Monday 27 May 2013

Flat Iron



After 5 + City Pig’s Summary

Snapshot

Cuisine:
Steak on a budget
Price:
Average spend is £18 per person (Based on a £10 steak with chips, a sauce and a soft drink and service charge.)
Healthy:
Healthy scale 3/5
Tasty:
3/5 – Food
3/5 – Service
2/5 – Comfort of dining in
3.5/5 – Value for money
3/5 – Overall rating
Address:       
17 Beak Street, London, W1F 9RW. Nearest tube: Leicester Square
Opening times
Mon-Sat: 12pm-11pm; Sun: 12pm-10:30pm
Eat in/Takeaway:
Eat-in
Recommended dishes & drinks
Limited – Steak.
Vegetarian dishes
No
Loyalty card
No
Website

Notes
A small, busy and tightly packed restaurant in Soho, serving thin steak on a budget.

After 5 + City Pig’s analysis

If you are wondering whether to come here or not, you must be not fussy and enjoy the minimal choice there is. Don’t invite your veggie friends unless you want them to starve. No need to even know anything about steak, since there is only one type on the menu except that on the specials, we got wagyu!

The steak was tender, thinly sliced on the iron board and is easy to chew. The steak lacked the meaty flavours but was still enjoyable for the price paid. It comes with a very small portion of salad. It was enough food at the time but after a few hours I was peckish! The chips were crispy and cooked very well.

Other interesting quirks, was that popcorn is served as a nibble for free in a cup. Sauces have to be paid at £1 and a good range of soft drinks like ginger beer and rose lemonade are available. There are no desserts on the menu but there is a basement bar.
Flat iron attracts a lot of attention as it is purse friendly and provides some simple grub. Come early as there are no reservations and be prepared to sit close to fellow diners.








Ice tea recipes using Tea Pigs



I love drinking different types of tea whether it is the good old classic breakfast tea or herbal teas. However many people think tea as being a beverage that needs to be drunk hot and with milk. Tea is so diverse that we can use it to make refreshing cold drinks similar to cocktails but more like a mocktail. It can be so much healthier than buying heaps of coke and fizzy drinks.
 The sun is shining this bank holiday weekend - a perfect time to be out experimenting refreshing drinks.  Jot these down so that you can impress guests with ice tea drinks!

1)     Lemongrass Cooler

Ingredients:
·         One Lemongrass Tea Pig tea bag.
·         Quarter of a glass of Elderflower cordial or elderflower lemonade.
·         Half a lemon.
·         3 thin slices of lime.
·         Quarter of a cucumber.
·         Plenty of ice cubes if you like it extra cold!
Method
·         Brew 500ml of hot boiling water to steep lemongrass tea bag for 3-4 minutes.
·         Either let the tea cool down or add ice cubes when the tea is cooler to speed things up.
·         Add Elderflower cordial, lemon, lime and cucumber. Mix well and add additional ice cubes if need be.
·         Add a sprig of mint for decoration on glass.

2)     Berry Lush

Ingredients:
·         One Superberries Tea Pig tea bag.
·         Quarter of a glass of Elderflower cordial or elderflower lemonade.
·         Half a spoon of honey.
·         Mint and blueberries is optional.

Method
·         Brew 500ml of hot boiling water to steep Superberries tea bag for 3-4 minutes.
·         Either let the tea cool down or add ice cubes when the tea is cooler to speed things up.
·         Add Elderflower cordial, and honey. Mix well and add additional ice cubes if need be.
·         Add a sprig of mint and blueberries (optional).

3)     Fruity tutti

Ingredients:
·         One Mao Feng green tea Tea Pig tea bag.
·         Quarter of a glass of Elderflower cordial or elderflower lemonade.
·         Quarter of a lemon.
·         3 thin slices of lime.
·         Quarter of a cucumber.
·         A handful of Strawberries.
·         Half a large orange.
·         A handful of fresh mint leaves
·         Plenty of ice cubes if you like it extra cold!
Method
·         Brew 500ml of hot boiling water to steep lemongrass tea bag for 3-4 minutes.
·         Either let the tea cool down or add ice cubes when the tea is cooler to speed things up.
·         Add Elderflower cordial, all fruits and cucumber. Mix well and add additional ice cubes if need be.
·         Add mint and stir.

Ideal for
·         Summertime BBQs/parties and you when you need a thirst quencher!
·         A refreshing summer drink and alternative to soft drinks.






Tuesday 21 May 2013

Rooftop Cafe


After 5 + City Pig’s Summary

 

Snapshot
 
Cuisine:
Modern European
Price:
Average spend £40 per person (Three mains a glass of wine,cup of coffee and service charge.)
Healthy:
Healthy scale 3/5
Tasty:
3.5/5 – Food
3/5 – Service
4/5 – Comfort of dining in
3.5/5 – Overall rating
Address:       
The Exchange, London SE1 9SG. Nearest tube: London Bridge
Opening times
Mon-Fri 8am-3pm; Thurs-Fri 6-10:30pm
Eat in/Takeaway:
Eat-in
Recommended dishes & drinks
Menu changes according to seasonal ingredients.
Vegetarian dishes
Yes
Loyalty card
No
Website
 
Notes
A small boutique style restaurant that is hidden away up above the hustle and bustle of London Bridge.

 
After 5 + City Pig’s analysis

 Be prepared to have a bit of patience in searching this little hidden gem. Often, I have no problem with locations but here, it is on top of a commercial building and so you will have to search for a board on the pavement. Then you will have to press a button that reaches the Roof top café to let you in. Then you go into a lift taking you to the top floor and then you have to go through a few doors and a corridor that is quite narrow. At one point I wasn’t even sure if we were there yet.

It’s a small boutique style restaurant giving off a very unique, discreet and romantic setting with views over London despite being only six or seven floors up.

The restaurant focuses on seasonal ingredients and therefore, the menu is limited to only a few items under the starter, mains and desserts.

 
To begin the evening I ate pan fried scallops with black pudding but asked this to be removed as I dislike black pudding. It came out slightly smaller than I expected but the taste was not bad. The main was grilled seabass with garlic and pesto sauce. This was much more substantial and very well cooked. For dessert, a very exploded portion of Eton berry mess worked a treat! A generous amount of very juicy strawberries was excellent.


The Rooftop Café is a very relaxing environment and I recommend for those wanting to escape the days stresses to come here to unwind. We had the window view which I recommend you to request so you can enjoy watching the sun go down!

A three course meal with a glass of wine and a coffee with service charge will set you back just under £40. There is no doubt that once the weather is warmer this place will be packed.