Mishkin's, London

I have this weird thing. Despite not having a scrap of spirituality myself, I have a fascination with Jewish culture. It started in GCSE Religious Studies, and then I did my degree dissertation on the Jewish community in Manchester - it was a toss up between that and Lord Lever, my other strange love. Don't even get me started on Cyril. 

The food. Oh the food. It's all about comfort and company. A couple of years ago we went to Katz's Deli in New York, and I've been on the hunt for something similar over here ever since. I'm still toying with the idea of making my own salt beef after my mission came up fruitless. 

We were planning a trip to London for my birthday, and decided to invite some of our besties along for the food fuelled ride. As soon as the train tickets were purchased, I set about planning our culinary escapades. We wanted something fairly light for lunch, as we were doing a bigger meal in the evening. My pal Lee suggested a nice sandwich style gaff. And so happy memories of Katz's sprang into my little mind. My quest led me to Mishkin's.

Similar to Katz's, Mishkin's is a Jew-ish deli. Neither are actually kosher, but are still steeped in the tradition that ensures some wonderful, homely food. Thinking back, Mishkin's is actually nothing like Katz's, but it really didn't matter. Although it's been on this site in some form since 1931, the masterminds behind Spuntino and Polpo took over in 2011. It feels old, in a down with the kids trendy kind of way... 

We arrived after spending a couple of hours cooped on a train, and despite our 'train picnic' of pastries and prosecco, we were starved. 

We were greeted warmly and shown to a cosy booth at the back of the restaurant. Drinks arrived promptly whilst we perused the menu. We resisted the urge to order everything, yet still managed to have a table packed with food when it arrived!

Slider - Chickpea, spinach & ricotta: I love the idea of mix and match sliders! Ideal for those with smaller appetities, or indeed greedy pigs like us who want to sample lots of different dishes.

Slider - spicy fried chicken & jalapenos

6oz Reuben burger - beef patty, pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese & Russian dressing: Now that's one good looking burger. Behold that dripping cheese... They actually do a 12oz version of this. Hell fire.

Chicken soup: One of us had to. Lee was very quiet whilst eating this. This is proper chicken soup potent enough to see off colds and general train induced fatigue.

Steak tartare, grilled sourdough: Perfect spiced tartare with crisp sourdough. Heavenly.

Fried chicken & slaw: Good god. This was my choice. I'm just a bit mad I can't remember it in more intricate detail (I think copious amounts of fizz and a cocktail helped with that...). It's the same kind of chicken I had at Pies and Thighs in Brooklyn rather than the Southern fried type. That jalapeno mayo was ridiculous.

Thick cut chips and macaroni cheese: Like we needed sides. Crispy chips and lovely soft mac and cheese with a grilled breadcrumb topping. Loved.

Peanut butter and jelly cheesecake: 'We'll share a dessert' we said... Little did we know that it would still finish us off. So much for the light lunch we had planned! I'm not mad keen on peanut butter, but remembered the amazing offering from Red's in Leeds, so ran with it. This was surprisingly light in texture, but still managed to pack a peanutty punch.

Chocolate milkshake: The boys opted for milkshakes as they thought they wouldn't be as filling. Wrong.

We left with full bellies, sore sides from laughing, and each of us being referred to as 'Mishkin' at least twice a minute - this one's still ongoing.

I adored our little Jew-ish deli trip with the other Mishkins.