Grain Store Unleashed: Poss Best Pop-Up Restaurant Everby Randi / August 8, 2015
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London Has a New Restaurant Called ‘Bubala’ and Obvs I Love It
Bubala, a Yiddish term of endearment dispensed by elder aunts and bubbes the world over, is also the name of a fantastic new (ish) vegetarian restaurant in London. The word is a cute lil diminutive meaning sweetheart or dearie (not in a creepy Rumpelstiltskin way) that all Jews or Jew-adjacents know well, so to have a Tel Aviv-cafe-inspired joint with this name in Spitalfields is prettay prettay exciting. Serving veggie Middle Eastern food (despite the Yiddish and the Tel Aviv and the hummus, they are careful never to say Israeli because the hipster clientele would disapprove), Bubala offers a delicious spin on mostly familiar dishes that you should definitely check out, if you can get a table.
We went for Valentime’s Day (I LOVE SCHMALTZ) and the food was so good we plotzed. The menu is well curated, with several appealing dips, small plates, and slightly larger/heavier plates. You’re supposed to get like 3 per person and it’s best to share (sharing is caring), and they also offer a £30 ‘let us feed you’ menu. We almost got this set menu (they can do a vegan version) but I added up the many dishes I wanted and it was less than that so I didn’t. Also I like my right to choose. And literally everything we chose was good-to-great, so I’m really excited that this joint is right up the street from me and I can go whenever I make a booking at least 2 weeks in advance because if you try rocking up any sooner than that you will be SOL. It is POPULER…lar.
However, the service leaves something to be desired. OY VEY. We sat at our table for several minutes and no one came by to do or say anything. When I tried to flag a waitress who was leaving the table next to us (and my next to us I mean right up against our legs; it is a tiny cramped loud place and you will hear everyone’s convos but not the person you’re with), a different staff member who appeared to just be watching the scene came by and was like ‘did you need something?’ and we were like hi yes um menus maybe? Any semblance of recognition? What a schmuck. It happened a lot, our concerted efforts to get someone’s attention and them just blanking us. I’M JUST NOT IMPORTANT. Also happening a lot – waiters coming into our section of the restaurant with dishes and just stopping short and staring at every table, confused beyond words about where to place the dish they were carrying. It was so strange, like they didn’t have a system or know to bring this to table 9 or whatever? So several times, a waiter would just be standing in my eyeline looking over every table and considering “hmm, who seems like the type of person who would have ordered the hummus? No, it can’t be that table; they’re holding hands.” WTF. At least 3 times I pointed waiters to the right tables (because I had heard the other tables’ orders, of course). SUCH mishegas.
Anyway, aside from that (sorry to kvetch), our experience at Bubala was PG. We started with two dips – the hummus and the pumpkin tirshy and the laffa flatbread. The waitress asked if we wanted one or two flatbreads and we were like ‘you tell us’ and she was like ‘maybe two, but start with one and see.’ Reader, it’s the best thing on the menu so say you want one at a time to keep it warm but that you want it treated like a bottomless bread bowl to be refilled as soon as it’s empty. IT’S INCREDIBLE. It’s fluffy in the right places and salty in the right amount. That flaked salt though. Omg it’s soo good.
The hummus usually comes with burnt butter (which is the equivalent of putting sour cream in guacamole, what is wrong with people) but they can do it without for vegans. It’s really good guys. I believe there is a small range for hummus quality – you can’t get toooo bad and there’s a ceiling for how amazing it can be, but this was at the high end of the spectrum. You’ll definitely want to keep a plate of this on your table so you can nosh throughout the courses.
hummus i got the hummus
The second activity for our breading was the pumpkin tirshy, which I think just means dip, with harissa, preserved lemon, and kalamata olives. This was good too, very cumin-y I think or whatever spice was masquerading as cumin for my unrefined palate.
The next dish I was MOST excited about: the shiitake and oyster mushroom skewers with tamari, coriander, and maple. I LOVE oyster mushrooms, how thick and meaty they are, so amazing. I heard good things about these skewers but they were fine, not amazing. Z was meh about them, because they turned out to be just grilled mushrooms on a stick without much flavor to them. I do love mushrooms even if they aren’t all fancied up so I was more on board. But I was originally like “oh I just want to get LOADS of the skewers I bet” and then I was fine with just my one, so.
Next up to bat was the fried aubergine (eggplant) with zhoug (ZHOUG AAAAAVERYYY) and date syrup. This was the standout for me. The eggplant was fried perfectly and it was so soft and also crispy at the edges and wow. I’m kind of over eggplant nowadays but not this dish. We love zhoug (ZHOUG AAAAVERYY) (WHO’S ZHOUG AVERY) (SHE THE QUEEN HONEYBEE) and it was used perfectly with this, and there was just enough sweetness from the date syrup. AMAZING.
(Z also got the halloumi, for those of you who still like to support the cruelty of the dairy industry, and said it was incredible like wow. SO THAT’S GOOD TO KNOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK IT’S WORTH IT.)
Our first of the more ‘main’-like dishes was the grilled cabbage with tahini, pomegranate, and hazelnut. This was DELICIOUS and something I will try to recreate for a regular weekday dinner. The chunk of cabbage was so soft I could cut it with a fork. It was in a bit of broth so the tahini quickly mixed with it and made a tahini broth, which is everything I’ve ever wanted. And the hazelnuts that might seem just like a lil afterthought topping were actually a brilliant addition, adding a perfect counterpart to the earthy cabbage. I mean hazelnuts are I guess earthy too but in a different way. We love earth.
Our last savory dish was the ful medames, with lovage pesto, yoghurt and malawach (a fried bread). The yoghurt (they spelt it with an ‘h’ so I will too even though my US computer is HATING IT) and the malawach aren’t vegan but they said they could put them on the side for husbo, which is good for us because we are kind of obsessed with ful medames. FUL IS SO GOOD. And I would never put yoghurt or yogurt in it and I already had the laffa flatbread (which is the best thing ever) so the removal of these nonvegan additions don’t hurt it. As fuls go, it was pretty good. I do love my beans.
(Husbo also had the potato latkes (not vegan) and said they were great, but we and the Israelis next to us laughed at them being called latkes – they are perfectly rectangular potato cubes. Delicious, by all accounts, but not free-form-potato-string-patty-like latkes.)
For dessert, there’s only one vegan option (more mishegas!), the coconut malabi (like milk pudding) with hibiscus and sesame brittle. It was pretty nice (as the Brits say about food and I guess since I am one now I have to say it sometimes too)! It’s basic, to have a coconut milk pudding, and not that inspired, but the sesame brittle really makes it. They should put a little more of it in there.
We also got their two fresh tea options: mint and rose petal. The rose petal was funny – it came out and we realized ‘oh it’s just…hot water with flowers in it.’ It wasn’t steeped long enough maybe? The mint tea was a tad whack because it was just a mug with the whole mint leaves in it, with no filtration system, so it was impossible to avoid getting all the leaves in your mouth. What schlamiel thought of this? Also, when we hear ‘fresh mint tea’ we think of the super sweet version from Morocco (the best kind) and often in the Middle East but this was unsweetened. Sure you can sweeten it yourself if you want but it’s actually physically impossible for a human to make their own fresh mint tea to the same sweetness level as someone in Morocco would make for you. It’s too much sugar and you’d realize by the 5th tablespoon that you are drinking the ‘beetus. (Also it’s better with sugar syrup.)
ANYWAY, Bubala is a treaty little treat joint to add to the amazing vegan-friendly restaurant scene around Spitalfields. Highly recommend you check it out if you’re in the area. And if you are, it means you’re near me, so INVITE ME TOO.
BUBALA, SPITALFIELDS, LONDON, UK, EUROPE FOREVER BITCHES
Water speed: Good. They brought carafes of still AND sparkling since I wanted the former and Z the latter as usual. Pretty good replacement speed.
Service: As I said above, this is the part that needs work. It’s super busy and cramped and loud, so there’s definitely justification, but their system of knowing what table ordered what seemed…on the fritz. Also despite two hours there we were never sure exactly who our server was that we should be asking for stuff?
Bathrooms: Meh, they are up lots of stairs so it’s not accessible, and there’s only one (or maybe two).
Food: Fantastic!
Bonus: Despite the location, it’s not too expensive. Also the name <3
Tal Ronnen’s Crossroads: The Best Fancy Vegan Meal In L.A.
Going into dinner at Crossroads, my first ever meal in Los Angeles, I was wary. I knew of Tal Ronnen, famous celebrity chef behind Oprah’s 21-day vegan challenge and Ellen’s wedding, and I was super psyched to finally eat at his fancy well-known restaurant on Melrose (so I could say “We’re going to Melrose” in Ambular’s voice). But I had heard from several people whose opinions I trust, and none of them agreed on whether the food was disappointing or BRE (best restaurant ever). Either the consistency at Crossroads is just nonexistent or some of my friends have the Sookie-preggers-tastebud-crazytimes, but luckily I guess I went on a good night. No, a great night. A freaking fantastic, fabulous night because this dinner was off the chizzz, people, and despite an absolutely stellar week of eating in L.A. (which will be my next like bajillion posts), Crossroads was the highlight among all highlights.
Now, not everything was perfect. Far from it. The service was nicht so good; we will get to that later. Notably, the lighting was not good for pictures, as you will be able to clearly (or blurrily) see. This is really upsetting because the food is so beautifully plated, but I guess they’re of the old-school belief that food is for eating and not photographing. Amateurs. No it’s not a big deal just a warning so you don’t keep shouting ah my eyes! Also, I was seated so I faced the bar, and there was a semi-famous woman sitting directly in my line of vision and I couldn’t figure out who she was! So that was a bummer! I think some sort of Real Housewife or mob wife or some such person I should probably be glad I can’t name. The group at the table next to us had to have been some sort of band or something. One of the guys was a f-ing slob, wearing like dirty pajamas to this insanely nice restaurant, and he was hairier than if Rob Delaney got turned into a woolly mammoth. Like his hair and his beard were on the table. So gross. And another guy was a dead ringer for Noel Fielding, giant witch’s hat and all. They have to be famouses, right? Or is that just how regulars in L.A. are too?
But the food was epic. So epic that I place Crossroads in the Michelin series I write. No, it doesn’t have a star, but you know what? It was much better than some meals that had even multiple stars attached (and it was more expensive erma p gerd) so I’m tagging it as such. CHANGE APPROVED. Also, Husband and I went with two local friends, so it was one vegan and three omnivores. They were all blown away by every course. Like BUHH LOWN away. I was so happy just for that! Let’s get down to it.
But the food was epic. So epic that I place Crossroads in the Michelin series I write. No, it doesn’t have a star, but you know what? It was much better than some meals that had even multiple stars attached (and it was more expensive erma p gerd) so I’m tagging it as such. CHANGE APPROVED. Also, Husband and I went with two local friends, so it was one vegan and three omnivores. They were all blown away by every course. Like BUHH LOWN away. I was so happy just for that! Let’s get down to it.
Little ball of heaven in the back, some necessary greens on the left
The concept is small plates, tapas style, allegedly coming out as each was ready but we realized that the sequence was actually following the menu order, which made more sense than otherwise. The waitress recommended 4-5 dishes per person, and I think we did 3-4 each (all for sharing) and had trouble finishing the final dishes, so keep that in mind. We started with the Charred Ricotta, served with crostini and apricot thyme glaze. I was never a huge cheese person, like I never cried and pissed and moaned about having to give it up like other prospective vegans do at all times, but this new wave of artisan (meaningless) vegan cheese is extraordinary, and this dish was a prime example of it. I don’t know what it’s made of, but unlike the plain whipped tofu I’ve had at other places who call such an abomination ricotta, this was amazing. I wish I could have this dish delivered to my house every single day, but that would be supes gross after a 12 hour flight. And then customs and stuff? Ugh. I’d still eat it.
Our other small starter was the Watercress and Peach Salad, which was refreshing and must have been pretty good considering I don’t particularly like watercress and I had eaten the peach of my liiife the day before. Oh California produce. The salad was tossed with hazelnuts and a mint vinaigrette, which was happily not minty at all. Strong start.
Our other small starter was the Watercress and Peach Salad, which was refreshing and must have been pretty good considering I don’t particularly like watercress and I had eaten the peach of my liiife the day before. Oh California produce. The salad was tossed with hazelnuts and a mint vinaigrette, which was happily not minty at all. Strong start.
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I can’t get over how blurry these pics are! This salad is total Blursula! Blahhh. But it was so good. And the ricotta oh man. It had like a protective shell and when you broke through it you were rewarded with the best cheese ever. |
Amazingness
Next up was probably my favorite part of the entire dinner, and I think the dish that most impressed by friends. The Artichoke Oysters were served and eaten like oysters, with the little ball of artichoke puree, yellow tomato bearnaise, and kelp caviar over a grilled oyster mushroom and served on a meaty piece of artichoke heart. Oh my goodness, this is the most impressive thing I’ve eaten in a while. Just the sheer creativity of making something like that, and the genius in executing it perfectly, boggles the mind. I’m just obsessed! In the middle was a scoop of seaweed, my favorite thing, but I didn’t realize it until someone else ate it. And I didn’t even care! That’s how good these oysters were. Holy crap. Next time some asshat tries to have an argument about the whole ‘can’t vegans eat oysters they’re plants right?’ just be like why would you eat enlarged bougers when you could eat artichoke oysters?
the rancho carne toros
You’d think maybe after the life-changing events of the ricotta and the oysters, that the 300 subsequent dishes would be slightly disappointing, but you’d be mistaken. Everything was on such a high level, it felt almost criminal to be enjoying it without being Ellen myself. We tried another salad next, the Grilled Romaine, and although it was very difficult to share (being a wedge salad), it was my favorite salad. The grilled lettuce heart was smothered in harissa ranch dressing. I’m not a fan of ranch dressing, never was, even though I went to a college where people put that shit on their pizza. But this ranch dressing in this salad? I’m a convert. Well at least to Crossroads’ ranch. The salad was topped with pickled shallots, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and black olives, all of which nicely cut the heaviness of hot lettuce and ranch dressing. Such a wonderful combination!
Such a good dish for sharing, unless you are eating with me, because I will eat all the damn bread.
Speaking of pizza, the pizza section on the Crossroads menu was really difficult to pass up, but we had a feeling that their fancier-seeming dishes were the heavy-hitters, and we were right. Next we had the basic but delicious Lentil Flatbread, a wonderfully earthy and warm pita-like bread served with little dishes of marinated eggplant, braised banana pepper, and mushroom relish. I honestly couldn’t tell which vegetable was in which pot (I mean by color sure but you know what i mean), but it was all great.
could eat 100
The “Crab Cakes” (their quotes, not mine) were equally good while being a more familiar taste at similarly adventurous vegan restaurants. They were topped with the daintiest amount of tartar sauce and watercress. While the cake itself was really fantastic (I’m guessing hearts of palm? but it doesn’t say in the menu), it needed a lot more of the sauce. I guess we could have asked for some but they’re small bites so you don’t really realize it until after you’ve finished.
We also probably wouldn’t have asked because our initially-fine waitress became the Mona-Lisa-Saperstein WORRRRRRST seriously the worst. At one point, she tried to remove my friend’s wine glass, even though it still had a few sips in in. My friend said she wasn’t done with that yet, and the waitress put it down. But I guess she had been worn down by a terrible audition earlier in the day (probs all actors right?) and so this benign comment instead hit her as criticism of her performance in her day job and at the thought of her being a failure at that too she absolutely shattered, and was a total b word to us the rest of the time. I mean that’s just me guessing but I’m probably right. She rushed us from then on, couldn’t wait to get rid of us so would idle nearby waiting for us to finish a plate so she could quickly snatch it away. Like this was a busy restaurant with lots to do, but she would just watch us, ignoring her other tables, and look perturbed. What a terribleness.
hidden not-really-a-joke was because of ray romano you get it
Luckily, her inability to keep it together did not affect our enjoyment of our meal. No, we’re not done. Next was Grilled Romano Beans, which I’ve never heard of before but everybody likes them right so we ordered them. They were really good, still in their pods and barbecued with balsamic peaches, marcona almonds (those are the fancy almonds right), and black garlic chili vinaigrette. So damn good! That’s a lot of flavors going on but beans are pretty basic on their own so it was all working.
Next was a dish I know all my friends in England are throwing tomatoes at their screens over – the Grilled Fresh Baby Corn. People here just don’t do baby corn, what I can tell you? I can take it or leave it but this dish? I’ll take. I bet it could even turn the naysayers onto baby corn, it was RG. Harissa-spiced, mixed with crispy shallots and corn puree, this dish was so worth ordering, even though when my friend first ordered it I was like “you’re wasting a space on baby corn? why would you waste a space on baby corn?” but it was a good decision.
Our first of the Comforting Classics, as they’re called, was the dish most recommended to me – the Chickpea Cake. It’s a good deal heartier than the smaller plates, and so actually makes this very expensive food seem like a better value. The chickpea patty is served with porcini mushrooms, red spring onions, and sherry demi cream. I don’t know what makes cream ‘demi’ but I really enjoyed the chickpea cake and was glad I followed everyone’s advice. It seems like an entree you’d get at a nice comforting vegan restaurant, or maybe make yourself if you have a lot of time one night. Very solid and delicious.
Onto the last of our Comforting Classics, and the last of our savory dishes (I totally forgot to take pictures of some things in the ruckus of this amazing meal! sorry not sorry! Add like 4-5 other dishes and you’ll get a sense of how much food we ate!). The Scaloppini Milanese was so amazing. It could have easily been a hunk of Gardein or something at a lesser restaurant, but this patty, whatever it was, was incredible, with the perfect texture. The telltale syruppy but thin Milanese sauce took it to the next level, and like everything else here, was wonderful.
On to dessert!!! We were so full that we couldn’t even finish some of the above dishes, but we had to get dessert. I was actually in a place that would give me something other that fruit sorbet and fruit; of course I’m getting dessert! We decided to split two among the four of us, starting with the Peach Upside Down Cake. Proving that their pastry chef is as talented as the head chef, this wonderful cake was warm and full of deep brown sugar. The roasted peaches were just as good as all the other peaches we ate all night and all week (the best peaches in this state!) and complemented by the lemon cornmeal of the cake. The best part was the brown sugar ice cream it was served with, not that it was better than the cake but just because ice cream is my favorite. As such, the dessert I got to choose was the famous Hot Fudge Sundae, which yeah I could make and yeah I could have elsewhere but shush, it was awesome. The vanilla bean ice cream was served on top of a warm brownie (le sigh), mixed with banana fudge, whatever that amazingness is, and topped with hazelnuts and coconut whipped cream. Best sundae ever, yes.
Cake & ice cream! |
Ice cream sundaeee! |
Overall, this was an epic, spectacular meal, definitely one of my favorites ever. It was stupid expensive, but compared to similar restaurants, I think the value was so high that it was well worth it.
Crossroads, Los Angeles, California, US&A
Water speed: Decent. There were a few times when we had to flag people down, but overall it was okay.
Service: What a weird issue! The waitress was a total eggshell plaintiff or something. She just didn’t like us and make it hella obvious. Boo urns.
Bathrooms: I felt like I was in an episode of Gossip Girl when I went to the bathroom. They are small, with two stalls separated by the sink area, and blonde wannabe starlets apparently congregate in the sink area to fix their hair while I try to wash my hands. Their conversation was so hilariously stereotypical of everything L.A. I almost thought it was Improv Everywhere or something.
Food: Incredible! Not one bad note. One of the best meals ever.
Bonus: The atmosphere can’t help but be great, considering the location and the notoriety. Usually more famous people are there than were on my night, but even so, the food is so superb that I didn’t even care that it was apparently the one night of the year that Russell Simmons wasn’t there.
