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.
No comments:
Post a Comment