Mugen - excellent Japanese restaurant in the City of London

As a worker in the City of London, I've walked past Mugen plenty of times and seen lots of (what I believe to be) Japanese people in there - always a good sign for a Japanese restaurant!

Recently, I finally decided to go in for a quick meal before an evening event, so I was after something relatively light.

The menu is not cheap, but there are a few more affordable items on there, namely the ramen noodle soups and curry dishes.

The girlfriend went for the special ramen with miso soup. It was a delight. Check this out...

It tasted as good as it looked - and it looks good to me!

I opted for a much plainer looking soba noodle soup with tempura prawn and vegetables. It may look simple but the flavour of the broth was still top notch. 

I also appreciated the fact that Mugen presented the tempura in a separate dish, meaning the batter would not go all soggy - other restaurants please take note!

While we were there, a private function was going on with a load of Japanese businessmen all enjoying themselves eating Mugen's tasty food. There was a sushi chef in the middle of the party plying his trade, making fresh sushi. Great scenes - will have to go back there one day to try their sushi and sashimi dishes out.

Nearest Tube: Bank

Five reasons why you should try Vital Ingredient

I recently won* a tasty lunch from the lovely people at Vital Ingredient - the fast food chain known for its healthy 'eat your way' salads.  It was an enjoyable lunch and, having had positive experiences there several times before, I decided to give you five reasons (in no particular order) why you should try Vital Ingredient.

Egg pasta, tuna, vine tomatoes, boiled egg, potatoes, edamame beans, ranch dressing.

1 The choice is great.

This is typically how ordering a salad works at Vital Ingredient: pick one of five bases for your salad, choose one of 10 items from the deli counter, four of 34 items from the veg counter and then one of 10 dressings.  A full list can be found here.  

While this might sound a bit complicated at first, all it means is that you're spoilt for choice and there's little excuse for not finding a combination you like.

And if you don't fancy a salad, their full menu have all sorts of hot foods, desserts, drinks and breakfast.

2 It's healthy.

Any seemingly healthy food can be turned unhealthy if you add too much of this and too much of that.  Thankfully the folks at Vital Ingredient have created a really easy-to-use Nutritional Calculator, helpful for those on strict health regimes and diets - or if you're just plain curious.  

Nutritional value of my salad.

3 It's filling.

Some salads can leave you hungry and wanting more?  Luckily, Vital Ingredient has plenty of filling ingredients to keep you going throughout the day.  Rice, pasta and potatoes are all available, for example.

4 They deliver.

Vital Ingredient is a pretty common sight in the City of London, where there are loads of office workers.  If however you and your team are a bit too busy to go out at lunch for whatever reason, they also deliver a range of platters - check out their delivery menu for more details.  

I'm yet to try this out yet - but they do look good!

5 It's tasty

Last but not least, the combination of fresh ingredients and great choice lead to a tasty meal!

In the past, I was always a bit unsure about a 'salad place' for lunch, but I decided to give it a try one day and I actually quite like it now.  Give it a go!

* If you're curious, this is how I won the caption competition...

Source

Disclaimer: although I won a free lunch, Vital Ingredient did not know I would write a blog entry and therefore did not influence the content.

Harry's Bar in London, featuring: wood pigeon, toulouse sausages, venison casserole, armagnac brioche and sorbet

Harry's Bar is a British/European restaurant in the City of London, situated in Abchurch Yard near Cannon Street.

I had decided to meet the girlfriend and an old friend for dinner and, while searching restaurants online, I found Harry's Bar, which had a toptable deal offering 50 per cent off its a la carte menu. After making sure it had solid diner reviews, I decided to give the restaurant a go.

I started off with the wood pigeon breast with redcurrant jus and fresh pomegranate. The meat was wonderfully cooked - soft and juicy - but I found the sauce a touch too sweet and slightly over powering. Slightly disappointing.

My friend's bangers and mash (or, as Harry's Bar calls it, grilled Toulouse sausages with caramelised shallots and thyme jus on creamy mash potatoes) was apparently 'pretty standard'. I'm reliably informed it was nothing special, but it 'did the trick'. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though; in my opinion, it's difficult for bangers and mash to break out of the 'standard' label.

Next up is the Scottish venison casserole with baby onions, carrots and chianti wine sauce served with creamy mash. This is the sort of dish I love and the meat was nice and soft, falling apart easily.

Onto dessert, I ordered the warm prune and armagnac brioche pudding served with vanilla ice cream. It's basically like a posh bread and butter pudding - and that's exactly why I really liked it. My friend also ordered this but found the brioche too dry. I however didn't mind this, as I felt the ice cream (which was incredibly creamy) countered the dryness well.

Finally, here is the sorbet selection consisting of pear, mango and lemon. Decent-sized scoops all round, but the real star was the pear sorbet, which had an incredibly refreshing taste. It shouldn't really be a surprise - and it's almost ridiculous to say - but it tasted incredibly like a pear.

So what did I think? On the food alone, it was a pretty decent experience overall; most of the food was good and portion sizes were acceptable. The location is good for City types and the restaurant interior is well presented.  It's worth a visit with the 50 per cent discount, but I think it would be too expensive for what it is without it.

Closest station: Cannon Street
Closest Tube: Bank and Monument
Address: 5 Abchurch Yard, London EC4N 7BA, UK

 

Juicy lamb tagine from Haz - Turkish restaurant in St Paul's, City of London

I really enjoyed the food at Haz, a Turkish restaurant next to St Paul's in the City of London. While it didn't 100 per cent remind me of the time I went to Turkey, I certainly walked away knowing I had a tasty meal and a full stomach.

I opted for the £11.95 two-course lunch menu, choosing the humus (or should that be hummus?) and lamb tagine. The humus was OK, but the lamb was very good, with the meat soft, juicy and well-seasoned. The dish came with seasoned rice, potatoes and vegetables, so it was very filling!

My colleague went for shish kofte (grilled mince lamb on skewer). It looked sufficiently tasty enough for me to take a picture of it! Might get this next time.

Another close-up of the lamb tagine...

Nearest Tube: St Paul's
Address: 34 Foster Lane, St Paul's London, EC2V 6HD

The Pelt Trader: Pizza and Beer in the City of London

If you like beer, you like pizza and you work in the City of London, then check out the Pelt Trader near London Cannon Street.

They have 16 beers on tap and a selection of giant pizzas - all 18 inches of it (12" also available). It's as simple as that.

We ordered the pepperoni, chorizo and red onion pizza. The GF and I couldn't finish it (I let myself down), but the bartender was kind enough to provide us with a takeaway box to ensure none of it was wasted.

They also do 'beer sticks' - dried meat in stick format, which are perfect for snacking on while you sip your drink. I certainly wouldn't mind going again to try some of the other pizzas.

Nearest Tube: Monument, Bank, Mansion House
Nearest station: London Cannon Street
Address: Pelt Trader, Arch 3, Dowgate Hill, EC4N 6AP

Old fashioned pub in The City of London, old fashioned (and crap) food

London has many wonderful shops and restaurants that are hidden away in little side streets. Finding them can be part of the fun of walking around London.

Unfortunately, The George and Vulture* located in a small alleyway by Cornnhill (near Bank) is not so wonderful. I don't have any problem with the small and cramped nature of the place - that's just how old buildings are. I also don't have a problem with the efficient staff that some people would interpret as rudeness. What I do have a problem with however is the horrible overpriced food they serve. Let's take a look.

Pate and bread for starter. Hmmm I was literally given toast and probably some supermarket pate. Nothing wrong with that at home (in fact I DO eat it at home), but not what I expect when paying for it in a dining pub.

Check out this steak and kidney 'pie'. It didn't look nice and it tasted worse. The flavour was non-existent and the pastry tasted like a biscuit.

So for these two awful courses plus chips (that's extra) and a glass of wine, I wouldn't want to spend much more than £10 (and even then I would feel ripped off). Yet somehow my fellow diners and I somehow paid on average £37 for our various two-course meals. That's right, 37 British Pound Sterling. Regardless of the price, this was my worst meal in a pub or restaurant ever. The price just made the pain worst.

Definitely avoid.

Address: 3 Castle Ct, London EC3V 9DL
Nearest Tube: Bank

* Not to be confused with this place: http://www.georgeandvulture.com/