Christmas is a time of sublime excess bordering on the ridiculous. No matter how many mince pies you munch, or if you go back for seconds, thirds and fourths of festive fare til you bust your belt, you still end up binning more than you bargained for.
The Earlham Street Clubhouse
Just in time for the annual festival of excess that is the festive season, Covent Garden has welcomed a new American themed bar and pizza joint: the Earlham Street Clubhouse (ESC) on Earlham Street (!), just off Seven Dials.
Street Feast at Hawker House
Street Feast has been all the rage in trendy Dalston for the past five weekends. With a final weekend of street food left, Marcus checks it out and find out whether it’s worth a visit.
Night Tales at Abbot Street Car Park
Dalston street food venture Night Tales ends on Saturday night, after a successful run. Marcus goes along to see what the fuss is about, and to see whether it’s worth the trip.
Balthazar- A room with a view to make you happy
Balthazar has done well in its short existence, despite a bit of sniffiness from some critical quarters. You can’t argue with bums on seats though; ask any restaurant owner – great reviews or a full restaurant? There’s no prizes for guessing the answer.
Christmas recipe: Smoked salmon on soda bread with Castello Creamy White
Smoked salmon canapés are a Christmas classic for a reason – they look pretty posh and taste just as fancy. Hix Restaurants’ Ronnie Murray makes the tried-n-tested combo tastier still.
Book Review – Sweet Delights from A Thousand & One Nights – Habeeb Salloum, Muna Salloum and Leila Salloum Elias
This beguiling book had me at the subtitle –’the story of traditional Arab sweets’. Oh, go on then. I’m all ears and I bring with me a whole mouthful of sweet teeth. I’ve also got a fair appetite for a bit of food legacy and legend, so this exotic Middle Eastern delight had my belly dancing from the off.
The Niftiest Gift List – Brilliant Baked Goods
Christmas is heaven for wannabe-GBBO contestants; the time when your kitchen (or at least every in-house supermarket bakery) emits a fug of spicy, buttery, cakey goodness. Stop mainlining mince pies, though – there’s a world of feative bakes beyond. Buy to give, or just to gorge, these are all gorgeous….
Gü’s Chocolate Martini Christmas recipe
Gü’s take on the classic martini introduces a good hit of cocoa alongside the hard liquor. Indulgent in every sense of the word..
Made in Malta
At the Phoenicia Hotel they take luxury and food very seriously. Nick Harman goes into their garden to meet the head chef and to taste the Maltese difference.