I’m lying in my bed writing this, suffering from a mix of meat sweats and food coma. I’m coming to the end of my trip in London and I’m just replaying all the amazing dishes I had… and there’s still more to come.
A city once known for bad food has changed its game.
I came to London for the Global Foodie Hub TV awards given out by a website dedicated to finding the best “fast feasts” on Earth. I know, it sounds silly. After all, what is “the best?” Who determines it? Based on what? And have you tried every single item from each competing category on earth?! No. I’ve never been a fan of using the phrase “the best” and taste is personal, but regardless, it’s fun trying to find “the best” of every dish.
The first portion of my trip was committed to street food and affordable restaurants – none of that white tablecloth chi-chi stuff, although I love that stuff too. I saved that for the second half. However, good food doesn’t have to be expensive, and some of my favourite dishes from this trip could easily make an appearance in Vancouver.
Here are three casual and fun dishes that need to make an appearance in Vancouver.
1) The Bleecker Black Burger from Bleecker St. Burger – I can’t shut up about this burger. I posted about it twice and I’m still thinking about it. Rarely do I repeat dishes when I’m travelling, especially if it’s for a short time, but this burger was worthy of eating twice. The pasture-fed beef is dry-aged 40 to 50 days, and the secret is the black pudding patty sandwiched in between. There’s good old American cheese, onions and secret sauce, but it was all about that beef and pudding. We have some excellent burgers in Vancouver like The Dirty Burger from Camp Upstairs and The Pourhouse Burger at Pourhouse, but this… this was something else. I’m calling out Vancouver chef, Neil Taylor, to please bring something like this to The Fat Badger.
2) Confit Potatoes from The Quality Chop House – This made me rethink all the confit potatoes I’ve ever had. This was brilliant and way too addicting. I had almost a dozen for myself. Apparently they offer them at other restaurants in London but you want to try them here. The thinly shaved potatoes are slow cooked in duck fat, pressed for 48 hours, cut into logs and deep-fried at 180°C for six minutes. Now you have the general instructions, you can attempt them at home. Let me know when to come over.
3) Indian Naan Sliders from Rola Wala – When in London, I want half my meals to be Indian. The city is famous for it and Rola Wala specializes in “twisted Indian Street Food.” Vancouver’s food scene is heavily influenced by Asian cuisine, but in London it’s a lot of Indian. These naan sliders were more like tacos – mini naan grilled and topped with paneer, dal, Kashmiri chicken tikka and goan pork roast with pomegranate. It’s not traditional or authentic and it’s not trying to be. They were just fun, eclectic, good and well-executed. The concept isn’t particularly creative and it would be easy to replicate. We have the Indian market in Vancouver, so I’d love to see someone bring this to the table or street.
Find out more about Mijune at FollowMeFoodie.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @followmefoodie.
