Laura Evans

Named in homage to England’s first coffeehouse (Oxford’s seventeenth-century The Angel, FYI) Jacob the Angel is a stylish little café in Neal’s Yard, from the folks behind The Barbary and Palomar. Here’s the deal: the dinky space is takeaway focused, with a daily changing menu and friendly service. There are wooden interiors and a concrete floor decorated with brass lettering; a table crammed full of appetising-looking fare – mostly sandwiches and big salad bowls – and a counter full of eye-catching cakes (look out for the coconut cream pie, more later). If it’s just a caffeine fix you’re after, they serve decent, strong coffee from Square Mile. There were ups and downs with the food. A decent spread of sandwiches were made with quality, thick-cut sourdough (a little too thick for some) supplied by Hackney’s Dusty Knuckle Bakery. But, with the notable exception of an excellent chorizo and berkswell (a manchego-style sheep’s cheese) number, and an off-menu fontina cheese and caramelised onion toastie, the fillings didn’t quite stand up to scrutiny. Still, other successes included a punchy fennel and radicchio salad with orange and goats’ cheese, a light yet chewy sesame bagel with lemony cream cheese and thick slabs of smoked trout. And that coconut cream pie: think crisp, light pastry and a custardy filling, but with texture from piles of desiccated coconut. Adorned with smooth Italian meringue, it was heavenly, gooey deliciousness. It’s The Angel, reinvented. Not everything

Love chips and gravy? Course you do. But throw in some cheese curds, and you get the Canadian-born dish poutine. That’s it pictured above. It is good. If that tickles your fancy then get yourself to the Air Canada Poutinerie’s forthcoming pop-up in Shoreditch, from Friday November 3. It’s being organised by – you guessed it – Air Canada and pimped-up poutine will be the star of the show. Dishes will include ‘Montreal’s The French’ – a medley of frites, confit de canard, comté cheese and cep ‘snow’ – and ‘Buenos Aires’ Chimichurri’, a mixture of potato chips, grilled provoleta cheese and chimichurri sauce. There’ll be ten poutines to chow down on in all, showcasing the airline’s ‘#CoolNotCold’ destinations. Air Canada flights will be up for grabs, and all proceeds are going to Great Ormond Street Hospital. You can sample a food trend, feel charitable and be in with the chance of winning a free flight all in one sitting. Boom. The Air Canada Poutinerie pop-up will be at 52-56 Kingsland Rd, E2 8DP from Fri Nov 3-Nov 11, noon-4pm and 5pm-10.30pm. Dream of cheese? Give yourself nightmares with our list of London’s cheesiest dishes. Want to hear more food news like this? Click here to sign up to Time Out.  

Returning to the London restaurant scene for the first time since his break-up with Fera at Claridge’s, the much-lauded Simon Rogan has launched Aulis London – a defacto ‘sequel’ to the original Aulis, at his Cartmel restaurant L’Enclume. You’ve seen ‘The Trip’, right? That one. In a hush-hush location – you won’t find out where ‘til you book! – the joint will give diners a sneak peek into what’s to come at the forthcoming re-opening of Roganic. What’s more, the kitchen is headed up by former Fat Duck chef Rafael Cagali, and the intimate space will house just eight guests. ‘Sounds great!’ you say – but just watch out for the hefty £250-a-head cost, which includes wine. Though the under-wraps location will surely set tongues wagging as much as that jaw-dropping price tag. Aulis London is now open. For reservations, visit the website. Rogan's hot stuff, but he's not alone. Here are the 100 best restaurants in London. Want to keep up to date with exciting food news? Click here to sign up to Time Out.

We all know brekkie’s the most important meal, right? Well behold: for three consecutive days next week, sarnie fanatics Sub Cult will be joining forces with networking behemoth LinkedIn (obviously!), to set you up for the day. From 8am-11am, the street food heroes will be making a splash at Boxpark Shoreditch, giving out free subs. Using apparently dopamine-fuelled ingredients, they’ve dubbed them ‘successwiches’. Cue the science: dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical, said to boost motivation and productivity. Each ‘successwich’ features fillings with ‘dopamine qualities’, according to LinkedIn. That means steak and eggs with espresso relish, spinach and radish cress for the meat eaters; or avocado and matcha smash with scrambled eggs with candied beets and toasted seeds for veggies. Tenuous technicals or no, grab one while stocks last and be on your way to a dope day. The free ‘successwiches’ will be available from the Sub Cult van at Boxpark Shoreditch from Wednesday November 1 – Friday November 3, from 8am-11am. Love sandwiches? Yes you do. Here's our list of London's best. Famished for more foodie news? Click here to sign up to Time Out.

‘Foxlow’ and ‘vegan’: not words you’d usually see in the same sentence. But as of Wednesday November 1 – that’s World Vegan Day – the younger sibling of much-loved steakhouse Hawksmoor will be serving a vegan menu, featuring such delectable-sounding dishes as: aubergine ‘steak’ with wild mushrooms, onions and vegan béarnaise; and roast acorn squash pie with vegan gravy. All the ethical offerings will be available for the whole of November (aka World Vegan Month).  Carnivores, do not despair! You’ll still be able to feast on the meaty delights Foxlow is better known for. Vegans of the world, keep Foxlow in mind for November and beyond. The rumour is, the vegan plates will carry on – we’re keeping our (green) fingers crossed on that one. Foxlow’s vegan menu will be available from Wednesday November 1 across its London branches (Clerkenwell, Chiswick, Balham and Soho). Need more vegan options? Check out our list of London’s best vegan restaurants.  Want to keep up to date with all the food news? Click here to sign up to Time Out.

Free food alert! From Friday 27 October, Maître Choux will be giving away 300 eclairs to celebrate the opening of their new Dean Street store. But don’t all rush at once: the giveaways will be spread over three consecutive days, with 50 given out each day at 12pm and 5pm. That sounds depressingly regimented, but does open up the tantalising possibility of doubling up. Éclair enthusiasts, you know you want to.  Maître Choux’s éclair giveaway will run Friday 27 October – Sunday 29 October at 60 Dean Street, W1D 6AW. Love choux? Check out our list of London’s best choux pastries. Want to know whenever there's free food in this city? Click here to sign up to Time Out.   

Crazy for katsu? Ever wondered how the moreish, sweet and mildly spicy sauce would taste drizzled over ice cream? Wonder no more. Wagamama’s Noodle Lab is trialling exactly that. A just-opened test kitchen on Dean Street, Noodle Lab is experimenting with new dishes, rotating them monthly. There’s no chicken or pork in this particular experiment (thank God) but still... coconut ice cream with lashings of hot katsu curry sauce? If that sounds too out-there, you can try a more savoury katsu fix in the form of the ‘vegatsu’, made with seitan, the popular meat substitute. Katsu lovers, unite! The lab is open for business. Wagamama’s Noodle lab is now open at 81 Dean St, W1P 3HP. Japanese food your thing? Check out this list of London’s best Japanese restaurants. Want to know when anything this weird hits the London food scene? Click here to sign up to Time Out.    

Calling all halloumi lovers! So, er, everyone then. From Monday November 13, you’ll be able to enjoy the cheese in all its salty glory at a week-long pop-up at East London’s 100 Hoxton. The brainchild of the Cypriot tourism board (halloumi is Cypriot, you see), the best thing about this cheesy happening is its name: ‘Say Hallou-mi to Cyprus’. We kid you not. The food looks good, too: there are crumbed halloumi fingers with tomato chilli jam, halloumi and cauliflower fritters with lime pickle yoghurt, and a rather curious-sounding halloumi ice-cream. Intrigued? So are we. The halloumi pop-up at 100 Hoxton will run for one week, from Monday 13th November until Sunday November 19th. For reservations, visit the website. Love cheese? Check out our list of must-try places. Want to hear more food news like this? Click here to sign up to Time Out.      

The Charing Cross branch of Prezzo is celebrating a hefty refurb by giving out 1,000 free pizzas from tomorrow, Wednesday 18 October. Sadly not all in one go, though: for ten consecutive days, Prezzo are giving 100 free margheritas to the first 100 customers through its doors. Whichever way you slice it, that’s a lot of free dough. Not into pizza? The modernised restaurant will host a number of new features, including an intriguing-sounding ‘olive oil station’. Prezzo Northumberland Avenue will give away 100 free pizzas every day for ten days starting Wednesday October 18.  Love pizza? Check out our list of London’s best pizzerias. Want to keep up to date with food news? Click here to sign up to Time Out.