Tramshed, Shoreditch

When picking a restaurant for our seven year anniversary, my short list, to be honest, really wasn't that short at all. So I handed it over to my boyfriend to make the final decision and after an exceptional meal at Tramshed, I can safely say that the boy done good.

Tramshed is one of nine eateries in London owned by restauranteur Mark Hix. It specialises in chicken and steak, and even goes as far as to reflect this in the decor; I knew about Damien Hirst's "Cock and Bull" that sits up on a platform above the diners and was designed specifically for the restaurant, but up on the far wall, I was very amused to see a portrait of my childhood heroes, Cartoon Network's Cow and Chicken!

Although it may not always seem apparent in my blog posts, I do like to eat healthily.... But if I'm going to take a meal off and be naughty, I like it to be well worth it. Tramshed is the perfect place to do this, having all my favourite tasties on the menu. To start, we ordered a selection of bites to share; beer sticks (which turned out to be like grown up pepperamis), incredible beef and chicken croquettes (known as Cock 'n' Bull, which were reasonably priced by piece, and we should definitely have had more than two!), and a Yorkshire pudding! Peculiar as it sounds, it came served with a chicken liver parfait for dipping into and was absolutely scrummy. I'm not sure why the idea hasn't been snapped up and become a gastropub Sunday staple. We also had a cuttlefish salad, served with heritage tomatoes which sadly, was a bit tasteless and rubbery. However, we told our waiter and as a nice gesture at the end of the meal, we found he had taken it off the bill.

For the main course, we again chose two dishes and went half and half. The steak was cooked perfectly and the peri-peri seasoned half chicken was spicy and tangy. If you order a whole chicken, it is brought to the table doing what I can only describe as a handstand in a mountain of fries. Quite the spectacle! They were served with an array of sauces, and we also indulged with sides of field mushrooms and scrumpy-fried onions.There was quite a large selection of desserts but one in particular caught my eye and I was not to be swayed. A sharing pud, it had to be the salted caramel fondue, complete with homemade cinnamon donuts and marshmallows to dip (completely the eat-everything-naughty-in-one-sitting-then-it-can't-be-that-naughty-really theme). MY GOD. That's all I can really say. And actually, that's all I will say. If the description isn't enough to convince you to run and try it, I'm not quite sure we can be friends.

This was, by far, the best meal I have had for a long, long time, and I was so pleased considering the special occasion. Not only will I definitely be heading back, but I will be encouraged to try more of Hix's restaurants too. 

(Photograph by Jason Lowe)

Chop Shop, Haymarket

First of all, I have to apologise for my absence from the blog recently. This is my second week in an Internship at Healthista, an online women’s health channel. As well working behind the scene, and on the design side, I have had to opportunity to write some pieces! Do have a read here.

But I digress. The night before last, as a bit of a naughty treat, my mum and I had dinner at Chop Shop on Haymarket, which I had found on thenudge.com (worth a click or a follow, if you haven’t already). To make sure we didn’t miss out, my mum had waded through the online reviews that day, but it seems liked everything on the menu had at least one recommendation! To get our taste buds going, we ordered crispy hot wings with Cashel blue cheese and the cotechino scotch egg with salsa verde. Get our taste buds going they did! Both were so fresh and packed full of flavour. I also asked for the “Celery Gimlet”, a cocktail of lime cordial and celery infused Beefeater gin – it was absolutely gorgeous!

The décor of the restaurant is a kind of butcher shop chic, with lots of rich wood, royal blue and white. My grandma used to say that I probably knew every loo in every restaurant in London, because when we went out I would always slope off before pudding to use the facilities (back in the days when I crawled under the table to get out!). Looking back on it now, I think I was always just excited to discover a new room! Though often disappointed with the loos of my childhood, the ladies' at Chop Shop was very elegant, with tiled walls and small, framed photographs of Victorian butchers. Back in the restaurant, a soundtrack including Mark Ronson’s version of “You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine” played out, and was the perfect fit for the Hoxton meets Soho vibe.

And then our main course arrived. We both went for the Creekstone USDA hanger steak. It was the cheapest on the menu at £14, but I can’t imagine how it could have tasted any better! Sliced and tender, served with a grilled tomato, we had accompaniments of fries, spinach and grilled trumpet courgettes in romesco (a nut and red-pepper based sauce) and flaked almonds. Everything was stunningly delicious, although we forgot to ask for the taster sauces that were on the menu free of charge… Oh well, we will just have to go back then!

We were rather full, but our waiter managed to twist our arms, with not very effort at all, into having the butterscotch custard, which tasted just like a posh angel delight! Yum.

So definitely pay Chop Shop a visit for a relaxed but special evening out. I would say book ahead, though it was pretty quiet on a Tuesday night.