Useful place for lunch and wine near Borough Market

We’re off to the National Theatre so we head up to London Bridge early to wander around. It’s a sunny Saturday, so Borough Market is heaving – every available space around Southwark cathedral is occupied with people munching their way through their take-aways. We stroll through and make our way to The Wine Wharf, the wine bar part of Vinopolis on the Borough Market side of the building.

Though everywhere else is really busy, the Wine Wharf is pretty quiet surprisingly. Maybe because it’s rather gloomy here indoors when people would rather be taking advantage of the spring sunshine – the window tables are taken too.  Still, the place has a nice character – stripped walls, lots of corks in jars, and upstairs some comfy settees.

There’s a choice of Viogniers, so we go for the Viogner Delas 2011 Pays d’Oc at £25 because it’s served by the glass as well.  The food selection has lots of tapas-style platters and light bites as well as a number of main dishes. We’re in a grazing mood, so we choose the garlic & chilli tiger prawns with char-grilled ciabatta  and the salt and pepper squid, and also take the “build your own platter” option: hummus, aubergine dip and stuffed chillies were our choice. On a whim as I order at the bar, I also go for some smoked almonds.

And I’m certainly glad I did. We’re waiting about half an hour for the food, despite the fact there’s hardly anyone else in the place.  When the food does finally come we’re brought an extra bowl of pitta bread as an apology – whoop-di-whoop!

The prawns were something of a disappointment, being rather cotton-wool, not very spicy and the char-grilled ciabatta made all soft by the oily sauce. On the other hand the squid were very good – a substantial portion, crisp batter and tender squid. The stuffed chillies were also nice and the hummus firm and nutty, though the aubergine was rather oily.

With a couple of extra glasses of Viognier the bill is £57 without service. Service has been friendly and attentive in its way, despite the initial delay.  There are plenty of options around Borough Market, but if you want something reasonable with good wine then the Wine Wharf is a good place to go.

Intriguing Thai-Malay restaurant near London Bridge

Meeting up with S, we’re off to Champor Champor, hidden away round the back of London Bridge station and Guy’s Hospital. It’s actually not that difficult to find, but it’s not a very attractive area.  Once inside you’re overwhelmed by the décor, but unfortunately we were shown to a threesome table rammed up against a wall with little view of the room. Annoying, as although busy the place wasn’t completely full. As well as attractive wall decorations, curtains and plenty of artefacts, apparently there is a wooden booth on a mezzanine level with a romantic table for two.

They don’t claim to be for purists, but the menu is a wide-ranging set of Thai and Malaysian dishes.   The wine list is a mainly combination of Spanish and French with a few Italian and some NZ thrown in at the top end. We choose the Lagarde Viognier from Argentina at £28.50.

There’s some confusion over delivering the starters we ordered – there were two duck options and I think they brought the wrong one initially. The duck was S’s choice – three parcels of shredded roast duck with hoisin sauce rolled up in roti. This was remarkably large for a starter, so it got shared around – and very good it was too.  B inevitably went for the soft shell crab, which was a good example of its kind, with crispy batter, some spiciness and yet some flavour of crab as well. My three scallops with pancetta, and apple salad with spiced lime juice was also really good. The scallops were a good size and very succulent; the pancetta crispy and plentiful; and the apple salad was stand-out excellent – crispy, sharp, spicy.

Main courses carried on at the same high level.  B had the king prawn green curry: plenty of prawns, a strong sauce,  oddly served with discs of butternut squash.  S had the sizzling sirloin with sliced onion and wild ginger: neat strips of tender beef, with a subtle tang. But my beef rendang took the prizes. It came in a huge porcelain pot, and was so delicious and rich – super.  As well as rice and roti, we perhaps unnecessarily ordered stir fried halloumi cheese with chilli and spring onion – a dish in itself – and stir fired aubergine.   Clearly we were defeated and asked for a doggy bag – and I had an excellent lunch the following day.

Nonetheless the ladies insisted on ordering desserts. Chocolate and chilli cheese cake was as yummy and decadent as it sounds. Steam taro and black rice pudding was comfort food but the accompanying mango ice cream really stood out.

It’s S’s treat (thanks, really good of you) and she had a Taste of London card which meant the cheapest of each course was free, a saving of £30 before service.  We just had the one bottle of wine, which meant that the total was a little over £131.  Certainly excellent value for the food – it’s a lovely room, so if you go make sure you get a better table than we did.  

New places in Purley, Covent Garden and Shoreditch

A new restaurant opened up just down the road in Purley in January replacing Napule e’, next door to Buenos Aires. Those poor souls who support Crystal Palace will recognise the name – Speroni’s . And indeed the Palace goalkeeper played host to the whole Eagles team recently. It seems to be a collaboration with Buenos Aires, as we have seen the manager in there during the decorating work – which is perhaps not surprising as Speroni is Argentinian. 

They have done a lot of work on the place, painting the outside, replacing steps and put a lot of effort into the interior decoration. The window display is a series of shelves with kitchen utensils, bottles etc, presumably intended to give a homely feel, but in fact making it look a bit like a hardware store.  When we’d booked for 4 of us on a Friday evening we were told that the best they could was 9.30pm, but fortunately they rang back a day or so later to offer us 7.30 instead. It’s buzzy and lively, if not quite full, and the waiting staff are welcoming.

We’ve gone along with K&I, so we order both a white (Garnacha) and a red (Malbec). Both are nearly the cheapest at £28.50, and the list goes up alarmingly.  B thinks the menu is quite short, but still struggles to choose something she fancies, so goes for a staple, seafood pasta. The choice of pasta turned out to be tagliatelli or penne, when she would have preferred linguine or spaghetti. The only distinctive seafood was mussels, which was a bit disappointing.

I had a “Portobello bruschetta” to start – mushroom on bread with Parma ham and poached egg – very good.  My main was slow-cooked lamb - very tender and tasty but rather odd as it just came with a couple of potato dumplings. I’s starter was salmon gravlax, which looked good, and he had a cod in peppers dish for main course.  K’s chicken dish seemed rather ordinary. K&I ordered churros for dessert which B tried and really liked.

The service was very good, very friendly but efficient. With a second bottle of white, and a modest 10% service charge, the bill was £176 – more than half of it for wine.  B rated it a 7 out of 10, but worth another try. I certainly enjoyed the meal, but we’ll probably just go for house wine next time.

 

After working up in town one day I suggest going out for a meal as I’m all posh in jacket and tie.  B fancied a Chinese but we struggled to find one around Covent Garden or Victoria, so we settle for SticksNSushi in Henrietta Street. B said it was a “café” which makes me dubious (not up to my sartorial elegance!) but it’s far from that. In fact it’s a stylish, dark place with bare walls but comfortable chairs. Rather loud music near the entrance but as we are taken further and further inside it is quieter – in fact it is huge, going right through to Maiden Lane I think.

We’ve been given a table which would seat three,  with one on a banquette (odd arrangement). The menus (plural) are vast, so we order some Journeyman SA Chenin Blanc at £17.50 and edamame beans in a spicy sauce while we have a think.  The wine and beans arrive very rapidly (“quick wine” – excellent, and the beans are tasty too), and we work our way through the choices. There are a lot of set meals, and as I often find with Japanese it seems like either you have small portions or you pay a lot.

As the name implies there are several yakitori skewers with various things, plus a good range of sushi rolls, sashimi and nigri. We eventually (after being asked if we’re ready several times by  the waitress) order three dishes which I think of as “starters” and two “mains” – though of course they are not presented in that way.

Ebi bites are prawns in a very light, almost bubbly batter – a good few of them too for £6.80. We have two tuna skewers (Maguro chilli), which are a little disappointing, being rather dry despite the red onion, teriyaki and chilli topping.  The third “starter” is a skewer of scallops wrapped in bacon with herb butter (hotate to bacon) – excellent.

The two more substantial dishes we’ve ordered are a paper-wrapped duck roll and coal-rice soft-shell crab roll (ie black rice wrapped around pieces of crab). Both are wrapped with avocado and lettuce – and both are really good.

The service has been very good and cheery, if a little fast, but that’s OK as we started late. We have a couple of glasses of a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and that takes the bill (incl 12.5%) to £90. Well worth it for an interesting and tasty meal. With all the choices on the menu we’ll certainly go there again, or to the branch on Wimbledon Hill.

Oh and I almost forgot – it’s a Danish Japanese restaurant! All the staff have T-shirts with Danish mottoes. Not sure what the Danish connection is, but there you go!

 

The team I’m working with on one project has decided we should go out for a team dinner to build up rapport, so we have a table booked at Dishoom in Shoreditch. Not being familiar with this part of town, I allowed myself plenty of time to find the place. So I have a little time to kill wandering around beforehand, taking in the upward mobility of the area.  I walk past Maison Trois Garcons  - a “lifestyle café” (for heaven’s sake!) – and call in the Owl and Pussycat for a swift half.  

This must once have been a classic old boozer, but it has now been totally refurbished and then artfully distressed.  Where once there may have been Red Barrel, there’s now continental beers (and admittedly a couple of real ales). Pork pies have been replaced by “apple dogs” and goat’s cheese salad. The Racing Post by laptops – everywhere.  The clientele are probably refugees from Silicon Roundabout, and deals or business plans are being discussed at each table, though to be fair there was also an Everton supporter bemoaning their performance.

So it’s no surprise to find Dishoom is a stylish place too. Billed as a “Bombay café” (when did “café” change meaning?) this is a large establishment policed by elegant greeters, with a comfortable bar area.  Dark woods and tiles, and comfortable booths and tables are all around, and there’s a good lively vibe even at 6pm.

Only four of our group have arrived on time, so we press on and order a mixture of nibbles. There are no papadums, so we have the colourful and slightly spicy “far far” crisps/crackers, okra fries (excellent, little okra deep fired and dipped in tamarind or chilli), bhel (the puffed rice and tamarind dish), and calamari.

That keeps us going till the others arrive and order more, which comes pretty quickly. We have more okra fries and a keema pau (minced lamb with a sweet bread).  The main dishes I had were some spicy lamb chops (pretty meaty if not that spicy) and a chicken biryani (unexceptional). Others also had matter paneer and vegetable biryani). There were supporting dishes of black daal, raita, dishoom slaw, and gunpowder potatoes as well as plenty of naan bread.

Service has been very good. I have to rush off, so don’t know what the bill came to, but looking online the most expensive dish was the lamb chops at £11.50, and the house wine was £19 a bottle, so I’m guessing it was pretty reasonable.  Certainly worth another try, maybe at their branch next to Stringfellow’s in Upper St Martin’s Lane.