What Sophie Said

One thing I love about London is finding those pockets that don’t feel like you’re in a big city at all. Canary Wharf during the week is so busy, but at the weekend all is calm. West India Quay is an area that reminds me a lot of Liverpool, and house some great restaurants along the river. A couple of weeks ago my dad came to visit, and we headed over that way to sit in the sunshine outside La Tasca, West India Quay. It was my first La Tasca trip, and although I’m not able to eat widely at the moment because of what’s been going on with my anxiety, the trip confirmed I need to return as soon as I’m eating more again! Between three of us we ordered six dishes to share which was a good amount, we’d maybe have added one more if my appetite was at its normal levels. The menu is extensive and varied, and I was really impressed by the price for the quantity and quality of food we received. We ordered: Pan Del Ajo (garlic toasted breads) Triple Cooked Pata...

Before moving to London, I'd never set foot in a Wahaca. After being introduced by friends, it's now reached my favourites list. The concept is Mexican street food - lots of small tapas-like dishes, which arrive to your table and and when they're ready. Always fresh, the food is of delicious quality. I've been to the Oxford Circus and Covent Garden branches, but recently headed into the Westfield Stratford branch for the first time. The Westfield branch was much quieter than the other two usually are, although it was a Friday evening, and we were seated immediately. It has the usual colourful, distinctive decor and huge menus on the table. Drinks-wise, they offer a huge range from the bar, but  personally always go for the apple juice. They juice about 5 apples there and then in front of you at the bar, and it tastes amazing. Time for what we ordered. On this trip, our list was made up of:- Grilled British steak tacos Pork pibil tacos Tender ma...

It’s no secret that I love Italian food. It’s always my default, and especially when eating out there just seems to be something for everyone. Here’s a rundown of three places I’ve loved eating at recently. Spaghetti House Spaghetti House have numerous locations across London and I’ve been consistently impressed. I’ve found there’s occasionally slow service, but the quality of the food is brilliant. On this particular visit, we sampled the garlic bread (the best I’ve had anywhere), a burger and chips, and classic tomato and basil spaghetti. With pasta made fresh and beautiful ingredients, this is a chain I know I’ll keep returning to. L’Ulivo I stumbled across L’Ulivo on a day out with my parents, and it turned out to be a great discovery. We went at a late summer’s lunchtime, and sat outside near busy Leicester Square. Although the service was a little slow, the meals were delicious. My pasta was full of perfectly roasted vegetables, ...

The beginning of a new month means it’s time for a new challenge, and this one revolves around food. When it comes to lunches, I’m really fussy. I don’t like a huge variety of sandwich fillings, or a lot of typical dressings like mayonnaise. This makes my typical lunches – I take a packed lunch to work each day - very uninspiring and repetitive. I want to try and break out of this trap, and cut down on the amount of bread I’m taking as lunches, in favour of other alternatives. Realistically, you can’t change everything overnight, so this month’s challenge is: Try out two new lunch options per week. This could be leftovers of different meals, salads, wraps… I’m currently on the hunt for inspiration! If I can do more than this, great, but the aim is at least 8 new ideas. As always, I’ll be taking pictures and filling you in at the end of the month. Do you have any tips? What are your favourite lunches? 

It can be easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut with restaurants, and keep returning to a place where you know the menu and you know you’ll have a good evening. A few weeks ago, Andy and I decided to swap our usual Italian choice for another Poynton restaurant, Ciao. We have eaten there before, but quite a long time ago, and we decided it was well worth another visit. It was a Saturday night, about 7pm, and it was packed. Whilst we were there, they had to turn a couple of groups away as every table was full. Despite that, it didn’t feel busy or crowded. Instead, there was a lovely atmosphere, and you could tell the restaurant owners knew plenty of their regular customers very well. The overall fell was friendly and bustling, and we settled in for some food. We had had a fairly large lunch that day, and baked cakes too, so decided to skip starters and go straight to main meals. Despite that, they actually brought over a complimentary round of bread and butter, whic...

Sometimes, when you go out for dinner, you want simple food that’s done really, really well. A pizza at a restaurant just has so much more flavour than one you’d buy at home, and that’s what I went for when I ate out with the girls a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, I’m jumping ahead, so let’s start at the beginning… Piccolino is an Italian restaurant in Bramhall, and one you can rely on to have something for everyone. They have an extensive menu, incorporating pizzas, pastas, fish and meat dishes, and everything I’ve tried has been so tasty. Right in the centre of the village, it has a lovely bar at the front, then opens up into a restaurant, with an open kitchen where you can watch the food being prepared. It’s a favourite spot for many, and I’ve been there a lot, whether it’s just for drinks, or for food as well. A few weeks ago, me and two friends needed a bit of a catch-up, and went for an early Piccolino tea. I think we were there about 6pm on a Monday, so it was al...

Sometimes when it gets to teatime after a week of work, simplicity is the key. A few weeks ago I tried out this really simple chilli beef and bean tortillas recipe, which I originally spotted in Sainsbury’s magazine. With a couple of adaptations, here’s the meal we ate: To serve 2, you will need: 1 red onion, sliced Olive oil 1 small garlic clove, crushed 250g lean mince 400g kidney beans in chilli sauce 100ml water 4 flour tortillas Grated cheddar, and anything else you want to serve with In a large pan, fry the onion in a little olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and mince, stirring until the meat has browned. Add the kidney beans and 100ml water, turn the heat down and simmer the mince for 20 minutes. Towards the end of the 20 minutes, griddle both sides of the tortilla wraps. Serve the chilli topped with grated cheese, wrap into the tortillas and enjoy. This was beyond simple, and is so fi...

About a month ago now, Andy and I headed off to De Vere Mottram Hall Hotel for a night, on our five year anniversary. We stayed close to home, as it meant we could stay somewhere lovely without adding on lots of travel costs! The hotel is set out on its own, so we thought we’d have lunch in nearby Prestbury before going to check in. Although it’s near home, it’s a relatively small village, so not somewhere I’ve ever thought of popping to explore. I texted my friend Emily for food recommendations, as she used to live in Prestbury, and we jumped on the train just before lunch. We first went to the Legh Arms pub, right in the centre of the village. It’s a beautiful old building, and had a real ‘local’ feel to it. They offer a quite extensive menu at reasonable prices, and although there was some confusion at first as to whether it was table or bar service (it was half and half) we settled in to a nice tall table tucked in by a wall. Knowing we would be ha...