High-tech oriental – not a great advert for technology

Looking for somewhere for a mid-afternoon “lunch” after a visit to the Bronzes exhibition at the RA (very good by the way), my researches threw up Inamo St James  in Lower Regent St (there is a sister Inamo Soho restaurant too).  It describes itself as an “Oriental fusion” restaurant and the menu looked interesting and pretty reasonably priced for that area.  But intriguingly all the comments on the Top Table website were about its interactive ordering system, called e-Table.  Not sure whether that’s a good sign or not (surely the food’s the point?) but I thought we’d give it a go.

It’s about 3pm on a Sunday when we get there.  There are more people in there than you might expect at that time, but it is a large place, so there should be no problems getting a table. But the waiter asks us to wait at the bar (without a drink!), so the stress levels start to rise.  

Eventually we do get shown to a table – not a great position, but never mind – and the fun starts.  The décor of place generally is very attractive – lots of smallish areas partitioned off by bamboo. But it is the table itself that is the speciality – it is interactive.  The waitress asks if we’ve eaten there before, and then proceeds to give as a quick demonstration of how the thing works.  Basically there is a touch pad for each of us which controls a cursor over the menu (ie system menu). From there you can select drinks, food, games etc, and a help/bill section.  You also get to change the “ambiance”, that is the background colour and design on the table if you wish – we stick with the bright snowflake design the waitress has chosen.

Now I like to think of myself as reasonably tech-literate, so I’m happy to give this a go.  I start by ordering some wine.  The cursor control is OK, but tapping the table to select seems a bit erratic. Anyway I do manage to find the white wine and scroll through in blocks of 4. Here one of the limitations of the system first appears – you can only see 4 options at a time, so can’t scan the whole list. Still, with wine that’s not too much of a problem, and I successfully order a Viognier at £26.

Then I start to order the “small plates”.  (Not “starters” as such, since we’re told the food arrives when it is ready).  Somehow random choices seem to pop up on my list, and I have to cancel them.  Again you can see only 4 options at a time (though you do get a big picture of one shining on your plate). This makes it harder to choose which combination to go for, but eventually we manage to select the crispy prawns, pork and apple dumplings and edamame beans (from the “sides” list).

Then comes the second limitation. The waiter arrives saying that they have run out of Viognier – it's not that interactive a system then.  A rapid review of the list is tricky to do, so I bail out and ask for a written wine list.  From there I choose the NZ Sauvignon Blanc (also £26) which had not appeared on the system. They’ve none of that either, so we end up with the Argentinian Torrontes at £19.

I now turn to the “larger plates” or main courses as we might say.  The 4 option limitation is really irritating now (bearing in mind we’ve not had a drink yet!), and stress levels are rising further.   I’m also struggling with tapping the table to select the option – softly and nothing happens, too hard and I feel I’m going to dislocate a finger.  (I once came away injured from trying to use an IcelandAir check-in terminal, as you had to hit the screen so hard –it took  4 months for my finger to recover!).  Soon I seem to have ordered a spatchcock chicken I didn’t want, and 4 portions of a beef dish. So I use the “Help” bell to call a waitress (logical problem here: if you can’t use the system you can’t call for help!). This seems to take a while and we’re on the point of leaving.  When the waitress does arrive, she says she’ll sort it out, and tells me not to hit the table so hard !

Finally I am able to order the cinnamon chicken, “beef beri bop”, and steamed rice. Actually there aren’t that many side dish options, so this feels a little limited.

The food – and drink – does now start to arrive. Small plates/starters do come first.  And very good they are too, though the projectionof the design onto the table makes the dishes look a funny colour.  The dumplings are full of melting pork, accompanied by a really flavourful apple and cinnamon/clove sauce on a spoon. The crispy prawns are in a nice light batter and come with a very spicy dip. And the edamame beans dish is ample, accompanied by a sweetish dip.  The Torrontes too is good –creamy and fruity – though perhaps anything would have seemed good by now!

As it turns out, the timing of the dishes works OK, as we’ve not long finished the starters (sorry) when the cinnamon chicken and steamed rice arrive.  The chicken (described as “poussin” on the detailed menu) is tender strips of breast, covered in a dark, dry crust, and accompanied by a spicy, dry salt on a spoon (again).  It’s very tasty indeed.

We’re making inroads into the chicken when the beef dish arrives.  This is the most spectacular of the lot.  The waiter brings a small hot dish containing slices of beef, rice, asparagus slices and a raw egg yolk. He pours over this a ginger and vinegar sauce and starts to cook the beef on the hot dish, and mix the rice and egg together.  The effect is nicely cooked slices of beef (not large or especially tasty, but quite good) on a tasty bed of rice, which has crunchy bits in it – presumably from cooked egg white. 

We polish off the beef, and the rest of the chicken, and indeed all the rice. Had we realised, we probably wouldn’t have ordered the extra rice, and maybe gone for spicy aubergines instead.

Finally I manage to ask for the bill through the system, and it duly arrives - £73. Given the location, we think that is very good value for very good food and a nice wine (even though it wasn’t what we originally chose) in pleasant surroundings, and I would certainly recommend what we had.

And the verdict on the technology?  Well, it feels like a gimmick really.  Its plus points are that you can see larger pictures of what you might choose, that you shouldn’t have to call a waiter, and that it is easy to ask for the bill. Minus points for the limitation of presenting 4 options at a time and the dodgy controls – and the lack of integration with stock control.  We didn’t play with the other features: I can’t see why you’d want to change the “ambiance”, especially with a “shuffle” option; a couple at the next table were using it to play games –duh!; and the “chef cam” option was only showing an empty room when I looked.   Without it all, we’d have come away impressed – as it was the stress levels had only just returned to normal when we finished our wine.

November - a few old favourites and couple of new ones

For once it’s a sunny Sunday, so we take the train to Tattenham corner for a walk round Epson Downs, and a visit to our old favourite, the Derby Arms.   It’s around 2pm by the time we get there, and the place is still pretty full, but we do manage to get a table.  Service is a bit slow and erratic – three different waiters are serving us – but cheerful.  In fact the whole place has quite a buzz going on.

The Derby Arms always have a special scallops dish on the menu – and mostly this is what B chooses. So it is today, as it comes with a spicy sauce.  I choose the soft shell crab, which comes with calamari, and as an extra go for the crispy aubergines with hummus from their “nibbles” list.  The crab is not great – the batter is supposedly tempura but is more corner-shop chippy, and the meat itself lacks much flavour.  The scallops though are excellent – big and cooked just right, with a tasty sauce. The revelation though is the aubergine dish. They are nicely crispy, dry not greasy, with a hazelnut crust and good garlicky hummus.

Our wine is a Rothschilds Viognier from France at just under £20 a bottle. Very round and fruity.

Main courses are roasted lamb rump for me, and spit-roasted chicken for B. The lamp comes with a chorizo dauphinoise, which adds a little kick, and is beautifully cooked, just pink and really tender. The chicken is also tasty, served with aioli, Asian slaw (crunchy with plenty of chilli) and chips.

                                                                                                          
So apart from the crab, we’re pretty pleased with the bill at about £80 as we wander out. Of course what we’d forgotten was that it’s dark early at this time of year, so the walk back to the station was a little hazardous!

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The following Friday evening, we decide it’s got to be Chinese. So we return to the Beijing Cottage in South Croydon’s “restaurant quarter”.  We used to go to the Sichuan garden in Coulsdon, but the service there can be so fast that you’re back home again within the hour. We’re hoping that being a Friday, the Beijing Cottage will be busy enough for a more leisurely evening. In fact there is only one table of 6 in there as we arrive – luckily a few more do arrive later – just as well as the place doesn’t have a lot of character.

To start we have the Beijing Dumplings, mixed meat skewer satay and, once again, spicy soft shell crab. The crab is a much better effort this time, though still doesn’t match B’s ideal (at Melati in Piccadilly).  The satay mix of three meats is a bit tough, and the dumplings in unremarkable.

Main courses are better: the paper wrapped beef is so moist and tender it melts in the mouth, and the “sea spicy ocean” a good and plentiful mix of seafood – prawns, squid, mussels – with a tasty but not overpowering sauce. Even the Singapore noodles were pretty good, with plenty of interesting bits, and we weren’t able to finish them all.

With an indulgent two bottles of cheapish Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, this all comes to £90 including tip.

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Returning from Morden one Sunday, we stop off at the Greyhound, the Young’s pub in Carshalton for a spot of lunch, even though B’s not that interested in a proper meal. It’s an attractive old building by the ponds, with lots of different bars etc, as well as a hotel area at the back. The bar menu is limited, so we go into the restaurant area, which as well as the inevitable Sunday roasts does boast an interesting menu on its blackboard. It’s busy, with several family tables with babies, fortunately not making too much noise. So we get a rubbish table in the dark room fairly near the cramped toilets. Service is slow as well – and the waitress gets the wine order wrong, blaming the bar staff.  She’s also not very helpful when another table asks about Christmas menus – they won’t be coming back.

As it’s a cold, damp day, I’m quite interested in the chicken curry which has an interesting description. But with encouragement I’m eventually tempted to go for the venison with blackberry sauce and parsnip crisps, while B just has a starter portion of fish cakes with chilli sauce.

The food is excellent, rescuing the whole experience. The venison is pink, but tender, the sauce sharp with whole blackberries dotted around, and the crisps good fun. It comes with a mustard mash which is not really necessary, but useful for soaking up some of the sauce. B’s fish cakes are not the leathery Thai variety but dollops of tasty salmon and white fish in a crunchy exterior – and the chilli sauce has a really envigorating zing.

Total bill including a reluctant tip comes to £55 – not cheap for what we had perhaps. The food was tasty, so my advice would be to avoid Sundays, be pushy about getting a good table and hope a more experienced waitress is on duty.

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It’s our wedding anniversary so, repaying hospitality from earlier in the year, we take our neighbours out for dinner at our favourite steak restaurant, just a couple of hundred yards down the road:   Buenos Aires. They are now building this up into quite a substantial chain, with a new restaurant in Watling St in the City being the sixth one to open.  And good luck to them – they’ll give Gaucho a run for their money.

Only the guys have starters – a chorizo sausage for me and beef empanadas for Mr R. The empanadas are always reliable with a great dry pastry and fillings full of flavour. The chorizo is quite soft and maybe not as spicy as some, but very enjoyable. Main courses naturally are dominated by steaks – it’s not a place to take a vegetarian, though they do now have some veggie and fish options for those who are not carnivores. Two of us have the 225g fillet (lomo), B has the 225g rib-eye and Mr R the “bife a caballo” – 300g sirloin with eggs. For those with bigger appetites they do steaks up to 340g (12oz) or larger if requested, and fantastic meat sampler selections. All the steaks were excellent, and the accompanying chips hot and fluffy. We also had some gratin vegetables and spinach, but these really weren’t necessary.

The other thing we really like at BA is their Tapiz Malbec. Rich, full of berries and strong, this is a lovely wine to accompany steaks – just shy of £25 a bottle.

With the ladies present, we had some desserts. A simple ice cream for Mrs R, and a pancake with toffee sauce (“dulce con leche”) for me.  Total of £200 for 4 including service – good value.

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Returning from a visit to Wisley,    as our favourite pub there, the Anchor, was full, we arrive at    The Bear  in Oxshott, another Young’s pub. There’s a nice warm pubby feel to the place as we arrive, and a surprisingly big range of spaces to sit. It’s late for lunch, but there are still several people in here midweek.

Again B only wants a light lunch, so she (inevitably) goes for the seared king scallops which come with crispy pancetta and beetroot crisps, and a splodge of some strange puree (celeriac apparently). The scallops are again cooked just right, and of a good size, and the whole thing is presented very elegantly for what is after all an upmarket pub.

The table next to us with young woman and elderly relative went for soup and charcuterie, both of which came presented on wooden boards accompanied by loads of fresh bread. Presentation is obviously their thing.

My selection was liver and bacon with bubble & squeak and curly kale – a very well-balanced combination, with the iron taste of the kale matching the slightly cloying liver.

With  mineral water and a bottle of French Viognier at £22.50, the bill comes to £60 including service (which had been friendly and efficient).

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We’d been to Napule e’… ,  a fairly new local Italian, in the first week it opened in January, and again shortly after. On neither occasion were we impressed, so it has taken until now to give it another try. We knew the patron from when he used to work in the local Pizza Express and he is always cheerful and positive, so it had seemed a shame we hadn’t been able to be more positive. Apparently the restaurant’s name is the title of a local folk song about Naples.

So one Sunday lunch we thought we’d give it another go. He’s been working hard with special offers and Sunday lunch deals to get the punters in, and with the closure of another local Italian, seems to be pulling them in pretty well. There is a large group of 12 or so down one end, several tables of 4 and one chap on his own behind the door with a good view of everything. So we get a cosy table for 2, one chair, and a sort of single banquette – odd but fine.

The menu is probably overlong – lots of pasta dishes, and plenty of main courses too. And on top of that, there is a selection of specials. So I decide I’ll see what his specials are like and choose the smoked salmon cured in fennel for 2 days top start, and the roast veal for main course. B meanwhile goes for the simpler mixed meats to start and a risotto marinara to follow.

First we’re proudly presented with a bowl of “home-made bread” – I think the waitress may have baked it herself. Just 4 small pieces, but it is good, and a welcome sign of enthusiasm. The smoked salmon is rather ordinary – the fennel does come through eventually, but the salmon itself was not of the highest quality. The mixed meat plate though was very generous – prosciutto, bresaoloa, salami, ham, with sun-dried tomatoes as well. Clearly not a test of the kitchen, but a creditable starter.

My main course veal is really good. The spirals of meat are very tender and come in an “Italian gravy” – a light sauce with rosemary. I’ve opted for the green beans instead of the spinach and there are boiled potatoes too. B’s risotto also passes the test – lots of seafood, mussels in their shells etc, and not too much rice (as had been the case back in January) – a case of less is more.   We opted for the soft Italian Merlot at £19 a bottle, so the bill comes to around £65 - it’s not a fancy place, so you don’t expect to pay a lot, but I think that’s a pretty good deal.

Interesting spot in Wimbledon Village

We’re over in Wimbledon, so we go up to Wimbledon Village to cruise round and have a relaxing lunch. We looked at a new place called the Lawn (geddit?), but instead decide on the Butcher and Grill.  This has an attractive meat counter at the front, with sundries such as gravy on sale too.  Disturbingly for a Friday lunchtime, there is no-one else in the place, but that doesn’t stop the waitress asking whether we’d booked! So we get the choice of seats, settling in a large booth for 6.  Despite the lack of people, there’s quite a nice atmosphere in here – lots of light from the atrium, cheery staff, and good blues and rock discreetly on the sound system.

The menu as you’d expect is one mainly for carnivores, and the specials list offers large porterhouse steaks and spare ribs for sharing – some even up to 1 kilo!  To start I have a very tasty coarse pork pate, which comes attractively served on a wooden platter, accompanied by gherkins, caramel onions and rocket.  B has the crispy pork belly, which surprisingly is crispy because of its batter, not its crackling and accompanied by a scallop.  Very enjoyable too.

Main courses  are veal escalope for me and grilled bream for B. These are less successful. My veal is rather chewy, so I only manage 2 of the 3 slices. The accompanying chips are really wedges with the skin on, served in a chipped (!) terracotta flowerpot, and on the stodgy side.  B’s fish looks impressive served whole but is difficult to manage and a bit overcooked.  Wine as £15.50, so the bill comes to £90, which feels a little steep given the experience, but I feel we were maybe a bit unlucky and would be prepared to give oit another try for full-blooded steaks.

Dranatically opulent brasserie near Picadilly Circus

We’d read several reviews of Brasserie Zédel, the new Parisian-style brasserie by Chris Corbin and Jeremy King (of Wolseley fame) by Piccadilly Circus, so we head along for a midweek lunch with friends M and C.   Arriving at the modest entry and small upstairs bar, you have no idea of what waits below, down the Art Deco carpeted, mirrored staircase that must surely have featured in several episodes of Poirot.  Past the Bar Americain cocktail bar (closed lunchtime) and The Crazy Coqs cabaret, you arrive at the huge brasserie, packed full even midweek. Apparently this huge room was once the ballroom of the Regent Hotel, and it has been splendidly restored with marble and lovely original lighting.  It’s a buzzy, fabulously glamorous place, but what we know from the reviews is that it’s also cheap!  Starters from £2.50, most mains between £10 and £15; Prix Fixe from £8.75 for two courses!

We join our friends at the table and settle down to take in the view. There must be around 200 people in here, with “walk-ins” accommodated at the counter.  M spots Harry Enfield at one table, and later, Eleanor Bron arrives – not our usual dining companions.  

The wine list is resolutely French, starting at £16 a bottle, with nearly all available by the glass. We have the Picpoul de Pinet at £22.50, light and fresh.  The menu of course is also entirely French brasserie (assuming you count Alsacian choucroute as French – I don’t think I’ve seen a choice of 3 couchroutes anywhere before).  To start M chooses the Parfait de Foie de Volaille, which she likes immensely but declares rather rich – so we have to help out.  C has the Pâté de Campagne Maison which is good coarse terrine.  B’s tartare saumon is the most expensive of our starters at £6.50, and fairly small, but she thinks it’s very good.  I choose the Pissaladière, because I’d recently cut out the recipe from a paper and was thinking of doing it. It’s a pastry base covered with caramelised onions with anchovies and olives.  Sadly the base was rather stodgy and the onion lukewarm, so I wasn’t impressed, though in all honesty I don’t know whether it was typical of its kind.

M follows with pan-fried plaice, which is also good, while C has the confit de canard, with white beans, which she is less taken with – dryish with dull beans.  By coincidence, B and I have both chosen the couscous with skewers of lamb, lamb’s liver and merguez. This comes served together on one platter, with huge daggers eat it with.  Some of the liver is a little chewy and the couscous a bit watery, but overall an enjoyable dish. 

B and I have desserts: crème brulee for me (excellently creamy and too rich for me – M helps to scoop it up), Chocolate Liegeois for B, while the others have coffee.

With three bottles of wine, we’ve managed to push the bill up to £172, £43 a head. But for such an experience and quality food (if not Wolseley standard), it is certainly to be recommended, and you could get away with far less.

Modern Italian in Croydon

As the name might imply Il Ponte Nuovo is a new incarnation of Il Ponte, across the road from the original, under the Croydon flyover.  We’d only been to Il Ponte once for a fairly average pizza, but as we’re always looking for places to go in Croydon with our friends P&M, we thought we’d give it a try one Friday lunchtime.

We’re shown to an oval shaped booth behind the main bar, and are surprised at the size of the place. There are several large tables, which fill up with office groups, and a whole further area towards the back, and a private room to the side.  The style is very modern, rather harsh perhaps, with acoustics which are rather challenging.

Service is prompt and we are soon into our first bottle of an Italian Sauvingon Blanc at £18.25 (lunches with P&M are often a little on the alcoholic side!).  Ordering takes a little longer, as the menu (under the control of Sicilian-born head chef, Tindaro Casamento) is very extensive – lots of interesting sounding starters (including a smoked duck salad), pasta, pizza and a good list of fish and meat dishes.

In the end we decide against starters, and move straight into mains. M and I both have the veal escalope, served with spaghetti.  This is a good sized portion, nicely breaded and tasty, and the spaghetti prevents it being too dry.  B has the salmon and prawns: this is an oven baked salmon steak topped with smoked salmon & prawns. The accompanying lemon sauce is a bit overpowering, but the fish itself is really good.  P goes for the calves liver, served properly pink, with mash and a sage sauce.  We also have a side order of deep-fried courgettes.

We outlast most of the groups, so the place becomes quieter again – it’s a slightly odd atmosphere. Service has been good, and with the 4 bottles of wine the bill comes to a bit over £150 with service (ie well over 50% on wine!).

Despite my comments about the atmosphere, I did enjoy the food, so will probably be back to explore the starter menu.

Long weekend in New Forest and Bournemouth

We’re off to visit our friends P&M at their flat by the sea near Bournemouth, and plan to call in at B’s aunt and uncle’s in Lymington on the way back.  I decide to break our journey down with lunch in a pub in the New Forest, so after a bit of research in the Good Pub Guide, I settle on the Three Tuns in Bransgore.

Getting there however proves a bit more of a challenge. First we miss the turning off the A31, then nearly miss the next turning as well.  Approaching the village, we see signs for the Three Tuns Beer Festival which is on that weekend, but then encounter a Road Closed sign – looks like sewer works. So we turn round and follow the diversion signs, and come back into the village the other way – no sign of the pub. The Guide said the pub was opposite the church so we follow signs to a “Community church”, but that is clearly not the place, and then find ourselves on the wrong side of the roadworks again.

So putting pride aside, I wind down the window and ask a lady passing by – but she’s not a local and has no idea. Further on, I have to resort to getting out and asking a passing cyclist, and at last get some directions – “opposite the church”. Anyway we eventually find the place, an attractive thatched building, with a very full car-park. There are bouncy castles and slides outside but we go on  in to the bar. There is a restaurant area as well, serving more sophisticated dishes such as rabbit pie, pan-fried sea bass, and garlic prawns, but as we’re expecting to eat out in the evening, we settle for the bar menu.

The pub is pretty busy and the service at the bar very slow, but finally I get to order – venison pasty for me and chicken Caesar salad for B. There is a range of four local beers plus Doom Bar, but we have the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and some water – that takes the bill to £37, so not a cheap place. The venison pasty is excellent – full of meat, and more like venison en croute. The accompanying chips though are only lukewarm, and the apple and shredded carrot garnish distinctly odd.  The Caesar salad is full of chicken, anchovies and fresh croutons, but the chicken itself lacking in flavour.

As the pub is “opposite the church” it fills up with guests for a wedding, including a giant of a man who fills the doorway and has to stoop under the low roof beams. The beer festival will feature various musicians, but there weren’t any there at the time. Outside the kids are playing happily, and a hog roast is doing good trade, as a steam traction engine pulls up. Clearly a fun place to be – once you find it.

That evening we are in Southbourne, and after a healthy walk along the promenade we head out to a little local Italian called Café Riva on Fisherman’s Walk, Boscombe overcliff.  The place is very simple, looking more like a beach café than a restaurant proper, but the menu is very varied, and the service prompt and friendly.  To start I have the beef carpaccio – a generous portion with rocket and onion garnish.  B has scallops and chorizo, which is excellent, coming with a tangy sauce. P goes for the mussels – a huge pot, in rich wine and cream sauce – while M decides she doesn’t want much, so chooses the melon and prosciutto, which nonetheless is also large.

For my main course I choose the fish of the day: brill. This turns out to be two large fillets, with green sauce, accompanied by excellent chips. Sadly I only manage to eat half, and although the waitress offers, we can’t really take the remainder away.  B orders the fillet steak, which comes a little more well done than the “rare” she ordered, but is still very good. P orders the extremely rich sounding chicken roulade – stuffed with spinach and cream cheese, in a creamy sauce – which he does manage to finish, but only just. M has the tagliatelle mediterrean – a vegetarian option, which she says is very good.   With three bottles of wine between us the bill is just under £130 for the 4 of us, excellent value for such good food served in unpretentious and friendly surroundings.

The next day we take a foot ferry across from Tuckton Bridge to Mudeford flats to see the £170,000 beach huts. Not for us I think. We arrive for an early lunch at the Beach House Cafe, another place that looks like a simple cafeteria. But in fact again the menu is interesting, and it is waiter service.  The starters look interesting (eg calamari) but we just have main courses.  I go for the fish of the day again – this time it’s hake on mushroom risotto. This is full of flavour, with the risotto an excellent support.  B has the mussels here, again in a creamy sauce, but not too rich. They’re tasty, but not as full and plump as she really likes them.  M has the fish pie which comes in a traditional steel dish, covered in thick golden topping with a huge prawn sticking out – seems like a fine example of the dish. P chooses the aubergine tian, which looks something of a mess on the plate. Lots of tomato sauce is topped with mushy looking aubergine and courgettes, but he seems to like it well enough.  B and I have a bottle of wine, while the others have a local cider – very pale looking, bringing the bill to about £75.

Day 3 and we head into Bournemouth and on the rich enclave of Sandbanks for a little nose around. Properties on offer at around £7 million, but there seem to be a lot for sale, so maybe you could drive a a hard bargain. From there we go into Poole, and choose the Banana Wharf,  overlooking the harbour for lunch. It’s a big place, but pretty quiet on a Monday lunchtime. The menu here is very extensive, so it takes us a while to choose. Eventually P decides on the marinara linguine, at which point the waitress points out there is a “two-for-one” offer on pasta and pizza. As M was going to choose pizza anyway, this is a good deal for us, but rubbish marketing, as there was no indication outside, and we’d been expecting to pay the full price.  The linguine is good, without masses of tomato sauce, and M’s pizza with tuna and anchovies, very thin and crispy.   B has the Eight King Prawns, hot in a garlic sauce – very good.  But the highlight in terms of presentation at least was the chicken fajitas I ordered. This arrives on a specially designed wooden tray, with the chicken (mounds of it) in a sizzling tray and the accompanying guacamole, soured cream, tomato relish and cheese in separate pots at the back, with the wraps folded in a rack on the side.  The wraps were a bit heavy, but the chicken really tasty. We have one bottle of wine (guess what, Chilean Sauvignon Blanc) while P&M have San Miguel.  This brings the bill to £66, again good value.

After lunch we say goodbye to P&M and head over to Lymington. J&E have booked us in for an early dinner at The Mill at Gordleton  just a short drive away. This is an almost ridiculously romantic setting, with a short walk from the car park over a little softly lit bridge across the mill stream to the hotel which is covered in creepers, with attractive steel sculptures spotlit in the garden.  There’s  a terrace area for summer meals, but this evening we are inside. We are first in, so get a lovely table by the window overlooking the garden, but the place does fill up pretty well for a Monday night.  Inside the décor is a combination of attractive paintings and some rather large and garish silk flowers, but the overall style is very polished – much more so than any of our other meals this weekend.

Three of us order from the set menu, but B chooses from “Signature” a la carte menu. She has the Asian spiced gravadlax of organic salmon with cucumber raita and chilli naan to start.  The salmon itself is nothing remarkable, but the accompaniments are good, and it is elegantly presented.  For main course she has the Devonshire duck breast in a cherry brandy sauce.  This is a large portion of beautifully pink duck, which comes with sweet potato fondant and  buttered greens. Definitely a good choice.  

Both J&E have the goats cheese starter, which is an ample portion, while I have the curried parsnip soup of the day – a rich warming broth. E and I then have the salmon and prawn “en pappiette”. This is a dramatic presentation of lightly charred parchment (not edible – we tried!) enfolding the fish, with potatoes and courgettes in a light sauce.  J orders the lamb, and asks for it not too pink, which is how it arrives. The main courses are accompanied by a dish of seasonal vegetables (ie nothing very interesting) nicely cooked al dente.

For dessert, I have the crème brulee – another large portion which I don’t finish – J has ice cream with ginger, and E a sorbet.

The wine list starts at £18 for the house wines (Pinot Grigio and Malbec), there are special offers on bin-ends, and a good range of wines by the glass. We chose an Argentinian Viognier (Alma Mora, San Juan 2009/10) at £22, and we also had two bottles of water and coffees.  

Several of the waiters were quite young and probably inexperienced, so were a little hesitant, but this didn’t really detract from a lovely evening. The owner was at one table with her daughter and friends, and happily chatting to the guests. And to top off the romantic style, as we were leaving we saw that one couple had been presented with a plate of chocolates, with “Happy Anniversary” written in chocolate around the edge.

The set menu was good value, so all this luxury came to just £174 for the 4 of us – you just need to find a romantic partner!

Smart bistro by the Thames

With our friend H staying, we took ourselves off to Borough Market on Saturday. Wandering around for an hour was easily enough to stimulate our appetites, so we then set about finding somewhere for lunch. Fish! was full, so we tried La Cave in the shade of Southwark cathedral, where we found a table outside in the sunshine. The menu was scary though – wines at £20+ for 500 mls, starters over £12, main meals £18 upwards – plus 12.5% service. So we decided just to have some wine and olives and then move on.  But even that proved challenging, as first the wine, and then the olives took an age to arrive. Very unimpressive.

So we moved on to Hay’s Galleria, and Cote, one of a growing chain of upmarket French bistros. It was still sunny, so we wait for an outside table. Our earlier experience has made us a little impatient, but in fact we only have to wait about 5 minutes before the charming waitress found us a table.

And what a table! Just a little back from the river, we had excellent views of HMS Belfast, and of London Bridge pier, where ferries were constantly docking. Also view down to Tower Bridge (which opened a couple of times to allow tall-masted boats  to pass) and Canary Wharf, or back up to London Bridge and Cannon Street.

The menu is classic French bistro, and very extensive. Making a selection was proving difficult, as we quaffed the very good Viognier (@ £18.50). Finally, H settled on Moules Mariniere (this version served with cream), B had steak tartare (could have done with a little more tabasco), while I chose the tuna carpaccio, which was excellent – melt in the mouth with capers, garlic and a sauce vierge.

Moving on to main courses, H went for pan roasted pork belly, which came with figs and potato puree (mash!). She was very impressed, though personally was not that keen on the figs.  B had seafood linguine, which was stuffed full of mussels, clams, squid and prawns. My roasted duck breast was also good, though it maybe could have been a bit pinker. But the cherries and sauce that accompanied it, kept it moist and tasty, as did the parmentier potatoes.

The dessert manu was full of classics, all sounding very tempting, but we resisted. Service was excellent, charming and alert. With a second bottle of Viognier, and 12.5% service, the bill for the three of us was just £108 – excellent value for such a prime position and spot-on food. A superb place to recommend, especially for tourists.

Top tapas near UCL

My old friend S. has recently moved jobs and is now herding cats (“change management”) at UCL. He’d been exploring the local area, so when I suggested lunch he came up with the Norfolk Arms, on the corner of Sandwich St and Leigh St. because he’d been impressed  by the hams hanging in the window, and the long list of tapas available.  

I arrived first, and sat outside in the sunshine with my tumbler of Sauvignon Blanc. At another table, a couple were finishing their platter of mussels and jug of sangria. Although the place outside looks like any other pub, this didn’t seem like central London at all. When S arrived we went inside. The place is full of stripped tables and floors, naked plaster walls, with huge garish mirrors, and the central bar (which divides the drinking area from the laid up tables) full of ham slicers and nibbles. It felt like it had been recently converted, but apparently it’s been open for five years.

There is a main meals menu (with sea bass and suchlike), but we went for the tapas menu which was extensive, including a variety of national dishes (hummus, aubergine salad, even Scotch egg) as well as traditional Spanish ones.  After much deliberation, we eventually choose the plate of cured meats (prosciutto, chorizo, bresaola, salami), the boquerones (anchovies), patatas bravas, and something called rojones (paprika spices pork belly) together with a basket of bread.

The food arrived fairly promptly (we’d ordered quickly to get ahead of a big group of 12 or so), and very attractively presented. The meats came on a wooden platter, together with a dish of beetroot puree (a lovely sharp flavour). The anchovies were  vertical in a small bowl, looking like a flower, and the patatas bravas complete with mayonnaise sitting on thick and spicy tomato sauce. The rojones were lovely, despite having quite a lot of fat on them – and it was a large portion.

Service was friendly and efficient without being anything special. I had another tumbler of Sauvignon Blanc, and S had Rioja. A bill of £38 (including service), seemed like excellent value, as I wandered off full and happy to explore the village of Marchmont Street and Russell Square.

Excellent curry near St Paul's

After a wine tasting at Davy’s Wine Tun, we wander down Carter Lane to find somewhere for dinner. Down Burgon Street, a little side street by the Rising Sun pub, we come across Anokha, an Indian restaurant. There’d previously been an Italian and a Thai on this site, so we thought we’d give it a try.

It’s now only a small place, maybe 20 covers, on two levels. The lower level would be pretty claustrophobic, but we were OK on the upper one. It was about half-full when we arrived, but it did fill up while we there.

Poppadoms and pickles were followed by crab cakes and spicy squid rings off the specials menu to start. The crab cakes were excellent – light, crabby, and soft, totally unlike a Thai version. The spicy squid lived up to their name, with good light batter.  The standard menu starter list was also interesting, including duck tikka, duck puree and scallops puree as well as more conventional dishes.

The main courses on the specials menu were monkfish rogan, tandoori sea bass and mussels$ in a karahi sauce. But we went for the chef’s signature dish, Aada Gosht, lamb with fresh ginger and green herbs, and a king prawn jalfrezy. Both were excellent and full of well-judged spicing. Bhindi, tarka daal, and pilau rice played solid supporting roles.

With a bottle of Merlot at £15, the total came to just under £80 – maybe more than we’d normally pay for a curry, but in central London and for such good quality still really good value.

Return to Forty Dean Street

We’d had a good time here in a group previously  (11th June), so when we were planning a reunion dinner for 10 of us, it seemed a good idea to return. We were sat further in, but it was still a good atmosphere and friendly and efficient service. As we were waiting for some of the group to arrive we had some garlic bread – not really garlicky enough.

The bresaola was not available, so I had the prawns in garlic and tomato sauce. The four large prawns were fine, but there was too much tomato sauce really. My main course was saltimbocca a la romana which came with spinach and potatoes – rather dry.  B had linguine with prawns which she thought was fine (quite spicy), but others were less impressed with their spaghetti with meatballs or the Caesar salad. After some adjustments for the amount of wine consumed (!), we paid £100 for the two of us.  A rather less successful visit than last time.

South Croydon Chinese

Since My Old China closed in Purley, we don’t have a local Chinese other than take-aways. Often we go to the Sichuan Cottage in Coulsdon, but one Monday when we fancied Chinese we thought we’d try out the South Croydon “strip” – or “Restaurant Quarter” as the Council would have us call it.

So after a short bus ride, we arrive at the Beijing Cottage. Not surprisingly it was pretty quiet inside, with just one other table of 6 occupied. Despite this it was quite a while before our wine order was taken, and the Sauvingon Blanc arrived. Not the “quick wine” we like!

The menu is very extensive, with many unusual dishes as well as the more traditional ones. After some dithering, we went for the prawn and chicken in lettuce and the soft shell crab to start. The former was a good size portion with plenty of crisp lettuce, and though tender was lacking in “oomph” – rather bland. The crab was tasty but not large, very crisply cooked.

Main courses were impressive. Particularly good was the paper-wrapped beef – succulent wrapped rolls of beef with plenty of ginger; maybe there could have been more, but a definite star.  Our other main course was sizzling king prawns; there were four options for sauce for this, so which we chose the in ginger and spring onion.  It was certainly sizzling loudly when it arrived, and the prawns were full of flavour – and again with lots of ginger.  Singapore noodles in support were spicy, with plenty of chicken and prawns mixed in.

After the slow start, service was fine, if not especially friendly.  £60 for the lot was a fair price, and so we drifted away impressed and well-fed.

 

Good Food Guide Indian

Babur Brasserie in Honor Oak Park has been open for 27 years now, and has featured in the Good Food Guide for some time.  To mark their anniversary, they were offering £27 off for a table of 4 or more, so with local friends we go along to celebrate. We’re a table of 6 on a Thursday night, and the offer seems to have appealed to many, as the place is quite full.  Our friends are regulars, so the waiters are chatty and relaxed.

The a la carte menu is quite unlike the usual curry house. A wide range of meats and vegetables in unusual combinations dominate – proper cooking. While choosing, we have a bowl of mixed pappadums – flaky, spicy, curly – with pickles.  The menu suggests matching wines with each dish, but  B and I choose a sauvignon blanc, while the others have beer, malbec and a martini.

B chooses the venison papli (patties) to start, while I go for the goat patties.   The venison is tasty enough, but such a small portion, while the goat doesn’t taste of a great deal at all.  Other starters include a beetroot “cutlet” and lamb tikka.  For main B has the marinated king prawns – very succulent and tasty, but again a modest portion. I have the coconut lamb – no problems with portion size there, tasty and rich. Sides include a dhal makhani (very creamy), okra in a tomato sauce and spicy spinach. Plus rice, naan and paratha.  

With the money off, the bill comes to £100 a couple – excellent value for such an interesting meal.  It’s always enjoyable here, but sometimes it doesn’t quite live up to the billing.

 

Borough market steak-house

We’ve been having a culture day at the Damien Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern – pretty strange, though the butterfly pictures are attractive. Naturally, we then have a glass upstairs in the bar, which has splendid views over to St Paul’s.  Well, it does as first, but when the rain comes, it’s impossible to see across the river except when highlighted by lightning striking the Old Bailey. That puts paid to the idea of a gentle stroll along the Southbank, so in a lull we hurry back towards London Bridge.

At the edge of Borough Market we call in at Black and Blue, an excellent steak-house. You can’t miss it – it has a huge model cow on the roof! It’s more or less the middle of the afternoon, so fairly quiet, so we get to sit in a booth, rather than slightly small standard tables.  It’s a nice room for a steak-house; light and airy rather than dark and warm, and the waitresses are very lively and attentive. B&B is now a small chain of seven restaurants in the smarter parts of London.

To start we have garlic king prawns – huge and succulent – and foie gras mousse, which comes with a sweetish brioche bread.  We share the cote de boeuf (600g) for main, served nicely rare on a wooden board with a few leaves as decoration, and a pot of very creditable chips. It’s a tidy piece of meat which we struggle to get through, and end up with a “doggy bag” to enjoy the following day.  The wine list offers several Malbecs and other Argentinian reds, but quite quickly goes up in price – we settle for a Tilia Malbec at £26.  The bill comes to a reasonably good value £85 – good if you like your steak.

Good Thai in Purley

With our friend H staying with us, I suggested that for a change we went to Baan Thai. We used to go quite frequently when they had a very funny and camp waiter who made it a fun evening. He left when the place changed hands and it never seemed quite the same. But this evening we fancy something spicy but not as heavy as a curry – so we give it a go.

It’s a very warm evening, so that also makes it a good choice, as this is the only restaurant with a garden in Purley, and luckily there is an outside table free for us.  The garden is like a temple garden, complete with Buddha. There’s now an outside gazebo thing, presumably for the smokers, which is used as an overflow for high-chairs etc, so it’s not a stylish as it could be – but very pleasant in the heat.

We decide not to have starters, so go straight into the mains – tamarind duck, tiger prawns in chilli oil, crying tiger (steak strips with chilli dip) and Singapore noodles.   The duck is really lovely -  tasty rich sauce on juicy meat. The tiger prawns are also excellent, tasty and juicy with a good kick to them.  The steak is probably the least successful, though still tender and interesting.  Singapore noodles have a good lot of chicken and prawns in them, and also have a kick.

Service is friendly and efficient, though not as much fun as before. With a couple of bottles of a Chilean sauvignon blanc (£15 each), this comes to around £60 (not sure exactly as H pays).  Very good value.

So a couple of weeks later, we make a return visit, just the two of us.  It’s a Saturday night, and pretty busy at 8pm, and not the weather for sitting outside – fortunately a couple are just leaving so we don’t have to wait for a table.  This time we have the Thai fishcakes and Thai dumplings to start. Not so impressive – the dumplings are a bit rubbery and the fishcakes on the leathery side; tasty though. For mains, B chooses the same tiger prawn dish, while I go for the spicy duck. We also have a beef salad and jasmine rice. The prawns are good as before, and the spicy duck pretty spicy. But the best dish is the beef salad – a very fresh tasting dressing which also is spicy.  Another good meal, at £56, so Baan Thai is now added to our list of favourite local haunts.

Back at the Derby Arms

Dodging the heavy showers, we catch the train again to Tattenham Corner, for Sunday lunch at the Derby Arms. Outside nearby was a huge puddle from the downpour, which managed the optical illusion of some of it being higher than the rest. Anyway we were lucky enough to remain dry and settle into our table spot on time at 2.30pm.

I’d been told when I booked that the table would be occupied at 12.30, and we would have to leave by 4.30pm.  I’m never very happy with this sort of policy, but in this case it was totally unnecessary as there were several tables free when we arrived, and even more free when we were ready to leave (actually before 4.30pm as it happened).  Maybe they’d had cancellations because Andy Murray was in the Men’s final.

Both the ladies had the scallops special starter. The pumpkin puree was more of a jus,  which was fine by them, and came with a tangy salad mix.  I ordered a chicken satay  “leaves”, which was a huge portion of rather dry chicken albeit with a good satay sauce.  As it turned out, this was a main course size – they happily changed the bill at the end.

Several huge plates of roast Sunday lunch were carried past – massive Yorkshire puddings – but we went for the normal menu. H had pork fillet wrapped is prosciutto and sage with a blue cheese sauce, which came with half an apple, and also ordered the green and broad bean dish.  As the seared tuna was “off”, B had the linguine with tiger prawns, crab and an attractively spicy chorizo .  I had the lamb rump, with a mound of butternut squash ratatouille – and some excellent piping hot chips.

Two bottles of Rothschild Viognier (£20) took the bill to £110 for 3 – pretty reasonable.

Return to the Fish and Grill

After the previous unhappy experience at the Fish & Grill in South Croydon, I wrote to complain, and got a very good reply from Malcolm John’s PA, with a welcome offer of a free bottle of champagne next time we visited. So as our friend H was visiting, we thought we’d share it with her.  The PA made the booking for us, and sure enough when we turned up the house champagne (normally £39) was on ice at the table.

It was a busy Friday evening, but the service was prompt and attentive with the bread basket (a very tasty selection) coming quickly, though the lead waitress still didn’t smile much.  The choice of starters is impressive, and mains live up to the restaurant’s name. In the end we had the scallops with pomegranate which were excellent, the yellow fin tuna tartare with ginger and white radish which is always very good and deep fried squid with courgettes and artichoke – OK but not so special.

The place was getting quite lively now, but the waiters were very good at keeping people happy and enjoying the evening, giving a nice feel to the place: smart but not formal.

The market fish of the day was Dover sole, which H went for.  It was a good sized fish, and came with a good pile of hot crisp chips. B’s choice was stir-fried Atlantic Prawns, also a good size, with plenty of depth of flavour. I had the seafood mixed grill – a fine selection of swordfish, sea bass, prawns and mussels – good but probably just the sum of its parts.  We washed this down with a couple of bottles of Argentinian Viognier at £23 each, bringing the total with service to £154 for a very pleasant evening.

So top marks to Malcolm John for handling our complaint well, and for another good meal.  The gesture won’t have cost them much, but has re-confirmed us as regulars there, and at his other restaurants.

Hampton Court bistro

Over at Hampton Court for the Flower Show, we go with our friend D to Blubeckers for a meal beforehand.  Blubeckers is now part of a small chain called Home Counties Pub Restaurants,  though this one is not pub-like at all, more bistro style: lots of moody black and white photos on the wall.  Quite a relaxed vibe, and perfectly situated for the Palace, as it is right across the road from the gates.

We arrived about 3.30pm, as D had a voucher for 20% off it we arrived before 4pm.   It was reasonably busy for that time of day, with several other people going to the show.  It’s a big place though, with an attractive upstairs reached by a spiral staircase.

D had the deep fried calamari to start – very nicely cooked in a dry batter, and supported by a chilli and garlic dip. B had the crab cakes which were also good, with lots of crab.  My tempura king prawns were less successful, the batter being rather soggy and the prawns not very flavourful; the mango salsa it came with was good though.

For mains, D had the Moroccan chicken which was a good sized portion with lots of sauce.  B had the salmon teriyaki, which was not such a good size, though it did have a good sauce.  My seabass fillets with prawns and ginger were good, though they could have done with more ginger.

With 2 bottles of a NZ Sauvignon Blanc (£18.95 each), this came to £100, less the £20 discount.  Certainly good value at that price, and pretty good anyway.   Probably not worth going out of your way for, but if you’re around there it’s a good choice.

Fish restaurant near Brentwood

Over in Essex, we go with M&S to Alec’s near Brentwood. It’s in a very pretty location opposite a cricket pitch and with good views down over the valley. And inside is very attractive too : elegantly laid table with plenty of space between them,  interesting picture of crustacean on the walls – for Alec’s specialises in fish and seafood.  It’s a Friday night so we’ve been told we have to book at 7pm and be prepared to hand the table back by 9pm – an arrangement I’ve never liked since Conran first started doing it.  So to be on the safe side,  we turn up at twenty to seven – to be told our table was booked for quarter past!  Anyway we sit down straight away, order some wine (NZ sauvignon blanc @ £18) and beer, and turn our attention to the menu.

There is a wide range of interesting sounding fish and seafood starters plus a crispy duck and an asparagus salad;  main courses include several different fish dishes (some quite expensive at £25 - Dover sole, wild seabass, turbot, lobster), plus a small number of meat dishes – steak, lamb, pork.  After ordering we get the bread (good), and some very large green olives.

M has grilled mussels and I have razor clams, which come with similar crusted toppings, mine with more chilli -  very good.   B has sashimi (tuna, salmon and cod) with pink ginger and wasabi – also very good. S has white crabmeat ravioli with asparagus and tomato, which she says is good, but looks a bit heavy to me.

The sun shining through the window makes the place look bright, and it fills up pretty quickly, with Essex’s great and good in their finery. One table of eight seems to have been allowed to book for 8pm, but otherwise it seems we are all eating against the clock.

Main courses are also impressive.   S’s roast cod is excellent – flaky, tasty with a good little crust on it. M’s battered cod and chips is more ordinary – but what do you expect?   B has grilled monkfish and king scallops with Atlantic prawns in a “lemon butter sauce” – it’s all tasty but the sauce is much richer than you would expect and she’s not able to finish it.  My hake with Asian fish sauce is delicate and tasty, very good value.  We also have some side dishes, but they are nothing special.

It’s now ten to nine, as we are presented with the dessert menu.  There are some interesting options, but we’re not up for it, so M and I order liqueur coffees.  We’re then asked to leave the table and go upstairs to their lounge to finish our wine and have the coffees.  As it happens that’s fine – but I wonder what would have happened had we ordered dessert. We hadn’t loitered over the food – the timing was all down to them.

Upstairs is nice too – rather modern seating, but comfortable enough, and a piano player being ignored by everyone –  a pretty thankless job.

Anyway it all comes to £211 for 4 before service- but that was with 4 bottles and the coffees.  Impressive food and location – but a shame about the booking policy.  Maybe going earlier in the week would be a more relaxing experience.

Riverside in Vauxhall

After a long day in the sun at the Oval, we go back to Vauxhall and St George’s Wharf on the riverside. There is a big Fuller’s pub here, with lots of outdoor seating, and Aqua Brasserie, also with plenty of tables outside.  We have booked a table indoors, but as there’ve not been many chances to eat outside this year, we go and settle down in the rattan chairs. Very nice spot with views over the river, up to Battersea Power Station and down to the Houses of Parliament and the Eye.  Of course the trouble with eating outside these days is that you get all the smokers there as well, including in this case two portly men with large cigars just upwind!

The menu is rather limited: burgers, pizza, pasta, and a couple of salads. There’s also a “2 for 1” deal on pizza and pasta, which is needed because individually they’re expensive - £15/£16; so make sure you take a friend.  B has the spaghetti mare, which has plenty of prawns and calamari that comes in a heavy tomato sauce, livened up with lots of chilli and garlic. I have the pizza with chorizo and roasted vegetables, which is a very thin crust offering, with enough topping but not ample.  With a South African Chenin Blanc at £18.50, the bill is a modest enough £40 but includes a hefty 18% service charge – must cost a lot for the view!

Overall, rather disappointing, certainly not worth going out of your way for despite its position.  OK if you’re at Vauxhall and the sun is shining, though I think I’d go to the Fullers pub next time.    

Epsom Downs gastropub

The sun is shining for once so we head off on the short train ride to Tattenham Corner, for a healthy (and blowy!) walk around Epsom Downs.  We stop off at the Rubbing House by the racecourse finishing line for a glass, before heading on to the Derby Arms at the back of the Grandstand for lunch.  This is one of a small chain of 8 or so pubs in the area including the Ramblers Rest at Chipstead and the Bell at Godstone.

It has a similar laid back style to the others as well – dark stone floors,  solid wood tables.  We arrive around 2pm, and it is still fairly busy, but it’s a large enough place and we get a table easily.  Bread with oil and vinegar arrive promptly after ordering, as does the bottle of Verdejo (£22) – we like “quick wine”.

For starters I have the kofta sumac, which comes with a sweet chilli sauce rather than the tsatsiki advertised. This is presented as two lollipops of meat with an interesting garnish, and goes down well.  B has the soft shell crab. This is deemed to be OK, in a nice batter, but not as good as ones at our favourite Malaysian in town.

Mains are tuna for B – asked for pink, and this isn’t really, but it’s not too dry either – and seabass broth with pak choi for me. This is excellent, the fish cooked accurately and the broth full of interesting flavours, with ginger, soy and a hint of chilli.

The bill comes to £70 without service, which there is no opportunity to add on the machine. So we leave cash, which probably is easier for the staff.  Despite the minor reservations, this is a pleasant place to eat, one to which we’ll no doubt be back sometime.

Italian in Soho

Off to a late lunch/early dinner with friends in Soho, before going on to Ronnie Scott’s. After a bit of Googling, we’ve settled on Forty Dean Street, as it’s open all day. It’s quite a small place, with a lot of character, and they are decorating it with flags for Euro 2012. Mid-afternoon it is still quite busy, but then Soho on a Saturday usually is. More surprisingly, it’s a lovely sunny day, which means they have the front of the restaurant open to the street, giving a great continental feel.

There’s quite a choice of classic Italian dishes on the main menu, plus an interesting selection on the set lunch list at £16 for two courses. Out of the seven of us, only four have starters – and then only two different ones. I had the pan-fried squid in spicy coriander sauce off the specials list – good, nicely cooked squid rings (no batter) and the sauce has quite a kick to it. The other option chosen was chicken livers with poached egg – which looked good, and was highly praised.

For mains, three of us had the chicken Milanese with spaghetti in tomato sauce. Good sized portions of chicken in a light breadcrumb covering were tasty but a little dry, so needed the spaghetti to complement it. B had the seafood risotto, which was a smaller portion, but with plenty of seafood. Other choices included a solid looking pork belly and penne gorgonzola.

Service was efficient and friendly (if a little distracted by the football at the end), so we drifted through a leisurely afternoon. At under £35 a head, a definite plus.

Desserts at Ronnie Scotts included ice-cream, a substantial sticky toffee pudding and a large cheeseboard, with an excellent aged cheddar, and a sharp stilton.

Lunch at Piccadilly

After 2 hours slogging round the Royal Academy looking at the Summer Exhibition, we needed some serious sustenance nearby. With our friends M&P we head to Swallow Street and Fishworks. There is a branch in Richmond that we’d been to before and liked, so we’re pretty hopeful about this one.

Fish is laid out on ice on the slab by the door, and the whole feel is of somewhere serious about its fish. It’s not too busy so we get a nice table easily enough. I order a Viognier off the “Reserve List”, only to be told they don’t have it, and am offered a more expensive one (£24) instead.

As well as an extensive range of choices on the menu - most mains at around £15, though some up at nearer £20 - there is a specials board with options at £24, and we are also shown some fish for sharing, including a huge sea bass.

But we stick with our standard selections. P has whitebait to start, which disappears without trace, so I assume they were good. M and I have the fish soup which I think is a bit disappointing – not peppery enough and the rouille doesn’t have any real kick; it also goes cold quickly.

For mains, M&P both have filleted sea bass which they say is very good, accompanied by a red onion salad and chips. B has yellow fin tuna with black pepper and a rocket salad, which is cooked beautifully rare, and is very tasty. I have the Dover ray with capers, which must originally have been a huge fish, as my sizeable portion looks to be about one tenth of the whole thing. It’s a little overcooked on the thin end, but the flavour of the thick side is very good.

Service is OK rather than anything special, but at a bit over £40 a head overall, it’s very good value – though you could easily be tempted into spending more.

Weekend in Cardiff

Friday evening and the sun is shining in Cardiff, so we head off early down to the Bay for a drink before dinner. It’s getting quite busy down there with the Bank Holiday weekend, but we find a place in the garden of the Eli Jenkins. Then at 8pm, we head into our restaurant for the evening – Bayside Brasserie.

The restaurant is up on the first floor, with big picture windows offering views of the bay and of the Millennium Centre. The tables are finely dressed with cloths and napkins and there is a big chandelier in the centre. Our table is by a window at the side – not the best view, but interesting enough.

Staff are attentive and bring menus and wine (a lovely Alan Scott NZ Sauvignon Blanc- £23) promptly. We order – and within ten minutes the starters arrive. B has the pan-fried scallops with a salad –very delicate scallops, top marks. I have the strips of calamari – rather more ordinary.

Main courses follow hot on the heels of the starters. B has the pan-roasted chicken with white bean and bacon fricassee – very interesting. My tenderloin of pork wrapped in Parma ham comes with a very strange black pudding mash – tasting of nothing, but looking rather revolting; the pork is good though. We’re both rather full, and feeling a bit disappointed that by 9.15pn, we’re through our meal and looking for something else to do with the evening. There are times when you want prompt service, but on a Friday away a more leisurely evening is what you’re after, though the meal was good value at £77.

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On Saturday we have a late lunch after the Wales-Barbarians match with my brother and his wife. He’s researched La Tasca on the net, so we head off there, in the so-called “Brewery Quarter” – ie the old Brains brewery building. The menu is slightly different from the one we have in Croydon – though as it has many “new” things on it, maybe the Croydon one has changed too.

We were expecting it to be busy, as there were 52,000 at the match, but when we are shown upstairs it is surprisingly quiet. It’s pretty sultry though – hot and humid- so we move to a table nearer the window.

We end up with each couple ordering dishes for themselves. We have king prawns, prawns in garlic, chorizo and empandas to begin with. The prawns are all very good, and the chorizo fine. The empanadas don’t have the same crisp pastry that our local Argentinian does, but the filling has quite a kick to it. We follow up with some Serrano ham and a paella “La Tasca” – with chicken and prawns, and mussels (well , one mussel actually). Excellent flavour though, so we hoover up all the rice. We have the rose Faustino with it.

At £40 a head for the whole thing, this was a very good lunch.

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Later that evening we head off out again, not that we’re really hungry. As it’s now pouring with rain we head for the nearest place, again in the Brewery Quarter – Spice Quarter. This stylish Indian is upstairs and is tastefully decorated with dark woods screens etc. As it’s quite late, there aren’t many people in, so we get a good table and prompt service, bringing a house Merlot and a mix of poppadoms.

We share the North Indian garlic chilli chicken – complete with 3 chillies on the menu – and a Delhi special lamb with chilli, ginger and coriander with rice plus a bhindi massala on the side. Both dishes are full of flavour and very rich - £50 for the lot was very acceptable.

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On Sunday, B’s uncle and his wife collect us and drive us to Penarth, to El Puerto in the Old Custom House, by the marina and the Cardiff Bay barrage. This is an elegant old building, nicely restored to house the restaurant, and its sister the Marinara upstairs. It’s a surprisingly big place, and so despite there being several large groups in, it doesn’t feel cramped or too busy.

We order some wine and drinks, and then head to the food bar. The thing here is that you go up to the bar to order your food, which is cooked (generally simply) for you and brought to the table. The food bar has all the meat and fish laid out for you to inspect, and the range of options is huge. I change my mind three times before settling on the calamari followed by the lamb noisettes, with the venison, duck and sea bass all being tempting. B passes on the starter and orders “crevettes” – in practice 6 huge king prawns. Our hosts have avocado and prawns, followed by duck breast, and asparagus spears followed by venison – half a herd.

The avocado was beautifully ripe, and apparently the asparagus were good too. Unfortunately, my calamari were a little on the rubbery side, with not very impressive batter. We all enjoyed our main courses, though the “seasonal vegetables” were barely touched. As we were treated to the meal, I don’t know how much it cost, but the individual prices looked very reasonable.

Service was very good and attentive, bringing fresh drinks, replacement napkins etc very promptly. So overall I’d say it was a good place for a relaxed informal lunch, especially if you had good weather and wanted a walk across the barrage.

Sunny lunch in pub garden

We’re lucky in Purley in being able to catch a train out towards the Downs and walk to a number of really nice pubs. So with the sun shining we set off and decided en route to head for the Kingswood Arms.

Within a stone’s throw of the station, the Kingswood Arms is a traditional pub with a conservatory restaurant and a decent sized garden. The pub part is stuffed full of golfing and darts trophies; the conservatory is light and airy, but it was the garden that attracted us. The menu was a bit more restricted out there, but it was such a nice day. With the Jubilee approaching the garden was covered in bunting, and ads for their weekend BBQs, but otherwise it was pretty quiet (so why some idiot had to sit directly behind me, and keep bumping into me I don’t know).

They wouldn’t serve the special menu dishes outside, and would only bring all the food together – so we passed on starters. For main course, I had the Barbary duck breast: this was a good portion of nicely-cooked duck, served with potato rosti and Provencal vegetables. The sauce was supposedly a “brandy jus” – a bit cloying. B had the king prawn linguine, which came with loads of prawns and, pleasingly, no tomato sauce.

Service was prompt and friendly (though you had to go in to order food and drinks), and the entertainment was provided by the manager having to re-attached the bunting to the sun-shades as it blew off in the wind.

With a bottle of Viognier at £18, the bill came to £45 – very reasonable for a good lunch in the sunshine.

Stylish place in Victoria

Looking for somewhere to meet a friend for lunch near Victoria, I came across Bank Westminster in Buckingham Gate. It’s the sister restaurant of one we went to in Birmingham for a graduation lunch, so I thought it would be worth a try. The entrance is through the St James Court Hotel, which is rather odd, as you have to walk through to the back, past conference rooms etc. The restaurant itself is in a light conservatory with views over the courtyard (though not with access to it which is a shame as it’s a lovely day). It’s pretty busy, but the service is attentive and friendly.

After an amuse bouche of gazpacho, for starters, D and I share an “Asian plate” - excellent spicy fishcakes, tempura prawns, crispy squid, duck spring roll, Malayan chicken skewer, with hoi sin and chilli sauces; good value for £17.75. B has roast scallops with asparagus – full of flavour.

D, who runs a WeightWatchers course, chooses the Halibut from the specials menu, which comes simply cooked with lemon butter, and a naughty but nice bowl of chips (which she omits from the photo she takes!). Apparently the Halibut is good, but at over £20 you’d hope it would be. B has the pork belly with excellent crackling, while have a nicely pink tuna au poivre. We also have the peas with bacon.

With 2 bottles of Viognier, water and coffee, the bill comes to £192 for the three of us, so not a cheap option. But generally I’d say it wasn’t bad value for money for central London.

Great Argentinian steaks

We’ve been regulars at Buenos Aires in Purley since it first opened, and have followed its development with interest - a move next door to its original location, plus new branches in South Croydon and Wimbledon. They’re also opening in Watling Street in the City.

As an Argentinian steak house, it’s not really the place for vegetarians, though they have added some new items to the menu. Steaks come in all kinds, and in three different sizes. On our recent visit we began with garlic prawns and chicken empanadas – lots of flavour to the prawns, and a good crisp, firm pastry to the empanadas. For main course I had the 225g (8oz) rib-eye with a Malbec sauce and excellent chips; B had the steak salad – cooked fairly rare, with a good dressing on the salad.

The welcome is always very warm at BA. The lovely waitress was keen to tell us all about her forthcoming appearance in Vogue – as a designer. The dark wood environment is also welcoming and the place is usually very busy at weekends.

We usually go for the Tapiz Malbec (£25) here – it complements steak very well - so in total we get away with under £80, very good value for a really good experience. On the first Wednesday of each month they have a tango night, now with a professional dancer, so that’s a lot of fun too.