Tommi's Burger Joint, London

In a lost London post of sorts I visited the Marylebone branch of Tommi’s Burger Joint some time back. It has a growing following and has recently opened a second branch on Kings Road. On the way we walked past Patty and Bun, another cult burger joint, with a sizeable queue outside in the punishing cold swarms of Winter.

Thankfully there was no queue at Tommi’s but there were plenty of people waiting inside, half for tables and half for takeaways. The open kitchen gives full view of the burgers being cooked on the grill as well as letting the meatiness waft through the venue.

The menu is a simple affair with a few burgers on offer and limited extras. We opted for the ‘Offer of the Century’ consisting of a cheeseburger, fries and can of pop for £10.50. Having paid we waited about ten minutes before pouncing on the vacated window bar seats.

The food was served soon after and we were quite underwhelmed at first. The burger arrived wrapped fast food style with similar fries to the golden arches. Advertised as cooked medium with lettuce, tomato and red onion the patty was big and juicy once unwrapped. However the lack of veg apart from lettuce and the kraft like cheese raised some eyebrows. The patty however was well cooked and perfectly pink, although it could have done with more seasoning to enhance the flavour of the meat which struggled to come through.

The fries were pretty standard and the billed ‘Offer of the Century’ didn’t quite live up to the hype. I preferred the crinkle cut chips of Shake Shack and the flavour of the burger from Honest, who also do a mean homemade lemonade with the whole package coming in at a similar price to Tommi’s. Maybe the steak burger offered delivers more punch but at a higher price point but based on what we had Tommi’s is acceptable but not the leading light in the London burger offerings.

Choice, Manchester

Locating Choice was a bit of a challenge with both me and Mr Nom taking the wrong turn off Mancunian way and having to drive around the block to make the right turn. A rare luxury however to have free parking in Manchester. Stepping into the restaurant we were surprised how empty it was on a Wednesday night with only one other table coming to the end of their meal. The décor appeared to be a bit dated but we reserved judgement for the food.

The glasses on the tables were gathering a layer of dust which put us off ordering wine and instead opted for drinks from the bar. There is a big board recommending dishes, the starter of which was red mullet and scallop which Mr Nom ordered, he was amused that the coral was bigger than the scallop itself. It was accompanied by a smoked cauliflower puree and Beurre Noisette dressing, a well-executed starter.

My smoked duck and pigeon salad impressed me. The puy lentils were subtle with the delicately smoked meat and the pomegranate added the slight sweetness and tang.

The main course of hake kedgeree was not as big a success as the starters. Pan fried hake, Indian spiced egg and a quail egg finished with Raita. The flavours did not agree with me and maybe it was my palette to blame as it was cooked really well.  The portion was generous which made me feel bad as I only finished half of it.

I was eyeing up Mr Nom’s grilled fillets of Sea Bass, beetroot fondant and samphire with sauce Americaine and langoustine tails. I preferred this to my kedgeree, especially the beetroot fondant which were quite unusual but worked.

The recommended dessert was an Earl Grey & golden syrup treacle tart, something I have not tried before and sounded sweet even for someone with such a sweet tooth! It was served with a dollop of clotted cream and it was naughty but indulgent!

Mr Nom’s apple custard pie was disappointing. Billed as an apple pie set with Calvados custard, it came with a scoop of granite over the top which melted quickly over the apple pie and made the whole dessert wet and soggy. 

The food at Choice was not bad, starting off good with the starters, but let down by the dessert at the end. However there are some nice ideas which were well executed and presented which would be a sure hit in a more modern setting.

Superstore, Manchester

It's funny how I have been to the store downstairs many a time but never realised that the eatery upstairs was Superstore. Situated in the Northern Quarter on Tib Street, I used to walk past it twice a week without realising it was there. 

The menu offers small and larger plates and is quite diverse with influences from a multitude of cuisines. Greedy Mr Nom decided that we should order five starters to share between three of us as it was five small plates for £20. Along with another starter from the specials board of fried pig's trotters which were very rich.

Panko coated braised pork cheeks, parsnip puree, curried split peas, coriander salad. The pork cheek was a little dry but the flavour combination was interesting.

Crispy fried squid, cayenne pepper, lemon & tumeric aioli. Ok without being exceptional.

Roast bone marrow, garlic & thyme, toast. A dish to eat whilst still hot or else it starts to set again, it was slightly over seasoned but an enjoyable dish with the garlic and thyme. I liked how the bone marrow was cut in half as it can be quite messy to dig it out from whole bones.

Curried chicken arancini, mint raita, a pleasant play on the Italian classic. Satay chicken with kaffir lime and yoghurt. It had been a while since I have ordered satay chicken skewers, shame they were burnt on top as the chicken was moist and the dip brought the dish alive.

Root veg tempura veg. Still not sure about this dish as root vegetables are too tough to be deep fried tempura style and were hard to eat.

We asked for all the dishes at once and didn't realise how much we had actually ordered until the table ran out of space when the larger dishes arrived as well!

Pulled Chicken Biriyani, grilled tiger prawn, spring onion, coriander, poppadom basket. Nicely presented and well spiced. Although the prawn was still raw.

Asian marinated hanger steak, cauliflower bhajis, szechuan pepper sauce. The dish of the meal for me, the rare hanger steak was delicious with the Szechuan pepper sauce for a slight kick.

We managed to tackle most of the dishes which surprised our friends who decided to order their own dishes, the lamb burger burger and the beef roast. Unfortunately, the Yorkshire pudding was ice cold but that was promptly rectified.

There were a few blips with the food but they were dealt with swiftly. Overall a good place for small plates with some new ideas and a very chilled and laid back eatery.

Michael Caine's Restaurant, Manchester

Our last visit to Michael Caines at Abode Manchester was over two years ago. Seizing the opportunity for an indulgent lunch we returned last week. We initially wanted to try the grazing menu to create a mini lunch tasting menu but found that they do not offer it anymore and there is a standard set lunch or a la carte offering instead. At £14.95 for 2 courses and £19.95 for 3 courses it seemed decent value for the set lunch option.

Arriving unannounced the restaurant was around half full. The lighting seems brighter than it did during our last visit which we found to be a bit dark. Needing to rush back to work we quickly decided on our choices and the starters were soon delivered. The rillete of salmon with keta, cucumber, honey and soy vinaigrette was a very attractive plate of food. Each little blob added a different flavour to the salmon. 

The ox cheek raviolo, shallot and horseradish confit, button onions and beef jus won the dish of the meal. Packed full of flavour it was a real winner. So far so good it seemed.

The mains however did not deliver the same wow factor as the starters and although perfectly acceptable expectations were high at this point. Mrs Nom chose pan fried sea bream, bacon and maple syrup puree, kale and purple sprouting broccoli. I settled on pork belly, spiced red cabbage, fondant potato with pork jus.

We skipped desserts as nothing took our fancy on the set menu, what started out as a great lunch fizzled out from the mains.

A little bonus in this post, it made sense to add notes from our visit to MC Cafe Bar & Grill casual dining offering at the Abode hotel. We visited a while back pre Christmas opting for the set early bird menu (its expensive this eating out lark). The choices were not vast and Mrs Nom ordered her starter of duck salad from the a la carte instead while I settled on the ham hock terrine. Apologies if the pictures are a bit sketchy but the lighting was extremely dark.

The main courses were generous Winter warmers of mutton hot pot with braised cabbage and a fish pie packed full of salmon, prawns and white fish. The mutton pieces were tender and the sweet and fiery red cabbage was a delight.  However the sauce was a bit thin and would have brought the whole dish together if it was a little thicker. The fish pie had so much filling that I had to polish it off for Mrs Nom who struggled.

The fish pie didn't stop Mrs Nom wanting a dessert though and we shared a brioche pudding with ice cream.

Stripped Back - Ben Spalding @ Camp & Furnace, Liverpool

One of the hottest tickets arguably in the last year in London's street food scene is the Stripped Back concept created by Ben Spalding. Defined on its Twitter account as refined street food cooked with raw passion & obsessive dedication anywhere, anytime. Following stints at Fat Duck, Le Manoir and Roganic, Stripped Back takes good food and makes it enjoyable in ultra relaxed settings.

I've been an avid follower of Stripped Back at Street Feast but could never arrange a visit to London which coincided with one of the sessions. So when I saw a tweet promoting the welcome of Stripped Back at Camp & Furnace there was never a doubt and I made the booking straight away. No excuses with Camp & Furnace being a mile away from home! As far as venues go, Camp & Furnace and Stripped Back go hand in hand. Set in the main room alongside a Food Slam, Ben and team must of felt right at home with Rockaoke on at the far end of the room and food stalls lining the sides. Similar to Street Feast venues with DJs, albeit a little more rugged than Camp & Furnace. Props to the Camp & Furnace guys for making this happen and bringing the brightest talents to Liverpool.

We arrived early ahead of the second sitting and were trying desperately not to take sneaky peeks at the food being served. The Stripped Back and Camp & Furnace teams took turns delivering alternate courses and are coloured coded below black for the hosts and red for the guests.

The first courses were small nibbles. Swine Orgy - pig skin & jelly, tom yum mayonnaise, Japanese spices.

Salt 'N' Vinegar - salt 'n' vinegar celery, potato crisps

B&B - sourdough, hackney wild, sweet & salty Lincolnshire poacher. The bread and butter course, forget the usual unsalted, salted, beef dripping etc this simply took it to another level. The sweet & salty Lincolnshire poacher prepared in front of us and finished off with a blowtorch was hugely additive.

Scallop - caramelised, blue cheese, buttermilk, nettle, pickled squash.

Salad '40' - 40 ingredient salad with sour cream. There was a short wait between the last dish and this, understandable given its contents. We watched and waited patiently and Chef placed, flicked, spooned and sprinkled the array of ingredients onto the line of plates.

The finished article. There was so much going on that every mouthful introduced new elements.

The list of ingredients in full!

Cheek - pomelo puree, shallots, crispy wild rice, thyme, morcilla. 

Salmon Belly - cured salmon belly, peanut butter, preserved grapes, cucumber juice. The simplest but a surprisingly effective dish. The peanut butter matched well with the salmon and the cucumber juice was refreshing and cleansed the palate.

Curd - goats curd, hot vimto, basil, biscuit. The hot vimto being soaked into the biscuit was inspired, the simplest Camp & Furnace dish but my favourite.

Rainbow - plum, lemon, strawberry, chocolate, wasabi, buckthorn, orange, beetroot, M&Ms. A pretty dessert that concluded the dishes from team Stripped Back.

Honey - soup, comb, pollen, milk, rhubarb.

A great night and it was great to see an inspirational Chef at work. Hopefully next time Chef Ben Spalding returns to Liverpool we will get to see his No Rules concept where he is challenged to incorporate ingredients from diners into the meal. Thanks to the Camp & Furnace team for making this happen and heres hoping to many more top class food events over the rest of the year!