Pizza Pilgrims, Soho

One Sunday in January I headed to the London Cookery School with my Dad and my brother Dean, for a fun course in some classic dim sum dumplings.

Beforehand, we headed into Soho for a bite to eat, and I finally got to try the Pizza Pilgrims' Dean Street restaurant.

Having worked in Soho frequently over the last few years, I'd tried the Berwick Street Market outpost a few years back and had followed the Pizza Pilgrims successful journey online, but had never ventured into one of their restaurants.

Laid back and informal, with just a hint of cool is how I'd describe the interior. Stripped back but with fantastic Italian posters from yesteryear, as well as photos of the Elliot brothers, the faces behind the Pizza Pilgrims brand, but with chintzy Italian-inspired green and white gingham tablecloths. We were in the downstairs dining area, but upstairs you have the open plan kitchen area, including the wood fired pizza oven, which is an impressive piece.

We had some mozzarella and tomato to start - which was incredibly simple, yet delicious. The mozzarella is reportedly flown in from Italy, and I can well believe it given the creamy quality.

I chose the Nduja, which is a Margarita base with Nduja, or spicy Italian sausage slathered around, and it was an absolute triumph. I'm pretty partial to anything with Nduja, but this really was good. A super thin base with a superbly crisp and flavourful crust, and with the toppings to boot. You're invited to order the various dips for the crusts, and we had a garlic butter and a spicier one, and both were great, but the crust was quite edible without any dip.

The Nduja Pizza, Pizza Pilgrims

My brother enjoyed the simple Margarita, which was of course, beautiful and my Dad chose a different tack, the Portobello and Truffle on a bianca or white base of mozzarella which was particularly good.

The Portobello and Truffle Pizza, Pizza Pilgrims

The portion size is generous and I couldn't quite finish mine, although both my Dad and Dean did.

The pricing is really fair, nothing is more than £11, which considering the quality I though was reasonable, and we enjoyed a couple of Birra Moretti's each and our whole meal was around the £50 mark, well worth the money.

Pizza Pilgrims brings a small slice of Italy to London and has absolutely nailed the Italian way of making something fantastic with just a few simple ingredients. I'll be sure to return.

L'Escargot

I recently visited Marco Pierre Whites’ L’Escargot with my one and only French friend, Estelle.

My first visit to L’Escargot was also with Estelle celebrating a mutual friend’s engagement and Estelle has since returned several times, each time reporting good reviews, so I was glad to return and try out more of the menu.

We decided to bypass the appetisers to ensure we could fit in dessert and I chose a duck dish for my main which was very impressive for the £20.50 price tag.

The beautifully seasoned honey-glazed duck breast was cooked exactly how I like it, crisp and flavourful on the outside with the perfect amount of crispy fat and tender, rare and melt-in-the-mouth meat in the centre.

The bird came with some crushed new potatoes that had a delicious crunch to them from some kind of coarse salt, some just-cooked pak choi and a colourful and tasty port jus. The whole dish was neatly and attractively presented and I enjoyed every last mouthful. 

Estelle selected a salmon dish, and once again it was well-received. The salmon fillet had been pan-fried, and so just like my duck, it had that delicious, well-seasoned crust on the outside and was cooked to perfection, with just a touch of rareness in the centre. Served on a bed of couscous flavoured with sweet peppers and surrounded by a gazpacho style sauce, this was another well-presented dish with the taste matching up to the style. 

We decided to share on the dessert front and happily opted for a chocolate dessert and the cheese board as the pair of us are absolutely obsessed with both. And me being with an absolute connoisseur of French cheese I was happy to take Estelle’s lead.

Our cheese board consisted of Comté which is a favourite for both of us, and three other cheeses, two of which I had yet to try and am now converted to. The Fromage de Chevre Cendré is a rich goats cheese that is flavoured with ash, and so predictably had a smoky, deliciousness about it. The Reblochon is a seriously smelly cheese that has a similar texture and appearance to Brie, but a much stronger, nuttier flavour. Our shared favourite cheese was the Fourme D’Ambert – an unctuous blue cheese, which gives my favoured English Stilton a run for its money – perfection. Grapes, celery and a few small crackers came with, but we asked for some more bread to enjoy with our dairy feast – very, very satisfying. 

For our final, sweet treat we chose the chocolate fondant, which is always a pleasure when done well as it was done at L’Escargot. With the firm, crumbly almost chocolate crust on the outside and the oozing dark chocolate centre this was truly heavenly. It came with a scoop of milk ice cream, which in reality tasted of pure vanilla, but nevertheless was superb, and a thin, curved sweet tuille or wafer biscuit which added to the, once again, fantastic presentation. 

We spent around £45 each here for a very good meal with no complaints whatsoever so I’ll certainly return again. The value of the food coupled with the exceptional quality and service is what sets this place apart from others in the Soho area.

L’Escargot is the ultimate in classic yet contemporary food so if you haven’t already – definitely give it a try, my prediction is that this will be around for years to come - unlike the few different Soho burger joints Estelle and I tried to get a table at beforehand and weren't willing to wait 2 hours for. 

 

Koya

Back in March I popped into Koya in Frith St with my Dad for a mid-week dinner. It’s been on my list for a few years, and I was delighted to finally make it there. Although the likes of Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu are far more in vogue, I’ve been keen to try this stalwart of udon for ages and I’m glad I did. 

I ordered the Buta Miso with cold udon noodles which was super tasty. A flavourful, salty and smoky broth, that was absolute balm on this particular evening as it was freezing cold and raining outside. With pork mince, a savoury paste that I’d never experienced but really enjoyed, and some chopped spicy green chilli, and spring onions it was a really satisfying bowl of soup. I wasn’t as keen on the noodles to be honest. They were much thicker and dough-like in consistency than I was expecting – but I am going to give them a few more tries before disregarding them.

My Dad ordered the ‘Ten Curry Don Donburi’ or in other words prawn tempura with a curry sauce served over rice. This was delicious and moreish – in fact so moreish that we ended up ordering another, full portion of prawn tempura – fantastic. The curry was mild and creamy, the prawns juicy and succulent and coated in a crisp and flavourful light tempura batter.

We also ordered a special that was available that particular day – a lemon sole dish that was presented in a way I’ve never seen before and that was so, so clever and intricate, I would imagine it took great skill to prepare. The whole fish was served on a bed of shredded lettuce and with a wedge of lemon, and somehow the chef had managed to remove the entire skeleton of the fish, so the entire backbone was sticking out of the fish at a jaunty angle. Aside from looking impressive, the fish was superb. The fish had been fried and the crispy, skin on the outside was crunchy, salty and delicious, whilst the delicate white fish on the inside was cooked to perfection - light and flaky, with its almost gentle flavour.

We enjoyed a very satisfying meal in Koya which came in around the £70 mark and I would certainly return – but next I must try some of the other udon places that are now dotted all around London.

Forty Dean Street

I recently visited Forty Dean Street for the first time, mid-week with some fellow PR friends, Hannah and Mindy. We had designs on either Polpo or Burger Lobster but grumbling tummies and long queues put paid to that, so we decided to give Forty Dean Street a try. We spotted a board outside promoting their offer of two courses for £10.90 and decided to give that a try.

With three choices for each course, this meant we were able to try everything which suited us just fine.

I chose the melanzine parmigiana for my first course, which was superb. Slices of aubergine baked in a rich tomato sauce, with layers of oozing cheese (I would hazard a guess at a mild Cheddar) and sprinklings of strong, salty parmesan. With expert seasoning, this really did get my hopes up for the main event. 

Hannah’s first dish was also a triumph, squid and courgette fritto, deep fried, cooked perfectly and well- seasoned.  Mindy’s on the other hand wasn’t quite as nice. A large vegetable arancini – it was certainly edible, but a little on the dry side and quite salty too.

For the main course I chose spaghetti with pork meatballs. The sauce was a lovely spicy tomato event, but the meatballs weren’t the best to be honest. I bit into quite a bit of gristle which was unpleasant and they were dry and over-salted, so not great.

Mindy had selected a vegetable pasta, with a tomato based sauce and chopped courgettes throughout, quite a basic dish really, but very appetising all the same.

Hannah chose the chicken supreme which came in yet another tomato sauce (spot the theme) and was served over some creamy mashed potato. The potato was perfectly seasoned, and the sauce was good, but the chicken was a little bit overcooked and had lost some of its moisture which was a shame as it was an otherwise delicious plate of food.

I would certainly return to Forty Dean Street and try out dishes outside of the set menu as we saw some very tempting dishes being carried to other tables and I was impressed by the service – particularly when it came to paying the bill. It turned out that the board outside was promoting the lunchtime offering and the evening offer was slightly pricier at £16.50 for two courses, still good value in Soho, but when we queried this, the manager was happy to honour the £10.90 price and apologised for the confusion, which was good of them.

If Italian is your bag, then definitely give Forty Dean Street a try but I would advise against the meatballs.

A London Lunch No 6: Hummus Bros, Soho

As regular readers will know, Soho is my general stomping ground, whether work related or otherwise. The area is undoubtedly my favourite part of London, and some of my preferred eateries, not to mention watering holes, exist in this area.

Wardour Street is host to numerous delights and for a delicious and filling lunch I can thoroughly recommend Hummos Bros.

Open since 2005, it pretty much does what it says on the tin and makes bloody good hummus, with a seriously impressive selection of toppings.

My absolute favourite is to have the ‘chunky beef with tzatziki’. This is casseroled, large pieces of beef cooked in a rich stew-like sauce and each time I’ve had this I’ve been in heaven. The meat has been mouth-wateringly tender and falls apart. The beef sits on a bed of the delicious hummus, here it is rather smooth, although not as smooth as commercially produced packet hummus. It has that wonderful garlic hum, without being over powering. Two pitta bread pockets come alongside in a regular dish and all priced at £7.65 – a bargain.

I can never stick to one dish, especially when they are as flavourful and moreish as they are here, so I generally grab either the tabbouleh salad, or if I’m hungover and in need of stodge, the falafel salad – both of which are flavoured with my favourite herb, coriander which just makes everything taste incredibly fresh and, at least to me, delicious.

Although I am often a creature of habit, ordering the same dish when I return to restaurants, I feel almost smug in the fact I can also suggest the chicken, guacamole and mushroom version of the hummus topper, as I have also eaten and enjoyed all of these.  

The concept here is simple and it works. To me, this just proves that a simple menu can work well if you perfect the dishes on there and don’t deviate too much or try to over complicate.

If you’re a lover of hummus, don’t delay, head to Hummus Bros.   

A London Lunch No5: Byron Burger

Having worked in the West End extensively over the past few years, there are several lunch spots that I would describe as the perfect hangover go-to. Byron is most certainly a contender.

I have eaten in several Byron outlets, for there are 28 here in London alone, but my favourite is the brightly hued one on the Charring Cross Road in Soho.

If you are a Byron virgin, then my recommendation is to simply go for the signature Byron Burger. A medium cooked, pink beef burger (no horsemeat here) topped with smoky bacon, Cheddar, lettuce, sliced red onions and tomato and a little relish - it has made me happy as an egg on more than one occasion.

Priced modestly at £9.25 for a decent sized burger, it’s a beauty in a bun. You can add your own choice of toppings and or sauces as you wish and I tend to add on some avocado as it is such a natural bedfellow with bacon and together with everything else it just makes a wonderful, meaty burger full of contrasting textures and complementing flavours, all contained in a fluffy bun and with a very good ratio of burger to bun – none of this biting in and getting a mouthful of bread and nothing else.

I recommend sharing a couple of sides so as not to miss out - the French fries and onion rings are both well worth a try, they have that almost dirty level of grease without making you feel disgusted with yourself after eating them.

Even if you’re a vegetarian there is a very good burger option on the menu for you – the adventurously titled ‘Veggie’. This is a grilled huge Portobello mushroom, unctuous goat’s cheese, roasted red peppers, sliced tomato, spinach leaves, red onion and deliciously garlicy aioli. Having several vegetarian friends I have had a bite of this on a few separate visits, each time being very good – however for me, this is no substitute for a meaty hamburger.

If you’re in a particularly naughty mood then I can 100% vouch for the chocolate milkshake – it is an indulgence and not to be undertaken unless having a light meal as will fill you up!

Each restaurant has it’s own ‘personality’ and style, and the Charring Cross Road Byron has the look of an all-American diner, and the menu matches the look. I have only ever experienced excellent, helpful and smiley service, which makes me think the recruitment process is also good here.

There are seven burgers on offer as well as a choice of salads and I’m slowly making my way through the menu – so far I haven’t been disappointed.

Expect to spend up to £20 for a burger with sides and a drink.