Hawker House by Street Feast

In a building on Kingsland Road recently used for many pop up events just a few minutes walk away from Haggerston Station is where Hawker House has opened this winter. Famed for it's quality street food usually held in Summer outdoors, it is nice to see the same concept made for the winter months. 

With three levels to explore, make sure you get there early, before 7pm to avoid the entrance fee of £4.00. I would rather spend £4 on a delicious burger. That's just me. Even if you have to pay and possibly queue to get in to this popular feasting heaven, it's worth it. 

We headed straight to the drinks section. Oh, so typical. There were multiple bars serving craft beers, hot cocktails and the other usual. There is also what they call the whisky roulette. Pay £8 for a spin for your luck for a drink from the interesting and extensive list of whiskies ranging from below £8 to £40. 

The trader line-up is on rotation and has some very very good ones. We tried Busan BBQ's Kimcheese beef burger and the Pork Belly burger. My favourite was the pork belly of course, though both were equally impressive. Smokestak's thick cut pork ribs were fat, juicy, tender and delicious. Finger licking good! 

We'll be back for more!

Remember to check it out soon as their last weekend of trade is on 10th and 11th April. Oh, one tip I have for you is to start queueing for the next one as soon as you get your food. The queues are long!! If you're there with lots of your friends, even better. Each one can queue for one. 

Have fun there and eat lots.

Hawker House - Street Feast

260-264 Kingsland Road
E8 4DG London,UK

Continue

Tonkotsu East | London

Here in Tonkotsu, they make their own noodles. There is a large machine in a room at the end of the restaurant with glass divider that is see through. If you come for early lunch, you will be able to see the noodles in the making where a man operates the machine and make sure the noodles come out the way they are suppose to be, silky smooth and bouncy.

Tonkotsu

Tonkotsu is a bowl of tasty noodles with very rich chicken and pork based broth which I find slightly salty, though my dining companion liked it very much. The egg is as usual, cooked to perfection.

The man operating the noodle machine

Tokyo Ramen with additional egg

The Tokyo Ramen was by far my favourite amongst the three noodles I have tried here at Tonkotsu East. It has soy sauce base broth, so it is lighter than its Tonkotsu counterpart that has richer and thicker broth. This time around, we ordered extra egg each for our noodles so no one's egg will be stolen mid way through our meal. Yes, the egg is that good. I suggest you do the same.

Chicken Karaage - Fried marinated chicken

Very crispy and tasty chicken karaage that I strongly recommend you try.

 Tsukumen - Noodles is served with a separate bowl of hot intense broth as a dipping sauce

Tsukumen seems to be popular amongst my Japanese friends. They always get excited when they saw tsukumen on the menu. Tsukemen is a bowl of cold noodles and its toppings served with a separate bowl of hot and intense broth. The broth has to be very hot and the cold noodles when dipped into the broth will warm up the noodles. I quite like it but was not my favourite. Maybe the broth was not hot enough so when I had the noodles, it was not warm enough for my liking. Taste-wise was nice. The Japanese friend I was with that evening marked it 70% so it is not a bad version.

What I thought was a cute toilet sign at Tonkotsu East. A pretty clear sign.

Here's a video on 'How to eat Ramen' from the movie Tampopo

Smile..

This is a place for comfort food.
My favourite was the light and tasty Tokyo Ramen and very crispy Chicken Karaage.
They also make their own noodles here.

Frown..

The broth for Tonkotsu was slightly over salty for my liking.

Will I return?

Yes, ramen is the perfect comfort food especially for when the temperature drops.

Tonkotsu East

Arch 334, 1A Duntson Street

E8 4EB London,UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7254 2478

Nearest station: Haggerston (overground)

   

  

Continue

Arepa & Co. | London

image via Arepa & Co

Walk along the canal and finding independent cafe like this is always great. Who knows there is Venezuelan food tucked far in along the canal. They serve simple home made Venezuelan breakfast which was a good change to the typical English breakfast. They even play Latin tunes! What a way to brighten up my morning. I could imagine myself having these local breakfast while on holiday in Venezuela. Still day dreaming..

Menu

 Tequeños is a kind of cheese pastry served with sugar cane & tamarind sauce. The sauce had a very nice and unique taste to it. Very interesting.

Venezuelan breakfast with pancake and cornbread 

Okay the plates does not look the prettiest but hey, it is home cooked style breakfast afterall so they could get away with enamel plates. So long as they taste good, which it did. 

 Chicken, guacamole, cheddar and plantain. Yum!

Smile..

Good, simple, no-fuss food with Latin music playing in the background. They even serve fresh guava juice! This is enough to keep me coming here. 

Frown..

None.

Will I return?

Yes of course. Already did.

Arepa & Co.

58A De Beauvoir Crescent,

London N1 5SB, UK

Closest station: Haggerston (overground)

Continue

The Proud Archivist | London

Since I have gotten immersed in designing all things chocolate related for Desir du Chocolat, I spend quite a reasonable amount of time on my days off work, at their studio. So it is only natural that I check out all that is interesting in the vicinity. The closest one to start with, was The Proud Archivist. Situated only 5 minutes away and sat by Regents Canal, it is the perfect place for breakfast or brunch. It is particularly pleasant when it is sunny to be sat on the tables outside with a view of the canal and curious passers-by.

A gallery, restaurant, café and bar, this space is bright, spacious and entertaining. 

The food was decent with nicely poached eggs for Eggs Benedict and pancake was my least favourite.

Croque monsieur was weirdly served with nachos

Nice view of the canal

Smile..

Great location and a nice cafe with a great space to hangout. A great place to have drinks.

Frown..

Food was decent but can be better.

Will I return?

Yes, why not.

The Proud Archivist

2-10 Hertford Road,

London N1 5ET, UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7749 6852

Closest station: Haggerston (overground)

Continue

Buen Ayre : Argentinian Steakhouse

Latin music playing in the background gave a nice ambience to the cosy and no fuss steakhouse. It is a small restaurant with tables placed very closely to each other, there is not much room to manoeuvre. One of our friend was late and we told them that he was on his way but the staff was still hurrying for us to order every other minute. I understand we were told there was a two hour turnaround which we will respect but it was not cool to be bugging us so very often. We ordered a starter first just so she could leave us alone until our friend arrives.

Finally, we ordered and were left in peace.

Grilled flat mushrooms with pesto and garnish of beans and salad. Decent.

Chips with garlic and parsley was fat and crispy.

8 oz grilled Argentine Sirloin steak

My medium Sirloin steak was generous in size, pink, nicely charred and slightly lacked in seasoning. It was served with chimichurri on the side but was not needed. We, who ordered the 8 oz Sirloin steak believed it weighed more, almost similar to our friend's 14 oz Sirloin. We were not complaining, of course. One comment though, was that the steak was all served with the same garnish of butter beans, roast pepper and salad. It was the same garnish we had for starter. Although simple and decent, they could do better with a different garnish for both starter and main. It would definitely make the diners more excited than, “Oh, the same garnish again!?..”

I will recommend the prime fillet (image bellow) over the sirloin. It was more flavourful and has less fat. But of course, it is just my preference.

10 oz grilled prime Argentine fillet steak with garnish of bean and salad

We were too stuffed by the end of the meal that there was no more space left for dessert. Normally, I will fret over not ending my meal with sweet little something but not this time as the dessert menu did not spark my temptation. Guess that was good. Otherwise, I would not be able to lift my heavy belly out of the seat. I would sum up this neighbourhood Argentinian steakhouse as reasonably priced, adequate but not brilliant.

Smile..

Generous portion. Honest well cooked steak.

Frown..

Service could be better. Dessert menu requires more excitement.

Will I return?

Will return with less expectation for a simple and affordable steak meal.

Buen Ayre

50 Broadway Market
London E8 4QJ

Tel: +44 (0)20 7275 9900

Continue