BOW BOATS & SMOKEY TAILS

The last day of August 2013, TOUCH DIGITAL, the company I work for, decided to squeeze in a Summer Party before it was too late. So all eight of us plus partners headed out to East London for a day in the remaining bits of summer on The London Canal! 

We commandeered Bow Boat, Hazel and her Crew and they steered us from Limehouse Basin to Hackney Wick and then finishing off at London Fields.

Arriving at Hackney Wick we went off in search for the recently new Smokey Tails! It was a bit tricky to find but after a bit of perserverance we did get there. On route we did come across CRATE, also based along the canal (serving up delicious thing crust pizzas and good beer) 

On arriving at Smokey Tails, they were still setting up but were happy for us to settle in. ST was set up by two guys with help from some of the people from The Secret Garden Party

We put in order for food and set about deciding on cocktails pritchers £26 each.

Cuban Mule - Havana club, lime, bitters and ginger beer
Smokey Summer Cup - Gin and lots of fruit?... It was good though!
Moitjo

LUNCH

Choice of three smoked meats; Chicken wings with choice of sauce.

 Pulled Pork in a brioche bun or sticky BBQ ribs, £12 each. 

They then come with two really tasty salads from a choice of three; Tomato salad with pickled walnuts, Courgette and rocket with parmesan, New potato and dill salad with lemony dressing.

We also had the desserts which included the Hackney Mess (the Hackney being a lemon curd sauce) and a Chocolate Brownie & creme fraiche, both £4. Have to say I wasn't that impressed with the puddings. The chocolate brownie was a little lifeless and was missing that gooey coco hit and the Hackney Mess, well really did look like a mess and was just whipped cream with lemon curd mixed through it with the odd chunk of merging and blueberry. Wouldn't bother...

Our final leg took us onto Broadway market/London Fields for more chilling in the sun in the park then finishing of at London Field Brewery for a beer or two. 

www.smokeytails.co.uk
The Container Yard, 119 Wallis Road,
Hackney wick, London E9 5LN

For private hire please email info@smokeytails.co.uk

Opening hours: Thursday 1pm – midnight. 
Snacks 1-6pm. Dinner from 6pm.
Friday, Sunday 11am – 12 midnight

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Nearest station: Hackney Wick

WHITSTABLE // JOJO's

That is Jojo herself creating the fantastic food in the open kitchen!

You may not realise it, but Whitstable is a foodies heaven!
All you need to do is a little research and you come across some of the most fantastic restaurants that both serve up superb food, great friendly service and all at a reasonable price plus the usually BYOB!?


Whilst we were in Whitstable, it was Holly's birthday. We headed over to the other side of town to Tankerton, where the fantastic JOJO'S is. Jojo's is a superb restaurant that only opens a few days a week and is so good you have to book two weeks in advance! Most evening bookings go in the first 30minutes of them opening reservations, so be warned.

I managed to get the five of us booked in for lunch. Everyone who works at Jojo's are incredibly helpful and friendly. Plus you can bring your own bubbles or wine too!

As it was a special occassion we nipped to the OFFY in Whitstable and picked a bottle of 

Prosecco di Valdobbiadene D.O.C Frizzante - N/V which was really tasty. 

However unlike most bottles of bubbles you have to use a corkscrew to open it.... 

As you can see Ben and Elliot were a little concerned!

Excited as ever we all ordered a dish each that was then shared between us all. I'm so sorry but we hoovered up some of the food before I could even take a photo - It really was that tasty!

Here is what we went for:

Lamb Cannon Thinly sliced and seared with jelly (usually mint) 

Seasonal Green Leaf Salad With feta cheese and red onions 

Haddock / Pollack Goujons Deep-fried in beer batter with tartar mayo 

Chargrilled Sardines with Moroccan couscous & puy lentil salad with pomegranate molasses, poppy seed & lemon dressing

Hummus, Taramasalata and Mojo With pitta bread

Off the menu - pork cheeks with fennel and crackling

Homemade sorbets - blueberry, raspberry, mango

Cinnamon and vanilla seed ice cream.

Dark chocolate torte and chantily cream

Jojo's Homemade Dip Selection - Hummus, Taramasalata and Mojo With pitta bread

Moules Marinee and a Seasonal Green Leaf Salad With feta cheese and red onions

Chargrilled Sardines with Moroccan couscous & puy lentil salad 

with pomegranate molasses, poppy seed & lemon dressing

Off the menu - Pork Cheeks with Fennel and Crackling

Holly, the Birthday Girl and a delicious wedge of dark chocolate torte 

with Chantilly cream & a candle

I even got a hold!! Whilst the birthday girl ate her chocolate torte ;)

JoJo’s Meze, Meat & Fish
Restaurant & Coffee Shop
2 Herne Bay Road
Tankerton
Whitstable
Kent
CT5 2LQ
United Kingdom

Opening Hours:Restaurant Lunch:
Thursday to Sunday
12.30pm to 2.15pm (last booking)
Restaurant Dinner:
Wednesday to Saturday
6.30pm to 8.30pm (last booking)
Coffee Shop:
Tuesday to Sunday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm
No booking is required for the Coffee Shop
Bookings for the restaurant can be made up to two weeks in advance on 01227 274591

WHITSTABLE // WINDY CORNER STORES

My second visit to Whitstable and there was a couple of places I was desperate to visit. One of which was  Windy Corner Stores. Based a little bit away from the town centre it's well worth the short walk.

As a community cafe it is both kid and dog friendly. Which was perfect considering on this visit we were their with our friends Holly and Elliot and their new born, Rosalie. At only six weeks old she was absolutely adorable and remarkably 'chilled' out. 

As it was a Bank Holiday Weekend, Whitstable was fit to burst! So we decided it best to head over Sunday morning just as Windy Stores had opened to make sure we could get a table and settle down for a relaxing breakfast.

They opened at 8am and we managed to get over there for 8.40am. There was the odd person bobbing in for a paper and takeaway coffee but other than that, we seemed to be the first to arrive. I noticed a couple of tables had been booked for breakfast, which in retrospect was something we could've done rather than just getting there really early. However by the sounds of Rosalie's routine early mornings it didn't seem to matter.

We ordered a large pot of tea and a couple of coffees, grabbed a couple of papers and set up camp (They have Newspapers on sale and to be read if sitting in). Breakfast was served from 9am which gave me plenty of time to decide on what to have. After originally planning to have a small light breakfast, I ended up succumbing to a full veggie brekkie!

As you can see from the photos the serve up an impressive start to the day! Elliot and Ben both went for the Classic Full Monty which included 3 sausages, rasher of bacon, creamed mushrooms, beans, grilled tomatoes, wilted spinach, fried egg and toast. The veggie had also the creamed mushrooms, beans, grilled tomatoes, wilted spinach, fried egg and toast with also broccoli frittata.

Holly went for more 'Windy Eggs' with poached eggs on toast. These eggs were poached to perfection!

Great food, great coffee and a wonderful atmosphere! Highly recommend it but try and get there before rush hour as it does get very hectic when it's packed. The menus do change depending on the season, here's what was on the board that morning...

Windy stores also make fabulous wholesome food for lunch platters & I believe they can do picnic hampers too! They include things like a meze of salads and dips and a main meat or veg dish. Delicious cakes, the best brownies.... was so tempted but was just to early to get one! Such a shame....

WIFI is available if food and drinks bought.  They also do private evening dinner parties, which you can see photos on their facebook page. But best of all they do "Bring a dish for us to fill - windy lazy meals" Where you can take your own large caserole dish and leave it with them and pick it up for of tasty food that you can bake that evening. Such a superb idea. I just wish they were based in South East London!!