Five of us fetched up at Noble Rot wine bar in Lamb’s
Conduit St on a hot summer’s day. As we
were shown to our table at the back of this maze of a place, our eyes gradually
became accustomed the gloom, such a contrast to the weather outside. It’s a charming spot for a winter’s day, or
perhaps an illicit assignation.
In Kingly Court, off Regent Street, near Senor Ceviche which I’ve reviewed before, the
two of us decide to try the “Pan-Asian” sushi bar, Oka, for lunch. It’s a
small, basic place, but the staff were very helpful and welcoming, finding us a
nice table by the window. Sauvignon Blanc was £25.50, for a very nice NZ Marlborough,
again perhaps a bit steep. We first ordered the spider roll, tuna tataki and
the beef fillet with chimichurri sauce.
All excellent. We followed up
with the tiger king prawns, marinated salmon and some rice – again all
good. At £128 (2 bottles of SB), it
again wasn’t cheap for an unpretentious place, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Tough call whether I prefer Senor Ceviche, but a good option for a change.
I’ve reviewed our local French restaurant before and the
service has sometimes been a bit mixed, but as they had (and still have) a 15%
off food offer, we thought we’d give it another go. Their Viognier from Languedoc was £24.50, but
there are cheaper options available. For
starter, B had the Atlantic prawns – a sizeable portion of good-sized prawns,
with garlic and parsley – while I had the reliable tuna tartare with wasabi. Mains were lemon sole and fillet of sea bass,
both good, fresh and simply done. The discount amounted to a little over £8, so
the total with service was a just over £100.
After some culture at Tate Modern (Georgia O’Keefe, as you
ask), we settle on The Refinery in the Blue Fin building round the back for a
late lunch. It’s a huge barn of a place,
in the “industrial chic” style, and although there was one group of office
workers in, we felt quite alone in the big back area. The waitress was friendly, but after asking us
for our order before we were ready then went AWOL. We had managed to order a bottle of Chenin at
£17.95 though, so it wasn’t a complete disaster.
Meeting up with S and L, we go first to the Grosvenor Hotel at
Victoria station for a cocktail in their swish bar. We’ve thought about going to about Ken Lo’s
famous restaurant for many years, but now we have finally got round to it. For a Tuesday night, it’s nicely busy and buzzy
without feeling stressful; service is charming and helpful.
Richoux, St John’s Wood
We were at Lord’s for the climax of the County Championship (Middlesex
v Yorkshire), and take a break for lunch. The Lord’s Tavern is fully booked, so
we make our way to St John’s Wood, and decide on Richoux, with seats outside in
the late September sun. It’s only a
light lunch, but both my “elegant rarebit” (ie with bacon) and B’s steak salad
are super; the house fries were good too. (Oddly, a lady at another table also ordered
the salad and had something quite different which she wasn’t very happy with). With a bottle of Trebbiano at £17, we come
away paying £44, and feeling very content – and Middlesex ended up winning.
After more culture at Tate Modern (the Philippe Parreno exhibit
in the Turbine Hall, with moving boards, flashing lights and ambient music –
what’s that smell? BS) we look at Gordon Ramsay’s Union St café, but decide
against. Instead we find this little tapas bar tucked out of the way by the
railway line. It perhaps seats about 30, and there were a dozen or so in.
