From Black Bear Burger to The Sunny Side Up Café, here are the best things the CODE team ate this week

Sussex

If I could make love to any vegetable it would be asparagus. I love it in all forms – whether thin, dull-green spindly spears, or thick, luscious ones that look like grand Roman columns standing majestically in their heritage. It is curious to me that so few vegetables are celebrated duly. The seasonality of asparagus has endured and we should preserve our annual excitement. I was grateful to double up at Sussex in Soho on Friday, where I had asparagus first fried inside filo pastry and under cheddar, then ever-traditional, with a poached egg, the yolk acting as the sauce. There was more than asparagus – Marmite eclairs (for which the Gladwin brothers, who own the restaurant, are well-known), cod’s roe with squid ink crackers, monkfish with clams and saffron, and a strip of sirloin accompanied by beef fat potatoes. A bowl of cabbage and leeks on the side cut through. But it was the asparagus that spoke to me most profoundly. How I adore it.
Josh Barrie, editor
CODE was a guest of Sussex

The Sunny Side Up Café by Veuve Cliquot

AA greasy spoon café and legendary Champagne house Veuve Cliquot collide on Greek Street for the next ten days. This unassuming concept really does work. Think full English breakfasts and bacon baps while sipping on a cold glass of Veuve. Clerkenwell Boy has been involved creatively, and Andi Oliver has taken on the food. The eggs and Marmite soldiers are a stand-out – she makes these for guests at home and I managed to get the secret recipe out of her! I’d pop over while you can.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of The Sunny Side Up Café

Osteria Le Logge

An Easter escape to Tuscany meant dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, Osteria Le Logge in Siena. After a walk through the Piazza del Campo and an Aperol spritz in the warm evening sun, it was nice to be back in the dining room of Le Logge where it was good to see a mix of well-heeled locals along with a smattering of tourists. The restaurant always does a take on vitello tonnato – each season tweaking it ever so slightly. Le Logge was originally run by Gianna Brunelli who sadly passed away but his wife Laura still plays host and they produce some stunning Tuscan wines – we opted for a bottle of their 2017 Rosso di Montalcino.
Adam Hyman, founder

Fortnum & Mason supper club

Arriving at Fortnum’s always feels special to me and it was no different when I arrived for a supper club hosted by William Sitwell. Each month, a different chef takes the reins at their ground floor restaurant for an evening of food, wine and meeting new people. This time it was the turn of Stuart Ralston, chef owner of Edinburgh restaurants: Aizle and Noto. The salt aged duck with rhubarb and beetroot was delicious and expertly paired with Fortnum’s own Pinot noir. I like supper clubs, there should be many more of them.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Fortnum & Mason

Kolamba

Warm service and a slick dining room with soft pendant lighting and bespoke terrazzo table tops provide a polished backdrop to some excellent Sri Lankan cooking at Kolamba. It would be wise to follow the advice of the staff and not skip over the short eats where some rousing highlights of the meal are hidden – namely hot butter cuttlefish and Aunty Mo’s chatti roast. Another star, albeit a humble one, is the dish of string hoppers that comes with a bright little cupful of turmeric coconut curry – an earthy, savoury comfort worth coming back for alone. Better yet, pair it with beetroot curry and the dhal, laced with crispy, aromatic curry leaves. Prices match the polish here but the door is open to come for just a few small plates or, if the mood strikes, a big blowout feast.
Chloe Hamilton, content editor
CODE was a guest of Kolamba

Dinings SW3

I think I’ve found myself a new regular. Dinings SW3 is a Japanese sushi and izayaka restaurant in a cobbled mews in Knightsbridge. The restaurant mixes a relaxed, neighbourhood buzz with chic, modern design. I came to visit the cocktail bar for their newly launched ‘Otsumami’ menu. My favourite drink was the ’88’ a take on a classic margarita with mezcal, yuzu, clementine and sake. You have to sample the bar snacks – the A5 wagyu beef crostini is as pretty as it is delicious.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Dinings SW3
Dinings SW3 is available on the CODE app

Black Bear Burger

In a comically alliterative fashion, this week’s Best Bite comes via Brixton’s Black Bear Burger. A bountiful beast of a thing, this version arrives with crisp, well-rendered bacon, a pink patty topped and tailed with a toasted sesame seed bun. Often burgers are stacked with salads and tomato; here they forgo the flim-flam and deliver only the essentials. The slightly smoky, meaty flavour of a just-cooked burger from the griddle takes centre stage and is elevated by the addition of the well-made blue cheese sauce – that extra twang of funk and salt completing one of the best burgers south of the river.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager

Read more reviews from the CODE team here