Seven Heaven: The Joy of Six, part 2

Well, it's that time of year again...

That urge to compile, to quantify, to categorise is given full rein as every website, publication and parish magazine publish their end-of-year lists. They're all at it:  the NME (I remember when their annual Top 50 Albums list was awaited with bated breath. Times change...) the BBC, Empire, Gardener's Journal.

The best novel.
The best film.
The sharpest secateurs.
The most absorbent incontinence pads.

So- with startling originality, we present The Plate Licked Clean's 'Seven Heaven'; a bunch of my favourite things. (Since the last one I did, of course...) The original reviews are scattered about the blog, but this is more of a greatest hits package for the lazy Christmas buyer...


In no particular order, then:

Bao buns- Bao London, KERB Southbank, London

Proof positive that street food  can be an absolute revelation. These perfect little steamed buns, piled with shreds of slow-cooked, densely-flavoured belly Korean barbecue pork, are remarkable. A couple of bites and they're gone...but what bites. Pickles, fresh herbs, ground peanuts, meat. One of those 'can I order a wheelbarrow full next time?' dishes.

An honourable mention for their fried chicken, too, for being pretty much an object kesson in how to get something right when so many get it so wrong. Their memory has lingered. Just a tad.

Lobster roll: The Big Easy, Covent Garden, London

There's a heap of barbecue to get through at this place, but the lobster was the main attraction. A thick brioche, a meaty portion of tail and claw, plenty of mayonnaise, a little paprika, drizzled drawn butter, the tang of lemon to lift it. Cold beer. Enough said.

Burgers: The Beefy Boys, various pop ups, Hereford

I'll stop banging on about The Beefy Boys one day. But not yet. Because sometimes you encounter something simple but sublime- sublime in its simplicity.

So look at it.

Just look at it.

This is about as good as it gets. Freshly made, carefully assembled. Impeccably sourced within mere miles, shaped and seasoned and cooked before your eyes. Grillstock 2014 Burger Champions by a thumping 100 points.

Weeks later, I am still starstruck.

Am I actually suggesting you make a trip to Hereford, or for their upcoming appearances at Bristol Market? A hundred-plus-mile round trip from Cardiff, just for a few minutes of eating pleasure?

Yes.

Yes, I am.

And lest you think their 21-day-aged Hereford beef has finally tipped me over the edge into unhinged rambling. We visited a couple of days before they left for Las Vegas, where they competed in the World Food Championships...

...and finished as the second-best burger team in the world.With their "Butty Back Burger" (below) topping the final round as World's Best Burger.

Like I said, worth a trip. These things couldn't be any more alluring if they were served by Noémie Lenoir. 

Hell, on Noémie Lenoir.

Ibérico pork- José Bermondsey/Bar 44 Tapas y Copas, Penarth

Against everything you've been taught about cooking meat? Certainly. Counterintuitive? Definitely. Immensely, intensely flavourful and memorable? You betcha.

Rigorously sourced, carefully reared, prime free range pork, granted only the briefest acquaintance with the plancha. Enough to colour the surface of the fillet, leaving the interior a glistening ruby seduction. The most perfunctory of dressings-a  squeeze of a lemon, a dusting of smoky pimentón- and you are tasting a geuine delicacy. A rare treat. Something to savour, to recall. Bar 44 treat and serve this meat with the respect it deserves. Utterly unforgettable.

 Souvlaki- Meat and Greek:Pop Up Cardiff/Street Food Cardiff

Something you just know.

The beckoning aromas of grilling meat were a good start, of course; but a few minutes with the beaming people behind Meat and Greek- and a couple of handfuls of their chicken and pork souvlaki- and we felt this was something different. No slick restaurant operation, but a family who- on barely more than a whim and a couple of days' notice- wanted to see who would turn up.

And turn up they did. There was a huge swell of interest and the next time they appeared, the queues were (and I use the term advisedly) HangFire long. There's something heartening about that. Not the result of a slick marketing plan or a dazzlingly interactive website, or a deluge of self-promotional tweets: just people cracking on to the fact there was simple, tasty food served by people who were loving being there and loving feeding their customers. This is, by any measure, A Good Thing. This is happiness in a handful. Stop sniggering at the back.

Hotdogs-Hogwurst, North Road, Cardiff

It's easy to be impressed by a new venture, especially when the staff are enthusiastic, all fired up by the novelty of it all.

Then you revisit and you start to see the little oversights. Things which could do with a bit of an overhaul. Subsequent visits reveal more niggles.

Not at Hogwurst. It's pitch-perfect. From the decor aesthetic, that lived-in feeling, to the accomplished cakes and pastries made on site, or the thumpingly good coffee. The details count for so much here: whether it's the Lyle's Golden Syrup tins marshalling your fries, or the milk shakes presented in old-school bottles. The desserts, the handmade patisserie whcih would not look remotely out of place in a far more formal restaurant setting. If anyone else was planning to open a similar venture in Cardiff, they'd do well to study what they do at Hogwurst. Calmly. Steadily. And then tear up their plans and open another burger stand instead.

What you get a sense of is tremendous attention to the finest of details, allied with people having fun. Nothing left to chance, but with nothing stultifyingly over-styled. The bread is supplied by a local family baker, the franks by the acclaimed Native Breeds, the toppings all well-judged and generous. They even make vegetarian hotdogs taste and look superb. They're that good.

Various- JOL's Food Co., Street Food Cardiff

  

Street food has been one of the big strories in the city this year. From those first Sundays in Womanby Street, to the initial forays from Street Food Cardiff, to the queues outside The Depot on Dumballs Road, this trend has had many starry-eyed. But JOL's has me reaching for the superlatives.

Jamie O'Leary is a busy man. Having a young one around makes you take stock (always useful for a chef, that) and consider what's truly important to you. He has somehow found time to redefine, to recalibrate what you feel you can expect from a trailer on a street or in a warehouse. Burgers, pizza you expect. You could be excused for not reckoning on an Italian-influenced dish of braised rabbit, slow-cooked til it falls apart, with crisped-up bites of belly, all lifted by a  tomato soffritto heady with basil. And let's not forget the parmesan gnocchi.

Years as Stephen Terry's right-hand man at The Hardwick have clearly paid off. This is food you'd be happy to order at a restaurant, eaten standing up in an oversized shed. And don't get me started on his triple-cooked chips or his confit duck leg with Italian sausage and saffron risotto cake...

It's been a good few months' eating. Here's to 2015.