move To My Street

A delightful restaurant in Islington serving modern British food at fair prices, Medcalf is a seductive sort of place that draws you in as you go through your meal, until you leave thinking yeah, lunch, I really need to do this more often, like actually sitting down and eating lunch with a knife and fork. Maybe even a bit of pud. So why isn’t there more talk about it?

Never having worked in the restaurant trade I’m not sure how these things work, but I can’t help thinking that this place suffers from its location, and specifically its proximity to the mighty Moro, the undisputed Daddy (or should that be Mummy & Daddy) of Exmouth Market dining, and the equally charming Morito. If this restaurant was in, say, Hornsey Road or Tufnell Park, I dare say you would never hear the end of people talking about it. Witness the paroxysms of rapture (mixed metaphors? Whatevs) with which local foodies greeted the arrival of, say, Season Kitchen on Stroud Green Road and Trullo on St Pauls’ Road. Both of those are very good restaurants, but they benefit in reputation and general noise-level from being oases in the middle of relative culinary deserts.

In years to come we may well  look back and laugh or sneer at the whole “small plates” thing as a hilarious and outdated fad of our current era, and in fact there may be advanced, in-the-know foodies out there who have already started the backlash. But I have to say I dig it. I really dig it. I hope it’s here to stay. One of the first things I want in a restaurant is an appetising menu. Any time I find myself in a decent restaurant, I usually want everything on the menu, in fact that’s often one of the measures of what I consider a good restaurant. So to be able to order everything on the menu that takes my fancy is really just the ticket. This place has a kind of British take on the small-plates thing, less out-there and St John-ish than St John Bread & Wine, perhaps more Simon Hopkinson-y in tone if they will forgive me that comparison, which is intended as a compliment. There are a few larger 'mains' on the menu as well.

Those like me who are applauding the wresting of the brewing industry back from the corporate clutches of those who destroyed it (a fancy way of saying “people who like drinking nice beer”) are always cheered to see a decent beer range on offer, and Medcalf has a nicely balanced drinks menu with good wine and beer selections. The inclusion of real ale seems particularly appropriate given the British, hearty style of the food. A Kernel Porter was a perfect match for a plate of oysters on my last visit.

This is a great spot for a spot of lunch. Or dinner. The people involved may be happy to continue to quietly do their thing with skill and style. But I wish they’d move to my street.

Medcalf
40 Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QE