The Gannet

Gin Lane Returns To London (and about time too)

Although originally from Holland, gin shall forever be associated with London. Hogarth’s shocking engravings of a city decimated by “mother’s ruin” are graphic reminders of the time that every market square in London was bordered by gin palaces where the traders could quite literally pour their earnings down the drain. By 1740, 11 million gallons of gin were being drunk every year by a London population of only 500,000.

The most popular type of gin is “London dry”, which is a high-proof spirit, usually produced in a column still and redistilled after the botanicals are added to the base spirit. In addition to juniper, it is usually made with a small amount of citrus botanicals like lemon and bitter orange peel. Other botanicals that may be used include anise, angelica root, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, coriander, and cassia bark. Unlike Plymouth gin, London gin has no geographical protection and can be manufactured anywhere in the world.

Yet it’s been left largely to the mega-brand Beefeater to fly the gin flag in London. Their copper stills, manned by only five staff, churn out 2.3 million cases a year.

In the last ten years, a trend for boutique gin labels has been gaining strength, and now a handful of London entrepreneurs are hoping that they can help do for gin what micro-breweries and small-batch production has done for beer and vodka in the last few decades.

Sipsmith of Hammersmith produce small batches of 500 bottles or less of their London dry gin (in addition to a barley vodka). The London Gin Co also produce a small-batch, high-end product from their city premises, though they appear to be owned by a Spanish company. Sacred Gin is hand-distilled in Highgate, based on a formula from the time of the Dutch Gift of 1660, when Charles II of England was returned to the throne after the English Interregnum - the Restoration. Juniper Green organic dry gin is produced for the label by the Thames Distillery in Clapham, London. Other gins made in London include Berry’s Best, and Bulldog Gin made with an assortment of rare and exotic botanicals, including Poppy and Dragon Eye, a cousin of the lychee fruit that is an ancient Chinese secret said to boost skin vitality and promote sexual stamina.

London distillers will have to run to catch up with the growing trend for microdistilleries which is already well established in the USA, and includes gin-makers such as Leopold’s, Bluecoat American Dry, Junipero (made by the Anchor Steam beer company), and Aviation.

If small-batch gins ignite the public’s imagination, surely it can only be a short time until some of the grand gin palaces of London are returned to their former glory? Here's hoping...

The Blue Legume

I have long ago forgiven them for their silly pun of a name, and The Blue Legume is often the first thing that comes into my hungry mind on a Saturday or Sunday morning, particularly if a hangover is involved.  I'm a lucky soul, as it's only a short but beautiful stroll diagonally across Clissold Park to satisfy my Jones.

Catering heavily to vegetarians (and also vegans), the meat-eaters may be in the minority here, but I've never been with anyone who has lamented their lack of choice on the carnivore or pescatarian front.  My all-time favourite dish is the Eggs Benedict. Honestly - their Hollandaise sauce is the best I have ever tasted: light, fluffy, full of air and with a subtle but sublime tang. Perfectly poached eggs, and a generous slice of good-quality, medium thick ham combine to create the perfect dish.  I have as yet resisted the temptation to ask for double portion, but OH! how depressed do I get as I savour the last few bites?

My new remedy to the post-Benedict woe is to order the goats cheese salad as a second course.

A lovely piece of mild goat's cheese, grilled on top of a thick slice of toasted baguette, and served on a mixed leave salad with a simple walnut dressing.  And plenty of walnuts, too.  It requires the vigorous application of knife and fork to properly attack the cheese/bread combo, so is not for the faint-hearted, or those who wish to appear as delicate flowers around the table.  But the softly melted cheese, the crispy and hearty bread, and the delightful nut-laced leaves are a treasure worth the effort required.

The one endearing quality of the Legume is their apparently compulsive desire to dress every dish with a chive garnish -- as you can see from the photos above.  We briefly questioned the absence of chives in the chips (good but nothing to write home about), but quickly realised they were present in the aioli dip offered alongside.

I can recommend a short stumble next door to the Auld Shillelagh pub - a long and narrow Irish pub full of character and charming staff, and with an excellent pint of Guinness on tap.

The Blue Legume
101 Stoke Newington Church Street
London N16 0UD
T: 020 7923 1303
(no web site)

Gannet Rating:  8/10

PS: The origin of Eggs Benedict is well worth a read!  If you've had a great plate of EB somewhere, I'd love to hear about it!

Banner's Restaurant

Banners in Crouch End has long been a favourite place of The Gannet. We visit most often for a naughty lunch, as it's only a ten minute walk from the office.  On this occasion we were being particularly naughty as it was my birthday, so we had a long leisurely lunch.

The "downsides" of Banners, if they have them, are that it's very popular, so tends to be busy and noisy. It's particular popular with families with small children (whom they cater to with pots of crayons and paper, and a children's menu) so if shouty kids isn't your thing, you probably won't enjoy lunch here.  The atmosphere is laid back, the interior is modeled on a kind of rustic American restaurant vibe (lots of wood, old posters plastered to the walls, motorcycle and music memorabilia etc.  The service is friendly and informal, occasionally a bit hap-hazard, but I usually forgive them as the waitresses have all mostly been with the restaurant for years and they are all very warm and relaxed, even if you sometimes have to ask twice.

Food-wise, Banners has an extensive menu that is largely American (burgers, pancakes, soups and sandwiches), and Caribbean (fish, curries, rice & peas), with regular Asian and Mexican specials.  When banners veers off their set menu, they generally do so with varying degrees of success.  I once had a quesadilla there which was accompanied by home-made refried beans -- made with kidney beans.  It's those sort of very rustic, home-made "adaptations" of ethnic dishes on which they tend to stumble.  However, other times they get it just right.

Luckily for my birthday they got it just right with the special Blackened Cajun Salmon.  Often restaurants tend to over-spice "blackened" dishes - my feeling is that you don't need half an inch of spice coating to achieve the blackened effect, and too much dry spice tends to overpower the flavour of the meat or fish.  Banners served up a huge portion of salmon fillet, perfectly spiced and not overcooked either, and covered with a savory Cajun gravy.  The fish was accompanied by a hefty portion of delicious rice & peas (black beans) and a tasty salad.  Being The Gannet, we also had to have a side portion of fried plantain.

One of The Gannet's companions chose an all-day breakfast - what Banners call Hash Browns, two big deep fried potato cakes, fried eggs and bacon, plus maple syrup to drizzle over it should you wish (The Gannet wishes).  A side of extra sausages was naturally in order.  The other chose the jerk chicken burger, served with potato wedges and salad.  Silly boy didn't order any extra sides and felt underfed as a result. (Warning: this is not a problem at Banners, small portions that is!  Unless you're a true gannet, like us!)  Being in a celebratory mood, we rounded off the meal with Affogato Martinis.  I can't believe I didn't see these on the menu before.  Two of my favourite things in life are espresso martinis, and affogato di gelato (ice cream with hot espresso poured over it).  And yes -- this wonderful drink combines all three!  Vodka, kahlua and hot coffee are blended and presented in a martini glass, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Delicious.  I nearly ordered a second, it was so good.

Banners is one of those tried and trusted places that Crouch Enders love so much.  It is starting to get a little frayed around the edges (and hasn't been redecorated since they opened over 10 years ago), and it's not always perfect, but it is a place I will visit again and again, because what they do well, they do so much better than most restaurants in the area.  I have never left there feeling like it wasn't money well spent.

Banners Restaurant
21 Park Road
Crouch End
London, N8 9TE
020 8348 2930
(no web site)

Gannet Rating:  7/10

Chop'd

New chain offers a green & healthy option for lunch.

Chop'd is a relatively new fast food chain, with five branches in London.  They are, apparently, "on a mercy mission to bring delicious food into real working lives".  They serve breakfasts (porridge, yogurt, muesli and fresh juices), soups, and salads.  Everything, they say, is freshly assembled each morning in-store. Chop'd offers a choice of pre-assembled salads - tuna nicoise, jerk chicken, superfoods (edamame beans, avocado, beetroot, carrot, broccolis, spinach, seeds and sprouts), parma ham & mozzarella, smoked mackerel, and the particularly frightening (to me, at least) powerfoods (broccoli, green beans, carrot spaghetti, beetroot spaghetti, more seeds).

The more exciting option, however, is the "create your own salad" challenge, where for £5 you can choose a base (leaves, pasta, rice noodles, couscous, potato or any combination thereof) plus 3 "house" ingredients (vegetables and fruit, plus the scary beetroot or carrot spaghettis), add 1 "deli" ingredient (cheeses, fish, meat, avocado or pine kernels), 1 "garnish" (fresh herbs and seeds) and a dressing (they offer 14 choices, from the naughty blue cheese to the low fat miso or no fat thai dressing).  You can add extra ingredients for 25p to £1.

Chop'd get green points for offering you an extra house ingredient if you leave without a carrier bag for your salad, and also for offering free water if you bring your own bottle (not sure if they just fill it up at the tap though as we didn't have a bottle with us).  Also the bins they provide in store allow customers to sort the waste for later recycling.

The staff were all friendly enough on arrival, though when it came to serving us one staffer came to the counter and asked if we needed help, and then turned around and admonished a co-worker for ignoring us, walked off and made the co-worker serve us!  Said co-worker looked a bit sour about that.  Apart from this they were all charming enough.

I went for leaves (which considered of iceberg, cos and/or romaine, which was just started to get a tired edge to it -- surprising considering it was 11am), chickpeas, carrots, fresh peppers (I forgot to claim my free fourth ingredient, and they didn't offer!), chicken plus avocado (an extra £1), fresh basil, and sesame soy dressing.  We sat in to eat.  The portions were certainly generous, all of the ingredients bar the leaves were very fresh, and the dressing very tasty.  I'd say good value in general, though I was not happy to have paid an extra quid for some seriously under-ripe avocado.  I did manage to spend £8 with my extras (which also included a brownie and sparkling mineral water).  The brownie was good and moist and chewy, but nothing particularly special.

Seating at this branch was limited inside, but includes plenty of extra tables outside on the station concourse.

I think a few improvements could be made but will definitely visit Chop'd again if I'm in their neighbourhood.

I visited the St Pancras branch at about 11am today. 

Chop'd
Unit 34, St Pancras International
Pancras Rd, London, NW1 2QL
020 7837 1603

The Islington Burrito Wars

   
  Originally uploaded by Jonathan Fuchs

There is a burrito war waging on Upper Street in Islington.  It seems that after years of being forced to endure oppressive Tex-Mex "restaurants", several London entrepreneurs  have woken up to the business opportunity I have been fantasing about since I moved to London 20 years ago: the taco stand.  (Okay, they are actually burrito stands, but taco stand has more resonance.)

First there was Beach Burrito on Berwick Street in Soho.  They really hit the right notes : Californian-style mega burritos stuffed with carne asada, chicken, pork, etc.  Then they closed down.

Now we have two entries on Upper Street:

Mucho Mas: I think their ingredients had been sitting in the warmers a bit too long, (they did not look particuarly appetizing) and I choked at paying 75p for a spoonful of guac.  Their hot sauce was incendiary, so be warned if you don't like them SUPER hot.  Only Corona was offered on the beer front.  Staff were neither friendly or surly.

Tortilla: More choices (white rice vs spanish rice, pinto vs black beans, etc) and a more reasonable 50p for guac.  Their medium sauce was bland and their hot sauce wasn't (hot). Three or four beers (Negra Modelo, Dos Equis and Corona, plus maybe one other) and margaritas on offer.  Staff were more open and friendly.  Seemed to be populated entirely by American customers.

Neither burrito was particularly flavourful.  For me they tick all the boxes on ingredients but they just don't have any oomph.   If I go back, it will be to Tortilla because of the wider choice when building your burrito, and better beers.

Both are good for a quick fix but I'd still prefer to make my burritos at home where I know they will have some FLAVOUR.

Meanwhile, here's a nice photo of a burrito bar in the Mission in San Francisco, the place that I first acquired my habit.

Mercado

Somehow we managed to avoid food altogether until after 7pm today.  It was one of "those sleep late, walk directly to computer, loose 5 hours" days.  When our bodies finally triggered the alarm, we realised we had no food in the house and we opted to stroll through Clissold Park and enjoy the sunny evening, heading for Mercado, our local Mexican cantina.

When Mercado opened, it struggled with a lot of negative feedback from patrons, who (I felt) didn't have a real appreciation of Mexican cooking.  The British palate associates Mexican food with what I would call Tex-Mex : nachos, fajitas and chimichangas.   Mercado was dishing up more authentic fare : mole , pasilla and salsa verde sauces for example.  Eventually the restaurant conceded and added fajitas and burritos to the menu.  It seems to be working for them - the restaurant was nearly full on this Sunday evening.

Unfortunately on this visit I have to say I was not impressed.  It was the third time I've eaten there.  Last visit I had Coctel de Camaron which I found too sweet (but put that down to my taste) and the Carne Asada which I found a bit unexciting.  On this visit things didn't improve.

I started with Queso Fundido - basically a bowl of melted cheese - or a kind of Mexican fondue, if you will.  Usually the recipe involves several types of cheese (Monterey Jack, Mozzarella or Manchego typically), some poblano chiles, maybe some red pepper, and some wine.  Mercado's version was a duller affair - simply cheese with a few chunks of chorizo thrown in.  It did the job but it didn't bear repeating.  Damon had what the menu called "Quesadillas", which were not made with tortillas as expected, but instead were more like an empanada.  Filled with cheese, they too were quite bland, but saved by the addition of some guacamole and warm salsa on the plate.

They were out of my first choice - Chiles En Nogada (poblano chiles stuffed with beef or vegetables) so we both opted for Burritos.  Though the menu described them in the plural, it was really one large burrito cut in half.  The filling was a very bland mixture of ground beef and onion, wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with some guacamole, lettuce and sour cream, and accompanied by a dull tasting red rice.  We had to ask for a bottle of hot sauce just to give the burrito a bit of flavour.

Add to this that our margaritas (we tried the Fallen Angelita) came served with a rim of sugar, not salt, and it was not a meal to write home about.  Had we not been so rampantly hungry I'm sure our disappointment would have been greater.

Service was okay: not good, not bad. Two margaritas, two beers, two bottles of water and the bill came to £48 for two.  We won't be rushing back again.

Mercado Bar and Cantina
26 - 30 Stoke Newington Church Street, London, N16 0LU
T: 020 7923 0555
http://www.mercado-cantina.co.uk