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.