HOPPERS, SOHO

Unless you've been living under a rock or you don't read any restaurant reviews, then I'm sure by now you've heard of Hoppers, the new spot in Soho serving Sri Lankan food from the people behind Gymhkana, Trishna, Lyle's, Bubbledogs, The Kitchen Table and Bao. Hoppers has been highly reviewed by some of the biggest names in food, and with a no booking policy its popularity has gone through the roof. I've been a couple of times now, and by the second visit they'd installed an app queuing system whereby you can leave your phone number in the queue, pop to the nearest pub/bar and wait in the warm with a drink, until you get a text saying your table's ready, rather than huddled under the awning of the building opposite as we did on our first visit. Don't let the wait/queue put you off going though - you need to try this food. As you'll see on Thursday when I post my top 10 restaurants of 2015, it's made its way on to there, which is saying something with the amount of restaurants I've been to this year. And Hoppers is ridiculously cheap, particularly if you don't drink too much (both times I've been our drinks spend has far exceeded what we've spent on food....)

And talking of drinks, what better place to start. There's a slightly weird and wonderful cocktail menu at Hoppers, and to be honest, most of them include ingredients I prefer on my plate than in my glass (curry leaf, peppercorns, cashews) so on both visits I've gone for the Hoppers gin and tonic, made with lemongrass infused Sipsmith gin, Indian lemon, lemongrass and tonic, which is a zingy and refreshing drink and a great start to the meal. I had a sip of Emily's Colombo no.7 gin and tonic (gin, fresh curry leaves, cinnamon and cardamom tonic) but much preferred mine.

 

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GOAN PRAWN CURRY w HOLY COW & LOVE RICE

I love discovering a new food brand, especially one that's packed full of good ingredients. I was contacted by the people behind Holy Cow recently and I asked to write about their sauces. I was unsure. I like to make my own sauces, but this can be a long process, and not one you necessarily want to embark on after a long day of work. I had a look into the brand, and my mind was made up as unlike a lot of ready to use sauces, the Holy Cow range uses only natural ingredients, with no gluten, nor artificial colours, flavours, preservatives. Basically, exactly as I would make the sauces myself. I've also been working with Love Rice on recipe projects, and they'd sent me some mixed rice packs to use in my cooking, including my favourite, the Tilda wholegrain basmati and wild rice, which is not only delicious but also packed full of nutrients.

As the Holy Cow sauces are so good, I only needed to add a couple of ingredients to make a complete meal. The sauces come in various different flavours, including Mangalore Malabar - an aromatic tangy sauce made with coconut and curry leaves; Kashmir Roganjosh - a hearty caramelised onion and tomato sauce flavoured with cardamom and clove; and Goan Curry Sauce - a hot and spicy coconut based sauce, which is perfect for serving with prawns.

Serves 2

120g Tilda wholegrain basmati and wild rice
12 king prawns
1 pack of Holy Cow Goan Prawn Curry sauce (made with onion, coconut milk, rapeseed oil,  tamarind, roasted coconut, garlic paste, ginger paste, green chilli, tomato paste, salt, chilli powder)
1/2 courgette, sliced into large matchsticks

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