Slutty Cheff is a cook and writer who writes anonymously about sex, food and being a woman in the male-dominated restaurant world. The creator of @SluttyCheff Instagram account she has a column in Vogue and has just published her debut memoir, Tart, to glowing reviews. She's agreed to share with us her favourite food and drink places close to her home in Farringdon.
"Farringdon is home to several restaurants which all of London’s gourmands are familiar with: Quality Chop House, Quality Wines, Bouchon Racine, Brutto, The Eagle and more. These are great but they are places people happily travel to from outside of the area. My list below are spots in Farrindon I initially visited out of convenience due to their close proximity to my flat, but have since become my local favourites."
La Forchetta
92 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BH
Anything that is open all night in London makes me excited, and allows me to momentarily forget the fact that the nightlife of London is soon to be extinct. This cafe is open 24 hours and is opposite Smithfield meat market. The food is not worthy of talking about, but the experience is. Sitting on the streets of Farringdon at 2am, having a coronation chicken sandwich and observing one of the oldest markets of London operate, is special. Watching the butchers in their blood-stained white jackets traipse in and out of German Doner Kebab just opposite is a rare treat. Whether you order a sandwich, a full English or a panini, the food is merely a snack to enjoy while you watch the world go by in a little time capsule of London.
The Betsey Trotwood
56 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3BL
I love this pub. Mainly because it is unremarkable. It is just a pub. It is not beautiful and old, it is not trendy and young. It is on the corner of a junction on a busy road, so everybody who goes there goes there because they want a pint, not because they want a drink with a specific scene. I don’t want my pub to come with any postcode performance, I don’t want to walk into a pub garden and feel like I am entering a Love Island villa where everybody has a quick glance at what you’re wearing and who you’re with. I don’t want to spot a food influencer at a pub. I don’t want anyone to be too good looking. The pub is my parish, my people, my peace. So this pub is perfect for me. The Guinness is good, it is reasonably priced and delicious when accompanied with their half-pint serving of dry roasted nuts. It is also the pub where I first met my boyfriend. I wouldn’t eat here, go up the road to The Eagle to eat, but when The Eagle is too busy, this is a perfect place to have a pint, and to fall in love.
Kennedy’s
169 Whitecross St, London EC1Y 8JT
Fish and chips is not something I generally get excited about in London. There is a lot of noise about which is the best, but I don’t care to find out. For a chippy dinner should be about cosy convenience not culinary excellence. I also think fish and chips should be eaten by the sea, with wet hair, a sandy arse and a nice sunset view to occupy one's mind while scoffing the salty stuff. So yes, I tend to stay clear of fish and chips in London. That was until I visited Kennedy's one evening when I was very hungry. It is a tarted-up chip shop with table seating and nice interior, which I thought was weird, but like I said, I was hungry. I sat down while dining, I was pleasantly surprised at this version of fish and chips. Instead of sand, there was a cushion beneath my arse. Instead of seagulls, there were pigeons. Instead of the sea, there were the streets, and on a Thursday night in the city, the streets can be equally as thrilling and tempestuous as the crashing waves in the north coast. And the fish and chips are decent.
Monohon Ramen
102 Old St, London EC1V 9AY
I like Monohon Ramen because it is a small menu, and the base of all the soups are pork (apart from the vegan option) which I like because it means I don’t experience that begrudging bitterness that I am missing out on one of the many alternatives on a menu. You can add toppings like fudgey eggs, pickled ginger and so on, and it is just really good. It is on Old Street, which is a place that is always nice to escape from; popping into Monohon, pulling up a stool and whacking on my headphones to watch a true crime doc, while eating a ramen is one of my favourite escapes. This ramen is my favourite in London.
Jiak Malaysian Street Food
2c Whitecross St, London EC1Y 8NX
Despite it having a real corporate-wanker feel with all the city men in their tight starchy white shirts and shiny trousers, Whitecross Market has some tasty offerings. My favourite is the Malaysian street food shop, which has a permanent fixture at the end of the street. It is delicious and under tenner. Hainanese chicken is the best, it is stained yellow and flavourful, the chilli and garlic is aplenty and the rice is great. Seeing a corporate man nervously nurse a sloppy burrito over his pristine shirt is not at all pleasing to me, but I go here often because it’s worth it.
See also
For more of these local area guides, visit the My Manor page.
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