Friday 26th April - Lardo

Lardo is a reasonably new Italian restaurant situated between London Fields and the Hackney Empire.

I have been wanting to try this restaurant for months. From the reviews I had read, I expected excellent food but poor service. However, on the night I attended both were excellent. The staff had banter which I always enjoy.

The menu is simple: antipasti, pasta and pizza. I feasted on their pepperoni pizza. And oh my god it was AMAZING. Not only was it the best pepperoni pizza I have eaten. It was the best pizza I have ever eaten. Period. There was silence at our table as we demolished our food, only occasionally interrupted by yummy noises.

If you still have space after dinner, try the chocolate honeycomb ice cream. It is a like a melted crunchie and it is delicious.

I had to cook for myself tonight and it was rubbish!

Sunday 21st April - Manh salon

I wandered to Manh today to get my fortnightly manicure and pedicure. I love this salon on Mare Street. Nail bars in Hackney are numerous. I have tried a few but none beat Manh.

Manh is a little more expensive than the standard nail bar in Hackney (e.g. £25 for a pedicure), but still very reasonable. Inside Manh, you can literally get everything you can think of done, from hair cuts / colours, to waxing to threading to massages to nails.

I can only comment on the beauty side of things, as haven't taken advantage of the hairdressing as I already have a hairdresser that I love.

The beauty side is run by Mimi and she has team of Katie, Ling and a new thai masseuse (who's name I can't remember - sorry). Katie is by far the best nail technician I have ever come across. I was a habitual nail biter when I started going to this salon and now I have nice healthy nails. The thai massages are amazing. Spending 50+hrs a week hunched over a computer means I quite often have a sore back. An hour long massage is £40 which is superb value. However, the massage is technically very good, that I treat it like a cheap version of physio.

My favourite bit about the salon is how friendly everyone is. For me, when I go its like catching up with friends. Did I mention they make the best cup of green tea?

Friday 29th March - Haggerston Tearoom

Being as it was Good Friday I treated myself to my favourite tearoom, which is fortunately on my doorstep.

In my humble opinion, this is an absolutely undiscovered gem. Beautiful loose leaf tea, the best ham and cheese toastie in the world and delicious cupcakes. The staff are also lovely and chat to you if you show interest.

This is the sort of place you take a book and forget about the world around you.

Friday 22nd March - Leluu Supper Club

I go to Leluu's Vietnamese supper club so frequently – I almost consider it a restaurant.

One of the original and best supper clubs in Hackney, Leluu is run by one of the most talented ladies I have ever had the pleasure of meeting – Uyen Luu. Photographer, clothes designer and the ultimate chef.

On an average night you will have about 8 courses of food. You start eating just before 8pm and finish around 10.30pm. I was so full when I finished last night, that I am pretty certain someone would have given me a seat on the tube. I couldn't even attempt to hold in my stomach and pretty certain I looked about six months pregnant. For £35 you cannot deny the value.

It is a BYOB event and if you are lucky at the end of the night Uyen will join you for a glass of vino. She has the atmosphere perfect – it is relaxed and fun. All you can hear is laughter and yummy noises.

Some of the items we feasted on last night were frogs legs, beef pho, curry puffs, shredded chicken salad and summer rolls. The food is fresh, flavoursome and unpretentious.

Beautiful. Cannot wait to go again.

Friday 31st January - Dead Dolls Club Foragers

A pop up restaurant specialising in “foraged” food sounded too interesting to miss. As a result my friends and I tottered along to the Dead Dolls Club to enjoy the “Foragers” experience.

I had a nice evening. I loved the Dead Dolls Club – such a lovely little bar. I will be honest though I found the food a little hit and miss.

We ate Venisson scotch eggs, pigeon and chicken. We also tucked into various salads, with the artichoke being the best. The dishes averaged about £8 a piece and were quite small. I also found that the quality varied. They also did some special cocktails, which were strong, but also expensive at £9 a glass.

It was an interesting concept and we enjoyed our evening but I don't think any of us would eat foraged food in a hurry again.

Saturday 26th January - Italian Supper Club

I admit it. I love supper clubs. Having dinner with people you wouldn't normally socialise with is refreshing. I have attended a number of supper clubs including Leluu, The Saltoun Supper Club and the London Foodie Supper Club. Leluu is still and always will be my favourite (a review to come later).

The Italian Supper Club in Homerton takes on a similar format but rather than being BYOB it includes alcohol. As a result I found it more formal, as it meant you were a little more restricted as to what you could drink.

The evening started with “socialising” drinks where we stood for about 30 minutes making awkward chit chat with the other strangers at the supper club before sitting down to eat. In this 30 minutes we were given one glass of prosecco, which was lovely – but a glass of prosecco does not last 30 minutes and I looked around and saw people feeling a bit too awkward to ask for another glass. You are allowed more alcohol if you are willing to pay and it was very reasonably priced but it was made a little awkward to ask. I will be honest I felt like a naughty schoolchild asking my parents for booze.

We attended the Great Britaly night, which combined British and Italian elements of food. The food was delicious but whereas in other supper clubs I am blown away by the quality of the food, I was not here. It was lovely but it didn't completely work together. For example the main course was a pie – delicious but it came with a salad that included oranges. A bit odd.

I will say though that we struck gold with the table we sat at. We definitely had the most fun people and it was a lovely night.

I would recommend this supper club, but unlike Leluu's supper club – I would not return to this one.

Saturday 12th January - Broadway Market

12 days dry & detoxing. Time for a treat....and the girls are coming over for movie night!

Every Saturday I feel so lucky to live on the doorstep on Broadway Market. Today, it is all about dips and cakes. I visited and bought the following:

• Hummus from the dips and cheese stall. No idea what the name of the stall is but quite possibly the best hummus I have ever eaten (& my friends agree).
• Various different fudges, including malteser fudge and lemon meringue fudge, from the Cookies and Cream stall, with the friendliest, happiest stall owner ever!
• Cupcakes from Violet cakes, who now have a lovely shop
• My favourite bread supplier – everything is sour dough (so healthy, or so I tell myself), and they do amazing olive twists
• Peanut butter shortbread from Fiendish and Goode. Melt in the mouth goodness

Having lived here more than four years – I have my favourite stalls, other than the above, I will often be found eating at least three lunches from Banhmi11, considered the one of the best sandwiches in London, and vegetarian Indian food from the Thali stall.

I also buy all my Olive Oil from the market too, from the olive oil man. When people used to say you can tell the difference between oils I thought they were pretentious. But I swear I could happily drink this olive oil.

If food isn't your thing, I totally recommend purchasing the occasional bag from Kate Sheridan.