Instagram roundup posts are kind of a dime a dozen these days, and I usually shy away from them as I figure everyone who follows me on here probably follows me over there. Lately though,
I've been instagramming a lot of amazing food and I wanted to go into a bit more detail so you can seek out similarly amazing food. Everyone loves amazing food, right?
The Baconator and the Will Robinson burger - Atomic Pizza, Oxford
Atomic Pizza is based in Oxford, and there is also Atomic Burger which is run by the same people, based in Bristol and Oxford, again. The difference is that Atomic Pizza sells pizzas AND burgers, but word on the street is that the pizzas are nowhere near as special as the burgers. The burgers are pretty damn special, to be fair. Matt and I shared the Big Tone and the Will Robinson. The Big Tone was a little disappointing - we expected it to be saucier, and reading the menu again, I suspect they missed out the pizza sauce. But the Will Robinson was amazing, topped with breaded garlic mushrooms and super strong garlic mayo (damn, that mayo is good).
Also pictured - yeah, that's a bacon milkshake. I couldn't quite get my head round it, if I'm honest. It was too smokey to be a milkshake! Matt drank the entire thing though, because he is an animal. And I was content with my peanut butter and bourbon milkshake instead. *happy face*
The Warrior Burger - Blue Anchor, St Albans
This burger is simultaneously incredible and terrifying. You know how sometimes burgers need a skewer to keep them together? This had five. FIVE. Just in case you're ever wondering, 1lb of burger is too much burger. I managed about half of it, and it was seriously amazing - really good quality meat, smothered in cheese, bacon and pulled pork with a side of crunchy crackling. In the end though, it defeated me. I wouldn't order it again (seriously, it was indecently large) but I would definitely try one of the other burgers on the menu.
Vegetarian Breakfast, Steak & Fries, Macaroni Cheese, Cinnamon Donuts - Bill's Restaurant
As is pretty evident by the other pictures in this post, I am not a vegetarian. However, I've been curious about the veggie breakfast for a while because it sounds amazing, and it didn't disappoint. On that plate is two slices of sourdough bread - one topped with mashed avocado, one with houmous - mushrooms, tomatoes, poached eggs, basil and crispy fried potatoes (basically hash browns). It's all drizzled with sweet chilli sauce, and let me tell you, it WORKS. I'm dying to have it again, I'd choose it over a full English any day.
Also pictured are the steak and the mac'n'cheese - both fairly basic staples, but both really really really good... absolutely perfectly seasoned, full of flavour. I don't know what Bill's do to their sweet potato fries but they're so very tasty. I might have ordered them as a side to the mac'n'cheese. The Donuts are technically a sharing dessert, but if you're really determined, you could polish them off single handedly. I may have. They taste like the donuts you can buy at fairs and on piers, but with a dusting of cinnamon and a pot of molten chocolate to dip into. Mmmm. As is clear from all the Bill's photos in this post, I'm there kind of a lot.
The Shake Stack - Shake Shack, Covent Garden, London
A veggie burger wouldn't normally get me too excited, but the 'Shroom burger isn't any veggie burger. It's a portobello mushroom filled with cheese and deep fried, and if you ask very nicely you can get the Shake Stack which includes a cheeseburger in your bun too. Obviously this is what I did, and obviously it was amazing because what could go wrong with that combination? The crinkle cut fries are amazing - I don't know why they're so much better than regular fries but they really are. I had some recently at Byron and they were just as good. We also had a concrete each, which is super thick ice cream - this was a blend of chocolate custard, brownie, fudge sauce, chocolate chunks and salt. Oh yeah.
Papera Pizza - Olivo's Restaurant, Ryde, Isle of Wight
I sometimes go to the Isle of Wight for work, and on my last visit we ate at Olivo's. I've been there a few times before and it's always yummy (I also recommend the Tagliatelle Pollo, always crazy tasty) but this time I tried the pizza because I couldn't really turn down a white pizza (mascarpone base) topped with Duck Confit, chorizo and honeyed onions now, could I? It was super rich but so good, a really luxurious pizza. Also, it was £11, which I think was super good value.
Pulled Pork Hot Dog - Wetherspoons
You heard me right! We've recently moved offices and there's a Wetherspoons about 2 minutes walk away, so we've been having a lot of team lunches there. Wetherspoons is one of those places where you know what you're going to get - burgers and sandwiches are pretty good, anything else is a risk. But lately they've really improved their menu! The burgers are really pretty decent, and they've discovered the wonderful world of pulled pork. This hot dog is HUGE but it's also not at all bad. I would totally have it again.
The All American - The Breakfast Club, St Albans
This is not the same chain as the London-based one, but it's just as good. This was two American pancakes, bacon, sausage, egg, muffin and maple syrup and it was pretty gosh darn epic. I'm a huge fan of sweet/salt combinations anyway, but I was still surprised how well the sausage and the pancakes went together. We're dying to go back there - there's a huge menu, and I want to try everything! I think the crazy crunchy nut French toast is next on my list...
Have you eaten anywhere amazing lately?