First We Eat Archives - BURNESSIE TRAVELS

London

Bodean’s

Facebook recently reminded me it’s been two years since my friend Harry and I went to Bodean’s and ordered five sides. Five. Between two, in addition to a huge plate of BBQ meat each which, yes, already came with sides. I recently showed my mate Tom (of Foulder Online) the wondrous ways of the world of Bodean’s for the first time, and it struck me I’ve never actually written about my love for the place other than random comments or tweets screaming ‘BODEAN’S I LOVE BODEAN’S’ into the void. I assume everyone knows about Bodean’s because they’ve been around for years now and have quite a few outposts, but then I think, ‘God, what if you don’t? What if you don’t know and you’re missing this amazing meat mecca in your life?’ So here we are.

I’m going to start with the drinks first, because without fail the first thing I do when I reach any Bodean’s is order a margarita straight up, with salt. Let me tell you, they know this cocktail. I’d like to tell you they know all their cocktails, but I couldn’t, because I only ever have the margs. I’m not steering off piste when my favourite cocktail is that good. For those who don’t want to plough their way through the long cocktail list they also serve a wealth of American beers and ales, as well as a decent offering of reds and white wines.

And then, of course, there’s the meat – the star of this all American show. Look around and you’ll see huge racks of ribs smothered in their house smokey BBQ sauce, towering burgers, foot long hot dogs. The smell as you walk past other diners to your table is genuinely saliva inducing. My go-to is forever the pulled pork with burnt ends combo (£13.95): tender meat that falls apart at the softest of nudges from your fork, full of flavour and never, ever dry. It’s a tough pick from an extensive menu, but I can personally highly recommend any platter of meat they offer, and if you’re into hot dogs, Tom assures me the chilli cheese dog (£8.25) is more than up to scratch.

But back to these five sides. If you want to truly experience a Bodean’s feast to its greatest potential, order extra sides. That time Harry and I went a tad overboard (no regrets), we ordered sweet potato fries, macaroni cheese, cornbread (oh God I love cornbread), BBQ beans with extra pulled pork (I know) and onion rings, because of course. All were excellent, but the onion rings and cornbread are a must. Needless to say that what with all that and several margaritas, I’ve never made it to dessert, though the menu is made up of American classics such as pecan pie and New York style cheesecake. You don’t go to Bodean’s for the sweets though, you go for the meat. And then you keep going back.

Locations in Soho, Tower Hill, Balham, Old Street, Fulham, Clapham and Covent Garden. For addresses and specific opening times for each restaurant visit the website.

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Gelateria Santa Trinita

When I’m sitting mid-way through a tedious work week, my patience being tried and tested more than should be normal on a day to day basis, my mind inevitably wanders to my travels. To where I’d rather be. We all do it, be it dreaming of lying in the sun on a beach somewhere tropical or breathing in mountain air in the French Alps. There are many places I’d like to be, but today it happens to be sitting under the shade of the Duomo in Florence, reading a book whilst sipping on an aperol spritz before deciding to wander down to the river in the late afternoon sun. I’d walk past Ponte Vecchio and along the Arno, crossing at Ponte Santa Trinita for this: gelato from the aptly named Gelateria Santa Trinita.

Flashback to September: word of mouth has spread, my bed and breakfast host Biagio sending me to join the locals and tourists alike to try some of the best Florentine gelato. Biagio never was wrong with his recommendations. Italy isn’t short of good gelato, but this place deserves to be written about and ventured to.

Gelateria Santa Trinita make fresh flavours every day, with up to 38 different flavours of gelato, sorbet and even ice cream cake in the busy summer months, and they are constantly dreaming up new innovative flavours to go alongside the universally loved classics. As ever when it comes to ice cream, narrowing down the flavours becomes a challenge – at least it does for me, as I’ll want at least six. One I almost never steer from is Stracciatella, probably because you never seem to get it in England much, and if you do it’s never as good as its European counterparts. Creamy vanilla flavoured with chocolate chunks in it, it’s the perfect accompaniment to something a little punchier. Today that flavour is their signature, the Santa Trinita; mascarpone gelato swirled with hazelnut chocolate – essentially, swirled with nutella. Yes. A thousand times yes.

I think it must be some sort of unwritten rule to eat your gelato whilst sitting on the bridge overlooking the famous Ponte Vecchio in the distance. On the day I ate the best gelato in Florence, the sun was setting on the other side of the bridge I sat on, the city swiftly becoming one of my favourite places in the world. And when you can buy gelato that good for a few euros, who could blame me?

Piazza Frescobaldi, 11/12 R, Firenze, Italy
+39 055 238 1130

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Asia Food From Travels Gili Islands Indonesia Lombok

Kayu Cafe

Warning: food envy – high risk. This is the place to come on Gili Trawangan if you’re looking for a great salad to help counteract all the damage you’re doing with the day-long Bintangs that merge into one big haze of making friends whilst drinking in the sea, sundowners at sunset and a night of the debauchery that Gili T is famous for.

Breakfast runs all day at Kayu, which is perfect for edging off the effects of the night before with omelettes, eggs benedict, full English and pancakes alongside healthier options such as granola and oatmeal. They have drinks fully covered too, offering a vast array of coffees: hot, iced, blended, flavoured (the creme brûlée made with ice cream, caramel and vanilla was delicious); plenty of health juices made with fresh fruit; smoothies and herbal teas.

Salads are a speciality of Kayu’s, with a wide range on the menu. The halloumi and quinoa salad is excellent, made with fresh ingredients and decked out with fancy cucumber ribbons. The yoghurt mint dressing was perfectly complimentary and there was plenty of it. Its the perfect size for lunch and generous on the halloumi, which I think we can all agree is the most important thing when it comes to halloumi, or indeed cheese in general. They also do an excellent quinoa and feta salad with honey and mustard vinaigrette, amongst plenty of other options, as well as a good range of paninis and a few pasta dishes too, so there really is something for everyone here.

After you’ve made attempts to fix your body with a juice and a salad (if you haven’t opted for a strong coffee and Full English, that is), there’s a big glass cabinet full of amazing looking cakes to undo all the good work: three layer chocolate cake, brownies, banana cake, apple slices and if you are aiming to be more health conscious, raw energy balls. This is one of the only places on the island that take care to offer some of the healthier options usually found in Ubud, and the café even sells some products from some of Ubud’s more famous health cafés for the islanders.

The food at Kayu Cafe is high quality, and you do pay a little more for it, with food coming in between 55,000 – 70,000 IDR and healthy juices at 39,000 IDR. The good news is tax and service is included, unlike many places in Indonesia, so in effect you’re not paying much more than elsewhere anyway. Wifi is free and strong – when it works! (The island is well known for its regular power cuts.)Service is a little slow, but you’re on island time, and I can think of worse places to wait for my food that overlooking the waters of Gili T.

Kayu Cafe, Gili Trawangan, Lombok, Indonesia. To the left of the jetty in front of the night market as you look out to sea.
+62 (0) 878 6239308

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Europe Florence Food From Travels Italy

All’Antico Vinaio

Turns out Tuscans are quite into their sandwiches. English paninis are quite different though – an Italian panino (singular) won’t go anywhere near a toaster. Italians also don’t do paninis by halves. They are absolutely huge and you will have no chance of being hungry two hours after one of these for lunch. They also happen to cost around €5 a pop.

All’Antico Vinaio held TripAdvisor’s top spot for best restaurant in Florence during my time there, so I figured I had to give it a go. With the following five places also being taken by other panino shops, there is clearly strong competition and a lot of hype around the simple sandwich in Florence.

But these sandwiches are anything but simple. With a queue on each side of the street snaking away from All’Antico Vinaio’s two outposts in Via dei Neri, the Palazzo Vecchio tower overlooking the crowds, it’s instantly clear that a lot of people have been checking TripAdvisor for tips.

And this time, TripAdvisor gets it right. These sandwiches are definitely worth hunting down and queuing up for. The staff are full of that classic Italian energy; joking and flirting with customers as one of them chops up the last of what is their clearly very popular roast beef and throws it onto a tray with a hunk of bread for people to sample. Hands fight their way in and it’s gone within seconds (my hand was one of them and it really was very good). They bark at you for your order and it’s impossible not to feel the pressure, after all the queue is huge and full of customers with hungry eyes, and you want everything in the glass cabinet shoved into one sandwich. Thankfully All’Antico Vinaio have made things a little easier by listing their most popular paninis for struggling customers to choose from.

I went off book and chose a random selection of whatever looked good (it all looked good). I chose salami piccante, roasted peppers, aubergine, tomatoes, basil and what turned out to be the stand out for me – stracchino, a very soft and creamy cheese, smeared over the bread as a base to all the other ingredients, finally stuffed with rocket and drizzled with balsamic glaze. One of All’Antico Vinaio’s outposts is purely take away, the one opposite offers the opportunity to sit inside and eat. Although most opt to sit on the pavements of Via dei Neri, eating in concentration in a spot of Tuscan sun, there are advantages to opting for indoors. Namely that you can buy a glass of wine as an accompaniment for a mere €2, and pour it yourself from a selection of about four bottles on the counter.

Sadly I had a train to catch, so I ate my panino walking back through the centre of Florence in time to collect my luggage from my B&B for my journey to Milan, happily unaware of the dried balsamic on my chin for at least forty five minutes. It’s messy one but all the best sandwiches are.

Via dei Neri, 74/R, Firenze, Italy
+39 055 238 2723