Shake Shack

After going to the movies I decided to hit the new London branch of American burger chain Shake Shack, which was salivated over by foodies when it opened a month or so ago. After a long queue (I probably waited half an hour in total for my food) I walked into the high-tech serving area where I was assaulted by painfully loud rock music. Once my order was taken I went to find a table, clutching a buzzer with my order number on it, which vibrated and flashed when my food was ready to pick up from the window - quite a cool system. And the food itself? The "Smokeshack" burger, with bacon and chillies, was really delicious - you can tell it's made with proper high-quality beef - and the bun, made partly with potato flour, was wonderfully squidgy. It did feel a bit small though, despite supposedly being a quarter pounder.The crinkle-cut fries were superbly crispy and salty. The pièce de resistance, though, was the shake - they're the company's main thing, hence the name. Basically, imagine drinking about half a pint of partially melted, extremely high quality strawberry ice cream. The only downside, really, is the price - this meal set me back over £13. Overall, I'd say it's very good, if not quite worth what you pay for it. One and a half thumbs up.

Breathe In

So I went to see Breathe In yesterday evening and I really loved it. It's the latest feature by Drake Doremus, who made Like Crazy, a fan favourite that starred Felicity Jones, who also appears in this film. Some people who loved that film have taken issue with this one; I haven't seen it, so I went into this with no real preconceptions. I thought it was a very well-made film indeed - ostensibly a slow-burning indie drama, it becomes so much more, really ratcheting up the tension into melodrama without ever becoming ridiculous. Some people have complained that it's a film where nothing really happens; personally, I felt this was one of its major strengths. In fact, one of the best things about it is how real it seems; all of the characters, their actions and their motivations feel really authentic. Most of all, though, it's a love letter to music and to the creative impulse. If you're a musician - especially a failed one - you'll love this movie. Dustin O'Halloran's score is simply gorgeous and complements the action wonderfully. Shot in lots of muted hues of blue, it's also a stunningly beautiful film to look at, albeit with a slight over-reliance on shakycam. The whole cast is great - it's a subtle film that requires them to do a lot of acting with just their eyes, and they do it very well. The two leads are especially good. I've seen Guy Pearce in a couple of other things before, but I haven't seen Felicity Jones in anything else. Beautiful and talented, she's surely a young lady with a very bright future ahead of her, and I'll wager you'll see the director's name in lights before too long as well. Two thumbs up.

Merrily We Roll Along

If you had told me only a month ago that not only would I go to a musical theatre production, but would enjoy it so much that I would actually consider going again, I would have laughed in your face - but that's exactly what happened when I went to see Stephen Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along" the other week. My only previous experience with musical theatre was the execrable "Starlight Express", the nadir of Andrew Lloyd Webber's career, which understandably put me off for years, but I'm so glad I was persuaded to go and see this. "Merrily" is the story of successful movie producer Frank, who seemingly has everything but who hates his life because he's sacrificed his integrity and his friendships to get to the top. It starts at the end and moves backwards through time, revealing the decisions that have got him where he is today, ending at the beginning with him naive and full of enthusiasm. The result is almost unbearably poignant. Make no mistake, this is an absolutely superb work of proper grown-up adult entertainment. It's everything that musical theatre should be and so often, sadly, is not. There are no glib clichés, no trite nonsense, no green witches or singing lions - just a wonderfully well-conceived story with fantastic music that actually drives the plot along. It all feels heartbreakingly real, which I think is just about the highest compliment you can pay a musical. Two gigantic thumbs up.

Yori

Went to Yori on Panton Street the other night, a funky Korean barbecue place which also does Japanese. We started with some edamame, which could have been saltier, and some gyoza-esque dumplings which were really nice. Then we had kimchee rice with fried egg, which was pronounced very good, if rather subtle (apparently common in Korean food), and a spicy seafood noodle soup which was also enjoyed. My tempura prawn noodle soup was lovely, a simple, clear, quite fishy stock with nice fat noodles. The prawns were delicious, although there were only two (they were quite large, but another couple would have been welcome), and being in the soup made the batter go squishy. We were going to the theatre so only had about 45 minutes, so decided to skip the barbecue, where they bring you raw meat and you cook it yourself on a hotplate built into your table, but it looks really interesting so I definitely want to come back and try it - not least because, with our Taste Card,the whole lot, including service, came in at only 35 quid. Two thumbs up.

Mediterranean Chicken

Tried the new McDonald's Mediterranean Chicken burger today. It comes in a herby focaccia bun with lettuce, American cheese, roasted peppers and a spicy tomato sauce. The burger itself is nice - it's the same burger they use in the BCO (Bacon, Chicken & Onion), nice breast meat in really crunchy crumb - but it's let down quite badly by the sauce, of which there is far too much, and which is bright orange with a faintly artificial, slightly acrid flavour. It reminded me of nothing so much as Homepride pasta bake sauce. Also, I don't feel there's any room for roasted peppers in a burger. Overall, a not unpleasant experience, but somewhat disappointingly less than the sum of its parts. One thumb up.

New format

I deactivated my Facebook account earlier this week and am now going to share my thoughts on the stuff I like with everyone, not just my friends! I'm going to focus primarily on the entertainment I experience - music, movies, theatre, TV shows, books, food - and I want to try and cover as much as possible, so posts are going to be short, sweet and to the point, and I'm going to rate things using Siskel & Ebert's famous "two thumbs up" system. Get prepared for a barrage of posts about cool stuff.

The Best of 2012

Better late than never! In order to compensate for the shockingly late arrival of this selection, I've worked extra hard to make it as good as possible, and I think it may even be the best one I've done yet. You all know what to expect by now – download here, enjoy, and as ever, please comment! What's your favourite?

1. Isobel Ann Martin – "Làmh a’ Bhuachaille" ("The Herdsman’s Hand"), from the album "Duslach is Òr"
An exquisitely beautiful love song from one of Gaelic music's brightest young stars, who won the coveted gold medal at the Royal National Mòd on her very first attempt aged just 18, and whose voice is (whisper it) arguably as beautiful as Julie Fowlis's.

2. The Cranberries – "Tomorrow", from the album "Roses"
After more than a decade in the wilderness, the Irish indie-pop legends blast back with their best album in years and one of their greatest ever songs in the shape of this stunning slab of prime 90s-style college rock.

3. L’Âme Immortelle – "Absolution", from the album "Momente"
Austrian electro-industrial Vordenker Thomas Rainer returns to the cult band in which he made his name, bringing with him some of the club-ready darkness of his side-project Nachtmahr.

4. Shed – "I Come by Night", from the album "The Killer"
Awesome track from Berlin techno maven Rene Pawlowitz, which builds up slowly from a tribal shuffle to an out-and-out club smasher replete with blaring "foghorn" synth stabs. Play LOUD for maximum dancefloor devastation!

5. Piko – "Online", from the album "2Piko"
Stunningly gorgeous and romantic electro-pop from the lad with the astonishing three-and-a-half octave range (yes, that is a man singing, believe it or not).

6. TK – "Haze", from the album "Flowering"
This anthemic, tumbling rock number from Toru Kitajima, helium-voiced frontman of cult Japanese math-rockers Ling Tosite Sigure, is somehow simultaneously melancholic and uplifting.

7. Dolly – "Koushoku no Kanaria" ("Rainbow Canary"), from the album "Träumerei"
Dance your cares away under the disco ball to this fantastically catchy, propulsive oshare hit.

8. Delain – "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", from the album "We Are the Others"
From in front of 80s-inspired Dutch gothic metal band Delain, flame-haired siren Lotte Wessels calls out her haters with this sardonic missive.

9. The Ghost Inside – "White Light", from the album "Get What You Give"
Frontman Jonathan Vigil literally roars his heart out on this spine-chilling tribute to his fallen brother, which features one of hardcore’s most sing-along-able choruses ever.

10. Plastic Tree – "Joumyaku" ("Vein"), from the album "Ink"
Celebrating their 15th anniversary, the best band in the world whom you've never heard of turn in this staggering chunk of rough-hewn alt-rock goodness.

11. Grendel – "Timewave: Zero", from the album of the same name
Absolutely colossal, apocalyptic industro-trance from the Dutch dark electro soldiers, still filling dancefloors after nearly a decade in the game.

12. Cali Gari – "Anchuu Roman" ("Covert Romance"), from the album "11"
Crack out your dancing shoes for this superb homage to the 80s from the originators of "erotic grotesque".

13. Mix Speaker's, Inc. – "Promise", from the album "Hoshifuru Yuuenchi"
A beautiful, epic power ballad from the crazily costumed concept band, from their best and most serious album to date.

14. Heimataerde – "Allein" ("Alone"), from the album "Gottgleich"
Take a trip to the dark heart of mediaeval Europe with Ashlar von Megalon and his undead Templar knights, who here turn in the best thing they have committed to tape since their unsurpassable masterpiece "Vater".

15. Hans Zimmer – "Rise", from the album "The Dark Knight Rises"
Zimmer outdoes himself with this stunning musical conclusion to Christopher Nolan's brilliant Batman trilogy, simultaneously epic, awe-inspiring and profoundly moving.

16. Simone Dinnerstein – "Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Minor, Op.90" by Franz Schubert, from the album "Something Almost Being Said"
Its transcendent, aching beauty undimmed by almost two centuries, this late piece from the Austrian maestro is here lovingly unfurled by American Simone Dinnerstein, who launched herself to stardom with a self-financed album of Bach’s "Goldberg Variations".