Eat: The Blues Kitchen

Sometimes you choose a restaurant. And sometimes a restaurant chooses you, a bit like fate.
Last week, the boy had some good news so I wanted to take him out for a celebratory dinner and he decided that he wanted Drunken Monkey's so we headed off to Shoreditch. Only there had been a power cut so after the novelty of drinking cocktails by candlelight wore off, we headed off in search of food. I'd mentioned Red Dog Saloon has been on Men vs Food so we went there but there was a 45 minute wait time and I get rather hangry ( hungry/angry) so we needed food. Immediately.

The Blues Kitchen is the home of some great Texan BBQ, situated on Curtain Road in Shoreditch. Only having opened its doors 4 months ago it was previously Bar Music Hall, it is already buzzing and on a Saturday evening we rocked up, with no reservation, and tried to get a table in a packed restaurant. Someone had just cancelled. Like i said; fate.

With a buzzing bar in the middle of the cavernous building, it is an example of shabby chic dining, perfect for Shoreditch hipsters and city guys alike. Larger booths line the walls, with smaller wooden tables closer to the bar area which is where we were seated.

Now the food. Well. BBQ and Southern food are a fave of mine and they do it well!
Served on wooden serving slabs, they are absolutely HUGE. I went for the pan fried fillet of catfish marinated in Cajun spices served on a bed of rice with a butter and crayfish sauce. The creamy sauce complimented the melt in your mouth fillets even if there was too much rice for me to finish....that could have been because I was gorging on Mac 'n' Cheese, the crumbly and crispy top giving way to a gooey cheesy middle and perfect pieces of pasta.

The BBQ and Burger choices are extensive, but the boy went for burger of the month: The Captain America, two 7oz patties of ground brisket topped with cheese, onion rings and fried green tomatoes, served with two pots of fries and slaw. He also cheekily switched the bacon for a side of super soft cornbread!

We thought we had room for dessert...

Until the biggest piece of Banoffee Pie I've ever seen this side of the Atlantic rocked up at our table with two spoons. A slither of a biscuit base, smothered in masses of banana cream, sprinkled with chocolate flakes and a slice of banana and finally drizzled in a butterscotch sauce....this may be the best Banoffee pie, I've ever eaten. And we couldn't even finish it!

Almost though!

A bustling atmosphere, excellent food and blues and rock blaring, The Blues Kitchen is one restaurant you should definitely check out. I'm also hugely impressed by their cool social media presence across all platforms from Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and even Soundcloud with their own radio station and playlists.

Brooklyn Bowl

For Valentine's Day this year I really wanted to go to Brooklyn Bowl at the O2. I love Southern food and bowling so it seemed a no brainer (that EE advert has clearly seeped into my subconscious without me realising it).

I started with a nice cocktail, since the restaurant was kinda ignoring V-Day and had no balloons or hearts or hints of love in sight, I added fresh strawberry to my frozen margarita.

After much debate we both ended up going for the same thing, fried catfish on ciabatta with corn tartar, served with a side of mixed greens.

We shared some Rock. And. Roll fries, fries with gravy, cajun spice, provolone and cheddar cheese...absolutely delish!

The food, by famous New York restaurant Blue Ribbon was filling and flavourful, the service was lovely. I defo want to go back, there were plenty other things on the menu that I wanted to try...not least the hot fudge sundae...

We didn't end up trying out the lanes as it was quite late, but we checked out the bar and dance floor area, the DJ was playing some tunes!

Shanika Says: definitely worth the trek to Greenwich.

Ice @ The Palace and Joe's Southern Kitchen

Outdoor ice-skating was always a bit of a romantic dream of mine and is fast becoming a winter tradition! Last year we went to the rink at the Tower of London and it was all lit up beautifully in the dark, but this year I fancied going in the day time, so booked tickets to the outdoor ice-skating rink at Hampton Court Palace, one time home of Henry VIII. It is not too far from my old university stomping ground, Kingston upon Thames, so being back in the quaint little Surrey town was nice.

I didn't get to take too many pictures on the ice because you're not actually allowed, but managed to sneak one cos you know, I'm a rebel. We did get the official photographer to take some photos of us though, so we have some better posed photos on the ice as a memento and the ice marshalls were so friendly and helpful. The Palace itself actually looked so grand and the architecture ornate and beautiful. I want to go back and get lost in the maze! Maybe when the weather is a little warmer...

The rink itself was super busy with lots of families and children, so although once we gained some confidence we were able to skate around quite, I'd recommend going later in the evening or on a week day before the schools break up because I kept seeing falling kids everywhere and was terrified one was going to drag me down...All in all a lot of fun but we had worked up quite an appetite so headed up to Central London to Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar which is a converted warehouse spread over two floors and a basement bar in Covent Garden.

This picture is a little blurry because we were still in a daze after the popcorn shrimp with chilli lime salsa that didn't even get a picture because we were so hungry...and it tasted sooo good, spicy yet sweet, just the right size. We almost ordered more but good job we didn't. We fully went in with our meal.

Blackened catfish fillet with cajun mustard and collard greens for me.

8 hour slow roast beef short ribs with Joe's BBQ rub and slaw and fries with chicken salt for him.

Cornbread and mac'n'cheese for us both.
I can't express how good the food was, but if I say I had to pop open my jeans button that might give you an idea? Every mouthful was so flavourful, even if the catfish was a little spicy. Nothing let the team down, everything tasted so good, hence the reason why I didn't stop eating when I should have. We easily could have done without the sides as our mains alone were so filling, but I'm glad we ate them anyway.

There is a happy hour selection for £4. Happy hour is all day Sunday. The Lychee (muddled fresh lychees, creme de peche, pineapple juice and Beefeater gin) is the TRUTH. I could have drank so many more than the two I had. I mean, I didn't even have a French Martini which is also on the happy hour menu, that's how good it is!

Pecan pie with Jim Beam honey cream and an alcoholic milkshake to finish off. The ice-cream was lovely but to be honest I should just have had another Lychee.

Because I had no idea where we were going and had never heard of the restaurant at first I thought it was just a traditional burger joint, so was blown away by the Deep South cooking although the Southern hospitality was a little lacking. I was totally stuffed afterwards but I would 100% recommend. The service was a little brisk but the food more than compensated for it.