A review from my brother with the same mother: Take it away Sherwin. 

Where shall we eat?"
"I don't know, you decide"

And decide he did. My brother had decided that a good equi-distance venue was placed in Crouch End and that he fancied a burger. Me I fancy pretty much anything at any time (food related). So off we went to Porky's.

First thing first mind the drunken floor! What?! Whether this was actually meant on purpose or a health & safety hazard I do not know. You have been warned.

Too busy catching up that I did not look at the menu for the first ten minutes we were there. All i did was order a beer.
Once I gazed over the menu and as expected by the name Pork was the dish I went for. To be more specific a half rack of ribs with some pulled pork on the side. Coleslaw came on the side so tick. For starters I ordered cajun calamari. The big bro opted for chicken wigs to start and a burger for main. He did choose this place because he wanted a burger.

Beers kept on arriving and starters finished. Wings and Calamari both done really well. Good seasoning and good sized portions. Only slight complaint is that the calamari was a tad bit oily.

The main course arrived and what a sight. Exactly how all plates should look. Brothers burger looked nice too and so we tucked in.
After a few bites we both agreed that we felt something was missing. For the ribs I would say it is that smokey flavour you always associate with ribs. In addition the barbecue tang was not there. Unfortunately these ribs did not pack the punch I wanted.

The burger was also rated as just ok too. No cravings or urges were fully satisfied on this encounter. Both of us were full and frontier beer is a great friend.

But wait hold the front page - I did not order pork scratchings! What is the world coming to?!

Originally published on ​http://heraldsinc.com/london-super-comic-con-2016-review/ On www.Heraldsinc.com

Five years in and the London Super Comic Convention (LSCC) is the go to destination for over 20,000 people. Lovers of Cosplay, lovers of comics, the superhero lovers, Game of Thrones fans and even those who just love to dress up come together in the Excel and show their appreciation for Art.

The Art is what brings everyone together and this is why I keep on going back to the LSCC. The many faces at the convention, even the many masks that they hide behind, the art allows people to do this. The cosplay element of LSCC is just a small part of what this event is all about (it is becoming more and more popular) but the Art is key.

Whilst working at LSCC, my role was to look after a selection of Artists. They are the main attractions for the convention and these are the artists who cover all the fans favourites characters. Award winning artisit such as Jill Thompson (Wonder Woman), Alex Saviuk (Spiderman), Cameron Stewart (Batgirl) and Jon Totleben (Swamp Thing) graced the convention and did what they do best; draw.

Hundreds of fans would run towards their favourite artist at 9:30am on a Saturday and Sunday morning to get a sketch. Sketches could cost from £30 to over £100. To be honest, when looking at the quality of their work it was definitely worth it. The artists would draw these sketches, which could take up to an hour for their love of the art and for their appreciation of the fans. Signatures were signed in the dozens for fans who had traveled all over the world to see their idols. Seeing people inspired was enough to make the whole event worthwhile.

 Standing on your feet for two days non-stop can be quite tiring. However, seeing the costumes, the happy faces, the numbers of people embracing the art and their fantasies and fun makes the whole experience worthwhile. People from all walks of life come together, forget their 9 -5 during the week, this here is their passion and life. The LSCC has provided this for many years and I look forward to being there again next year.

Check out the pictures below: Thanks Az, Dan, Oran and Sherwin

The most important thing at a restaurant is Good food. It doesn't matter where it comes from as long as you like it. At Season Kitchen on Stroud Green road, the waiter unashamedly states that they look to get local produce but will happily source it from elsewhere if they feel it right. It is great to help the local economy and people but if the quality is not great then source it from somewhere else and then you are happy and your customers more importantly are too.


The mantra here at Season is to give you quality food when the time is right. Let nature take its course and provide you what it intends to and therefore, Season updates its menu with dishes and treats for that time of year/ or season.

​Tuesdays specifically have developed here into their trademarked Cheapsteak night. I was not planning on having steak but seated next to us I saw two amazing pieces of meat and thought, easy decision, I'm having steak.
The normal menu was populated with vegetarian dishes and fish for the main courses and they all looked tasty and seemed right for the night. However, the sight of the meat turned my attention and therefore I stuck to that.

From the steak selection, I veered away from the usual Rib Eye and went for the flat iron. I have only ever had this cut before from The Flat Iron restaurant in London so went for it again. Laura went for the rib eye.
When they came out we were both shocked. My flat iron was not flat at all and was a plumb slab of meat cooked perfectly medium. Our chef had said he preferred his rare, but I was happy with medium.
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Both steaks looked amazing. The Rib Eye was tastier and juicer as it should be, but the flat iron more than held its own. To compliment these we ordered a portion of chips and spinach and this was more than enough. Thick cut chips were floury and crunchy and the spinach had the buttery taste and was not over wilted. Delightful.

This restaurant is exactly what Stroud Green needs and what i need. Local and ideal for when on my way back home. It satisfies my hunger, my taste buds and not too bad on the wallet either.
I will be back to try more of their seasonal goodness and with a changing menu i am confident that everything will be tasty.

​Season Kitchen, thank you for being you.

Good food on a Monday night is important. It sets the week off well and makes sure that you are winning. Also it is a great way to say goodbye to Monday too.

Tsunami on Charlotte Street helps you tackle Mondays with 40% off the food bill on a Monday night and this entices you, welcomes you and then gives you enough to make you want to come back.

The dishes cover all the classics. From Sushi and Sashimi to the hot dishes of black cod and roast pork belly and the delights of tempura and edamame. All courses covered and in a good location, i am surprised it was not busier.

Between the three of us we ordered a fair bit and i was a bit luckier than usual as the two friends i was with, were not too hungry, so i had more than my fair share. With the 40% off i would say it works out at good value. 

The stand out dishes at Tsunami are their hot food and the roast pork especially. 
The areas where i was expecting a bit more was from their sushi and sashimi. Here, simple is good and works and also the freshness of the ingredients is paramount. The sushi and sashimi here was not too fresh and therefore lacked the goodness i wanted.

​The volcano sushi which looked amazing to me was a bit much. The amount of sauce covered over was a bit too much. Simple and Fresh is all that sushi needs. 

As a food blogger, pictures are vitally important. I have tried to improve the quality on mine, because i realise they are what capture the readers attention.

Matthew Draper, who i used to work with many years ago, is someone i have been following on Facebook and Instagram and the quality of his pictures are really inspiring. For this reason I decided to Interview Matthew. I wanted to understand how he now has over 1000 followers on Instagram, won awards and what makes a good picture. If you need help and inspiration, we have found the right person

Who inspired you into the world of photography?
Well, first of all thanks for even asking me to be involved. I know much better photographers than me. I guess I’ve just focussed on it a lot in the last 8 or so months (growing my Insta account from 200 to 1500)
I'd always liked photography, but been nervous to invest loads on an expensive DSLR, so I'd just used iPhone and used to post all my shots at same time.
​
Then my ex gf gifted me a DSLR with all these dials/modes  ..and I thought I must take the time to get the most out of the nice gift !
Ironically, I never really progressed until after we split up ..as whenever we were out, I'd always want to stop and try to get a shot right ..and she'd be standing, getting cold, and wanting me to hurry up (fair enough, lol)
 
What would your advise me to bloggers and photographers be on the quality of their pictures?
Ummmm…
1.      Always shoot in RAW. Shooting in JPEG means that every single edit you do will reduce the quality of your final output
2.      only post 1 shot at a time. If you post 3, 10, 100, etc then people will half look at some and drift off. Only posting 1 shot at a time means that they give that one shot the time it deserves and they validate it on it's own
3.      "Check your homework" I used to take 2 shots and move as I assumed one was ok. But now I take a shot and really look at it from corner to corner to make sure it's symmetrical or a good composition. As it’s composition that is important. Everything else can be edited
4.      Get “snapseed”  ..a really great free app. Incredibly versatile and then just sit and play for hours 
 

When did this passion start to become serious for you?
After splitting with the ex. I started using the app "meetup" to socialise more and through it I saw all manner of photography groups ...including @igerslondon and @london both linked to Instagram. The format being; go for a wander with some like-minded photographers; shoot some stuff, then end up in a pub somewhere and see how everyone else viewed the same things you saw - via a shared hashtag   ..really fun, social and educational; seeing all the different angles people use, techniques, puddle'grams, creativity.
I’ve learnt so much from others on Instagram. Before I used it, I used to post photos on Facebook, but a lot of my friends don’t really care. But, Instagram is very supportive and super sociable 
 
Where has been your favourite place to photograph?
Sounds cliché; but Southbank and all of the surrounding bridges, buildings, tunnels, lil stretches of shoreline (at low tide)   ..perfect for long exposure shots at night, portraits, bokeh    …and also so iconic
 
Why is taking a good picture so important?
I might answer this in a slightly different way…
Photographs are different to movies    …though both try to tell a story.
The Photograph shows a specific second in time, whereas a movie can have 2 hours to deliver it’s message and value      
With that in mind. Any photographer will have occasionally had challenges translating what they see into an image  ..whether that be settings, lighting, etc
..and strongly believe that the best images are the ones that tell a story, resonate with a memory we have, or are just aesthetically pleasing
The challenge is mastering our cameras to be able to do that

and finally...

Which picture of your own would you say is your best one? Or top 5
lol, well.. One of the photos that got the most attention on my page was actually a door :)  ..but I personally prefer a couple of others; I've posted them below
The Instagram community is so great; I've met so many cool new people that are now genuine friends, learnt sooo much stuff that I’ve now 2 accounts; @drapes213  and @drapes213_people

Make sure you follow Matthew on Instagram
@drapes213
@drapes213_people
Thank you so much.

Good advice, good words and some great pictures.

It is all about the quality.