Rodizio Rico, 77 – 78 Upper Street, Islington N1 0NU

This is a novel concept, even for London. For want of a better description it’s a Latin American, all-you-can-eat meat feast. I can only guess what the morning deliveries for this place must look like, it’s probably enough to turn the average customer vegetarian.

The concept is as follows: basically, take a table and peruse very short menu i.e. meat feast or fish feast or meat and fish feast together, await plates and begin. Here it gets a little more complicated, there is a central buffet bar full of salads, pastas, potatoes and other side dishes (not that anyone in their right mind really considered a full blown slab of lasagne a mere side dish). Having been here a fair few times I have learnt the hard way to go easy on this bit - just because it’s there does not mean you have to eat all of it. The trick is to wait for the real show.

A team of waiters circulate armed with four foot skewers dripping with huge sides of meat – beef rare to well done, rump, sirloin and fillet, chicken livers, wing and hearts, pork wursts and lamb chops, the choice is endless. It literally just keeps coming. The staff are equipped with huge knives to slice off as little or as much as you want. People must be regularly rolled out the door at the end of the night.

Best not to eat for three days in advance of a visit to Rodizio Rico! http://www.rodizio.co.uk/index.html

The Pembury Tavern, 90 Amhurst Road, 58 1JH

Way back in early 2005 I used to wander past the derelict building on the Pembury Roundabout where Dalston Lane meets Amhurst and Pembury Road and think, “that’s a fantastic site” or “that would make a great pub”. Indeed it used to be a bar that hosted live bands and was home to local anarchists. Lo and behold slowly hoardings went up and builders moved in. Frantic internet research revealed a licensing application submitted to Hackney council for a bar. Hooray, thought we, and eagerly peered in the windows monitoring progress, (as it happened progress was phenomenally slow).

Nonetheless we somehow missed opening night but turned up the following weekend armed with greasy bank notes ready for the fun…..….and I hated it. Inside something was horribly amiss, there was a huge imposing old wood bar but the rest was an exposed emptiness of All Bar One proportions. There was no music, no smoking, no food, no customers and no atmosphere. We determinedly stayed and had a couple of drinks which were cheap and well chosen, the bar specialises in Real Ales, hundreds of them. I went away feeling as if an opportunity had been missed.

Now, however, through perseverance I am a convert! Slowly, as time went by, changes for the better sneaked in: pictures and maps of historic Hackney and a collection of beer mats from round the world went up on the walls, bigger comfier chairs appeared along with board games, puzzles, a huge pile of newspapers and magazines. And so the customers had also appeared and suddenly the lack of music didn’t seem to matter any more. Now the Pembury Tavern has been well and truly claimed by the white middle classes of Hackney as their own. London’s diversity never seems to quite make it into pub culture which is odd, but the subject of a whole other post.

Best of all was the appearance of menus and a kitchen - and the food is superb. It’s a traditional British style menu: scrambled eggs and salmon for breakfast, sausage and mash for lunch, roast meat and two veg followed by apple pie and ice-cream for dinner, all perfectly executed (although eating that every day would result in extreme fatness).

Go visit once in a while, it’s certainly different; play cluedo, drink ale and eat pie. http://www.individualpubs.co.uk/pembury/

Why does no one want to eat out in Hackney?

I've discovered that two of the best prime lettable sites (with A3 use) in Hackney have gone to ......... wait for it........ another bookies and a parking shop. How depressing can you get?!

Exquisite, 167 Black Stock Road, N4 2JS

Exquisite is a tiny Mexican restaurant hidden away on Blackstock Road near Finsbury Park. I can’t claim to be an expert on Mexican food but judging by this place Mexican’s must have very big appetites. Do not eat all day before visiting Exquisite. Further advice; do not eat for two days if you’re planning on ordering one of their chimichangas, they truly are enormous. Other giant dishes include fajitas, with a choice of king prawn or salmon as well as the ubiquitous chicken.

The burritos are beautifully done with just the right balance of meat, chillies, refried beans and sour cream. Other specialities include the grilled swordfish steaks and mixed seafood with mole sauce. The carafes of house wine are cheap (beware this is for a reason, it’s simply not very nice), nachos and spiced hummus come free and the music is all pop-Mexican madness.