Lunch at the 805

Hi Londonistas! 

 It has been a while since we had a catch up. What fun things are you finding to do in London while the weather is bleurgh? 

The grey skies and soggy umbrellas might not be so inspiring but here is a post that might brighten things up! So after months and months of deliberating, organising and reorganising, me and the girls decided to FINALLY arrange lunch at what has got to be South London's most popular Nigerian restaurant.

805, in the middle of the Old Kent Road has been one of the cornerstones of African London's dining scene for years now. And although I have actually eaten there a couple of times before, I wanted to introduce my Spanish friend to their legendary tilapia. 

We called some of the other members of our dining gang, and voila! We were all sat around a table in the restaurant last Wednesday afternoon. First things first, if you are a driver, and are worried about the red route and 'no parking' signs in the area, you needn't worry.

Free Parking. Yipee!

The interior of the restaurant is very light, and clean - pleasant enough. However, apart from the few paintings sporadically placed on the walls, there is nothing about the interior that screams AFRICA! 

The maiter d' was nice. We were greeted at the door, and asked where we wanted to sit. However, the one other waitress who was waiting on five or six other tables, seemed lethargic and after twenty minutes of sitting down without being offered so much as a glass of water, one of the girls had to approach to ask if we could order drinks!

Anyway, service aside, the food was incredible. Once we had ordered, the food didn't take too long to arrive. My plate looked like this.

Mmm... Croaker fish, fried plantain and salad with a chilli sauce!!

I LOVE chilli and spice, and all things nice - which is very typical of Nigerian cuisine. But for my poor friends who asked for the mild option, it seemed the restaurant only offered spicy and spicier. It seemed that 'mild' is a concept unbeknownst to the chef at 805, because even the accompanying sauce labelled as 'mild' burnt the roof of their mouth. 

The fried plantain was perfect though. It was tasty and ripe enough without being too greasy. Also, the prices are excellent, for the amount of food you actually get. It is a shame though that during the three to four hours we sat and talked, after eating, we were not offered the opportunity to order more drinks. And although there were about four or so items on the desert menu, the only thing available was ice-cream...hmmm

A sneak peek at the menu!

Altogether, it was an enjoyable afternoon. Service might need a bit of polishing but the food is amazing. I do recommend spice junkies to visit the 805.

On a MEATmission

As a late birthday treat, my cousins arrange for us to head to The Breakfast Club just off Liverpool Street. The reputation of this place precedes it and so does the queue! What else could I expect on the weekend? With time against us, we decide to take a walk through what feels like a large chunk of the East London, taking note of changes in the Shoreditch area and building up quite an appetite. After a stroll down Great Eastern street, a few more crossings and side streets later, with the aroma of chips lingering in the wind, we reach our destination. 

We arrive at a place called MEATmission. 'We're standing infront of a restaurant?!', I ask myself, as I look for signs of life and alas! A couple exit, holding the door open into the darkness...

The atmosphere is soon lightened by the front of house who directs us to our raised American style diner bench, and I begin to reflect on my surroundings; there are faux stained glass images, hymn boards used for food challenges (think Man v Food) and my mind automatically assigns Vince Kidd's Sick Love as the theme tune to the restaurant because they both twist religious elements out of their established context into a stranger one. However, this place really takes it to church. Even the menu resembles a simple Mass leaflet. And though my cousin jokes that they clearly spent a lot of money on it (not), I soon realise there is nothing basic about the food.

Keeping with the pseudo-religious theme, the menu is divided into sacraments: Baptism, Communion, Comfirmation and Last Rites. By this stage I'm already craving chips so I decide to choose chips from the Baptism section but this place doesn't just do chips. Well actually, according to the menu, they do 'fries (not chips)' but you can opt for plain, chilli cheese or gravy.

In the end I opt for the normal version to balance out my Dead Hippie burger, a burger with two beef patties, pickles, onions, lettuce and a sauce of the same name. I ask for my patties to be cremated aka well done. I also ask for the Black Cow.  It's not what you think. In fact I really must praise the service. Staff are really friendly, welcoming and always on hand. No rude finger snapping required. The 'Black cow' is in fact a Coke float and yummy it was. Who said vanilla ice cream was bland?

As for the food itself,  I half expect it to arrive in a font or something but it's served on a tray between the three of us. It would have been nice to have my own tray or plate but who cares? When I notice that each table has an 'everyone tuck in' policy, by which I mean bottles of sauce and proper kitchen roll, I realise you just gotta get in there.

I must say that I am partial to a burger and although it did feel like I had eaten dessert before lunch (coke float before burger might not have been the best idea!), I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The burgers on the menu don't seem enormous but they are quite filling and while this restaurant is clearly food heaven to a devout burger lover, vegetarian options exist too!

Ending up here was a blessing in disguise. Meat Mission, you saved us!

MEATmission, 15 Hoxton Market, London