The Meatwagon, Peckham Rye, SE22

The Meatwagon, famous largely for last year's pop up restaurant The Meateasy, is back. Their van got nicked last year, so they've decked out an American ambulance with a grill, of course. 'Guerilla dining' is how they refer to themselves, and they kind of operate around this nothing-wasted-on-frills-so-enjoy-top-quality-food-instead run down shabby vibe, which is kind of in vogue at the moment and certainly seems to be permeating a lot of London's most beloved trendy restaurants, Spuntino and Polpetto being two that come to mind. A burger van, basically. 
I love a good burger, so I travelled to Peckham, where the Meatwagon started out. (Peckham! You have to get a train from Victoria! I'm sorry, I know it's a bit pathetic, but I'm a North London girl for the time being.) Following the invitation of a friend, we went have a drink in the Rye, and enjoy a burger from the new incarnation of the Meatwagon which was stationed outside, grills-a-sizzling, Kasabian-a-blaring all in that nice twilighty summer evening glow. And a goooorgeous smell. 

So was it worth it? Pretty much. I opted for a cheeseburger, £6.00, which was brought to my pub table. It was thick, sticky-cheese encrusted wedge of happiness, served in a lovely glazed bun which absorbed the juices and flavours, without turning into a sog fest. Proper runny burger cheese as well, none of this 'mature cheddar' rubbish. It needed the addition of ketchup, as I'm a bit of a ketchup fiend, but apart from that it ticked all my boxes. Very rough round the edges, with grease and pink juice dripping down onto the paper plate with each awesome bite, gloriously disgusting, onions everywhere. It made a bloody mess and was a bit tricky to eat, but somehow I managed, hah.

Others I was with went for the bacon burger, £7.00, which also went down extremely well. My boyfriend chose the 'Dead Hippy' burger, a kind of Big-Mac-esque deal with the main interest point being that the meat was fried in mustard. Does anyone else even do that? It was the first I've ever heard of such a thing. In any case it was wonderfully spicy without being overwhelmingly mustard-y, (although he did prefer mine, in the end.)

Phwoar, meatyyyy.

Although staff seemed surprised and a little perplexed when one of our party asked for no cheese on his bacon burger (causes him migraines), and we could have done with some napkins, overall it was a really chilled out, enjoyable experience, and a damn good meal. I desperately want to sink my teeth into another one. 
The Hawksmoore it ain't, and their burgers aren't pretty, but oh yes, I'm pretty delighted I did make the trek dahn sarf to Peckham to give them a whirl. Do make every effort to catch the wagon if it's nearby, they seem to be doing the rounds nowadays - or make an evening of it like we did. 


The Meatwagon, all over London, info@themeatwagon.co.uk 

Seoul, Finchley Road, NW3

Remains of yuke in the bottom right corner - this plate was picked clean before it was taken away

Korean cuisine in London doesn't come close to the widespread reaches enjoyed by Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Indian, possibly because unlike the rest, you can't properly enjoy it as takeaway, because while Kimchi or bibimbap soup might survive reasonably well in transit, the true uniqueness of Korean lies in its hot, freshly barbequed meat dishes. The sheer unfathomed joy of cooking little strips of meat over a barbecue, built into your table, before making a little lettuce wrap with red bean curd paste, salt sauce, rice and then biting into it is something that can't be replicated at home. It's definitely better for meat-lovers. 

Barbecue - each plate of meat waiting to be cooked, £4.00/£4.50 (normally £8.00/£9.50)

I don't have very many pictures of this meal, and they were off my phone, so I'll keep it short and snappy - Seoul is a small, local Korean restaurant in Finchley & Frognal, a two-minute amble from the overground station and not too far from the Jubilee line tube. It's the sister restaurant of a sushi place, and when we went - six of us, on a Saturday night - it was subdued but fairly busy, a brightly lit room with about 20 covers, with quite a few Korean people dining. The meal was outstanding in every sense of the word, and well worth the trip, if you live in North London or are a bus ride away at least. To be fair, we even had someone with us from Peckham who was still glad they came for the journey. This was my second trip here, admittedly it had been two years, but it has remained just as good.
We were with someone who was quite au fait with the whole Korean food experience (I asked her about 10 times what gets dipped in what) who thankfully took over the ordering process. We all agreed that barbecue needed to feature heavily, of course, but we were wondering what to get. Finally enticed by their 50% off offer, and the waiter going "why not just get everything" - that's what we got. Everything on the barbecue menu. Six animals! Vegetarians, look away. Several varieties of marinaded beef, pork, chicken, ox tongue, king prawn, squid, plus some onions, mushrooms, green peppers and garlic. Chucked onto the grill with gusto, cooked by everyone at the table, shared around, eaten piping hot. 10/10 for deliciousness apart from some very bony chunks of steak which we obviously couldn't eat.

We also got yuke, (or yuk hui as it's sometimes written), not for the faint-hearted when it comes to meat, but it sent our table into paroxysms of joy. Cold, raw beef strips, with raw quail egg, sesame oil, pine nuts, and raw pear. You mash it all together, then you eat it as it is. It doesn't sound appealing, but my god, if you're at all daring, you'd want to have a go. We also ordered a swathe of little plates - kimchi, sesame cucumber, pickled bean-sprouts, vinegary shredded radish (my favourite) - which arrived within moments of ordering, around £1.00 to £1.50 on the menu each. The wonderful waiter then told us that these appetisers were on the house, and that we were entitled to as much as we liked. I have no idea if this is standard for this restaurant, or because we were a large group ordering a tonne of food, but either way, it put a big smile on our faces. He also brought us out pickled mooli - kaktoogi - something we didn't order, but he told us that it was a traditional Korean side dish, and all the rest, which was a lovely touch. 
Then, the bill - get ready; for six people, all that food, rice, yuke, plus beers, and a breakaway member of the group who ordered udon noodles and a soup, the bill was £120. £20 or so each! (Without the 50% off all barbecue , it would have been closer to £155 - still a damn good deal.)
By the end of the meal, we were pretty much all dying with being full of amazing food and happiness. It's perfect for group dining, and a total delight - not quite so much for vegetarians though. This is another restaurant that has no website, but do yourself a favour and try some of Seoul's Korean food as soon as you can. Mmm. 

Seoul, 289 Finchley Road, NW3 6ND, 020 7784 9099

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Spicy pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana

Blogger unhelpfully ate this post, with the comments too. Thankfully, I had a cache of it, so here it is again. 

To take a bit of a departure from my usual "oh so good, yet so healthy, plus vegetarian!" shpiel, here is a fatty, gorgeous, meaty pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana, which has such deep flavours, that even though I've made it countless times, I always go "oh god" everytime I take my first mouthful. It's the incredibly simple ingredients that make it, red onion with pancetta being a winner, plus some red wine, rosemary and chilli.
This one is a real crowd pleaser as well. If you're ever trying to get people round for a non-fussy Italian-style dinner with some garlic bread and salad and 5 bottles of red, this is a perfect, utterly PERFECT main.
I first saw the recipe, I think, on Saturday Morning Kitchen when I was a student, and I can't remember where I scribbled down my version from, but I've used it ever since four years ago and time and time again it's been perfect. The original invited you to let the sauce thicken for 40 minutes. 40 minutes!! That's way too long! This version is much quicker and still insanely delicious. Seriously, invite your friends round for dinner, make this, be popular. I recommend it.


Penne Amatriciana (serves 2)
Just double the quantities for 4, etc.

• 200g penne pasta
• Half a pack of pancetta from a supermarket (100g), or lardons or even a few rashers of smoked bacon chopped
• 1 large red onion or 1.5 small ones (peeled and chopped)
• One tin of chopped or plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp (ish) of dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• A handful of grated Parmesan cheese (or two handfuls if you like it extra cheesy-creamy)
• A good few glugs of red wine

Note - I understand completely if you don't feel like buying a bottle of wine just to make a meal, but honestly, the difference it makes, plus having some wine to drink while eating this makes it outstanding for a simple plate of pasta. However, I've made this several times without and it's still wonderful.
Heat up a pan on a fairly high heat, and chuck in your pancetta dry. The fattiness of the meat, as it melts, will mean that there's more than enough oil in your pan to cook your onions later. Cook it for a while and don't be impatient, this is as crisp as the pancetta will get, so you may as well let it get quite well cooked. What you're looking for is the golden edging appearing around the outside of the chunks.

Once that's done, turn down your heat to medium and add the onions. Keep an eye on them at first, see if they're looking like they might burn, adjust the heat accordingly and then stir every now and then over the next few minutes until wonderfully soft and approaching translucent.

Mix in your chilli flakes next - depending on how spicy you like it, obviously, you can add less or more. I use the amount shown in the picture for two and it's just about right. Not too hot, but not too bland either. Awesome stuff.This is the part I really screwed up the first time I made this - so be ready! Have your tin of tomatoes open, and ready, so you don't have to fuss with opening it up. Then turn the heat up super high, add your glugs of wine, and it should hiss as it goes into the pan. Stir rapidly with a spoon and you can see the alcohol evaporating off, which is what we want, and make the sauce quite liquidy. After a short period, 30 seconds, although you can judge yourself, quickly add the tomatoes, give a good stir, and turn down the heat so the sauce simmers briefly.
Add rosemary - quite a lot, maybe double the amount of chilli that you used. The pungent rosemary is one of the main flavours in this, so don't be afraid to add a lot. Then stir. Now, bring the sauce up to boiling point, then turn down and let thicken. The thickening is really crucial, it's the sticky oily goodness that makes this sauce which you can't appreciate if the tomatoes are still watery and runny.

I put my pasta on at this point, in well salted water, and let boil. You can grate your Parmesan now if you like. When the sauce has thickened enough, add the parmsean, then mix through with the pasta. Serve with some red wine, and if you're feeling like being fancy you can garnish with some parsley or basil.

As you can see it goes down a treat. The wine bottles in the background have candles in them - promise!

Sage roast chicken and sausage with mustard and lemon

It's no secret that I love making roasts for people. There is nothing quite so lovely as having a few friends quietly milling around your house midday, wine in hand, as all kinds of delicious smells waft from the oven and you're peacefully peeling spuds and all the rest. Only sometimes buying a huge chicken or such can be a bit of a mission when you were hoping for something a bit more downbeat.

This Nigella Lawson recipe is a lovely balance of that - delicious, but extremely straightforward and a perfect medium if you haven't quite gotten around to trying a proper roast yet. No basting required, just slam in the oven and take out an hour and 15 later (although do turn the sausages over once). It's also cheap!  - using sausages and chicken thighs, which turn crispy on the outside and perfectly tender in the middle. The sage used gives it a wonderful, hearty aroma and the marinade pushes it from just being 'roast meat' into something seriously delicious. You can have it with just some basic mashed potato and veg on the side if you're feeling simple, or if you prefer to go full whack, a potato gratin and some peas and carrots make it into something that rivals a full on Sunday lunch. This is just about the right amount for three people, usually our good friend  Dave, who is a long-visiting guest, regularly giving me the opportunity to justify cooking elaborate meals. The time I made this he was painfully hungover, but he ventured from Edgware to sample the food and left a happy man indeed.  
This makes enough for three as that's the size of my roasting tray, with a few bits left over, but just straight up double if you want to do enough for six. I have this in my recipe notes as 'one tray amazing roast heaven' but lets call it... 

Halfway through eating, realised I hadn't taken a photo! So this is a bit blurry and hurried....

Simple, one tray roast 

• 1 or 2 small onion (the marinaded, slippery onions that result from this recipe are amazing)
• 60ml olive oil
• 1 tsp mustard (the original recipe calls for English but I prefer French grainy mustard)
• 1 tbsp dried sage
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tbsp Worcester sauce
• 6 chicken thighs
• 6 to 8 sausages (however many you want, really.)
• 1 tbsp of chopped, fresh sage, if you can justify buying a whole pack for a few leaves. I normally skip this because buying fresh herbs unless I plan to use up is a waste, but it's a nice addition.

Before you start, prepare the marinade. Have a freezer bag ready, although if you are in a pinch a bowl will do, just remember to stir it around a little bit while marinading so it gets an even coating. Into your bag, put in the olive oil, the Worcester sauce and the mustard. Juice the lemon half and pour in the juice, then slice the rind into eighths and chuck that in too. Cut the onion into eighths and add to the bag, with the dried sage and a looooooot of ground black pepper. Yum. Mash it all up so it forms a consistent mixture, then add the chicken, make sure it gets coated then marinade for as long as you can stand. An hour, four hours, over night, whatever. Just make sure the chicken isn't cold when you start roasting, if possible.

Put the oven to 220, (although 200 is usually what I do as our oven is hot) and tip the whole bag/bowl of marinade into your largest and nicest roasting tray. Put the chicken in the tray skin-side up, and tuck the sausages around. Add the fresh sage if you're using it - a tablespoon of chopped leaves - and that's it. Put it in the oven and cook for one hour to one hour fifteen. At the 45m mark, take it out, and flip the sausages, as the underside will be white and the top will be brown and crispy. 

Pro-tip: I would remove the lemon before serving up, as if you don't you might end up accidentally trying to eat a chunk of it a la onions. 

Credit where credit is due: Nigella Lawson