Cask is one of the real joys of Pimlico. Tucked a few minutes stumble from the Tube it serves a staggering array of beer. Literally hundreds of different types are available in every strength and flavour imaginable. It’s a real celebration of malt, water, yeast and hops.

I’ve eaten here several times before, and always enjoyed the experience – pub classics with a barbecue twist. Recently however, their kitchen has been taken over by ‘Forty Burger’. As the name suggests, they do burgers made with well aged beef. On this visit we sampled their standard ‘Bacon and Cheese’ alongside the ‘Heat’ which marries blue cheese and buffalo wing sauce.

The burgers are well above average – the bun holds up magnificently, putting the fragile brioche ones found in many other upmarket burgers to shame. The patties are generously sized and are nicely beefy – but I didn’t get much ‘aged’ flavour and they were slightly overcooked for my taste, they really should be medium-rare.

The fillings were excellent – the bacon is good quality and the cheese tangy without being overpowering. I adored the Heat burger – the buffalo sauce is perfectly pitched even if the blue cheese gets a little lost. The chips were well cooked and nicely crisp – they earn lots of extra points for coming with a whole bucket of ‘Stokes’ condiments – I could eat their BBQ sauce all day.

If you find yourself in this part of town and are in need of a buzzing atmosphere, great beer and solid burgers – this is the place to go. The beer is definitely the star of the show – but the food will put a smile on your face as well.

‘Affordable French’ appears to be an emerging trend in London – both Brasserie Zedel and Balthazar have opened in recent months joining established restaurants like 10cases. They offer something a little more refined and unique than the chain alternatives – Cote Brasserie, Cafe Rouge, Brasserie Blanc et al. When Little Social was opened a few months ago it received rave reviews – serving high quality food with a modern twist – it’s been on my ‘must visit’ list for a while and I finally managed to get a lunch reservation.

Little Social is opposite owner Jason Atherton’s flagship Michelin-starred restaurant – Pollen Street Social. Minutes from Oxford Circus and just off Regent Street it’s about as central as central gets. On arrival I was warmly welcomed by the staff into a wonderful snapshot of Parisian dining: soft art-deco lighting, wood panelling, copper bar and quiet music. Perfect.

The set menu (three courses for £25) is great value but I have to admit I went a la carte. While there is a strong French influence (steak frites) there are some decidedly british dishes (ox cheek). Their wine list is excellent with several good choices available by the glass or carafe. I went with the Pollen Street Social House – a delightfully vibrant red from Anjou. The complimentary bread was delicious and still warm.

Steak Tartare
A dish this simple lives or dies by the quality of its ingredients and they didn’t disappoint. The steak was neatly prepared and carefully spiced, the quails egg was a nice touch.

Braised Irish ox cheeks, roast marrow bone with sourdough crumb, carrot, horseradish mash
The ox cheek was well cooked, with lovely smooth mash, though I didn’t get much heat from the horseradish . The roasted carrot was cooked well and I really like the bone marrow – it adds another beefy hit. The sourdough crumbs add some textural contrast and really help lift the dish.

Poutine
I ordered this as a side – it’s a slightly incongruous addition given the French slant of the restaurant but decidedly more-ish nonetheless. For the uninitiated, Poutine is a Canadian ‘delicacy’. Really good chips are slathered in cheese curds and gravy. Here they’ve also added sausage and jalapenos. Yum.

Apple and blackberry crumble, mascarpone and cinnamon ice-cream
The crumble was served with a degree of ceremony not usually accorded to this humble dessert. A bowl of cinnamon ice cream was placed in front of me before the crumble (in a natty copper pan) was gently stirred and spooned around it. The topping was full of macadamias and walnuts which added a lovely crunch to the proceedings.

Conclusion
I’ve heard Little Social mentioned in the same breath as Brasserie Zedel, but that’s really doing it a disservice. While both are harking back to an idea of French dining circa 1920 – Little Social isn’t afraid to branch out and play with the concept and delivers it to a far higher standard (with a higher price tag). The food was surprisingly original and thoughtfully cooked. Other reviewers have commented on the hovering staff, but I never felt overly ‘tended’. It’s a great dining experience and a welcome addition to the west end – I look forward to exploring the rest of their menu in the near future!

Brunch is a growing trend in London. I recently sampled one of the best breakfasts going so this had a lot to live up to. Part of the huge redevelopment around Kings Cross, Caravan is in an old warehouse with the appropriate brickwork and exposed ancilliaries.

Wildly popular, you can’t book for brunch, you simply take a numbered bag of flour and wait for your table at the bar. Once our full party (eventually) turned up we didn’t have long to wait but if you do face a longer stint, the coffee is excellent. They roast it fresh on the premises and the staff really know what they’re doing.

I opted for the Caravan fry – a lovely pile of fried mushrooms, bacon and tomatoes with eggs. The cooking was good and they were using really nice ingredients. The menu is innovative and I definitely want to try their salt beef bubble.

If you’re looking for brunch in central London – this is an excellent choice.

As much as I enjoy cutting edge gastronomy – there’s still an undeniable, primeval appeal to a good burger. While my heart still firmly belongs across the pond – the London burger scene is going from strength to strength.

One of the most popular places at present is Patty and Bun. A stones throw from Bond Street station and the madness of Oxford Street they’ve carved out a niche serving burgers the way they should be – top ingredients, carefully cooked.

I ordered their basic bacon cheeseburger, a ‘Smokey Robinson’ with a side of rosemary salt fries. The burger itself is a thing of beauty, a toasted brioche bun encasing a thick patty, oozing with onions and cheese. The beef is beautifully cooked, crispy on the outside and incredibly moist on the inside – its a real challenge to eat neatly. The bun holds up well without the structural deficiencies so often found with brioche. The chips are nice, rustic and with a gentle rosemary tang.

It’s a great burger experience – if you’re in need of a quick lunch it’s in an entirely different league from your usual fast food joint. Now I just need to find time to sample the rest of their menu…

Situated beneath the imposing dome of St Pauls, in the shiny One New Change development, Barbecoa is Jamie Oliver’s steak and barbecue restaurant. Like Jamie’s Italian, there’s a trendy modern feel to the place – helped by some spectacular views of the cathedral.

On a quiet Wednesday lunchtime the place was almost deserted, and the service suitably prompt and friendly. Their menu is well stocked with delicious meaty goodness (this is not one for the vegetarians) and I was really spoilt for choice.

I opted for the fried oyster and chicken starter. Very crisp little balls containing fresh oysters and bite-sized pieces of chicken, hot from the fryer. The accompanying coleslaw was pleasingly sharp and the pickles delicious if a little sparse. The tomato salsa was nice, but a little flat.

My main was pulled pork with coleslaw and waffle. The pork was incredibly tender and coated in a rich, fruity barbecue sauce with a very gentle chilli hit. The waffle works really well – it’s not as sweet as a traditional batter and adds a nice contrast. I also went for a side of duck fat chips which, while wonderfully fresh, could have been crisper.

For dessert I had a Calvados Panna Cotta. This is damn near a perfect pudding. It’s got different temperatures, textures and flavours that all blend together beautifully. The panna cotta is actually more of a mousse, but really delicious. The dusting of crumble adds some welcome crunch and the warm doughnuts are crisp and gooey. Heaven on a plate.

There are quite a few good barbecue places in London now – Bodeans, Pitt Cue Co and John Salt to name just three – but Barbecoa is far bigger and definitely serves a niche: they have a huge variety on offer and a frankly impressive wine and whisky collection – if you’re looking for a relaxed evening out in the City you could do a lot worse!

It’s often said that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. While this certainly isn’t true for the restaurant business – it doesn’t hurt. Situated on the 40th floor of Heron Tower in the heart of London, Duck and Waffle has some of the best views going. It’s been the talk of the town for the last few months and I took advantage of a quiet Thursday afternoon to check it out.

The restaurant itself is lovely, a spacious bar out front provides a pleasent waiting room while the main seating area is rightly positioned around the full length windows, with an open kitchen along one wall. The staff were friendly and attentive without being intrusive, and were happy to provide recommendations The menu is intentionally quirky – a real mix of ingredients and influence with a broadly modern British feel.

I have to admit to being split on the starters – I went for the fried pigs ears and the ox cheek doughnut. I’m only human! The ears were thinly sliced and dusted with a spicy bbq blend. They were lovely and crunchy, but perhaps could have done with some little dips and a bit more attention to detail around hair removal – i’m fine with the odd bristle, but they were pushing it!

The ox cheek doughnut is a really interesting idea. A ball of slow cooked meat is encased in a spongey batter, dusted with smoked paprika and sugar then served with an apricot jam. It’s an interesting combination of flavours but it does work – it’s a real novelty dish.

For the main course I felt compelled to try the eponymous duck and waffle. It’s a duck leg served on top of a soft american style waffle with a fried egg and some mustard infused maple syrup. The meat/sweet combination is well established – just see the American fondness for bacon and pancakes for details – but i’ve never seen it done like this. The duck goes really well with the richness of the egg. Technically it was beautifully cooked, and it certainly makes good eating, but i’m not entirely sure i’d order it again single handed – it’s a much better sharing dish!

For dessert I trusted my waitress’ judgement and went with the Torrejas – a Spanish version of French toast. It came served in a very hot cast iron dish with a lovely caramel sauce, cooked apples and a scoop of ice-cream. The bread had a lovely crunchy crust with soft, delicate innards. Perfect given the swirling snowstorm outside.

I really enjoyed my visit – the food is cooked to an excellent standard and I like the fact that they are bold with their flavour combinations – it’s a big risk for a restaurant, but they make it work.

I’ll admit – I’m a bit late on this one. Burger and Lobster was huge last year and the queues became legendary. It’s a testament to the popularity of their concept and the standard of their food that even a year later it can still take two hours to get a table. Relatively early on a weekday night we were seated in around an hour – far more reasonable!

For those who aren’t familiar – Burger and Lobster serves just that. For £20 you get a Lobster (steamed, grilled or in a roll) or a Burger (top quality beef in a brioche bun). You can also splash out on some truly enormous lobsters (7lb 8oz anyone!?)

The atmosphere is informal and relaxed – the music is a little loud, but the waiters are friendly and the service prompt. With any restaurant that limits itself to just a handful of ingredients it needs to be perfect. I didn’t have a chance to sample the burger – that will have to wait for another trip – but I can certainly speak to the lobster. I ordered mine grilled with garlic and lemon butter and it was excellent. Cooked quickly (to avoid the dreaded cotton wool texture) it had a couple of nice char marks. The chips were light and crisp and the side salad – so often an afterthought – was surprisingly good.

I’ve already written about one of my favourite ‘lobster shack’ places – The Big Easy – so how does it compare? In my mind the Big Easy has a better atmosphere and a much broader menu (great if someone’s not wild about seafood, but frankly, why would you be eating with them then!?) but the lobster is definitely not as good.

I really enjoyed my visit and I’ll certainly be going back – I’d love to try one of their monster sharing lobsters and I really need to investigate their burger. To pick just two items for your menu is incredibly brave but they make it work and in doing so have spawned an entire fad on the London restaurant seen for which they should be applauded. Anything which focuses on great ingredients and perfect cooking is fine in my book.

Sometimes even the most dedicated of food bloggers don’t have time to spend hours in the kitchen. With a wide array of (wildly disappointing) sport on offer I had to squeeze everything else around it.

Sea Urchins

I’ve been dying to try these ever since they were featured on Masterchef: The Professionals. Watching seasoned restaurant chefs completely wreck an ingredient was fantastic entertainment. Challenge accepted! The fishmonger at Pimlico’s Tachbrook Street Market is brilliant and had a crate of them nestled alongside his oysters. I’m not going to lie – they’re pretty intimidating up close! I hadn’t appreciated that the spines move, having carefully posed them in the kitchen I came back to find them making a bid for freedom. As Monica showed on Masterchef, you dispatch them by using the heel of a knife to break a circle in the shell around the mouth and pulling out their ‘core’. I like to think I have a pretty strong stomach – I can happily gut fish, shell crabs, bone trotters and play with offal, but this really takes the biscuit. Once it’s discarded you’re left with some ‘juice’ at the bottom of the shell which should be sieved and saved, and the all-important corals. These slightly orange-coloured segments need to be carefully extracted with a small spoon, carefully avoiding the inedible black sections. The corals are very fragile so it’s easy to squash them, especially with smaller urchins.

Once you’ve extracted your delicious bounty you can decide how to serve them. They taste very like oysters, lots of fresh sea flavours with a hint of creaminess. I really liked them on a small, slightly spicy, cracker with a bit of lemon juice. They’re also delicious with soy sauce.

Steak

If I had to pick a favourite dish it would probably be steak. I’ve experimented with tonnes of different cuts and methods, but this is my favourite so far. I use a cast iron griddle, no oil and a mixture of smoked and plain sea salt. Finishing the steak with a blowtorch helps ensure a really delicious crust and letting a little butter melt over it while it rests doesn’t do any harm either!

Swan and Edgar

In need of a trendy Sunday lunch near Marylebone we headed to this little gem. Only a few minutes’ walk from the station it’s a wonderfully quirky pub. The bar is built from stacks of books and the bathrooms are tiled with scrabble letters. Genius!

I went for the pheasant roast (more pubs should offer game as a meat option) and it was really nice – I like my game very pink and this was definitely firmly in the ‘medium’ camp, but it was delicious nonetheless. The Yorkshire pudding was light and crisp and the (rather lonely) single large roast potato was great. The vegetables were average – the parsnips were certainly not crisp which is a serious crime in my book – but the dish was saved by the gravy which was marvellous, lots of rich meaty flavours with a lovely citrus tang.

For dessert we had beetroot and chocolate brownies. While very subtle, the beetroot definitely kept the brownies moist and the fruit compote/ice cream combo was lovely. Top pud.

This is easily my favourite recipe from Deb Perelman’s first cookbook. You can read my review of it here. The texture is superb – rich, moist and very chocolatey. Depending on the wine you use it will either sit quietly in the background or be very prominent – adjust for your audience!

Red Wine Velvet Cake with Whipped Mascarpone
From Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, reproduced by kind permission of Square Peg.

Ingredients

For the cake
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g plain flour
430g dark brown sugar
150g granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
530ml red wine (any kind you like)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
130g Dutch cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon table salt

For the filling
450g mascarpone cheese
280g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Method

Preheat your oven to 160C/fan 140C/Gas 3. Line the bottom of three 23cm round cake tins with parchment, and either butter and lightly flour the parchment and exposed sides of the pans, or spray the interior with a nonstick spray. In a large bowl, at the medium speed of an electric miser, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat well, then the red wine and vanilla. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little uneven. Sift the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together, right over your wet ingredients. Mix until three-quarters combined, then fold the rest together with a rubber spatula. Divide batter between prepared tins. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of each layer comes out clean. The top of each cake should be shiny and msooth, like a puddle of chocolate. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then flip out of pan and cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.

If your cakes have domed a bit and you want nice even layers in your stack, you can trim the tops. use a long serrated knife, held horizontally, and use gentle back and forth motions with your hand on top of the cake to even it out. Share the cake scraps with whoever is around; no-one will mind helping you remove the ‘debris’.

For the filling
In a medium bowl, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, pinch of salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Assemble the cake
Place the first cake layer on a cake stand or plate, and spread with one-third of the filling. Repeat with remaining two layers. Chill the cake in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it.