THE LION

New York City, New York

Belonging to renowned New York chef and restaurateur John De Lucie, the Lion sits comfortably as a partner to the New York heavyweights:The Waverly Inn, Minetta Tavern and the legendary Monkey Bar. With a discreet entrance just north of Washington Square Park, the Lion is a charming enclave in the West Village reminiscent of an English tavern with heavy emphasis on dark wood features, round wood chandeliers and a mixture of photos on the walls. Unlike a tavern though, the Lion boasts a beautifully adorned central dining room in a double height space, and different to your typical English tavern, the seats are very comfortable with tables well spaced making the ambience cosy yet spacious. On the matter of brunch, which is when I visited the Lion after a very long night of partying, the experience was par excellence and the food provided the much-needed nourishment for recuperation. To start I ordered the Bloody Mary (the non spicy version), which is sufficiently spicy in its own right, so I can’t imagine what the spicy one contains! It was the perfect pick me up, delicious and fulfilling. Starters were ordered to share and we got the shrimp cocktail, which was very fresh with an excellent cocktail sauce (not as good at Ed’s Lobster Bar though). On a lighter note, we also ordered the heirloom salad that came served with fresh avocado, as well as the avocado on toast that proved to be an exceptional choice. What impressed however were the muffins that were served as a precursor to the meal, a substitute to your ordinary bread and butter basket. The muffins, served with maple honey butter, were freshly baked, warm and divine, and worth placing as a menu item. For mains I ordered the Eggs Royale, while a friend went for the Eggs Benedict with crispy bacon, and my other friend ordered the omelette with salmon and fine herbs. All choices were excellently cooked and beautifully presented, where special mention must be attributed to the hollandaise sauce, which was spot on perfection in flavour and texture. With three starters down, a main and a Bloody Mary, we were unfortunately too full to proceed onto desserts and concluded this great meal with a shot of espresso. The Lion lives up to its hype and it comes as no surprise as being one the hottest brunch spots in the city needing a reservation of up to three weeks in advance. Totally worth it.

www.thelionnyc.com

ED'S LOBSTER BAR

New York, USA

Like clockwork, merely two to three hours after landing in New York, I make my way to Soho to have a bite at Ed’s Lobster Bar, a tradition I have upheld for the past five years and intend to do for many years to come; that is until I officially cross the Atlantic and become a New Yorker myself. This marks our second review of Ed’s on the Food Grid, and just as last time it was delicious and fulfilling. Not much has changed in that I ordered my go to drink, the Arnold Palmer, and started with the Shrimp Cocktail that was just as fresh as I have come to expect and with what is the best cocktail sauce there is. Of course no meal at Ed’s would be complete without the Lobster Roll and French Fries, which still commands my opinion as being the best lobster roll in the city; the brioche bun is just sensational. To kick things into a higher gear I also ordered the Lobster Pot Pie for the first time, as every time I go to Ed’s I would arrive around lunchtime and the pie is only served after 17:30 as part of their dinner time menu. The pie, which I had been dreaming of, was a heavenly broth, with the lobster and vegetables perfectly stewed in bisque gravy decadence, topped with a flawlessly crispy piecrust; it is phenomenal. Need I say more? I am just in love with this place.

www.lobsterbarnyc.com

IPPUDO

New York, USA

Ippudo is a ramen restaurant with two locations in New York, one in Sydney, lots  around Asia and one opening in London. I went to their East Village branch for dinner, hoping that the waiting time for a table wouldn't be too long. My friend and I entered just behind a large group of well dressed Japanese girls, and were told the queue would be an hour. Fortunately they let us leave our phone number, so we could walk around until it was our turn. We managed to move a bit too far away, so when they called after only 45 minutes we had to make a run for it and jump in a taxi. Although we were a bit late, the helpful staff had kept the table for us, and we sat down after ordering delicious cocktails at the bar. Since we were going to a second dinner later on at Buddakan we skipped the starters and only had a bowl of ramen each. We had the Shiromaru Hakata Classic and the Karaka Men, both with pork and kikurage mushrooms. We couldn't miss out on adding a poached egg as an additional topping, which provided an amazing texture and lots of flavour. The pork belly was perfect and the mushrooms were super tasty. All of these flavours boiled together in the broth created a hearty, but not too heavy taste. I couldn't ask for anything more from a ramen broth. We finished our bowls to the point of lifting them and drinking out the very last drops. To end this delicious meal, I had a glass of sake, generously poured to the brim and served in a small wooden box. Dinner at Ippudo was a pleasant and yummy experience, eaten within a cool and stylish atmosphere without any pretentiousness. We are very excited for their opening in London!

Update: Read the review of the London branch here (we were slightly disappointed)

   www.ippudony.com

EL 7 MARES

Los Angeles, CA

El 7 Mares is a tiny Mexican open-air restaurant in the Silverlake area of LA. I first saw it from across the road when I was having breakfast at FoodLab. I was surprised by how many people were visiting this shabby, gas-station looking eatery. I thought it looked so bad, it had to be good. Later that day I was reading an old TimeOut about cheap eats in LA, and this place was recommended for their fish tacos and ceviche. We headed down at sunset, and there was still a steady flow of people. We parked outside the little, neon-lit building which is placed in the middle of a parking lot, and had a seat in one of the plastic booths. The crowd was a mixture of hipsters and casually dressed Mexicans, creating a very LA vibe. Since we also had two taco food trucks on the list of places to eat that night, we didn't order much. From the illustrated menu above the counter we picked out shrimp tacos and fish tacos. The small portions were served with fresh lime to squeeze over, and a chilli sauce on the side that I didn't need much of due to its spiciness  Both types of tacos were a perfect blend of tangy and salty, and although fried, it did not come off as greasy. Out of the two I preferred the shrimp tacos, but would still order a variety just to mix it up. Their shrimp cocktail is also renowned, so if I ever get to go again, that will be next on my list.   

THE KITCHEN

Boulder, CO, USA

I only had two days to spend in the charismatic mountain city Boulder in Colorado, and thus had to pick my meals carefully. After doing a lot of research, I settled on a recommendation from the Boulder-based blogger Use Real Butter, and went to The Kitchen. This community-based, non-profit restaurant uses locally sourced produce, and even recycles cooking oil to power the car of one of the employees. Located on the lively pedestrian Pearl Street, the interior follows the typical homey look of exposed brick and simple wood furniture. After some delicious bread and butter, I chose tomato soup as my starter, which was very simple, but tasty. There were many exciting choices on the menu, but one that stood out to me was the Hand Rolled Gnocchi with bacon and summer vegetables. This was a beautiful looking dish with unusual but brilliant flavours. I wish the bacon had been cooked for slightly longer, but apart from that the dish was perfect. My friend had a tomato salad and the steak, and he was reasonably content, but not as excited as I was about my food. The service was friendly, but they didn’t seem too happy with me taking pictures with a huge camera, which I guess is understandable. I had to eliminate a lot of photos from use in this post because there were angry faces staring right into the camera. I’m very happy I got to try the delicious The Kitchen while I was in Boulder, as I really feel like the restaurant’s philosophy exemplifies the attitudes of the town.

www.thekitchen.com

CHURCH & STATE

Los Angeles, USA

Church & State is a French bistro in the hip arts district of downtown Los Angeles. It is on the ground floor of the huge, converted National Biscuit Company building. I made reservations for two on the day, after a recommendation from a friend. I was a little sceptical towards eating French in the States, but I had over dosed on tacos and burgers for a few days and wanted a change. We entered the exposed brick and column restaurant and were immediately put off by the poor acoustics of the room. The crowd was a mixture of hipsters and business men with girls to impress. Luckily, they had tables outside, so we sat in a peaceful area with perfect temperature. As a starter, we shared the Roasted Bone Marrow, one of their specialties. It is served with bread and chimichurri, but I quickly realised that the sauce just hid all the flavour of the marrow, and that it is best enjoyed just with a spoon on its own. And it was really good! We scraped the bone clean and I wish we had ordered more. My next dish was also wonderful though. I had the Bouillabaisse, a fish stew with shellfish. The bread that came with it was smothered in bright yellow aioli, which was amazing. My friend had the Steak Frites, which he said was ok, but nothing special. There was no point ordering the Salade d’Endives we had on the side, as it was quite flavourless. As none of the dishes were bad, and some of them very good, I’d say Church & State was worth the trip, and if I lived in LA I would definitely go back for the Roasted Bone Marrow.

1850 Industrial Street, LA, 90021

www.churchandstatebistro.com