Groats

Tonight we had groats made from oats. It was a risky shopping choice but we were feeling adventurous and it paid off. Joff cooked them while I occassionally tried to boss him around. He ignored me and the groats were really nice, cooked in water and with onions added they were soft on the outside but with a bit of bite, very comforting. Like barley but nicer. ANyway we had them with tofu burgery things, peas, broccoli, spring onions, red onion and a cucumber and sprout salad. Very vegtastic and I realise not everyone's cup of tea but it was delicious and meant that here was room for plum crumble afterwards...perfect.

Il Bordello

I l Bordello is an Italian in wapping high street. It's name obviously refers to a whorehouse but it's interior does not really reflect this, unless it is a reference to the generosity of the portions! The food here is large, heaving with garlic and delicious. It is not high end or delicate but home cooked, old fashioned I talian, the extensive Pizza list does not contain goats cheese for example. It is medium priced, about £20 a head, but I would recommend skipping starters and pudding, leaving room fo rthe vast mains. Olives are good, again a generous amount and will do as a starter, they are served prawn cocktail in an ice cream sundae glass with cocktail stick with frilly bits of paper adroning them. They are also laced with garlic. I love this restaurant, but so do amny others so it is advisable to book, it also means that it is generally a fairly noisy, buzzy place, not necessarily the place for an intimate conversation. I generally find the waiters spectacularly grumpy but somehow it adds to the charm, which is not my usual angle on grumpy waiters, the warm adn lively atmosphere must somehow make up for it. Another tip, generally when I go here I have garlic leaking from every pore for several days afterwards so don't go with on a first date or when you may have to impress someone the next day.

Bermondsey Kitchen

Bermondsey Kitchen is a restaurant, not surprisingly, in Bermondsey street. It is our local which is a blessing and a curse, mainly because it is so good but not cheap. Starters are around £6 and mains from £10 to £15 with excellent puddings at £6. The food is fantastic, often tasting so much better than it sounds on the page, a tabbouleh with toasted flat bread tasted sublime, with lots of fresh lemon and slivers of crispy, toasted flatbread buried in the tabbouleh. They generally have two vegetarian options all of which have been of high quality. We went there once and had home made raspberry ripple for pudding, somehting that my husband still talks and dreams about but which we have sadly not come across again. The waiters are friendly, the atmosphere warm and relaxing and the winelist good and in line with the food prices. A fantastic local restaurant and if I had to choose I would say that it just pips the Garrison in terms of food quality if not in decor.

De Gustibus

De Gustibus is a breadshop in borough market, although breadshop is a little prosaic for such a place, they describe themselves as artisan bread makers, and so they are. I just bought a granary loaf there (yes it cost £2.50 but I have gone over the expensive bread threshold and there is no going back) and it smells and looks so delicious that I am already looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast. They specialise in bread as you would expect but they also had some very good looking sandwiches there and some hugely tempting chocolate brownies...next time.