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Ekachai, Liverpool Street
Monday April 28th, 2014It’s seven in the evening on a dark and cold Tuesday, and I find myself in an odd situation. I’m in a decidedly Oriental environment, surrounded by bamboo and rope-wrapped pillars. The music, however, consists of track after track from the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
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ASK Italian, Islington
Monday April 21st, 2014I’m sitting in a comfortable neo-Milanese room, looking out at the torrential rain currently turning Islington from bright and sunny to soaking wet. The decor is smart and modern, with dashes of lime green breaking up the otherwise clean, white interior. A waitress places a starter of butterfly king prawns on Italian bread before me; it looks strangely familiar.
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Karma Cans: good for the belly (and the soul)
Tuesday March 11th, 2014Karma Cans is a venture set up by a bright young graduate called Eccie, providing freshly cooked lunches that are delivered to your office by bicycle during your lunch hour.
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Evolution of an icon: Fortnum & Mason St Pancras
Tuesday March 4th, 2014You may not have realised, but an iconic British food institution opened its second location in over three hundred years late last year. I am talking about the inventors of the Scotch egg and purveyors of fine foodstuffs and picnic hampers for the bourgeoisie. I am talking, of course, about Fortnum and Mason.
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Cantina Laredo
Monday March 3rd, 2014Whatever previous critics have said, Cantina Laredo certainly isn’t a bad restaurant. I can’t comment on the authenticity, best ask a Mexican himself, but there is much to commend here from the food to the presentation to the service. If you want to try something different, it’s a solid bet. Go for the gigantic portions, stay for the margarita.
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Alternative Asian: Sri Lankan at Dock Kitchen
Thursday February 27th, 2014Restaurants which span multiple cuisines usually make Alex nauseous. In Dock Kitchen, he discovers an exception as he tries out their new Sri Lankan set menu.
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Tonkotsu East
Tuesday February 25th, 2014Tonkotsu was a roaring success when it opened in Soho. Now a new branch, Tonkotsu East, has opened in Haggerston. Alex went down to see what all the fuss is about.
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My week with Simply Cook
Monday February 24th, 2014We all know that cooking after getting home from a day at the office is a faff. Luckily, there is a solution. Alex tries out Simply Cook, purveyors of quick and easy recipe kits.
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Mary Berry & Lucy Young Cook Up a Feast
Tuesday February 18th, 2014You will doubtless know about Mary Berry from the Great British Bake-Off, but it certainly isn’t only baking that she’s good at, as this book shows, even if there is some baking in it. Together with her long-time collaborator Lucy Young, Berry takes the stress out of cooking for a crowd.
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Souli: Gourmet food and the best coffee outside of Rome?
Tuesday February 18th, 2014London is facing a gastronomic crisis. Throughout the capital, hungry office workers are being forced to visit the same tired lunchtime chains serving cardboard sandwiches and dry, limp salads, washed down with calorie bomb imitation coffee. Something has to be done, and now the capital may finally have a saviour - Souli.
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The Meat Co.
Monday February 17th, 2014In my quest to satisfy my masculine cravings, I headed down to Shepherds Bush, where the first and only branch of South Africa’s The Meat Co. is located a minute away from the tube station in the outside section of Westfield shopping centre.
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Texture
Thursday January 9th, 2014I must rethink my previously held opinions of Michelin starred dining. It may be an award dished out by a tyre company, it may cause endless debate and controversy, but one thing is doesn’t have to be is expensive.
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Up from Down Under: A Chat with Miss Chu
Monday January 6th, 2014Nahji Chu has already conquered Australia with her chain of Miss Chu Vietnamese tuck shops – now, she has set her sights on London. Alex Ozga caught up with Chu to find out who she is and what the Miss Chu brand is about.
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Le Secret des Rôtisseurs
Friday January 3rd, 2014Try to think of where in London you could have a cracking French meal, and Canary Wharf might not figure very highly on your list. It is here however, in a charming location on the river, that Benoit Dieppedalle, along with a couple of family members, opted to open Le Secret des Rôtisseurs. The focus is on French-style rotisserie chicken, spit-roasted to perfection.
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Marriott Hotels. Local produce served up by a world class chain
Thursday December 26th, 2013In a boost to British suppliers and diners’ taste buds, Marriott Hotels are trialling a scheme of sourcing local produce for use in their hotel restaurants. Alex Ozga gets the inside track.
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One Canada Square
Wednesday December 18th, 2013There is real skill here, with delicious food and friendly, well-informed service. It just feels as though they’re trying a bit too hard, as though the seriousness of the location has overshadowed the key task of delivering consistently delicious plates of food.
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Snowflake Gelato
Tuesday December 17th, 2013What do you do when you feel like rebelling against the idea of seasonally-appropriate food? Have ice cream in December, of course.
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Forza Win
Sunday December 8th, 2013Alex Ozga takes a deep breath and puts aside any preconceived notions of his own trendiness to eat at Forza Win - and likes it very much.
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The Art of Blending master class
Wednesday December 4th, 2013Is blended whisky necessarily worse than single malt? What types of whisky go into a blend? Alex Ozga attends a whisky blending workshop to have his questions answered.
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Restaurant relaunch? Just ASK
Tuesday November 26th, 2013How does one go about the daunting task of reinventing a 120-resturant business from the ground up? Alex Ozga has lunch with Theo Randall and the bigwigs of ASK Italian to find out.