Tag Archives: cheap

New Pizzeria at Camden Eye pub

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Camden Eye has a lot on offer with numerous signs outside boasting the best grub in the area. The arrival of their new pizza parlour is a very appealing asset offering a quick and tasty lunch upstairs.

This relaxed, traditional London pub is very conveniently located in the heart of Camden Town opposite the main tube station. With real ales, superior fish and chips, freshly made flame grilled brioche burgers (I’m trying one of these next time) and an exciting wine list, there is plenty to choose from. The newly refurbished pizzeria is stylish and trendy with clever design from Wallpaper Heaven. You can survey the busy streets of Camden Town from the comfort of your table. We were in a prime spot to watch a local musician bashing out Christmas tunes on a steel drum.

My lunch at the Camden Eye Pizzeria was brief but brilliant. On a cold December lunchtime the pub was buzzing although few visitors had made it upstairs to try the Italian food. They serve a range of ten pizzas, all priced at £10, alongside a bespoke Italian wine list… what is there not to like? We ordered soft drinks and, ravenous from the falling temperatures, chose our pizzas super quick.

The menu promises that they are low in fat and low in calories, though judging by the quantity of oozing cheese I find this hard to believe. The staff are trained by Francesco Santocono, world champion pizza-maker 2008! Santocono’s pizzas have been described by Angelina Jolie as the best she has ever had, and the menu even includes her favourite toppings, which have been named after her: ‘How to Impress Angelina Jolie’ (olives, goat’s cheese, walnuts, and caramelised onions). We chose the Spaniard (Serrano ham, chorizo, salami, chillies, and mozzarella) sans chilli and the Little Bear (prosciutto crudo, mushrooms, roasted peppers & parmigiano). Our pizzas arrived on rustic wooden boards piping hot and smelling divine. These wood fired pizzas are simple and reasonable, with a wonderful crispy and thin homemade dough base (with a sprinkling of what I suspect was polenta flour) and characterful intriguing toppings. As we devoured them we barely spoke. They were absolutely delicious though benefitted from a little extra seasoning… try a drizzle of their chilli oil or a crunch of black pepper.

The pizzeria upstairs can we booked out for private hire and office workers in the area will be pleased to know that a pizza takeaway service will be available in early 2013.

More information here: http://www.thecamdeneye.co.uk/my-camden.php

Dirty Burger, Highgate

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The coolest places are always the hardest to find… I paced up and down Highgate Road for ten minutes before plucking up the courage to ask at a nearby pub, “Where exactly is Dirty Burger?” It had been under my nose all the time, round the back of the glowing Pizza East restaurant.

The tin shack is tiny with just enough space to hold twenty hungry burger fans. The menu is short and simple with the crew concentrating on doing what they do best and not fussing with alternatives. It is a quick process, order a cheeseburger at the bar, make the difficult choice between onion rings and crinkle chips and take a seat on one of the communal benches.

Pre-empting the greasy feast at Dirty Burger, I was careful to not eat much before my visit, ensuring a starving state. On entry to the shack, the irresistible smells tickled my taste buds – I was extremely excited about finally trying a famous ‘dirty burger’.

The burgers here are of the sloppy kind, though they don’t drip unnecessarily. The ground beef is cleverly coated in a floury layer to add a delicious crispy edge. As I often say, a burger is only as good its bun, and here at DB they get it just right with a super soft sweet bread sandwiching the contents. Crunchy lettuce, sliced tomato and melted cheese completes the beast. It is so good all thoughts of calories go out the window, instead I began thinking, “Could I manage a second?”.

Luckily I tried both the chips and onion rings and on reflection would recommend you order both, as they are equally tasty and quite frankly unmissable if you want the complete burger experience. The onion rings are blissfully light, with an extra peppery thin batter encasing the soft loops of onion. Chips are old school crinkly and though I was sceptical at first, taste insanely good, especially after a decent dunking in mayonnaise.

Milkshakes are also available: thick, sweet and indulgent, just like the ones served in American diners. I opted for a refreshingly cold diet coke from the help-yourself fridge.

This secret shack stands strong as a leader in the London burger revolution, and after trying their juicy recipe I’m hooked on this Highgate hangout. The dirtier the burger, the better!

More information here.

http://www.eatdirtyburger.com/

Boqueria, Brixton

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Boqueria very recently won TimeOut’s award for ‘Best Cheap Eat’ and after a lovely evening spent at this Brixton restaurant, I can vouch for it being a deserving winner. It is inspired by Barcelona’s famous fresh food market ‘El Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria’ – the name has been simplified to just Boqueria. This iconic market displays and sells an incredible array of fruit, vegetables and seafood and this eatery hopes to evoke its very vibrant flavours and atmosphere within a contemporary and comfortable setting.

The restaurant offers a range of traditional and contemporary dishes and this is how the menu is divided. Aside from the usual cheese and meat selection (which incidentally Boqueria does extremely well), we found we were more drawn to the modern recipes. After a delicious glass of sparkling we were treated to a bottle of wine. I left our waiter to choose trusting his judgement of Spanish food and wine pairing better than my own. The drinks menu is very reasonable and we found that despite its low price our white had a lovely full bodied flavour and pleasant aftertaste.

Salted padron peppers were brought to us without instruction, a little bitter but delicious when eaten with the bread and alioli. Chorizo cooked in cider was dangerously indulgent, to be eaten in moderation. Aubergine cannelloni with goat cheese and mushrooms was a surprising delight, brilliantly matched flavours and sloppy but yummy, and the fried squid with lemon mayonnaise was fresh and not too greasy, a definite achievement for breadcrumbed seafood!

There is lots of tempting meat on offer, we chose the two pork options: slices of Iberian pork shoulder with sweet potato puree was a little heavy and chewy for me but had a lovely flavour. Suckling pig with parsnip and potato crisps was insanely good and very tender but at the cost of numerous calories!

After his meticulous attentive service at the start of the meal when it was time for desserts, we found our waiter was nowhere to be seen, nor did anyone else offer us anything sweet. Feeling full and not bothered much anyway we left content after a very tasty and satisfying Spanish feast.

A short walk from Brixton tube station, don’t let the location put you off, this is a restaurant worth a visit even if you don’t live near the Victoria line and is a lovely foodie addition to the eateries of Brixton Village.

More information here.

http://www.boqueriatapas.com/