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.