Peckham has a Tapas bar...yes it is true!

What's the best thing about signing up for a half marathon? Training? Getting fitter? Pushing your body to the limits and achieving a goal? NO - for us it is planning the run to end up at a new place or in a new restaurant! Last Saturday we did just this and made sure our route finished at our fav juice bar for the usual AKB from Alibaba. We love catching up with Chris and Sienna and hearing about their new ventures including a coffee bar and the sucess of their recently opened evening bar which has such a great vibe. We are sure they have many other great projects in the pipeline and cannot wait to report on their deserved success.

With the refreshing juices down our necks we headed for Miss Tapas which is one of the newest restaurants in Peckham and being huge fans of Spanish cuisine we just couldn't wait to get in. The restaurant is just off Rye Lane and once we stepped through the door we felt like we had just stepped off the plane in Malaga (My parents (Sarah) have a place out there so we go on regular trips). We were greeted at the door and sat at a quaint table for two facing the menu board - no table menus here as it changes daily!

We have frequented many tapas bars in London prior to this one and always gone away feeling like something was missing or that we were majorly ripped off for the amount of food we got. Looking at the menu at Miss Tapas considering we were in Peckham we were quite shocked at the price however we soon got to sample the food and comparing it to the likes of the terrible chain La Tasca we soon realised that the price was reasonable for the portions and good tasting grub.

We decided to start our late lunch with 3 dishes - the jamon croquetas, chorizo al vino & tortilla Espanol which are standardly ordered when we get to Spain. The portion sizes were good however as we were 2 people having 6 bits of everything would have caused less arguments and debate over who got the 5th piece! The croquetas were lovely and crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle just how they should be. The jamon was delicious and the quality and authenticity oozed through with every bite. Up next was the chorizo and although they look small they packed in a whole lot of flavour and punch. The wine sauce was so delicious we had to order some bread to soak it up and the bread was equally as good! Being two fatties who had just done a quick 5km to get to Miss Tapas we wanted to try more of the Spanish goodness so went for the slow cooked Ox cheek however we were too early for this dish so went for the quail egg & chorizo tostadas which were 3 bites of heaven.

We had a lovely lunch at Miss Tapas and it is great having a Spanish restaurant just round the corner!

Croquetas con jamon

Chorizo al vino

Tortilla con alioli

Quails egg & chorizo tostadas y bread with oil 

Our total bill inc half a pint of Estrella and tip £30

La comida esta muy bien aqui!

PICKLED FORK POP UP

Friday saw us venture into the deepest darkest depths Wandsworth in search of the Barmouth Kitchen, home of the Pickled Fork.  As some of you may or may not know our first encounter with the Pickled Fork was at the Brixton Diner which was utterly incredible.  At the time Pickled Fork were a duo however Chris and Alex have now gone their separate ways in terms of cooking but they are still great friends and share an allotment.

We arrived bang on time for once, and were greeted by Alex.  He showed us to our table after explaining that he would start serving once everybody had arrived.  With our bottle of red breathing we sat and admired our surroundings.  Its funny how London differs so widely from area to area, street to street even.  Take for example the stark difference between Peckham's kind of grunginess to this area of Wandsworth with its tree lined streets, big houses (that are actually still houses and not split into 4 tiny flats) and quaint little cafes.  The reason I am blabbing on so much about this is it is the first time we have ever been to a pop up in a place that has as many high chairs as adult chairs and pots of crayons everywhere (not that this is a complaint).

Anyway enough about that.....

So the menu is a set 4 course menu, this menu changes every month with different produce coming into and going out of season and Alex also told us that he gets bored if he cooks the same things over and over (who wouldn't to be fair).

 Our first course was served around 8pm and from the second the plate was put in front of us we knew we were in for a real treat. 1st up was a crumpet topped with cheesy cauliflower goodness,crispy pig ear paired with fermented sultanas and charred endive (something we have never had before). Every single element on this plate worked so well together, the saltiness of the pig ear with the bitter char and mature cheddar was just fantastic...so good we actually asked for seconds and may have cleaned the plate for Alex!

Up next was a beautiful dish of vegetables from the allotment served with cows curd. The pickled red cabbage puree is something neither of us have ever had before and made a lovely change to the usual 

cabbage we have around Christmas time. The vegetables were cooked to perfection and this made for a really tasty dish.

After a short interlude Alex delivered our main which was a taste sensation - venison wellington with leek lasagna and liquorice gravy. Sounds strange we know but again top credit to the chef for his fantastic pairing and seasoning. The venison was cooked perfectly and wrapped in lovely flaky pastry, it appears venison is becoming one of our favourite meats and this dish helped show how versatile a meat it is. For the third time of the evening we became members of the clean plate club.

Reading the menu prior to arriving desert was the course Sarah was least looking forward to as she doesn't like rhubarb however, she left the pickled fork pop up being a huge fan. The dish was arranged in such a way that the whole milk pudding (which was delicious) was to be used as a palate cleanser for the other elements of the dish including the doughnut and fudge which were both very sweet but totally awesome.  

Overall we had an absolutely superb evening with banging food which was definitely restaurant standard if not better. We really cannot put into words how good Alex's cooking is and if you live in London and haven't been to one of his pop ups your really should! Below is next months menu and you can book through edible experienced...oh we failed to mention it is BYOB also!!