Restaurant review: My Neighbours the Dumplings, Clapton, east London

Connor first heard of this restaurant from the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acastor. We've been trying to build up a list of restaurants in London to try with the view to having a day out, just us two, once a month. First on our list was My Neighbours The Dumplings. We chose it because it's based in Clapton and we wanted to scout some wedding locations. It's all getting real now!

My Neighbours The Dumplings is a Chinese dumpling house and sake bar based in east London. They have a separate menu for lunch and for dinner, we opted to visit for lunch this time. We arrived about 12.30 and it was pretty empty but within 30 minutes it really started to fill up and created a buzzing atmosphere. Keen to try as much as we could, we decided to order every dumpling on the menu. Our best decision of the day!

Keep in mind the food doesn't arrive all at once so expect it to be staggered. So what did we order? Juicy lamb and coriander dumplings, fragrant wonton soup with pork and prawn, tasty veggie dumplings and steamed squid and cod dumplings. The lamb and coriander dumplings won the taste test hands down. I could have ordered three more portions! Although we could have eaten more, we left lunch feeling satisfied but not over stuffed which made a nice change! I would recommend ordering a couple more dishes if you're particularly hungry as four portions won't be enough.

My Neighbours The Dumplings was delicious and I'm so glad we finally got to tick it off the list. I thought the prices were a little high but this is hipster land! Service was pretty attentive and we didn't feel like we were being rushed. I don't think I would rush back especially to visit but if I found myself in Clapton again then I would definitely hit it up. I want to try the dinner menu as the crispy pork belly sounds absolutely delicious.

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An engagement story

It seems only fitting to end the year with the news which has defined my 2019. In fact it seems a nice way to end the decade as I have spent the whole decade in this relationship. I do like it when things go a full circle and are tied up nicely.

Back in October we took a trip over to Northern Ireland for a long weekend with some friends. We had an almighty Causeway Coast road trip planned, showing our friends all our favourite places and discovering a few new ones along the way. We landed in Belfast around 9am, picked up our car and went on our way. After ticking off a few places we spotted a sign for the Torr Head scenic route by Cushendun Caves. We'd seen this sign a few times but never done the route so thought it would be lovely to do something new to us and new for our friends.

We followed the long and winding roads up to the top of Torr Head. It's not a route for the faint hearted! Those roads seem extremely narrow when you spot a car coming towards you and you have to scoot over... We parked at the bottom of Torr Head, took a deep breath and began our climb up. Apart from a group of four people coming back down, the area was completely deserted and we soon had the whole area to ourselves. The one thing I adore about Northern Ireland is that you often have the sights all to yourselves. We trekked up to the top, had a look around the rather grimy derelict house at the top before wandering around.

After noticing that Connor was wandering off, I decided to follow. I've always been someone who is scared to miss out on the good stuff so when someone wanders off I follow! I looked behind me and noticed our friends had stayed at the viewpoint. Thinking this was weird, I just assumed they had had an argument! I climbed over the wire fence to be greeted with a gorgeous view of Scotland. Connor carried on walking but I called out that I was going to sit on a rock to admire the view. He came back and took a seat next to me. From now it is all a bit of a blur, he cracked a joke then grabbed the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him.

Obviously never one to keep it cool, I had to sit for a good few minutes with my head in my hands to take it all on. I'm not very good at receiving surprises (and a surprise this was!) so needed a few minutes to get it all together and process what exactly was happening. Not the best situation for Connor to be in! The girl he just asked to marry him sitting there with her head in her hands exclaiming she may have a panic attack... But I said yes!

Connor really couldn't have chosen a more perfect place. It is a place which means a lot to us both and we go back fairly regularly to. Connor's dad and family are from the country and I just fell in love with it from my very first visit. Ireland really does make my heart happy. I love the fact it's a place which is just an hour from where we visit Connor's family so we can frequently go back. Maybe even take our children if we ever have any! I'm a sucker for sentiment and adore the fact the ring is an emerald. Pretty fitting for the Emerald Isle!

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#52 recipes: Recipes 32-36

I'm fully aware that the end of the year is nearly up and I've only blogged 36 recipes when I have indeed already smashed my 2019 goal of trying 52 new recipes. I am going to keep posting about them well into 2020 as I'm pretty proud of myself! This year I tried 77 different recipes from a variety of cookbooks, newspaper columns and blogs. Some were a complete disaster and some became staples which I cooked time after time. I really have enjoyed experimenting and have surprised myself with some recipes I've managed to make edible. I've discovered my favourite cuisine to cook at home is Indian and south-asian dishes. I find curries so comforting and as we've been trying to eat more vegetarian food, it's the best cuisine in my opinion to make vegetables taste absolutely delicious. Cooking and baking are something I use to help unwind after a long week or to relax over the weekend. The kitchen really has become my happy place!

Diana Henry's Goan Fish Curry from Simple
I'm not usually a huge fan of fish curries, preferring lamb and vegetarian. But Simple is a book I feel in love with this year so anything Diana Henry suggested, I was going to attempt to make. I completely misjudged my spice tolerance with this and got a bit heavy handed with the chilli. But this was so tasty and completely worth the punt. Pretty quick to make on a weeknight, it tasted really fresh and light. Definitely one I have bookmarked again for the future.

Meera Sodha's swiss chard and potato curry from Fresh India
Meera can do no wrong in my books and I must make something from her column and cookbooks at least 3-4 times a month. I think this is the book I use the most from at home. Pretty obvious when you take in the curry splattered pages! This beautifully brightly coloured curry was made to use a lunches throughout the week. It heated it really well in the microwave and helped us feel like we were getting a huge chunk of our five-a-day. The potatoes helped it to feel filling so we didn't need any rice or naan.

Alison Roman's chocolate banana bread from Dining In
I have mentioned this many times before but I'll say it again. Alison Roman is one of my all-time favourite food writers and I'm so glad I discovered her this year. Her two cookbooks have become staples in my collection. I have made banana bread more times than I care to remember so am always on the lookout to add some tweaks. Alison's version is pretty dense and very rich. A small bit will go a very long way!

Anna Jones carrot dal from her Guardian column
I make this at least once a week because we always seem to end up with carrots in our veg box. This helps us to use up a fair few! It's so easy to make and I've now adjusted it to exactly how we like it. It is great for midweek lunches and is a great way to get some of your five-a-day. A great shout if you need a boost of veg after the festive period.

Meera Sodha' shredded roti wth cabbage and carrots from Fresh India
This feels like a strange combination to me and wasn't anything I would ever have put together if I hadn't read it in a cookbook. But the combination works so well! It deliciously has the right amount of stodge and is the ultimate comfort food on a gloomy, rainy evening. It tastes just as nice cold as it does warmed through. I like to leave the carrots to have a little extra crunch to help to add some texture.

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