Umami Mart

London is scorching this week and what better way to spend a weekend than by getting a bit of sunny goodness with an absorbing book at Waterlow Park, next to Highgate Cemetary where my father’s hero, Karl Marx, is buried. I get to use my brain, immerse myself in a story and work on my […]

Summer seems to be a fickle thing here in muggy London. Not sunny enough for a picnic but warm enough for some chilled beer so we headed off to Belgo Noord for some moules, frites et bieres. Just north of Camden Town, the restaurant itself has an industrial feel but it’s cool, clean and light. […]

Seems as though I’m only interested in sandwiches, but it’s not true. But I am rather fussy when it comes to my sarnies. No soggy sandwich for me. Ideally, I would have either fresh bread, just toasted, with some ham, tomatoes and cucumbers with chilli mayonnaise, or grilled bacon and chilli mayo (has to be […]

Yes please! I never realised that you could get chorizo that wasn’t sliced like salami … yes, very uncultured here. That is, until I popped down to the London gourmands’ perennial favourite, Borough Market, just south of the Thames and very close to gothic Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge and one of London’s oldest pubs, and […]

My first post for Umamimart and it’s going to look like a confession of an ultra lazy cook. My mother did not bring me up to subsist on ready-meals and instant ramen. I used to do a lot more adventurous cooking as a student, and I’m of the rare breed that actually likes cooking for […]