LDNGuide
The Best Things We Ate This Week
photo credit: Rianne Shlebak
We eat a lot while researching the various guides and reviews you see on our site. And we want to share that food with you. Digitally, not literally, of course. This guide is where you’ll find all of our favourite things we’ve eaten recently, from memorable main courses, to sensational sides, to all the snacks and whatever else in between.
If you’ve eaten something great recently that you want to share with our team, send us an email at london@theinfatuation.com. Now, onto the dishes.
THE BEST THINGS WE ATE THIS WEEK
Segovian suckling pig
“A Segovian pig sounds like a Star Wars slur, but in reality it’s one of the finest swines you can eat. There’s a history of roasting these suckling pigs in Castilian cuisine. The Spanish have done it ever since the Romans invaded, and all of that led to me, watching it be nonchalantly cut up just off Regent’s Street. My god this pig was good. The shimmering, crunching shell of skin was reminiscent of a peking duck and the fat-soaked underbelly of meat was juicy alone, and even juicier once I had poured over gravy. You can only get it upstairs at Sabor, in the Spanish restaurant’s ‘El Asador’, and I’d urge you to make that happen.” - Jake Missing, Editorial Lead
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Bacon sandwich
“The sun made an appearance for precisely two seconds this week and I was eating this bacon sandwich when it happened. Catalyst, a cafe in Farringdon, has big, airy windows and when this sandwich found its light, all was well in the world. The egg mixed with the tangy coffee-sriracha hot sauce and drizzled down my wrist, crispy shards of bacon fell onto the plate, and the sun had the exact same orange glow as the runny yolk soaking into the malted bread. This was a top-tier lunch and one I have thought about since, while listening to the rain and eating out of a sad Tupperware.” - Sinéad Cranna, Staff Writer
Tiramisu
“You’d think that the tiramisu at a specialty coffee shop would be heavy on the coffee, but this fluffy slice from Page Common Coffee House in Charing Cross was on the lighter side of the spectrum. Airy, thick cream was the star of the show here: my fork had to glide through a layer of this not-too-sweet, cocoa powder-topped stuff before reaching the softened lady fingers, and of course more cream. This fairly large slice was made for sharing while staring out the huge windows and people-watching.” - Rianne Shlebak, Staff Writer
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Chelsea tart, caramelised whey
"This Chelsea tart from Fallow was not my first choice of dessert, but in order to preserve the eight hours of sleep I need to barely function, I ignored the coffee mousse. It turned out to be a great decision. The slice came with a shiny bronzed top, which melted ombre-style into light butterscotch brown and then into a biscuit base. It's pretty enough to take to the hairdressers as inspiration for summer highlights—and it tastes as good as it looks. Each spoonful was nutty and sweet, with caramel hits that made it taste like a Werther’s Original. And the tangy cream kept all the sweetness in check.” - SC
20 Layer Peanut Butter Cake
“She is beauty, she is grace, she is a 30cm-high Man v. Food challenge disguised as dessert. This perfectly layered slice from Lavo was one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. With equal layers of rich devil’s chocolate cake and thick, nutty peanut butter mascarpone, each bite was followed with a long ‘mmmmmm’, and it took about 20 minutes to make my way through half of it before asking for a takeaway box. It’s the ideal group dessert to order after a great meal at this huge Italian restaurant in Marylebone, but the truth is I’d come back alone just for one of these gargantuan slices that’s perfect parts sweet, rich, and salty.” - RS
photo credit: Jake Missing
Brown butter bun
“A few years ago, my friend and I ate the brown butter tart from the now sadly defunct Flor and had something of a sugar and fat epiphany. So much so that he learned how to bake them, and I continued to eat them. Now, Anna Higham, said baker of brown butter tarts, is back with her own bakery in Islington, and Quince’s signature brown butter buns are a whole new level of enjoyment. More savoury than the tarts, and bread-based (which is an obvious improvement), this encrusted brown bun mixes sugar and salt to such a perfectly umami level that I tore and devoured it in one minute flat.” - JM
Daifuku
“The omakase at this Japanese restaurant on Park Lane is the most expensive lunch I’ve ever had. At £300, I went through course after course of perfectly crafted nigiri, savouring mouthfuls of finely sliced squid, eating an exquisite eel temaki at 1pm on a Wednesday. But the thing that stuck with me the most was the dessert. Was it because it was the final course? Possibly, but I think it’s more to do with the bright red strawberry that looked like it could bench press 100kg, topped with the sweet adzuki, and coated in a soft, chewy mochi. I could happily have thrown back another three, and I will never look at Little Moons the same again.” - RS
photo credit: Jake Missing
Fried chicken
“It took a degree of self-control not to simply write ‘everything’ when it came to deciding what I enjoyed most at Maureen’s Brixton Kitchen. But it’s the golden, jagged fried chicken that I keep finding myself wistfully thinking about while sitting at my desk, walking home, or laying in bed. Maureen runs her Brixton home like a Jamaican restaurant and I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you what the seasoning or technique was for these addictive drumsticks and thighs. All I know is that they’re in my head for the foreseeable. Glowing, juicy, waiting to be stripped to the bone.” - JM
Scallop tartare
“I expected the scallop tartare at Core By Clare Smyth—a fine dining European restaurant in Notting Hill—to be good, but I didn’t expect it to be some of the best fish I’ve ever had. The presentation alone was enough to turn me into a stage mom—angling the shell and holding the delicate, light fish this way and that to show off its best side, which was all of them. The fish was soft and sweet, and the velvety consommé was split with green oil and tasted a little salty. And I very much wanted to take home the floral wreath it was presented in, along with a recipe. ” - SC
Masoob with cream & honey
“They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I don’t think those people have ever tried masoob. Because at Bab al-Yemen, the masoob—a dessert of mashed bananas, shredded flatbread, cream, and honey—was the most important meal of the day. Thick spoonfuls were filled with sweet, soft banana pulp and carby bread, striking the perfect balance between sweet and salty. It was creamy, comforting, with a nice chew to it, and I’d stop by this Yemeni restaurant in West Brompton for dessert alone.” - RS
photo credit: Jake Missing
Grilled mussel skewers
“Of the many guides researched and written, I’m yet to pitch one for ‘London’s Best Molluscs’. But when that happens (and it will), Kolae’s skewers will be close to the top. Steamed, smothered in a gently spiced and faintly nutty maroon marinade, and grilled (twice), these silky mussels are pretty much unlike any mussel you’ve had before. A squeeze of calamansi brings a touch of acidity and combined with the grilling over a smouldering coconut—that’s where this southern Thai spot in Borough Market gets its name—it makes for a truly magnificent mollusc.” - JM
Kolokythokeftedes
"Not only is this a very bad photo of very good fritters, but there were three and I was too greedy to wait to photograph them all before eating. I could smell these fritters before I saw them—wafting towards me in a herbaceous, minty cloud. They were crisp and bronzed on the outside and salty with feta inside, with finely chopped courgette keeping them—sorry in advance—moist. Alternating between these, a salad, and chips was the perfect way to spend a rainy, grey evening at this Greek spot in East Dulwich.” - SC
photo credit: Rianne Shlebak
“The Dover” sole
“There wasn’t a dish at this moody Italian restaurant in Mayfair that wasn’t excellent. Everything from the complimentary bread, to the plate of rich chocolate paste topped with crunchy hazelnuts and praline to finish. But the standout moment—excluding seeing Claudia Winkleman eat popcorn at the bar—was “The Dover” sole. A whole fish, turned up at the corners, and swimming in a shallow pool of butter. Red chilli and chunks of lime made every other bite pleasantly tart.” - RS
photo credit: Jake Missing
Otak-otak prawn toast
“Good-looking dishes come in all shapes and sizes, but Mambow’s take on prawn toast was the most beautiful handful I’ve had in some time. Greens, reds, and fried browns are all present and it tasted even better than it looked. The Malaysian spot in Clapton plays on otak-otak (a prawn, makrut lime leaf, and red curry paste) and mixes it into a cake before frying it in slices. Wrap said slice in a betel leaf and take a bite: leaf, toast, coconut cream, chilli, and all. The combination was soft, spiced, a little sweet, but light from its leafy vehicle.” - JM
Koji marinated chicken ‘schnitty’
“My Monday was truly Monday-ing when I stumbled into Milk Beach in Soho, tired and wanting to be comforted. Luckily this Australian all-day spot got the memo. This koji-marinated chicken was so juicy that I whipped out my phone to get a glistening money shot. The coating was crispy and each bite was improved by a generous swipe through fermented chilli mayonnaise. The only annoying thing about it is that they call it a ‘schnitty’ and not a schnitzel. But even on a Monday, that wasn’t enough to put me off.” - SC
photo credit: Rianne Shlebak
Banoffee cheesecake
“I had one of my favourite lunches ever at Scott’s Richmond last year, partly due to the stunning room with a picturesque view of the river, but mostly because of the faultless fish dishes. My experience at the original Mayfair seafood restaurant wasn’t quite as magical, up until they brought over this whole banoffee cheesecake. The menu said it’s a sharing dessert. But this thing was big enough for a five-person family. The thick, malty base was topped with a tall layer of thick, dense cream and three big chunks of caramelised banana. It was an intimidatingly good-looking dessert that cut like a cloud and tasted like a fluffy, caramel-y, biscuity mess.” - RS
