The Caffeine Chronicles: SPIN X LCF XMAS

It's something of an understatement to say that I don't like cycling, but I do like cycling style, especially when it goes hand-in-hand with good coffee. As such, the SPIN X LCF XMAS event, which is on in Shoreditch's Worship Street until tomorrow sounded like a good way of killing time before a big Thanksgiving dinner this evening. SPIN is Spin London, the self-proclaimed urban cycling show, and LCF is, of course, the London Coffee Festival, and SPIN X LCF is an unholy alliance of the two.

Foolishly, I had already had a big Aeropress brew at home and a post-run filter coffee from Monmouth, so I decided to walk off some of my caffeine by browsing the stands in the cycling section of the event. I particularly liked these Christmas-sweater-style cycling jackets from Hackney GT, but there were quite a few other cool products, including the panniers and other bags from Goodordering, which you can probably see in the background.

I was also tempted by some of the very cool coffee-making kit from the Brewed by Hand stand, mainly the awesome-looking grinders and the pink Hario glass drippers, but I decided to remain faithful to my Aeropress. For now.

Then it was coffee time. First, I had an espresso from Butterworth and Son, which was rich and smooth and really got me buzzing.

Next, I went to the Alchemy stand and tried out the macchiato (just the way I like it with a dash of milk). Alchemy are based near St Paul's and on my way in to work, but because they're only open on weekdays and only until 4 pm, I've never been able to try them out. A shame, because their macchiato was excellent, and I love their chic, black-and-gold style.

Finally, I ordered a macchiato from Bean About Town, a mobile coffee cart that travels between many London destinations. The macchiato was on the longer side, but by that point, I had probably had enough caffeine that dilution was probably a good thing. Also, I love the design of their cups (and their website).

SPIN X LCF XMAS. 89 1/2 Worship Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 2BF (Tube: Liverpool Street, or Shoreditch High Street Overground). Website. Until Sunday 1 December. Tickets £5 on the door; £1.75 if you book online.

Bex's 2013 Christmas Gift Guide: Guys

Earlier this week, I posted the first part of my 2013 Christmas gift guide series, with my suggestions of gifts to get for the ladies in your life. Today, I have some ideas of what to buy your beau — or your buddy, your brother, or...well, you get the idea. Some of these items would make great gifts for women too. Possibly not #7, but I'm not judging.

Tech
1. iPad Mini with Retina display from Apple. From £319. OK, so it's pretty pricey and if you already have a tablet and/or iPhone, you don't really need an iPad Mini, but you will love it and you will be loved if you buy this as a gift. Luckily for me, the second generation Mini was released just in time for my birthday, so I've been able to put my aged first-generation iPad into semi-retirement. The Mini fits in the smallest of bags and is slim and light but with a decent-size, great-looking screen. In fact, my iPhone had better watch its back.

Home and away
2. Word map of London from Places and Spaces. £25. This typographic map of London, which comprises numerous cultural, historical and architectural concepts that define the city. Perfect for cartophiles and Londonists alike.

Word map of London from Places and Spaces

3. London vintage map umbrella from The Conran Shop. £135. In case you haven't noticed or are new here, I really like maps. Cunningly, the underside of this stylish brolly features a vintage map of London, just in case you can't get enough wifi signal to load up Google Maps on your iPad Mini (see above).

4. Rapha Europe city cycling guides from Paul Smith. £25. A gorgeous collection of books highlighting seven of Europe's best cycling cities — and London. With things to do and places to cycle in each city, they're as useful as they are beautiful. And they will look beautiful on your bookshelf.

5. VEJA leather travel wallet from Selfridges. £85. Initially, I thought this was the kind of travel wallet with room for a passport and boarding pass. It isn't, but it's still very stylish and has plenty of room for coins, cards and receipts. The burgundy version is currently sold out online at Selfridges, but other colours, including turquoise, are available.

Image from: Selfridges

6. Bacon money clip from Jack Spade. $68. For the guy who doesn't need space to keep coins and cards, but who does want to show everyone who brings home the bacon, this money clip might be a good choice. Besides, I had to include something bacon related in this gift guide and it wasn't going to be this.

Grooming
7. Murdock luxury shave gift voucher from Liberty. £55. Murdock isn't your father's barbershop and their luxury shave experiences are extremely pampering — but still totally manly, of course. The lucky gent won't be able to believe how smooth his skin feels afterwards and the feeling can last for weeks.

8. Mr Natty Bay Rum Aftershave. £25. To help maintain his post-Murdock glow... Any company that takes inspiration from the dashing blokes of the 16th century gets a thumbs-up from me. Mr Natty says: "Our Bay Rum is blended from bay leaves and rum — in much the same manner as the sailors from Sir Francis Drake’s time used to make it." Handily, this soothing aftershave comes with a "do not drink me" warning, which, given the warm, spicy smell, might have been tempting.

Bay rum aftershave from Mr Natty

Boozing
9. One BrewDog "Equity for Punks" share. £95. I'm not a beer drinker, so I've never been to the two London BrewDog bars, in Camden and Shoreditch, but a number of friends have recommended them as a great place to drink craft beer and hang out. And £95 will give you the opportunity to hang out at a bar that you (part-) own. Share-holders get an Equity for Punks card, which translates into discounts, freebies and special events. If you'd just like to buy someone some nice beer, I recommend the Shotover Brewing Company, which is run by my parents' best friends. They do great gift sets.

Image from: BrewDog

10. Izola hair of the dog hip flask from Heal's. £25. Because nothing says "hangover cure" like an overly literal sentiment on a hip flask. The "best intentions" one works well too. Izola is basically Kate Spade for guys.

Bex's 2013 Christmas Gift Guide: Girls

Welcome to the first post in the 2013 edition of my annual Christmas gift guides. Today I'll be highlighting ten gift ideas for the girls on your gift list. Most of these items are under £50, but if your budget is a little tighter, check out my Stocking Fillers and Secret Santa guide. Or, if you have some extra pennies this year, some of the items in my gift guide for guys would work equally well for the ladies in your life. And if you need more inspiration, Selfridges has just released its annual Christmas discount voucher, which gets you 20% off almost everything in store and online from tomorrow until Sunday. Now, onto my selections.

Clothes and accessories
1. Kate Spade pop-top gloves from Selfridges (or the UK Kate Spade stores). £45. At this time of year, it's nice to have a pair of gloves that combines flexibility and style, and it's easy to convert these fingerless gloves into mittens when the threatened Big Freeze hits. I think the monochrome colourway is the chicest, but if you're into clashing, go for the pink and red combo.

Kate Spade pop-top gloves. Image from: Kate Spade

2. Medium zip pouch from Fossil. £49. Speaking of once-verboten colour combinations, I love Fossil's range of blue-and-green accessories. This leather zip pouch will fit an iPad Mini or most of your other necessities. The tote bag and clutch are cute too.

3. Cheek Thrills neon vest and knickers set from Austique. £35. I'm somewhat biased because turquoise and pink are my favourite colours and because I can never resist a good pun, but I think this lace-trimmed underwear set is great: cute and comfortable.

4. ThoughtBlossoms gold initial necklace from Etsy. $35 (about £22). I'm a sucker for pretty much anything with initials on, and these delicate gold necklaces definitely fit the bill. You can personalise the charm with one to three characters or a design stamp. F-A-B.

Home
5. Mean Girls poster from Print Club London. £40. In case you're one of the few people who can't quote along with the script of Mean Girls, this screen-printed poster, produced for Somerset House's 2013 Summer Screen season, will help you out. It's pink, but not saccharine. Just stop trying to make fetch happen, OK?

Mean Girls poster from Print Club London.

6. Le Livre 2014 diary from Present & Correct. £17.50. The polar opposite of item #5 on the decorum stakes, this week-to-view diary is très chic indeed. In fact, it's designed to look just like the novels published by the iconic Gallimard publishing house. The Present & Correct website is filled with beautiful and useful stationery, writing and organisation products, so it would be hard to go wrong gift-wise.

7. Three-bunch subscription to Bloom & Wild flower delivery service. From £40. Everyone loves to get nice things in the post and Bloom & Wild will send out a beautifully arranged posy of long-lasting flowers, carefully packed and preserved in a box small enough to fit through most letter boxes. For £40, your recipient will get three "bright & wild" boxes (you can choose how often you would like them delivered); larger, more indulgent options are also available.

8. Six Damien Hirst anamorphic espresso cups from Other Criteria. £85. I love this set of bold, colourful saucers that reflect their designs onto the plain, mirrored surface of the matching cups. You can also buy an individual cup-and-saucer set for £15 if you already have too many espresso cups in your life. Not that I'm projecting.

Damien Hirst anamorphic espresso cup set from Other Criteria.

Beauty
9. Laura Mercier Tarte au Citron travel set from Selfridges. £30. Laura Mercier does great gift sets, and her body products always smell good enough to eat. This luxurious lemon-tart scented set contains a body wash, body butter, hand cream and fragrance. You could also split the set into four smaller gifts or stocking fillers.

10. Dangerous Nail Files from the Conran Shop. £19.95. This set of three nail files, shaped like a gun, a meat cleaver and a chainsaw, would probably make a good companion piece for the Mean Girls poster, or for a copy of cognitive linguist George Lakoff's classic text, Women, Fire & Dangerous Things. They're a little bit girly and a lot tough.

Dangerous Nail Files from the Conran Shop.

"Nobody Ever Wins the Games. Period."

It's been over 18 months since the movie adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy was released, and after much anticipation, a new director and some glowing reviews, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is finally out. I liked the first book and really enjoyed the first film, but I was more reticent about Catching Fire, mainly because the book on which it is based, along with the third and final title in the series, Mockingjay, felt like lazy add-ons. But given the praise the new film has been getting and given the dearth of good films lately, I decided to go and see Catching Fire. Although I'll try not to spoil too much about Catching Fire, there are inevitably some spoilers for the first film (and book) below, so look away now if you need to catch up.

At the end of the first Hunger Games film, our heroine Katniss Everdean (Jennifer Lawrence), plucky huntress, manages to outwit the Panem powers-that-be to survive the titular games along with her friend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Panem is the seriously dysfunctional dystopian society the United States becomes in the not-too-distant future. Ruled by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who, along with his fellow leaders in the Capitol, Panem is divided into 12 districts, each of which must offer up two teenage "tributes" each year to take part in the Hunger Games — a brutal fight to the death of which there can be only one winner — as punishment for attempting to rise up against the Capitol and the regime 74 years earlier.

By threatening a double-suicide at the end of the last Games, which would have left the Capitol without a victor, Katniss forced Snow to allow her and Peeta both to survive. They get to live in the victors' village in their district — occupied by the only other living victor, the often drunk and always sardonic Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) — and they never have to take part in another Hunger Games again. Hooray. All they need to do, before Katniss can go back to her life and to the guy she really loves, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), is go on a victory tour of each of the 12 districts and attend a swanky party at the Capitol. Simple, hey?

However, President Snow was not taken in by Katniss's act of being in love with Peeta on-screen and, as unrest in some of the districts starts to pick up, he warns her that she had better do a better job of convincing everyone that she did what she did for love and not as a protest against the regime, or else her family and Gale might not make it through the night. Katniss does her best, but even when she plays the lovesick teenager at the public visits she makes on the tour of the districts, the people salute her and whistle her trademark mockingjay tune; she wore a mockingjay pin in the first film, given to her by her sister Primrose (Willow Shields). "You never get off this train," Haymitch tells her, when she notes how much she is looking forward to the end of the tour.

Clearly, the masses have found their messiah and President Snow is not happy. Luckily for him, the next Hunger Games is a quarter quell — a particularly nasty version of the Games that takes place every 25 years. Together with Plutarch "I'm the head game maker: fun is my job" Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he devises a solution to all of his problems: this quarter quell will involve the tributes being selected from among the living victors of each district, Katniss, of course, being the only living female victor in district 12. Haymitch is selected as district 12's male tribute, but naturally, Peeta volunteers instead of him, so off they go again. And we get to see the quirky Capitol characters from the last instalment: the colourful, crazy-haired chaperone Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), slimy host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) and Katniss's stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who, on the pre-Games show, makes her wear a beautiful wedding dress (the one she would have worn if she and Peeta had been able to get married), which catches fire (hey, that's the name of the movie) and turns into a mockingjay costume. Nice.

They are competing against a whole lot of even more bad-ass contestants from the other districts, who a) have already survived once and b) all know each other. Haymitch advises them to make some allies, but Katniss isn't impressed by the sexy-and-I-know-it Finnick (Sam Clafrin) or brooding mean girl Johanna (Jena Malone), although she is tempted by the brainier, older pair, Wiress (Amanda Plummer) and Beetee). And so the Games begin, and the odds are still not in anyone's favour. Or, at least, so it seems. Grudgingly making an alliance with Finnick and later Johanna, Wiress and Beetee, Katniss and Peeta do their best to steer clear of the other contestants, especially the careers from district one, Abercrombie & Fitch Cashmere and Gloss, which is no mean feat when the arena itself unleashes a different source of death and doom every hour.

Is there a way that Katniss can cheat death — and Snow — again, without putting Peeta, Gale and her family into danger? Does she care for Peeta more than she's willing to admit? And why aren't there more cute guys in Catching Fire? I enjoyed Peter Lawrence's film and was gripped right up to the twist-and-cliffhanger ending, but like the the book, Catching Fire still felt like a bridge between the first instalment (with the full focus on the Games) and the final part, where (spoiler alert) there are no Games, just a whole lot of uprisings. The Games don't even start until more than halfway through the 2h25 film and the outcome is less satisfying — certainly without the third part to explain and to add context. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent, again, but there were so many other characters, no one else really had time to shine. Peeta is, let's face it, a bit of a wet blanket, although a kind one, and Gale gets very little screen time, most of it he spends brooding.

Catching Fire is probably a better film than The Hunger Games, but I enjoyed the latter a lot more, not least because it has a key, central idea and its to it, rather than dabbling in too many different aspects that only make sense once you've seen the final part. Or, in this case, the final parts because yes, they've decided to split Mockingjay into two parts. I am slightly biased because I think the second two books shouldn't have been written in the first place, but there is no need for this and it stinks of greed and lazy editing. < / rant>

London Christmas Lights: 2013 Edition

Yes, I know. My blog posts about London's Christmas lights are getting earlier every year. It isn't even December and I'm not even a Christmas person, but with my birthday celebrations last weekend and my first attempts to do my Christmas shopping this weekend, I've been around the West End a fair bit. Here's what I spotted.

Covent Garden always does a good job at Christmas time, and with the lovely baubles in the Piazza, the huge Christmas tree and proudly strutting reindeer this year was no exception.

Next to the Christmas tree, there is also a giant snow globe with various iconic buildings from the London skyline constructed from LEGO bricks, which is just as cool as the huge LEGO Christmas tree they put up inside St Pancras station two years ago. There is a button to make the "snow" blow around, but it doesn't work too well, and you can even walk "inside" the globe, as long as you don't mind queuing.

Just around the corner, in Seven Dials, they are using the same decorations as last year, but I don't mind, because I like the funky neon stars and chevrons.

As usual, Carnaby Street has a fun take on Christmas with their decorations and this year a flock of robins have descended upon Carnaby Street, encouraging visitors to Tweet along with them (geddit)?

I was in Liberty two weeks ago when they turned their Christmas lights on, celebrating with a little show projected onto the shop's iconic facade. They were also handing out crackers that apparently contained nice prizes, but sadly I didn't have time to queue. Inside, the central atrium is filled with a swarm of colourful Scrabble-like tiles, which are bursting out of an even more colourful satchel. Très chic.

Less chic, of course, is the nearby Oxford Street, which was particularly hellish this afternoon, even though I stayed on the quieter side of Oxford Circus. Who needs sponsored Christmas lights when you can't take a step without being inundated with brands and logos? At least Selfridges, where I stopped by last week, adds a touch of class to the mix.

In general, the South Bank needs to up its game; they tend to use the same decorations each year. Although they aren't Christmas lights, I liked the advent calendar display that I spotted in the Southbank Centre shop on my walk home. And while I was crossing Waterloo Bridge, I had a little London-lights based fun with my camera.

Yet More Birthday Celebrations

OK, I'm now officially birthday-ed out for another year, and I feel like I've eaten enough food this weekend to last for the rest of the month. Still, Saturday started virtuously with a brief Doughnut Club run, followed by a Monmouth coffee rather than a doughnut. Since I moved to Bermondsey and have talked about my frequent visits to Maltby Street, my parents have been wanting to see what all the fuss about, so they drove in late on Saturday morning and we went to check it out.

It was really busy — even busier than I've seen it for a while — although it was a sunny, if cold, day and we were a little later than usual. After scanning our food options, most of us decided to brave the queue for Reuben sandwiches at Monty's Deli. We probably waited an hour in the end, and just before we ordered, they ran out of salt beef, which meant pastrami-only sandwiches. After ordering it's still another 15 minutes or so before you get your food (they really need another grill or two), and just before we got our food, they announced that the pastrami was all gone too. This at least meant the rest of us were able to find seats while we ate our lunch. The Reuben was really good — definitely worth the wait — even if I could only manage a half-sandwich.

We then went to hang out at Little Bird for some fruity gin cocktails. I always get distracted by the gin bloody mary and the berry cocktail, so today I made myself try their Perfect G and T, which comes with pink grapefruit. Perfect is quite the claim, but this G and T really was damn good.

In the afternoon, we drove with my parents into the West End, trying to work out what movie was going to be filming in St James's Square, where we parked (Theory of Everything, it turned out), and then did a little bit of shopping before heading our separate ways to get ready for dinner.

We ate at Magdalen on Tooley Street, with two of our friends joining us for dinner. In terms of service and celebration-friendly, Magdalen was the absolute opposite of Chop Shop, and we had a lovely evening with the wine flowing freely. The menu is British, but a little quirky, so after my smoked salmon and poached egg starter, I had braised shoulder of wild boar with mash for my main course. It was slightly out of my comfort zone but really good. I was too full for a proper pudding, but the chef etched a birthday greeting in chocolate on the plate of salted caramel chocolates we ordered for me anyway. I did also manage a glass of whiskey, figuring that at 30, it's about time I learned to appreciate it.

My parents then headed back to their hotel, while the rest of us walked down Bermondsey Street to 214, the underground gin bar at Antico restaurant. You don't have to like gin to drink there, but it helps, and I had a fab, fruity raspberry purée G and T, which meant that I was sleeping soundly within moments of lights out.

Sunday morning started somewhat more virtuously, with a trip to the gym and Turkish baths at the Royal Automobile Club, before we went for brunch at Le Caprice. I really should have had something healthy but Le Caprice's burgers are excellent: juicy, meaty and perfectly medium rare. And then when I saw the dessert menu, I realised I was going to have to have the iced popcorn and salted caramel bar — a sort of semifreddo with a chewy caramel base, salted caramel sauce and a popcorn garnish. Beautiful and delicious. Le Caprice also manages to be both friendly and stylish. The perfect place for a smart-casual weekend brunch.

Birthday season is now officially over in my family, so I'd better stock up on veggies and salad before Christmas rolls around.

XXX Part III: Chop Shop

I've been wanting to visit Chop Shop, the new-ish steak joint on Haymarket, for quite some time and thought the occasion of my 30th birthday would be the perfect opportunity to check it out with some friends. The chocolate and peanut butter brownie sundae on the pudding menu only sealed the deal. The food was excellent and very good value, and the ambience was great, so overall, it was a good experience, although there was, unfortunately, a caveat*, of which more below.

First, we got in the drinks, and the list of house cocktails was short but impressive. I ordered the Passione Arrabiata: Calabrian chilli olmeca, reposado tequila, passion fruit and lime. It was fruity, sharp and spicy. I really enjoyed it, but the others' selections, especially the Masala Mai Tai, also looked good.

The menu has a selection of main courses — mainly steaks, but a few other options, including a patty melt and a couple of fishy and veggie options — and then for starters, you can choose from a selection of snacks, jars, planks and crocks, some of which are made for sharing. We wanted to save room for our mains and, in my case pudding, so we ordered some almonds, olives, two lots of hot wings and two portions of scotch egg, which was about enough for a group of seven.

Most of us ordered steaks for our main course, although had I not had a burger at lunchtime, I might have gone for the patty melt — at only £12, including fries, it's a steal, and the bite I tried was delicious. I went for the hanger steak, which was £16, plus £2 for some vodka peppercorn bacon sauce. The steak, which I ordered rare, was flavoursome, juicy and very good value. The sauce was nice too, but I couldn't really taste the bacon. We asked the waiter how many sides to get and he suggested four or five between us. As the two patty melters got their own fries, we ordered another portion of fries, some mash with crème fraîche and chives (which was yummy), and some roasted squash. The waiter then made a big deal out of how he thought that wasn't enough, and kept pushing it, even after we said it would be fine (I'd been eating all day, of course).

The service issues continued into pudding time. I had mentioned when I booked the table that it was my birthday, and many restaurants will do something nice for you, whether that is putting a candle in your pudding or giving you a little treat. It's just a nice thing to do when people are celebrating and spending a lot of money with you. The situation was complicated by my very thoughtful friend having baked me some brownies, which the staff put candles on and brought out; they also wanted to charge a £3 per person "cake-age" charge. Yeah, happy birthday to me, or what?! We decided to box up the brownies for later and order our own desserts. I had the brownie sundae, and it was excellent. One of my friends ordered two scoops of gelato and then panicked that they might serve strawberries on top (she is allergic), so went to check. When it arrived they had given her a brownie sundae too — including peanuts and peanut butter sauce and she's allergic to that too. Given it was the wait staff's mistake, they weren't particularly contrite or even nice about it.

If you are a group of eight or more at Chop Shop, you have to have a special party menu (to make life easier for the kitchen), but I didn't want to spend the run-up to my big day hassling my friends for food selections, so we were a group of seven. I feel like we were being penalised for being a large non-party group, which wouldn't have been so bad if the restaurant was rammed, but it wasn't that busy, even when we left. Our main waiter in particular had an attitude and seemed to be very condescending throughout the meal. If it had just been a normal meal, I wouldn't have minded so much — this is London, after all — but it was my 30th birthday dinner, and my friends and I were made to feel like we were just a thorn in the wait staff's side. I certainly didn't feel special or treated. And, as I said, we weren't scrimping: our tab came to £300.

This is a pity, because everything else about the restaurant was really good: fab food and drinks, and a lovely style and ambiance. I'd like to think that if you go in a smaller group, you'll get better service; perhaps just try somewhere more intimate and friendly if you're celebrating a special occasion and looking for a restaurant that offers great service as well as great food.

Chop Shop. 66 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RF. Website. Twitter.

*UPDATE (25/11/13): I wrote a polite email to the manager expressing the service problems we experienced, but a week has gone by and I haven't even received a response, let alone an apology. Keeping your customers happy and eager to return doesn't cost a lot — especially if it means losing the future custom of seven potential return diners.

XXX Part II: Chocolate Tour and Grillshack

Although Thursday was my birthday, I spent it mainly at work, so the celebrations continued yesterday instead. We had an 11.45 date with Old Compton Street where a surprise awaited me: a chocolate walking tour around Soho and Mayfair. As a former tourist information centre employee, I've always enjoyed a good walking tour, and one that involves chocolate samples every few minutes is even more appealing. We had a great time, walking between several great chocolatiers, from Paul A. Young to Prestat and Charbonnel & Walker. The former was, I think, my favourite, with so many beautiful and tasty treats on offer.

We also stopped by the food hall of Fortnum & Mason, which had some impressive chocolates; plus, they were getting all Christmassy inside, which was nice. I tried one of the chai-flavoured chocolates, which came shaped like a tiny tea cup. Meanwhile, at Charbonnel & Walker, we tried one of the queen's personal favourites: a rose-flavoured chocolate, which reminded me of Turkish delight.

The walking tour was great fun and very informative, and you also get a 10% discount at most of the chocolatiers along the way, which was dangerous! As Christmas approaches, I've now got a few new gift ideas in my repertoire.

Although I wasn't exactly hungry after the tour, I was craving something savoury and as we were so close, we took the opportunity to visit Grill Shack, which opened on Beak Street a couple of months ago.

The concept is all-day, American-diner-style dining but with quality food and some cool techy features. You can order you food via the Grillshack app, for example, or at one of the touchscreen order-points, as well as at the counter. We'd hoped to use the app — just 'cause it sounded cool — but unfortunately, you can't order the specials that way and as soon as we saw that the special of the day was a cheese burger with a pulled pork topping, how could we not?

We weren't asked how we wanted our burgers cooked, but it didn't matter because it was juicy and perfectly medium rare. There was just enough pulled pork to add interest, but not to the point of being excessive.

We also got some sides: seasoned fries and grilled corn-on-the-cob with chipotle butter and cheese. Everything tasted good, and the service was very efficient. A regular cheese burger is only £5.95 and even our pulled pork burgers were only £7.95, which is pretty reasonable given how good they were.

Overall, then, Grillshack gets a hearty thumbs-up and I'm looking forward to trying some of the other main courses — and some of the puddings, which, after all the chocolate, we really couldn't manage yesterday. In an attempt to walk off some of our lunch, we wandered through Soho to Covent Garden, where we admired the Christmas decorations, especially the snow globe with iconic London buildings made from Lego inside. Very cool.

Update (June 2016): Grillshack is now permanently closed.