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    Crazy Homies

    May 9, 2016
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    Crazy Homies has the best nachos in London. While other establishments try to pass off nacho flavoured Doritos covered in half melted cheese as the real deal, Crazy Homies actually makes their tortilla chips by hand, daily. I’ve been several times before, but I recently went on Cinco de Mayo, which I think is some kind of Mexican holiday celebrating them getting rid of the French. I use it as an excuse to eat an uncomfortable amount of nachos and tacos washed down with at least three too many margaritas.

    The first Thursday of every month at Crazy Homies is special. DJ Wheelie Bags comes in and spins classics such as La Bamba, Tequila and Ring Of Fire, whilst handing out awesome prizes.

    I got this spiderman and after two trips down the wall he looked like this. Things escalate quickly when tequila is involved.

    This Thursday was particularly special because it fell on Cinco De Mayo. A perfect storm that required the perfect outfit, which meant I had to get this skirt from Zara when I saw it that day. It was a sign! Unfortunately, as I left the house to meet friends, the zipper burst open. Some might see that as a sign to maybe NOT to eat my weight in tacos, but I just pinned that sucker up and exchanged it for a new one on my way to the restaurant. I’m no quitter.

    There are several reasons why I’m not a model, but this photo is illustrative of the main reason. It’s really hard for me to look like a normal human being if I know there is a camera nearby.

    We were a large group of seven crammed into a table that was probably meant for two, but that didn’t matter. Crazy Homies is not a white linen tablecloth kind of place. It feels dive-y, in the best way possible. If you want space, relative quiet and adequate lighting but zero vibe, go to Wahaca. Crazy Homies if for the purists. The whole place makes you feel like you smoked some pot before you came, again, in the best possible way.

    I recommend starting off with the fresh tortilla chips and sauces, AKA Totopos. The guacamole is great, but they don’t give you enough (really, you can never have enough guac) and the salsas range from mild to burn off your uvula. Get your mind out of the gutter, your uvula isn’t where you think it is. Helpful hint: watch out for the stuff that resembles BBQ sauce unless you’re a masochist.

    There are eight options for margaritas on the menu, but I’m sure if you had a concoction in mind, they’d make it for you. I had 5 anejo margs and was hung-over AF the next day. Choose your poison carefully because these things are delish.

    Because we were such a big group, we just blanket ordered the pulled pork nachos, chicken quesadillas and then every taco they had

    Eat the nachos as soon as they come. Because everything is fresh, the juices can make the tortilla chips soggy if you wait too long.

    The Mahi Mahi fish taco.

    Tacos come with two options, tacos (soft tortilla) or toastadas fried tortilla. Hard shells are my favourite but the Crazy Homies ones are fried flat which makes eating them a massive pain. Soft are the style du jour and the norm in the US as well.

    The shrimp and the chicken tacos were my favourite. The added mango on the shrimp taco make it taste light and really fresh.Crazy Homies is the closest to American style Mexican food you can get in London. Embrace the cramped quarters and quirky atmosphere, add a few margaritas and you will have a fantastic time.

    What to wear: Something you don’t mind spilling guacamole on and wear your hair down for an opportunity to wear one of the many sombreros floating around.

    Crazy Homies

    125 Westbourne Park Road

    Notting Hill, London

    W2 5QL

    020 7727 6771

    www.crazyhomies.com

     

    Crazy Homies Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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    PizzaBuzz

    May 4, 2016
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    Pizza is one of my favourite foods. I love it so much, that it’s what I demanded for my birthday meal last year. So, when I was invited to try out the new London pizza joint, PizzaBuzz, I was both excited and nervous. As a blogger, you always want to love the place you’re going to eat for free, but as a pizza lover, I know I’m an unforgiving b*&ch (case in point: my post on Pizza East can be seen here).


    I was very pleasantly surprised! PizzaBuzz is a millennial focused pizza brand. With their pop art walls and emphasis on the individual, it was honestly a restaurant experience like none other. The most impressive part for me was that they have simplified the ordering process. Ever get annoyed when you’re at a restaurant and they don’t come take your order for ages, or not there when you want another drink and even worse, never bring you the bill? They have an app for that. Along with a delivery option on most food service apps like Deliveroo and Jinn, they also have Flypay, an app that can bring your food right to the table without having to flag someone down.
    They are also the solution to that annoying friend you can’t go anywhere with because they are everything-intolerant. You get to make your own pizza anyway you want, including gluten free bread and you don’t have to suffer through listening to them complain that there’s nothing for them on the menu.


    The hubs and I walked in and grabbed a table with the other bloggers and then went up to create our masterpieces. I was so glad he came with me because I really couldn’t decide what I wanted and one of the best things about getting married is sharing food. I ordered the verde base (pine nut basil pesto, mozzarella and Parmesan), while the hubs had plain old margherita.

     

    Next it was toppings. Oh the toppings! You have to be careful, because although the pizzas start at a very reasonable £4.25, if you add absolutely everything (like I tried to), it can add up. I added ham, pancetta, pepperoni (yes, basically every kind of pork they had), pecorino, chestnut mushrooms and olives. But even with all of that added, my pizza only came to £14.40. To put it in perspective, I tried to build the same pizza at Domnios (small size) and it was over £20 and they didn’t even have pecorino. Hubs added chicken, veal meatballs, goats cheese, green peppers, chestnut mushrooms, red onion and courgette.

    They were both delicious! And actually fairly large. I took a third of mine home and had it the next day. There wasn’t too much sauce (my pet peeve) and because you see them make the pizza, you can ask for as little or as much as you want. It’s also ready insanely quickly because they have some kind of magic oven that can cook the pizza in 90 seconds. Yes that’s right. They can cook a pizza quicker than my microwave can do popcorn.

     

    If you aren’t into pizza, we can’t be friends but you can still eat at PizzaBuzz. They have salads and some delicious burrata. If you’re on a diet and can’t stomach eating like a rabbit, PizzaBuzz also has a 500 calorie pizza offering which isn’t just cutting the center out of a regular pizza (rolling my eyes in your direction Pizza Express). There’s almost too much to even add in this blog. Love ice cream? They have their own brand that includes almond milk, goats milk and regular old cows milk. I had the goats milk mint chocolate chip, which was surprisingly delish.

    My only suggestion to PizzaBuzz would be to add some dipping sauces. In America they have ranch dressing to dip pizza into and although may seem weird at first, it’s magical. Add that and along with the bottomless booze offer for £29.95 – yes, that is a thing and it includes bubbles – and you have a great casual night out.

    PizzaBuzz

    Alphabeta Building

    2b Worship Street

    London

    EC2A 2AH

    www.pizzabuzz.co.uk
    PizzaBuzz Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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    NAC 

    April 27, 2016
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    First off NAC, love you long time but can we just talk about the cocktails? I ordered the Popcorn Sazerac and it tasted like popcorn, like vodka tastes like mashed potatoes. I was also so distracted by the word popcorn that I ordered it without reading the entire list of ingredients. For future reference, a ‘dash of absinthe’ is enough to have you at a nightclub 3 hours later describing the women as Instagram models and the men as Gollum.

    Anyway, I was surprised hadn’t heard of NAC – or North Audley Cantine- before my friend Michelle decided to have her birthday dinner there. They apparently have a speak easy downstairs, although when I went to the bathroom all I found was an empty popcorn maker. The restaurant has a scene-y atmosphere and decent food; perfect for a party.

    The only main we ordered: grilled cajun chicken,

    We ordered several small plates to share because we were a bunch of girls wearing tight dresses. Full disclosure? I was really hungry when I got home and crushed the hubs leftover Thai. My favourite dish on the menu was probably the crispy squid. I really wanted the burrata but they had run out. Mayjah sad face.

     

    Crispy squid (and yes, that’s how much aioli it comes with).

     

    I also really liked the truffle mac and cheese (obvi), but there wasn’t actually any mac. i.e macaroni. The pasta they used was Mezze Maniche Rigate (ya, I had to look that up) and it was far too big for the small pot the mac and cheese came in. There was probably 4 or 5 pieces of pasta in the whole thing, which is a pain in the balls to split between girls.  Four bites of truffle mac and cheese IS NEVER ENOUGH.

     

    Truffle and cheese with a tiny bit of pasta.

    The other fan favourite amongst the group was the torched cauliflower. Cauliflower is the new everything right now: cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza crust and my friend Michelle told me that restaurants in New York are now serving cauliflower steak for vegans. What we had was super tasty, but I would have liked some kind of sauce to go with it.

    Brains… I mean cauliflower.

    The tuna was also fantastic and I would recommend it as a main meal if you aren’t that hungry, as it comes with avocado and quinoa. That’s what I actually wanted my meal to be, start with the burrata and the tuna as my main. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I know , I know. I need to get over it. Cheese shouldn’t control my life this way…. But it does.

    Said tuna.

    What to wear: I was dressed like a classy late 90s call girl in honour of the late, great Prince. But you can dress like a normal person if you want.

    NAC

    41 North Audley Street

    Mayfair

    London

    W1K 6ZP

     

    http://www.naclondon.co.uk

    NAC Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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    7 Things You Need to Know Before Going To A Fancy Restaurant

    April 14, 2016
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    I grew up in a (relatively) small place where a fancy restaurant was The Olive Garden.  Now that I live in a big town (London) there have been a few times where I went to a fancy restaurant and had no idea how to behave myself.  This blog is to help you, dear reader, learn from (or live vicariously through) my mistakes.

     

    Sommelier

    A sommelier is someone who picks out wine for you, not a derogatory term for someone from Somalia.  They usually come with a pin on their lapel that kind of looks like a grape.  This little tidbit was learned when dining at Chez Bruce (Michelin starred, I’ll explain that later) and my date offered to summon the ‘sommelier’ because I was having trouble with picking my starter, never mind the wine.  I accused him of being racist.  And then a random old French guy showed up and they started talking about dirt.  Lesson learned. 

     
     
    Michelin Stars
    When I first heard someone bragging that they’d gone to a three Michelin star restaurant as if Jimmy Choo had personally designed a shoe for them, I laughed audibly.  3 stars?  I knew of hot dog vendors in Piccadilly Circus that had a better rating than that.  But then it was made clear to me that it was something extra, like a gold star. Which, by the way, would be a much more accurate description to denote excellence.  Naming it after a tire company?  Not so much.  Anyway, 3 stars is as fancy as you get and there are only a handful in major cities.  1 star is much more common but still super fancy.  And, funny enough, you wont see the Michelin man on any menu in a Michelin starred restaurant.  There probably won’t even be prices on the menu for that matter. Just a bunch of things described as ‘pan seared’ (where else would you do it) and ‘corn fed’ (TMI).  

     

    Cost
    Which brings me to my next point.  This meal will probably cost more than your rent or mortgage (if you’re a grown up).  Most of the fancy restaurants I’ve been in have separate menus for women that don’t have the prices on them.  It’s probably sexist or something, but lets be honest, if I knew I was scarfing down an appetizer that was more expensive than the shoes I was wearing, I would probably so nervous I’d pee myself. 
     
    Ordering
    Whatever you do, don’t order the Foie Gras, its obese bird liver and tastes like raw bacon.  Everything else will come looking funny.  I once had a meal come in the same plastic as a flower arrangement and then when they opened it the room was filled with smoke.  My boyfriend reassured me this was on purpose.  In my next blog I will be sharing my experience at a 3-starred restaurant in San Sebastian.  I got something that looked like a beach.  Be wary of prawn/shrimp etc. It will come as t did out of the ocean, and in real life prawns aren’t just those cute pink things you dip in cocktail sauce, they are the cockroaches of the sea and have, like, a million legs, antennae and beady eyes.  Consider yourself warned.  
     
    Cutlery
    There is a lot of it and it will seem dented and chewed up, but that’s because it’s real silver and the way they look at it, the older the better.  You don’t need to save any cutlery for the next course; they bring you a new set every time.  But, cutlery is the best way to signal in a restaurant.  The way to tell them you are done with your meal is to put your cutlery together across the left side of the plate.  The only thing you really need to know is that the thing that looks like a spatula is for fish. 
     
    Surprises
    Don’t worry about the amount of food, no matter what, you will have too much.  I had a dinner in the middle of nowhere, France at a 3 starred restaurant and literally ate for 4 hours.  Like, actually put stuff in my mouth and chewed for 240 minutes.  I was STUFFED. Then we had a one-hour break and went to a 1 starred restaurant and ate for a further 4 hours.  But it’s not that you order lots.  Usually they have the option of a ‘tasting menu’ which means the chef decides.  There is usually lots of courses.  But even when you do a la carte (fancy French for picking what you want) you will still get these little surprises in between what you actually ordered.  Don’t worry, they’re free. 
     
     
     
    Dress Code
    Most people in there will be wearing obscure and expensive designers you’ve never heard of.  I just try to go in wearing clean clothes and come out in generally the same condition.  And if you have it, bring a nice bag. 
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    The Orange

    October 16, 2015
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     It was a Thursday night so my friend Michelle and I decided to go scuba diving in white wine. We started at The Orange, a gastro pub and hotel on Pimlico road. I’d been there before this summer but didn’t eat. I did, however, almost get my phone stolen by dodgy guys who came into the pub and tried to sell us birthday cards. After failing to blag our way into the dining room, we sat in the pub area at a small round table with great food lighting and ordered our dinner. Upon initial perusal of their new menu, my initial reaction was that this food was a bit stuffy for a pub. The special was a burger, which in my opinion should be a staple.

    I ordered the calamari to start and was super relieved to see that it came with just the rings. I don’t like to associate calamari with what it actually is. To me, it’s essentially round French fries with protein. It was very very crispy, actually I’d say it was crunchy and the rings weren’t rubbery. Overall, pretty good.

    My friend had the pumpkin soup, which she said was delicious and looked fantastic.

    For our main, we moved to another table because we had some friends joining. By this time we were almost a bottle deep in the wine (which they didn’t open at the table… ew). I ordered the burger with sweet potato fries because they both had bacon on them. The burger was mediocre. It was cooked well, but a bit dry and the brioche bun fell apart easily.  The bacon was just barely cooked and too chewy for my taste.  On the upside, there was a nice spicy tomato relish on the burger.

    The sweet potato fries were excellent, but it took the waiter a really long time to bring the bacon aioli they came with. Unfortunately, this meant the sweet potato fries started to get soggy by the time it arrived.

    Our friends joined and ate most of my fries and wanted to order another.  It was 9:59 and apparently one kitchen had closed. She could, however, get an entire pizza.  That just didn’t make sense to me. She ordered the pizza anyway and they seemed to enjoy it.
    Verdict: Overall the orange was a good way to begin our night but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there again.
    What to wear: I was dressed as a chic and expensive 1960s prostitute. Everyone else was in jeans.
    What you’ll see: Good looking men with cute dogs who are ‘waiting for their girlfriends’.
    The Orange
    37-39 Pimlico Rd, London SW1W 8NE

     

    The Orange Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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    Iddu

    March 16, 2015
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    So, award for weirdest name for a restaurant in South Ken goes to… Iddu. This is a fairly new spot on what is becoming a great little street near South Kensington Tube. Before, all that was there was a Fitness First and an overpriced dry cleaners. But, with Iddu’s parent The South Kensington Club opening soon next door, this is set to be a new high traffic area for the Chelsea set in the know.

                           


    I stopped by in the morning and the place was crammed. Yummy mummies and coffee meetings were in full swing but the man near the till took the time to speak to me. I was there to make a lunch reservation but apparently there wasn’t one needed. When I asked him to see a lunch menu, he told me there wouldn’t be one until 11am.  Iddu is a Sicilian cafe and they decide their menu moments before lunch depending on what’s fresh and available that day.

                             


    Fast forward to lunch and things have calmed down. There are empty tables and I finally get to see the much anticipated lunch menu.  To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment.  I was hoping for some pasta or a fantastic salad and both those things seemed to be lacking.  They did have a delicious sounding pesto chicken panini which I added mozzarella to while my friend had the prosciutto on gluten free bread. 

    On the whole my panini was pretty good.  The ingredients were what did it.  Grilled chicken, mozzarella, rocket and flavorful pesto on crispy  focaccia… mmmm! Simple and it was less than £7 so I felt it was good value for money. Especially since it also came with a small side of salad.

                               


    Overall the service was nice, if a little slow. I think this is the place to be for breakfast or coffee so will definitely try it again as it’s still early days.

    Iddu
    44 Harrington Road, London SW7
    020 7589 1991

    Iddu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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    Unsolicited Advice

    Why I Asked For Beefaroni For Christmas

    December 9, 2013
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    Around this time last year I was walking home from Balans in Chelsea with my boyfriend after stuffing my face with Eggs Benedict when a woman walking in front of us suddenly collapsed.  We ran to help her and insisted on calling an ambulance but she begged us not to.  She was shaking and fighting back tears.  I thought she might have blood sugar issues so I ran to the corner store and got an orange juice while my boyfriend stayed with her.  When I came back, she was still sitting on the sidewalk with her laptop case and after having the juice, she seemed to calm down.  That’s when I noticed her trousers were a little frayed and her trainers almost worn through.
    We started to talk to her.  As it turned out, she hadn’t eaten in a few days.  She had been made redundant from her estate agent job several months back and was struggling to feed herself and was staying in hostels when she could get enough money together.  She had been in the Brompton library searching for jobs online, but it’s hard to find employment when you don’t have an address.
    I burst into tears.  I had been made redundant two years before and it took me four months to find another job.  I hardly had any savings and it was one of the most stressful times of my life.  But I had friends, a boyfriend and a family back home that I knew would help me if I needed it.  This woman didn’t have that safety net that I took for granted.
    We offered to get her some lunch but she declined.  She also refused to take any money from us and actually dug in her bag to find change to pay me for the orange juice.  She was proud, which I understood but I managed to distract her and my boyfriend slipped some money into her laptop bag.  She did thank us for talking to her, because she hadn’t had a real conversation with anyone in a long time.
    She finally convinced us she was OK and got up to walk the rest of the way to her hostel.  I went home and cried some more.  It kills me to think that there are people out there who don’t get to enjoy food and just look at getting enough nutrition to survive. I know the world isn’t perfect and there isn’t a way to fix everything, so I wanted to think of what I could do that very day.  A few weeks earlier my family had asked for a Christmas list and the only thing I could think of putting on there was a £900 pair of Jimmy Choo boots. That’s when I realized I actually didn’t need anything.
    Christmas is about giving and people want to give you stuff.  I emailed my family and asked them to get me food, my favourites from home: Beefaroni, Kraft Dinner, Chewy Chips Ahoy etc and I would give it to the food bank.  It didn’t fly as well as I hoped, mostly because everyone had already got me something.
    But this year I hope it’s different.  I started earlier and asked that at least 50% of my gift from anyone would be food I could donate to the food bank.  Meet me halfway, you know?  I don’t like to dictate gift giving, that’s kind of the opposite of what a gift is supposed to be, but I hope they understand how much this means to me and add a can of Beefaroni to my stocking.
    I wasn’t going to post this because I figure if you are going to do something, just do it, don’t sit there and write a blog post about it.  But then I thought, if even one other person reads this and does the same thing that would make a difference to at least one hungry family in a place that I’ve probably never been to.  And that would be awesome.

     

    So, instead of those amazing boots, why not ask for a can of Beefaroni for Christmas?
    Also, I’ve been away from the blog for a while but have a really good reason.  If you want to know why, you can click here .  I’ll be back soon with some more awesome restaurants.
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