Food: Wazir

Lazy review time! Wazir was a pleasant surprise. It was local, clean, spacious, nice decor, decent food and provided great service.

I'd say it was a bit pricey considering what it was, and that there wasn't anything particularly exceptional about the place, but as an option it's certainly nice to have around. Recommended.

Nazeem Hussain: Legally Brown

So here I am, almost a year after watching his partner Aamer Rahman perform on the same stage, writing about Nazeem Hussain. I've already come clean about not having heard of either of them before, but the mild enjoyment I got out of the last session had brought me back to see the other half, someone who, I was told, had more of a zanier and slapstick act to deliver.

And Nazeem wasn't half bad. I did laugh a lot, which is always good. The humour was both accessible and sophisticated, if a little passe and over topical (most of it was about ISIS). Nazeem also seems to have the art of self-deprecation sorted to a tee, and even when he bombed you couldn't help but laugh with him as he laughed at himself.

An hour's performance was just about right, and I wouldn't mind seeing him again.

Film: Mad Max: Fury Road

I've always been weary of the Mad Max films. There's something about the staccato tribal dystopia style of the movies that creeps me out. Still, I was willing to ignore any misgivings for the latest instalment - the hope being that a modern twist would have toned it down and made it a little more accessible.

Well, if the makers did something right they captured the spirit of the previous films perfectly. Fury Road is a weird, colourful, violent and noisy film that makes no false promises about what it's about. Alas it also meant that it wasn't my type of film too - I wouldn't say that I hated it; in fact I actually enjoyed it in the main, but it was still rough enough to make me squirm in places.

Personal preferences aside, the film was well put together. The action was top notch, the story passable enough and the acting a bit wooden (I think Hardy must have said, nay, grunted, at most five words). I had a few issues with the editing, but I suspect that again comes down to preference and style.

So not quite a recommendation from me, but with the acknowledgement that others, if not most, will receive it well.

Food: The Cinnamon Club

I can't remember the last time I wore a shirt to dinner. Admittedly this is partly because I'm not really into dressing up for food (read: I'm lazy) but mainly because the modern diversity of London tends to override the pressures of class these days. A guy in a hoodie can now be more educated and earn more than that guy in a shirt, and appearances in the main are meaningless.

That's not to say certain dress isn't appropriate for certain occasions, but more that specifically that The Cinnamon Club is far from somewhere I'd make an effort for. You can kind of see is for what it is quite quickly: a posh indian, and a lot of that was confirmed during the actual experience itself. Mixups on the orders, undue influence and "suggestions" on what we should drink and major errors on the bill all contributed to the feeling that the appearance was all a bit of a facade, a place that once again caters only to those who want to tell people where they went on a Saturday night rather than those who want to have a good experience and food for themselves. And it may be a personal slight, but tonight was the first time a grande restaurant had denied a request to provide a small room to pray in.

Which is a real shame because quite frankly the food was actually rather wonderful. Due to the size of our party we stuck to the set menu which included three courses and a drink, and I had no complaints for any of it. The chickpea and peanut cake for starter was different (in a good way), the fish main was sublime and even the biscuitless cheesecake turned our collective misgivings into words of praise. The drink was the simple lemonade mixed with a choice of syrups and cordials which seems to universally work so well. Ad at £30 per head it was actually pretty decent value too.

So yes: a decent night was had with great food, only to be spoiled by a failure in service and focus on the superficial. I don't think it quite makes my list of places to recommend in London, but with a few tweaks The Cinnamon Club could be something pretty compelling.

Food: Stax Diner

I've written at least twice about the proliferation of "style over substance" gourmet burger bars that have popped up all over London over the past couple of years. They seem designed purely with the dual purpose of a) giving haloodie bloggers everywhere something to gush about and take pictures of and b) convince Muslims with more money than taste buds to part with their hard earned in the name of treating their families (to things like obesity and heart disease). You can probably tell that I'm not impressed but as I'm not a) a haloodie or b) have any kids to fatten up I guess I'm not really the target market for these places anyway.

So it was with great trepidation that I sat down at Stax this evening. My initial expectation was to be greeted with something I had already had before, the identikit sandwich accompanied with the inevitable Ferrero milkshake, but this did start to change pretty soon after. I think the main difference I found was that this wasn't a place designed for and marketed to Muslims, but a burger restaurant that happened to serve Halal meat. That's significant in a world where Islam is increasingly being pimped out as a brand to be traded on and commoditised, as it means a seller has to focus on making a product universally good instead of just good enough to sell to Muslims who have no other options. Take for example how the server asked us how we wanted our meat cooked - something unheard of in other so called gourmet burger joints. That said, I did go for the medium so I suppose I'm hardly adventurous.

But anyway, food. It was good. Really good. I went for a double Insanity (you can pick up to five patties in your bun), which was supposed to be hot but wasn't really. But I didn't mind because the burger was really good (I may have mentioned that already). It was also really unhealthy - I don't think I've ever seen a burger dripping as much fat as the one I received today. But I didn't care because it was so good. Oh and I think we got some chips and a milkshake but I don't really remember much past the cow-in-a-bun.

Oh and I have to talk about the Stax Challenge: a five patty cheese burger with a family portion of chips and super sized milkshake is presented to the challenger, who is then timed to see how long they take to finish it all. There's even a hall of fame/shame - I was quite surprised at how long the list of failures were, until I saw how easily a colleague failed at his. I'll try it one day maybe.

Anyway if you haven't already figured it out, I loved this place and thoroughly recommend it, and am even happy to gush about it here on my blog. Be warned though: the place couldn't have had more than 30 or so covers and doesn't take bookings so make sure you plan ahead. Other than that I'm already planning my next visit.

Film: Piku

I really don't think I need to justify my near fanatical admiration of Deepika anymore; even the most obstinate of haters now acknowledge (albeit with some surprise) that she actually might have some talent on the screen. Piku is another brilliant example of this - but one that isn't just a Padukone show. Some amazing performances from both Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan make this one of the most balanced, quirky and ultimately fun Bollywood films of the last couple of years.

The relatively short runtime of around 2 hours keeps things tight, and a decent road trip plot give the film direction. Half the value of the film lies in the script though, with some genuinely laugh out loud moments executed to perfection by the headlining trio. It really was a sublime experience and one wholly recommended.