Sloe Whisky

The very word ‘sloe’ is synonymous with ‘sloe gin’ or ‘sloe vodka’. Not so much ‘sloe whisky’ though…which is a real pity. Now don’t get me wrong. I love gin, and vodka. But both have a very dry, sharp taste which works wonderfully with the acidity of a lemon or a lime, or the bitterness of tonic.… 

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St Andrew’s day at Bonnie and Wild

Yesterday was St Andrew’s Day—and if that isn’t a reason to deep fry mars bars, use Irn Bru as a feasible cooking ingredient and persuade a piper to come blow his pipes in a requisitioned eel and pie shop, then I don’t know what is.

With that in mind, I shotgunned a shift at Bonnie & Wild in the knowledge that they’d be indulging in all of the above and far, far more.

I wasn’t the only one who’d worked out that this was the place to be to celebrate good ol’ St Andrew—there were about 100 tartan-clad diners crammed into M.Manzes, gorging themselves on Scottish specialties like cullen skink, venison and haggis. Many thanks to everyone for a great night’s cooking - hope everyone who ate enjoyed the evening as much as I did…

Lone piper...cannie get much more atmospheric than that.

Home-cured, wild Scottish Salmon to kick the meal off...

Beautiful, creamy Cullen Skink with toasted tattie scones

Simmy—head chef at Bonnie & Wild— a remarkably well-trousered and extremely tolerant boss...

Venison haunch fillet with haggis, neeps and tatties in a redcurrant jus

What happens if you reduce a hell of a lot of irn bru for a hell of a long time

Anxious little mars bars waiting to be battered

The battering of the mars bars

The finished result—cross section of a deep fried Mars bar

Deep-fried mars bar with sorbet and Irn-Bru and Buckfast syrup

All in all, pretty successful St Andrews celebrations

The Bonnie & Wild / M. Manze
74 Chapel Market, Islington, London N1 9ER

The restaurant is open from 7pm every Friday and Saturday, but there is a curry-special taking place tonight.
Click HERE for bookings
The venue is laid out mainly in booths for 4 and 6.