Wingstop, why stop?

Wingstop is owned by a rapper according to my daughter. She did tell me his name (obviously I can't remember it), but if he's half as good at rapping as he is at cooking chicken, he's at least as good as PM Dawn (Google it if you're young).

Wingstop is like KFC's bigger, harder older brother, the one who went to borstal and wears gang colours in the library. The music is deafening (brilliant too, if you like the old garage tunes "I'll bring you flowers, in the pouring ray-ay-ain" etc you'll love it), while when these guys say "hot", they mean HOT!!!!! They aren't messing around here, this is an in your face eating experience, not for the faint hearted.

We went to the one in Bristol. Having negotiated the queue, we were met by the ubiquitous "have you been here before?" greeter. He explained at some length how you order, what a chicken is, the fact that you can top your drinks up and other stuff (I didn't really listen to be honest). He didn't tell us THE most important thing of all though, so I'll tell you it here. It is this, IN THIS EATERY, HOT MEANS REALLY, REALLY HOT. There's a range of sauces for your chicken (wings or tenders) and they're arranged on a thermometer kind of visual, obviously hottest towards the top. I ordered the second from the top, habanero arse blisterer or something (it wasn't actually, literally called that obviously, don't ask for it) so I suppose I WAS warned. That said, I like a chicken madras, an occasional vindalu even, and this was seriously searingly hot in comparison even to those. Sarah had a "Louisiana rub" or "Lemon and thyme and stuff" or something, in the bottom third of heat and EVEN THAT was hot. You've been warned.

Anyway, the chicken is great. The chips are fab (I had the lemon pepper ones which were best), and you can refill your coke if the machine is working (there was a problem when we were there). They even sell beer (Camden).

I think this is good fast food. I must confess I'm a bit of a KFC fan but I like Wingstop a lot. I'm not sure as a 55 year old bloke that I'd go in on my own, but I wouldn't exactly protest the next time the kids suggest we go.

It's good, try it. Please though, remember the heat.

Caper & Cure Bristol. What a delight.

Why bother with Trip Advisor if you have a viable alternative? If we know someone who lives in a strange area (strange to us that is) we'll always ask for a little recommendation. So it was this time, we were visiting our son at uni and an ex Alex superstar Becca steered us towards this little restaurant/cafe/coffee shop gaff in Stokes Croft, central Bristol, "it's a MUST visit she said", and how right she was. It was booked out, they squeezed us in after we grovelled a bit for a 9pm Friday night table.

It's independently owned, all  industrial metal air con, light bulbs hanging on wires from the ceiling, wall hangings which look like the fella who stunk of weed on the street outside banged them up in about twenty minutes, chalk boards with stuff crossed off, wooden floors with uneven bits, that sort of palaver. On the stereo there's "the times they are a changing" by Dylan banging out, your waiter and co owner is called Myles (or it might be Giles come to think of it), top lad either way who clearly knows his cebollas (I'll save you the Google trouble, it's Spanish for "onions").

The menu is on A4 paper, four starters, four mains, four desserts, it's got a kind of Spanishy/Portuguesy feel. There's another section before the starters, nibbles or light bites or something (it's neither of those but I'm buggered if I can think of it right now). In that bit whatever it's called is stuff like toasted almonds, olives, sourdough with butter etc. The almonds are labelled as "graciano" or something, the olives "Klubanos" (obviously neither of those are correct, I just made them up as I can't remember). Suffice to say they aren't getting their stock from the "taste the difference" section in Sainsbo's anyway.

We had off that bit a chorizo croquette which was bloody lovely, the bread both with normal butter and "jamon" butter (Myles/Giles did explain, but I did that nod and say "oh lovely" when you don't actually understand what he's on about), some of the olives (the size of a kids table snooker ball), some almonds (superb) and some anchovies (might have been little sardines). All were fabulous, particularly the jamon butter on bread thing, you MUST have that.

For starter I had a carrot & coconut soup which was far nicer than it sounds, I can't remember what everyone else had except Charlie my son who had octopus. Fair play to him.

For main there was a bavette steak with truffle chips. Obviously I didn't take much heed of the other stuff on the menu once I'd read that, although I do fleetingly remember the fish being either fresh cod or whole lemon sole. Milly had a gnochi thing which was lovely if you like that sort of thing, Sarah a pumpkin confit carry on, ditto. 

My steak was absolutely gorgeous, the chips jaw droppingly good. Everyone seemed to really enjoy theirs too and was keen to share bits around. They all tasted lovely in a pumpkinny/gnocchiey kind of way. Me and Charlie just wallowed in the excellence of our steak with ancovy cream (which thankfully didn't taste too much of anchovies).

We had desserts (lemon sorbets, chocolate mousses and stuff), the other three had a bottle of vino, espresso martinis and all that, I had a few pints of a local beer whose name escapes me, it was all absolutely brilliant and came in at under two hundred sovs.

The service, the food, the wall hangings, everything in this little gem of a spot is absolutely top drawer, we utterly loved it. Apparently it's owned in combination by the "iles" fella and the chef, they're mates. If anyone deserves success, it's these people.

If you DO ever go to Bristol, go to Caper & Cure. It's bloody brilliant.

Brasserie Zedel-An absolute treasure.

Where would you advise someone to go in London if your life depended upon them being impressed? I suppose it depends what they're looking for, where they are from etc. 

If for instance they were in London for only a few days, staying centrally and wanted to experience a real pub, I'd say the Guinea on Bruton Place all day long. Superb pub, great beer, top landlord, fantastic food. You absolutely can't go wrong recommending the Guinea, and similarly Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly never fails to wow.

It has an unremarkable looking cafe thing upstairs (looks a bit like a jazzed up "Cafe Rouge") but that's not it. It's DOWNstairs where the fun starts, all art deco and mirrored poshness. Once you bypass the cloakroom & hit the restaurant, the whole thing opens out into a cavernous throwback to restaurants of old, all starched tablecloths and waiters who are far more smartly dressed than you are.

The menu is about the size of a Subbuteo pitch and all in French. Don't be intimidated, it's cleverly designed and actually not as big as it looks. There is an English version available but don't ask for it, trust your O level grade C which Mrs Jackson coached you to and Google translate, you'll work it out.

They'll bring crusty baguette and salty butter while you're looking at the menu and playing "let's all guess how many people work here". If you've ever tasted better bread and butter you're more travelled than me, it's sensational. If you can, don't eat too much of it though or you won't want dessert.

I've been loads of times over the years and can honestly say everything is pretty fab really. Last night, ninety minutes earlier I'd eaten an "American Hot" pizza at the Comedy Store before going (pretty good it was too), and drank four pints of beer. Given that, I swerved the steak (rib-eye, it's lovely) for the first time here in ages. Somewhat bizarrely (it caused consternation on our table anyway) I had a herby omelette with fries and some salad. The fries here are always sensational, the omelette & salad were too. One of our table had a venison thing which they seemed to really enjoy, Sarah had ravioli (sorry, can't remember the filling) and for the life of me I can't remember what the other lass had. 

For desserts we had poached pears, some chocolate mousse and a couple of floating island mirangue thingies. Having tried them all, everything was lush but I'd go for the island one.

Look, it's a fantastic restaurant this. Not pricey either, we had a bottle of Picpul or pitbull or whatever it's called, some coffee and one had a cheeky cocktail. It was £145 all in including service. They do a prix fix menu (set, who am I kidding?) which there's nowt wrong with and is about twenty quid. Equally, if you want to watch someone in an evening dress singing jazz standards and telling you stories about New York in the sixties (invariably accompanied by a balding fella on the piano called Gordon) you can visit the "Crazy Cocks" bit next to the restaurant bit downstairs. It's flippin good actually, and about twenty five quid for a bloody good night out that's something completely different.

The toilets are great too. Zedel is a triumph, go.

Chez Bruce.

Whenever we go to awards nights, Chez Bruce wins stuff. If it's not "best local restaurant" it's "best food" or "nicest table cloths" or something, so I was dead excited to go for the first time last night. It was me and Sarahs (don't cringe, I know that's not grammatically correct but it's how I talk) 26th anniversary. Forget Pen Whistle or whatever that bloke who brought the dogs back from Afghanistan is called, this lady deserves a medal.

Anyway, you've got to book. It's all very efficient on your phone, you tick a couple of boxes including the "cancellation policy" one, stick your credit card in and bingo. The cancellation policy probably says they'll charge you twenty quid or something if you don't show up. It should be two hundred quid, and as I would never do that I didn't read it. There was only one table left (8.45) so I nabbed it.

The food and service was superb. Before anything arrived they brought out these parmesan biscuit things. I ate those in about thirty seconds so they brought some more with bread (ditto, although Sarah did get a taste this time).

I had a pigs head croquette thingie to start which was lovely. Sarah had a tuna ceviche with super hot chilli's which was great. 

For main, anyone who had bet their house on me ordering the chateaubriand is now sleeping under Waterloo bridge, I went for the cod. I can only apologize for the loss of your humble abode, I pretty much always go for steak but just fancied a change. The cod had this pink stuff on the outside (I've never been an avid reader of menus when I go out) which made it taste like lobster claws. It was sensational, I had the slightly embarrassing situation of finishing it completely before Sarah had hardly started. She had the pigs cheek dish, it was delicious (I stole a fair bit of it).

They do say when gambling that you should never chase your losses, and so it proved as for the first time in history I swerved the chocolatey dessert option and went for a buttermilk thing instead. It was so sharp it made you pull faces, I absolutely loved it. I can't for the life of me remember what Sarah had, sorry for that but if you want technical food reviews go for Jay Rayner or Faye Mashler, not a bloke who runs the Alex.

We'd mentioned in conversation to our server that it had been our anniversary the previous day (couldn't go out then, I was doing the quiz) and she brought out a "happy anniversary treat'. It was a coffee fudge and a pistaccio nibble thingie on a plate.which had "happy anniversary" piped on in chocolate sauce. The person who wrote it has neater writing with a piping bag than I do with a biro.

We had a lovely bottle of NZ wine (don't ask me I can't remember), Sarah had a dessert wine (ditto, and not me I don't like it). The bill was £205 including service, worth every sheckle. My one criticism is that I'd lose the masks on the servers. That said, I'm speaking as someone who has been breathed on by about 200,000 people in the last year so it might be just me.

Chez Bruce is a great place, go. We absolutely loved it.

The Blue Junction-Indian in Morden.

The first thing you notice about the Blue Junction is that it doesn't look like an Indian restaurant at all, it looks nothing like you're expecting (although if you've read this first it obviously might not be true). It's down the side of the civic centre in Morden, (in the same building in fact) and it looks from the outside more like a cafe or a bar, or one of those places which sell cakes which always get you wondering how they manage to stay open. There's floor to ceiling glass windows without any curtains, and a glass lobby to keep the cold out. There's TV screens showing the football too, and blokes sitting at the bar who look like bus drivers, they look like they're just having a beer as opposed to waiting on some onion bhaaji's. They even have a decent selection of normal beers on tap, Bud lite (why do they spell it like that?), Guinness and a few others, so my guess is if you just want to go in and "just" have a beer, it's absolutely cool. 

The front tables nearest the bar (circular) aren't set up with cutlery or anything (none of it is if I'm remembering right) and as far as the two girls serving drinks and bringing food out are concerned, the nearest they've been to the Taj Mahal is the Indian restaurant in Thornton Heath. In short, the Blue Junction is a different type of Indian restaurant to what we're used to. There's no guys with the old tux on polishing your plate before they put it down, there's none of those little metal heater stands they plonk your little circular metal dishes on (which curiously aren't even hot usually), none of that birdseed stuff that gets stuck in between your teeth when you try some. It's different, kind of half bar half food, and the laid back nature of it takes a bit of getting used to.

Lots have got used to it though, I'd been recommended to go there over a dozen times in the last couple of months. Some of the Indian guys who use the Alex go there regularly and absolutely swear by it, refusing to countenance going anywhere else. On the night we went it was pretty busy (with mostly Indian people) for an in between Christmas and New Year night, and the football was no crowd puller (Crystal Palace against somebody I can't remember).

So the food. We had onion bhaaji's which were the authentic, "not rolled up into balls" type. A plateful of sliced onions in whatever they put on them to make them taste like onion bhaaji's (I'm not going to pretend I know). They were superb, the veggie samosas were great too, while the lamb chops were really tasty. Quick word of warning here, the place might not look like an Indian but the food is pretty authentic, that is to say IT IS HOT. When they say "mild" it means "lively" in English. "Medium" means pretty bloody hot actually in yours and my language, while "Hot" means this is going to have you sweating through your eyelids. As such, even the starters have a bit of a kick to them, yes even the bhaaji's and samosas.

For mains my son had chicken tikka massala (I was surprised they do it but they do) while Sarah had chicken with lentils (I guess we'd call it Dhansak bu they called it something else). I can't remember what mine was called to be honest, but it said it was "Hot" on the menu and they weren't lying. When I say hot though, you can still taste the food. It is beautifully flavoursome, and every single item we ordered was absolutely first class. the rice, the naan etc were also brilliant, and the cucumber raiita was by far the best I've ever tasted. The manager bloke told me the chef is one of the top Indian chefs in the country and has worked with this owner for many years, and that they grind their own spices and all that jazz. I guess they all say that, but from my perspective (and I do like curries) I think it was the best Indian food I've eaten in a very long time, perhaps even ever.

I don't do marks out of ten, but if I did it'd be a ten. Go to the Blue Junction, it is absolutely superb food.       

The Beautiful Pizza Boy-The @14TheFrog review.

Peckham is a funny area. If you came here about fifteen or twenty years ago looking for your ideal first time buy, don't come back. Presumably back then it was one of the few areas in London you could afford, but within thirty seconds of walking out of Peckham Rye station you'd not only decided to give it the swerve to live in, you were checking the timetable to find out the next train out of Dodge City. You definitely shouldn't come back if you are that person, because the Georgian terrace you came to look at which was reasonably priced at 85K back then is now worth 1.3 million quid. Your decision to buy in Chessington instead wasn't a good one as it turns out in financial terms, but them's the breaks and at least there's the theme park if all else fails.

If you're not that person and like me you just hadn't been for years (for essentially the same reason as the first time buyer who didn't buy) then you should come, it's great. It's kind of like Brixton without the funny smell, still happening and edgy but it feels a bit more boring/safe to me and I like it a lot. It's got more trappings of "cool" and "trendy" than you can shake a shiny shovel at, the sort of place where being a 'hipster" is like walking around in an Adam and the ants uniform, so out of date is it. Every coffee shop "roasts its own" beans, every burger place makes it's own burgers, all the fruit and veggie 24 hour places sell exotic fruits, and all the pubs have kitchens where you can see the fellas in their stripy aprons sharpening their knives and discussing tattoos.

Peckham's got it going on, and tucked past the archways of Peckham Rye station (which all have snazzy little bars and restaurants in) is the pizza place "The beautiful pizza boy". It's on Bellend road or something like that (it probably isn't actually called that but that's how I remember it sounding), and despite the street name it's really cool.

When you walk in the restaurant there's this little cocktail bar front bit which is only right and appropriate as it's owned by the "Little Bird" Gin people, the triumvirate of smooth and sexy thirty-somethings who have six handedly revolutionalised the London Gin scene. It looks like they do cocktails (and are no doubt good at it, they'll be served in jam jars I shouldn't wonder), but we didn't bother with any of that. For us it was straight out to the eating bit at the rear, past the wood fired pizza oven and smashing into the signature gin and Mediterranean Fevertree tonic (which is the best G & T you'll ever have). From there we had platters of Italian stuff for starters, there was bread sticks, cured meats (they told me the names but I can't remember), pickles, cheeses (one was pecorino as I recall which was fab), arancini (them little rice ball things, can take em or leave em meself) etc.

After that we had some wine which was lovely. God knows what it was (once again they told me and I gave it the old "ah yes that sounds fantastic" without actually knowing the variety), but it tasted great anyway (we had white and red if it helps). We all ordered pizzas (there was twelve of us) and they were among the best pizzas I've had in London. Thin, crispy, oozy, flavoursome, and they gave you chilli oil too which is always a major plus. Mine had ham on it, olives, mushrooms, that sort of thing (once again can't remember which one it was) but it was spectacular. I drowned it in chilli oil and shoved it in my mouth while managing to spill only dribbles down my chin, it was utterly fabulous.

We had desserts ( I wasn't going to but they have homemade Gelato for Gawd's sakes) and they were ridiculous, stupidly good. Definitely just ask for the bill straight after the pizzas if you care about your waistline, maybe sign a pact with the lovely waitress before the pizzas come that even if you want a dessert afterwards you're not allowed to have one. If she goes through the flavours though, take it from me it's game over. Obviously they're incredible, but after being full to the brim with pizza I really oughtn't to have done it.

I did do it though and I'm so glad I did, so should you. The best thing I can say about the Beautiful pizza boy is that their pizzas are as good as their gin. Go to Peckham and eat fantastic pizza, if you live in Chessington wait till they open one in Wimbledon. 
   

Sticks n Sushi, a quick re-review.

Usually when a restaurant first opens, there's a fanfare followed by loads of advertising, a grand opening and lots of PR people wandering around with clipboards. Then when you go in the first few weeks there's more staff than punters, and they all look like they've come straight from Ira Levin's latest novel "Stepford waitresses". Go back a few weeks later, and you normally find that the bevy of beauties who flocked around your table all pearly white smiles and bonhomie, have been replaced by a couple of surly teenagers who really don't want to be there. Suddenly questions which were automatically met with a smile and an "of course" are met with a frown and a "erm I'm not sure, I'd better ask", we've all seen it many times before.

When Sticks n sushi first opened in Wimbers the "Stepfordness" of it all was beyond anything I'd ever seen. So fabulous and numerous were the staff, so wonderful was the food that along with many other cynics I wondered if it was maintainable over a sustained period of time. "It'll never last" we mumbled, as we revisited and asked the waiters various ever more obscure questions about the telephone directory like menu. They kept doing it though, they kept being smiley and knowledgeable while the food kept on being superb. I don't even like sushi particularly, but this place has something for everyone and everytime I've been I've been massively impressed.

Anyway a revisit, and it was a tricky one for them as it was on New Years day.....

Firstly the booking, I did it via Twitter which isn't the normal way. I was handled by Vickie, and it was done superbly well. When we got there, once we'd got past the "Shamasee!" or "Kaiser Sose!" or "Sensimillion!" or whatever it is that they holler at you when you walk in, we were sat and got surely the most smiley and happy waiter in the universe. Not only that, but he seemingly knew everything about everything on the menu. As I was on a serious detox after a ridiculously heavy NYE party (when will I learn I'm not 18 any more?) I had one of those juice things they do (as did the kids and Sarah). Mine was orange coloured and tasted like it had carrots, lime, kale and all that sort of stuff in it (it tasted far better than it sounds to be fair). The fella did explain in detail what was in all of the juices, but much like when you ask someone directions after winding the car window down, I didn't actually pay any attention to what he was saying, more just marvelled at his knowledge.

Like everyone else who comes here we had Ebi bites, a kind of prawn wrapped in rice crispies number which are food from the Gods. The we had some more (you could just have these to be fair, they're unbelievable), and some edamame beans. As far as the beans go we had both the salted and the one with the dressing on. They were/are gorgeous, and I love the dressing. For mains I had a "man food" which is all sorts of different skewers with sauce, and also a side of pork ribs in sesame seeds. Sarah and the kids had rice paper rolls, sushi and stuff. the food was absolutely unbelievably good (as it always is) and the service was fantastic (ditto). We're lucky to have this restaurant in Wimbledon, it is fabulous, every single time, still.

A couple of minor gripes just for balance (my own view only). The emmentaal wrapped in bacon on the man food board shouldn't be on there IMHO, bung some chicken thighs on there instead (I used to love them). The emmentaal is OK but too much cheese! I had the triple dessert thingie (I'm like that), and the "chocolate cake" thing is more like a mousse than a cake (it's still flippin lovely mind!) and it's impossible to eat without spilling the chocolate pearl things over the table (we still ate them obviously). Those are the only faults I can find though, everything else was absolutely first class.

If you haven't been to Sticks n Sushi you should go. It was brilliant when it first opened, it's still brilliant now. 10/10.