Boo in Montreal: April/May Round Up

Been a while since I've blogged. It's been a good April/May but I've been lazy so I'll do a little round up of things I've eaten recently, or I'll never catch up.

Tuscanic
I popped in for an unplanned lunch after walking by and seeing the selection of foccacia sandwiches on display in the window. It's a decent place, not too busy, think charcuterie meat platters and a focus on quality Italian ingredients with rustic, no fuss presentation.

This board was £10 and we shared it between 2 so was a bargain lunch, served with bread. We paid extra for the olives.

Red Lion & Sun
I've moved recently, back to the Tufnell Park area and at last ventured to the Red Lion & Sun, where I've wanted to go for eons. It's in Highgate village so not technically our local, but we can be there in 20 minutes if we get a wriggle on. When walking there on a particularly warm day with a 7/10 hangover, so a bit slower in pace, we were a bit late and they were ever so nice about it.

I had the lamb shank, we were in for Sunday lunch, and it was amazing. THE best roast I've had in London, sorry Pig & Butcher, they all come with Yorkshires, who wants a roast without one? Bel's beef was brilliant too, there was a bill mix up, but it was sorted quickly and in all, it was lovely. I'll be back. We also had puds, sticky toffee pudding and rhubarb crumble.

Lots of children and dogs were present, but don't let that put you off. They have 2 gardens and often host street food vans, like Mama Wangs most recently, I'm still annoyed at myself for not going.

When Mac Met Cheese
The Endurance is hosting a mac & cheese pop up. I've spent a lot of evenings in The Endurance, and mac cheese is my absolute favourite dish, so no brainer, I was there last Friday. They're there for 6 weeks I think, and this was their first week.

Couple of options on offer, we all went for Mum's classic, I expected it to be topped with tomatoes and rocket, which you can add at no extra cost, but it was mixed in. Not sure about that. This is satisfying after a few drinks, and great value for £6 a pop, but it's pretty bog standard, no frills stuff.

We shared some macancinis which were great, flecked with jalapenos and really quite spicy and had to try the deep fried oreos, but we ate them after the main event and it all came served together so they were a bit cold and past their best. If you want them, order them later.

Mele e Pere
For Nibs' birthday we tried this Italian Trattoria style restaurant on Brewer Street. The space is massive downstairs and it was practically empty on a Saturday lunchtime, so they don't seem to be doing too well. I was really happy with my dish of gnocchi with clams, prawns and samphire, the sauce was great, I'm going through a bit of a gnocchi phase at the moment and ordering it whenever I see it. This one was flavoured with squid ink. Loved it.

We shared loads of other dishes, meatballs, calamari, arancini and a bread basket, all were enjoyable and good value for money, the tomato bread was particularly good. Whilst not being wowed, we were all happy. Think we paid about £20 each, and we had a couple of cocktails too.

Terry's Cafe

On the actual day of Nibs' birthday we went to her local fave on Great Suffolk Street. Terry's is a family run cafe, now headed up by Austin, son of Terry. Their breakfasts are pretty epic and we had the whole restaurant for the evening. They were offering a variety of pies or toad in the hole all served with mash and veg. Nice home cooked food and really sweet service. Get there early for breakfast as they run out of bubble and squeak, and you'll want to try that.

Dean Street Townhouse
Another Sunday roast, this one recommended by Art, and it was great. Em and I were so beaten, and wanting to save room for pub. We did 2 courses for £24 and shared a starter of smoked salmon with pickled cucumber then both opted for the roast chicken, served with literally ALL the trimmings and cauliflower cheese which made me so happy. We shared the dessert too, bread & butter pudding.

The room is a little lacking in atmosphere, a bar lines the wall, with the most ridiculous stalls that are so tightly packed together, making it almost impossible to maneuver in or out. Tables are quite close too, so conversation is a tad hushed. Not sure I'll hurry back, but the roast is good, definitely filling, go hungry.

The Bull & Last
I've blogged about this pub before, and it's probably one of my favourite places in London, so I'm blogging about it again, because they do breakfast! I had the homemade baked beans with ham hock topped with fried duck egg on sourdough. It was brilliant, watercress was unnecessary though. The menu is short but well put together, the coffee is pretty good too. This was under a tenner, then I had a bloody mary. Bull & Last's still got it.