Tapac 24

Yet another old favourite and again child friendly especially when you sit outside. No surprises here, we ordered the pan am tomate- which I like for the crusty chewy bread, patatas bravas- which ok, were a bit chip like but the excellent spicy sauce and garlicky mayo made up for that. The very rich Mcfoie burger and my favourite the truffle bikini.

Paco Meralgo

Again, a favourite with us, not only because they are child friendly but because the food is tasty too. We ordered all the favourites- pan amb tomate, padron, setas, steak tartare,squid and garbanzos, the amazing veal pepito and the additive pepper solomillo

Embat

Rachel and I were really impressed by Embat when we ate here in 2010, in fact the squid ink risotto they did was comparabe to the one we had at Hisop the same week. I don't know if ti is the effect of the recession but the food this time was not as slick. It was still tasty and generous in portion with a relaxed and friendly welcome by Christina but not as impressive as before. The best of the dishes creamy truffled pasta pork rabbit and rice

Pinotxo 2012

Well, what can I say other than we had breakfast here every day because we love it here. Worryingly Juan was no where to be seen, we only hoped he was on a well deserved holiday and not ill. As we had the little one with us we were up early each day and as a result missed the crowds and got seated reasonably quickly. We ordered as usual the chickpeas, and a estafado de ternera which was very very tasty, so good that the bowl was wiped clean with the hunk of bread with which it came. Of course every breakfast ended with a cortado and a xuxu. Light flaky warm custardy goodness. Chickpeas Beef stew

Ciutat Comtal

We ate here twice because it was near our apartment and also because it is open all the time. This latter point being very handy when you have a three year old and need to fit in an early dinner at 6.30 pm which is unheard of in a country where most people eat theirs at 10pm or later. I must also add that the food isn't bad. It has a huge menu printed in 5 different languages but a copy of which is no where to be found on the web. It offers all of the stalwarts of cold and hot tapa, all quite traditional and therefore no surprises here. It was also the place we first tried Cacolat. I cannot believe I have not had this before. It is lovely. Like liquid chocolate crack. Being pregnant at the time I also discovered it tastes very well poured into a bowl of bran flakes.. It also came in large plastic bottles available in most of the convenience stores, so we were able to indulge ourselves whenever we wanted in our apartment. this was a mayo laden salad with lots of unidentifiable ingredients, not one of the best choices an excellent plate of grilled mushrooms and garlic the mini hamburgers, also very good a generous serving of Padron solomillo with large chunks of tender fillet steak, very good bruschetta de gambas- large moist prawns all in all we liked the place, its fast, not too expensive, child friendly and has some tasty offerings.

Nightjar & Worship St Whistling Shop

I am an ole ruddy duddy. Places in London are either so cool that they don't have a website or take reservations or they are so elitist that you have to book a table to have a cocktail. This second issue make sit quiet difficult to fit in a spontaneous per dinner drink before your dinner reservation. WE chanced our arm and turned up at Nightjar only to be turned away by the nice bouncer lady. So, we headed down to the wsws. which had been recommended to us by Neil at the Blythswood.

It was

The Bull and Last

I had really high hopes for this place but I think the weather conspired against us.
It was very hot and sunny and the menu was more suited to a wet Autumn day. By the time we got there via a walk in Hampstead Heath we were hot and sweaty and wanted something light and salad like. I therefore do not think we were able to do the menu justice. The more interesting things from the online menu had been taken off (trotter wontons, fried lamb sweetbreads, rib roll, onglet, steak hache, slow cooked ox cheeks) so we ended up ordering pretty boring things that don't really showcase the talent of the kitchen.

The sweet anchovies were good quality and the little one ate most of them.

The orrechiette with chicken livers and madeira was amazing and showed me what the kitchen was capable of, and made me want to give the place another shot at another time.

Due to the heat HI and Damian ended up ordering the fish and chips and steak pie which were the lightest dishes on offer. The other mains were just that- quite substantial mains that did not appeal with the sun beating down and the temp in the mid 20's.

The homemade ice-cream was yummy but quite pricey £2 for a small scoop. Gelupo is just as good and you get two huge scoops for the same price. The rhubarb crumble was very good but the vanilla quite pedestrian with too much sugar and vanilla pod. My personal taste leans towards cream of galloway or kelly's cornish clotted cream.

Given it's only 4 stops up the Northern line, I think we will give it another shot, especially as the wait staff were so friendly and it's toddler tolerant.