Night Tales

Remember Street Feast back in the summer?
An East London warehouse full of food trucks and stalls, serving hungry foodies whilst the evening sunshine lasted well into the night.
Then winter arrived, and suddenly standing outside all evening didn't seem so appealing.

Just because the sun has faded and the nights are colder, doesn't mean that us foodies have to hibernate away. Street food is still at large (with added winter coats), with a range of pop-ups appearing around London.

Say Hello to one of them... Night Tales.

The latest food fest to appear this winter over in Dalston under a huge canopy.
Its three gold coins at the entrance, which lets you into a world of food and drink that will ensure you need to be rolled out at the end of the night!
From oriental to american, Italian pizza fritta's to west country cider, you are in for a treat!

Stomachs rumbling, we headed straight to grab some food.
First stop, BAO for some starters.

Pork belly is one of my fav foods, and you know how much I love fried chicken from my visit to Joe's the other week.
So, understandably, I ordered both.
Just look at all that pulled pork. 

And whoever came up with Soya Milk fried chicken is a genius.
Sorry Colonel Sanders, you have got nothing on these guys!

As for the Pork Belly Bun, they were miniature pieces of heaven.
If you are a bit unsure, then I urge you to try these! Honestly, they were that good!

There are queues for most food stalls, but trust me, it is worth the wait for each one of them!

Over at Pizza Pilgrims, they were serving up Pizza Frittas filled with sausage and mozzarella, or mushroom and ricotta.
J went for one and I went for the other, but the mushroom and ricotta pipped the other as the best tasting!

You have to excuse the lack of focus on the camera - I was too excited to eat these!

I have heard so much about Pizza Pilgrims, and became a fan just from these little frittas. I can't wait to go try out their restaurant menu!

There is also an upstairs area where you can hide aware form the busy crowds and grab a few drinks before you take on the next batch of food.

Ready for another round of food, we headed back over to BAO for more chicken and pork belly bun's.

Before rounding off at Smokey Tails.
Chicken wings smothered in buffalo sauce, and smokey Mac'N'Cheese on the side.
Again, I had to have both!
We grabbed a spot, sat down and tucked in.

Smokey Mac'N'Cheese is so good! The added 'smokey' BBQ flavour adds that extra pow! that has been missing all these years!
As for the delicious wings, lets just say that it got a little messy with all that sauce!

With the night vibes in full swing, we carried on with the mulled cider and chatted away to other foodie lovers who were trying to eat and drink sensibly too.

We failed at both, not that we were too disappointed!
With the night coming to a close, we staggered and pulled each other away from the food stalls, and off into the Dalston night.

Night Tales is on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday up until Christmas. You can find them here, and be sure to arrive with an empty stomach.
I mean, not-eaten-all-day kind of empty stomach!

See you there!

Joe's Southern Kitchen

Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar opened in Covent Garden back in the summer, and has been tweeting mouth watering pictures of their food ever since!

Everytime I saw a picture of their food, I had to ignore it. Deep southern fried food is a no-go for me during the summer, as I am competing on the track and trying to stay in shape. 

This isn't the summer anymore, though. Whilst I am still training hard, I couldn't resist finally going for some southern fried chicken.

After-all, chicken is protein, so I am technically eating good!

Dad had been up in London for meetings all day, so we met up for some post-work drinks and made our way over to Covent Garden to grab dinner. 
Be prepared to wait a little bit for a table, as it is pretty busy most evenings. You can grab a spot at the bar, and try out some of the cocktails.

 

Coat from Topman, shirt from River Island.

A Long Island Iced Tea and a pot of peanuts later, our table was ready.
By this point, I am starving. The smell of the food was crazy good, and there was only so many peanuts you could eat to kill the hunger!

Seated, ready to eat, and another round of drinks later, our starters came out. 

I went for the Joe's chicken wings, full American style.

With an extra helping of BBQ sauce.

(Which, by the way, is absolutely amazing. I need a bottle of this in my kitchen cupboard!)

If you want finger licking good food then this hits the spot!

Whilst dad went for the corn and monterey jack rice balls.

All in all, a pretty good start.
There could have been a couple more rice balls, but it was almost as if good ol' Joe was saying 'Here is a teaser of whats to come.'

Boy, was he right. Out came the mains.

Goodbye training diet for one night, and hello Southern Fried Chicken, buttermilk marinated and then deep fried in their pressure fryer!

4 pieces of Joe's finest chicken, deep fried to perfection.
Chicken. Chicken. Chicken, Chicken.

Here's a closer look..

Looks tasty doesn't it!
No knives and forks were used in the eating of this chicken! It is all about the hands!

Four pieces were enough to fill you up after the starter, and throwing on some more BBQ sauce made it taste even better. Plus, because it was in a pressure fryer, it wasn't as greasy as some of those chicken shops on the high street!
Believe me, it was simply amazing. Crispy, juicy chicken, with a side of spicy potatoes.

Which set my mouth on fire! (Though I am a mango and lime Nandos kind of guy!)

Dad went for Joe's Dry Aged Burger...

Cheese, caramalised onions, bacon, pickle and a burger, all surrounded by a sea of skin-on fries.
Which disappeared before I could take anymore photos of it, but in the west country words of dad.. 'That were pretty good wern't it, rare just 'ow I like it.'
You can take the man out of the countryside, but not the countryside out of the man!

I couldn't stomach desert, I was too full from the starter and mains, so we grabbed the bill and made our way back out into the London night.

Joe's, it was awesome. I will be back and I will have desert!

If you want to go try out their food, then you can book a table here, have a quick look at the menu here, and find them on Twitter here.

If you don't book, don't worry. They hold back a number of tables every night for walk-ins! #Winning