MEATEASY!

A visit to the new and wildly popular venture from the folks who bought you the late Meatwagon (RIP) .

Enjoy.



Following the format of the extremely popular Meatwagon, word of the new guerilla dining venture - Meateasy spread quickly. Very quickly. On Saturday three of us arrived in staggered order just past 6. We thought we would be in at early doors.

How we were wrong.



Over 100 people had gathered by the entrance to Goldsmiths Tavern, eager to get their place inside and to be amongst the first to experience the hearty fare served within.



We were early enough to make it in, but late enough to still be placed 122nd in line to order, which we did so over an hour and a half later.



It was worth it.



The Staff, even after facing the prospect of being rushed off their feet for the whole night, were cheerful, friendly and patient.



And the food... unlike anything else you can get in London which made it all the more interesting.



Suddenly the new East London overground line seems alot more useful.

Austrian supermarket finds

I'm not quite sure what it is, but I really love going to supermakets in foreign countries. I never go for any particular reason, but nevertheless I find myself wandering through the aisles in search of the unique and  peculiar products which might never ordinarily leave the borders of said country.



Take this 'Berner Wurstel'  for example. The two component parts are no stranger to me and indeed are readily available throughout the UK. However I was pretty impressed at the genius of combining the two in holy matrimony (as I was jealous that I didn't think of it myself).



Now i'm also told that the ready meal is a relatively novel concept in Austria with companies like Dr. Oetker generating great amounts of their profit through growth in frozens.

It goes without saying that these foods still need to be tailored to the domestic markets in which they are being sold. So here instead of burgers, peas and chips (they have lots of Pizza) we have a whole fridge full of Strudel. I didn't get to try it, but i'm sure if I were to live in Austria the 'Spinatstrudel' would be a regular fave.

Ping your podcast

Ancient Austrian cuisine

Ok, slightly misleading title but you can imagine just how unique it was to leaf through this hand-written cookbook, authored by my friends great grandmother. Dating back to 1912 its yellowed pages were filled with dishes designed to feed many. There are no quantities, just processes.



If only I could read old German, I would have liked to try a few of these out.

Quality of life Vienna - Cafe Prückel

Ask any Viennese resident for their favourite place. I'm willing to bet that 8 out of 10 times it will be one of the many majestic Coffee houses / Cafe's scattered around the capital.

These ancient establishments are certainly no secret outside of Austria. The most famous ones (Cafe Mozart, Sacher Cafe) can be found simply by following the hordes of Italian and German tourists who weave between the major attractions in the city Centre.



Cafe Prückel manages to buck this trend, balancing class with commotion and providing its visitors first class service all whilst maintaining a quiet and comfortable atmosphere.



High ceilings and contemporary furnishings are distinguishing features of the interior. The waiting staff are immaculately dressed and glide quietly across the well trodden floors delivering coffee and cakes with incredible efficiency (this is of course the norm throughout Austria).



The main: Crayfish and Rocket Gnocchi



We didn't have any room for cake, but i'm told that it is second to none.



A Viennese coffee house wouldn't be complete without a healthy selection of reading material. Back in the days before the internet, the daily international newspapers were as much a draw as the coffee / cake.


Cafe Prückel
Stubenring 24
1010 Wien

Nearest underground Stubentor (U3)


View Larger Map

Austrian awesome

So Christmas and New Years already seems like it was a long time ago. Fortunately I have a good documentation of my week long trip to Austria to keep me going until things shape up over here.



Sausage meal #1



Another more typical sausage meal, this time with white sausages. Also included was gherkin, horseradish, pumpkin bread and a very tasty / tannic grape mustard which seems to be the norm in these parts.

More to come.. I promise no more sausage pics.