Weekend Carnivore

If you have been paying attention at all to my food blog posts then you have figured out that I love hummus.  I honestly would sooner give up chocolate than hummus. It may sound a tiny bit crazy but it is also true!

A few years back, I was walking through Soho in London and noticed a new restaurant called Hummus Bros.  Loving hummus, I was immediately interested in going and trying this place out but I just didn’t have anybody that I thought would be willing to go with me.  Years past and I still hadn’t tried it.

hummus bros

Then, a few weeks ago my friend Kelly – another hummus lover – had some time to spare in central London. We decided that now was the time to lose our Hummus Bros virginity.  Boy, we were not disappointed!  It may just be the case that this is the perfect ‘fast food’ restaurant for me.

Firstly, any restaurant chain that uses a pun as their tag line is off to a good start with me.  Really, Hummus Bros, you had me at ‘give chickpeas a chance’. Still the truth is always in the tasting and as much as I love hummus (did I mention that?), there are few things as disappointing as being served a bad hummus. Perhaps this is the case simply because of the high expectations you carry with you from whatever your most recent mind blowing hummus had been.  You are chasing that hummus high and anything that undermines that hits hard.

Good thing then that the hummus on offer from Hummus Bros is so amazingly good! Firstly, it isn’t just about the hummus that you can get there but what you get on top of your hummus. The hummus is a base and then you can order any number of combinations piled on top. Then, you are given a wonderfully warm brown pita to scoop it all up.

The toppings range from the very vegetarian offerings such as chickpeas or fava beans to the decidedly carnivore such as slow cooked stewed beef.  Kelly and I ordered a few small dishes between us to try. The servings were generous and without a doubt if I was going on my own it would be enough to order one small hummus. However, this was more like the hummus sisters throwing a party. So,we went nuts and tried a number of them. Each one was super good.

If there is one food item that rivals my love for hummus it would be mushrooms. So, when I saw the mushroom topped hummus I knew that had to be one I tried. It was vegetarian delight of stewed mushrooms and caramelized onions nestled on top of their creamy hummus. They give you the option of adding sun dried tomatoes to that mixture and I didn’t have to think twice about saying yes. It was truly an amazing combination.

Hummus Bros Mushroom Hummus

What I found particularly interesting about the hummus sold at Hummus Bros was that the tahini was served in a dollop on top of the hummus.  Which meant you could swirl it in yourself in the amount you desired. I love tahini so it was all in with that sesame goodness!

Another plus for Hummus Bros is the attention they pay to making their food fit into your nutritional requirements. Not only does their website have a full break down of the calorie and fat content of each of their dishes but they also have reduced fat hummus available. If you have gluten issues, you can also ask for the pita bread to be substituted with rice cakes, gluten free bread or carrot sticks.

When we went, we did have to ask them for the reduced fat hummus because we didn’t see it mentioned on the menu. However, when we did ask there was no problem at all in getting it. All this praise for their hummus and we had the reduced fat version. I bet the full fat must be even better.

If you have a soft spot for hummus and are in London then make sure you find your local branch of Hummus Bros and give them a try. Oh, and don’t forget to wash all that chickpea goodness down with a glass of their fresh mint and ginger lemonade!

A few weeks ago, I received an email asking me if I would like to go to a taping of the Good Food channel’s Market Kitchen show. I really enjoy going to television and radio recordings (a perk of living in London) and I am a regular viewer of Market Kitchen. So, I didn’t have to think twice about accepting the offer. I roped in two of my fellow foodie friends and went along to the taping.

Market Kitchen Set

It turns out there are two Market Kitchen filming sessions in a day. We decided to go for the afternoon session which turned out to actually be one and a half shows being recorded. That means that we are in the audience for two episodes. The first of which aired yesterday and the second of which is being broadcast tonight. It seems that when they have a chef in they cook a few of their recipes in a day and then spread it over a few shows.

When we arrived at the Market Kitchen recording, we had a short waiting period downstairs in the lobby. It was at this point that we learned that one of the guests on the show that day were The Wurzels. They were there for a cider tasting segement and turned out to be really nice men who asked us how we enjoyed the light and sweet “lady cider” we had been sipping during the tasting. Too funny!

Their arrival was entertaining because the receptionist clearly had no idea who they were and thought they were part of the studio audience. Once, they had cleared that up they went up to the Market Kitchen studio and the rest of us followed shortly after.

Market Kitchen set decorations

My first impressions of the Market Kitchen studio was a feeling of having a slightly surreal moment. We were in an office building in a leafy area of Camden (no where near Borough Market despite them clearly suggesting the show is related to the market) that resembled more of a dusty warehouse then a studio. Yet, when we made our way up the stair case we were suddenly in the brick walled set that looked exactly as it does on television.

All of the food you see in the background in the show is there and looking great but largely it isn’t real or has been rendered inedible so that it will survive under the hot studio lights. What is real though, is the coffee bar at the back of the studio. All throughout the filming there is a real staff back there serving coffee, tea and hot chocolate to Market Kitchen studio audience.

Market Kitchen coffee bar props

Market Kitchen studio

Our hosts for the day at Market Kitchen were Matthew Fort and Tom Parker Bowles. The chef’s were Richard Corrigan and Luke Dale Roberts.

Matthew Fort at Market Kitchen

Tom Parker Bowles at Market Kitchen

It has to be said that the menu for the day wasn’t very vegetarian friendly. Richard Corrigan cooked us two dishes that were spread across the two shows. One was roasted apples and sage with calvados with black pudding. If the black pudding was removed, that would be a really nice vegetarian dish. It isn’t the healthiest in the world as it uses both butter and cream but still yummy. The other dish was mackerel with a beetroot salad.

Luke Dale Roberts cooked a springbok dish which we weren’t allowed to taste. I suspect that was based on cost as the information pack they gave us at the show lists the cost of springbok at £7.99 per 160 grams.

With all that meat being cooked, the dish of the day for me was actually a vegetarian dish. I was somewhat shocked it was by Matthew Fort since I am rarely overwhelmed by his recipes on Market Kitchen. However, when you do something right, then you do it right and he did with his mango fool recipe.

Matthew Fort's Mango Fool Recipe

It was such a lovely and very simple recipe that I went home and made it the next day. I followed his recipe apart from in two aspects. Firstly, in his version of the mango fool, Matthew Fort used Alphonso mangos. I have never seen that variety on sale at any of my local stores. So, I used the same weight of normal mango flesh and added a bit of the suggested caster sugar to sweeten it up slightly. Then, at the last moment I decide to add some lime zest to the top of the mango fool recipe. I think that worked very well to lift the whole flavour of the delicate tasting dish.

All and all we had a wonderful day out at Market Kitchen and I would love to do it again. If they ever do a more vegetarian friendly show I would love nothing more than to be in the studio audience one more.

I love Greek food but I am in the solid minority amongst my friends. So, even though I have been eyeing up The Real Greek restaurant on the Bankside area of the Thames for years now, I had never actually managed to talk anybody else into going there with me.

That all changed this weekend when we had some friends from Wales staying with us for the weekend. The female of the pair, Mandy, is as much of a hummus nut as me. We knew we would be near the Bankside around meal time and when I floated the idea of trying out the The Real Greek restaurant they didn’t take much selling.

Even before we tried the food at the Greek restaurant, I loved the atmosphere. It is located on the Bankside area of the Thames and is found right next to The Globe theatre. The day we ate there, just happened to be one of the days of the recent Thames Festival, so there was even more added atmosphere to the area.

As we walked up to The Real Greek restaurant, it was very inviting with tables set out on the walkway outside of the restaurant. There were chefs grilling some meat skewers outside which also added to the atmosphere even if it did make me slightly nervous about how vegetarian friendly the restaurant may have been.

Luckily, my fears died down as soon as I got a look at the menu. The main style of food served at The Reel Greek is meze and souvlaki. Whilst most of the souvlaki menu was meat based, nearly all of the meze menu passed as vegetarian. They got plus points for not only clearly marking which dishes were vegetarian but also which were vegan. On top of that, they also listed the calorie count for each dish right behind it on the menu. Now, that is something I would love to see as a trend in other restaurants. Had, I been making myself stick strictly to my daily calorie count it would have taken all of the guess work out of it. Really, that alone tempts me back since it would take so much stress out of dieting. Mind you, it did mean I didn’t even want to look at the dessert menu.

We chose to take a table in the outdoor portion of the restaurant. With the weather being so nice and with so much hustle and bustle going on around Bankside it felt for sure the way to go. Clearly others had the same idea because the restaurant was busy with other people relaxing as they munched there way through some Greek meze. As we looked over the menu, I was amused and charmed by watching the others get served their meze on the very English sort of cake stands normally seen at high tea. It was such a lovely British twist to the Greek restaurant.

The Real Greek restaurant

They had a number of meal deal options on the menu which allowed the whole table to order a large number of meze dishes and share them amongst the group. Which was perfect since there were so many vegetarian dishes to try out.  In the end, most all of the vegetrian meze we ordered was very good.  A few items did particularly stand out such as the Greek flatbreads which we all agreed were truly outstanding.

Another of the favourite vegetarian dishes we had that afternoon was the Gigandes Plaki. This was made up of giant white beans – they looked like butterbeans – served in a rich tomato sauce. It was marked on the menu as being fine for both vegetarian and vegan diets.

Gigandes Plaki

Of course, as I mentioned, I am a hummus freak. So, there was no way we were going to a Greek restaurant and not sample their house hummus. The hummus at The Real Greek was so nice that in the end we actually ordered a second plate so that there was enough for us all to have healthy servings. It was the right thickness and tasted especially good smeared on those tasty flatbreads.

The Real Greek hummus

I would for sure go back to The Real Greek and not least because there was so many vegetarian dishes on the menu that there are still a large number left to try.  You have to love it when you go to a resturant where there is enough meat on the menu to please the full on carnivores in your life but there are enough vegetrain dishes on the menu to leave you with just as much choice.

Most of my temptations to eat meat come when I am out and about in the city. It is just so easy to call in at Subway and grab a sandwich or go for a burger. I know that there are tons of places in London to get a vegetarian meal or snack. The problem is that I can be a real wimp when it comes into going into unfamiliar food shops. I just get really intimidated by the thought of totally messing up the ordering process.

For example, there is a vegetarian restaurant on Berwick Street that I have walked past for years. Nearly every time I walk past the vegetarian takeaway restaurant I do a bit of rubbernecking to try to get a better look. However, they don’t have any signs up out front so I can easily see the menu and then there aren’t any prices on display and so I chicken out. One day I will go in and order, what looks to be, yummy vegetarian food but that day keeps being put off.

With my dedication to trying to eat less meat, I am also trying to push myself out of my comfort zone when I am out and about in London and try new places to eat. Most importantly, I want to keep it vegetarian and as healthy as possible. So, on Friday when I was in Soho all afternoon for one of my rare but treasured cinema marathon afternoons, I decided to go check out what was on offer in London’s Chinatown. I didn’t have time between films to sit down and eat something in an actual restaurant. Plus, going to eat a big meal on my own isn’t really wasn’t what I wanted to do either.

As I was wandering around the side streets of Soho’s Chinatown I spotted this Chinese steamed buns stand.

Chinese steamed buns stand

It struck me that the scene looked very un-London. Which, is part of why I like Chinatown so much because when you go there it is almost like going on a vacation without even leaving London. I also really enjoy trying food from other parts of the world, even if I am a wimp about trying to figure out how to order it. The steamed buns looked really good though and they were being sold for only £1 each. So, I stood back for a moment and watched how other people ordered. It was actually enjoyable watching the person that was operating the Chinese steamed bun stand preparing and cooking them.

Chinese vegetarian buns

I have to admit that I was tempted by the steamed chicken buns but I was a good girl and set my focus on the steamed vegetable buns. Turns out, it is as simple at saying “Could I please have a vegetarian steamed bun” and handing over the money. Of course, I knew that it would be that easy once I actually did it but that it what I get for being a social wimp at times!

I took it over to Leicester Square and found a seat to enjoy exploring my newly discovered vegetarian snack. I grabbed a photo because that is the sort of thing I do and I thought other folks looking to explore new vegetarian foods might be interested.  On the outside, the Chinese steamed bun looks fairly plain and pretty much like a giant steamed dumpling. It is very white and has a springy texture when touched.

vegetarian Chinese steamed bun

When torn open, the vegetarian steamed bun, doesn’t look all that impressive. As you can see, it is simply a bunch of veggies cooked down and then wrapped in the dough that is used to make the Chinese steamed bun. From looking at it, it appeared that most of the vegetable filling was made up of cabbages and other types of greens with carrots and onions mixed in.

vegetarian dumpling filling

I am pleased to that report, that these vegetarian snacks not only passed the test but were down right delicious.  Anybody that loves the taste of green veggies and onions that have been sweated down to the point where they have that slight sweetness will enjoy these vegetarian treats.  I suspect, there is butter involved with the cooking down of the vegetables. So, they probably aren’t vegan friendly but for those of us simply trying to eat less meat they are a delicious alternative when out and about in the city and looking for a quick food fix without reaching for meat. Plus, as they they only cost £1 each they are both tasty and cheap!

Camden Market is a great place for so many reasons. Of course you have the eclectic shopping and if you are into people watching like I am then you are going to be hard pressed to find anywhere better. However, my latest trip to Camden Market focused on an aspect that I think if often overlooked – the food! Just about everywhere that you turn in Camden Market there is a different food stand trying to tempt you into buying a bite of whatever it is they are selling. A lot of the places are Chinese type food places with rather aggressive sales tactics and I think that may put some people off from giving the food of Camden a try. Which is a shame because the real food treasures of the market are away from that food court area.

In my view, the real Camden Market food gems are found in the West Yard section of Camden Lock market. The food court found here is vastly different from the one found on the main drag of the market. Instead of the endless stream of Chinese stalls selling the exact same food, you get highly individual food stands that represent all corners of the world. The last time that I was at the market, there were stands selling everything from Italian food to Sudanese food and many more in between.

The best part for those of us that love our vegetarian food is that so much of the food on offer is vegetarian food. They may not be the kind of food stalls that make a big song and dance about being vegetarian food – though some certainly do – but it would not be an exaggeration to say that more food found there was vegetarian than not.

Something that I really loved was that at these stalls the food is all made by hand and often right there in front of you as you watched. I had a great time simply standing on the sidelines watching the cooking. Of course, being me, I had to take my camera out and start snapping photos of all this great vegetarian food. The best thing about food photography is that you can feast on it all with your eyes without gaining a pound!

I caught this guy at the Italian stand making pasta to order for somebody who had just places an order. It doesn’t get much more fresh than that!

Pasta cooking at Camden market

Then I stopped by the Polish food stand – which I loved – and watched as the woman there prepared these perogies. The Polish stand did sell meat but without a doubt the star of the show were these perogies which are Polish dumplings filled with potato and cheese. They are then boiled and then quickly fried off in a pan and topped with fried onions. I loved that she was rolling these up by hand right there in the market. I have had a lot of perogies from my time growing up in the States but these were hands down the best perogies I have ever eaten and totally vegetarian too!

Preparing vegetarian perogies

Perogies ready to be boiled

Of course, we all know that vegetarian food isn’t always low fat and diet friendly.  The West Yard in Camden Market was also full of a ton of truly scrumptious vegetarian food offerings that are pure danger for anybody trying to follow a low fat diet.  Still, part of living is giving into a bit of pleasure now and then. So, I fully admit to having sampled a cookie and a cupcake but looking at these pictures can you blame me? At least they were vegetarian desserts!

Camden Market Brownies

Camden Market Cupcakes

Without a doubt, Camden Market is a treasure trove of temptation for anybody that loves vegetarian food.  You could eat like a king or queen and never have to think twice about eating meat. Now, thinking about your waistline is a totally different matter!