Trullo: simplicity as a virtue

Trullo, 300-302 St Paul's Rd, N1 2LH

In the past, I have always found Italian restaurants in London a little disappointing. With the exception of some fine pizzerias, my last two visits to Italian eateries in London have been underwhelming; leaving me with a creeping suspicion that perhaps I just don't fully appreciate the understated virtues of Italian cooking: a reaction at odds with my fond memories of simple but brilliant meals in Italy. This may explain why it has taken me more than a year to find my way to Trullo, despite its Islington location being mere moments from my Dalston haunts. If only I had ventured there sooner, I wouldn't have spent the last year wondering when I stopped loving Italian food. I would have spent it in Trullo.

Three ways with Moro

Long before we visited their restaurant, my Ma and I developed a deep-rooted affection for Sam and Sam Clark. Their cooking, inspired by the food of Southern Spain, North Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean, was faithfully recreated in our Nottingham kitchen. We debated their take on paella, aspired to make our own sourdough and the monkfish rice was cooked for one of Mr F's first visits to our family home. Since then, we've shared one much-thumbed and oil-splattered copy, which is the subject of occasional negotiations about who gets to have it next. The spine may have given up and the pages of rice recipes may be stuck together, but we still love it.

Buen Provecho at the Zoo

Buen Provecho, London Zoo Lates or Lower Marsh Street

3 tacos: £6

There's only a week left to check out London Zoo Lates, the late night opening at London Zoo that sees drunken grown ups overrun an attraction usually reserved for family outings and dance like idiots at a silent disco. If like me, the idea of a looking at animals leaves you cold, then fear not - the delightful people at Eat.St have arranged a street food fantasia to reassure us that not all animals end up in cages. Some are destined for sandwiches.

Defying the weather: ice cream in London

Chin Chin Laboratorists, 49 - 50 Camden Lock Place, NW1 8AF

Tub of ice cream with sauce and one topping: £3.95

Gelupo, 7 Archer St, W1D 7AU

Waffle cones with two scoops: £3

I've called London home for more than five years now, so my expectations for the summer weather are pretty low. I can deal with the stagnant humidity and the near-constant lack of sunshine, if that's what the city demands. However, even with my hard-earned stoicism, this summer has enraged me. I find myself simmering with fury at its dark, cold, rainy skies. Tired of waiting for another brief patch of warm weather, I decided to go and eat ice cream at two of London's finest, hoping to shame the sun into putting its hat on.

After the nitrogen: Chin Chin's creations

The Perfect Picnic: Mangal style

Mangal I, 10 Arcola Street, E8 2DJ

Picnic for two: £10.50 

One of the things I love about East London is the proliferation of makeshift BBQs, which fill up our open spaces as soon as soon as the temperature hits twenty degrees. By contrast, the residents of Clapham, whilst favoured with a spacious Common, are generally more law abiding when it comes to park regulations. However, there is a downside to the Victoria Park BBQ anarchy: food envy. How can even the most luxurious of hampers compete with proper grilled food? It can't but, fortunately, it doesn't have to.

Fette Sau: the BBQ benchmark

Fette Sau, 354 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, New York

Meal for three starving people (excluding drinks): $75 or £46

It feels like it's all about BBQ here in London this summer. Not the burnt sausage, crappy burger kind but the sort of cooking one associates with the Southern States of the USA: all pulled pork, sticky beans and shots of bourbon by the pit. Within the space of a few weeks, we've had a new restaurant open up in Hoxton and a van pull up under Hungerford bridge (review on its way), both dedicated to the fine art of cooking with fire and smoke. However, whilst both make an admirable attempt at recreating that American stalwart, neither of them have quite got it and they fall short of smoky perfection. Even with our new-found love of the BBQ pit, we still have to leave our beloved city for the good stuff. Having put off writing up my recent (ish) visit to New York, BBQ disappointment has finally given me the impetus to blog about the opposite: BBQ heaven. For as I discovered on my last visit, our urbanite cousins in New York can hook themselves up with fantastic BBQ at the drop of an artfully distressed hat. Mind you, they do have to leave Manhattan which is perhaps just as traumatic for some. Fette Sau is the sort of place I would love to see transplanted to London. In fact, I would even sell a fairly vital organ in order to make this happen. 

da Polpo: it's not you, it's me

da Polpo, 6 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NA

Meal for two (with 50% off food): £50

For many, da Polpo is all about family. It's the youngest child trying to live up to the awesome foodie legacy of its older siblings. It's not the original (Polpo) nor is it the most iconic (Polpetto). It isn't even the slightly edgy one that your aunt suspects is on drugs (Spuntino). It's the Conrad Hughes Hilton of the Polpo Family. Poor da Polpo,  it must hope for a visit from one of the few people in London who haven't already fallen in love with its sisters. Someone, perhaps, like me. 

It's not that I wasn't keen to go and eat at this infamous family of restaurants before. I just never got round to it. This may have something to do with the queues. I made it up the stairs to Polpetto once but couldn't face the two hour wait. So da Polpo was to be my first encounter with The Family. I was so keen to see what every other right-minded foodie was on about, I even made it there before its official opening.