Hanover Street Social, Liverpool

Liverpool gave me the runaround this time last week, or rather, I gave myself the runaround in Liverpool. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to eat, so long as it was good.

A vague inkling that Asian and spicy might be the way to go led me to the Maharajah, but the enormous void of the restaurant with just two couples hiding away in one corner felt too dispiriting for a solo dining session. I walked in through the door and straight back out again.

Where next, I thought? How about that Japanese place that gets consistently good reviews? A bowl of noodles wouldn't go amiss. So I traipsed across town to Etsu, only to find the reverse situation.They were so busy they couldn't fit me in. At least the traipse across town was a fine one;- Liverpool is really growing on me so I need to spend more time there (and less time on Knowsley Industrial Estate, chance would be a fine thing).

By this stage I was getting weary, I'd been up since five thirty that morning and was craving sustenance, so I gave up on Asian food and ended up in the vicinity of Liverpool One. If all else failed there'd be Salt House or Lunya.

I chanced on Hanover Street Social and remembered reading that it was run by the people behind Salt House Tapas, which seemed like as good an endorsement as any for a quality operation.

Sadly it didn't really turn out that way. It wasn't so much bad, as just a bit slack. I suspect this is a quality operation, but it was as if the B team were on duty for the Tuesday night lull and either couldn't really be bothered or weren't quite up to it.

The good bit first: tiger prawns and Colchester oysters can be had for just £1.25 or £1.50 each (a bit less for the half or dozen), so I had a couple of each. The oysters were spot on; bright, saline and creamy. Properly shucked too so as not to lose the juices. The prawns were also sweet and fresh if a touch overcooked, but went down a treat with very well made aioli and house ketchup.

The cheeseburger, offered cooked medium or well, was where it all went wrong. The burger itself had been overcooked into pointlessness, several stages past medium. It was dry, mealy and not really worth the effort. Why not send it back, you might ask. Well, sometimes I just can't be bothered with the hassle. I'm sure they'd have replaced it with something better without question, but sometimes when you've had a long day the extra ten minutes of time and effort doesn't seem worth it. Get the calories, cut your losses and leave.

Everything served with the burger was what brought to mind the description 'a bit slack'. All of it was perfectly edible but didn't inspire much enthusiasm. Limp fries, tasteless onion rings, catering pack relish and a big pile of undressed rocket. Ho hum.

As I've said I made no complaint, I ate most of the burger to fill myself up before bedtime, not that anyone actually went so far as asking me if everything was ok. I didn't really mind, it saved me the bother of replying 'fine thanks'. Other than that service was perfectly amenable.

Prices are reasonable for this sort of thing, or at least would be if the thing in question were done well. I paid just over twenty quid for the two courses and a glass of wine. I'm sure there's a quality operation lurking here somewhere, and perhaps on another day I'd have found everything wonderful, but a burger meal that was wrong in pretty much every way suggests something's not quite right.

5/10

16-20 Hanover Street
Liverpool
L1 4AA

http://www.hanoverstreetsocial.co.uk/

Hummingbird Kitchen and Bar, Chapel Allerton, Leeds

Like my meal at Hui Wei the previous week, dinner at Hummingbird didn't quite add up. This time it wasn't the ordering that was at fault, rather what arrived on each plate that resulted in a meal that was disjointed and incoherent. Some of what I ate was really very good, but some things were awful.

After drinks at the bar that included a well kept Kirkstall Brewery pale ale we decided to kick things off with a bottle of Gavi.

Our waiter forgot to fetch the bottle after we'd ordered starters (sorry, small plates) for which he duly apologised with the phrase 'my bad'. You what? Oh you mean you're sorry. Fair enough you've fetched the wine now, are you American? He wasn't.

I thought the world had moved east nowadays and that the Chinese were in charge. Apparently not, American cultural creep is alive and well. My bad? What next, Prom night? Prom night as in end-of-term-disco-succumbed-to-grasping-commercial-avarice. Oh yeah, we've got that now according to the news. Brilliant.

Apologies, rant over, onto the food and I promise not to comment further on the waiting staff's turn of phrase. Not for a few paragraphs anyway. The cod cheeks, my first choice starter (small plate, my bad), were off so I went for the pan seared baby squid, scallop mousse, chorizo croquette, squid ink dressing.

It was the appearance of this, as opposed to the taste, that was a little unnerving. I shan't elaborate, just look at the photo. Bit weird if you ask me. On a positive note the squid itself was tender and the mousse inside very smooth. Returning to a less positive one the chorizo croquette didn't taste much like chorizo.

Some of the other starters deserve a mention, a slow cooked beef hash and a summery pearl barley rissotto with broad beans were both declared a great success.

I've had the crispy chicken with fish combination before and enjoyed it, so was intrigued by the ambitious sounding main of pan roasted hake, prawn paella, chorizo dressing and crispy chicken, at least until our waiter described it as a 'deconstructed paella'. Eh? I'm really not sure about this fad for 'deconstructed' stuff. What does it even mean?

I think I might open a restaurant serving nothing but deconstructed dishes. It will be a cunning ruse designed to persuade people it's all about culinary cleverness, when really it's just 'cos I can't be arsed cooking stuff properly. Deconstructed Shepherd's pie sir? Certainly sir, here's your mince and tatties, best get a shift on we need your table back in two hours.

There's a very good reason a paella is usually served 'constructed'. If it's not then it isn't a paella, it's rice and seafood and meat and some seasonings. Of course, as all this rattled around in my brain I ordered it anyway.

Predictably enough what arrived was three different things on a plate, not interacting with one another in any particularly successful way. The fish was excellent. A large fresh fillet, delicately cooked to just flake and well seasoned. The other stuff was rubbish. The paella had the taste and appearance of overcooked, mushy savoury rice and the chicken drumstick was dry and tasteless. The fourth thing, the chorizo dressing, was definitely on the plate (that would be the orange wet stuff) but didn't taste of anything.

The other mains around our table were better than mine, pork and lamb dishes both being declared very good and not having anything obviously silly on the plate as far as I can tell. I tried a bit of pork belly and it was lovely, with the winning combination of soft moist flesh and proper crackling.

The theme of messing around with a classic to little advantage continued with pudding. Lemon meringue pie brought pastry that was past its best, a nice, tart lemony filling and hardly any meringue. What's the point of lemon meringue pie with hardly any meringue? There were just a few strips of dry, crumbly stuff scattered on the top, none of the unctuous gooey loveliness you'd hope for.

At this point I should say something nice about our waiter for a change. He knew his stuff, being well versed on the range of drinks on offer and suggesting a lovely Pedro Ximenez sherry to have as a dessert wine and digestif. An espresso martini type concoction that one of the others had at this point was also delicious.

We finished up quite quickly after pudding, the lights had been dimmed and the volume cranked up, presumably the bar takes precedence late on weekend nights. Including service we paid £40 each in total, not bad given that it included some pricey drinks.

I think the problem with Hummingbird is that they're trying to be all things to all people. It's a friendly suburban restaurant attempting to combine attempts at fine dining with being a noisy late night bar. It doesn't quite work for me. Someone in the kitchen can cook meat and fish really well, but whoever is in charge of the menu is getting a bit carried away with themselves. Simplify things a bit and they'd be on to a winner. Mind you they're probably on to a winner anyway. The place was heaving so what do I know.

6/10

Stainbeck Corner
Harrogate Road
Chapel Allerton
Leeds
LS7 3PG

http://hummingbirdkitchen.co.uk/

Dispatches from Lincolnshire

I spent six days last month working in Lincolnshire; in Grantham, Boston and Lincoln. It's not a part of the world I know very well but armed with recommendations from helpful twitterers I managed to eat quite well. Here's what I ate in Boston and Lincoln.

Bizzarro, Boston

Bizzarro came recommended as 'the only decent place to eat in Boston'. I've no idea whether that's true or not, but it definitely was decent and a stroll round the streets didn't offer up much in the way of obvious competition.

It's an Italian restaurant with several dining rooms in a very old building in the historic part of town. There was a slightly eccentric air to the place, one the one hand it was fairly formal with starched linen tablecloths and top notch cutlery, on the other it seemed a little ramshackle (half the plaster seemed to have fallen off the wall on the staircase). Either way it was friendly and welcoming and I liked it.

We shared some nibbly bits and pieces with bread to start (these were rare work trips where I wasn't alone, making the dining out bit much more fun); olives, cheese stuffed peppers and balsamic pickled onions. All solid stuff and a cut above basic catering pack standard.

I had stuffed breast of lamb to follow, which was predictably fatty but delicious. The minced lamb, apricot and pine nut stuffing was too sweet for my tastes though, being a little too heavy on the apricots. The meal didn't come plated as pictured by the way, that's after I'd added vegetables from the generous and well cooked selection provided separately. The porchetta across the table was also declared a success.

Service was friendly and efficient and it's good value as well. Mains range from £10 to £18 including more roast potatoes and vegetables than you could eat, and the house wine is just £2.50 a glass. Nothing mindblowing but just the sort of reliable place you could return to again and again for a good meal.

7/10

23 Wormgate
Boston
Lincolnshire
PE21 6NR

www.bizzarro.biz


The Tower Hotel, Lincoln

I'm sure Lincoln probably has plenty to offer food-wise, but this time we didn't make it out of the hotel. That was a least partly intentional, as a bit of advance research suggested the place had a good reputation for food. We ate in the bar but there's also a more formal restaurant.

A few nibbles to kick things off again. Olives, sun-dried tomatoes and some very more-ish cumin roasted nuts.

Roast squash soup was very smooth and sweet, but just a little watery. I'm afraid I can't recall what the red stuff was, but it didn't taste of anything much (extra sweetness maybe?).

My dining companion's starter was better; - a confit chicken, savoy cabbage and chestnut spring roll. I'd have really enjoyed eating this in the depths of winter. The filling was moist and tasty, the skin crisp and greaseless. It was in essence a big, crunchy festive tasting roast dinner pie tube.

Next up was the rather complicated sounding burger (6oz Hand-made Minced Lincolnshire Beef Burger, Toasted Muffin, Rustic Chips, Stilton Mayonnaise, White Onion Marmalade, Sautéed Mushrooms, Celeriac Remoulade) which could have been great, but wasn't.

I'd asked how the burger would be cooked, and was told medium so left it at that. It arrived well done with just a tiny hint of pink remaining in the middle, rendering it a bit dense and rubbery. A shame really as the meat was good quality, with a good beefy flavour discernable above the strong tasting accompaniments. The stilton mayo and onion marmalade were very good though, with very sweet onions and the rich, cheesy mayo adding tanginess and a bit of astringency. The chips were just ok.

Service here was fine and the bar area lively and obviously popular not just with hotel residents. Prices are probably about average for higher end pub type food (the burger was £10.50). Everything we ate was good quality but the execution was a little hit and miss.

6/10

38 Westgate
Lincoln
LN1 3BD

www.lincolntowerhotel.co.uk

Relish, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Relish is part of the mini empire run by the excellent Thornbridge Brewery. As a fan of their beer I had high hopes for the food and the experience in general. It's styled as a kitchen, bar and social which is probably about right. It's casual and lively but definitely not a pub, the emphasis being on the food with table service provided throughout.

The menu is fairly pubby though, sort of sturdy British in the modern style. There are pies and burgers, and things involving ham hock and scotching of eggs. Being greedy I opted for the Steak & Thornbridge ale pot pie, suet pastry of grain mustard/thyme/cheddar cheese, beef dripping potatoes, mushy peas and a jug of gravy (£12).

It was very good in every department save one. Sadly the suet crust pastry let the side down. If you get suet pastry right it can be a joy, and surprisingly light too (blowing of own trumpet alert - see this version). Unfortunately the Relish suet crust was thick, claggy, underdone and not much fun at all.

Back to the positives, everything else was great. Nice roasties, well-made proper gravy and excellent sloppy peas. The pie filling was packed with slow cooked tender meat and assorted vegetables bound in a very tasty gravy (perhaps seasoned with Sheffield's finest Henderson's relish?).

As an aside I can't help but complain about the lack of a plate. It seems like everywhere I go at the moment wants to serve me my dinner on a roof tile or a chopping board or a plank. I've said it before and I'll say it again: what is wrong with a plate? Why would I want to eat gravy from a chopping board? Why? Stop it. Rant over.

Across the table AS also declared her sausage, mash, Yorkshire pudding and gravy a success, the only criticism being a surfeit of gravy. AS is a Southerner though, so she obviously doesn't understand that there's no such thing as too much gravy, especially where sausages and mash are concerned. That's also the small portion (yes, small) costing just £6.

Good stuff overall, friendly service and reasonably priced at around £23 including drinks (Thornbridge Jaipur IPA - delicious). If they'd given me good pastry and put my dinner on a plate I'd have upped the rating a notch.

7/10


371-373 Ecclesall Road
Sheffield
S11 8PF

www.relishrelish.co.uk

Kro Piccadilly, Manchester

A quick meal in Manchester the other night brought a visit to Kro in Piccadilly Gardens. I'd never been to any of the Kro bars before, but always thought they might be worth a try. The Piccadilly branch is a big, fairly generic looking space with a big, fairly generic menu extending from breakfast to sandwiches, coffee, cakes, burgers, pasta and so on. The twist are sections devoted to Danish meals and 'Danwiches'. That's short for Danish open sandwiches. See what they did there?

I chose the Gravadlax danwich, described as Scandinavian dill cured salmon with a sweet mustard and dill dressing, an asparagus spear, capers and red onion rings served on brown bloomer. The gravadlax was great, cut thickly with quite a mild, sweet cure. I could have quite happily eaten a plateful of this with just the bread and capers, because the other stuff just got in the way really. Asparagus in November is a waste of time, the raw onion overpowered everything else, and the salad was more frisée than anything else.

What is the point of frisée? I like salad leaves I really do. Rocket, watercress, cos, gem or even iceberg lettuce in certain situations. But frisée. It tastes off virtually nothing, other than a slight back note of bitterness, has an annoying stringy texture and is impossible to chew properly. It's rubbish and pointless. Less of it please. Actually make that none of it.

The chips were shit too. Straight from the freezer and not fried for long enough. Flaccid and lumpen.

The sandwich was £5.95, the chips were an extra £1.20 and a latte another £1.90. Reasonable pricing as there was plenty of good quality fish on the sandwich. I wouldn't rush back, but I'd eat at Kro again. I really enjoyed the gravadlax so wouldn't mind giving the herring plate or mixed fish platter a try. More of the good stuff and less of the bad (yes you, the chips and the frisée).

6/10

One Piccadilly Gardens
Unit A and B
Manchester
M1 1RG

http://www.kro.co.uk/kro-piccadilly

Northern Food on tour: a week in Israel

Unlike neighbouring Jordan, Israel is rarely out of the news. It's a controversial place, with controversial neighbours and a controversial relationship with them. Visiting this tiny but varied country was a fascinating and informative experience to say the least. I have my views on the various controversies, but I'm not going to go into them here. Instead I'm going to state one incontrovertible fact: The Israelis know how to eat.

We traversed the country from Eilat on the Red Sea coast, to the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, a short trip into the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, north to the coastal city of Haifa then back to Tel Aviv, the party city on the Med and it's neighbouring historic port town, Jaffa. Aside from one crappy pizza we didn't eat a single bad meal.

Israeli cuisine, if there is such a specific thing, is basically Middle Eastern in style. Everything you'd find in Jordan, you'd find here too. Much the same could be said of Palestinian cuisine (the borders of modern day nation states are unhelpful here. Using them to define cuisine is largely pointless. Most Jordanians are Palestinian, as much of Jordan was once the part of Palestine on the far side of the Jordan river, Transjordan as it once was).

There is also much more to Israeli food than that local to the region, thanks to the Jewish diaspora. If it's Jewish food from anywhere in the world, you can find it here. From the sturdy stews of Mitteleuropa to modern American classics such as the Reuben sandwich, they've got it covered. In the manner of the British they have also enthusiastically adopted the food of other nations. Tel Aviv, for example, is a city of sushi eaters.

I've included some reviews below, but we also ate a lot of food casually on the streets and in cafes. Here are some of the highlights.

At breakfast coffee and pastries are a popular choice. The pastries were always good if not quite French standard. The coffee was usually high quality too, and I developed a bit of an iced coffee habit towards the end of the holiday.

At lunch a falafel or shawarma sandwich was always a good option. Always generously proportioned, but always with plentiful fresh salad to lighten the load. It's difficult taking photos of felafel sandwiches, but you get the idea.

There are numerous local takeaway chains, most of which appear to be rather expensive but give them a try and you'll probably find the portions are huge and the quality is high. We had these enormous chicken schnitzel sub sandwiches in Jerusalem. Think Subway but with good bread, good meat and good salad. So not really like Subway at all then come to think of it.

There are fresh juice stands all over the place too, with pomegranate particularly prevalent in Jerusalem. I love the stuff but it's not the most refreshing. It must be packed full of tannins as drinking it gives a dry mouth feel similar to red wine.

The food markets were excellent, we strolled around the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem and the Yemenite quarter market in Tel Aviv, and the produce looked outstanding (as it usually does anywhere Mediterranean). Look at those aubergines!

The stalls selling deep fried meaty goodies are worth a look too. Little pasties (sambusas) and rice balls (kubbeh) stuffed with spiced mince made a delicious snack.

On the booze front we drank more than in Jordan, but still not a great deal. The most commonly found beer is Goldstar, a dark lager that's certainly better than your bog standard cooking lager, but still nothing special. It seems the craft beer revolution has reached the shores of Israel though. We found two brewery pubs, the Golan Brewhouse in Jerusalem and LiBira in Haifa. LiBira was the better of the two, we tried their full range and the double pilsner and the bitter were particularly worth checking out.

The local red wine we sampled on a couple of occasions was more than drinkable, and reminiscent of other dark, hot climate Southern Mediterranean reds (think Sicily).

And finally, before I move onto the reviews, I must give an honourable mention to the delights of hairy cheese. Our Israeli friends (of whom more later) assured us we couldn't miss out on this treat. Possibly the most unappetising sounding foodstuff ever, though I have a sneaking suspicion that's not its real name.

It's vermicelli soaked in sugar syrup or honey and wrapped around hard, salty goats cheese. Rather delicious as the savoury tang of the cheese really balances out the cloying sweetness. Try it!

In just one week we barely scratched the surface.

Fortuna, Jerusalem

The best meal of the holiday. A restaurant with a simple concept (we later learned this is common in Israel). For a fixed price you get the full mezze, bread, chips and a choice of grilled meat skewers.

The absolute star of the show were the salads in the mezze. Each one of them (there were ten in total) was superbly seasoned and spiced, and no two were remotely similar. I'm not nerdy enough to take notes when I'm on holiday so the specifics evade me, but I do recall a stand out being a carrot salad with preserved lemons. Sweet, sour, bitter, crunchy and wonderfully refreshing. The houmous was also a rival to Hashem's for best of the trip.

Hanger steak skewers for me. Cooked medium rare as requested it was remarkably tender for the cut, and deeply flavoured. Perhaps a little more charring on the surface would have been nice though. Entrecote across the table was equally good.

The chips were no afterthought. Rustling, salty and lovely. RP couldn't keep his hands out of them long enough for me to take a photo the fat git.

9/10

About 100 shekels per head for the meal with beer and service

Fortuna
2 HaArmonim Street
Machane Yehuda
Jerusalem

Sima, Jerusalem

A rather extravagant meat fest at the end of a long, hot day. The premise here was the same as at Fortuna, only this time with a choice of sides, loads more meat, and a half bottle of perfectly quaffable local red.

The mixed grill platter comprised a sirloin steak, grilled chicken fillet, beef kofta and grilled chicken innards. The steak was spot on, nice and bloody with a good char, and the chicken innards were a revelation. I use the term innards, because I'm not exactly sure what some of it was. There were definitely kidneys, and liver, and hearts, but also some other unidentified stuff. I'd strongly recommend the hearts, packed with chickeny flavour they were. I have an idea they'd be good deep fried, or perhaps grilled then dropped in a noodle soup. The chicken fillets were boring though, could have given those a miss.

The mezze were all perfectly good, though not up to the standard of Fortuna. The same goes for the sides.

8/10

About 100 shekels per head for a huge meal, wine and service

Sima
82 Agrippas Street
Machane Yehuda
Jerusalem

Julius Meinl Coffee House, Jerusalem

I think Julius Meinl is a chain, but it rates a mention because we had good shakshuka here. A classic breakfast dish in these parts, shakshuka is basically eggs fried up in a tomato sauce then brought to the table sizzling in the pan.

This was a good version with a rich tomatoey sauce, it arrived sizzling like an inferno with an entire loaf of bread apiece to scoop up the goodness. The only downside to that level of heat is that the yolks were cooked through.

Coffee and orange juice included in the set price were good too.

7/10

About 35 shekels per head for shakshouka, bread, coffee and orange juice.

Julius Meinl Coffee House
Jaffa Road
New City
Jerusalem

Fattoush, Haifa

One thing we didn't eat as much of on this trip as anticipated is shawarma. Kebab stands weren't quite as ubiquitous as expected in either Jordan or Israel, and where we did find them they often only had chicken. Ever since an unpleasant experience in Turkey a few years back I have a deep mistrust of chicken that sits there all day on the spit, intermittently being fired up and sitting there sweating at ambient temperature the rest of the time. It's a recipe for intestinal disaster.

As such I think this was the first shawarma of the holiday. Posh shawarma rather than street shawarma, but it was pretty damn good. Shards of salty meat and onions, a big pile of parsley to freshen things, a pool of nutty tahini and soft bread.

We also had a big bowl of houmous and a whole load more bread that we didn't really need.

And then some beer and wine. I tried a dark beer from the Taybeh brewery, noteworthy as being the only brewery in the West Bank. It was a bit bland and boring though.

8/10

Around 50 shekels per head for the meal with soft drinks or a beer or glass of wine

Fattoush
Ben-Gurion Avenue
German Colony
Haifa

Kanibar, Haifa

It's not clear whether this place is called Kaniburger or Kanibar. The internet thinks Kanibar, but I'm sure it was Kaniburger when we were there. What is clear to me is that the burgers there are bloody brilliant. The best burger I've had this year.

A fat, succulent, well seasoned beef patty (the 220g option, about 8oz), cooked exactly as requested. Medium in case you were wondering. Nice and pink. A good sturdy bun, yielding but strong enough to stay intact for the duration. Lettuce, tomato, gherkin, melty swiss cheese. Ketchup, mustard and mayo at the table to add your own. The chips were average, so I'd just order a huge burger and not bother with them.

Splendid. And all thanks to my Israeli friend Lee, who I met while travelling in Australia years ago, and who I contacted out of the blue on Facebook to say I was coming to Israel and would she like to meet up, and who said yes of course, and who took us out for drinks, and then on a grand day out round the North of the country, introduced us to her friends, and took us to this great burger bar. Thanks Lee, you were a great host!


9/10

About 75 shekels for a classy burger, chips, soft drinks and service

Kanibar
Sderot Moriya
Mount Carmel
Haifa

Said Abu Elafia and Sons, Jaffa

For various reasons we never really got round to eating a restaurant evening meal in Tel Aviv or Jaffa, but we did manage to get sandwiches from Said Abu Elafia and Sons three times in three days. It's a bakery, open 24/7, constantly busy, and with a deli counter making toasted sandwiches.

Apart from tuna, everything is vegetarian, so a sandwich will usually be stuffed with sliced cheese, cream cheese, olives, tomatoes, sweetcorn and whatever else you can persuade them to shove in there. One will serve two people for breakfast, light lunch or a late night snack.

7/10

17 shekels for a mucky fat but strangely wholesome toasted sandwich

Said Abu Elafia and Sons
7 Yefet Street
Jaffa

Bar Pepito, King's Cross, London

When it opened a year or two ago Bar Pepito was London's first dedicated sherry bar. Any regular readers may have noticed that I'm a big fan of sherry. Given that fact, and Bar Pepito's location only two minutes walk from King's Cross station I'm surprised I haven't been there before.

Last night's premise was a simple one. How much sherry can we drink in a couple of hours before my train departs? The answer, rather predictably, was lots. We got lucky as a table was vacated just as we arrived, so we grabbed it quickly and ordered a half bottle of Lustau Puerto Fino. An excellent choice, it was dry and tangy with an almost meaty, savoury flavour. I'm not sure that really makes sense, but I know what I mean (can you get umami flavours in a wine?).

In addition to the extensive list of sherries there's also a short tapas menu. There's no kitchen to speak of, just a small assembly area at the end of the bar so we're talking meats, cheeses and the like rather than more complex cooked dishes. For more of a restaurant meal, neighbouring Camino (run by the same people) across the courtyard would be a good bet.

Gordal olives were sublime. Huge, meaty and intensely savoury. The only down side being that I could easily eat about twenty quid's worth.

Plates of lomo iberico and morcilla with romesco sauce. The lomo was disappointing as it lacked the depth of flavour you expect from any iberico pig product, but the morcilla was fantastic. Rich and irony, and a great match with the nutty, garlicky sauce. I'd have preferred it served in chunks rather than thinly sliced though.

Tortilla was the star of the show. Completely different to what I was expecting it arrived in a little glass with two teaspoons. Inside was a layer of the smoothest, creamiest, almost liquid egg mixture imaginable covering an equally smooth, buttery potato layer. It was topped with what I think were caramelised onions that added both savour and sweetness. Wonderful. I wish I knew how to make something so delicious with such basic, everyday ingredients.

Pan con tomate was nice enough, but a bit boring. This time the simplest of ingredients didn't really gel to create something special. There wasn't a great deal of flavour to the tomatoes.

After the food and the first bottle, we inadvertently ordered another bottle of the same. In hindsight that may not have been such a good idea, we should at least have tried something different. Still, it was bloody lovely.

I really enjoyed Bar Pepito. The bar itself is tiny and cave-like, and feels authentically Iberian. The pig leg sat on the bar helps with this! The food is what I'd describe as contemporary Spanish, with small portions beautifully presented and novel takes on the classics (that splendid tortilla). All of it was high quality, but I think I prefer the more traditional, rustic sort of tapas. For me, it was a little overpriced and not everything hit the spot flavour-wise (the lomo, the pan con tomate). Our bill came to £75 for two half bottles of sherry, two beers, the food and 10% service.

I'll definitely return, but will probably dine elsewhere and stick to sherry, olives and perhaps a tortilla here.


7/10

Varnishers Yard
The Regent Quarter
King's Cross
London
N1 9FD

http://www.camino.uk.com/pepito

A Leeds Pub Crawl

Leeds isn't as obviously blessed with great pubs as Manchester, but there are plenty of them out there if you know where to look. With a little bit of time and effort you can fashion a very good pub crawl.

Here's the route a friend and I took last night, taking in Holbeck and the lower end of the city centre:

The Adelphi
The Grove
The Cross Keys
The Midnight Bell
(The Hop)
The Scarbrough Hotel
Leeds Brewery Tap

We started out with some superior bar snacks (pictured) and a decent IPA in the Adelphi. Chorizo, sweet potato chips, and humous. All very good, and priced fairly at £10 for the three plates. Onwards to The Grove, there's a bit of a walk involved here but walking's good for you so stop complaining. I'd recommend a shortcut through the Asda car park.

The Grove is a slightly down at heel pub, with a traditional multi-roomed interior and a wide selection of beer on cask. Recommended beer snacks: Seabrooks crisps and pepperamis. Mine's a fire stick please. The Grove also has this armchair, which I love:

Next up, a Holbeck double whammy: The Cross Keys and the Midnight Bell. Both fairly upmarket, both in interesting old but modernised buildings, and both with large terraces, perfect for a sunny August evening. If you happen to chance upon such a thing that is, if it's cold and rainy like last night I'd suggest staying indoors where it's cosy and warm. We enjoyed table service at the Cross Keys, very continental and perfect for the lazier gent. They also had some Stinking Bishop and various other cheeses on offer, a return visit for a cheese and beer evening may be on the cards.

In theory The Hop would have been next, but we didn't actually bother as the music was very loud and we're old men who want to sit in a quiet corner supping mild, complaining and playing dominoes and that. I like The Hop in Wakefield more anyway.

Through the dark arches and thence to the Scarbrough. Does anyone know why it's spelled incorrectly? One of three Nicholson's pubs in Leeds (the other two being the Victoria and the Palace), it's a bit dark and dingy, but satisfying in a proper pubby sort of way. There's usually a reasonably varied selection of beer on too.

Finally it's up the steps to the Brewery Tap, our second Leeds Brewery pub of the day. Handily positioned for the last train home. Or some noodles from Wokon. Or a dirty kebab from Hot Stuff. We did none of these things, getting a lift home and no takeaway. Strangely the thought of doner meat is making me hungry right now, even though it's one in the afternoon and I'm not drunk. I'm off to get some lunch...