Perfect Friday Night Food Fest

A foodie friend of mine - hola bro if you are reading this - always has the best suggestions for dinner and has long raved about StreetFeast so a few weeks ago he finally managed to round a group of us to Dalston Street Feast (no mean feat as it can be like herding cats with our busy schedules) and we were not disappointed.

Despite being a little out of the way (we made our way from all over London – I must sound so much like a Londoner right now, acting like its outside of the M25 or something – heaven forbid!) it’s actually quite easy to get to with Dalston Junction over ground station just opposite. Try and get there before 7pm to a) grab a good seating area if there are a group of you and b)avoid paying the £3 entry fee (after all that could well pay for your ice-cream).

Another tip is to make sure you have cash as I don’t think any of the stalls take card payment.

As for the food, it was a true culinary pleasure. I felt spoilt for choice and wanted to try everything. I just wish I had the cash and calorie allowance! Two of us ended up spending about £60 the whole evening but it’s well worth it I think, especially since it was a gloriously warm summer evening. 

Now for the food…I know people pooed pooed (*cough* husband *cough*) my idea of having pizza but I am so glad I did, Pizza Pilgrims was amazing. The truffle oil on it was so fragrant and the base was just how I like it, super thin and crispy. Carb and cheese at its best, I was in tastebud paradise. Even my sceptical husband who wanted to save space for other things loved it and ended up eating half. Other highlights were B.O.B's lobster roll, chicken wings, ribs, Bleecker St Burger and peanut butter and jelly ice cream. I even got to try my first ever whoopie pie but unfortunately I found it a bit odd, like the sponge was a bit too tough but I heard the brownie was amazing.

It was a fantastic evening, with everyone enjoying dinner al fresco for a change. The perfect place for a good meal and catch up with friends. Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself before it is too late!

The bar. There is also another cute pub / bar called The Gin Store round the back.

Wishing I went for a pimped up brownie but still at least I can say I have tried a Whoopie Pie.

Bleecker St Burger bacon cheese burger - save this for the end as it probably will finish you off. Worth it though!

Didn't have a chance to try one of these but I would have so gone for the Tempura Fish Burger.

First to arrive!! 

Go for the Portobello Mushroom & Truffle Oil!!

I am drooling just thinking about how tasty that pizza was!

For all you ceviche fans out there.

Left: Crab roll. Right: Bite sized lobster roll (£7). It literally was bite sized. If you have it go for the £13 one and split with a friend. 

PB and Jelly. Ummmm...Worked well in an ice cream. Now I have to try on toast.

Quick, easy and tasty - chinese aubergine and pork rice

Super moreish when eaten with rice


Apologies for some of the vague measurements but I didn't follow a recipe or measure anything when I made this. The idea is just contact a taste test every few steps. If you feel it needs more salt, add more salt, if you don't like it very sweet then ease off the sugar. The great thing about Chinese cooking is that you can easily find your way by trial and error.

The good thing is that as I am no Nigella, all my recipes will be fairly simple and as a result fool proof. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 and a half aubergines cut into large chunks

2 pieces of pork chops (sliced with fat trimmed off). If you have time you can season the pork with some salt, pepper, sugar and corn flour. I like to fit in a gym session after work and still have time to quickly season the meat but if you don't it won't be the end of the world as the sauce will be more than enough flavour.

1 small red onion chopped

2 spring onions sliced

1 clove of garlic crushed and diced

Small amount of fresh ginger crushed and finely chopped

2 - 3 slices of fresh chilli (depending on how much of a kick you like)

For the sauce

2 tablespoons of sugar

Some salt
Big splash of light soy sauce (probably 2 tablespoons)

Big splash of dark soy sauce (probably 2 tablespoons)

Small amount of oyster sauce (no more than a tablespoon)

1. Heat a large pan with a teaspoon of olive until very hot. Stir fry the onion, spring onions (keeping a handful to garnish the finished dish), garlic, ginger and chilli until browned. Add the pork and continue to fry until the pork is semi cooked then add the aubergines. Fry until aubergines are softened.

2. Once aubergines are soft add the sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and oyster sauce. Slam the lid on and leave until aubergines are soft. Stir occasionally. I usually leave to stew for about 15 minutes.

3. Serve on boiled rice and garnish with fresh spring onions.



My attempt at food styling