Southern California – Part 1 – San Diego

A and I were lucky enough to be able to plan a week in Southern California before coming back to London. We decided to split our time between San Diego and LA – I went to both quite a lot as a kid, but A hadn’t been to either, so we had plenty of exploring to do.

San Diego was exactly as expected – sunshine, dudes in baseball caps, and a booming craft beer scene. We stayed in North Park for the first two nights, which is full of breweries and hipsters and made us feel right at home. A few of the places we dropped in on, in roughly chronological order:

Mike Hess Brewing – you can get flights here (which come with a souvenir glass which is shaped like a beer can and labelled with one of their brews). A loved some of the IPAs he tried; I struggled a bit more as I’m a wimp when it comes to hops but did taste every stout/porter they had on and liked the seasonal pumpkin one the best. I’m such a sucker for seasonal pumpkin flavours, mainly because they’re not common in the UK so I go a little nuts on them when I’m back in the US.

City Tacos – we needed a quick snack after an evening of trying beers so picked up a mahi mahi taco and a carnitas taco. Both were decent but were topped with the same mango salsa, which A and I both found too sweet and fruity for our tastes.

Breakfast Republic – this place was rammed already at 10.30am on Saturday, but there’s free coffee for those waiting and it’s warm and sunny outside, so A and I get caffeinated and bask in the glow. When we finally secure a table, we know what we want – crab cake benedict and French toast with fresh strawberries. I think the anticipation that built up over the wait and seeing how eager other people were made our food a slight disappointment – nothing was wrong, but it wasn’t the kind of breakfast that you talk about for the rest of the day, either. My hash browns were distinctly undercooked. But lovely outdoor seating and a friendly waiter.

Barleymash – we stopped in here for an afternoon drink while walking around downtown. I had a hard root beer (why is this deliciousness missing in my life?!) and A had another IPA (surprise!). While drinking, we looked at the menu and got fixated on the range of mac&cheeses they do. So… we came back for dinner and split the version with confit duck and duck scratchings. Again – something that had been built up in my head for too long; the sweet hoisin-esque sauce ruined it a bit for me. I’m really glad we shared it, we saw another couple start with a giant pile of nacho fries, then order a separate mac&cheese each, which I’m pretty sure should kill you on the spot.

Cat Eye Club – we headed here after dinner to catch their Saturday night happy hour – they do an excellent mai tai for $5 until 8pm. We couldn’t stop drinking these. The balance between sweet, dry and bitters was absolutely perfect, and then the jazz band that came on added to the atmosphere. Sadly I discovered that three mai tais is my limit – but we headed home feeling like we’d stumbled on some magic place.

Urban Solace – our AirBnB host recommended the Sunday bluegrass brunch and I’m glad we went with it. The band was great – they play outdoors in a covered patio area. I had the beef cheek hash (YES!) and A had the full kitchen sink – sausage, bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy (YES AGAIN!)

At this point we moved on the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina for one night – I have no idea what this place is like in the high season, but it was quiet, luxurious and very well situated for our stay.

El Pescador Fish Market – stunning selection of fresh fish. We tried the fish tacos – because they forgot our order, they also brought us some clam chowder on the house. Clam chowder was good (but not as good as the San Francisco sourdough bread bowl one we had a few years ago) and the fish in the tacos was fresh, but sadly pretty bland. A hell of a lot of shredded cabbage.

Oscar’s Mexican Seafood – another attempt at a fish taco. This one was my favorite, and finally helped A understand why people go nuts for them. Grilled fish, avocado, crispy cheese, just enough cabbage for crunch. This is when I started to realize that fish tacos are not fast food – every place so far was making them to order, which is fantastic, but it does mean there is a bit of a wait.

Stone Brewing World – this is the touristy outpost but actually the more interesting of the two, since they do smaller batches of more creative beers here but they still have the full list from the main brewery too. It being January and Sunday, the place was pretty empty, but that just made it all the easier for me and A to get two flights of beer. They do food too, but my constant fish taco ingestion made that unnecessary.

Modern Times – my favorite interiors of all the breweries we visited (though many were pretty spectacular). One, they had a mural of Michael Jackson with his monkey, made out of post-it notes. Two, they had a wall made out of book covers. Three, there were some spectacular lights / chandeliers. And of course the beer was good too – their unusual addition is their own coffee, cold-brewed and available by the growler. When you’re brewery and a coffee producer, you obviously then make some beers with that coffee, and I really liked the one I tried.

Pizza Port Ocean Beach – A and I were both a little surprised by how casual this place is (and how many tv screens there were showing various sports) – they make their own beers and there are certainly some unusual options available. I think I had some version of a hefeweizen, I’m assuming A had another IPA, and then we ordered kale salad and a pizza. What surprised me most is that the kale salad was one of the most delicious things I’d eaten all day, and the pizza paled in comparison. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a pizza place, but go for the kale salad?

Hodad’s – couldn’t resist popping into this burger joint staffed by a bunch of surfer dudes who were the friendliest, most chilled out waitstaff you could ask for. There were definitely some strong weed scents floating out from the back, accompanied by drum solos on the grill played with spatulas, but they delivered a juicy burger and fries quickly and competently (and even pre-sliced it in half since they knew we were sharing).

Olive Café – our last meal in San Diego and we wanted a traditional American breakfast. This was perfect – pancakes, eggs, hash browns and bacon (it’s one dish but A and I split it and it ended up being just the right amount to fill us up for the morning). A quick walk on the beach and we were ready to hit some of the breweries between San Diego and LA.

Phew.

Le Mary Celeste

Le Mary Celeste
1, rue Commines (3rd)

Paris, France

This was so long ago (April) that I can't tell you what we had with any detail, but the one dish that really sticks out in my mind is the deviled eggs. I kind of wished I wasn't sharing that with C & A. We also had some nice cocktails - it's an attractive space and the food was all interesting and good - but some months on I only remember the eggs and the horrifically slow service, which was almost comical by the end. Don't go if you want any semblance of speed or order to your meal - if you're happy to spend three hours getting a selection of small plates out then it is perfect. P.S. A's coworker was there a week after us and experienced the same level of service so at least I know it wasn't just us.

Rotorino

434 Kingsland Rd
London
E8 4AA

Not to sound like completely smug jerks, but A and I found ourselves having a conversation about how amazing our neighbourhood has turned out to be since we moved in almost six years ago. Neither of us were familiar with it when we decided to take a small leap of faith and just go for it, and in the years since we have seen a huge number of restaurants, bars, and shops open up, almost all pretty much designed to be right up our alley of interests.

Smug jerk-ness aside, we now have a restaurant at the end of our road that has a chef that is well known and well awarded. Rotorino, which didn't have a sign up when we went (but I think that has now changed) is a gem of a neighbourhood restaurant. We went on a Sunday evening, so things were pretty chill. I had my sleb spot early on, helped by the fact that we'd just watched Broadchurch in the couple of weeks before visiting Rotorino, so hi Nigel! 

As soon as I saw a starter of pig face, I had to get it. A was much less enthusiastic about that decision, but gamely tried one piece. My counterargument is who doesn't love breaded, deep fried bits of juicy pork? Who cares if it comes from the pig's face, or leg, or tummy?

We then shared some ricotta gnudi - one of the richest pasta dishes I have ever tasted but in such a delightful way, though I'm glad we shared. The roast chicken (whoops, there was ricotta stuffed under its skin as well) was fought over eagerly by the two of us and went perfectly with a side of roast new potatoes. 

The meal only stumbled when we got to desserts. We went for a three-peat on ricotta with the fried ravioli, but the dough was bland and it was less a ravioli and more a stodgy filled pocket of dough. While the savory-sweet description sounded nice, it didn't really work in practice and I wouldn't get it again.

That said, we loved Rotorino enough to talk about it constantly, plotting our next trip there - so we'll be back soon and ready to try more of the short but elegant menu.

Sylvan Post

 

24-28 Dartmouth Road

London

SE23 3XZ

So it’s not often that you see a post office converted into a pub. And by post office, I don’t mean one of those elaborate historical post offices, I mean a modern day drab 60s concrete block kind of post office. But if you were going to do it, you should definitely aim for something like the Sylvan Post, which has quirky features aplenty (some little snugs in the back that look like jail cells?), a phenomenal beer selection, and food that is better than the average pricing would imply. For a pre-Christmas gathering, we all piled into catch up on stories and stuff ourselves silly – my main of mutton with some truly excellent chips on the side was everything that I wanted on a cold winter’s night. Can’t wait to get back there soon.

 

Mamounia Lounge - Mayfair

37a Curzon Street
Mayfair
London 

W1J7TX

When Mamounia Lounge invited me to review their newly refurbished restaurant in Mayfair, I said yes - I had gone to their Knightsbridge location and thought the cooking was excellent so was excited to see if the kitchen in Mayfair was equally as accomplished. I'm not sure if we ordered better dishes this time or if the chef is even more skilled - but we had a meal with some astonishingly good flavors and textures.

We kicked off with a classic gin martini that A really enjoyed, and the Sheik Royal for me - elderflower vodka and champagne. To compare Mayfair to the Knightsbridge location, we ordered the same starters as last time. Hommus Shawarma - Creamy Chickpea puree served with a centre of marinated Lamb Shawarma, and Calamari – Fried & Served on a Mixed Leaf Salad with a Sweet Chili, and Lemon Dip. The hommus was as creamy and rich as we remembered, with crisp smoky grilled shawarma piled on top - I could eat endless piles of this with the fresh pita bread provided. The calamari was crunchy with just the lightest coating of batter, though not as tender as last time.

For mains, I ordered the Seafood Tagine – Seabass, King Prawns, Mussels & Calamari served in a Charmoula, Coriander and Spicy Tomato Sauce. The portion of seafood was incredibly generous and the sauce kept me dipping my fork in for more. I'm glad I ordered couscous to soak it up. Eat quickly, as the residual heat in the tagine will continue cooking the seafood - the last few bites of prawns were getting increasingly rubbery even though it arrived perfectly cooked. 

A's order of Meshoui - Traditional Shoulder of Lamb, slowly roasted for 8 hours, marinated in Moroccan Spices and served with fresh Dates, Orange and Apricots, was one of the best lamb dishes we've ever eaten. He couldn't stop raving about how tender the lamb was - a mere push of a fork and it would fall apart. We'll be keeping an eye out for this dish in the future, but if you want a wonderful example of it, I would highly recommend this one.

We were stuffed at this point so just managed some Moroccan tea (mint tea with sugar in it) and a mango platter - but Mamounia Lounge clearly knows how to source mangoes as I've never tasted mangoes so good in the UK. We polished off the entire platter despite our fullness - it was just impossible to not finish every slice.

Mamounia Lounge is very lively on a Saturday night - musicians and belly dancing make it feel more like a club/lounge than restaurant, so if you want a quieter meal, I'd go on a non-weekend night. The food is top notch, so just pick your preferred atmosphere - either way you'll get a great meal.

Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill

I know I usually write my travel posts as a day-by-day recollection, but I'm going to do it differently this time. A and I were in North Carolina for about five days, mainly so we could go to M and J's wedding in Durham. But since M is one of my oldest friends from Texas, this trip included lots of pre-wedding things (bachelorette party, bridal shower, baseball games, etc.) and we also stayed with another brilliant couple, N and J (who should be getting married next year, woohoo!) Point is, a lot happened, but it was a mix of eating / drinking / hanging out with friends / celebrating an awesome marriage, which I will just throw into this one post. Here goes.

The night of M's bachelorette party in Raleigh, we started with dinner at Gravy (135 S Wilmington St  Raleigh, NC 27601). For some reason I wasn't feeling like pasta (though a lot of people ordered pasta dishes and they looked delightful). So I went with a starter of poached egg and pancetta on polenta, which was so not something I would ever recommend eating BEFORE you start in on a main course, but did wonderfully for my purposes, along with a gorgeous side dish of broccoli which was flavored with anchovies (speaking of, the anchovy-broccoli combination is absolutely genius and I can't believe I ate broccoli for over 20 years without tasting it in harmony with anchovy).

The next day A and I wandered around Chapel Hill, where we picked up a Snowy-the-dog keyring at Chapel Hill Comics (316 W Franklin St  Chapel Hill, NC 27516), and also toured the Sarah P. Duke Gardens (420 Anderson St  Durham, NC 27708), commonly known as the Duke Botanical Gardens. They are stunning, and with full sunshine it was an ideal afternoon. But you're not reading this to hear about comic books and gardens are you? So instead let us gaze upon our lunch at Bullock's Bar-B-Cue (3330 Quebec Drive, Durham, NC 27705), where we attempted to order a normal amount of food for two people, to our waitress's distress. After explaining that we wanted to try the Brunswick stew (a local specialty), ribs and pulled pork, but wanted to order the smallest amount of food possible, she came up with some sort of combo platter arrangement for us to share. The coleslaw that accompanied it was actually amazing - really finely chopped cabbage, with barely any dressing (whoa have I just decided that I might like some forms of coleslaw?!) And I found the hushpuppies slightly addictive. But alas, this was nowhere near as good as Melvin's in Charleston. 

Onwards to Full Steam Brewery (726 Rigsbee Ave, Durham, NC 27701) where A was carded and found out that North Carolina state law doesn't accept foreign driver's licenses as proof of age. Thankfully no one thought I was under 21 so I was able to get drinks for us both. Outside of the brewery, the Chirba Chirba dumpling truck was offering plates of soup dumplings and gyoza - they were a nice snack but not anything I'd make a special trip for.  And finally, a Durham Bulls minor league baseball game to properly Americanize A and introduce him to the national pastime of drinking beer, eating hotdogs, and very occasionally watching some sport.

The next morning was my birthday, and we had the best birthday breakfast ever. No, really. If someone could wake me up for every birthday with a chicken cheddar biscuit I would die a happy woman. Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen (1305 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill NC 27514) is a little drive-through biscuit place in Chapel Hill. That glorious biscuit above was eaten while standing outside on the edge of a parking lot, looking at a ditch. And it is still one of my favorite memories.

In the afternoon there was a lovely bridal shower tea at the Washington Duke Inn, and then N, J, A and I headed off to Lantern (423 W Franklin St  Chapel Hill, NC 27516) for a dinner to celebrate my birthday and N & J's engagement. This was my favorite "fancy" meal of the trip - I find it hard to describe the food other than saying it's Asian with Southern influences. For example - a beautiful appetizer of crispy five-spice pork belly, pickled radishes, and chicharron was a balance of salty, fatty, crisp and sweet. The salt and pepper shrimp with fired jalapenos, coriander and sea salt were as good as my favorite salt and pepper shrimp from Tien Jin in Austin. And my Japanese pot on fire main (braised Red Poll brisket, oxtail dumplings in broth with rare sirloin, local vegetables and potatoes, fresh wasabi, sea salt) was something I wanted to last forever. Great cocktails were ordered, fun was had, and we teetered out into the night with big smiles.

 

We all know how dangerous it is to attend a wedding without eating beforehand (the bubbly is just going to go straight to your head!) So we all piled into Hog Heaven (2419 Guess Road, Durham, NC) for a pre-wedding lunch. A was still seeking barbecue (specifically pork ribs) - but in a giant misunderstanding he ordered the pork at Hog Heaven, which was pulled pork (I don't think they even do ribs). I went straight for the fried chicken, which was the right decision. Man I would kill for another plate of that crispy crackly goodness. Sides were merely ok, collard greens were too salty and fries were fine though not the kind that you just can't stop eating. But you know, this capped off a week of some terrific eating - and I can't wait to get back to North Carolina.

Charleston / Savannah Day 4 & 5

Before heading off to Savannah, we stopped at Early Bird Diner (1644 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407) for the best chicken and waffles of the trip. Look at this! It's one portion, split between two people - that half portion made me so full that I could barely have dinner later in the day.

Upon arrival in Savannah, we took one of the trolley tours which was a great way to get oriented and hear quite a lot of history in 2 hours. The trolley driver suggested that we head to Rocks on the Roof (102 W Bay St, Savannah, GA 31401) for a drink in the sunshine with views of the city, so we did. My bloody mary was perfect and came topped with an enormous shrimp and pickled okra.

The afternoon was spent wandering around Savannah's beautiful squares - we knew we had a dinner reservation at Paula Deen's restaurant so attempted to build up an appetite. Alas, all the walking in the world was not enough to burn off our chicken and waffle breakfast, so by the time we sat down at The Lady & Sons (102 W Congress St, Savannah, GA 31401), we knew we were going to have to skip the fried chicken buffet. Instead, we ordered a Lady's Choice Salad (mixed greens with hard boiled eggs, bacon, shredded cheese, tossed in a tangy ranch dressing, topped with fried red onion rings) and the broiled fresh seafood platter with shrimp, scallops and squid. Considering we were ordering the NOT fried, NOT butter-drenched, NOT heart-stopping items on the menu, it was pretty good, though of course now that I am not overly full I wish I had a chance to sample the famous buffet, which most of the rest of the diners were ordering.

We popped into Moon River Brewing Company (21 W Bay St, Savannah, GA 31401) for an after dinner drink - it was nice enough but nothing to rave about. I think exhaustion took over at this point.

The next morning we went to our trolley guide's other recommendation, J. Christophers (122 E Liberty, Savannah, GA, 31401), for brunch. They serve breakfasts in skillets, which is cute - because the menu is so big and diverse it took us ages to pick out crab cake benedict and a skillet with chorizo and chicken - both were wonderful, especially sitting outside in the sunshine with fresh squeezed orange juice. And all too soon, it was time to leave Savannah and its charms behind.

Charleston Day 3

I have this weakness for Waffle House's hash browns, maybe because of nostalgia, so before dropping off V at the airport, we had a quick breakfast there and the hash browns were as satisfying as I remembered. AG, A and I also decided to have a quick whirl around the Tanger Outlets - I love shopping with boys as it is so ridiculously efficient. We all loaded up on exactly what we needed, and then headed off for Folly Beach to enjoy the sun. 

We took a long stroll down the sandy beach before finding the Folly Beach Crab Shack (26 Center St, Folly Beach, SC 29439) which seemed like a good sunny spot to enjoy a cold beer. The waitress also recommended the crab dip so we ordered it - what arrived was this mix of artificial crab, cream cheese, and some spices, which sounds like something I would usually hate, but instead it was surprisingly good on club crackers - we polished off the whole plate very quickly.

On our way back to Charleston proper, I noticed that we would be passing by Melvin's BBQ (719 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412), and in the interests of educating A on the difference between South Carolina BBQ and North Carolina BBQ, we stopped for a plate of ribs and pulled pork. Fries and mac & cheese were the two sides we selected - neither of which were amazing - but the ribs more than made up for it. AG and A were both delighted and A spent the rest of our US trip looking for ribs but nothing was as good as these.

While we usually don't go back to the same place twice in one trip, we had noticed that there was a jazz happy hour at High Cotton that advertised a gypsy jazz / bluegrass band (complete with electric mandolin player!). Since A and I both play gypsy jazz and have recently ventured into a bit of bluegrass as well, we couldn't pass it up - and the $5 cocktails certainly helped. 

Continuing with the happy hour theme, we headed to The Gin Joint (182 E Bay St Charleston, SC 29401) which also had a short $5 cocktail menu - you could either have a Bee's Knees or a rye cocktail with Fernet Branca. I'd vote for the the Bee's Knees but my bias against rye whiskey might have a bit to do with that...

One more happy hour at Cypress (167 E Bay St, Charleston) - they do $5 burgers (but we hadn't even made it to dinner yet so we didn't partake). Instead, cocktails were ordered, including a twist on a mint julep for A, and fried mac & cheese (I know! Fried! What?!) 

Last but not least - Xiao Bao Biscuit (224 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston, SC) for dinner. While we were at Husk the day before, we started chatting with a couple who spend a lot of time visiting Charleston and eating well, and they highly recommended XBB (and especially the okonomiyaki, a cabbage pancake) to us. It's in an old gas station that's been painted in this beautiful shade of mint green and has a lot of exposed brickwork - perfect for their fusion Asian "soul food". I will second the recommendation - and definitely get the okonomiyaki.

Charleston Day 2

AG was happy to go to a jazz brunch with me and A, so on Sunday morning we got up and headed to High Cotton (199 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401). The band actually plays in the bar area, so we abandoned our restaurant reservation and sat at a bar table in order to see the action up close. Thankfully they serve the same menu in the bar, so we didn't have to sacrifice any food options. I went for crabcakes benedict, while A chose chicken and waffles (but this was done fancy-restaurant style, with a chicken breast rolled around sausage, sliced and then fried in discs). Everyone was happy, and the jazz was good, but like the last post, you'll have to wait a bit to see the chicken and waffles of our dreams.

After a tour of Charleston, we did some more strolling about in the historic district, and a bit of lazing around in a waterfront park. But of course, before long, it was time for cocktails.

After some silly attempts to sit at rooftop bars (it was way too windy) we ended up at Husk (76 Queen Street, Charleston, SC 29401), which is a very good thing as it was my favorite cocktail bar of the entire trip. We drank our way through what seemed like most of the cocktail list (especially since V had his flight cancelled and came back to join us), with my favorites being No Whey, Jose? (Si Senor, whey, Chocolat Royal, jalapeno muddled tequila, mole bitters), Edmund's Sherpa (Sage gin, mole bitters, lemongrass and white pepper simple syrup, pickled elderberries, lemon juice, Himalayan sea salt) and Lee's Nest (Vodka, cardamon bitters, strawberry black pepper jam, whey, confederate jasmine bitters). A loved the the barrel-aged Manhattan as well, but my aversion to bourbon and rye whiskey makes me too biased to judge. We also made our way through some bar bites, including BBQ pork neck, and a burger where bacon was ground into the beef patty. All of it was excellent, this would be the first place I would head if I found myself back in Charleston.

Next stop was Charleston Beer Works (468 King St, Charleston, SC 29403), which was described as a bar with a huge selection of beers. I would describe it more as a sports bar with pitchers and wings, and a few interesting beers (their list was long, but a lot were unavailable, which seems a little bit deceptive...) It being Sunday, wings were 25% off, and pitchers of Bud were only $8, so that's what we went with. Those who know me know my buffalo wing cravings are frequent and usually denied, so I was delighted to fulfill them here, and they were meaty, spicy and crispy - everything one wants in a buffalo wing.

But as I was with three men, wings were not going to be enough for dinner, so we walked a few doors down to Closed for Business (453 King St, Charleston, SC 29403). This is a proper craft beer bar. Even if AG hated his beer (tasted too much like bacon, he says).

And they have ridiculously artery-clogging items on the menu. To wit: CFB Fries (fries with gravy, cheddar cheese curds & minced red onion), Crispy Green Beans (individually battered and fried green beans), the Pork Slap (fried pork cutlet, house-smoked ham, swiss cheese, green tomato chutney & house sauce served on a challah bread bun), and the Spicy Chicken Sandwich (fried chicken, spicy red cabbage slaw, pepperjack and cheddar cheese, hot pepper mayo, served on a soft baguette). The fries were really oversalted, so we left quite a bit behind, but the rest was great, although we were all a little disgusted with ourselves after dinner.

To drown our self-disgust in booze, we ended at the cocktail bar upstairs from The Macintosh (479 King St, Charleston, SC 29403) where I had a virgin cocktail (designated driver, fun!) and the boys all had Bulleit rye whiskey (and A had a snooze). Getting back to the hotel for some sleep was the only logical conclusion to this day.