Carnivore Club at The Blues Kitchen

Blues Kitchen, What’s The Deal: When I arrived at the Blues Kitchen early on Tuesday evening, I was surprised how busy it was. There was a great buzz about the place and a real mix of people. Female Blues singer Bex Marshall was playing live later in the evening, which may have been why it was so busy, however mine was a different agenda ...MEAT.

Blues Kitchen, Toilet Watch: As my ‘date’ was running late, I headed downstairs to get acquainted with the powder room. Thanks to an unruly soap dispenser, I managed to cover my top with a large dollop of liquid hand wash. I then tried to rinse this out which resulted in a large wet patch across my front which I attempted to dry off under the hand-dryer. I gave up and left the loos with a big wet stain.

Blues Kitchen, The Food: Carnivore Club is taking place on a serious of Tuesdays, giving adventurous eaters the chance to try a different rare meat each week. When we visited, kudu (a type of antelope found in Africa), was on the menu.

I started with a delightful (and very generous sized) glass of Chilean Merlot and thought carefully about which side dishes I would choose from the regular Blues Kitchen menus to go with my meat.

My dining pal hungrybecs finally arrived and tucked straight into a Dark & Stormy - a mix of Gosling's Dark Seal Rum, fresh lime juice and ginger beer.

Our kudu arrived on a large butcher’s block, along with our chosen side orders of coleslaw, sweet potato fries and green salad. The kudu itself if I’m honest was not that tasty. It was slightly on the tough side and a lot leaner and less juicer than many red meats. On the plus side however, as kudu is such a lean meat it is much healthier for you and it was accompanied with a very good spicy pepper sauce.

Blues Kitchen, Dessert: To finish, we shared a brownie with vanilla ice cream and Charlie the waiter’s favourite milkshake – vanilla and peanut butter which was AMAZING. I'm a sucker for anything peanut-butter based.

The Blues Kitchen, The Final Word: This joint is rockin’ and serves up decent southern American fare. Check out the website to see their regular menus and live music schedule: www.theblueskitchen.com

An Evening at A Grelha, London

Anyone familiar with the delightful East London areas of Poplar and the Isle of Dogs will know that there isn’t an abundance of decent boozers on offer, but tucked away down a side street just off Cold Harbour Lane, is historic riverside boozer The Gun.

A Grelha: What’s The Deal? Every summer, The Gun plays host to an outdoor Portuguese restaurant A Grelha. The scenic spot overlooks The Thames and the alien-like 02 and on a sunny day the smell of barbecuing fish wafts on to the Isle of Dogs luring in hungry locals.

A Grelha, The Food: We visited on a brilliant summer's evening and unfortunately for me, due to the weather, most of the day’s fresh fish (sourced from the nearby Billingsgate Market) had been eaten.

There was still a number of Dorado (Golden Bream) left though, so I snapped one up straight away. I was asked if I would like to choose my fish from the remaining ones sitting on ice at the front of the restaurant. I thought this was a nice touch and went for the largest (natch).

While the fish was on the grill, our bread was served with a tasty Portuguese twist – sardine paste.

To start we had clams in garlic, herbs and butter and mussels in tomato and red pepper sauce. Both were fresh and delicious.

My Dorado was served up whole and we also opted for a Monkfish Espetada (hanging kebab), which came on a standing skewer alongside chunks of grilled onions and pepper.

All main dishes on the menu are served with buttery new potatoes and salad.

Monkfish has a much meatier texture than some fish and made a great contrast with the softer Dorado.

A Grelha, The Drink: With our meal we shared a very enjoyable bottle of white - Tom and Ed Martin’s own house wine brand chosen and blended somewhere in France. This was the only non-Portuguese part of our meal. Oops.

A Grelha, Toilet watch: Doh! Forgot to snap it.

A Grelha, The Final Word: Get yourself down there for a cerveza and some fresh fish in the sun while the summer lasts: www.thegundocklands.com