‘We don’t like gin’ is something that my fiancé and I would say when offered a gin and tonic. In fact I would go as far as to say that it should only ever be used on cuts and scrapes. However feeling as though we were missing out on a few free drinks (my fiancé is in the military and they always seem to offer a gin and tonic before a formal function) we declared 2014 the Year of Gin and decided to try and get on board with it once and for all. This led to a pretty good year

In recent months London has seen a plethora of new casual lobster dining spots: Fraqs Lobster Shack, Smack Lobster and Lobster Kitchen all opened within months and meters of each other late last year, adding to the existing - more formal - London Lobster, Steak & Lobster and of course Burger & Lobster successes. Anyone serving affordable lobster is worth a look, I think, so I dropped into New England style Fraqs Lobster Shack when I was nearby recently as I knew they did take

Trying to book somewhere in London for a special dinner is harder than you may think. With two weeks' notice sensibly timed tables at Kitty Fishers, Berners Tavern, City Social, Sky Garden - the brasserie and the restaurant - were all no-go's for a Friday night. We put ourselves in the safe hands of Mark Hix and settled on his New York style chicken and steak haven, Hix City. With neon signage from Tracey Emin and a definite contemporary cool, Hix is no stuffy City boy steake

Every Wednesday-Friday between 12 and 7pm The Real Food Market takes over Kings Cross Square and plays host to a series of artisanal food stalls just perfect for wandering around on your lunch break or journey home. I passed through this week and couldn't resist treating myself to a few goodies. You should definitely check them out, but beware as healthy food is fairly few and far between! First stop, the beautiful cannoli from Casa Cannoli. I bought three of the irresistable

Spring is kind of here and the courgettes are getting fat, so it must be time for courgetti again. I'm a long time fan of this pasta dodging summer staple and over the last year or so it seems everyone else has got on board with it too, with foodie stars like the fab Hemsley & Hemsley and Deliciously Ella really championing it. I love pasta, I really really do, but my waistline does not so I try and save it for a treat now rather than mindlessly eating it as a quick midweek d

I did a pretty good job of ignoring GBK alerting my inbox of the presence of a new Duck Confit Burger from New Zealand chef and original GBK menu creator Peter Gordon, until I saw somebody else caving on Instagram. And then it was all over for me; I engineered a trip to Brent Cross the next day. I like GBK. I think they do great burgers (albeit with slightly too whacky accompaniments - yes Kiwi burger, I'm looking at you) and as with all chains, you kind of know what you're g

I used to drink these in Zebranos on Greek Street if I was feeling particularly flush before moving onto the happy hour wine, and a recent poshed up version at the long bar at the Sanderson has rekindled my love for this pretty little cocktail. Exotic and perfumed but potent, this is the perfect drink to kick off the weekend. Ingredients: One or two shots good and very cold vodka. I like Russian Standard. One shot rose water. You should be able to find this in the Middle East

I'm not going to lie; the main reason behind blogging this recipe is so that I can revisit the hilarious frittata bit in Channel 4's Catastrophe. Very amusing. Image stolen from this also amusing link btw. Anyway, Sharon Horgan is right and a fritatta is indeed a glorious thing. The beauty of them is that they can be made out of almost anything and can be eaten hot, cold, or even three days later as they keep so well in the fridge. I made this lovely spring veggie one with so

Bank holidays are all about eating, drinking and chilling out in my book, so that is precisely what I did for the whole of the long weekend. Despite being a piglet at the fantastic Pizarro on Thursday night (read my fairly gushing post here) I was more than ready to recognise Good Friday with some kind of commemorative feast, and particularly a burger based one. We headed to Spielburger, the burger bar offshoot of the Everyman cinema in Hampstead with big expectations and eve

I have been wanting to go to any of Jose Pizarro's restaurants for forever, so I was very happy to learn that I would actually be visiting the best one, Pizarro, for my friend Julia's birthday. We started off in The Garrison on Bermondsey St and virtually opposite his other no-bookings place, Jose, which had queues out the door for the duration. I first went to The Garrison in about 2006/7 when it opened, so was taken aback by how busy it was and how much the area as a whole