Dishoom - A Bombay Cafe in London

Address: 12 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9FB

WWW: http://www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/

Summary: The house chai, and excellent breakfast dishes.

Source: Dishoom website

We've been here several times. First for Steve's birthday, then we had to bring an Indian friend and show off our Indian breakfast find, and finally, when we were turned down from our target breakfast place in the neighborhood, we went to Dishoom for a safe-bet breakfast. 

I always get the house chai (2.50 pounds), the perfect drink to start my day. Steve and a friend opted once for the chocolate chai (2.70 pounds), and agreed that house chai is too perfect to mix it up with anything else. 

Over different times, we tried different things in the menu. 

FRESH FRUIT & YOGHURT - Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and honeydew melon, with real Kerala-vanilla yoghurt. (3.90 pounds):  Very refreshing, and tasty.

BUN MASKA - The Iranian café classic. The bun is toasted hot on the outside, with a slice of butter cold inside, to be dipped all into your spicy chai. The simplest thing, eaten everywhere in Bombay. (2.70 pounds): Our Iranian friend indeed said it is a classic, and our Indian friend indeed said it brought back her childhood memories. So, it is a classic, but not my or Steve's favorite. Feels rather bland compared to other options.

BOMBAY OMELETTE- A crazy-paving omelette of chopped tomato, onion, coriander and green chilli. Served with tomatoes grilled on the vine and Fire Toast. (5.90 pounds): I love this option. Coriander makes the omelette very refreshing and the grilled tomatoes accompany it well. It is a generous, nicely filling dish for us, may not be that satisfying for larger appetites.

FULL BOMBAY - Abundant Akuri (the vegetarian scrambled eggs option in their menu), char-striped back bacon fresh off the flames, Cumberland sausage,Fire Toast and tomatoes grilled on the vine. (7.90 pounds): Definitely "the ultimate choice" for the meat eaters. Comes in a generous portion.

Source: foodepedia.co.uk

We expect to come here many more times!

Mildreds vegetarian restaurant, Soho, London

Address: 45 Lexington Street, London , W1F 9AN
WWW: http://www.mildreds.co.uk/

Summary: Good vegetarian plates

I always try to find new vegetarian places, as I have a vegetarian friend in London, and I do not want to always torment her with 1-2 vegetarian items in the menu that she has to choose between.  

We tried Mildreds on a week-night, for a girls get-together. And indeed, it turned out to be a cozy place to dine. We started the night with  bellini - prosseco, white peach (5.95 pounds) and elderflower martini - st-germain, gin (6.95 pounds). Both cocktails were amazing, and they served us well while we were waiting for a table.  Once we got seated, we decided  our dishes pretty quickly. Mildreds has a diverse menu, full of options for all variety of appetites - vegan, and also  gluten-free and wheat free.

We decided to share gyozo dumplings (6.25 pounds) for a starter. The plate has 6 of them and they were a joy to eat indeed, which helped us endure the wait for the main dish (though I have to say, the service is pretty quick and the initial wait was not that long compared to typical London standard of 20 minutes going to 40).

For my main course, I had a middle eastern meze plate (10.50 pounds) with beetroot yoghurt dip, chilli feta dip, tabouleh, falafel, spinach feta pinenut spanakopita and flat bread. I loved the spanakopita. Falafel and tabouleh were also both nicely moist and full of flavors. I was not a big fan of the chilli feta dip and the flat bread unfortunately. I like my feta more fatty and less salty. The flat bread was a bit dry, and I like it softer.

My friend got  a plate of stir fried asian vegetables (9.95 pounds) cooked in sesame oil and plum sauce with garlic and ginger, fresh chilli and coriander served with organic brown rice, toasted cashews and marinated organic tofu. It was just too much to eat, though she was happy with the taste.

I think at the end we both liked the gyozo dumplings, and wanted more of it.

In summary, Mildreds is at a perfect location for meeting up on a week-night. The wait was tolerable, and we ended up having a good time, and our taste buds cannot complain.