2009 has been a hugely gluttonous, but productive year for this website and for me. For those of you piling on the pounds along side of me, we’ve definitely had some memorable meals no? And my, my have our ranks been swelling. This time last year, we were 200 odd regular subscribers, today we’re 600 strong. You should know that you mean the world to me. There will be no more new reviews in the festive period as I plan to take it easy over the next ten days, but fear not, new content will be back with a bang on the 4th Jan 2010. In the mean time, let’s reflect on the highlights on what a great year it has been. Here’s 9 of my most memorable meals in 2009. St John Let’s kick things off with something British. I like restaurants which push the boundaries, and Fergus Henderson’s ‘nose to tail’ concept was certainly something that appealed to me. For such a well liked restaurant, I was delightfully surprised to find an easy going feel about the place: no ponciness on the menu, what you see is what you get, and just brilliantly cooked offal slapped on a plate. I tried their legendary roast bone marrow, sipped some of the most tremendously hearty veal broth (ever), and witnessed the bloodiest pigeon ever to be presented. I don’t think

Community sites are starting to realise the power of the iPhone, and to an extent the Google Android platform. Lately, I’ve been test driving three free apps which can help you find something to eat in the City and their usefulness when on the move, so this might be helpful if you’re an iFoodie too

So it’s six seven am on Monday. I’ve just opened my favourite excel spreadsheet and sipping down on the hard filter brew Vanessa makes for the bunch of us every morning. No it’s not. It’s Saturday afternoon as I write this. Well, it sort of came early a couple of weekends ago, the sun I mean, and I took every opportunity to exploit it before it gave way to the rain clouds again. It was still abit breezy, but was a nice little preview of picnic in the park. So it was me, grass, my 50mm and a little bit of wholefoods and now, you too

London does not always have bad weather. Sometimes, it really is awesome. Like this weekend for example. Spring came early and yes, while it’s a breezy 13C , the sunshine is just awesome. Just the colours… the vibrance… I had to do it, the internet deserves to know what a truly awesome place London morphs into … when the sun comes out

Coming back from a two week break can be a disorientating thing. It’s long enough for one to almost forget what home really feels like, heck even the weather seems to have changed since I was last in London. Ah yes, at least I have not forgotten how (and where) to eat (reviews coming on Tuesday) but I did want to get out to appreciate the other parts the ol’ Smoke, the first weekend back. It certainly helped that the weather was particularly beautiful and it gave me the perfect excuse to shoot some breeze. My port of call is usually the Gloucester road bus stop, though we start our little photo tour just outside Hyde Park Corner for the number 9. The sky was doing amazing things on that particular Friday and it allowed me to grab this shot of the golden lights seemingly opening it’s arms to the Mandarin Oriental. What a lovely sight. Riding on the No.9, one of the last remaining routes to still be using the old routemasters (that’s what they are called, right?), I lay witness to a beautiful day and all the vibrance of Green Park’s lush greens, colours so rich I might have mistaken it for one of the paintings for sale just outside the fences. Final destination was the National Gallery in Piccaddily for a spot of Debussy. On that friday

The word binge is so 2007. I’ve been off for two weeks and the sky is still falling down on London, seriously when is it all going to stop? Did anybody miss me while I was away? I did manage a couple of reviews on my break but my first London restaurant visits will have to wait till Friday. As I said yesterday, I bought a new camera and this will be it’s virgin usage for a very sinful post. This sushi train is located somewhere south of the South China Sea (I forget the name of the place) and the rate is 50 pence per plate. This isn’t really a review, but more like food glorification, though the technically accurate term is foodporno. If you’re anything like me, you’ll appreciate great sushi trains for peanuts – it’s just a shame we don’t have more of them in London ( Yo! is alright, but seriously overpriced). On this visit, the count is about 20 plates (my record is 37 in Sydney, I think) and that’s a grand total of £10. A tenner barely gets me like 2.5 plates at Yo! Yo. Cheap sushi bingeing – as far as I know – only exists in Asia; ok so welcome back to another edition of London eater, the name is Kang and I will be at your service for the rest of

I’ve always had this idea to use the tube map as an eating guide for anyone wanting to sample highlights of London via the underground – I just didnt really know how ( or more like when ) I could figure it onto this blog. When I was approached by Hillary who edits both Recipe4living and the chewonthatblog , she wanted a kind of snapshot of London and I thought wow – what a coincidence we’re on the same brainwave. So I mined the archives and put together an ‘underground eating list on the underground’. I included stuff such as Borough market and sampling some very British crabs on toast at 32 GQS. I also included a recommendation to my personal favourite: Cambio de Tercio. You can download and print this map if you want, just click on the image for a bigger version. Anyway, I thought it’d make for a great guest post and one that can be useful for anyone who’s about to visit London and are looking for a few places to munch up. As with my last few guest posts, I am giving away my best stuff and treating these guest posts as if they were to be published here on LE. To that end, I’m giving away the same quality of pictures too and I do try and make sure they are decent enough. Hope you guys find my stuff both

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. I take it everyone had a smashing time getting all loved up yesterday? As for myself, I’ve been a busy bee planning content for London Eater over the next couple of weeks. Yes there are a few announcements I need to make in this edition of Eat&Read and the first one is that your resident London Eater (me) is going on holiday for two weeks (Hurray!) , but fear not, I’m still going to be blogging and I’d like to tell you abit about the coming content so do keep reading (please, please, pretty please.)

Are you feeling those butterflies in your tummy yet because V day is only two days away. If my initial valentine list didn’t help any romantic souls and you are still left scratching your head over what to do, then here are a few more suggestions which might help eek out the love … 1. Make a valentine proposal and win £1000 worth of wine  This one comes from a relatively new wine website and their video competition is pretty quirky. You can be all serious and propose to your honey, or you can be cheeky and propose anyway, and she might find it funny and fall madly in love with you? Check it out here. 2. Buy a limited edition bottle of wine from an artisan food seller If you’re going to give wine and chocolates, then do make sure it’s something special at least. Flavours of Spain are doing this box set which includes a bottle of Pedralonga Barrica – limited production of biodynamic white wine only 1800 bottled - accompanied by a gift box of two chocolates (Yuzu and Mascletà) created by Spain’s leading chocolatier Oriol Balaguer, former pastry chef of Michelin starred El Bulli, all presented in an elegant wooden case. Thirty quid from their website here, or perhaps it’s better to pay them a visit at their Borough Market stand

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. It has been abit of a winter wonderhell this past week, yeah the snow has been alot of fun but it completely destroyed my shoes ( I bought new clarks for work yesterday ) and forced me to take a day off ( mixed feelings as I enjoyed the lie in but loathed 9 hours less vacation time..) work. By saturday – I’d managed to catch up on most of my mandatory spreadsheet staring, met a couple of beautiful and lovely bloggie lasses and somehow managed to find myself on a food tv show, ah the precarious life a humble food blogga. Welcome to the first sunday eat&read of february ladies (and gents)

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. In the month of January, I ate at ten places in London, discovered a one man bossa nova jukebox, garnered 15000 page views and finally tasted ‘that’ Great British pudding that was served to the Queen. I think it’s been a good start to the grand new year of 2009 and without further ado – let’s get the eating started

A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both It would be injustice if I – as a food blogger – apparently independent and a rebel against the establishment did not blog about these two food gems floating about the internet at the moment. Show your veggie love First up is that banned superbowl PETA advertising campaign which had super hot and healthy supermodels parading around and looking like they are having too much fun with vegetables. I think the idea is  copywriting genius and what better way to make vegetables sexy than to pair them up with sexy beings. I fully concur with Jay the gastronaut about the way US media is treating this:  Unhealthy fast food is okay, but vegetables aren’t? What a country! Not surprising, though, given the Janet Jackson fiasco five years ago, which made us the laughing-stock of the world for our Victorian attitudes related to sex. And vegetables, these days, in a way. Come on, show your veggie love – Now go see the video at the PETA website. The best complaint letter, ever. Mr Branson must have spat his tea all over his missus upon reading this complaint letter about the horrendous service aboard a Virgin Atlantic flight. He addresses the letter to Richard Branson and starts off by saying he loves virgin and then references the first picture with

I’m a hopeless romantic. I’d like to think that London has an atmosphere for love, lots of intimate hidden away places where two people can duck away from the loud lights of the urban jungle and gaze into each other’s starry eyes until the candles wither away. It’s little over three weeks to V and I’ve compiled a short list of a few valentine restaurant / going out ideas if you are still scratching your heads. 1. Dine at home While Gordon Ramsay and Michelin are indulgent names, I think it’s abit Bruce Wayne and boring to just go out to a busy fine dining restaurant for V, why not surprise your better half with a dinner at home? I’m sure everybody loves surprises and you could easily turn your boudoir into a lovenest with a few simple ideas. Pick up these items for mood: a. Tea candles (for swaying moody lights) b. Rose petals (for dramatic effect on the bed) c. Adorn the walls with red linen, satin or silk. d. Get a good Jazz CD , I’d go with Ella Fitzgerald. e. Lots of flowers. Make sure you pick up good cutlery/china ( now would be a good time to use the stuff in the wardrobes) and lay out your usual dinner table with a perfectly white table cloth and stick a rose and a fat candle in

Photo by rightee Nian Nian Yuo Yu, Mom and Dad. Happy Chinese New Year to you folks. I’m not doing much this year and I’m not going out to China Town - at least not on the first couple of days, I’m sure it will be packed to the brim with people. I haven’t been home for CNY in gosh, seven years now; I could remember mom’s abalone and broccoli – her CNY eve special. Personally, I would advise against eating chinese on CNY simply because restaurants will be completely packed out. Although, if you don’t mind the queues and you want to feel the CNY buzz, then there is not better time to go eat chinese than now. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of London chinese food, I think it has dipped in quality in the last couple of years. Royal dragon used to be quite good, the har kao was spot on and their mandarin style steak was really great ( alot of wok heat ) , but ever since they refurbished in ’05, it has been converted into a karaoke spot serving bland food

*Post Update 23/01/2009* I should have mentioned Lantana’s Scrambling Eggs blog.  You’ve just had the meal of your life at Cambio de Tercio, it’s a fine Spanish restaurant. On their business card, they leave you a link to read the Cambio Blog. Upon opening firefox, you see that the blog is written by a number of staff, each of them giving a certain perspective from within the food industry. The younger chefs could have just returned from a gastro trip to Italy and learnt fresh new recipes to which he has published them on the blog. Another series of posts could be the chef’s ’open diary’ which allows you to follow the train of thought of how a dish was created. There could even be ‘biased’ guest posts from diners and plenty of shots of the food, ingredients. Better yet, a dedicated ‘fan blogger’ reporting about the restaurant from behind the stove. Would you read that

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. Gloucester Road, London It was an all too wet affair last night in London as I was entirely soaked by the time I exited Baracca, the most authentic Brazillian cafe in Londres, complete with a one man bossa nova jukebox. Oh it was that good. I don’t usually talk about my pictures, but I’d like to spend some time on this one. It was taken outside Gloucester Road tube station a couple of weeks ago. It is a one second exposure time and hand held for extra blurriness. You can see bus route no 74 in the centre left of frame. I quite like this shot, London’s a pretty blurry place with all the hustle & bustle, and it is partly this reason which gives the city it’s romantic qualities. They don’t call it The Big Smoke for nuthin&#

A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both  In London, it’s no real secret that restaurants go for the jugular when it comes to liquid offerings. As if the food is not expensive enough, ( the typical 3 course meal in London was the most expensive in the world 2 years ago ) it would appear that restaurants are always hunting for ways to rack up your bill (plus, plus) . I haven’t got any restaurant bills on hand, but I have definitely been forking out between £3.50 and £5.00 for a bottle. Let’s just do a quick crunch, I’ve reviewed 31 places so far, let’s say I paid £3.50 per visit per bottle (which I have) , that’s equal to £108.50 … or roughly two and a half dinners. Ouch. Uttering the words ‘tap’ is near blasphemy in some establishments and one cannot help but feel bullied into making a choice

Thank you to the 46 foodies who have voted in the favourite cuisine poll so far. If you haven’t voted yet, you can join in the fun here or if you scroll down, you’ll see it on the right hand side bar. I’m keeping the poll open indefinitely for the time being. So far, the favourite cuisine (s) are tied with Italian and Japanese both with 8 votes each. The next favourites are Spanish, Chinese, Indian & mediterranean each with 4 votes. French & Brit (Yeah!) food get 3 votes , Thai with 2 and German, Korean & Vietnamese all with 1 vote. 3 of you said ‘none’ and I suspect it has alot to do with the ommission of Mexican from the list ………. ………so that’s why I’ve decided to add Mexican to the polls! It is very refreshing to see that no one chose fast food as their favourite, the allegations of a modern society in love with nasty foods – according to my completely unofficial poll- is so far unfounded. As I’ve said, I’m keeping the polls open indefinitely ( so please vote ! ) and it’ll be interesting to see if a new favourite cuisine emerges. For now , there is a 34% chance that you are craving either Italian or Japanese food. Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively,  You can subscribe via

I’m heavily promoting my ‘write for me and win £50′ competition, everybody can enter, please do tell all your friends about it, all you need to do is write a food review (minimum 250 words only!) and include at least one picture and email it to me. The best 20 will be published here on LE and put to a vote – the best one wins £50!  It’s really that simple, deadline for last submissions is 14th Feb 09. More details here.   As a primer for the big votes, I’m running my first polls here on London Eater, asking you the question – What is your favourite type of cuisine? Mine is Spanish,  tell me foodies, what is your favourite cuisine? Come on it’s fun,vote now Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively,  You can subscribe via email

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. Brought to you, via the magic of the tube and the imagination of Kang the LE. saatchi galleries Yesterday was -3 in London. Much too cold for a protest at Speaker’s corner, today on the other hand looks like a very warm 7C and the sun is out. I’m thinking about galleries today, but first a quick round-up and musings before the start of the new week