Mas Q Menos (Soho), London

I do love Jamón Ibérico, and if I can I would love to buy the whole leg of it to take home. Whenever I feel like nibbling, I can carve thin slices of it. It does taste better when the ham is freshly carved or sliced.

Mas Q Menos is a tapas bar in Soho (also with branches in Holborn and City), the name translating to more for less. Before stepping inside, I was not aware how well known Mas Q Menos is in Spain. With over 30 Tapas bars as well as another 11 restaurants in Barcelona owned by the Cacheiros family. I knew I was in ham heaven when I saw legs of Ibérico hanging on the wall.

Blue Devil & Bloody Mary 

We started with two cocktails for the night. Mr. T has a tendency of trying out Bloody Mary at every available places, and somehow it also made me turn into a tomato juice person (I hated tomato juice before). Two decent cocktails I would say.

Jamón Ibérico 

Jamón Croquettes 

I am not self proclaimed expert on hams, but I know a good ham when it tasted good. Mas Q Menos pride themselves on their quality of Jamón Ibérico. What gives that rich flavour taste of the jamón ibérico is the free-range pigs diet of only acorns. A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat, and that fat is good for health. The ham is machine carved, it takes years of training to be able to carved nicely by hand. It's much oily when freshly carved, and it melts in the mouth along with artisan bread spread with tomatoes and bread sticks. The waiter recommended the Jamón Croquettes, glad I listened to him. It was crispy with potato and ham oozing out from inside.

Galician Style Octopus “Pulpo Gallego”

White Anchovies in Vinegar

Foie Gras served with Figs Jam &Toast

Pulpo Gallego, a simple octopus dish with olive oil and speckle of sweet Paprika. Tender pieces of octopus and nicely seasoned. Anchovies is something that I cannot resist, and you rarely see it as a dish on its own on the menu. Good acidity to the anchovies, not overly pungent. I feel wrong eating a slab of foie gras, but for Mr. T it is his devil's dish. I wish it was actually toast that came with it rather than bread sticks which was left clueless.

We didn't have dessert, feeling full already and I do not remembered much of that evening beside the tasty jamón ibérico. Service was friendly and casual but lacking attentiveness sometimes, it was made up be their knowledgeable skills. It is definitely a place for drinks and a plate of jamón ibérico to share.

Score: 3/5
Price: £30/head

I was invited to review.




http://www.masqmenos.co.uk/

Take Eat Easy - Food Delivery Service

Everyone has a moment in life where they are too lazy and tired to cook at home, right? You reach out for your phone, dialled the number for a greasy takeaway. Hold that thought for now. A new food delivery service has arrived in London, Take Eat Easy and it is also taken by storm around Europe. 

No more greasy food, but a premium restaurant food delivered to your home. Launched in 2013 in Brussels by four childhood friends set out on a mission to find a better way of getting food delivered from independent restaurants to people's homes. Delivering food can be a complicated system. Take Eat Easy goes a step further by allowing customers to follow their courier in real time and to know the exact arrival time of their food. The unique dispatching algorithms developed by the team, allow the company to deliver meals in as little as 17 minutes. What's more, it is all delivered by a team of cyclists. 

I thought living in central London would have meant I had a lot of choices. There were only two restaurants delivering to my post code. Plan B, have it delivered to my work where East London seems to be a bustling food scene at the moment. I was swamped with choices and found it difficult to pick. 

I opted for Chinese from Sichuan Folk, specialised in hot and spicy Chinese food from the Sichuan region. I don't usually order rice for takeaway since I prefer cooking that myself.

The website was easy to use. Once the order was made, an email and text will confirmed that the order had been received. I received another text with a link to track the order once the restaurant had acknowledged the order. 

It was fun being able to track your food on a real time map, when it left the restaurant and how far away. I was surprised to see the courier using bike to deliver the food, but then again it is easier to get around London with bikes. My food arrived within 30 minutes, hot and fresh. Tasted very good too.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. YOU ORDER - Order from one of your favourite restaurants on their website or mobile app. Enter your address, pick a restaurant, select your dishes and confirm your order in just a few clicks.
2. RESTAURANTS PREPARE YOUR FOOD - Take Eat Easy has partnered with the best restaurants in your city. They will prepare each of your orders with love, and pack them carefully.
3. THEY DELIVER - Bike couriers are fast, passionate, and just the nicest. Your courier is assigned to your order in real-time, through a custom mobile app. On average, Take Eat Easy couriers deliver your food in ten minutes, from the restaurant to your door.
4. YOU ENJOY - They believe mealtimes are special moments of the day, made to relax and simply enjoy. Moments that should be about great food, great company, and nothing to worry about.

Food

Sorry for my terrible photo of the food, I ordered a lot of food. The food tasted great and the service was fast and reliable. If you are in the catchment area, it is a delivery service that I would highly recommend. Even better, they're offering free delivery charge until 2016 and by clicking here you can get £10 off with your first order.

Maybe I should cheekily order something now after writing about it....

I was invited to review.

http://www.takeeateasy.co.uk