To thank each and every one of you that follow TDO, I wanted to give something back.

As you probably know, if you follow me on twitter, I spent the last 5 days in Italy to visit family and friends, and jumped to the opportunity to purchase a fantastic ITALIAN FOODIE BAG by small Italian producers (except from Ciobar Cioccolata, which is a pretty mainstream product in Italy).

This is what you could win:

• Pesto Alla Genovese in extra virgin olive oil by Azienda Agraria Anfossi, made with Basil from Genoa DOP (185g).
• Mini trio of Organic honey: Walnut, Orange and Acacia
• Grok snack made with Grana Padano DOP (60g).
• Organic mix for Pasta All’Arrabbiata to add to your tomato sauce (100g).
• Artisanal Schiacciatina snacks with black olives (180g).
• Mini Strolghino di Culatello salami from Parma (120g).
• Capers from Pantelleria (100g).
• Pasta Chitarra (similar to spaghetti) bronze cut (500g)
• Pane Guttiau from Sardinia (250g)

Last but not least, I have included one of the most difficult Italian products to track down in the UK: Cioccolata Ciobar Originale (Hot Chocolate mix).

If you have been to Italy and tasted hot chocolate, you know it’s thick and creamy, almost the consistency of a thick chocolaty custard. With Cameo’s Ciobar mix you can make your own Cioccolata calda at home without having to fly all the way down to Milan!

I am sure you are going to love it! Here is a little close up.

The giveaway is open to UK citizens only.

Good luck!

They offer a pretty interesting American inspired, slow and fast cooked, street food menu, excellent craft beer and delicious (and pretty stiff) cocktails.

The interior décor is quite unusual, with faux graffiti on the walls, pop images and a screen showing old movies. Music plays in the background, at a perfect level to have a conversation. Here is an insider tip, by checking-in with your waiter it’s possible to take control of the soundtrack and create your very own play list!

We started with a little nibble of DIY popcorn, which we decided to customize with a mix of cheddar and hot jalapeno flavourings, washed down by Lazy Manhattan cocktails.

We then shared the Pulled pork & slaw ‘burger’,  8 hour-cooked pork shoulder in pale ale, fennel, honey, smoked paprika topped with a cabbage, carrot, fennel, beetroot, celeriac, radish and yoghurt slaw.

Really delicious! Slightly sweet pork meat, packed with earthy flavours, perfectly paired with the crunchy and fresh texture of the slaw.

A tasty 6 hour-cooked in pale ale brisket chilli, served with a deliciously crushed guacamole.

Perfect with the crostini bread, and some cheeky smothered fries, topped with Monterey Jack cheese; crispy and moreish.

Followed by a selection of huge (!) mouth-watering sticky chicken wings.

Sweet & spicy (my favourite) in a perfectly balanced ginger, honey, coriander & lime hot sauce.

BBQ, served with hickory smoke and chipotle chilli sauce

and finally… extremely HOT wings, so hot that they almost burn your lips, served with a rich blue cheese dip.

My verdict? A perfect spot for post work drinks and food, or a naughty lunch (they also offer a take-away option).

I didn’t pay for my dinner, but I have estimated a dinner for two with drinks to be around £45. Recommended!

Hurry! Go before the word spreads and the long queues start, as they have a non-booking policy.

CANDLE LIGHT

The Candlelight Club is a clandestine pop-up cocktail bar in a secret London venue, a stunning, tucked-away den with a 1920s speakeasy flavour, completely lit by candles. Each party offers a one-off cocktail menu, with special themes, plus dancing to live 1920s jazz bands and vintage DJing. They run most Fridays, just take a look at their website for the next available dates. To buy your ticket click here.

THE SKYROOM

Platterform re-open the doors to their beautiful rooftop venue -  The Skyroom. This year promises exciting collaborations with London’s top chefs, mixologists, sommeliers, beer makers and artists to curate a truly diverse program of food and drink experiences. Today, Friday 5th April, they launch  COCK ‘N’ DOODLE night.  Chicken, Cocktails, Art. £15. Every Friday.

RUM SHACK

Floridita has recently launched its brand new Rum bar, a Cuban ‘beach shack’ inspired drinking experience in the heart of London, with the most extensive selection of rums in Europe. Guests can choose from cocktails such as Hemingway Punch: a delicious blend of Bacardi Superior and Maraschino Liqueur inspired by Ernest Hemingway, In a Barrel: a concoction of absinthe, gomme, lemon & orange juice, shaken with Pussers Blue Rum and served in a barrel vessel, and Cheeky Monkey: a blend made using Chairman’s Reserve – mellow on the palate with a complex mix of ripe raisin fruit, tobacco and spice – served in a tiki glass.

B-SOHO

B-SOHO, located on buzzing Poland Street, is an Italian inspired, fashionable cocktail and pizza bar, with an impressive drink menu – over 30 different variations of cocktails – pizza to nibble, cooked in a specially hand-built brick oven, for just 90 seconds, a foosball table,  and live music sessions every Friday. Signature cocktails include Neopolitans, grappa blended with gin, sweetened with limoncello, shaken up with fresh grapefruit and lemon and served in a coupette with a flamed grapefruit zest; or Prescott’s Punch a medley of tequila infused with Lady Grey tea, laced with apricot conserve, dried out with white wine and pressed apple and balanced with lemon and a cheeky hint of absinthe.

Have a great Friday night!

Tonkotsu is another addition to the London’s ramen bar scene. Since my visit to Bone Daddies, a few weeks back, I think I must have developed and addiction, because when I am really hungry, I find myself day dreaming of ramen. A serious worry for my waistline (!).

The team behind Tsuru Sushi and Katsu opened Tonkotsu last year on Dean Street – after a few ramen pop-up experiments at Tsuru Sushi. As you would expect from a ramen bar, the menu is pretty simple, four types of ramen dishes, – the ramen are freshly made at the restaurant, you can see the kitchen by the entrance – handmade Gyoza, a bunch of sides and a couple of dessert options.

Tonkotsu is a really small restaurant, with a minimalist wooden and steel décor, and it’s pretty dark, almost NYC-style dark.

Now, because I have recently embarked on a healthy attempt, I ordered Shimeji, Shiitake & Miso Ramen (£9): Miso-based, konbu and shiitake stock with shimeji mushrooms, medium thick noodles, a handful of bean sprouts and bamboo shoots and half a seasoned, soft-boiled egg.

Just looking at the picture makes me salivating. Yes, it was that good. And it was the vegetarian option! Perfectly bouncy thick noodles, in a delightful miso soup and a heavenly creamy soft-boiled egg.

I slurped my bowl to the last noodle remaining, and truly enjoyed it.

My verdict? I would will definitely visit again. Unlike some reviews I read, my experience with service was very positive. Attentive and helpful.

Lunch for 1 = analcholic drink : £13. Recommended.

My experience at Toku, a few days later, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly that positive.

To cut a very long story short, I ended up at Toku, just by Japan Centre for a very quick lunch. My initial plan was to order sushi, however, my ramen cravings started to kick in, again…

After a 5 minute wait, not sure why, since there were quite a few tables and stalls at the bar available, I was finally seated. I had a look at the long and complicated menu, and asked guidance to the  pretty inexperienced waiter.

That should have been a warning sign. At that point, I was tempted to leave my drink order and run to next door Shoryu Ramen. But I – stupidly – decided to stay.

So, this is what I ended up ordering, pork ramen.

The soup was greasy, extremely bland; totally lacking the layers of flavours of my Bone Daddies ramen. The ginger was lovely and crunchy. The noodles, probably out of a packet from next door Japan Centre supermarket.

All in all, a disappointment. Plus side, they offer complementary wasabi peas with your drink.

Service is not knowledgeable or helpful by any means, I had to ask for my bill 4 times. I won’t go back, ever. Now I probably need to re-visit Bone Daddies to compensate for such a bad experience…

Lunch for 1 with non alcoholic drink £16.

Here is a useful guide of the bars and restaurants in London where you can find some delicious choco-based cocktails.

EASTER SPECIALS

BUNGA BUNGA

EASTER COCKTAILS: Two cocktails specially crafted out of large chocolate Easter eggs:

- Vanilla ice cream, Russian standard Vodka, Illy espresso Italian Liquor, Frangelico Liquor and an Espresso shots.

- Chocolate ice cream, fresh strawberry purée, Mozart white chocolate liquor, Russian standard vodka, home made chocolate bitters by Bunga Bunga.

CAROM

BACK TO CHILDHOOD: Orange Curacao, Koko Kanu Coconut Rum, Chocolate liqueur, double cream and is topped with crumbled Bounty bars. The rim is garnished with digestive biscuit and served with M&M’s. £7.95.

ALL YEAR ROUND

GOLDEN BEE

CHOCOLATE MARTINI : Finlandia vodka shaken with rich creamy Thorntons chocolate liqueur, cream and finished with a healthy sprinkle of chocolate dust. £8

ARTESIAN

BEST KEPT SECRET: Fresh berries shaken with chocolate and cherry liqueur, vanilla syrup and red wine together with a secret ingredient.  £14.

BE AT ONE

BRAZILIAN MONK: Frangelico, dark creme de cacao, Kahlua, vanilla ice cream.

CROOKED WELL

RASPBERRY MOCHATINI: vodka, Mozart Black Pure (a chocolate liqueur), Frangelico and a double Espresso shot. £7.75.

DIRTY MARTINI

CHOCOLATE MARTINI: Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur and Crème de Cacao, shaken with cream and cocoa. £8.50.

If you fancy a bit of cocktail DIY, click here for a fabolus recipe by chocolatier Paul A Young.

Happy Easter everyone!

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the tube, London Transport Museum and Art on the Underground have launched  a number of exciting events, including a ride on the steam train Locomotive No.1 pulling the ‘Jubilee’ carriage, Tube art exhibitions and talks on the history of the Underground.

I was so lucky to win a couple of tickets for the opening night of the Poster Art 150 exhibition, a showcase of 150 of the greatest Underground posters ever produced, selected from the Museum’s archive of over 3,300.

Strongly recommended! Take a look at some of my photos of my adventure with A.

From 15 February to 27 October 2013.  Entry to the exhibition is included in the admission to the Transport Museum.

That same weekend, A – another A – and I met to sample the Tube themed afternoon Tea at the Palm Court Lounge – Park Lane Hotel. Our visit didn’t start very smoothly, as A was late to the Underground tea, having been stuck in the Underground for 35 minutes!

When we finally managed to sit down at our table, we started relaxing. Tea is served in a beautifully grand Art Deco setting, with a harpist playing in the middle of the room, decorated in pale green and gold leaf and Japanese-style bird patterns on the walls.

Our welcome drink was a stiff Metropolitan 1863 cocktail, a potent blend of Beefeater 24 gin and blackcurrant tea, named after the first tube journey ever on the Metropolitan line, followed by Rose Tea.

Five different sandwiches and savouries were then served, ‘Gloucester Road’ tart; saffron ‘Circle and District Line’ roulade with coronation chicken and spinach and mini ‘Royal Oak’-smoked salmon bagels.

The next stop was a selection of hearth shaped scones served with ‘Limehouse’ Curd, ‘Victoria Plum’ Jam and clotted cream.

Followed by these pretty mini cakes, Orange Victoria sponge, a ‘Paddington’ honey, lemon and pistachio cake; white chocolate Oreo Swiss ‘Roll’ Cottage, and a walnut Bank cake.

My verdict, ambiance is fabulous, service a little disorganized, the afternoon tea menu: average sandwiches, good stones, really pretty and yummy cakes.

Disclaimer: I won the afternoon tea on Facebook, therefore I didn’t pay. Price per person was £41.

We then headed for a walk in Hyde Park to watch the sunset. A lovely Sunday.

Patty & Bun opened on the 30th November on James street, close to Selfridges and St. Christopher’s place; well-known to the foodie community after a few pop-up ventures in Soho and at Feast festival.

I arrived at the restaurant at 11.58, exactly 2 minutes before they opened the doors, to a small queue of hungry punters. Once in, I grabbed myself a stool in the tiny 30 seat dining room, and gave an in-depth scan to the menu. Only to be distracted by a very evident fact.

Quite interestingly I was one of the only two girls in the restaurant. Girls, if you are up to meet new boys, this is THE place to have lunch on a Friday!

Back to the food… They offer 6 different burgers: ARI Gold Cheeseburger, Smokey Robinson, Jose’ Jose’ Chilli, Hot Chick Chicken, Lambshank Redemption and Portobello ‘Dig it’ Mushroom.

I decided for the ARI Gold: Beef patty, Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickled onions, Ketchup, Smokey P&B Mayo, Brioche.

Hands down, this is one of the best burgers I have ever had in London. A juicy patty in a soft, fluffy brioche. So tasty and messy. Exactly what I needed!

The rosemary salt chips with skin were crispy and nicely seasoned. Just perhaps a little cold, and the portion not as generous as I would have expected.  Clearly the burgers are the heroes here.

I will go back. Recommended!

Here a few images of my Sunday afternoon visit with my friends K and P.

Where to find them:

Dishoom, read my review of restaurant here.@Dishoom 

Anna Maes, Southern food. @Anna_Maes

MeiMei’s street Cart, Beijin pancakes. @mmStreetCart

Patty and Bun, here is my review of the restaurant. @pattyandbunjoe

Meringue Girls, @Meringue_Girls

My first advice is to avoid chains at all costs. Forget Pizza Express, Zizzi’s, Prezzo, La Porchetta..That’s not the real deal. The second advice is, head to your nearest tube station, get a Travelcard – Zone 3 included -  and jump on the first train to Ealing Broadway. Yes, I am not joking!

Here is where you can sample one of the best  and authentic pizzas in London in perfect Neapolitan style.

Santa Maria is a tiny little restaurant, sitting around 30 people, a good 10 minute walk from Ealing Broadway station. But believe me, it’s worth the effort of the trip.

They operate a non-booking policy, so you either need to turn up early (6.30PM) – like I did last week when I visited with a couple of fellow Italians – or leave your name and wait for your table, having a drink at the next door pub.

The decor is pretty basic, as you would expect in any real pizzeria, with some quirky touches. The king of the restaurant, the wood fired oven, is located right in the middle of the dining room. Service is really friendly and knowledgable.

It was the three of us, and we ordered two Santa Bufalina – Tomato sauce, buffalo D.O.C. mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan, fresh basil £8.95 – and San Gennaro – Tomato sauce, Italian mozzarella, anchovies, black olives, capers, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, oregano, fresh basil £8.95

All perfectly executed, crispy crust, high quality toppings, flown in from Italy.

To end our meal in style, we also ordered a couple of Tiramisu desserts. Heaven! Almost as good as my own!

I just wish Santa Maria was closer! This is the real deal.

But I am digressing, it’s that time of the month again.. for the TDO best new places for a date guide.

FEAST

Nothing better than good food, music and experimental cocktails for a laid back date at Feast. A four day food festival hosted in the Tobacco Dock space in Wapping filled with a selection of the Capital’s most exciting chefs. These chefs will be trading alongside London’s street food heros. Just to name a few: Spuntino, Caravan, Dishoom, Patty and Bun, HIX, The Wright Brothers, The Meringue Girls Roti Chai… From 7th – 10th March. To buy your tickets, click here. they are selling quickly, Hurry!

OPERA IN A WAREHOUSE

Fan of the opera, but can’t quite fork out the price for two tickets? Peroni Nastro Azzurro’s has a solution for you. You need to turn up at Factory 7 warehouse at around 19:30, to grab a complimentary drink and some Italian-style aperitivo. Then at 8pm you can enjoy a modern version of Puccini’s La Rondine.
Here is where you can book your ticket (£11 per person). From 12th to 16th March.

B.Y.O.C.

If food festivals aren’t your thing, and fancy something a little more intimate; perhaps wanting to move your relationship to the next level, B.Y.O.C. is the place to impress your date. ‘Bring Your Own Cocktail’ is a new concept to London’s bar scene. With absolutely no alcohol available to buy on the premises, guests are invited to bring their own favourite tipple, for the skilled bartender to create something bespoke, on the spot. Hidden through a discreet door behind the counter of the Bedfordbury Street Juice Club (www.juice-club.co.uk), guests will descend into an underground drinking den with candlelit tables, hanging glassware and a lone cocktail mixologist wheeling an antique Italian drinks trolley. The vintage Italian trolley contains a selection of fresh syrups, pressed fruit and vegetable juices, spices, herbs, salts, seasonal fruits, home-made cordials and bitters – from which the bartender can create individual drinks. Bookings can be made by emailing reservations@byoc.co.uk

 VOLTAIRE

Love Champagne and up to mischief? Head to Voltaire. Located in the square Mile, housed in a grade II listed building, once a prison, then used to store the treasures of the former bank above, the building’s old stone vaults have now been converted into a series of spaces, The Vaults at Voltaire. Here in private alcoves, you can kick back and relax enjoying a glass of bubbly with your date, picking your favourite from the capital’s largest collection of Pommery champagne.

JAPANESE POP-UP

Fancy a Japanese with a twist?  The Prince Arthur pub will be hosting a Japanese pop-up by Masterchef champion 2011 Tim Anderson on 26th and 27th March. Ahead of opening his brand new restaurant Nanban, Tim will give Londoners a taste of what to expect at the eagerly anticipated Shoreditch venue. Dishes will include Grilled sardines stuffed with mentaiko, Pork belly braised in soy sauce, and Crunchy grilled rice balls stuffed with spicy citrus-rubbed chicken. The six-course Japanese feast is amazing good value for £29pp. Book fast, as it’s selling fast. To reserve email amy@etmgroup.co.uk or call 07872 456 550.

 APERITIVO

A drink is too casual, and don’t feel ready for a dinner date yet? Do it the Italian way. Why not Milan-style aperitivo? Drinks and nibbles. Italian restaurant Banca has launched a special cocktail menu dedicated to the iconic Italian aperitif – Negroni. The new menu offers guests the choice of ten expertly crafted Negroni cocktails, all priced at £10.  From 5pm – 7.30pm on Tuesday to Friday, classic Italian Aperitivo is laid out in Banca’s chic and sophisticated setting, across its impressive long bar that spans the entire length of the restaurant.