Playing catch-up

So over the last couple weeks, we've eaten at a number of places worth writing about. I'll go through them in the order we visited them:

Asadal (Korean), near Holborn tube station. This place was awesome. We didn't get the bulgogi because we wanted to try a wide variety. Instead, we ordered the Kimchi Set (#8), Kun Man Du(19) Kan Poong Gi (26), and Ojing Uh Bokum (47). Everything was really good, but the star of the evening was actually the kimchi radish.
http://www.asadal.co.uk

Bodean's (BBQ) in Soho. This place was surprisingly good. Since we've been spoiled by places like Franklin, Black's, Smitty's, and especially Snow's in central Texas, we had to make a conscious effort to come into this place with an open mind. We were pleasantly surprised, even more so because this is a chain. We orderd the Bodeans platter with a side of beans. The best thing that night was actually the brisket. Good rub, good smoke. My friend Josh would hate it, because it's served in sauce. On the subject of sauce, they had three bottles at the table. None of them were particularly good, which is fine, because for the most part, the meat didn't need it. The exception here is the brisket sauce, which was actually really good and went well with the meat. The chicken and spare ribs were both excellent. The pulled pork was good on its own, but was the only thing on the plate that actually tasted better with the sauces. The baby back ribs weren't really worth eating; they were way too dry. The platter comes with chips (fries for all you yanks, this'll be the first, last, and only time I point that out) and coleslaw. The chips were really good. The coleslaw looked promising (nice and fresh with the cabbage still a bit al dente), but upon taking our first bite, it was obvious that even though they had all the right ingredients, they weren't quite put together correctly. There was no tang to it, and it was overall kind of flat. The beans we ordered on the side were ok, but again they kind of missed the point -- it was a mix of 6 or 7 types of bean, some of which hadn't quite softened up. Overall, I'd say this place passes the Rudy's test (if you can't beat Rudy's, you may as well close up shop), and is about on par with Lambert's in downtown Austin.
http://www.bodeansbbq.com/

The Meat Market (Burgers) in Jubilee Hall, Covent Garden. This place is just plain fun. It's upstairs looking over a flea market, but that actually adds to the ambience. From the butcher-block tables to the black-painted walls to the clever menu item names and especially the clever personal-ad style signs hanging off the ceiling every few feet, they've really managed to capture that early 80's roller rink cafeteria feel. All of their burgers are doubles (think In-N-Out) and they have interesting names, such as the Dead Hippie and the Black Palace. It's all the same burger, just dressed differently. Becca had the Black Palace burger. I ate a Dead Hippie. We split some fries. We also sampled one of their shakes, which you order by color code. The one we tried was the Beige, a bourbon and maple emulsification in vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. We were here in July with the kids, and they loved it. The only thing that wasn't absolutely perfect about this place was the chili cheese fries, which were served like a casserole in an aluminum loaf pan, and for some reason were topped with mustard and some artisanal cheese we couldn't identify. They were good, just different.
http://www.themeatmarket.co.uk/

Com Viet (Vietnamese) in Covent Garden. This place kicks ass. Becca wasn't very hungry, so she just ordered a bowl of fried rice and a salt & pepper squid appetizer. The squid was out of this world and came sprinkled with slivers of roasted garlic that exploded with flavor. There were thin red chili slices in the mix, as well, adding a dash of fire. I had my Vietnamese standby, Bun Thit Nuong (Vermicelli with pork slices and egg roll). I was not disappointed. The noodles were freshly cooked and didn't stick together. The egg rolls were crispy and flavoful. The carrots, fish sauce, and herbs were all top notch. Where they made their money, though, was with the grilled pork slices. Theirs were the best I've ever had. Every piece had a nice char on it, was perfectly seasoned, and was tender and juicy. Highly recommend this place.
http://www.comviet.co.uk/
http://goo.gl/maps/P8Gvu (They're a little hard to find on google maps and their website's map plugin is acting up)

Gaucho (Argentinian Steakhouse) in the old city. For what they offered, they were a little over-priced. However, for a date night, they provided the right atmosphere. If you can't get lucky after taking your date here, you may want to consider retiring to a monastery. We tried a bottle of the Luigi Bosca Reserva (a pinot noir) that was quite mild and very good, although probably not quite worth the premium. The beef and chicken empanadas we tried as an appetizer were amazing. We ordered the Churrasco de Chorizo and the Bife de Ancho for mains. The steaks were good, if a little tough, but nothing to write home about. The tenderstem brocolli and humita sides were pretty good, even if the humita had a completely different flavor profile than we were expecting. For dessert, we tried the apple pancake with vanilla ice cream. It was fantastic, but gave us our only true WTF moment of the night. They put 5 kernels of unseasoned popcorn on it. Weird.
http://www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk/

Some other places worth mentioning:
Nando's (peri-peri chicken) is a chain that we've been to several times before. They serve spicy grilled chicken. Try them. You'll like them.
Benito's Hat and Tortilla (assembly-line burrito joints). We're constantly on the hunt for a good mexican or tex-mex experience in London. Both these places almost scratch that itch. Benito's Hat is better than Chipotle but doesn't quite measure up to Freebirds. Tortilla is almost on par with Freebirds. They're both better than Qdoba.

We spent the morning at Borough Market today. It's a good way to spend a Saturday morning. We split a sausage hoagie and a Bermondsey Cheese grilled sandwich. The grilled cheese sandwich was one of the best we've ever had. It was a little salty, a little sweet, and benefitted from a very complex set of flavors that danced in our mouths. There were a number of other stalls we wanted to sample, but we're trying to lose weight. We did, however, pick up some raw burger patties from the Gamston Wood Farm stall. Tonight we grilled the zebra burgers. They were excellent with some fresh mushrooms (also purchased at Borough Market) and cheddar cheese (from Sainsbury's). Tomorrow we'll try the kangaroo.