March 2017 – PB Eats, PB Travels

PB Eats… Vegan In London 1

There has been a lot of eating going on over the past few weeks, lots of home made food, lots of the usual stuff (Zizzi, Pizza Express, Wagamama, Haz), and a few interesting eats, which I’ll talk about here. So the first one was… wait for it… a vegetarian pizza restaurant! So this place is apparently the third in a chain, and not only is it vegetarian, but Indian – which means that you can order pizzas with lots of coriander or paneer!!

Mr Singh’s is just outside Gants Hill tube station, we rocked up early (pretty early, around 6pm) for dinner. We were the only ones there to sit and eat, but it filled up quickly. There were lots of people taking away or picking up orders. The menu is great – not only do they do pizzas, but burgers, wraps, lots of sides and lots of desserts. I decided to go for the vegetarian hot, with red onion, sweetcorn, mushrooms, peppers, jalapenos and fresh green chillies, sans cheese. They do a soy based vegan cheese, but I’d rather go without. My mama ordered a vegetarian supreme, which was essentially the same as mine, but without the green chillies, and obviously with cheese.

It was only after I ordered I read that pizzas are deep pan, but you can request thin crust (which is my pizza of choice). The deep pan was about a centimetre thick, really well cooked and crispy – so no complaints there. I usually top my pizza with chilli oil, chilli flakes, and whatever else there is – but this time, I didn’t have to. The pizza was SO good – and the generous amount of green chillies really hit the spot. Super tasty! Definitely coming back here to try the other stuff on the menu.

Next? The food stalls at Spitalfields Market and Boiler House. Well we did check out all the fashion stalls – there is so so much there, all quirky and different, teeming with people – but I was here for the food.

There was something for everyone – virtually every different type of cuisine and dish available, and everyone, well, almost everyone was happy with what they got. I wanted to check out the vegan burgers at Pomodoro e Basilico. I had been seeing these ‘cheesy/mozarella’ sticks that they sell on social media for so long, I really wanted to try them – so I ordered one.. It looked like the real deal, tasted like the real deal, the only problem for me was that it was under seasoned. All it needed was hit of salt.

They also do different kinds of burgers, either with seitan or jackfruit. They even do a sweet burger. I went for ‘The Good’ with a seitan beef patty, beetroot ketchup, garlic mayo, cashew cheddar, carrot bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion. There is a lot of effort that goes into these burgers, but for me, it was too sweet! The bun was sweet, and the beetroot ketchup and carrot bacon just enhanced that. Also, my patty was really really small. I think that if the patty was bigger and thicker, it would change everything about the burger.

We also went for a slice of the spinach, peanut butter and banana cake. Amazing texture, moist, but it could have been a bit sweeter for me.

So some stuff was too sweet, some not enough sweet or salty – but overall, quite pleasant. I will try them again though, and compare the difference to this time…

Next highlight – din din with the cousins. We wanted to go to Iberica, but they didn’t have any availability until 10pm, so we ended up going to Sabor Iberico – tapas too, but much more rustic, cheaper and cheerful. It was a lovely place, lovely staff and a typical menu with all the expected fare… but what was unexpected was a lovely gin menu, with my favourite tonic(s) – Fever Tree.. I went for a Portobello Road Gin, which was jolly good.

There were a few meaties and I think they ordered the calamari and chorizo, but there were loads of veggie/vegan options. Olives – fat, juicy and so moorish. Delish! The pan con tomate was sensational – we ordered some plain and some with manchego cheese. Fresh tomatoes, fresh bread – it has got to be one my favourite tapas dishes. We also went for patatas bravas (acceptable), ensalada de espinaca with nuts, butternut squash and a really good whole mustard dressing. The padron peppers were appropriately charred, with a sprinkling of paprika..mmmmm. I was happy.

Other veggie dishes ordered were the tortilla with cauliflower (hmmm), the feedback was that it was ok. What went down well though was the broccoli in a nice buttery sauce, and a dish of mushroom and goats cheese.

Sadly I couldn’t partake in any of the desserts, so I settled for a cup of hot water with lemon (they had run out of fresh mint!) and watched the girlies enjoy the churros and tarta de Santiago – and boy, they did.

Sabor Iberico was really reasonable, the food good, the desserts and gin heavenly – will definitely return for a cheap and cheerful and tasty meal.

So those have been some of the eats (to be honest, the ones where I remember to take photos of, haha). I’ve been busy planning travelling phase 2 – Asia it is and some of the countries have been decided on, but I’m also doing a bit of ‘going with the flow’… I leave in 2 weeks – and I can’t wait! Whooo!

PB Eats… Yauatcha

I am enjoying being back home, making the most of the free time I have, and eating obviously. I met up with L for dinner at what has become my favourite place for dim sum – Yauatcha – I prefer going to the branch in the city. Over the years, I have experimented with what I can eat, what I want to eat, what I should be eating, and Yauatcha has always graciously supported my preferences. L managed to wrangle the current bookatable £29 deal – 9 courses (including dessert) and a cocktail. Yay! The table was already set with the usual fare – vinegary cucumber (yummo), and two chilli sauces, top right con fish, bottom right sin fish.

Our cocktail arrived – a cherry chaser with brandy, cherries, orange and a few..erm.. other things – yep, I can’t remember. Surprisingly refreshing and not very alcoholic given all that ice.

So the set menu has the following yummy nibbles – Har Gau, Crystal Dumpling Wrap (ve), Baked Venison Puff, Mushroom Spring Roll (ve), Shui Mai, Black Pepper dumpling, Prawn Cheung Fun and a lotus leaf sticky rice. Phew. Obviously most of the stuff was off limits for me, but they had alternatives, as expected. I got more taro (2 to be exact) and veggie dumplings (1 fried and 1 steamed) and a mushroom cheung fun. The fried dim sum were very tasty – as were the steamed.

We also got a cheung fun each – soft, yielding and very delicious. At first glance, you may think this is not a lot of food, but it was just the right amount. Every dim sum was well made and flavourful, I can’t choose a favourite. Ok. I can – the orange dumpling, it’s always been you. It contains pine nuts – not an expected ingredient but what an ingenious addition! The mushroom spring roll with a hint of truffle comes a close second. My dishes on the top, L’s in the middle.

PB Eats… Copita

I’m back in London! I wasn’t supposed to be back so soon, but a combination of unhelpful travel agents, expensive tickets and fate meant that my plans to go back to Mexico didn’t work out. Saying all that, it is good to be back, seeing family, catching up with friends and most importantly, enjoying my Indian food. I didn’t miss it while travelling, but boy I was glad to overdose on it when I got back. Thanks mum! Home made indian dishes, rotis, gol gappas, puris, yum yum.

And I’ve been catching up at the regular restaurants, Zizzi – I’ve missed that wonderful pizza base, Chawallas, Wagamama, Shoryu – mmm, soy milk ramen, delicious. Incidentally, they have a deal on at the moment, £22 for a bun, ramen and delicious cocktail. Definitely worth it. I’m not going to blog about any of those – but I will say that it is good having all this variety and choice of vegan food sans issues or drama.

The meal of the week though was at Copita, to catch up with my partner in crime (and evil thoughts – forgive me!! haha), M. A nice, trendy space with that irritating rule of no reservations in the evening. Being a lady of leisure, I got there nice and early in the evening and had my choice of tables – or bar stools. Result!

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover not only do they have a lovely food menu, but a very very lovely gin and tonic menu!!! Tanqueray! Bloom! Whoo!! And they have Fever Tree tonic water – the only tonic water worth drinking.

The service was helpful and friendly, but as the evening went on it did get harder to grab their attention. They rattled off the dishes I could eat (leaving out a few ingredients), so I obediently ordered them ALL. M ordered the chorizo, croquetas de champiñones (no pics), and the giant gambas (check them out!!), which I didn’t hear any negatives about.

We also got the sweet potato bravas (alioli on the side). These were moist, juicy but not very spicy. Not at all to be honest. The broccoli with a pepper sauce – delish. Still crunchy broccoli, yummy sauce, I enjoyed this dish.

The highlight of the meal was the ajo blanco, dressed with grapes, beetroot, parsley and almonds. It was so tasty – not too garlicy, really creamy and the bits on top added little bursts of texture and flavour. Every mouthful tasted different – yum yum yum. Please order this! The lowlight of the meal, for reasons to explicit and nasty to mention here, was the roasted aubergine. It didn’t really look appealing, it had no seasoning and the texture was not nice, and the top half was undercooked, and I couldn’t taste anything in the sauce. The hazelnuts though, were excellent.

I had no room for dessert after all this food and the very tasty G&Ts (my dessert), but M ordered the coffee and burnt milk ice cream. Judging from the speed at which it disappeared and her expression, it was a tasty dessert.

Overall – it was a good meal, I would go back again and again just for that ajo blanco!