O perfil de Ian Marshall

For cheap eats within skipping distance from Boudnath Stupa you could go far wrong than this friendly little spot where the owner is usually on hand with a grin and a laugh and you will sit on scruffy sofas next to Monks and students eating Momos, Thukpa and other Tibetan goodies. It’s not fancy, and you can’t see the stupa from here, but it’s cosy and you can hang out with a Tongba (hot Tibetan beer) for a while if you fancy…

Right in the heart of tourist central Thamel this is one little spot where you can duck away from the chaos. They have bakery items out the front to eat in or take away and I think they are the best of the crop in Kathmandu. There are a few rivals and they all offer discounts in the evening – usually after 8pm – of up to 50% but I think this one has the most consistent output.
With sweet Pineapple Bags, tasty cinnamon rolls and generously filled apple strudels you can’t really go far wrong.
They do reasonably priced food and drinks as well although I’m reliably informed the coffee isn’t great and the fruit juice was just average. My Yak Cheese sandwich was nice but a bit dry.
Anyway, you want to go for the pastries for the most part.

The Qype event here was the first time I had been to the Soho branch of Wahaca, having already been to the Westfield and Canary Wharf versions.
It was good to see the fairly sizeable bar, well stocked with sipping tequila of course, taken as cocktails they were rather good, and funnily enough the promise of no hangover was pretty accurate...

We were there to see an episode of co-owner Thomasina Miers Mexican cooking show which is on Channel 5 at the moment and once we did that it was time for a few nibbles which were tasty as always.
I've just made the salsa on the show and it's delicious.

Hard to judge the restaurant on what we were given and on the bar area alone but with swing seats and a spinning top to sit on, there was fun to be had in there for sure...!

I love the sound of some of Bompass & Parr's amazing events and I feel I got a nice little taster at the Qype Summer Party with their Rum cocktails. Adding champagne and Nitrous Oxide as well as an Ether laced strawberry left me impressed

Meaty sausages, good bread rolls, a wide selection of sauces and cheery service. The queue at the Qype Summer Party was immense and although I initially began waiting by mistake I'm very glad I indulged myself in a phenomenal snack.

I was lucky to be picked by those lovely people at Qype to sample some ales as a preview of the Hip Hop Off beer festival that was held down at this new bar on the corner of Redchurch St and Bethnal Green Road.

Having been away of course, in a country where it is virtually impossible to get a decent beer (where are the IPAs in India is what I want to know!) it was a delight to try some new drops, a couple of which were fantastic.

We were introduced to the selection on offer by Steve Taylor who is a man truly passionate about his beer (although he is not an ale bore. He is happy to bore about lager as well..!) Seriously though, it was great to meet someone who can explain the cultural and historical rise of lager and the decline of ale in the last century and who is determined to get people drinking good quality beer - regardless of whether it is fizzy or flat, cold or warm.

It was also nice to see some real thought going into the selection of beers for the festival, selecting different breweries takes on the hops that they were using and allowing the drinker to compare what they had done. It's a good indication of the attention to detail that has clearly been an intrinsic part of everything about this place, I mean, there was some criticism of the lampshades but I didn't think they were THAT bad... As others have said though, this place is in hipster central and yet it manages to be entirely unpretentious and stylish without overwhelming.

So we started out with a couple of beers brewed with the Citra Hop, an American developed plant with fruity flavours. We had tasters of the Darkstar Hophead Citra, a special edition of the house ale and the much stronger Kernel IPA Citra. Some found this second beer too strong, but while I couldn't necessarily have drunk it all night, I found it an amazing drop. It assaulted you with it's smell first before the fruit cocktail of flavour with a silky texture hit the palate.

These two were among my favourites of the ones we tried during the night but Steve managed to even find something for the avowed beer-haters among us, bringing out a bottle of something that tasted like fizzy cherry sweets and not in a particularly good way as far as I was concerned; It won over the unconverted though so he obviously knows what he is doing.

The boozy food consisted of an excellent beer soaked "English" Rarebit and duck cured with hops which was subtle but delicious. The venison with chocolate sauce didn't work for me to be honest though and I felt the meat was marginally overcooked. Having said that, at least they are trying something a bit different with their menu and it was certainly a lot more interesting than your standard pub fare.

It's the beer and the devotion to it in all it's many forms that really wins me over here though. I feel I could happily spend evenings in here knowing that I would get a good drink and be in a casual but cool environment without any pretension.

From the Bocca De Lupo team accross the road this is an awesome Ice Cream parlour/coffee bar/deli offering some fantastic flavours.

Pear, Cinnamon and Ricotta, Pistachio and Ricotta, Coffee and Honey in the ice cream were fabulous and unusual.

The sorbets were where it came into its own though I think, we were dubious but while tasting were told - they don't taste like sorbet - and they really don't.

Chocolate was rich and dark while the coffee was just unbelievably good, like a creamy iced coffee in a tub. Matched with the coconut to take the edge off, what a treat.

The deli is fab as well, with a range of frozen sauces that you could probably pass off as your own, some fantastic meats, olive wood implements and even a whole octopus in the freezer.

This delightful little new addition to the Polpo family just above the French House is a small, reasonably priced and atmospheric place with some excellent food on offer.

The duck and porcini meatball was delicious and moreish, with a sumptuous sauce that begged to be licked off the plate. It isn't that sort of place though. The Melanzane parmigiana was, as my companion stated, the single-most umami thing in the world. Just bursting with flavour like you would not believe.

For the mains we got Crispy soft shell crab, parmesan batter and fennel salad which, apart from being dripped all over my companion was pretty good. It was the least exciting of all the dishes to be fair, the batter a bit too overpowering and the salad, while pleasant, didn't really taste of fennel. This went with Zucchini fries, cut thin and a little salty but y'know, yum.

Then, after reminding the staff we had ordered two mains, the Grilled sliced flank steak with white truffle cream was just great. Truffle sauce was delicious and the steak was so rare and tender, this went great with the Polenta bianca, a creamy comforting delight.

Overall, lovely experience, the staff were a bit ditzy at times but the food made up for it. Just a note, they don't take bookings in the evening so timing is everything...

Frozen Yoghurt seems to be taking over London like a (pro-biotic) virus and this new Yu-foria branch in Soho is possibly the best looking of the bunch that I've been to.

With more wood than a sauna and real foliage adorning the walls the natural look certainly works. Mind you, it wasn't until Leo Bedford, the entrepeneur behind this place, pointed out they were as alive as the yoghurt that I realised they weren't plastic - fed apparently with an intricate tubing system to provide water and nutrients.

I was there for an event arranged by Mathilde and Libby of ING along with Qype and we got to try some delicious (if less health-conscious) items off menu.

The Banana split was indulgence, with a sticky chocolate sauce mixing in with the chocolate fro-yo that did admittedly taste very much like it's ice-cream equivalent. The cupcakes from Sweet Things were light and delicious and topped with the current Special Yoghurt Blueberry.

They had also created 3 interesting yoghurt based cocktails for us to try.

The Pina Colada with Mount Gay Rum and coconut flakes was refreshing, the Oreo based Cookie Monster pretty much undrinkably sweet and the Rum soaked pineapple they were serving as a topping had a kick to rival Nigel de Jong. I'd say it is perhaps best that they stick to yoghurt although the Irish Coffee cocktail containing Kaluha, Baileys, Coffee and yoghurt was absolutley divine.

This place is in a great location, the yoghurt is perhaps slightly sweeter than some of the other varieties I've tried but still refreshing and considerably better for you than a big old ice cream cone.

Using a printed off map and directions, GPS on my phone, the kindness of strangers and (mainly) my natural sense of good direction I was able to find the tucked away gem that is Wilton's. (There were also a few signs so it wasn't actually that hard - although crossing that Cycle superhighway takes some nerves...)

Anyway, once there I was blown away by the crumbling facade and vintage feel to the place. Inside, with old tunes on the gramaphone I felt like I had been transported into Vichy France and half expected Rene to come bumbling out from the side room followed by a dishevelled Yvette.

It is magical, like nowhere else in London and as mentioned elsewhere here, in need of work and very much as endangered as a building gets.

We went to see The Coral play here and found the main music hall to be just as intoxicating as the bar - although the sound was noticeably far better from the balcony upstairs. What a unique venue to see something like this.