North West London Love II

I clearly had more love for the north west than I bargained for, so here is part deux:

Tapas: El Parador
245 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BA     (020) 7387 2789

El Parador wins on genuine service and generously portioned and flawless dishes, because of this it is consistently busy but always accommodating. The regulars love it so much and wanting to cook the El Parador way opening hours pleaded with the owners to lay their recipes down in a cook book.

Simple chargrilled artichoke hearts with white wine, capers and basil oil - morcilla with saffron oil, pine nuts and spinach

good old calamari - mackerel fillets with chickpeas and lemon

Much loved staples like the herb rolled braised pork belly and rosemary grilled octopus, however the vegetarian options are also plentiful and so tasty they temporarily trick my carnivorous brain in thinking I could survive on such dishes alone! Temptresses like roasted beet salad with goat’s cheese and ruby chard and artichoke hearts with caramelised onions, chickpeas and mint are packed with flavour.

Cheesecake of the day : Coffee and dark chocolate

Daily specials offered are seasonal and shakes up the usual suspects on the menu . And then to desert, where if you don't get a slice of the legendary cheesecake, then you might as well go home. It is quite simply the best I have ever had!

The Dim Sum Place: Wing Tai
395 Edgware Road, Cricklewood NW2 6LN     (020) 8450 0422
Amongst the Brent Cross industrial abyss lies Wing Yip’s neighbouring restaurant Wing Tai. It is a popular stop for post Asian food shopping and worth a diversion from the generic eateries or IKEA canteen (though I have secret love for their meatball deal). The general menu is verging on good but must stress this place is hardly destination dining more of a diversion worth taking.

I come for the dim sum. There is little to no competition in this area and there nothing I like more than a good juicy har kau or filled bean curd roll. Pick up some oyster sauce and munch on some dumplings and you are winning!



I can't resist a freshly baked char sui bun. Sticky char sui pork, flaky sesame egg washed pastry casing.Mmm
Classic little prawn and chive dumpling, on goes the chilli oil...



Crab sticks in bean curd snuggled with taro and woody mushroom - good.
Turnip cake, made on fish cake principles, mushed and earthy.

The Local Butcher: Brooks Butchers

91 Chamberlayne Road, London NW10 3ND     (020) 8964 5678
As mentionned previously, I get all my meat from Brooks Butchers which prides themselves in sourcing meat from suppliers who believe forefrontly in provenance. Majority of the meat has come from fourth generation farmer Howard Blackwell whilst the pork is from Packington Free Range  . Staples like sausages come in an array of classic cumberland to more off piste beef and slow roasted tomatoes all made on site as well as the home smoked bacon, then there's every cut from each beast available. They also have a good selection of fresh vegetables, cheeses, smoked fish and fresh as well as deli favourites.

Shop windows at its best - the Meat Gallery

Handsome piece: Bone in Forerib

Veg selection for dinner or duck eggs for a princely breakfast

The Salt Beef Guy: B&K Salt beef bar

11 Lanson House, Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, London, HA8 6NL     (020) 8952 8204

I am going to stick my neck out there and say contrary to east London belief the Brick Lane salt beef bagels are not the best in town. For that you go to the nearest to Jewish home cooking that you can, found in B&K Salt Beef Bar.




THE sandwich

  Imagine a classic British cafe but Jewish style, so the decor is dated but charmingly so, food is traditional family fare and the staff knows everyone by their nicknames. Swap the grease for a gigantic hunk of juicy salt beef showing off in the window, and drool whilst it’s sliced up and layered tall and proud in between home baked rye bread and slathered in punchy English mustard, served with boat like pickled gherkins. SO good.

 

The meat -  tongue and salt beef
Pre pimped dumpling soup



Pimped up broth with noodles and beef chunks
Good bit of picklage

José

104 Bermondsey Street, London United Kingdom SE1 3UB - 020 7403 4902      

I am a big fan of tapas. Ten minutes stumble away from Las Ramblas there is a fabulous spot crammed with more people than there are wine glasses, they stand and some of the lucky ones perch at the bar and all gobble up freshly hacked octopus flash fried with garlic and chilli whilst others lose themselves in the slithers of acorn fed cured pig legs of which decorate the corners of the bar. On side streets of Valencia I fondly remember a refuge we found from too many sun kissed days at a beachside music festival, we nursed ourselves back to better versions of ourselves with every delicious thing you could imagine on a tail of bread. Every mouthful revived our senses, pickled fish speared through a red pepper pillow, fat laced ham and irregular triangles of bold cheese. In my opinion remarkable yet seemingly simple food paves the way  for a great tapas joint, with service and ambience that should be efficient but relaxed. José Pizarro does just that. With his latest venture he channels his food through pure passion and captures the bustling traditional tapas bar atmosphere perfectly bringing something special to a little corner in Bermondsey.

Instinctively when entering any bar, restaurant or even the tube I scan for a free seat, I admit this is a very lazy force of habit. Anyway at José’s, this primal London instinct is futile. Come by anytime after six and be prepared to stand for the entirety of your stay, honestly said without a grumble. As although we managed to nab one seat we discarded it after fifteen minutes. Excuse being we were getting too far into the delicious plates and losing ourselves in conversation and ahem aptly chosen wine.

Although the menu is succinct the problem lies in every option being described so seductively making narrowing down the options impossible. Instead we turned to our barman/waiter and with a smile he navigated us through the menu and wine list. Some staggered moments later we chowed into the following, kicking off with...




Caramelized chicory, walnuts, Picos blue cheese



Pisto and crispy duck egg



One of my favourite leaves; chicory.  Elegantly shaped but robust in flavour, good at every stage between raw and almost cooked, it's got a lot going for it. Especially when muddled with Picos blue, sweet pomegrante beads and competing with the crunch of the caramelised wlanuts.  The second dish to arrive was the fried duck egg with a perfect molten vermillion middle, which also proved to be a versatile dipping sauce.



Lightly battered hake with aioli

The hake arrived just in time for a glorious first dunk into the rich yolk, the coating balanced the flavours and eased the palette into the sweet segmented flesh. Double dunked in it's alioli companion worked like a gluttons condiment dream. All this indulging was nothing compared to the simple pleasure yet to come.



Jamón Ibérico Manuel Maldonado

A plate of cured meats completes any tapas selection, we went with Jamon Iberico which was melt in your mouth perfection!



Ready and raring for a quick sear and season...
Delectable cut of beef slithers

I fear in-between the excitement of ordering and sporadically eating, I shamefully forgot to note the part of the beast to which I owe the pleasure. Whatever cut it was it was explained to us that it was so delectable it needed nothing but the punctual sizzle of the griddle and a sprinkling of sea salt before it hits the plate. Barely sealed on the outside but it was truly all it needed, simple preparation to tease out the wholesome natural flavour of the meat. So savoury, so satisfying.

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I was charmed by José's. For a couple of hours I was spoilt with the best of Spain right infront of me; tapas and wine as I remember fondly from holidays gone by but with much better service. With news of another fresh addition but this time paired with some upmarket bubbles, it seems there is no stopping the Pizarro magic. I can't wait to prop myself up at the bar once more.