I needn't have worried. It was beyond my expectations. The sourdough was perfectly soft, the cheese was perfectly stringy and the sauce perfectly delicious. In fact at the time I declared it to be the best pizza I ever had, though it's been so long now that I can't remember if this is true or if I was just very hungry (as one often gets when on a long pilgrimage). The ingredients are all sourced from Naples and slow cooked in a stone oven - according to the owners electricity kills pizza - so there really is no hope of recreating this at home.

I recently decided to torture myself even further and see what I missed out on from the restaurant menu. Aside from a large variety of other pizza toppings, I also missed out on mini deep fried calzones, tomato risotto balls filled with smoked mozzarella and most upsettingly, deep-fried Italian mac n cheese. Most intriguingly though was a recent addition to their Exmouth Market stall - pizza soup and a dipping calzone to go with it. Genius. I believe another pizza pilgrimage shall be in order.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. I made a lie on a previous post. It wasn't intentional and at the time it was true. I really did believe that the Shoreditch Grind made the best iced mocha's in the land. But now I have seen the light. The heavens opened and showed me the way. Like the shining star that led the 3 King's to Jesus. Except it was in London, so it was a tiny glimmer of sunshine (at a push). And it led me to Brooklyn Coffee.



See! The signs were literally right in front of me, urging me to my coffee enlightenment. I stepped in, unaware of the coffee blend I was about to taste. They didn't even have iced mocha written on the menu, but when divine intervention is taking place nothing gets in the way. I asked the lovely workers if they do make them, and they briskly whipped me one up using their b-eautiful coffee beans.





Now, I first heard about Brooklyn Coffee as I heard they were best for size. Seriously, when I see this next picture I can't help but imagine that music they play on X Factor as the judges step out on stage. I even hear the X Factor voice man shout ICEEDD MOCHAAAA. Oh perhaps this is part of the Holy Spirit talking to me.


Just me? Who knows. All I know for certain is that this coffee was amazing. It was slightly thicker than other iced coffee's that I've had, and now all others will seem watery and lack substance in comparison.  So forgive me Father for my previous sin, but now you have shown me the way, and I shall follow in your footsteps and show others the way too. It's straight opposite the Urban Outfitters in Shoreditch.

Amen.

This weekends destination was Route, a cafe situated round the corner from Dalston Junction. I first found it on a Saturday morning hunt for a hangover-breakfast. You know the kind. Something that requires minimal effort/moving and arrives quickly. So I was relieved not only when we found Route within a short walking distance from where I was staying, but even more so when I saw 'The Hangover Breakfast' printed upon the menu. If you look to the right side of the menu and go down, you'll also find 'Hair of the Dog' printed on there, but I prefer a different hangover cure thankyou very much. Food. And lots of it.



The cafe describes itself as a deli/bistro that's inspired by the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The theme is more apparent on the lunch and dinner menu, where seasonal salads and sandwiches adorn the counter. On the breakfast menu you can go for the Mediterranean breakfast or the Shakshuka (a Middle Eastern egg dish), however there is nothing I love more than a traditional English breakfast, especially if it's done well. Other tempting offers that almost made the cut were the buttermilk pancakes with clotted cream and pistachios and the scrambled eggs and cheese in a tortilla wrap with chorizo and tomato. Though who was I kidding by even considering any other options? I came here for one thing and one thing only.



The thing I enjoy most about the breakfast at Route is that it's a fry-up that's not greasy. Actually that's a lie - what I enjoyed most was the sauteed potatoes and onions. But knowing I was eating good quality meat (I'm usually funny about sausages) and eggs made my food-conscience feel that little bit better. Plus, they got the fundamental breakfast principles just right. The bacon was done enough that the fat was crispy and the egg yolk was perfect. Joined with artisan bread, grilled Portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, sausage and my beloved potatoes and onions, and you have yourself an excellent start to the day. The breakfast carries on the til 3pm on weekends for the hungover masses.

Tips: A pot of tea between two works out cheaper; we got two mugs each out of it.The service is quick, however I recommend going early if you want to grab a table of your own. It gets quite busy later on and you'll likely be sharing your table with others. Oh and they do have vegetarian options.

...if you have a sweet tooth. As I have found the perfect spot for your inner American policeman: coffee and donuts to go. Actually it may be the perfect spot for your inner American full stop, as they also serve some mighty fine fried chicken and waffles. But let's save that for another day. Today we're giving these doughy, sugary, hoop-shaped pieces of goodness - that if I'm being honest I'm not completely sure how to spell - their time in the spotlight. I shall go with the spelling that was given on the menu, so for the rest of this post I shall go with DOUGHNUTS.


Yes sir that's the place. (Southern American reading voice please). The Doughnut Hatch. Hot and fresh, just how I like em.


The hatch is located on the side of the restaurant Bird, a fried chicken joint in East London. Serving £1 coffees and the daily Glazed Doughnuts, the Hatch often sells out quickly. When researching the menu, I had seen previous flavours of the day had come in glazed chocolate covered with sprinkles, pink icing with cherries in the middle, Oreo, maple syrup, coconut - the list goes on. So I admit I was a bit disappointed when I arrived to see just a plain glaze that day. However I quickly recovered and settled down to tuck in.




The doughnuts were huge - super thick and very soft. Just 1 was enough for me, but if you really do have a sweet tooth then you have to try it's ice cream doughnut sandwich: a scoop of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between the doughnut of the day and then drizzled with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream. If you want a bit of sweet and meat - something I can't ever imagine craving - then they also do a doughnut buttie on the weekends. Like a bacon buttie, expect the bread has been replaced with doughnut. The idea of it both repulses me and intrigues me. Let me know if you've had it! @AFashionSauce

My internship drove me to coffee addiction. Kind of. Iced coffee counts right? Ok, they were iced mocha's. But I won't let the addition of chocolate take away from my new found membership in the coffee club. As a teenager my fantasy of being a writer was imagined within a Brooklyn apartment where I would frantically write all night, fuelled by a constant intake of caffeine. Given my dislike for hot drinks, the taste of coffee and of course my location issues, the dream seemed far from my reach. Until now.

And so we meet again Street Feast. Round 2. Part II. The return of the bap (Smokestak's). Ah yes, this time I visited Smokestak not just once, but twice. In one sitting. That's not all I had either, visiting my other old pal Mother Clucker and making a few new acquaintances on the way. I think it's fair to say that this time I won. I came, I gnawed, I conquered.
If you haven't heard of Street Feast (check out my first visit here), it is a foodies playground, except toys are replaced by London's finest food stalls, hop scotch becomes hopping from vendor to vendor and secret dens come in the form of hidden bars. And did I mention that there's free beer? I walked in and took one look at it all. "Challenge accepted," I smirked to myself, in a way just as creepy as it sounds.

As any child would do unleashed in a playground, I firstly had to do a hasty lap of the area to check out all my options, literally bouncing with excitement deciding where to begin. Mexican? Check? Indian? Check. Asian steamed buns with slow roasted pork belly, cucumber, spring onions and hoisin sauce? Check. So naturally I got them all.

One of the out-of-the-way bars Once again Smokestak was the clear winner for me. After several visits now, it seems to get better each time. I don't normally eat much pork, but for Smokestak I make the exception - the smoked flavour of the slow roasted pulled meat is incredible, hence why we went for seconds. Next would have to be Rola Wala, an Indian food vendor serving spicy fillings of marinaded chicken, herbs and fresh chutney on mini naans. My only complaint was that they weren't big enough. I also tried to go for something new and tried a Mexican dumpling with blackened chicken thigh, beans (the Mexican kind, not Heinz) and a load of other toppings, but it didn't go down too well for me. The dumpling was quite dry and the chicken was too fatty. The same went for my pork from Yum Bun, which was a shame because I had really been looking forward to that. But it was fine in the end, because pudding made up for it. Sugared doughnuts with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel sauce and hazelnuts. Yes I really did eat that much. Yes I felt sick afterwards. Would I do it again. Probably, yes. I advise you all to do the same this summer.

Round one

The Holy Grail Smokestak

Mother Clucker's Cajun fries

From 'You Doughnut!'

Street Feast is running in Dalston Yard and Lewisham in the evenings and has now opened a similar lunchtime event called Dinerama. 

Welcome to The Good Life. Where the food is healthy, the customers are wealthy and Kanye's 2007 lyrics will relentlessly run through your mind.

The Good Life Eatery has been popping up on my Instagram feed for a while, a page I followed in hope that it would inspire some type of clean-eating diet in my life when I tried to stop eating sugar. It didn't and I haven't, but all the same it didn't stop me from wanting to visit when I was attending an exhibition in the same area.

Located in Kensington, I shouldn't have been surprised when we reached the cafe to find that the prices were fairly high - particularly for someone on a student budget. But as I like to play blissful ignorance toward my impending debts, I happily went in and played wealthy Londoner for the day - a game I play a bit too well.



The seating area was small, but most people were taking food away on their lunch break. It got so busy that the queue was leading out of the front door, an indicator of how good the food is. As its name implies, The Good Life Eatery's aim is to promote healthiness and happiness, serving a selection of soups, salads, smoothies etc, that are ideal for vegans, vegetarians, dieters or simply those who just enjoy good food.

I went for the 'Protein-style Chicken Lettuce Wraps' which replaced tortilla's with baby gem cups, filled with avocado butter and Thai minced chicken and veg. It came with an Asian dipping sauce and tomato salsa that were so good I could have just eaten them by themselves. My friend went for the The Good Life Salad, which came with kale, quinoa, lentils, roasted sweet potato, toasted walnuts and goji berries, and we both shared the Choc Norris smoothie. For something that tasted so good (i.e. chocolatey), it was surprising to see that it was a superfood smoothie and had no sugar at all, consisting of almond milk, avocado, raw cacao powder, maca powder and banana.

If I could manage to make my own fruit and veg taste this good, then it would make my summer diet a whole lot easier. I definitely recommend for anyone interested in healthy eating.

 'What's in a name? The thing we call a rose would smell just as sweet if we called it by any other name.' - Romeo and Juliet

Wise words written by Shakespeare, or perhaps more knowingly, spoken by Claire Danes for those Leanardo Dicaprio fans (i.e entire female population). Yet despite this confirmation of a names unimportance, I still found myself in desperate pursuit once I heard of a place called Mother Clucker. All I knew was it's name - a magnificent name - without any other regards for what it sold and if it sold it well, and with that one tiny bit of information I went all Liam Neeson and hunted those mother cluckers down.

Luckily for me, it turned out that Mother Clucker was good - really good. Serving chicken from a converted US Army ambulance, the truck moves around a lot, where it's currently residing in Elys Yard in Shoreditch. The only downside was that on the day I went they weren't serving mac and cheese or the 'Cluckwitch',  so we went for doubles strips and Cajun fries instead.

The Cajun fries were so good that they almost stole the show for me. But the chicken done it's thing too. Tea-brined, buttermilk soaked and battered twice, the chicken was fresh, soft and juicy and fell apart when you picked it up. It was surprisingly filling too, and this is coming from the girl who once ate a Nandos whole chicken with 3 sides. The chicken comes with lime mayo dip but my favourite was the hot sauce. My only fault was that there wasn't much on the menu that day as going by what I tasted, I definitely missed out.







Mother Clucker is also currently serving at The Stillery in Camden.