Shake Shack, London

After all the hype when both Five Guys and Shake Shack first landed in London (I heard rumours of 1.5 hour long queues!), I finally got round to trying Shake Shack on Saturday! Amazingly enough, the second Five Guys in England opened in Reading (we got somewhere cool for once!) so I have already been a couple of times, and despite what everyone else seems to think, I really enjoyed it, so was eager to see how Shake Shack would stack up!

Shake Shack is located in the Covent Garden Piazza, and has mainly outdoor seating (with heaters so you can still get your burger fix in winter!), plus a small indoor area for those less hardy burger fans. You queue on one side to place your order (they have a theme park style queue barrier - that's when you know a place is popular!), get handed a buzzer, then when it goes off you go and get your order at the collection window.

I decided to go for the double ShackBurger (cheese, tomato, lettuce and Shack sauce) as I wanted to try the Shack sauce - I also went for cheese fries and a vanilla concrete with chocolate hazelnut brownie and hot fudge sauce. Concretes are a Shake Shack special and are basically frozen custard mixed up with loads of delicious toppings! James chose the double SmokeShack - cheese, smoked bacon, chopped cherry pepper and Shack sauce - normal fries, and a single sticky toffee concrete, which had vanilla custard, chocolate toffee, chocolate chunks, salted caramel sauce and malt powder.

The double Shackburger

Cheese fries

The full tray!

A lot of my friends thought I might not like the chips here as they might be too crispy for my taste, but I thought they were great! They were crispy on the outside but with a fluffy inside so they avoided the ultimate crime of being chip shells. The cheese sauce was thick and rich; the only other time I have had cheese sauce over actual cheese on chips was at Ed's Diner and I hated it, but that merely speaks volumes about Ed's Diner rather than me not liking cheese sauce, as these were excellent! Also the chips somehow didn't get soggy!

The burger was also really, really good. To start with, the bun - it was soft and squidgy and exactly the right size so you didn't get sauce all over your hands. The burger was also really juicy, pink in the middle and had an almost barbecued taste (not burnt BBQ from a bad summer fete, a really good BBQ!) and the lettuce was fresh and added a nice crunch. I ate my tomatoes separately but they were plump and juicy!  The only thing I wasn't so keen on was the Shack Sauce - it was a bit of an unappealing shade of pink, and it was too mayonnaisey for my liking. Next time I'd just use the mustard and ketchup which are helpfully already decanted into plastic dipping pots for you to take!

The double SmokeShack

I think James' burger looks possibly even more appealing than mine - maybe to do with the lack of vegetation and purely cheese and meat here?! He thought the same as me and really enjoyed his burger; the only thing we differed on was that he thought it beat Five Guys hands down, and while I agreed it probably was a better burger here, I don't think it outstrips Five Guys by as much as everyone else says!

Finally, onto the concretes. I was really excited to try these!

Silly James didn't take a picture of his as he was too impatient to start eating, but you can kind of see it in this one! Next time I will impose much more stringent photography rules on him.

The sad thing for me was that James' concrete was about a million times nicer than mine! It was amazingly smooth and sweet, but the salt in the caramel meant it wasn't overpoweringly so. There was lots of chocolate topping in his too, which was what mine sadly lacked - there were only about 3 bits of brownie! So my verdict on Concretes is that they can be absolutely delicious, but choose wisely!

My overall opinion is that Shake Shack is a must visit. It's pretty expensive for fast food, but equally it's good quality, fun, and really really tasty! See their Covent Garden website and menu here.

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Nino's, Pangbourne

To continue my attempts to try independent restaurants in and around Reading, as well as all the amazing ones in London, on Thursday I ventured to Pangbourne where Nino's, an Italian trattoria, is located. It is owned by the epoymous Nino Bartolomei, who took retirement, shutting down his town centre Nino's, but soon decided he missed restaurant life (who wouldn't?!) and so reopened in Pangbourne! Nino's was something of an establishment in Reading, and Nino also owned several spin off restaurants such as Quattro in Caversham (which I'm hoping to visit soon!), so I was looking forward to seeing if this restaurant was indeed something worth coming out of retirement for!

Nino's is a tiny little restaurant with probably only space for about thirty diners; when we arrived at 7.30 there were only 4 other people there so I was questioning the necessity of my reservation, but by about 8.30 it was completely full. The good thing is that you don't feel crammed in like sardines at all, and it's always comforting to know that other people think it's worth eating there!

There is no website for the new Pangbourne Nino's, so I was going in blind - simultaneously exciting and annoying, as there is nothing I love more than a pre-meal online menu perusal. However, so none of you have to go through that if you don't want to, here is a picture of the menu for your viewing pleasure

So many of the starters were really tempting, but I decided to steer clear of anything breadcrumbed or fried (goodbye, breaded mozzarella...); I wanted something a bit lighter, so I went for the "Calamaria Diavola" - squid in a spicy tomato and white wine sauce.

This starter really was absolutely delicious. The tomato sauce was light and fresh, with a slight heat and a hint of basil, but nothing too overpowering. The squid was perfectly cooked - not rubbery in the slightest. There was also a generous amount of squid, and the bread was a brilliant addition with which to mop up the sauce - and when I had run out of bread I'm not ashamed to say I ate the rest of it like soup - that's how good it was!

Paula had the Insalata Caprese

Nicely presented, with thick slices of creamy mozzarella; I didn't try it but Paula enjoyed it, and I guess there's only so much which could go wrong with a simple (yet classic!) starter like this.

For main, I ended up going with the Pizza Vesuvio, topped with salami, pepperoni, and peperoncino. I debated for a long while over having the mushroom risotto, but my mum makes an absolutely delicious one, so I was wary of being disappointed!

The pizza was really tasty, with a base which stayed crispy despite the abundance of cheese (a big tick!), and nice salty meat toppings, and a kick from the peperoncino. However, I had two complaints. The first is minor, but the chillis were concentrated to basically one area of the pizza, which was a shame as it meant that slice was really hot, but the others lacked the chilli kick which I really enjoy. The second was slightly more important - the pizza was really difficult to cut! It was probably to do with the crispyness of the base, but I really felt like they should have either given me a pizza slicer, or a properly sharp knife rather than just an ordinary one, as by the time I had managed to hack some slices out, the pizza was getting cold. The flavours were still really good and I enjoyed it a lot but I would just have liked to have to put in a bit less elbow grease to get there!

Paula had the Penne Alfredo - penne topped with wild mushrooms, cream, garlic and parmigiano

I'm not the biggest pasta fan (unless it's in a bake with loads of cheese!), but Paula did enjoy it, apart from one flaw - it had quite a lot of parsley in it, and Paula really doesn't like parsley! However, I definitely wouldn't say that reflects badly on Nino's in any way, as for most people that would probably add a nice freshness to the dish - it was just a shame that Paula isn't keen on it!

Also I should probably say here that the starters and mains were brought out really quickly and efficiently, and the service was extremely good - very welcoming and friendly waitresses!

For anyone who was worried about the absence of desserts on my menu photos:

I was so pleased to see profiteroles on the menu as I had just been saying to Paula that my favourite Italian in York did amazing ones, so had started myself craving them! Paula had been hoping to see lemon tart on the menu, but lemon cheesecake seemed a reasonable substitute.

The choux pastry for the profiteroles was extremely light and puffy, and filled with lovely thick cream, and the chocolate sauce drizzled over the top was warm and gooey; it was a very decadent dessert! Sadly Paula wasn't overly keen on her cheesecake - she said she would have preferred a thicker base and less topping. As I'm not a cheesecake fan I didn't try it and so couldn't comment on the taste; however, the portion size was nice and generous so that's one positive aspect (unless you're not keen on it, I suppose....!).

Although there were things which I would improve (mainly just buying better knives!), and for Paula some things didn't meet her personal taste, I think Nino's is a really lovely restaurant which serves great Italian food, a particular highlight of which was definitely the squid starter. I would definitely return and I will also be putting Quattro near the top on my "places to try in Reading" list!

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The Delaunay, London

On Sunday I met up with my year abroad friend, Fran, hoping to emulate the "gastronomic and alcoholic delights" of our time in Toulouse. We decided to go for brunch at The Delaunay, as I had heard a lot about it from other friends. 

The Delaunay is only the second place I have ever eaten which is posh (or pretentious?!) enough to have a doorman; it was pouring with rain and my feet were absolutely soaking in my pumps so I did have a slight fear I'd be looked up and down disparagingly (posh people would NEVER get their feet wet!), but actually the greeting was very friendly and I felt quite comfortable walking in. 

The actual restaurant is really pretty - every table covered in pristine white tablecloths, with silver containers filled with nicely shaped bread, silver butter dishes and jugs of water (which kept being replenished).

The panelled walls, glass fronted cabinets and cakes displayed in glass cake stands gave the whole place a classic and elegant feel, and there was a constant hubbub of chatting which gave it a very friendly atmosphere.

The menu contains numerous traditional brunch options, but also has an Austrian twist - schnitzel is on offer, as are "wieners"! It was really tricky to choose as there were several things I could have eaten, but in the end (with the help of the waitress - "you can have omelettes at home!") I decided to go with the Austrian theme and have the Viennese hot dog with potato salad, sauerkraut and caramelised onions.

I also had a side of rosemary roasted pumpkin

I found it quite a novelty that somewhere which appeared so smart would serve hot dogs, so I was interested to see what it would taste like. To start with the most positive aspects, the potato salad and the pumpkin were delicious. The potato salad had a wholegrain mustard dressing on it which gave it a nice tang, and was far nicer than the overly mayonnaise-y potato salads you often get. The pumpkin was soft and sweet and the rosemary made it really flavoursome. The sauerkraut was fine - not too vinegary and sharp, but was nice and crunchy and so added texture to the hot dog, and the caramelised onions were good as well. The hot dog itself....there isn't much negative I could say, but I wouldn't rave about it either - it was just a hot dog really! The brioche bun was soft and sweet, and the hot dog fairly tasty, but nothing special at all - I think hot dogs definitely need more toppings (chilli and cheese preferably!) than this one was provided with, and I was left feeling like maybe I should have ordered something else. However, for £7.50 it wasn't horrendously overpriced, and it may have been unfair for me to expect very great things. 

Fran went for the Eggs Arlington (big version!) and a side of wilted spinach

 The eggs were really nicely presented, and there was so much smoked salmon on them that it made the £18 cost seem slightly more reasonable! The wilted spinach was well seasoned and not soggy at all (as spinach is prone to be!) and probably complemented the dish well - an Eggs Arlington and Florentine combo! One thing is still puzzling me about this meal though - I'm still not sure if there is a difference between Eggs Arlington and Eggs Royale - does anyone know?!

I was actually quite full just after the first course, but as the pains au chocolat were priced at £3.75, I really wanted to see if they were worth the price, so I ordered one of them! Fran went for Sachertorte, one of the cakes displayed in the cases!

So...the £3.75 pain au chocolat...the pastry was amazingly light, buttery, and crispy, and there were thick cylinders of rich dark chocolate running through - it was an excellent pain au chocolat, but worth the money? Potentially worth more than a usual one, but I've had some equally as nice in Toulouse for about €1.50, so it's difficult not to feel a little bit hard done by! Fran's Sachertorte looked amazing, with its shiny dark chocolate topping and elegant "Sacher" piped along the top, and it tasted just as good - very moist and rich!

Overall I enjoyed my trip to the Delaunay as the food was good (not great, but good!), but it was a funny mixture between things being quite overpriced, or just not being that special...Also there is a £2 cover charge per person which I always resent paying when it's just presented on the bill at the end - why don't they just incorporate that into food prices and not make people feel ripped off when they have to pay £2 extra for nothing?! So anyway, I'm glad I went, if only for the experience of a posh London brunch, but it isn't somewhere I would rush back to - I've definitely realised I'm a burgers over posh brunch kind of person!

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Thai Corner, Reading

After the hectic Christmas mentioned in my last post, I am trying to get back into blogging more frequently, and what better place to start than one of Reading's independent restaurants?!

Thai Corner is somewhere I had been meaning to revisit for ages - I went with some friends from work when I was still at school and loved it, so wanted to go back and see if I could trust my younger self's judgement! Laura, a friend from uni, was working in Twyford this week so James and I met up with her for what we hoped would be a lovely Thai meal!

The restaurant is not in the nicest location - near Primark, and on the edge of the town centre, it could definitely be in a more salubrious area, but the interior of the restaurant is actually very smart. The dark, shiny furnishings and bar, coupled with dim lighting, made it feel quite formal, but not oppressively so - the waitresses were very friendly and there was quite a loud and buzzy atmosphere.

We decided to choose three starters to share - chicken satay

Spicy thai sausage with roasted peanut and ginger (bit of a rubbish picture, sorry!)

And thai fishcakes with sweet chilli dipping sauce

They were all really good, but I think my favourite was the spicy sausage! It was extremely spicy, but stopped just before being unbearably so - you could still taste all the flavours and the cool ginger cut through the chilli kick! The fishcakes were delicious too - thai fishcakes are always more dense than western ones, I find, which I really like, as you actually feel like you're eating fish as opposed to mashed potato plus breadcrumbs and a little bit of fish! They also avoided being greasy and tasted fresh and well flavoured. The chicken satay was probably my least favourite but only because it was the least remarkable - the satay sauce was nice and peanutty, but the chicken was a tiny bit on the dry side, so I found you really needed the sauce. The presentation was nice for all the dishes - the little vegetable carved flowers in the side salads were much admired, and then dipped in the satay sauce.

For main, I went for thai red curry with prawns and sticky rice

I loved the little bamboo pot which they served the sticky rice in! Presentation doing well again - the vibrant colours of the curries also looked great against the white bowls. The sauce was creamy with a lovely flavour of coconut, and a hint of spice; although I might have preferred it to be a bit hotter, it meant I could appreciate the flavours in the sauce more. The prawns were fat and juicy and the veg added bulk and a nice crunch, and the sticky rice soaked up the sauce and all its flavours and was just delicious!

James had exactly the same as me but with egg fried rice...

...which I tried and which was light, fluffy and suitably eggy, and Laura had thai green curry with chicken and jasmine rice

The portions of rice were very big and next time I would probably share one to leave room for a whole pudding to myself - as it was, James and I could only share one! I was torn as to what to choose, but James thought we should have something described as a coconut pancake - banana fritters will have to wait for next time!

I have absolutely no idea what the pancake was made of, but it was a really interesting dessert!  The coconut was dessicated so had a slightly grainy texture which wasn't altogether pleasant, but paired with the ice cream it tasted like a thick coconut custard in a thin batter, and it was delicious!

I think it's safe to say after this meal that I definitely can trust the judgement of my younger self (although how I wish I could take back half of those Nandos trips!). I can't comment on how authentically Thai-tasting the food might have been as I have never been to Thailand, but it is Thai owned which must count for something - and the most important thing is that I thought the food was delicious. I'll hopefully go back soon as there are so many other dishes I would love to try - the "Gang Mussaman" being next on my list!

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The Rusty Bicycle, Oxford

I can't believe how long it has been since I last wrote a post! My only excuse is that Christmas in retail is too mental to even contemplate doing anything productive when you get home - sitting around watching films and eating Christmas party snacks was my biggest achievement during that time. Anyway, it's now (slightly) less mental at work so I can get back to blogging!

I went to The Rusty Bicycle way back in December with my friend Fran from university. I'd been googling a lot of possibilities and this place looked perfect - a nice cosy pub for a winter's day! You can find their website here. It was quite a long walk to get there from the train station, but all that means is you can eat more as you've already burnt more calories, so I look on it as a bit of a bonus!

I really liked the interior of the restaurant - it had tasteful Christmas decorations which added to the rustic, countryside pub feel, and I really liked the chalk board drinks menu.

Also they put out tap water for you to help yourself to, and we know how much I love that!

The menu was quite impressive - classic pub food but with interesting modern twists, like the pumpkin, chickpea and coconut pie. Not your everyday pie filling!

For starter we shared the whitebait with lemon aioli

I loved the presentation (the bowl was so pretty), and they ticked another box with the tiny little mayonnaise jar - it's so sweet! The whitebait was delicious too - it tasted really fresh and I liked the way it wasn't completely battered or breadcrumbed, as it meant you got more of the fish flavour rather than just the coating.

For main I went for the beef, lager and shitake pie - nothing better than a nice stodgy pie! And it came with mash, the comfort food of dreams.

As I've said before, I normally prefer pies which are shortcrust pastry all the way round, rather than them just having a puff pastry lid, but this was a really nice pie! The pastry was butter and extremely flaky, but had managed not to get soggy from the filling - no mean feat! The meat inside was tender and the gravy thick; it also had a really interesting asian flavour, something I wasn't sure I'd like but wanted to try, but that I now think worked really well. The mash was fluffy and smooth, and dipped in the pie gravy was delicious!

I also went for a side of chips with cheese and rosemary as I just couldn't resist...

Again, lovely presentation...and the chips were amazing! Soft with fluffy centres, and they had done the best thing ever - layered the cheese!!! I always used to ask them to do that for me where I worked at uni, so it was a dream come true to find somewhere that did it without even being asked. I'm sure everyone else has felt the pain of getting to the underneath chips and there being no cheese left, but no such bad luck here! The cheese was nice and mature, too, and the rosemary made it taste a bit like a roast dinner, but not in a weird way! An interesting and clever addition. (Also Fran tried one and liked them so much she got her own portion, but they were such huge portions that we probably could have shared - and I never say that!)

Fran went for the chicken, mushroom and tarragon pie

She really enjoyed it and thought the mash and buttered greens were great as well - the pie was packed with meat and the mash looked just as creamy and fluffy as mine!

Sadly we were both far too full for pudding, but if I went back (which I hope I do) I would definitely save space for the warm chocolate brownie and some salted caramel ice cream! One final thing - the people working there were really friendly, which added to the welcoming atmosphere of the place. I wish I could make it my regular!

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