The Burrito Bulletin: Daddy Donkey Review

I can't remember exactly when I was converted to the joys of Mexican food in general, and burritos in particular, although it was possibly on this trip to New York in 2011. The key breakthroughs were: a) not all Mexican food is super-spicy and b) I don't mind a little bit of spice anyway. Still, finding good Mexican food in London was pretty tricky until relatively recently, but now, thanks to the wonders of street food, it's relatively easy to find yourself an excellent burrito.

Daddy Donkey — kick-ass Mexican grill on Leather Lane.

But having tried a few, including Wahaca and Tortilla, my favourite is still Daddy Donkey. They have a burrito truck parked about halfway down Leather Lane, in Farringdon, weekday lunchtimes, although I noticed today that they were putting the finishing touches on a bricks-and-mortar outlet slightly further up Leather Lane. The more permanent version of Daddy Ds will be open for longer hours, by the looks of things, until late on Friday nights. Woo hoo!

The new Daddy Donkey branch — coming soon.

Anyway, you don't really need the pitch number for the burrito truck—just find the truck with the huge queue, which never sees to die down, even in winter, this being Farringdon. Today, it was gorgeous and sunny, so we had to wait even longer. Fortunately, Daddy Donkey is a very slick operation.

Daddy Donkey's burr-istas in action.

While you are queuing, you can choose your burrito adventure. I've always had the Daddy D Burrito, which comes with your choice of meat, black beans, coriander-lime rice, salsa, cheese and sour cream, wrapped in a flour tortilla. You can also go for tacos or even a small Daddy D, but the latter is only £1 cheaper and about half the size. The full-size Daddy D is very filling, but it's delicious. I almost always have chicken and mild salsa, but the carnitas options is also very tasty.

Burritos aren't very photogenic, but the Daddy D is
delicious. And huge.

Once you've chosen you start to give your order to the series of expert burr-istas, who will fill up your tortilla and wrap it neatly, so you only make minimal mess while eating it (but do take extra napkins. Trust me). £6-ish seems like a lot of money for a take-away burrito, but quite often, I'm still full come dinner time, even with the one-mile walk in each direction from my office. I've certainly never had room to add some guacamole or try the tortilla chips, but I'm sure they are yummy too. Although there is nowhere to sit on Leather Lane, there are a few parks and green spaces nearby. We usually go to St Andrew's Gardens on Gray's Inn Road, which is on the way back to the office, but you could also go to Gray's Inn Fields. I actually sometimes prefer to eat my burrito on the go because the inevitable rice and bean fallout is more likely to hit the pavement than land on my clothes. It's just the price you have to pay for the best burrito in London.

Daddy Donkey. Pitches 100-101 (and the indoor version coming soon), Leather Lane, London, EC1N 7TE (Tube: Farringdon). Website. Twitter.

Update: The Daddy Donkey shop is now open at 50b Leather Lane. Just in time for the English, er, summer.

Gas Station Guzzling: Shrimpy's Review (CLOSED)

Update (2015): Shrimpy's was only ever going to be a pop-up and sadly, it has now closed down.

As I've mentioned a few times, King's Cross has become a lot more interesting since I started working there three years ago, and we would watch attentively on our lunchtime running sessions as the former petrol station on Goods Way was converted into a restaurant and bar called Shrimpy's. Created by the folks behind Bistrotheque in Shoreditch, Shrimpy's opened last year, but somehow, it took me until last week to pay a visit to the anti-diner dinette.

Shrimpy's, an anti-diner dinette in a former King's Cross petrol station.

You can sit at the outdoor bar and grill tables, but although it was relatively sunny on the evening we went, we opted for a table in the dinette. There are only a handful of tables and a few seats at the bar, so do be sure to book; it might be the back of King's Cross station, but there still aren't many other smarter dining spots in the area so it gets busy. The décor is a strange mix of minimalist chic and 1960s eccentrica. I quite liked the random giraffe, the golden palm tree and the window sill lined with cacti, but it may not be to everyone's taste.

The décor's a little whacky. But fun!

I also like the swirly-fonted menu, which was divided into more sections than I was expecting. Am I in time for afternoon tea (the Twin Peaks: cherry pie and bottomless coffee, served between 3 and 6 pm), and what combination of snackettes, appetisers and sides do I want with my entrée? While we puzzled it out, we ordered a couple of cocktails. 

I had had a hard day at work, so the Shrimpy's Fizz (Cachaça, pineapple, sugar, mint, lime juice and Cava) was just what I needed. It was delicious, although I would have preferred Prosecco, of course. The other drink (I forget whether it was a Paddington Bear or a Rock Hill) was too manly for me, but seemed to slip down nicely.

Cocktails and cacti.

I wanted to try for a pudding, so we skipped the snackette/appetiser options and jumped straight into the mains, which include a lot of US comfort food with Central/South American touches. I ordered the cheeseburger in a bonnet — a bonnet, it turned out, was just a tasty brioche roll in the shape of a bonnet. It was perfectly medium rare and very juicy and flavoursome, if slightly on the petite side. 

For me, this didn't matter too much, especially as we were also sharing some fries and some humita (sort of like guacamole but with sweetcorn as the main ingredient), but this may disappoint those with bigger appetites. You could just order more starters, of course. Or another burger. The pork pozole also performed well, even if the the chilli hanging out on the side plate was so potent that it managed to make the adjacent radish, lime and avo taste super-spicy.

The cheeseburger in a bonnet. Not to scale.

And then it was pudding time. The menu is split into "afters" and "sundaes." I saw the magic words "peanut butter sandwich," but my excitement soon faded when I saw that banana was also involved. We shared a chocolate brownie and pistachio sundae, which, again, was a little smaller, but not too small either.

L: The pork pozole, humita and burger. R: Chocolate brownie sundae.

Shrimpy's isn't cheap and the portions are pretty modes, but the food is very good and it's definitely a cool venue. It's a bit of a shame that you don't get more of a view from the dinette — you can just about see the Regent's Canal through the windows if you stretch. The outside tables are right next to the canal, of course, on what used to be the forecourt. 

One word of warning: Shrimpy's doesn't take cash, which is fine for someone like me who hates carrying cash, but might be annoying if you have scores and pinks to burn (and no, fivers and tenners won't get you far at Shrimpy's).

Shrimpy's. King's Cross Filling Station, Goods Way, London, N1C 4UR (Tube: King's Cross). CLOSED

A Little Less Mutilation, a Little More Comedy Please

Before Tuesday night, pretty much everything I know about the Mormon faith I learned from fashion, style and lifestyle blogs — an unfair sampling, perhaps. I'm not sure that I know a whole lot more after going to see The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre. A friend with much better contacts than I was able to score great tickets for a group of us back in February and I've been looking forward to it ever since.

The Book of Mormon, London edition

I liked Team America and, in small doses, South Park, so I had high hopes for The Book of Mormon, and it was great, sweary, inappropriate fun. The plot, such as it is, involves two young Mormon missionaries, Elder Price (played by Gavin Creel) and Elder Cunningham (usually portrayed by Jared Gertner, but his understudy Daniel Buckley stood in last night), who are assigned to be "companions" at the same mission in Uganda. 

Price rather fancies himself and is mortified to have to spend two years with the over-keen geek Cunningham. He's even more devastated that they were sent to Africa and not his dream destination: Orlando, inexplicably. Soon after arriving at their Ugandan village, they have their luggage stolen by a gun-toting general with an NSFW name, and they begin to realise that a) Africa isn't the same as in The Lion King and b) it's going to be harder than they thought to convince the locals to convert, as they have bigger concerns: like AIDS. And female genital mutilation.

The cast of The Book of Mormon take their bows

And here's the problem: where do you draw the line? To some extent, it's "OK" to laugh at some of the African scenes, because, as with Borat, we are laughing at the dumb Americans' reactions to Africa. That degree of remove makes it somehow acceptable. I didn't find any of the female genital mutilation lines funny, however, and not just because I don't think it's a funny topic. 

After seeing some of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's other work, I was expecting The Book of Mormon to be offensive, and it was. But it also felt like it had been censored for the stage, and maybe it was because of this that some of the gags weren't as funny as they needed to be. I laughed a lot, for sure, and the African villagers' re-enactment of the story of Joseph Smith and of Mormonism was brilliant, but many of the laughs were really just chuckles.

The singing was good — there weren't really any stand-out songs, but I liked a lot of them — and the dancing and costumes were impeccable. I thought Daniel Buckley rather stole the show, although his character does get the easier laughs than his uptight buddy. And Alexa Khadime, who plays a sort of heroine, has a superb voice. The whole ensemble performed well, though. The Book of Mormon is a great show, and it's definitely worth buying tickets — if you can get hold of them for a sensible amount.

River Man

Jeff Nichols' new film Mud opens in darkest Arkansas, when 14-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) find a knocked-up sailboat stuck up a tree on a deserted island in the Mississippi River, which must have been lodged there after a flood. 

They find some measly food supplies and a stash of Penthouse and realise someone is living there, and, on heading back to their boat, they meet a superstitious drifter called Mud (Matthew McConaughey), who is perfectly friendly and charming, but despite his claims of having money, seems desperate for the boys to help him by getting him some more food. They are a little reticent, but Ellis in particular seems to trust him, and they head home, promising to return soon with food.

Both boys live in a poor town in rural Arkansas. Neckbone, who never knew his parents, lives with his oyster catcher uncle (Michael Shannon), who fancies himself as a bit of a stud. Ellis lives with his parents (Sarah Paulson and Ray McKinnon) on a houseboat; they both love him, but times are hard. "I work you hard because life is work," his father tells him. 

Their marriage is slowly breaking down, which may mean a change of living arrangements for Ellis, who baulks at the thought of becoming a townie. Meanwhile, he pursues a relationship with an older girl, May Pearl (Bonnie Sturdivant), who is flattered by the attention and charmed by his naïveté, although isn't very serious about him.

For all of these reasons, Ellis is vulnerable to Mud's charisma, even after he finds out Mud is on the run from the law after killing a man whom he says was trying to hurt Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), the love of his life. The more Ellis finds out about Mud's life, the more he is drawn in and the more he identifies with the older man. 

It helps that a lot of Mud's anecdotes seem to take place when he was around the same age as Ellis—he met Juniper that summer, for instance, and it is hearing this that gives Ellis the courage to go after May Pearl. But despite his supposed openness with the boys, Mud is clearly a troubled man, who seems to struggle with the truth, and the uneasy nature of Nichols' slow-paced, two-hour movie makes you think it is quite possible that the burgeoning friendship between Mud and Ellis is going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

McConaughey is great as the troubled, troubling Mud, and Witherspoon put in a good performance as the trailer trash jezebel who, if you believe some of the characters, is responsible for Mud taking the path that he did in life. It's Sheridan who really shines in this melancholy coming-of-age drama, though, as the teenage boy who wants so desperately to seize control of the life that he feels is slipping from his grasp.

After Tree of Life, he must have been grateful for some lines and some character development... Mud is a little too long, and the languorousness started to drag in the middle, although the action started to pick up again in the final act. It reminded me of Mean Creek in some ways, as well as Stand by Me. If you're in the mood for something flashy and entertaining in an obvious way, go and see Gatsby, but you want to see something subtler and more thoughtful and understated, Mud could be the film for you.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Allpress Roastery Café Review

I don't know why it has taken me so long to pay a visit to Allpress Roastery Café, an antipodean coffee bar and roastery in the heart of Shoreditch. Yesterday, though, I decided it was time to try out a few more espresso bars and Allpress was next on my list, so off I went. Located on Redchurch Street, a quiet side street just north of Bethnal Green Road and east of Shoreditch High Street.

I was worried it might be too busy to get a table, but after I had ordered my drink, I was able to find a place to perch. I guess the hipsters were still in bed, sleeping off the night before.

The décor at Allpress is very casual: wooden tables and chairs, and neutral tones on the walls. The roasting equipment and the grinders, along with the La Marzocco machine, elevate this espresso bar above some of its rivals. I thought about ordering a single-origin brew, but in the end just went for my usual double macchiato. It arrived with a smiley face etched into the crema (actually, I think it might have been winking, but I may be reading too much into it!).

The coffee was rich and flavoursome and the crema was robust enough to last all the way to the end of my drink. They also serve breakfast, a range of Italian-inspired sandwiches, pastries and cakes, and you can, of course, buy bags of beans—they supply a number of cafés and restaurants throughout London. 

I had stocked up on beans at Monmouth earlier in the morning, but I might go back to Allpress next time I need some more. Oh, and if this isn't geeky enough for you, you can go to one of their Perfect Cup classes.

Allpress Roastery Café. 58 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London, E2 7DP (Tube: Shoreditch High Street or Old Street). Website.

Back East

I wasn't expecting to be free today, but some last-minute cancellations meant I had a day to catch up on my south/east London wanderings. Last night involved a few cocktails at ninetyeight in Shoreditch, including the eucalyptus martini pictured below, so I was a little later than usual heading out for my morning run along the river.

Eucalyptus martini at ninetyeight

But I still made it to Monmouth's Spa Terminus outpost to pick up a bag of freshly roasted Brazilian coffee beans before their noon closing time. I also grabbed a croissant from the Little Bread Pedlar before heading home to shower and change.

Coffee + croissant = happy Bex

The sun was starting to shine by then, so I decided to treat myself to lunch at the Ropewalk, near Maltby Street. They always have a range of tempting lunch options, but I decided to join the burgeoning queue for burgers at The Woolpack's stall. I ordered a classic burger, which involved mature cheddar and heritage tomato chutney. It was delicious and well worth the wait, even if I nearly squeezed a squirt of burger juices onto my jeans, thanks to the burger being somewhat bigger than the brioche that housed it.

The Woolpack's burger bar at the Ropewalk

Classic Woolpack burger. Medium rare. Delicious.

I hadn't checked out any new (to me) espresso bars for a while, so I then walked over Tower Bridge and up to Shoreditch, via Spitalfields Market, where I valiantly resisted buying numerous pretty and cheap-ish scarves, before ending up at Allpress on Redchurch Street (full review to follow). I much prefer Shoreditch on a chilled out Saturday afternoon to Friday nights, when the whole area is rammed and not all that pleasant. And you can see some of the street art by day too.

Allpress Espresso, Shoreditch.

"Please wait here until you are useful."

Reflected Shoreditch street art.

After a quick browse in some of the pop-up shops at Boxpark, I walked back down through the City, past the Gherkin and many of the new developments to St Paul's, where I crossed back to the South Bank and headed home. There was, as usual, a constant mass of people stretching from the front of St Paul's all the way to the Tate Modern.

The Gherkin and its new neighbours.

The hoards approach the Millennium Bridge.

Gatsby If You Can

I finally got to see Baz Luhrmann's long-waited interpretation of The Great Gatsby last night and although some of the reviews and comments had left me a little nervous, I enjoyed the film a lot. It's been a while since I read the book and I've never seen any of the movie adaptations, so I wasn't too worried about how well this new version would compare, but 2h20 of OTT opulence, Luhrmann style, might have been a bit much for a dull Tuesday evening at my local multiplex.

And Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is a bit much. It's more than a bit much, in fact, but it kept me entertained throughout. As the film opens, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is in rehab writing his memoirs of those heady days of decadence on Long Island. 

He moves into a tiny cottage across the water from his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her wealthy, polo-playing husband Tom "I'm not the polo player" Buchanan (a perfectly cast Joel Edgerton), and is intrigued by his mysterious neighbour, Jay Gatsby, who lives in the Versailles-like palace next door. Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's legendary parties—unusually, given that everyone else just turns up uninvited—and keen to meet his elusive neighbour, he goes along.

The party as imagined by Luhrmann is a cross between a Cambridge May Ball, the Rio Carnival and Cancún during spring break. Sequin-clad flapper girls strut their stuff by the swimming pool to the beat of Jay Z, will.i.am and Beyoncé. Yes, modern music, innit. It took a little while to adjust to this, but I didn't mind it too much. It's about thirty minutes into the film before we actually see Gatsby's face. Some of the party guests speculate on who Gatsby really is and how he got his money. Anyway, eventually Leonardo DiCaprio shows up and he certainly looks the part, old sport.

Nick soon begins to get sucked into this world and, even as he looks back on this summer and everything that happened therein, he can't help but defend and admire Gatsby. Then he finds out that Gatsby has a past with Daisy and he agrees to organise a "chance" encounter between the two of them over tea at Nick's place. 

A chance encounter that involves about 300 bunches of flowers and about 20 cakes, among other things. Nick tells himself it's OK because Daisy's husband is screwing the car mechanic's wife Myrtle (Isla Fisher) and because Gatsby and Daisy are in love and are meant to be, and so on. 

One of the main love scenes takes place at one of Gatsby's shindigs, where Gatsby and Daisy sneak away into the gardens together. It might be 17 years later and it might be Carey instead of Claire, and Lana Del Rey and The xx playing instead of Des'ree, but it's still Craig Armstrong playing the score and it's still a very similar scene visually, structurally and emotionally to the balcony scene in Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. The xx's Together is a gorgeous song, so the cheesiness of the moment didn't bother me as much as it might.

The R+J similarities continue. Most of the audience knows the tragic endings of both films, and in both, there is a point of no return, after which there will be mutually assured destruction. In Gatsby, there is a lot of slow-mo and a lot of sad music and sad, longing glances. Carey Mulligan is really good as the ethereal, troubled Daisy, and although I liked Leo's take on Gatsby (though he did look a little old to play 32), I don't think it was his strongest recent performance. 

Edgerton, as I mentioned, made a great Tom, with fantastic delivery and expressions. "Mr Gatsby, exactly who are you, anyhow?" he sneers, as it all starts to go down. I'm still not sure what to make of Maguire's performance. He certainly made an unsettling narrator at times, a product of his character's on-the-outside-looking-in-with-longing status.



So, yes, it's big. Yes, it's loud. Yes, it's amped up to the max (the scenes where the characters drive into Manhattan felt a little like the much-trailed Fast and Furious 6). Yes, it's flashy (and I only saw it in 2D). It's beautifully shot, though not everyone will enjoy Luhrmann's very stylised direction—but if you've seen any of his other films, you will know what you are getting yourself in for. 

As Daisy puts it early on in the movie, "all the bright previous things fade so fast." And after all the spectacle has died down, the viewer isn't left with a whole lot of substance. But with great costumes, great music, some good performances and a great show, I couldn't complain.