I was wondering why I got to work so smoothly the week before…it was half-term, of course.
Not so this week, of course, with delays every step of the way.
But it was the first sunny day of spring (well, winter) so who cares. Everyone happy. Everything good. Even office. Maybe.
Given the sunshine, I decided to eat outdoors at Katsu King – one of the food trucks on the Paddington Basin canal.
For my tastes, it was a choice between katsu salad or katsu fries, so I went for the slightly healthier option.
The salad was a mixture of salad leaves and grated cabbage – it added crunch but nothing else.
The crispy chicken wasn’t so crispy with the katsu sauce on – the sauce kind of reminded me of the taste of gravy, though neither of these should be considered a criticism.
Indeed, the chicken was really nicely fried, where there was no sauce, the crumb was crunchy, and satisfying.
Some sriracha sauce on top – not especially hot or spicy, and some coriander gave it some fragrance.
Priced at £9.50. Pretty decent, I’d say. Katsu King is worth a whirl.
My score of 7.20.
And then a bird shat on me. Bring back the rain and indoor dining.
After a week in the sun it feels like a lifetime ago but I did find a little gem before I went away – Bonata, on the little road that used to end in Pergola.
Apparently a Middle Eastern Mediterranean fusion grab and go concept, if the term fusion doesn’t scare you like it does me… almost as much as the phrase “we need to change our corporate culture”, you rock up and pick a grains or salad base, then add some meat (or not), followed by multiple sides and a sauce.
It’s a shame I couldn’t be arsed to post this the same day as my memory is now stretched, but I had a spinach base, with some harissa lemon chicken thighs – which were succulent and flavoursome.
Followed by butter beans, tomatoes, cucumber and a spicy harissa dressing.
Was a little spicy (more would have been fine), everything was fresh, good quality ingredients…yeah I enjoyed Bonata.
Rating of 8 out of 10.
I do wish I had smuggled a proper knife and fork from the kitchen at work though.
Soor. Don’t panic. I’m back to hating being in the office…this week my office chair had a choice of near horizontal or lean forwards. As much as I’m constantly told to lean into things, my current corporate buzzword hate, I had to go for the horizontal effect.
And then I booked a meeting room that doesn’t exist. Cool.
But I can always lean into lunch and this week I took a walk down the Edgware Road, as far as I dared…or as until I saw somewhere vaguely appealing which was Soor…yes another Lebanese restaurant.
Serving around 5,000 dishes, from breakfast to manakish (must try one time… Lebanese pizza apparently), fatayer, various starters, mains, salads and wraps.
I asked for a recommendation…the mixed grill apparently. You mean the most expensive thing on the menu? Aha. Don’t want to suggest something more interesting to me?
I had a fattet because… I’m getting fatter. Warm yoghurt, crispy pitta, fried onions, chicken shawarma and salad.
I’m not sure I’d order it again, perhaps too much yoghurt but I still enjoyed it. Lots of chicken shawarma, the standard orange Lebanese spicy sauce was delightful, with a kick. The crispy pitta was fresh and the dish worked.
Salad was decent too.
Rating of 7.3. Definitely worth a visit and they had plenty of tables for lunch too.
They made me go back to the office. Aaaargh. But I made them go for lunch at Mihbaj a ha ha ha.
Starting my hopefully very occasional story of lunch spots around Paddington with a trip to @mihbaj which is a super cute Palestinian cafe on Pread Street.
No I didn’t choose to go to a Palestinian café because I’m woke and wanted to make a political point. I went because the food looked tasty. Don’t worry GB News fans, I might go to KFC next.
Confirm the chicken salad was as good as it looked, slightly spiced chicken, creamy avocado with lettuce, tomato and a dried pitta…. cannot say I’m fussed about dried pitta though.
Carrot, apple and orange juice was delightful too. No booze on offer…fine by me.
10 other colleagues were forced to join me but not one photographed their food. It’s 21st century…why you not photographing every meal? Most were happy though the food took a while to arrive…hence maybe not the spot for large groups on a tight 1 hour lunchtime turnaround.
Service helpful, plenty of options on the menu, some wraps to take away if you wish too.
Mihbaj was a good start to the adventure… maybe let’s give them an 8.0 out of 10.
Will there be a second post or will I decide to upset the CEO and refuse to come back to the office?
2026 update:
I went back!
On my own this time, the way I like my office collaboration days, commute by myself (and 1,000 other people in the same tube carriage), meetings by myself, desks by myself and lunch by myself. All so I can collaborate and bring that magic buzz of my silence to the office to make the CEO happy.
How on earth did I cope pre-pandemic? How on earth are others coping with 5 days a week in the office?
I totally didn’t learn my lesson from last time I visited Mihbaj, as I forgot how huge their portions were.
I went for the musakhan – because I wanted to try something new.
There was way too much food. Sure I didn’t need to eat it, and it was £21.00 so maybe that could have been a hint for me.
However, the chicken was really juicy – two sizeable chicken legs.
The caramelised onions didn’t taste that sumac-y, the onions on top added crunch.
And the flatbreads to bottom were very crispy in places, but also there was so much cooking juice from the chicken that they were luxuriously swimming in it. A tad too crunchy for my preferences.
It was another very, very good lunch – though I really need to remember how huge their portions are. My score is still an 8.00.
