Healthy Yummies - Location Catering & Street Food, Around UK

I’d first heard of Healthy Yummies when watching the Food Network. The show was called Red Hot and Yummy and focused on the owner of the company (Nicola Smith) as she went from first client contact, to menu planning, sourcing, cooking and serving the event (attention was also given to all the obstacles she encountered during the process: truck too big for the driveway etc…) 

On TV Nicola came across as very down to earth and approachable. A boss you’d like to work for kinda person. With vivacious red hair and always sporting a 50’s housewife headscarf, she seemed far from boring. Her vision was to own a van in which to serve good, seasonal and healthy food and with serious dedication, long hours, a touch of luck and a marketable idea Healthy Yummies was born.

The episode that cemented my liking for her was one in which she was hired to cater for a Jamie Oliver shoot. She was highly excited about the prospect of meeting him and planned a healthy yet scrummy sounding menu. At crunch time Mr 15-minute-meals only asked for a bacon sandwich and moreover had one of his minions get it. Much to Nicola’s dismay he didn’t eat her food or show his face. Ho Hum.

I met Nicola when she was serving her creations alongside her 1970s Bedford Ice Cream Van. She later told me she named it Elvira May to commemorate her grandmother who helped her buy it and sadly passed 2 days after she got it. 

I chose the lettuce cup which was filled with slow cooked black beans, tomato salsa, sour cream, a beetroot puree, coriander and a specially sourced cheese. Sounds simple enough but when done well simple food can be the best. The beans were deliciously meaty, the salsa was well seasoned and had a nice kick, and the beetroot puree was sweet, smooth as butter and somewhat comforting. All in all it was the best thing I had all day. 

Nicola was clever in her choice of menu too, she told me she opted for veggie as the other menus were heavily meat based. This approach allowed her plates to be healthier, both in calories and size. What I had was packed with flavour and colour, ample, and I really didn’t miss the meat.

And although Nicola’s company is called Healthy Yummies I think it would be fair to say that yes, they are conscious of the healthy aspect of the food they produce but that in no way means they compromise on oomph. Take a look at their sample menu (http://www.healthyyummies.com/sample-menus/lunchdinner/). I wouldn’t pass up the chance to try any of those things and I certainly wouldn’t consider myself sacrificing anything for health or dietary reasons. Would you consider a breakfast of ‘black pudding, apple chutney and spelt bread’ a chore, or a lunch of ‘beef fillet, jerusalem artichoke and sloeberries’ hard to swallow? Nah

You can find Nicola’s new and somewhat larger truck (named Theo after her nephew) at food fairs like the Good Food Show where I met her, or indeed you could hire them.

Healthy Yummies

9/10

90 De Beauvoir Road

London N1 4EN

Tel: 0207 275 7120

www.healthyyummies.com

BBC Good Food Show - Olympia, London

The Good Food show was ok. I think however that it would be a little more apt to call it the Good Food Trade Show. Yes, there are food stalls in the street kitchen area but only about 5 and I didn’t feel wholly impressed by the choice. 

When you first walk in you can purchase DC’s or Dining Currency. These come in token form and you can buy denominations of £5. The thing I found very annoying was that they neglected to tell us that these tokens were only accepted at the 5 food stalls in the street kitchen area. All of the other food on offer (artisanal produce, both cooked and to take home) only took cash. It made no sense, either only accept tokens, or only accept cash. That’s what they did at Taste of London and that worked a lot better for me.

So we be-lined to the street food area and the first thing I had was the tasting plate from celebrated Indian TV chef Cyrus Todiwala. It consisted of an Onion Bhaji, a Chickpea Chaat, some Coriander and Tamarind sauces and a crispy cup of some sort. It was ok but honestly nothing phenomenal. About 10 bites cost us £7 or 7DC’s, not worth it at all.

I could go on and on about the other bits and bobs I tried (the salt beef bagel was good) but to be honest the best part of the show came from the artisanal produce for sale. All kinds of cheeses, sausages, salamis, sauces, dips etc… Some of the upstairs stalls were run by individuals just trying to make their product known, and I liked that.

Later in the day we went to see one of the demonstrations (you have to pre-book). Gregg Wallace and John Torode from Masterchef fame were on stage hosting a cook off between 2 previous winners. It was ok but also a bit blah and I’m pretty sure Mr Torode was on the wrong side of tipsy.

I suppose it would be fair to say that my expectations of food shows is benchmarked by Taste of London, because in my opinion that’s the best one. This felt a little like a poor man’s version.

Good Food Show

7/10

www.bbcgoodfoodshowlondon.com

The Great British Sausage Co - Location Caterers & Sausage distributors, UK

What a brilliant yet simple idea. Get really well sourced and high quality meat, turn it into sausages and then go around to trade shows, get them in some shops and why not also cater to corporate and summer festival events. That’s this sausage company’s blueprint and it seems to be working for them.

I came across the company at the Good Food Show where they were selling sausages both cooked and uncooked. I was eyeing up what they called the ‘Full English’, which comprised of black pudding, pork and bacon. Unfortunately for me they weren’t cooking those so I bought a packet for home, which I ate the next day and can now say sits proudly in my top 5 best ever sausages. Equally good was the pork and jalapeño sausage I had at the food show. It was moist and delicious but disappointingly mild (if you’re putting jalapeño in it then I want to taste it). 

These bangers aren’t exactly cheap though. 4 sausages set me back £5 and the pork and jalapeño I had at the show was £5 too. It’s utterly worth it though. Shows that if you can afford to spend a little more then you get back a little more.

If you’re so inclined you can hire the company who can cater for up to 5000. They also do hog roasts and some bespoke dishes, and provide a full bar. Not bad but I imagine not cheap either. Aside from that I’d suggest keeping your eyes peeled for them when you’re food shopping. You won’t regret it.

The Great British Sausage Co

10/10

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/events/view/6028/The_Great_British_Sausage_Company

Delight Polish Supermarket - Mitcham, London

I have Polish roots (I mean look at my name), however the food has never been a favourite of mine. I like my grandmothers Borsch but my desire to eat the food pretty much stops at that.

The other day I ventured to a newly opened Polish supermarket on Mitcham Road. I hadn’t been to a place that only sold Polish produce before so I was excited. It was clean, well organised and authentic to the point that the only other customers were Polish and the staff barely spoke a word of English. They had everything you could imagine, from cold meats and cheeses in the counter at the back, to pickles, Polish chocolate bars, frozen Pierogies, huge fresh baked breads and so on. It was all reasonably priced too. I bought a huge jar of pickled red cabbage for just over £1. 

Everything is written in Polish so I found it pretty hard to decipher what most of the things were, however not knowing added to the fun of the experience and to the feel of authenticity. I bought something simply because of its funky packaging. I still don’t know what it is (and it’s not like I could have asked the staff for help). So it could be a soup powder, or a jelly powder maybe. At any rate it’s like playing Polish-powder-roulette.

Delight Polish Supermarket
6/10
284 Mitcham Road
London
CR4 2BA

Spice Village - Tooting, London

When you feel like a curry in London a lot of people will tell you to head to Brick Lane or Southall. There’s nothing wrong with either of these places, however I can’t understand why Tooting is always overlooked.

As a place Tooting is a little bland, but the many Indian restaurants that flank the high street is reason enough to stop by.

On this occasion we went to Spice Village. From the outside the restaurant looks huge and quite generic. There’s a large tv in the corner (which I hate) and the decor is standard. When we went the restaurant was full (of mainly Indian people, always a good sign). 

Before we ordered we were given a salad and a selection of dips. Bizarrely though there were no papadums. These had to be ordered and were 50p a pop(adum).

We had 1 Pilau Rice, 1 Lamb Vindaloo, 1 Butter Chicken, and a Naan. For the 2 of us it was ample and we actually took a little home. The vindaloo was nicely spiced and quite hot, but the lamb was a little tough. The butter chicken was delicious but very very oily. The rice was extremely fluffy and the naan was charred and fantastic.

The entire bill, including a Lassi and diet coke was £22, so very reasonable. I would only go back if all the other restaurants on Tooting Road were packed and I was starving, because effectively SV is really only a slightly better local. I spent a great deal of time eyeing up the place across the road because the queues were endless and the smell emanating was the stuff of dreams. That will be my next stop. So actually if I’m telling you that the food here was ok but next time I’ll be going across  the road then it couldn't have been that good.

Spice Village

6/10

32 Upper Tooting Road

London SW17 7PD

Tel: 0208 672 0710

www.spicevillageltd.com

Chislehurst Caves - Chislehurst, Kent

The cafe is truly bad, the inside waiting area leaves a little to be desired. The caves are scary, dark and cold. The tour guide is slightly cheesy in his delivery. The entire experience is wonderful.

I’ve lived in London since I first opened my eyes. I know of all the main tourist attractions. Chislehurst Caves slipped by me. It’s not that well advertised and I’m sure that not a huge amount of people know about it, or indeed think it worthy of the trip, but it really is.

The tour lasts over an an hour and is effectively a mile walk around the caves (lantern in hand) with  regular stops to allow our delightfully witty guide to tell us about what happened where. Hendrix played in the Saxon’s part of the cave. The hospital was in the Romans’ part etc…

It’s a very powerful snippet of what life must have been like for those during WWII. The caves were very much a home for many and as such became an underground village/community. This isn’t a history lesson so I won’t go on but suffice to say that spending £6 on a lazy Sunday morning to grab some cave air and a little culture was a truly good start to the coming week.

I wouldn’t eat in the cafe unless I was highly hungover and in need of a greasy helping hand (chilli con carne and the full English were top choices) but its vibe added to the low rent (in the best possible way) vibe of the place. I did however pick up a book on war-time cookery, which I will consult when I need to ration my food intake and drop a few pounds, so basically a daily read!

Chislehurst Caves
10/10
Caveside Close
Old Hill
BR7 5NL

www.chislehurst-caves.co.uk

Rotunda Bar & Restaurant - Kings Place, London

It wouldn’t be fair to give a lengthy review of Rotunda’s food as we only had a bar snack, however a few words about the ambience, service and setting would be fair to comment on.

We went to watch a film and gig. In the interim we stopped here because it was right in the middle of the venue and time was of the essence. In that vain we stuck to something quick, which turned out to be their Chunky Chips in Beef Dripping. They were very good (crispy, fluffy, hot) but we were shocked that we literally got a handful for £4.

I can see why Rotunda works as it’s got a lovely outside area on the water. The vibe works for the late twenties and up crowd who are perhaps stopping in pre or post show. When we went the bar was busy so not a great deal of emphasis was on the food, which was probably a good thing because we’d of been hard pressed to of found a table. The service was slow but then again the bar staff were rammed.

I can imagine that by day sitting outside by the water while having a bite to eat would be a lovely thing, however the price of the food is steep, and the restaurant has no accolades to warrant it. It’s one of those ‘I’m going to make English food sound fancy by adding the word béarnaise wherever I can and telling you where I source my meat so I can charge £5 more per plate’ type menus.

I wouldn’t eat here, but I would have a drink if I was waiting to see a show (for the aforementioned reasons). In future if I find myself going back to Kings Place I’ll give myself enough time to go to one of the many restaurants in King’s Cross that are far less pretentious, more delicious, and wouldn’t send me bankrupt: Fore rib of beef on the bone, bèarnaise sauce, triple cooked chips - £26 per person. C’mon, you’re having a laugh!

Rotunda
6/10
Kings Place
90 York Way
N1 9AG
Tel: 0207 014 2840

www.rotundabarandrestaurant.co.uk