November catch-up

I’ve got a bit behind with my reviews so here are a few quick comments on recent places we’ve been.

Cay Tre, Vietnamese restaurant in Dean Street. A group of 8 of us descended on the interesting place recently. It’s lively and buzzy, maybe a bit canteen-like, more suited to a group than a couple. Lots of unusual dishes on the menu, especially starters. My choices perhaps weren’t the best – chicken and prawn pancake followed by a noodle bowl . But others’ dishes did taste good. Definitely worth a try at under £100 for 2.

Cape Town Fish Market in Argyll Street is ideally positioned for shopping or the Palladium. Part of a SA chain with a good reputation, this branch doesn’t quite hit the spot. It’s attractive enough with a big fish tank, but the service was poor, and the food unexceptional.  The salt and pepper squid was ordinary, though the queen scallops in the shell attractive and nicely cooked. Fish “potjie” (spicy pot dish) was bland and the salmon teriyaki ordinary. At £79 with a bottle of wine, it’s not expensive for where it is – but we won’t be rushing back.

PJ’s in Wellington Street is an old favourite, a warm welcoming straightforward brasserie in Covent Garden. There were 6 of us for dinner – I had duck spring roll “shots” – 3 spring rolls with different sauces served in shot glasses – very good. Other starters were Arbroath smokie, Gorgonzola and fig tart, scallops and pancetta, merguez sausage and lobster and crab pate.  My main course tuna loin was just the right shade of pink, while others enjoyed chicken cordon bleu, lamb tagine and tuna Nicoise salad. With 3 bottles of wine this came to £83 a couple, but there was a 50% off food offer (which they do quite often) which saved us £70 overall.

A weekend in Cardiff to watch Wales v Australia (enough said) started with dinner at Woods Brasserie in Cardiff Bay. Set in a lovely old building, this restaurant is quite stylish and modern. There was a limited choice on the set menu, but a la carte available as well, I had scallops followed by duck breast – very nice. B had venison carpaccio then fish and chips; others had game terrine (very meaty) and pulled pork.  With 2 bottles of wine and a couple of glasses this was £140 for 4. I was impressed; B less so.

Finding somewhere for lunch on match day was always going to be a challenge, but S remembered a tapas bar they’d been to before - Ten feet tall in Church St, off St Mary’s St. Remarkably this wasn’t very busy at all, though we did have to sit outside. Tapas were 3 for £10 or 6 for £18, so we had spare ribs, chilli prawns, chicken pesto, belly pork, Serrano ham, and meatballs.   There were 4 pieces of each but they were rather small. Tasty though.  With wine at £13 bottle, a useful place to know for a quick lunch.

We’d pre-booked Pica Pica in Westgate Street for after the match – just as well as not surprisingly it was heaving.  There was a set rugby tapas menu for 4 available at £25 a head. This included pizza tostadas and patatas bravas, potato wedges, grilled mushrooms, bread and taboulleh was so was high on the carbs. Dates in bacon (nice idea), lamb kofta, piri piri chicken, meze platter, whitebait and chicken wings were also included along with a bottle of wine.  Not as elegant as lunchtime, but tasty.  Somewhat disrupted by someone rushing in from the bar area and stealing a lamb kofta from my plate!!

Southwark and Kings Cross

SET LUNCH AT LA CAVE

M&G suggest lunch at La Cave in Southwark, as it has an offer of £15/head for 2 course lunch with a glass of champagne.  We’ve been there before and know it’s ticked away on the lower level near the cathedral, so we arrive promptly to find M already there. G is on his way – and inevitably gets lost, so arrives needing the glass of fizz to calm him down.  As the name implies, the restaurant feels underground, and is sparsely decorated.  When we arrive there are only a couple of other people there, mainly playing with a coffee and a laptop – a few more do come in over the lunchtime, but it’s never busy.

The set lunch menu is wider and more interesting than I’d feared.  B and G have the mussels to start – a good sized steaming bowl in a good marinière sauce (no cream!), though they have to ask for bread. M has the chicken liver pate which is also large, with plenty of gherkins and pickles, while I have the goat’s cheese in filo pastry with honey – very interesting.

Service is fine, very French – amused but not completely on the ball.

For mains, M and I have the seabream, which is very good, with crisp skin and good flavour. B has the chicken in prosciutto and G the bavette steak – both pronounced acceptable. We have two bottles of Spy Valley, NZ Sauvignon Blanc at £31 and an excellent red Cote du Rhone (Grenaches/Syrah) at £28.50 (both at the bottom end of the price range). So with some water and coffee and 12.5% service our £60 lunch comes to £186.30 – beware of special offers !

 UNUSUAL MENU AT THE GRAIN STORE

We’re meeting J&K, so somewhere near King’s Cross is the best bet, and J suggests the Grain Store. Looking at the menu online, we’re a bit wary as there are mainly vegetarian and vegan options, but with nothing else to suggest we go with it. The restaurant is round the back of the station, across the canal and effectively the Central St Martin’s canteen in Granary Square. The whole area is a major development, so soon it will be very busy. On a Sunday lunch the Grain Store is already very buzzy, a bright lively space, with big windows, exposed ducting in the ceiling and an “exploded” kitchen – not as terrifying as it sounds, just open to view.  The place is owned by Chef Bruno Loubet and The Zetter Group's Michael Benyan and Mark Sainsbury, following on from the popular Zetter Townhouse.

We’re there first so order the white Rioja at £23 – pretty much the cheapest.  off. J&K arrive and we’re chatting away for ages until we eventually order), which seems to irritate the waitress. It’s 2.30pm and we’re told the special from the “Josper”  oven (apparently a charcoal combination grill/oven) is “off”, but as it was rabbit, we probably wouldn’t have gone for it anyway. The menu is slightly confusingly arranged into starters, medium-sized brunch items and mains. K has the Jerusalem artichoke soup with lovage pesto – very thick and warming. J has the mushroom & duck liver pâté, with celeriac remoulade and mulled wine jelly, which she is pleased with. B and I share a brunch sized (actually quite modest) fried duck egg with creamed chestnut mushrooms and toasted hazelnuts – a good and warming dish as well. For mains course J tries the wood pigeon , which she’s not had before. This comes with fermented red cabbage, tea soaked golden grapes and a truffle dressing, and is served fairly pink.  Not quite her taste I think, but pretty nicely cooked. K has the smoked salt lamb with lime pickled potatoes, minted cucumber, and fried egg from the brunch list – again quite modest. B has ordered the sea trout with Vietnamese style salad, and squid à la plancha – to be told that there is no squid. She asks what she will get instead, to be told she may get a bit more salad!  When it arrives there are no obvious extras, and the fish is pretty ordinary.  My braised beef with four splodges of root vegetable purées and some roasted onions is falling apart and very tasty, though the vegetables add little. It’s now 4pm, so we’re sternly instructed to order dessert quickly as the kitchen is closing. J orders the apple, blackberry & elderberry crumble which apparently comes with olive oil ice cream though it tastes just like vanilla to us. I get the carrot cake with goji berries (so hip!) and chamomile ice cream- the cake is good and moist. With three bottles of wine, a couple of glasses of house white, some water and a coffee this comes to a bit shy of £200 including service, pretty good value.  The place is very fashionable and rather too self-aware, but certainly a good option if you’re in the Kings Cross area, and if you are entertaining a vegan.

 

Glorious view over the river at Richmond

Meeting up with friends S and S at Richmond station, we walk down to the river and along towards Petersham. We’re heading for the Petersham Hotel which sits just south of Richmond on a hill overlooking a curve in the river. It had rained earlier but by the time we arrive the sun is shining and everywhere looks crisp and clean.  We’d asked for a table by the window, so we get the super views down  to the river (though they do claim that you get good views from any table). The restaurant itself is “modern classy” – neither achingly fashionable nor traditionally olde worlde – maybe a 90’s design.

We start with a bottle of South African Viognier (Wide River, Robertson) which at £24.50 is one of the cheapest on the list. And settle down to choose from the Summer set lunch menu (which ends on 16^th October). As we do that we can see the Royal barge Gloriana is heading away down the river. There is a huge boat race on today, with literally hundreds of vessels apparently, so this is a really good spot to watch from (a bit far away perhaps).

For starters we have the cured mackerel and pancetta with a chick pea salad and yoghurt dressing, and calves liver with chorizo and a little risotto.  The mackerel is really fresh and zingy, and the calves liver pink (and the risotto green!). For main course I go off piste and choose the chicken escalope wrapped in prosciutto with mozzarella from the a la carte list. Very enjoyable. B has the stuffed skate, as does S, and the other choice was a honey roast duck.  All well cooked and presented simply, without too many frilly diversions.

For dessert , S and I have a bitter chocolate bombe, with caramelised banana and pistachio ice cream – excellent. The other S has a summer fruit parfait which was also good.  B sticks at 2 courses.

By now we’ve finished 3 bottles of Viognier, but when we order another to go with the coffee, they have no more – another place we’ve drunk dry. So we move up to a Hawke’s Bay NZ Sauvignon Blanc (£29.50).

Service has been very good – efficient and friendly without interfering. They manage the trick of keeping our wine glasses filled without seeming to be trying to get us to drink faster. (As you can see we drank enough anyway!).

The bill comes to £260 including 12.5% service. But it’s not till later that realise that they have charged us for three 3-course lunches at £26.95, one 2-course lunch at £22.95 AND £17.50 for my chicken as well.  Bit naughty.

So looking back, although we enjoyed ourselves and the view of the river and race was super, the food itself was probably only OK for that price.  As an evening venue with no views it may be less appealing.

Catching up - July

Hampton Court by the river

Back in the summer, we were off to the Hampton Court Flower Festival for their opening evening event.  So we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Mitre Hotel by the bridge. It was a lovely day, so we were pleased to find there was still a table available outside on the terrace by the river, even one with an umbrella to shade us from the sun. It’s a gorgeous place to be, watching the ducks and the boats, and the occasional paddle steamer pottering around.

We started with (what else?) a bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc (£22.50), and some sparkling water.  B wasn’t that hungry so we shared a starter of chilli salt and pepper squid, which came with a good cucumber and onion salsa. It was lightly battered and gently cooked, so avoided the rubbery texture, and would have been an ideal snack at any time. For main course B had the spicy garlic lime chicken breast, lightly fried with rocket & red onion salad. The lime did really shine through, so this was a very refreshing summer dish.  I had the “Oriental style” fish and chips, which was strips of salmon deep fried with chilli, chips and a soy dipping sauce. An unusual variation on the classic, this was also a good dish for a hot day.

Not everyone was enjoying their meal however. One lady complained that the fish in her (ordinary) fish and chips wasn’t fresh.  The manager responded quickly (though at first believing it was we who had complained) and tried to assure her that it had been freshly delivered. Unimpressed the customer chose to switch to a risotto. Perhaps this reinforces the general rule of not ordering fish on a Monday.

Service generally was a little brusque, though with a change of shift we did get a more charming waitress eventually. All in all a pleasant place to be on a nice day, and at £70 pretty reasonable.

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Brasserie Vacherin

Malcolm John’s Fish and Grill has been re-branded as Brasserie Vacherin to match his other restaurant in Sutton and Le Vacherin in Putney, so we had to go along to see what this meant for the menu.  We are again eating early, this time ahead of a comedy show at the Fairfield Halls, and so it’s fairly quiet on a Sunday afternoon.  After Kir Royales to get us going, we order the Viognier, from Languedoc, at £23 – full of fruity flavour.

My favourite tuna tartare is still on the menu, but B beats me to it. It’s a fresh and zingy creation, with chilli and ginger, and more substantial than it looks. I start with scallops, cooked just right, with black pudding and bacon to make it heartier.   B’s sea bass is also a standard from the old days, and is still a sound version of the dish, presented quite simply. My supreme of hake off the specials list is rather flavourless in comparison, but meaty enough, accompanied by chips in the signature tin can.

Unusually for us we decide to share a dessert – crepe suzette.  This is a very fine example, retaining a good degree of sharpness in amongst the melting sauce.  With a 12.5% service charge added, this lot comes to £95, much the same price as it used to be.

Just 3 weeks later we decide to visit again, on a Saturday night so we have booked. The place is virtually full, and we’re rather shocked as we’re  to our table to find a live singer belting out the classics directly at us. It’s so loud you can hardly hear yourself think, and the choice of songs so hackneyed it makes Radio 2 look cutting edge.  The ladies night out at the table alongside him are lapping it up though.

We have Kir Royales and Viognier again and this time I get the tuna tartare. B has prawns with garlic and parsley, three of them nicely grilled in their shells. My main course veal escalope is rich and oozing. B has the grilled crab, again with chilli and ginger, which is a bit of a battle to extract from its shell. And again we have the crepes suzette – nothing too adventurous!

The couple at the table next to us are sharing the chateaubrand which comes served on a stand complete with bone marrow and saucer sized mushrooms. Even at £50 this looks like an excellent option.

This time we’ve racked the bill up to £120, with a couple of extra glasses of Viognier. Still pretty good, though I’d avoid Saturday night next time.

Two Holborn Italians

Meeting up one evening with friends G&P we go to an Italian they recommend in Red Lion Street - Isolabella.  It helps that there is a 50% off food offer! We were early so stopped for a quick glass in another Italian nearby, Bacco Restaurant and Wine Bar.  I’m not that familiar with Italian grape varieties, so I ask the friendly waiter for something similar to a Sauvignon Blanc, and he recommends the Pecorino Trabocchetto Talamonti . It is fruity and yet dry, so a pretty good choice at £7.50 a large glass.  We are also served a bowl of breads (even though we’d made it clear we weren’t having lunch there), including the wafer thin Sardinian bread, carta di musica.  The place was filling up even though it was early, so it may well be worth trying out another time.

 We see our friends go by, so drink up and go to find them in Isolabella.  We order the Verdicchio Classico, while G&P go for the Primitivo.  I had the Bresaola with rocket and parmesan, which was good,  while G and asparagus with egg, and P the smoked salmon.  For main course I have the liver Venezia, which has very caramelised onions; B has the fillet medallions with green pepper and brandy sauce, while G&P both choose Saltimbocca alla Romana. We also have side dishes of sautéed potatoes, garlic mushrooms and fried courgettes in a lovely light batter.

The place is pretty full, with a nice warm and relaxed atmosphere, and the waiters both friendly and efficient.   With the discount (which works out at just over £50), the bill is £122, so it would have been a bit pricey at full price.  But at the reduced price, It was a very enjoyable and satisfying evening.

Wine bar near Regent Street

WINE BAR NEAR REGENT STREET

Shampers in Kingly Street is an attractive little wine bar, tucked round the back just off Regent Street. It’s not a very big place and it’s always been very busy when we’ve been before, full of what appear to be regulars, so we’ve had to drink at the bar. This time four of us are having an early dinner before going to Ronnie Scott’s, so we have booked. There are a few empty tables, while the others are occupied by people finishing late and boozy looking lunches.

It has a very French feel, with posters and paintings for sale.  Actually it looks very similar to our old regular haunt, the Cork and Bottle in Leicester Square, and when we enquired apparently it was once part of the same group, but was sold off back in 1991.

We order the wine first, Montarels Viognier Côtes de Thongue Languedoc 2011 at £22 - very fruity. There’s quite a selection of specials on the board, as well as a fairly wide range on the menu.  For starters, S and V both have the pan-fried squid with chilli and ginger, which was well-received. B has the prawns , also with chilli, while I have the marinated anchovy fillets – both very good too.

Spinach featured strongly on the main course list.  S had calves liver and bacon with spinach and mash – she asked for it well done, and it came too pink, so she asked for it to be cooked some more, but even then it wasn’t to her taste.  B’s lamb fillet came with arrocina beans – and spinach – and was very tender.  To accompany my spinach, I had the char-grilled tuna steak with lentils – just this side of dry. Only V escaped, with her chicken sandwich (doorstep size) accompanied by chips and salad.

Between us we shared a pot au chocolat and a crème brulee for dessert – both very good.  So overall we were impressed with the food and the room. The only downside was the rather surly waitress, who was itching to get to the end of her shift.  With 3 bottles of wine and 12.5% service this came to £190 – less than £50 a head, so not bad for central London.

 

 

Short tour round Wales and the Cotswolds

We’d planned a few days away visiting friends and relatives, first to Cardiff, then to Bala, and back home via the Cotswolds. So one Wednesday we set off to South Wales along the M4. A couple of hours in, it’s lunchtime, so we find a pub in the Good Food Guide, the Neeld Arms in Grittleton  and leave the motorway at Junction 17. The village is a little way from the motorway, with buildings composed of very attractive Cotswold stone.

The pub itself is a 17^th century  building, proclaiming to be “proud to be a proper pub”, although it also has accommodation.  There is a simple open bar, moderately busy for a midweek lunchtime, so we find a seat near the back, with a less than attractive view over the back sheds.  There is quite a selection of interesting dishes on the specials board – fish, black pudding – and the standard menu has some unusual options too.  B is attracted by the antipasti selection with wild boar salami while I go for the pie special: steak and ale.  The landlord later tells us that they don’t have any wild boar salami, but B goes ahead anyway.  It is a very good antipasti plate, with three different meats and salamis, plus a range of salad. Some bread is served with it (though we’re not sure if this is extra – it is listed as such).  My pie is very good to, lots of meat, hot, and with a classic short-crust pastry- a proper pie.  With some wine and water, this comes to £37, pretty good value.

In Cardiff that evening, we recall a Thai restaurant we’d been to in the Brewery Yard, and return there – to find that is was an Indian, and had been when we’d visited before!  This is the Spice Quarter, with attractive contemporary  decoration, in a dimly lit series of rooms upstairs in the modernised block.  The menu has many unusual dishes, claiming to be “Authentic Indian Cuisine” – a selection of different poppadoms is the first sign of this. (We think we’ve ordered two portions, but in the end are charged for 4 – at £1 each).  To start B has Haryali fish – a crispy, pan-fried fish with interesting spices.  Normally wary of curried fish, B is pleased to find this a well-balanced and tasty dish. I kick off with the Peshawari lamb boti, a more conventional kebab style dish, despite its claims to “exotic spices”.

Main courses are a good if standard prawn jhalfrezi  and "Jalandhari duck” from the chef’s specials: roast duck in spicy sauce with cashew nuts, which comes with “lacche dar parantha”  - mint-flavoured bread. We also have “malai kofta” (cottage cheese dumplings), a dal, and mushroom rice.

The prawn dish featured good size prawns which actually had some flavour, and the duck was a deep, intense flavour, but lacking very many nuts. The cottage cheese had been a bold choice – which failed – but the other accompaniments were good. 

Service was understated,  just efficient enough, certainly not intrusive.  With two bottles of Sangiovese Malbec at £16.95 each the bill came to £95 including service, rather more than your average curry.  For the change from the ordinary you could regard this as reasonable – it felt just a little high in retrospect.

For the following day’s lunch  we’re at the Nant Ddu Lodge on the way to Brecon.  Situated in the National Park, near the reservoirs and with plenty of walking nearby, this is an attractive hotel and spa.  There is a restaurant area, but we eat in the bar, a small but pleasant space with stripped pine tables. There are plenty of specials on the board, and the standard menu is extensive with some unusual combinations.  B has the scallop linguine, which is very rich with too much sauce, while I have the stuffed trout, which is excellent. The bill is £57 including a bottle of Chenin Blanc.

Dinner the next day is at the Brytirion Arms, Llandderfel near Bala – “The Bryn”, my brother’s local.  It’s a simple, traditional pub in the Dee valley, with a couple of rooms. The restaurant area is only open in the evening, so we’re in the cosy bar which has a lovely wood fire in winter.  Of the five of us, only three have starters – Thai fish cakes for G&S, and a Thai trio for me – fishcakes, prawn roll, scallops.  All pleasantly cooked in a light batter, with a good spicy chilli sauce.  B has the grilled Gressingham duck with plum sauce for main – lovely pink slices in a balanced sauce.  I’m talked into having their signature dish the ‘Bryn bara’ – a mountain of bread  (literal translation) filled with local Welsh Black beef, mushroom and ale casserole.  Very rich and warming and no chance of finishing it!

Three ice-creams were also ordered which together with a range of drinks took it to £122 for the 5 of us – excellent value.

Our lunch stop on the way home was at the Lamb Inn in Burford, just down from Stow-on-the-Wold, another selection from the Good Pub Guide.  For a change it’s a lovely sunny day, we go through the lovely old building out into the extensive and attractive garden. I’m usually concerned about service when eating outside, but here there are staff in abundance, willing and eager to help. We’re late arriving so are lucky to get a table, as it’s obviously a popular summery spot.

B starts with asparagus and poached egg – fresh and well-executed. I have eggs benedict, also good, but perhaps more than I need. For main B has the dressed crab, which is also very good, but my crayfish risotto which, although tasty enough to begin with, is rather heavy and stodgy, and eventually a little dull.  A bottle of Chilean Luis Felipe Edwards Lot 66 Sauvignon Blanc at £19.00 and some water means the bill reaches a modest £67. With the lovely setting, the attentive service and generally good food, that’s a good result.

 

Reunion party in central London

For an annual get-together of ex-housemates etc, we decided this year to try out Cinnamon Soho in Kingly Street, just off Regent Street and down from Carnaby Street. This is the second offshoot of the wonderful Cinnamon Club in the old Westminster Library, after Cinnamon Kitchen; hopefully rather more accessibly priced.

There were 12 of us this year, so we were put downstairs, so it’s hard to gauge the general atmosphere. We’ve gone early, at 6.30pm as we were asked to, and we have been told that we will be limited to two and a half hours. Over the evening downstairs filled up with other groups and one unfortunate couple. It’s an uninspiring room, but between us we create a lively ambience.

The charming lead waiter took the drinks order promptly, and continued to be responsive as we went through the evening.  We mainly drink the Colombard Sauvignon Blanc from Horgelus, South West, France at £21 a bottle. He didn’t rush us to order though, and in the end they didn’t worry about the time limit.

Unusually there were no papadum options to keep us going, so we quickly agreed to get three plates of the “balls” selection between us while we continued to work through the menu choices. The balls were Crab Cakes, Potato Bondas, Vegetable Shikampur, Spiced Game, and Bangla-Scotch Egg. The crab and the scotch egg were good and spicy, but the others a little indistinguishable.

The booking email had offered a limited choice, but on the night were given the full menu, which was pleasing and gave us plenty of interesting options. We each chose a starter and main. I had the burnt chilli chicken, Indo-Chinese style, which was excellent with a real fiery kick.  B had the stir-fried shrimp with curry leaf and black pepper which was delicious - the little pastry cases stuffed full of flavoursome shrimps.  Other starters chosen were Kingly Seekh Kebab wrapped in a naan bread, which looked rather filling but was pronounced lovely,  Bhangra Burger with three dips – actually three little burgers, and again a largish portion – and  Tandoori chicken leg with fennel & coriander.

My main course was “Laal maas”, described as “fiery Rajasthani Lamb curry”. The meat was in a rich sauce, and was melt in your mouth, but it was not as fiery as the chicken starter really.  B had the  seared duck breast with sesame tamarind sauce, another good dish.  Other choices included: spice crusted Hake with Colombo curry sauce (looked very good); smoked saddle of Cumbrian lamb, mint onion sauce (a popular choice, generally approved); and spiced chicken korma.  We also ordered  black lentils (not as good as elsewhere),  Tandoori aubergine crush (something of a mush),  stir-fried okra with dried mango (though the mango didn’t shine through), a caper kachumbar (which was very refreshing) and a selection of breads.

As well as ice creams and sorbets, the desserts we had were a tasty, if smallish, mango brulée, and a chocolate and cumin cake.

Eight bottles of wine helped the total up to £560 (including service), or over £46 a head which bearing in mind that one of our number was a 9-year old is not cheap. But for the quality of what we had in such a central location, we all came away happy and satisfied, and we would certainly try it again.

Two Easter meals - a Chipstead pub, and a Covent Garden brasserie

RETURN TO A COUNTRY PUB

Not being a parent, I have decided views on kids in pubs, none of them favourable. I appreciate that those of you who have decided to perpetuate the human race may feel it unfair to be limited in where you can take your little darlings, but the effect on the rest of us can be startling.

So it was on a recent revisit to the White Hart in Chipstead.  On Easter Saturday, we braved the flurries of snow to walk up the country lanes from the station, and were pleased to see the fire roaring, a good few people in chatting amiably and a convenient table awaiting us.  The pub has a cosy bar, an adjoining restaurant doing a very good holiday trade, and an outside patio, which unsurprisingly was not that popular that day.  The menu extends beyond the standard classic pub meals into more challenging offerings, but it doesn’t claim to be a “fine dining” experience.

It’s understandable that on a holiday weekend, families will gravitate to the White Hart – most, however were accommodated in the restaurant, leaving the bar to the drinkers and the child-free, as it should be.  Fortunately we’d just finished our meal (of which more below), when the genial calm and sense of well-being that good food and plenty of wine can induce was shattered by the arrival of a double family group – 2 sets of parents and four kids.  

The atmosphere was transformed instantly. Two of the kids squabbled over some toy;  one wailed and one whined.  The parents chatted as if the kids didn’t exist, neither responding to them nor restraining them.  All serenity had vanished,  as the volume increased. We rushed to finish our drinks and leave.

This was a shame, as we had just enjoyed a leisurely and high quality lunch, with smooth and amiable service.  Admittedly it was a tad on the pricy side – 2 scallops with pork belly and pea puree were £10, and the total soon rose to £86 before tip.  But the scallops were very good, as were the spicy crab cakes with tamarind mayonnaise we shared with them.  B’s main course of poached chicken salad (a “light bite”) was enlivened by the orange slices, though the chicken itself was a little ordinary. My main course was an unusual pheasant kiev. The garlic filling was not as runny as I’d have liked, but there was a good kick to it; the pheasant itself maybe a bit on the dry side, though the accompanying gravy coped with that.  The vegetable selection it came with was extensive: red cabbage, curly kale, broccoli, parsnips, sweet potato fondant and far more butternut squash than any sensible person could eat.

We’d enjoyed a bottle of Chilean Viognier with that, and started on a second to go with our cheese – chosen from a selection of 6, we had Ragstone goat’s cheese, Blackstick’s Blue and  Lincolnshire poacher, a crumbly cheddar.  All very warming, satisfying and pleasurable – until the assault on the senses which drove us away.

COVENT GARDEN STALWART

We’d only discovered PJ’s Bar and Grill in Wellington Street about 18 months ago, and had held a 21^st birthday party for K there last November which went very well. However it’s been a long-standing feature of the Covent Garden scene since 1982, and has an air of permanence and history, bolstered by the celebrity photos you pass on the way to the loos.

We’d been looking for somewhere for a late lunch or early dinner before going to Ronnie Scott’s, and PJ’s came up on lastminute.com with a 50% off food offer for London Restaurant fortnight – sorted.  We arrived ahead of our friends M&G, and had started in on the Argentinian Viognier  Triviento (£20) by the time they arrived.  Mid-afternoon of course it was hardly busy, but there were enough people in to make it feel alive.

The menu choice is not huge, but interesting;  the roasts and steaks were excluded from the offer.  B dithered between at least three different options per course, before settling on the ham hock terrine with crispy poached egg to start, as did Gerry.  The terrine was very meaty, the egg just runny, though perhaps not as much as it could have been.  M had the soup of the day, celeriac and something, which was good and warming.  I had the salt and pepper squid, which was excellent, coming with a spicy chilli sauce and a good array of finely chopped vegetables.

For main course, Gerry had the calves liver and bacon with mash, which disappeared from his plate with alacrity. B had the pan-roasted sea bass with calamari and sweet potatoes and was impressed with that too.  My pork belly was a fine example, with exemplary crackling (not too tooth-threatening, but interestingly crisp), and the meat flavoursome. Sadly, M’s choice of 8-hour braised rib of beef was less successful: lots of bone, and the meat very fatty.

We’d had a second bottle of Viognier, and M&G had each had a glass of La Chamiza Malbec  also from Argentina.  Overall we’d had an enjoyable time and were happy to pay the £176 including service. Then as we were leaving we suddenly realised we hadn’t received the 50% off offer, so queried it. The manageress was very apologetic and quickly re-calculated the bill, handing us the £43 rebate in cash.  So we left with a warm glow at what (at least for three of us) had been a really good value meal.

Dim sum and a curry

As we need some things from the famous Wing Yip Chinese supermarket on the Purley Way, we decide to call in the Tai Tung for dim sum first. As usual it’s pretty busy with a good few Chinese people in there, but we’re lucky to get a table straight away. This is a no-nonsense place, so we just go for the house wine at £13.50.

We look through the dim sum list and tick off our selection on the little lottery ticket. We’ve gone for 7 dishes on this first pass – 3 steamed and 4 fried – plus jasmine tea. The selection is rather heavily prawn based: paper-wrapped prawn, prawn dumpling, prawn and chive dumpling and pork dumplings (with prawn on top).  Also grilled pork dumpling, squid cake (very good), and meat croquette (which B described as a savoury doughnut).  Generally good without being very special.

We’re pretty full, but we go round again with another paper-wrapped prawn and a mixed meat dumplings, which was billed as being spicy, but wasn’t especially, but was tasty and featured a lot of peanuts and the odd prawn. Most of the other dishes are in the outer realms of taste - chicken feet, curried whelks etc. So although we've enjoyed what we had, I doubt we'll be back very soon.

Service has been unusually friendly for a Chinese restaurant with several regulars being greeted warmly, and any questions answered happily.

With two bottles of wine and service, this lot comes to £55 – but you could get away with much less. Definitely somewhere to look in if you’re shopping on the Purley Way. 

 

Visiting friends in Theydon Bois, near Epping Forest, we are taken out to the local Indian restaurant, Indian Ocean. It’s a Saturday night, so we have to go early (6.30pm) and be ready to give the table back at 8.30pm, as it’s so busy and popular. The restaurant has won the “Tiffin Club” award from the House of Commons as the best South Asian restaurant in the UK, so the photos on the wall feature luminaries such as John Bercow and Keith Vaz.

The menu has quite a number of unusual dishes as well as the more common biryanis, baltis and tandooris. A feature is the number of different duck dishes.

Papadoms and Shiraz arrive fairly quickly. Then we select dishes: we’re advised portions are large so there’s no need to order much rice or bread or vegetables.  So B opts out of starters;   I have “Harryali Kebab” - chicken breast pieces with garlic, mint, green chilli and coriander, a rather dodgy green looking creation.  G has samosas, and P an interesting looking salmon tikka.

For mains, I have a lamb dish – toasted lamb strips with fresh green chillies – a pile of meat slapped on the plate, not pretty but nicely spicy. B tries the duck jalfrezi, which though nice meat does not have much in the way of kick it. We also share a pilau rice and a bhindi bhaji, which comes as very thinly sliced okra which have been deep-fried – more of a snack than a vegetable.  G has “Bhaarotiya” - chicken breast stuffed with raisin and garlic spiced mixed vegetables in a spicy sauce  - and P the tandoori mixed grill, which comes with naan and is huge – he can’t finish it.

Our second bottle is a Merlot as they’ve run out of Shiraz. Service has been pretty good, and the owner/manager comes over to chat, as G&P are regulars there. The place is very buzzy, and noisy, with a crowd of locals many of whom knew each other.  G&P generously paid the bill, but as main courses were around £10 each, I’d guess it came to about £70 plus wine.

For such a sleepy little place as Theydon Bois, this is a remarkable restaurant. Not sure I’d say it was the best in the UK, but I should probably bow to the much more extensive experience of Mssrs Bercow and Vaz.

Birthday treat - a mixed experience

It’s my birthday so I get to choose where we go. I’d seen Asia de Cuba online several times, so after checking a few other options, that’s what I go for when I see that toptable have an offer on a 2-course set meal with mojito. The restaurant is in the St Marin’s hotel on St Martin’s Lane, and is totally anonymous from the outside, looking more like an office block. Inside it is also rather characterless, despite their efforts. It’s light and there are round pillars with Cuban photos or books and retro radios; there are low slung filament light bulbs over every table, giving little light and just creating a network of wires; it’s not that busy and there’s no buzz to the place. It’s not helped by us being shown to a table down the far end of the restaurant, where one of us effectively has to look at the wall.

We’d checked the menu on the website beforehand to make sure there were things on the set menu we’d like.  But we’d also been warned when the restaurant rang to confirm our booking that the menu had been recently changed, making it “better and cheaper” – unlikely we thought.  So it was without much surprise that we saw that the dishes we’d liked were no longer available, and the main course options came down to salmon, chicken, a sandwich or tofu. The old menu is still on the website, so be warned.  The price has been reduced from £22 to £18.50, but that’s not really the point

The wine list is also pretty scary, with nothing under £25; we select an Australian Viognier for £29.50.  So I’m feeling a bit scratchy when the cheery waitress arrives, and I demand my mojito - they’re on their way she claims, and within seconds they arrive. They are very good, served in small jam jars, with the clean fresh mint and a good kick of tequila, so my mood lifts a little.

The waitress is very chatty, clinking our glasses together as they arrive. She squats down to take our order, so she is at our eye-level. This could feel pretty patronising, but she gets away with it with her chatter.  There is a trio of ceviche on offer at an extra £10, so choose that. This causes some confusion, as it doesn’t actually count as one of the two courses – which I means I have to order a dessert as well.  I’m puzzled by this, but as I’d been prepared to pay the £10 “supplement” anyway, actually I come out ahead.

The trio comprises grouper, snapper and salmon. The grouper is very sharp and freshly citrus tasting; the snapper a bit dull, and the salmon comes with an avocado puree and a chilli kick. B unusually goes for the miso soup with chicken – also with plenty of chilli.

B’s main course is the roasted salmon with sweet soy topping and a cucumber escabeche. Although this sounds a little dull, actually the fish had plenty of flavour and was nicely cooked, and the cucumber was good, so the dish worked better than expected. My chicken “with BBQ sauce” and sticky rice was a large portion of sliced chicken breast with just a little (enough) sauce that didn’t dominate its juiciness.  Again a dish that exceeded expectations.  My “extra” dessert was a “Cuban coffee brownie”, served with coffee ice-cream – very good.

There’s a whopping 15% service to add to the bill – and then the credit card bill is left open for “additional gratuity”. So that takes the total to £122 with 2 bottles of wine, which I think was a bit high for what it was (though you could have got away with £37 if you’d stuck to the one mojito and water).  If we’d seen the revised menu online, I doubt if we’d have booked it, but as it was I was glad to have given it a go. If go a la carte, starters were £6 to £10 and mains £18 to £25 – maybe worth it to get what you want.

The Chancery

Situated appropriately just off Chancery Lane, on a corner in Cursitor Street, The Chancery is a small, smart restaurant, clearly catering to a better class of lawyer.  All around are elegantly dressed men, virtually all in dark suits and sharp ties, and conservatively clad women. The place is full when we arrive for our “toptable” booking at 1.15 (having been specifically asked to come that crucial 15 minutes later).  Staff are welcoming and friendly enough, avoiding the formality that could easily spoil your fun in somewhere like this.

 

We arrive ahead of M&G, and struggle with the wine list. The Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier that featured at reasonable prices on the website are nowhere to be seen, and the prices seem to climb steadily.  We’re about to hedge our bets with a glass of Prosecco when the others arrive and we agree on a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet – a slightly fruity, off-dry white at around £25.

 

The a la carte menu is limited to 5 options per course at £28.50 for two, and £32.50 for three (though we’re on the “50% off food” offer).  The “limited a la carte” offers just three choices, but comes in at £39.50 for three courses – work that one out!   M and I decide to start with the cod cheeks in red wine while (after a last minute change of heart) G and B go for the duck’s egg.  The cod cheeks are small round disks of meat, with a rather unappealing dirty red tinge, served with a leek creation and cornichons – pleasant, rather than tasty.  On the other hand, the duck’s eggs had bright yellow yolks, were cooked to be runny and served with some cute little button mushrooms.

 

For main course, I chose the venison (£4 supplement) with beetroot. This came topped with beetroot slices and a small beetroot tart – a little odd. Apparently there was bitter chocolate in there somewhere, though I didn’t detect it – maybe that’s just as well. The meat itself though was excellent, just bloody with full flavour. B chose the plaice with razor clams and prawns, which came with a tasteless foam, and was rather dry and uninteresting.  Both M and Genjoyed the loin of pork rolled in ash, with creamed cabbage and pickled quince. M had also chosen a bottle of Dao at £26 to complement the meats – smooth and full.

 

To follow, G decided to try the rhubarb soufflé, while B and I shared the plate of French and English cheeses (£5 extra) which was good, with both bread and biscuit.  G was impressed with his soufflé which disappeared without trace.

 

Service had been a bit patchy: we’d waited a while to order (though this may have been partly due to G having to make a phone call outside), and one starter was delivered only to be whisked away again.

 

M&G generously paid the bill, so I don’t know the exact cost. But working on the fixed price menus, I think food would have nominally come to £132  - with our deal giving a saving of £66. The 4 bottles of wine were a little over £100, plus some water and coffee, so we’re looking at around £45 a head.  Good value at that price – a little more challenging if you added a further £16 each when paying full price.

 

A festive round-up

First up, mid-December on our way to a drinking reunion, we call in at Wahaca in Chandos Place (Charing Cross/Covent Garden).  I’d fancied the idea of going there for a while, and B had been to one down in Westfield Stratford, so as we’re up in the area, we decide to call in.  It’s a rather soulless entrance and a typical communal table with bench seats. There is quite a large group down the end, and a few other people around, but not what you’d call character.

We get a “quick” bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc (£19), and set about choosing options from the limited permutations on the list. The bean soup and prawns that B had enjoyed in Westfield are nowhere to be seen. So we work through the options and choose a Barbacoa (beef) taco and a pork taco, a black bean tostada and chicken quesadilla – all stuff in a pancake of slightly different kinds.  To be fair the black bean is interesting and the pork nicely spicy.  We’re not full, so we try a main steak taco as well off the specials list – pretty good but £10.  That comes to a pretty modest £46 without service – cheap for Covent Garden – but I don’t think I’ll be rushing back.

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Nearer Christmas, we’re out with our young friends and ex-house-sharers. We meet at the Crown and Two Chairmen, a nice pub on Dean Street.  Trouble is, of course, that at this time of year the place is heaving, and we can hardly hear ourselves think.  So it’s a relief when the time is right for us to move on to our dinner venue – Floridita in Wardour Street. 

This is a grand multi-venue place, with the Cuban bar and restaurant downstairs. So we order some wine and mojitos (managing to navigate a tricky policy about running a tab), and head for our table. There are seven of us, and we get what seems a good horseshoe-shaped banquette centrally in front of the stage. But when the band starts up (good Cuban jazz) and the dancing warms up, conversation becomes a bit tricky again!

I have Chilean beef empanadas followed by lamb tenderloin skewer. The empanadas have a good bite to them, but the pastry is not as dry as that in our local Argentinian. The lamb skewer is a fair portion of nicely charred meat, with a good deal of flavour to it.  B has the shrimp and grouper ceviche and is impressed. Followed by lamb skewer too (there’s not a huge choice apart from steaks), and then a knickerbocker glory!  This is not served in the traditional tall glass with long spoon, but in a dish, but nonetheless scores top marks.  J has lobster and a baked cheesecake but I can’t recall what the others had. There were no doubt copious quantities of wine and cocktails consumed, so I was pretty surprised to see the total bill below £500 for seven. Excellent provided you don’t need to chat!

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We managed two visits to the Spice Market in Hotel W at Leicester Square.  First between Christmas and New Year with S & A late afternoon before a session at Ronnie Scott’s.  Then early in January with T&K and H.  There is a smooth bar with “cool” ambient music and dim lighting on the ground floor, serving a range of cocktails – which can get pretty pricey.   But if you’re meeting people, you need to be specific, because there is also a first floor bar of Hotel W – rather brighter and busier, but also expensive.

On the first visit we were a bit disappointed to see that the menu was not as extensive as that we’d seen online – because it was the holidays we were told; but it was the same menu the second time too.

On our first visit, I had the salmon sashimi with warm crunchy rice to start –very good.  B had the pepper shrimp, while S&A had the salt and pepper squid and the Vietnamese spring roll.  All perfectly fine.  S&A decided just to share a Vietnamese chicken curry with fried rice – and it was ample. B & I had the duck curry (huge, really tasy), sea bass fillet (good, but out of context) and ginger rice (again a full size portion).  Wine also not cheap at £27 a bottle, so the total was £170 – acceptable for Leicester Square.

On our second visit, for some reason quoting our friend T’s name seemed to guarantee special attention.  We were shown immediately to a good seat, and after an initial bottle, were treated to a bottle of house wine free!  Not sure what’s going on there!   Overall we managed three (four) bottles of the white and one red, so that did rack things up a little. 

T&K both chose the sharing plate of starters – the chicken samosas (surprisingly) came very recommended.  H had the crab dumplings, which were light with plenty of crab, B the shaved tuna (plenty of ginger) and I had the beef skewer (after my first choice was unavailable) – average meat with a tangy yoghurt sauce.

For mains B&I again had the duck curry (I said there was a limited menu), and the grilled chicken (simple but good). Others had the monkfish with cabbage and water chestnut, cod with Malaysian chili sauce and Vietnamese chicken curry – plus we had fried rice and a  chicken pad thai. Again the portions were generous and there was plenty left over.  I was impressed, but T less so, scoring it 6 to 7 out of 10.  It was only £300 including service for 5 of us, very close to Leicester Square, so for hungry eaters, I’d certainly recommend it.
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With P&M due to return to South Africa the following week, we met up again at Il Ponte Nuovo under the flyover in Croydon, where we’d been back in October . It being a Monday early in January, the place is pretty quiet, but we end up in a banquette down in the corner.

To start P&M share the calamari, which seems to go down well. B & I share the gamberoni diavola, which although appearing to be covered in tomato sauce, are actually full of flavour with a good chilli kick.

For mains I have the pork chops off the special menu, served with small roast potatoes and rosemary.  B has the “Spigola in crosta”  - oven baked fillets of sea bass “topped with a potato crust”. I’d assumed the potato would be  grilled mash, but in fact it is fine slices of lightly grilled potato. Overall this was a lovely delicate dish.  P has the two medallions of fillet steak -  one cooked with brandy & peppercorns, the other cooked with brandy & wholegrain mustard, served with roast potatoes.  Since he practically wipes the plate clean, I assume these were good too!  M’s choice of risotto with 4 cheeses off the special lunch menu was a very modest £6  - it seemed pretty filling though.   We also shared a cheese plate – four or five interestingly different choices.

With the inevitable 5 bottles of wine, this came to a pretty modest £195 including service.
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On B’s birthday, we’re up on Regent Street, having been “cultural” at the RA (Constable, Gainsborough and Turner and Landscape – something of a con, as there’s only one or two of each and a lot of other prints).   We’ve been to the Living Room in Heddon Street a few times before for drinks and always thought it looked nice, so that’s where we settle on for lunch.

It’s a nice big space with large windows out to Heddon Street. Further in are the more intimate bar areas.  It’s not that busy but the we’re shown to a table for 2 which is not that well positioned.  But on retrospect, it does have proper seats so maybe it’s a good choice. The waiter is very solicitous and helpful and buzzing around, so gets us our pre-prandial glasses of Prosecco pretty quickly.

He’s also very sharp at suggesting “specials”. And though we’d both been looking eyeing things up off the interesting menu, in the end we do both decide to for them. As we mull things over we order the edamame beans with ginger and chilli, in soy sauce to keep us going. This is very good, with long strips of ginger to go with the kick of the chilli on the beans.

For a starter we decide to share the crispy duck and pancakes.  This is unusual, different from the Chinese version in that the duck is in larger pieces, lightly cooked so that it still tastes of duck, and in a crispy coating, a bit like KFC (but in a good way!).

B’s “special” is crab on avocado puree. Technically a “light bite”, this is not a large portion, but OK for what she wanted.  She is very impressed at the freshness of the crab, and the sharp flavours that accompany it.  Mine is venison steak, left over from New Year’s Eve when they charged £35 for it, but to you sir it’s just £17.50 (actually, I’m impressed by the fact that the waiter meticulously spells out the price of the specials – something that’s often not done). The steak comes with broccoli spears, sugar snap peas, and roast potatoes.  I’ve asked for it medium-rare, and it comes looking beautiful, with parts of it red, glistening with blood.  The consistency of the steak can’t be faulted, just a smooth regular texture, and the venison tang excellent. As near as perfect a piece of meat as I’ve eaten.

The standard menu looks pretty good too, so this is clearly a place to come back to.  The bill (2 bottles of Viognier?) comes to a creditable £110.  Try it yourself.

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Up on Regent Street again, this time north of Oxford Circus, for a late lunch we call in at Ozer, a Turkish restaurant I’d read reviews about a few years’ back.  It’s quite a cavernous place, with little natural light. There’s quite a few people in for a workday at 2.30pm – some maybe ex-BBC having a reunion lunch, some Turkish, some singletons doing odd shifts perhaps. They claim an “Ottoman” style – but it just seems large to me.

Apparently Ozer is under the same ownership as the Sofra chain, but the menu reads rather more up-market. There’s a big selection of starters, hot and cold, and of mains, though some are a little repetitive. But you can’t fault the precision, when they tell you exactly how many king prawns you get in the  starter or main (6 or 12).

To start B has the marinated Malaysian prawns, which aren’t on the online menu. The four prawns were large, fresh and tasting of prawns, in a spicy sauce which overcame the tomato base.  My starter is the spicy crisp lamb liver – a large portion of well-cooked pieces of liver, with onions, but not that spicy.

Main courses are lamb on skewer for B: good lamb shish kebab, not actually served on the skewer, with a crisp salad. I go for the spicy fish pot, which is spicier than the starter but not excessive and with nice pieces of ginger. Lots of different fish in the broth, vegetables too, a healthy portion served with basmati rice.

Turkish coffee and a bottle of Viognier at £20 take the bill up to £76. More a steady meal than an excellent one perhaps, but certainly somewhere to consider if you’re in the area.

 

A couple of days in Brussels

A COUPLE OF DAYS IN BRUSSELS

We’re combining business with pleasure and staying a couple of nights in Brussels at the end of November.  It’s too early for the Christmas market, but there is a buzz to the place as preparations are under way in the Grand Place and all around.

We’ve arrived mid-afternoon and grabbed a taxi from the station.  Our hotel is clearly not one of the most-renowned however, as the driver clearly has little idea of where he’s going, and ends up dropping us near the Bourse, when we need to be right the other side of the centre. So we’re not in the best of moods on arriving at Hotel Mozart.  Close to the Grand Place, in the street of the giros”, this is a surreal place – all Moroccan tiles, and windy corridors, and a bedroom complete with a pole in the middle of it!  Somewhat regretting the “value” option!

We go out for a wander around – a vin chaude by the Manneken Pis,  free chocolates and a good value coupe of champagne in the Galleries Royales, and a beer in the Espagne de Roy in the Grand Place.

For dinner we have booked into Restaurant Vincent in Rue des Dominicains (just off the tourist strip) for 9pm – recommended in several guides and reviews.  The place is packed, buzzy, lively, with a couple of separate rooms, but our booking is recognised and we’re shown straight to our table. Tables are basic and very close together, so it’s not what you’d call grand – but perfectly fine.  The striking feature though is the decorative tiling on the walls. At one end there is a depiction of a small fishing boat struggling in the waves, with an old pecheur in a blue smock struggling with the sails.  On other walls are ducks and rural scenes – all very splendid.

Vincent has a reputation for its flambéed steak, though there’s an extensive range of seafood starters and fish dishes too.  So we decide to go large and order the double angus fillet, preceded by shrimp croquettes. A bottle of Brouilly at €32 seems a reasonable accompaniment.

The croquettes are excellent. We’re sharing, one each, but there is plenty of flavour here and not too heavy a potato base.  All around people are having a good time, with large plates of food appearing all over.  Service is very friendly and jolly.  Our meat is duly served up to the team at the flambé dish in the centre (we had thought it might be done at the table, but it isn’t that far away), and arrives with a tidy portion of frites. Full of flavour and texture, and cooked just bloody, it’s a beautifully executed piece of meat.

We look at desserts for interest, but are then tempted in by the Crepe Vincent.  This is fruity and sharp, crisp and juicy – a revelation.  So we’re happy bunnies when we set off back to our weird hotel, having just €122 on such a splendid meal.
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Breakfast at the Hotel Mozart is also an experience.  After following a maze of signs around the first floor, one emerges back on the ground floor, apparently next door to the hotel entrance.  There’s a bizarre copper dome over the bar area – which only comes to make sense when later in the day I see the breakfast room has been converted back into a Lebanese restaurant!  Breakfast itself, to be fair, is a simple but fresh combination of baguette and croissant, with strong coffee and fresh juice.

We meet later for a beer in the Galleries, and then do a little shopping. We call in Cirio, a splendidly old-style bar near the Bourse for a glass and some charcuterie, before deciding to stop for a light lunch. We’re trying the Danish Tavern – an unimpressive bar near the church, but it’s handy.  I have try the local speciality, Waterzooi Poularde, a sort of chicken soup with substantial portions of meat and root vegetables.  It’s an ideal warmer for a cold day. B just has the bacon and mushroom omelette (rather than mussels, which had been the point of choosing this place!!).  It’s all fine, full of shoppers, and with a loopy waiter who revels in teasing his colleagues. €42 with one bottle of rose.

This evening, we’ve decided to go for La Marmiton, at the corner of the Galleries and Rue de Bouchers.   It’s very nearly full, but we’re lucky to get a table. It’s another cosy place, a little classier perhaps, but still relaxed.  There’s a quiet Brit couple one side of us, and a group of 4 excitable, smartly dressed young things the other – Eastern European we think.   We order a bottle of French Sauvignon (@ €22), and I have the foie gras to start.  For mains, I have the Sole Ostendaise (with asparagus) and B steak tartare. We indulge a second bottle, so this all some to €113.

Day 3 and our train is not till late, so we decide to do some shopping up on Avenue Louise this morning.  A little way, there is a small lane down to some other smart shops, and rather oddly sitting by a grassy patch, an old building called the Green House.  In summer there must be seating outside as well.  It’s just noon, so we call in, to see several shoppers in already. Plus a couple of regulars chatting to the staff.  It’s a strange, but elegant style – colonial wood and teas.  We’re not eating but the dishes that do emerge look and smell interesting, and the range of choice includes some very unusual orientally-inspired dishes too – probably worth a try another time.

We walk back into town, and then on to St Catherine’s to find somewhere for lunch.  Several places were recommended the reviews, but we struggle to choose one.  When we do, the kitchen has closed. So too the next one, though they were doing fruits de mer standing up outside. So sadly we head back to the Grand Place, and choose one of the places in the tourist drag – La Porte de Bruxelles.  It’s indistinguishable from several others along the street, and transpires to be a sister place to the one across the way. So much so in fact, that all the meals are cooked over there and brought over, and the waiters are a bit grumpy at being in the second place.  It doesn’t have a great deal of charm, but it is fairly busy, and warm.   The food however does make up for things.  B has grilled garlic gambas – six huge prawns, in a liberal and enthusiastic garlic sauce, cooked gently and lightly.  I have the tomato stuffed with crevettes – a beast of a dish, with crevettes in a sauce with a little kick to it. Main courses were mussels frites for B (at last) and monkfish with leeks for me.  Both really good.  The second bottle of Sauvignon racked the price up to €149 which seemed a bit much for somewhere with little style, but the food was pretty good.