Chicken Or Steak

Ever since I got back from Skiing in Switzerland, I have been constantly training for the upcoming track season.

Constant training brings constant eating with it, and the urge to eat everything that is around me! Plus, it is easy to fall into the mindset of 'I can eat anything because I burn so much' when you head out to dinner, when really your erasing the good work you did earlier on!

I am always wishing that every food is good for you.

Though this menu at Tramshed looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Pizza East

It's wet January, payday seems so far away, and everyone in London seems to be taking part in Dry January after inhaling too much alcohol in the lead-up to Christmas and on New Year's Eve.

Myself included.

I spent a little bit more than I should have on presents and Christmas drinking this year, so much so that like everyone else, I am hoping payday would be tomorrow, not a couple of weeks away.

To wash away the grey and gloomy January (seriously, when will the rain stop?), me and Frankie thought a post-Christmas catch up hiding from the rain would be a good way to cheer ourselves up!

Anyone for pizza?

Imli Street Soho

So after a night of being an Italian in London at The House of Peroni, it was time for a bit of a change.

This time by adding a bit of spice in our lives in the heart of Soho.

Sham has been telling me for ages about Imli Street on Wardour St., and how amazing their Indian food is. At one point it was open and then it was closed down (You could sense the sadness in his voice when he told me that!). 
Then it re-opened, Sham was over the moon, and now we were about to have a curry catch up.

We got there early, grabbed a spot and ordered some cocktails to kick off our evening.
I went for the 'Rustic Ruby' which was a mix of grappa, violette, apple juice, wild berries and Prosecco...

Which went down perfect whilst we launched into an overdue catch up.
Sham went for the Bombay to Soho cocktail, which was full of Bombay gin, pomegranate, lime, and ginger ale. 

We ordered a few tapas-style dishes to pick at whilst we chatted and drank our way through the night, before we ordered our mains.

Now, I am a tikka masala addict. So with Sham telling me how amazing this place was for their food, I thought I should try it to see how it compared!

It was pretty decent! Not too spicy, not too bland, and the chicken was so tender it fell apart when I went near it with my knife!
All in all, pretty impressive!

It came with the standard rice, which was light and airy, and almost not enough for the masala. 
The crispy onion bhaji's made up for that though!

Sham went for the Naanwich.
Yes, a sandwich made with Naan bread, with dipping sauce on the side, and looked absolutely amazing!
It was a simple idea, and I don't know why I have never thought of it before. Inside, it was filled with scrambled paneer, peppers and rocket, and then toasted slightly to give the naan some warmth and crisp on the edges.
I am going to try to make these at home sometime. You can put whatever you want inside, though I think I might stick to Indian influences.

Apparently it was tasty! It was gone quicker than you can say 'samosa.'

The restaurant usually doesn't have any queues, which is refreshing for London! We got in there early and by the time we were finishing the last drop of our drinks before we moved on, the place was full of hungry visitors!

So my advice would be to get there early to avoid waiting, stock up on the cocktails and nibble your way through the evening - they serve food till 11pm!

London is so hard to find a decent Indian, but Imli Street was great! It tasted great, the food was authentic, and the service was good too! 

The menu can be found here, and their location is right here for you.

Enjoy! 

Street Feast London

I absolutely love food, so this was the perfect place to go after a long week on Friday night. A food market, in an old warehouse in east London.

However, this wasn't just any food market, this was Street Feast. A mixture of different food trucks and stalls, pint size drinks and music filled the open air warehouse, and the perfect place for your own Man Vs. Food challenge!

Or in our case, me vs. Lee challenge!

From burgers, to mussels, to ribs, to ice cream, you are spoilt for choice at Street Feast. Each week there are different food stalls with chefs cooking their master pieces ready for you to eat! 
Welcome to Foodie Heaven!

We grabbed our pints, and worked out our plan of attack!

The first stop for us was The Rib Man, one of the food stalls I have been dying to visit. I love love love pulled pork and ribs, so was excited to grab a plate and see if the rumours were true. We watched the chef pull the pork from the marinated ribs, pile it onto a bun and ask us if we wanted BBQ or Holy Fuck sauce... 

BBQ all the way for me

The result... This bad boy!

It tasted absolutely amazing. Tender pork mixed with their signature BBQ sauce, washed down with a pint of cider. What more can I ask for on a Friday night?

I wore jeans from Topman, Nike blazers, and a new tee from the Reggie Yates collection which has just launched for Burton. I was a bit unsure at first whether I liked it, but after trying on some of the tees and vests he has designed, I was sold and this one is now part of my wardrobe.
Have a look online, it's not too expensive and the designs are different to anything else you find in store! 

 Next stop was Mama Jerk for some chicken.

This wasn't just any old chicken, this was the kind of stuff that puts Nandos to shame. You can smell the spice in the air whilst we waited, watching the chef turn the chicken and thrown on more and more sauce to heat it up...

We both went for a portion of chicken wingspan, grabbed a spot to stand, refueled our pints and glanced at each other knowing this was going to be a hot one.
Holy Mama Jerk, it was so spicy that Lee managed a few mouthfuls, whilst I powered on through and ate all three. Great chicken, but now a tongue that was pretty much on fire in my mouth!

We carried on throughout the night, eating more food from the range of food stalls until we were fit to burst!

One of the final stops we made was over to the Waffle On stall. We had overheard conversations about how good their food was all evening, so thought we would treat our expanding waistlines to a taste of what they had to offer.

Whilst we ummed and arred whether to go for sweet or savory, the customer in front told us how utterly amazing the duck waffle was.

Easily influenced, our decision was made.

This tasted unbelievably good. The sweetness of the waffle mixed with the plum sauce and duck went down so well that I contemplated going back for seconds. 

Whoever thought about throwing an egg on top is a genius too! It added that extra bit of flavor to make your taste buds go into overdrive. Check out more of their food on twitter.

Deciding that we are both champions in our Luke Vs. Lee Foodie Feast, and nearing a food-coma, we grabbed an ice cream each from Sorbitium as our reward. I went for the Sea Salt Caramel, whilst Lee went for the Blackcurrent and Mint Sherbert.

With our bellies full of great food and drink, we made our way away into the night clutching our ice creams. 





StreetFeast didn't fail to impress, and is on every Friday and Saturday through to September. You have to go and check it out if you are in the area, it literally is that good! 

Don't forget to go more than once though, as the food stalls change each week!





See you there on Friday, yeah? 

Ten Tips For Brighton Pride

Brighton pride. Probably the biggest pride of them all, which means that you would be a fool to miss it!

It is a rainbow-storm that is about to hit this traditional seaside, with street parties, rainbow flags and a pride park about to sprinkle a load of gay glitter all over the party-goers. For everyone who isn't from England, this is our Big-Huge-Gay-Bash of the year!

Think Lady Gaga meets Glitter Cannon mixed with The English Seaside.

Compared to other prides I have been to, this is probably the best around, so I will be heading down once again to get involved with the celebrations. Tweet me if you are going, it would be good to say hello to you all!
As Brighton has so much going on, and sometimes the feeling of 'where do I start?', I have 10 tips that will guarantee you have a great pride! So pack your wellies in you are camping incase it rains, get your pre-party alcohol stocks ready, and get ready to spend your Saturday at one big party!

1. The Parade



First things first. If you are planning to come down and stay in Brighton, then you NEED to catch the Parade. Setting off at 11am, this is going to be the parade of all parades. There will be floats, there will be hot people, and it will be busy! Make sure you grab a spot, or just join in and follow it up to Preston Park. Grab a spot along Grand Parade. With grass areas, you can grab a spot back from the crowds but still see the full parade. Then, you can join in the end and follow it up through Brighton to the park.

2. The Pride Park



This is where the party starts. Preston Park has been transformed into a Rainbow City, with 8 tents of music, funfairs and alcohol, you will be there for hours enjoying the atmosphere. It is open from 12pm till 8pm, which means you have 8 hours of absolute party party party.



Just be warned, once you are in a tent, you are in! If you need to use the bathroom, then you will need to leave the tent and re-queuing  is never fun! This especially goes for the bigger tents which hold 3000-5000 people!


If you haven't already, buy a ticket here. They are cheaper in advance at £17.50, otherwise you will have to pay on the door which could be costly!

3. Buy a Flag



Buying a rainbow flag is probably not on the top of your to-do list when you get to pride, but once you see everyone having one, you will want in on the action! There will be stalls in the pride park, and shops all around Brighton selling them.
Grab one, wave it like you just don't care, and support the LGBT community.

4. Pace Yourself

Pride starts early, but you don't want to be going to bed early. So pace yourself throughout the day. Start on a few drinks in the morning and slowly work yourself up to the evening.
Then, as night falls, crack out the shots and go for it in one of the many clubs. No-one wants to be in bed by midnight now, do they?

5. Hit up the Pride Street Party

This is an absolute must.
When I lived in Brighton, my flat was on St Jame's Street, which turns into a street long party from the bottom all the way to the top. With bars and music blasting out, this is the place to go inbetween the Park and the club. It can get pretty busy, and the music varies as you go up the street, so be sure to explore and see how you get on!



6. Let's go to the Beach, beach!

Brighton has a beach, so get on it.
If you need somewhere to go to finish off your own booze before the club, or for a breather from the partying, then the beach is perfect!
They will probably be alot of people on it, so make friends and join in with everyone.

7. Get In A Club



Okay, so you have traveled to Brighton, and queued for ages to get in a club, and get turned away because it is too busy. Not the ideal situation!
Before you go, have a look online at some of the clubs and see if you can get tickets to them. If not, make sure you get to the clubs early as the queues will be long, it will be busy, and last thing you want is to be wandering the streets trying to get in somewhere.
Clubs like Revenge, Wild Fruit, and Legends all have after-pride parties. Just click on their names to be taken to the tickets page for each!

8. Spot the TV Crews

Brighton Pride is one of the biggest prides, and most years there will be a TV crew filming some sort of news bulletin, or a new TV show. Grab your 5 minutes of fame and get on camera if you can.

9. Buy 4 drinks at the bar, not 2.



That doesn't need explaining. With it being manic, expect the bars to be queues upon queues. So buy a few more drinks so you don't need to go back. Afterall, if you meet someone then at least you can offer a drink (or receive one) without having to stand and wait for ages!

10. Enjoy Pride

Most of all, enjoy pride. Brighton is in it's 21st year now, and each year seems to get bigger and bigger. Enjoy, celebrate and have an amazing time.
Do things you might never do (like skinny dipping in the sea) and take pictures for the memory book. Drink until the sun comes up, and look back on it being the best day and night you have had in a long time!



And just remember to have phone battery, in-case you don't know where everyone is when you wake up the next morning, or you lose a friend in a club!

Happy pride everyone!