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Fast nosh just got posh...
By Stephanie Hirschmiller, London Lite 26.03.08
Charity pot: proceeds from Harrods' Pot Noodle go to Action Against Hunger
Top dog: hotdog fan Simon Sygrove at Gourmet Hotdogs
Prime cut: chef Joao Loureiro on burger duty at Perfect Blend
Look here too
If your idea of “posh” junk food is putting a mayo and ketchup mix on your chips, look away now. The Pot Noodle — famously dubbed the “slag of all snacks” by its own marketing department — has undergone a Ladette To Lady-style transformation, emerging as noodle nobility and about to go on sale for £30 a pop at Harrods.
The student staple has climbed into bed with the luxury retailer as part of its Design Icons initiative. One hundred limited-edition chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles will go on sale in the store on 14 April. The pots are decked out in the Harrods livery and come with their own fork and table linen. Don't even think about rehydrating with common old tap water though — filtered or mineral only, advises the store. And Mr Fayed's gaff isn't the only place in town where you can score deluxe junk food. A cornucopia of top-notch restaurants across the capital now offers up the haute cuisine of junk grub. Here's our pick of the best:
HOMEMADE GALLOWAY FOIE GRAS BURGER AND CHIPS
Streatham may not be revered in gastronomic circles, but this south London postcode has one or two hidden treasures, fashionable café-bar Perfect Blend being one of them.
Head chef Sébastien Gagnebé cooks up a mean super-luxe burger for locals looking for a junk food fix with a twist. Gagnebé favours the little-used onglet cut — a tasty muscle in the rump of the cow — from the finest Galloway beef, hung for 28 days and renowned for its distinctive, gamey flavour.
And forget withered lettuce and curling cheese — this monster is topped with a blend of foie gras. At £7.95 for the standard version and only £2.50 more for the foie gras, you get a Rolls-Royce of a burger for the price of a Ford Fiesta. Look out for the second branch opening on Clapham Park Road in May.
8-9 Streatleigh Parade, Streatham High Road, SW16 (020 8769 4646)
MINI WAGYU BURGERS AND MINI DONUTS
In the spirit of anything mini seeming far less sinful (another mini egg, anyone?), celebrity hotspot the Light Bar at the St Martins Lane Hotel has updated its menu to incorporate bite-sized versions of the exotic fare served at Asia de Cuba next door. The Mini Wagyu Sliders (three for £24) are just the ticket for late-night munchies.
The pampered Wagyu cows, bred for the unique marbled texture of their meat, are fed on prize corn and beer for a unique, melt-in-the-mouth flavour — and it certainly makes a darned fine burger. If you're hungry for more, also on the menu is Homer Simpson's favourite snack made small: mini doughnuts with butterscotch sauce (four for £6), freshly rolled and fried by the in-house pastry chefs.
45 St Martin's Lane, WC2 (020 7300 5500, stmartinslane.com)
LOBSTER AND CHIPS
Fish and chips get a posh makeover at Geales in Notting Hill. Established in 1939, it has recently had the Mark Fuller treatment to become the poshest chippie in town — leather banquettes, black chandeliers and linen tablecloths come courtesy of interiors whizz Zena Prawl, while Michelin-starred head chef Garry Hollihead cooks up fish sustainably caught in Cornwall.
The cod weighs in at £9 but if you really want to push the boat out, opt for a whole lobster (£26) or a dozen rock oysters (£18) with your chips (£2). The champagne bar serves £99 bottles of Dom Perignon to celebrity fans including Justin Timberlake. Its takeaway service is coming soon.
2 Farmer Street, Notting Hill (020 7727 7528, geales.com)
VEAL AND FOIE GRAS BURGER
Although it's in Knightsbridge's grand Berkeley Hotel, Boxwood's café-style atmosphere aims to take intimidation out of fine dining. And what could be less scary than a burger and fries? But the £25 veal and foie gras version isn't any old burger.
Based on the Swedish dish of veal and cream, the meat is exceptionally sweet and, with the intense taste of foie gras, far more flavoursome than its Swedish cousin. Even the fries are out of the ordinary. The chef-patron, Stuart Gillies, uses extra starchy Maris Piper potatoes, cooks them three times to ensure they are super crispy, then serves them with a freshly made tomato sauce. The venue, apparently popular with a peckish Will Young, has recently introduced late-night dining until 1am during the week.
The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1 (020 7235 1010, boxwood.com)
PEANUT BUTTER, JELLY AND ICE CREAM FLOATS
There's something utterly delicious about the stuff of kids' packed lunches, and the executive chef at Maze, Gordon Ramsay's Mayfair joint, obviously agrees. The restaurant's signature peanut butter and cherry jam sandwich with salted nuts and cherry sorbet (scoffed by David Beckham, no less) is a steal at £6.50. Sandwiched between slivers of almond brittle is a frozen mousse of peanut butter, Frangelico liqueur, whipped cream and sabayon paired with a handmade jam of griotte cherries and kirsch. Far too good for the children.
10-13 Grosvenor Square, W1 (020 7107 0000, gordonramsay. com/maze)
HAUTE HOT DOGS
At Soho's Gourmet Hotdog Company, sausages have gone global. There are classic dogs, vegetarian ones (wild mushrooms and herbs), Thai chicken ones and even the Northerner — pork with mushy peas, pork scratchings and horseradish. All made with fresh ingredients, they come with a choice of bun or, if you're cutting carbs, “naked” on a bed of salad. From £3.95.
Gourmet Hotdog Company, 37 Berwick Street, Soho (020 7287 5191)
BUBBLEGUM ICE CREAM
Sketch, the result of a collaboration between Mourad “Momo” Mazouz and three Michelin-starred Parisian chef Pierre Gagnaire, is a haven for London's beautiful people. It's all bijou furniture and video installations, the sort of place you'd imagine Coco Chanel and Marie Antoinette would go for a girly get-together. Even the size-zero regulars are surely tempted by the Malabar, an £8 bubblegum ice cream with lemon, orange blossom marshmallow, panna cotta and green tea. Great to eat, even better to share...
9 Conduit Street, W1 (0870 777 4488, sketch.uk.com)
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Reader views (2)
Go to any Chinatown noodle bar or Chinese fast food outlets, serving roast meat, such as suckling hog, duck, steamed chicken where you can eat freshly prepared noodle soup, green vegetable and three types of roasted meat for a fiver. Tell Harrods to get stuffed for its £30 noodle. People should not be conned by such ridiculous Pr campaign!
- Roberta, Bromley, UK
What idiots will be paying £30 for a pot noodle. Whoever they are they should be named and shamed. Imagine if it was the tasteless, talentless duo, Beckhams.
- Dr Finlays Casebook, London, UK
