Even a cucumber salad w pea hummus & chili oil, though as Mexican as Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro, was a rather thrilling thing, the cleansing, watery crunch of the cucurbit and instant, insistent hit of capsaicin combining to wash away all that delicious taco grease

Margate isn't fully poshified; a lot of its eateries -even east-London-cool coffee shops & wine bars- have their toilets in sheds or portacabins. High Dive provided mercifully modern facilities and excellent bavette tostadas w nectarine aguachile, cashew and, roguely, gochugaru.

High Dive was meal of our trip (insert your own Tom Daley/gold medal joke). I wasn't as enamoured as the others by our split-like bowl of banana ice cream -freezing being the only way to make it edible- bruleed lengths of the fruit, cracking choc shell, popping candy & fried corn

NEW POST; Dublin, a snapshot of restaurants and of Guinness. meatandoneveg.blog/dublin-a-snaps…

My friend described Forts’ brownies as “cubes of fucking dark matter”. I didn't know dark matter could fuck but I guess that's how the Big Bang happened? I didn't get a Forts brownie and, though this Kinder Bueno one from Radical Roasters wasn't quite that, it was bloody lovely.

Planning food while drinking cocktails. Story of my life. No better place to do it than Filthy XIII. Nitro Picante non-negotiable while September's Negroni-month Spagliato had vague pina colada vibes, mostly due to coconut, tempered by sparkling green apple & herbal Lillet Blanc.

A Lockdown Loaves crookie is a croissant stuffed w/ cookie dough, baked & piped w/ chocolate ganache, and about as ridiculous as that sounds -whether in a good way or not is down to your sensitivities- while a raspberry & custard bun is a much more demure thing, and vegan to boot

In Bristol restaurant coolness ranks, Wangs must be near the top, their reputation organically building, a slow-drip of oversubscribed collabs piquing interesting before they flung open their doors in June, behind which lurk a jellyfish, chicken & cucumber salad freckled w sesame

This is so desperately needed

Like slippery-crunchy jellyfish, aubergine has a texture that puts many people off, especially in western settings. At Wangs it was steamed to soften past its usual sponginess into silken palatability for all but the most hardened haters & varnished w a tickly Sichuan chili glaze

From night slingers in Taiwan to Picton St, Wangs’ chicken clearly flew 1st class, its double-fried tapioca batter laughing in the face of jet lag to protect perky, ginger-suffused thigh. All within pecking distance of now-vegan Oowee, who knew a thing or two about frying poultry

Expertly-formed lok ba go were geometrically-pleasing cuboids of grated turnip; thin, gently-bronzed crusts yielding sweet centres, texture somewhere amidst custard & bubble-&-squeak. Lap cheong & house-cured scallop roe XO was the glorious gilding on the cakes, to mix metaphors.

Wangs managed to nab Xin Xin Chan from sadly-closed Tare, which is already paying dividends with the execution of a Hong Kong-driven menu like skilfully-fashioned pork & prawn wontons in chilli oil, although an excess of Chinkiang vinegar and allium masked their delicacy a little

After a pelting w assertive umami & chili of the small plates, it took a while to appreciate the relative subtlety of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Only after time to literally & figuratively digest did I really appreciate the clean, anise-perfumed broth, tho the chili oil was used

Wangs has been almost universally lauded since opening, with absolute justification, tho a couple of friends did express reservations. If there are improvements to be made, & there always will be in new places, it may be in the relatively safe larger dishes & the timid cocktails.

First time at Wangs -their partnership w Old Market's terrific Tomo No Ramen- I had tea-flavoured chiffon that I found rather too subtle. Hong Kong milk tea semifreddo was soothing but not bland, benefitting texturally from a cookie, Taiwanese brown sugar caramel and ginger crumb

My girlfriend went to see Abba and all she brought me back was one of the best pastries I've had in recent memory from Dusty Knuckle Bakery; a coiled knot of a sticky, salty toffee apple pastry. A cardamom bun might have been more appropriate, but it couldn't have been any tastier.