The Fable Restaurant Review

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Strawberry and Lavender Mojito

Porn star martini

Porn star martini

Fable is a buzzing bar and restaurant set in Farringdon with seasonal British food. It is inspired by the world of fairy tales and this was evident from the books and writings which adorn Fable’s three floors.

We start with some cocktails, a strawberry and lavender Mojito, which was a nice twist compared to the usual style and the skinny porn star martini. Both were excellent.

For our starter we choose the chicken satay. The char-grilled slightly smoky succulent chicken was really superb, beautifully cooked and it went very well with the excellent  nutty satay sauce. The prawn crackers were a tasty addition and also went well with the sauce.

Chicken Satay

Chicken Satay

 

My salmon ceviche with orange and coriander came served in a jar which I had to shake myself, this seems to be a common trend at the moment. It was fresh and healthy and the salmon was very tasty.

 

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Chicken burger

 

For my main I had a chicken burger. These guys cook chicken well! Again my chicken was succulent and tender. The breadcrumb seasoning was delicious – it put the Colonel in his place, it really was excellent. The chicken was well accompanied by a nice juicy slice of beef tomato, lettuce, red onion and and a crispy bun. There was also a gherkin on the side which I don’t usually like but this one was wonderfully fresh. I also loved the chips which came with my burger. They were nice and chunky and covered with heaps of fresh Parmesan and Rosemary. A brilliant combination I could have eaten them all day long and I can’t praise them highly enough. This was honestly up there with one of the best chicken burgers I have ever had. So often with a chicken burger you get served a dried out piece of flavorless meat with no effort or thought. That was definitely not the case here it was clear a lot of thinking had gone into all the dishes.

 

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Reef, Beef and Bubbles!

The reef beef and bubbles came with a free glass of Prosecco all for £15 which we thought was very reasonable. The steak was tender and the size of my fist. It was well cooked and the peppercorn sauce was tasty and not overpowering. The lobster was delicious and fresh. The chips were tasty but not as good as the ones covered in rosemary and Parmesan.

For pudding we had three mini puddings in one. They were a generous size and beautifully served in colored glassware. All three of the puddings were extremely tasty. The true star was the raspberry and champagne sorbet which was something quite special. The lemon syllabub was a lemony biscuity delight. The chocolate brownie was also excellent and went perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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Ice cream parfait

We also tried the ice cream parfait which was also beautifully presented and sweet and delicious in its own right. I loved my little doughnut which came with it.

photo 2 (22)Fable was a great experience and we will be going back in the future. Our waitress was extremely attentive despite having so many different tables to serve. The atmosphere was buzzing and the food was truly excellent there was nothing we could fault. The portion sizes were perfect my only minor criticism is that I found my chair slightly uncomfortable but now I’m just being picky.

Fable

52 Holburn Viaduct

London

EC1A 2FD

0845 468 0105

 

Tree Dwellers Release Come Up and See

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Their new track released on Melted ONE

Come Up and See

Release Date: May 30th 2014

Format: Digital Download

Tree Dwellers Release 'Come Up and See'

Father and son, Mark and Jake Haslam have come together to form Tree Dwellers, a project born to push the boundaries between funk and electronica.  Beautifully produced drums, groove filled basslines and intricate strings evoke images of watching the sunset from the terrace of Ibiza’s Café Del Mar.

 

Tree Dwellers appear on Melted ONE, a compilation featuring a range of artists who are uniting to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and The Teenage Cancer Trust.  All the profits from the sale of Melted ONE will be donated to both charities.

 

<iframe width=”100%” height=”450″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”no” src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149848508&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;visual=true”></iframe>

 

The Melted ONE project is proud to be part of #greatmusicforabettercause, a movement that unites a diverse group of musicians who are all lending their support to this initiative.

 

Melted ONE will be available on iTunes from May 30th.  All those who purchase the album will receive a bonus ‘Thank You’ Track.

 

Jake Evans Unveils Video For This is Life

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Release Date: Monday 16th June 2014

Format: Digital Download

jakeevans

JAKE EVANS, songwriter and co-frontman of Bad Lieutenant alongside Bernard Sumner, and featuring Stephen Morris and Blur’s Alex James, releases his highly anticipated second solo single.

Based in Macclesfield, in the north west of England, it was the reputation of Jake Evans’ first band Rambo & Leroy that brought him to the attention of New Order’s Bernard Sumner. The subsequent success of Bad Lieutenant earned Jake his status as one of the UK’s most exciting musicians, leading to invitations to open for Paul Weller, New Order, Johnny Marr and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin. Jake is now so well established it comes as a surprise to many that ‘This Is Life’ is only his second solo single release.

With the likes of Bernard Sumner describing Jake’s debut single as “triumphant”, Xfm’s Clint Boon declaring that “it doesn’t get much better than this”, highly praised appearances at Festival No 6 and the iconic Jodrell Bank music festival, Jake Evans is attracting a large and ever-growing following of fans who are hooked by his heartfelt lyrics and effortlessly cool brand of post-rock indie.

This Is Life is a sweeping anthem blending influences from pop, rock and soul to create a euphoric soundscape, driven by Jake’s masterful guitar playing and unmistakable vocals.

The 10 Minute Lunch

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ten min lunch
        Here is the quickest healthiest lunch you could possibly make! Faster than nipping off to the shops to buy a nasty sandwich and tastier than you can possibly imagine! 

P1140363 lunch

All you need is the following

lunch

  • 1 Chicken breast per person
  • 1 lemon 1/2 sweezed
  • chunk of ginger, grated
  • big dollop of mustard
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 2 tbs maple syrup

Put a griddle pan on the heat while you quickly prepare the sauce. Mix the marinade ingredients together and cut the chicken down the middle so you have 2 flat slices, place the chicken in a bowl, pour over the sauce.

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Hear it sing as it hits the heat! P1140350

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Slice the chicken into smaller sections after about 4 minuets so it cooks through evenly and gets all the delicious charred, sticky and delicious sauce soaked right through. I don’t know about you but I love the crispy baked on edges of pies. The ones you just have to dig at at the end of the meal. Its the best bit like the skins on jacket potatoes. Now cook this for a while longer around 5 mins and serve on a bed of crisp lettuce. Or you can pop it on steamed rice for a quick supper.

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Serve with a glass of fizzy water and the juice of the other half of the lemon, tantalising and tangy, just like the dish!

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Don’t you just want some for lunch!!

For more recipes head off to my blog SLB Style and come and say hi over on Twitter @sarahbacchus If you are needing any photography work from Fashion brands, beauty companies or special occasions like weddings take a look at sarahbacchus.com

The Sons To Headline First Off Axis Show

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Their New Single

Relic

Release Date: Monday 30th June 2014 as a digital download

Relic is a heartfelt and gentle song that showcases singer Paul Herron’s accomplished vocal performance against a simple yet effective piano and guitar accompaniment, but the song’s lyrics come from a place of mourning for what has passed.

The Sons to Headline First Off Axis Show
L-R: Roger Millichamp (Drums), Paul Herron (Vocals, Piano & Guitar),

Steven Herron (Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards), Stewart English (Vocals & Guitar), Lee Blades (Vocals & Bass).

The Sons, an independent British five piece from Derby, draw inspiration for their alternative guitar pop from the likes of Crowded House, Wilco, Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac, to create a current sound with a timeless feel.

They are masters at coupling upbeat, catchy songs with rather dark, complex lyrics about the pains and hardships of life. Having toured the UK & Europe extensively, The Sons have attracted a large and a very loyal following with fans fully funding the making of the band’s third studio album, ‘Heading Into Land’. This record hit the UK album charts upon its release in March 2014, marking a new chapter for the band.

The premiere single from the album, ‘Death Love Money’ was released in January 2014. The video received 20,000 views within a week of release and Sony then chose the band as a feature artist for their Xperia Lounge app. The Sons have been featured on BBC Radio’s ‘Introducing’, chosen as Tuborg’s ‘Spotlight Artist to Watch’ and included on Jonathan L’s list of ‘Ones to Watch in 2014’.

‘Relic’, the band’s second single from their new album, showcases their softer side. This alt-pop ballad features Paul Herron on piano and tells the story of a man who feels a universal, post-break-up emptiness – “I’m just what’s left of you and me”. He continues to pursue his big dreams and as the song progresses, he becomes more and more successful, finally becoming the “creator of every particle you see”, yet he still feels only emptiness, a shell of the man he once was, a relic.

Tour Dates:
31 May – Hucknall Fake Festival

31 May – Summer Gathering Festival (headline set)

7 June – The Venue, Derby – Off Axis Show

20 June – The Cookie Club, Nottingham

28 June – The Goodship, London – Relic Release Party

First Look Of Kim Kardashian’s Wedding Dress

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We wish we didn’t care but we do. Here it is, the first peek at Kim Kardashian’s wedding dress, and we think it’s beautiful. She may be 33-years-old and on her third marriage, but that hasn’t stopped her going all-out again. Let’s just hope this one lasts. What do you think?

The Talks Release Radio | Music News

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Their new single on All Our Own Records

Radio

 

Release Date: 30th June

Format: Digital Download

 

“There aren’t many bands that are good enough to catch the attention of members of The Specials, but then there aren’t many bands like The Talks. Proving that hard work, persistence and a pocket full of irresistibly catchy tunes can pay dividends” – Music radar

 

thetalks

L-R: Jody Moore, Pat Pretorius, Iain Allen, Richard “Titch” Lovelock

 It’s an exciting time for The Talks and the release of new single ‘Radio’ is only going to add to the buzz that surrounds this four piece from Hull.  The band have built up a reputation across Europe for bouncing, blistering live shows supporting the likes of The Specials, Rancid, Madness, The Beat, King Blues and The Toasters.

 

Their 2012 single ‘Can Stand The Rain’ featured the legendary Neville Staple of The Specials and had over 55,000 views in its first week on YouTube. 2013 saw the release of their ‘West Sinister’ EP, which received fantastic reviews and airplay on both Ska and mainstream stations across Europe, leading to The Talks being invited to appear at a large number of festivals across the continent, including the famous Mighty Sounds Festival (CZ), Rebellion (UK), Galtres (UK) and This is Ska (DE).

 

The success of The Talks last single ‘Don’t look behind you’ has brought the band to an even bigger audience and with sellout shows and invites to play across more European festivals including Boomtown (UK), Sapi Festival (FR), Camden Rocks and Fusion Festival (DE) amongst many others.

 

Lead vocalist Pat says “it is amazing to see so many people showing up to the gigs and seeing such great reviews from the likes of Team Rock, Punk Archives and Louder than War to name a few. Truly makes us happy to know that driving miles and miles in the tour bus is worthwhile when we know people out there are digging it.”

 

Further proof that The Talks are on the receiving end of a huge amount of attention from all corners comes in the form of tweets praising the band from big hitters ‘Less Than Jake’, ‘Sonic Boom Six’ and Itch from King Blues; glowing reviews, front cover features and appearances on various UK TV networks.

 

The Talks highly anticipated debut album ‘Commoners, Piers, Drunks and Thieves’ is released later in the year.

 

 

CrimeFest 2014

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This year’s CrimeFest happened last weekend, May 15-18 at the Bristol Royal Hotel. So, what’s CrimeFest? It’s the annual gathering for anyone who has any interest in reading, writing, or simply talking about (sometimes quite loudly over several drinks) that curious and  bloody phenomenon: crime. Especially crime fiction, but there’s always room for true crime, too. Why go? You want to meet authors? Find out what they’re writing? Try to work out how people with such deviant imaginations can be really great company? These are all good reasons. Mark Billingham, one of Britain’s best-selling thriller writers was one of the featured authors this year. His books are spell-binding and disturbing – and he gave one of the funniest interviews I’ve had the pleasure of hearing. At the rather less dark end of the spectrum of crime-writing, Simon Brett was on top form as a speaker. There was also masses to learn about the Iceland Noir writing which has acquired such an enthusiastic following on UK TV – you could even have won a trip to the Iceland Noir convention in Reykjavik.

CrimeFest4 B Forshaw EUROCRIME Panel

CrimeFest4 B Forshaw EUROCRIME Panel

The long weekend is full of difficult choices: should I go to the panel discussion on historical crime or does it clash with the one which asks Does a crime novel have to have something to say? The one that deals with the problem of When your character isn’t qualified to solve crimes, or What have old thrillers ever done for us? Choices, choices, choices. There was a quiz on the Thursday evening when we discovered just how competitive we all were – who said you couldn’t argue with the judge? Not us. The Gala Dinner on the Saturday, was a triumph of organisation and good food, which kept us all comfortable in our seats, happy to celebrate the award of prizes for humorous crime, for e-books and audio books, for works in translation and for Euro Crime. And afterwards you could linger at the bar ….

CrimeFest 6 crimefest bar

The joy of CrimeFest is that it doesn’t discriminate between readers, writers (wannabe or distinguished), publishers or agents, nor does anyone show the slightest sense of exclusivity. You can find yourself talking to a top author or an ardent fan. You can discover how the Alibi Channel’s crime dramas Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and The Murdoch Mysteries have developed from page to screen; or hear the husband and wife team which makes up the author Nicci French (Nicci Gerrard and Sean French) discuss how they combine their relationship with writing international best-selling psychological suspense.

CrimeFest5 Alison Joseph, Felix Francis, Susan Moody

CrimeFest5 Alison Joseph, Felix Francis, Susan Moody

Alas it’s all over for this year – but it will happen again next year. If you enjoy crime writing or reading, or just want a slightly different weekend with a lively mix of people, all of whom seem eager to talk to you (I think writing, or reading, about terrible events must make people appreciate the good things about real life) then you might want to think about giving it a try.

 
Penny Deacon
Photos: thanks to Ali Karim of Shots Magazine