The Diner - Islington

Last month I went for dinner with Fran and Becky. We fancied eating somewhere cheap and cheerful to cure our festive hangovers, so we headed to 'The Diner' on Essex Road. It's a classic American diner, dishing up the kind of food you'd expect (hotdogs, pancakes and milkshakes) whilst you lounge on one of the comfy booths.

Fran and I both ordered cheese burgers. The seeded bun was soft but stayed together well and the burger was juicy and pink in the middle. Best of all they top their burgers with gherkins and serve them with a little pot of burger sauce (which I love). At just £5.90 they're excellent value, although they're not quite as delicious as the excellent burgers at Byron. Becky ordered a fish sandwich which I was assured was also very good.

We also ordered some onion rings and chili cheese fries to share. Fran introduced me to these fries a few years ago, they sound repulsive but are actually incredibly delicious. Crispy french fries, generously topped with chunks of beef in a chili bean sauce finished off with melted cheese - so bad, but oh so good.

The service tends to be a little sloppy and I wouldn't advise trying any of the Tex-Mex food (their burritos are pretty poor) but the burgers, chips and onion rings are all excellent. It's a fun place to head for some cheesy American music, tasty cocktails and meaty goodness. If you do go, make sure you try out the hard shakes, they're to die for.

Byron - Islington

Amazeballs milkshake

Last Wednesday we went to the cinema and then out for dinner at Byron, which is an American style burger bar. The menu is concise and simple, serving classic burgers rather than the weird and wonderful creations available at other restaurants.

American cheese burger

I had a classic burger with American cheese. I know cheese squares are a bit gross but I absolutely love them on burgers, there's something about the gooey, sticky cheese with juicy beef that tastes incredible. Chris went for a blue cheese and portobello mushroom burger, which was huge! They were both delicious, the beef was pink and juicy in the middle and the salad was crisp and fresh, just what you want from a burger. They also get top marks for the crispy gherkins, even if they are served on the side rather than in the burger.

Giant mushroom & blue cheese burger

On the side we had some some crispy, giant onion rings with rosemary batter and earthy skin on chips. The sides all sound amazing, but the burgers are pretty big so you really only need one to share (most of our onion rings went to waste). I'd really like to try the courgette fries, but I think having macaroni cheese on the side of your burger is a bit much. We also had a vanilla milkshake which was like a dessert in a cup, thick and creamy and calorific beyond belief.

Skin on chips

The food was fantastic, the service was speedy and the bill only came to £25 so all in all it was a great meal. The only criticism I have is with the decor. It's taking distressed to a whole new level, as Chris described it the first time we went 'it's like dining in Chernobyl'. Maybe I'm just not enough of a hipster to understand the appeal, but to me it just looks awful. I can't work out if they just striped the building and ran out of money before they could decorate it or whether the 'look' was a conscious decision. I hope it was the former, as paying an interior designer to ruin such a lovely building is absurd. The chairs are rickety and uncomfortable and it just isn't a very nice environment to eat in. However, there are plenty of other branches around town done up in a more conventional way; I'll definitely eat at Byron again, but probably not at the Islington branch. 

Uber onion rings

Caroline's Chocolate Cheesecake

Well really it's the Hummingbird Bakeries cheesecake, but Caroline was the lovely lady to introduce me to this amazing recipe. Aside from the 1,000,000 calories per slice and the fact that you'll feel like some sort of tragic Bridget Jones character when you buy the ingredients (two big bars of chocolate, biscuits, cream cheese and butter), it really is worth making.

My main recommendation for this recipe is to use a good quality spring form tin. Mine cost a fiver from Argos and was pretty useless as the base didn't fit properly, resulting in butter leaking out all over the fridge. There is now a gross ring of congealed butter on one of the shelves which will stay there until I have the time and the inclination to clean it. Bleugh.

You can find the recipe here

Buttery biscuit base:

200g melted Green and Blacks - yum!

One baked cheesecake:

The finished article: