Globetrotting Bites! (pt. II - London)

 

 

 

As you may or may not know, I recently had the pleasure of visiting Europe for the first time! Much of the trip was spent wandering through various cities and trying the local grub... so why not write about some of the food and beverages I encountered? In this second chapter we'll be covering the four days spent in London, England. 

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Smoke & Pepper's Texan Firebird Chicken Sandwich

 

Smoke & Pepper is, I later learned, a grill-focused fast food mini-chain throughout London (with a couple locations scattered elsewhere on the British Isle). In the moment I could not have cared less: upon arriving at Liverpool Street Station I'd gone off in the wrong direction, resulting in a two hour walk and check into my hostel (new city who this). Finally settled in and starving, this smokey peppery place was the simplest looking thing across the street!

 

 

Ordering something so abrasively spicy on an empty stomach was certainly a choice, as the heat of this chicken sandwich was indeed pretty sizzling (even if it looks more like a collapsing fish burrito under the lights of that picture). I'm typically not a fan when a place will use two or three chicken tenders for their "sandwich" instead of a proper single hunk of fried chicken... nevertheless this here was plenty full bodied and juicy with the breading quite on point (crunchy and just the right layer of it). A very flavourful sandwich... with most of the heat coming from their "S n' P" spicy mayo (bit of a vinegary zing hidden in the creaminess with the distinct sharpness of a jalapeno). 

Anyhow. Pretty solid stuff! An odd introduction to the many cuisines of London, getting a Texas-themed fried chicken sandwich... but one thing I quickly realized about London is, much like Toronto, that this is a massive city with an endlessly diverse array of food options. Maybe neither city is known for one true signature dish (you can certainly argue though), instead you can find almost any global cuisine your heart desires... and more than likely there's going to be an awesome restaurant somewhere that does it.

 

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Bleecker Burger

 

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen. 

 

 

Bleecker Burger was adamantly (and I mean adamantly) recommended to me by a longtime friend and co-worker who is quite enthusiastic about trying (and as energetic about sharing pictures of) the very best food an unfamiliar place or city has to offer. In August when I mentioned to him I was probably going to London, the name of ths burger place may have been the first words out of his mouth in response. 

Bleecker isn't exactly an under-the-radar type of burger spot either: they have over 150 thousand followers on Instagram, won National Burger of the Year in 2024 (presumably in the UK) and even were awarded second place in a "best burgers in the world" list by Worldbeststeaks.com. Needless to say, my expectations were a little high going into this one. 

 

 

Started up in 2012 by an inspired New Yorker who had recently moved to London, Bleecker first operated as a food truck but within a few years had built enough of a following to open a permanent kiosk in Spitalfields Market. While it would've been cool for me to check out that original location... allow me to emphasize again how freaking massively huge London is as a city and I still have no clue where the heck Spitalfields is. Instead, I got two birds stoned at once and got to walk by 221B Baker Street (very cool) before checking out the Bleecker Burger location just a dozen doors south on Baker. 

 

 

Before we get to the beef of it all (where is it?) we've got to talk about these "Angry House Fries". An interesting concept: basically just fries covered in their house sauce (mustard, mayo and ketchup) with hot sauce also mixed in. 

Throughout my trip I noticed these European joints tend not to cook their fries to golden and crispy... which happens to be how I tend to like them. However! Places like Bleecker (and Bunsen in Dublin) make up for this by using incredibly fresh tasting potatoes... and there is still just enough crispiness to satisfy that particular preference. These fries are also quite dense and fluffy on the inside... overall just good stuff.

The hot sauce (which is thin and vinegary like Frank's) doesn't do much for me (I find these types of hot sauces work best on foods that can absorb them better) but the burger sauce is definitely a positive. Quite mustardy (you get basically none of the ketchup sweetness) yet with a creamy richness that suits fried potatoes very well. 

 

 

Now the moment has arrived. I'd been anticipating this burger since late August and finally here I was, in the middle of London, England, ready to take a bite and see what my friend's fuss was about.

 

 

You can see it's an incredibly simple burger also (especially when you're a weirdo like me who takes the onion off): just beef, cheese, onion and their house sauce. They also ask how you like it cooked (which they also did at Bunsen) and so once again I elected for "medium". 

Some behind the curtain stuff: I usually type notes into my phone while I'm taking my first bites in trying all these food places. Sometimes I can wing it just from looking at the photos... but it's good to remember those precise initial reactions, you know? So for this Bleecker cheeseburger, no lie... my first impression direct quote is: "The burger is... wow." Which is probably the most accurate in-the-moment note I've ever jotted down.

It's a phenomenal burger. Love at first bite. There's a unique butteryness to the taste that is just enough to make it transcend any typical fast food cheeseburger you've ever had, yet not too much for it to feel gimmicky and pretentious. Nah, the beef they use (aged for 40 days according to their website) is just that freaking good, its natural flavour that rich and full. 

 

 

(I hate showing bite shots but this is an exception) The texture! By god the texture... juicy and crumbly (a perfect medium) while the American cheese coats the mouth in just the right ways. So much incredible flavour here despite it being so simple... this cheeseburger pulls off the neat trick of tasting both grounded and upper-class somehow. Light and elegant, yet grilled and simple. This is one you want to take your time with... savour each and every bite because this beef melts in your mouth like the very best kinds of steaks do. I've never had a burger quite like this in my entire life.

 

 

Simply put, Bleecker Burger is a must visit if you're in London and are a fan of burgers (heck even if you're not). Upon telling my friend I'd finally tried them, his reaction was something akin to "WASN'T THAT THE BEST BURGER YOU'VE EVER HAD?????" At the risk of being annoyingly semantic, I can't honestly say Bleecker is the absolute best burger I've ever had. But I also can't think of one that was definitively better, either. This is elite-elite stuff, folks. A near impossible act to follow. 

 

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Mac N' Cheese from the Generator London Hostel

 

 

This bit here is less about the mac n' cheese itself (which was pretty decent) and more about how it was rather cool that I could order off their menu online upstairs from my bunk, get an email notification when it was ready and then just come down to get it. Plus their kitchen was open late (11:30pm) unlike my Dublin hostel where the kitchen was packed up by 8pm even on Saturdays. My time in the Dublin hostel sadly was much less... restful, shall we say. 

Anyhow, it's a plenty creamy baked mac and cheese (with bread crumbs on top)... the nature of which unfortunately means you have to wait almost twenty minutes until its cooled off enough for eating (but I'm hungry now!). A quality mini-meal indeed, although the addition of brisket (the dark chunks you see) was not really worth the charge. They quite dry out in the oven and there simply isn't that much of it in here. Still, it was a pretty solid late night snack all things considered.

 

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Breakfast Buffet at the Generator London

 

 

Worth the extra Euros without a doubt. I tend to go nuts in a buffet setting (who me? never) and there was a delectable asssortment of stuff here (baked beans, pineapple, mushrooms) that would be impossible to show without several more plates. I mean, I might've been up to such an eating challenge if I'd been waking up earlier (damn Blue Jays playoff run keeping me up until 5am local time.... grrrrrr)

Anyhow, the breakfast itself was quite tasty but moreso I thought this picture was an amusing display of my glutton-I-mean 'breakfast inventiveness'. Yes. 

 

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Walker's Cheese and Onion Baked Crisps (chips) 

 

John Oliver might've been right about these... although to my credit I didn't get the "prawn cocktail" flavour...

Also, what the heck is up with this:

It's a large bag for chips but instead filled with several smaller bags of chips? I suppose I get the idea of it, bewildering as it was upon first discovery... you grab a couple of the tiny bags for a day trip or whatever. More portable than bringing along the gigantic sack of chips. Just because I understand it, does not mean I still don't find it extremely weird! 

Anyhow, even considering these are baked chips, Walkers are pretty damn terrible. Don't let that "BIG on Flavour!" bit on the bag fool you, there is none of that to be found here beyond a faint dry dusting of something that almost kind of maybe resembles the promised cheese and onion? And they don't really taste like chips either... more like thick and crispy edible discs of baked lumber. How do you mess up both flavour and texture so badly? Truly dreadful. 

 

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Ginger Pig Lamb Merguez Sausage Roll

 

 

Another insisted upon recommendation from the same friend who steered me towards the glorious Bleecker Burger... Ginger Pig is actually more of a high end neighbourhood butcher shop than the afternoon cafe I was probably expecting. Regardless, they do sell their baked sausage rolls ("they've developed a cult following over the years" according to their website) for seven pounds each and so after a visit to Abbey Road (because obviously) I found a bench to sit and enjoy this. 

A few things: first of all these are huge! I ate maybe a fifth of it before deciding to save it for later... which leads me into the second thing: staying in a hostel (as opposed to an AirBnB or something) tends to make reheating outside food rather tricky. So I had to eat this cold, which while still quite tasty, really makes me think I was missing out on the full potential deliciousness of this sausage roll being hot and freshly baked from even a toaster oven or stovetop. 

Nevertheless, this is one tasty sausage roll. Some nice cumin seed-like spice, giving a hearty earthiness to the minced lamb inside, while the pastry (even cold) is still somewhat soft and flaky. Despite being cold, the lamb is still juicy enough to avoid unpleasant dryness and not overstay its welcome in the mouth. I quite liked this! Next time I'm finding a way to heat it up though.          

 

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Pizza Sophia

 

 

Despite being just across the street from my hostel (I really was fortunate this stretch of Tavistock Place had so many food options) and, you know, a freaking pizza place... trying Pizza Sophia was not Plan A for my final night in London. Instead, I'd hoped to finally visit reputable Indian restaurant Dishoom. Problem was, in spite of their several locations, each time I'd passed by any Dishoom there was a lineup curled around the corner (even in a terrible rainstorm!). Why not make a reservation, you might be asking? Alas actually calling ahead and making a reservation for one... that's a level of public isolation I'm just not ready for. 

Anyhow, Dishoom just wasn't going to happen for me this trip and after a long walk through the downright gorgeous Camden Canal... I was hungry! Sophia Pizza it was. I managed to score a table about ten minutes before the place completely filled up on this particular mid-October Friday evening, ordered a Peroni and their "Venezia" pizza ("Venezia" is the Italian name for Venice if you're wondering, though it has other less common associations)

 

       

What exactly are we working with here? Why it's pepperoni, nduja paste, goat cheese and some garlic oil. It's also a white pizza and very heavy with the mozzarella. 

Does it look good? I think so. Did it taste good? Hooooo baby, you bet. Definitely as heavy as it looks and sounds, with those flavours (the garlic oil quite subtly so) lingering in the mouth like a memorable visit from an old friend. You get pleasant saltiness from the pepperoni (a thick sliced pepp at that) and the goat cheese, which has really melted and bled into the overall lake of cheese here... some good immediate earthy heat from the nduja... meanwhile all that cheese is a fantastic quality mozzarella, bringing that distinct full bodied butteryness that makes such a difference both in texture and taste.

 

   

Can't recall if this was a classic wood fire oven or a stone one (I'm leaning the latter) but you can see that the crust and dough is on the thicker side for that style of pie. No matter, as this dough oozes fresh baked flavour, is fabulously soft and perfect for dabbing in some house chili oil (there seemed to only be one bottle of the stuff for the whole restaurant as it was being passed around from table to table quite frequently). 

 

 

Like I said, for some reason trying Pizza Sophia was not initially in my plans but I'm glad the fates steered me towards their door. This pizza was simply exceptional, a delicious symphony of cheesy flavours with the supporting elements giving it brilliant nuance and depth. It's a tough call whether this or Bambino in Dublin was the best pizza I had during my entire trip (they're such different styles its hard to directly compare) but I can say if Pizza Sophia transported shop to Toronto, this would be a Top 15 pizza in the entire city easily. It has that first bite "holy cow this is special" magic. They get an "A" grade for sure. 

 

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The Bumble Bees' Lamb Pasanda

 

 

Can we agree that of all the outside foods to sneak into a hostel and eat sitting on the bottom of a bunk bed... maybe Indian curry isn't the best logistical choice? 

Knowing I'd be staying up late to watch Game One of the World Series (still not over it) I decided to get myself a second dinner and actually try some proper Indian food in these final hours I was in London. The Bumble Bees happens (or happen? weird plural name for a restaurant) to be right next door to Pizza Sophia (as you can see) and right before they closed I ordered myself a lamb pasanda dish with a garlic naan and lemon rice.    

While most of my attention was zeroed in on that game (and trying not to knock my food off the bed) I can say that this was a delicious meal. The hunks of lamb were juicy and fatty enough, the sauce was both creamy and somewhat nutty (definitely light for such a thick sauce) while the rice and naan were excellent at absorbing all that saucy goodness. This is really all I can remember... again it was 3am over there and my eyes were on the baseball match (the TOR Blue Jays are my favourite squadron). Sorry Bumble Bees! But you were very good and the service was delightful! 

 

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That's it for part two! Next time, the thrilling conclusion as we go through my quite hectic final few days abroad where I was in five different countries in the span of like fifty hours. Amazing I remember any of it, to be honest. Until next time!