Cinnamon Bazaar - great foood, shambolic service

We’re meeting J&K to mark K’s birthday the next day.  Our first choice, House of Ho, is fully booked up – odd as it’s a big place.  Dishoom also can’t take the booking – not for the first time.  B finds an offer on Bookatable of 9 dishes and a cocktail at Cinnamon Bazaar, so goes ahead and books that. We’d been interested to try this latest incarnation of the Vivek Singh Cinnamon chain, because we have liked both the upmarket original Cinnamon Club, and the tapas-style Cinnamon Soho, and very recently enjoyed the “Desert Island dishes” (DIDs) at Cinnamon Kitchen.
After some drinks in Davy’s, we arrive at the restaurant a little later than originally planned. It’s a nice bright room with interesting streamer decorations around the high ceiling. We’re shown to a table by the rear fire exit – nice and light, but I doubt health and safety would have approved of B putting her coat on the steps! 

Menus are brought, but nothing said about the offer, so we ask. No, they’re not doing it. Not their fault if Bookatable got it wrong. No recognition that we might be disappointed. So, with no cocktails on their way, I quickly scan the wine list and choose a Macabeo at £25.  This takes an age to arrive, while the waiter is harassing us to choose our food – when we had been expecting to have a fixed menu.
We do then order starters and mains. The waiter says – “it will all come together” (ie “our convenience is more important than your enjoyment”).  I’m starting to sulk, but J goes off to sort him out.  

We’re enjoying our wine and conversation, but it does seem an age before any food arrives. I check my watch – it’s an hour since we arrived.  Eventually the four starters do arrive – J’s efforts paying off.  The Mirchi vada chaat (stuffed padron peppers) in yoghurt with pomegranate are super as the first dish I taste (and strangely not on website menu). The Kachori chaat (described as spiced onion dumplings, but actually much crispier) is also good. Crab bonda (crab in chickpea batter, similar to one of the DIDs) is full of crab flavour, and the shrimp dish drier and also very tasty. Portions were ample to share between four.
I’m beginning to feel they have redeemed themselves.  But another slow order of wine (regular readers will know that “quick wine” is important to us!), and an age for the mains  - presumably because they didn’t start on them straight away – makes me wonder again.  

When the mains do come, we’re presented with two cauliflower dishes instead of our order of one cauliflower and one aubergine.  We complain and they take one dish away, and return with the aubergine three-quarters of the way through our meal. They’ve also brought two pilau rice when we only ordered one. 

Once again, the quality of the food comes to the rescue. I’d chosen the cauliflower because Vivek Singh had given it us as an extra DID, and I’d been so impressed - it didn’t disappoint here either.  The aubergine when it comes is very good too.  Mains include lamb galauti, a very spicy burger-like patty on paratha, pepper fried shrimp which is sharp and dry, and a very rich and spicy mutton curry – all top favour dishes. We also have black dhal, B’s favourite.
Service is still slow and erratic, with no appreciation of the totality of the experience.  We do go for desserts – a mango brulee, chocolate golis (three elegantly flavoured pieces) and ice cream/espresso.  

The bill looks very reasonable, partly because it doesn’t include service. I would normally credit them for that approach, but unfortunately for them, because of the experience, I tip less than 10%.
Later when I look at the bill I’m a bit confused. Yes, they did charge us for two pilau rice when we’d only ordered one, but we had eaten them; and they charged us for two cauliflowers and no aubergine, but I imagine there would be little difference in that.  I seem to think we must have had a fourth main course that isn’t on the bill, but neither of us can remember what that might have been. And the mutton curry and the ice cream are listed at £0.00 – there may have been a set-price limit operating, but again it’s not clear from the website. No wonder the bill seemed reasonable.


So all in all?  Glad to have gone.  Food excellent.  Room and ambience fine.  Service all over the place, and insensitive.  Web presence (own website menus and link to Bookatable – which is still offering the 9 dish special offer) poor.

 

 

New development at St James’s Market

We’ve been terribly cultural and visited the Jasper Johns exhibition at the RA – how many versions of the US flag or the numbers 0-9 do you need? So we’re in need of sustenance, but haven’t planned anywhere. We consider Cicchetti on Piccadilly again, though when we went a few years ago it wasn’t brilliant. Then I remember a new complex I’d wandered around before a meeting recently, that links Lower Regent Street and Haymarket.

It’s called St James’s Market.  There are several new restaurants here. We look at a Scandinavian one called Aquavit – too much smoked fish on the smorgasbord.  There’s Veneta, an Italian from the Salt Yard group, a patisserie called Ole & Steen, and even Duck and Waffle Local.

But we decide we like the look of the menu at Anzu, a Japanese place, with a set menu at a very reasonable looking £12.95 for two courses.  There’s no-one else in there (it is 2.30pm), but (or so?) the welcome is warm and we get a seat in the window.  The style is light wood, with displays of large sake bottles.

The a la carte menu looks interesting too, but after asking for clarification about what the set dishes are (I’d guessed “Komatsuna” was tuna, but it turns out it was braised greens!), we decide to stay with the set lunch dishes.  The wine list goes up frighteningly - we find  a rosé from Provence at £28, and order some edamame beans while we decide on the order.

To start we have the king prawn dumplings – three gyoza-like dumplings with very tasty minced prawns fillings – and duck and watermelon salad – a very creditable sized portion of crispy duck, fresh watermelon and pomegranate seeds (a bit challenging with chopsticks!).  Very pleased with those.

Mains aren’t quite as successful. Japanese Mentaiko “Carbonara” is noodles with fish sauce and pollock roe.  It’s quite rich, and fishy, though the roe are surprisingly not that interesting.  Overall, just a bit heavy and sticky.  Our second choice is the soy-roast poussin – for which we are allowed a knife and fork. It’s fine, but nothing special.  We’ve also ordered some rice, which it turns out we don’t need, and eventually (after a little reservation) manage to persuade the charming waitress to let us take away.

A second bottle of wine skews the bill towards the alcohol, taking it to £99 including the now standard 12.5% service (OK, I’ll stop whingeing about it now).   A pleasant, rather than brilliant, lunch which maybe would have felt better with other people in there.

Saturday lunch with old friends

C&L sadly can’t join us, so there’s just the 5 of us meeting up for a get-together lunch.  T has suggested Barrica in Goodge Street, and as he’s a man who knows his food we’re happy to go along with that. It’s just a couple of doors down from Salt Yard, where we went for a Xmas do last year.  In between is the One Tun, so we meet there for drinks first, sitting outside on a balmy October day – not least because the Liverpool-Man U match was on inside!  

We’ve seen a number of old people (!!) going in, and true enough when we get there all the nice tables at the back have been taken by a group. So we’re given a high table with stools by the door. Not ideal, but we manage.  The style is classic tapas bar – hams hanging from hooks, marble bar-tops, tiles, but the service is friendly and fairly attentive, so it’s not too clichéd.

The menu distinguishes between bar snacks (La Barra), cured meats and tapas (La Cocina).   So as our wine arrives (Tempranillo and Verdejo), we order some tomato bread, aubergine-marinated olives (B reckoned the best ever), boquerones and corteza (puffy pork scratchings) to keep us going.  Unfortunately the guindillas  (stuffed chillies) weren’t available.

To follow we have a ham selection plate (good Serrano, some odd black salami), padron peppers (B gets the hot one first up), duck egg and asparagus (just try dividing that between 5!), two portions of garlic prawns (H is not sharing!), calamares with garlic and romesco, chorizo with sweet potatoes, lamb and mushroom skewers and ham croquettes.  The prawns were voted a great success, as were the croquettes, but I found the lamb skewer a little tough.

We suffered from the typical tapas problem – everything came in a rush, we stuffed ourselves, and are finished within an hour.  No problem – more wine! 

They come round to ask if want dessert – instead we go for more croquettes, boquerones, and escalivada (a sort of vegetable lasagne) with goat’s cheese.

The jovial patronne comes around towards the end, livening the place up. We end up with 2 red and 3 white wines. The bill is a very reasonable £33 a head, so very good value.

Friday night with the girls

We’re meeting up with S and L in Victoria, and start off just with S at the Reunion Bar at the Grosvenor Hotel for cocktails.   After a couple each, we then toddle off down Wilton Road, to find L at About Thyme.

Amongst the various restaurants in Wilton Road, this one seems very homely in comparison. We’re welcomed warmly and shown upstairs to table near the front window.  It’s busy and buzzy enough, without being noisy.

The menu is unusually divided up into “Tapas” and “Mains”, but we decide to treat the tapas as starters.  S asks the waiter about the marinated sardines – are they cooked? He says No, so she chooses lamb kidneys in sherry instead. But I decide that I will order them.  Then the waiter comes back to apologise that they didn’t have them at all!  So I order the king scallops with morcilla (black pudding) instead. L has the beef carpaccio, a generous plate of meat with plenty of parmesan, and B garlic and chilli king prawns.  We are all well-pleased with these choices; my morcilla was a bit firmer like English black pudding than some are, but excellent nonetheless.

The wine list favours Spain, so I choose a Spanish Sauvignon Blanc called Orchidea (£27.50) – lighter and more floral than some, and going down well.  There are other reasonable wines on the list too.

For mains, we all choose meat, though there are a couple of fish and seafood options on the menu. L has the veal chop – a whacking chunk of meat, with a good brandy and mushroom sauce.  S goes for the pork shoulder (presa iberica), another substantial dish served with interesting mash (or is that an oxymoron?).  B’s lamb shank is huge, served with a “Moorish-spiced coconut sauce” which she finds a little odd. My simple choice of pan-fried calves liver with bacon, is also a large portion, served with chips, done nicely pink.

None of us manage to finish our meat!  The starters had been a good size, but the mains were generally huge. L asks for a doggy bag to take back for her chap., which they happily do.

Despite that, the three of then decide to share an iced soufflé with Grand Marnier.  Very tasty that is too.

With the three bottles between us, and the now-standard 12.5% service (I’ll have to stop moaning about that), this all comes to £62 a head – pretty good value, as L’s chap will also get a meal out of it!  The service has been excellent throughout, dishes arriving at a sensible pace.  Would certainly be happy to go there another time.  

Desert Island Dishes at Cinnamon Kitchen

As part of London Restaurant Month, Vivek Singh is doing his “Desert Island Dishes” at the Cinnamon Kitchen, sister restaurant to the prestigious Cinnamon Club, over in Devonshire Square, off Bishopsgate.  We’ve been once before and not been too impressed, but thought this special Sunday lunch might be worth a go.  The basic idea is to feature his favourite dishes, mainly originating in Bengali wedding feasts.

We’re booked in for 1.30pm, and shown to a table fairly near the door, out of range of the open-plan kitchen.  From an extensive, but fairly reasonable wine list we order the Pays D’Oc Vermentino at £25 – instead of the wine flight option at £45 a head.  It takes a while to arrive, and it becomes clear that the waiter forgot to place the order, so we have to prompt them again. The same happens with the fizzy water – not a great start.

The place is nearly full, which must mean it was worth doing the offer. The staff, although friendly, have the air and build of Russian mafia, so are a bit intimidating at first.  But we settle in and the set meal (non-vegetarian option) starts to arrive.  The man himself, VS, is wandering around and glad-handing, having selfies taken, and we have a nice little chat.

First up is the “appetiser” – a Bengali-style crab and beetroot cake. This is much more substantial than we expected – two large croquettes in effect.  The overall taste is of zingy fresh spices, nothing of the beetroot, with just a couple of pieces of identifiable crab, and a couple of little sauces.

“Starter” is bream in banana leaf with mango chutney. B finds it too fishy (!) but I think it is a good balance of flavours.

The main course consists of three meat dishes, plus pilau rice, raita and breads. The Laal Maas is a very spicy, lamb curry with strips of ginger, and very tasty.  The Bengali style shrimp curry is also good, but the chicken butter masala rather less interesting.  VS is wandering around again and brings us – “as a gift from him” – two of the dishes off the vegetarian menu (presumably not selling well!),  spinach, and an absolutely delicious cauliflower with vinegar.  Feeling quite full now!

We’ve got through the second bottle by now, so order more drinks to go with dessert. B just has another glass, but I choose to go for the sweet wine that was the selected accompaniment from the wine flight – a Sauternes.

The menu suggests there’s a choice of two desserts, but they just bring us both.  There’s an apple and blackberry crumble, rather de-contsructed, which tastes much like a posh muesli bar.  And gulab jamun  a splendid creamy dish with flavoured sweet rice balls.  Both excellent.  And as my glass of Sauternes is running low, the now-chatty Mafioso comes over and tops it up for free!

VS is on hand to sign any of his cookbooks you might want to buy, but B just gets him to sign our menu.

A splendid lunch – not cheap of course. And I don’t know whether it will represent what they might do on a normal day, but it has made us re-evaluate our previous view, and be prepared to try it again.

The Nova complex at Victoria

Nova at Victoria

The new development, Nova, at Victoria is open with a wide range of new restaurants and bars – and more to come.  So far, I’ve tried three of the restaurants, and had a quick drink in one other deli/bar.

 First, was Greenwood, which I went to with some work colleagues.  It’s almost certainly unique in having a barber’s in the bar!  It says it’s a Sports Lounge, and there is a TV room on the mezzanine, but the main bar is quiet and civilised enough.  The menu is a pretty standard burgers, pizzas and salads - I went for the falafel burger.  This was OK, but not special at £13.

 Then, with B, P&M and C, after the ladies had been round Buckingham Palace, we went to the Rail House Café.  The friendly waiter seats us upstairs at a table with high stools. There is a big downstairs area, and a relaxed-looking outside space with comfy sofas.  The menu is a little odd, more like a brunch menu – two of our party have the trendy smashed avocado on toast with feta, one with extra bacon!  The Freekeh salad (nope, me neither – apparently like bulgar wheat) went down well, also trendy with pomegranate seeds.  B has the yellowfin tuna tartare – small (a starter really), but good with shallots and wasabi. Only I have a “proper” main, seafood noodle. This is full of prawns, mussels and clams, in a spicy noodle sauce – too much for me.  Between us we share two crème brullees for dessert. £170 for 5 people (just 3 bottles of Vermentino at £21 each).

 After lunch we wander round and look in on Sourced, a deli/bar. We get some meats and cheese from the shop and then sit outside with a glass each. Very pleasant.

 Then last week, B and I are going to “5 guys named Moe” at the new pop-up theatre at Marble Arch.  So we decide to have a late lunch/early dinner (“lunner”?) at Aster at Nova. It’s “Nordic/French”; there’s a smart restaurant upstairs but on a weekend lunch we are in the main bar on the ground floor.  It’s quite busy and lively though. We decide on the fish platter and the meat platter. With the fish we get taramasalata, prawns, gravadlax  and smoked fish – “vendace”. The meat is reindeer salami, ham, pork belly crackling,  and a lovely black pudding roll. With a bottle and a couple of glasses of the house white this comes to £73, including 12.5% service.

 

Other recent venues

 Lobos tapas bar on the edge of Borough market. Busy and buzzy, but we get a table by the window overlooking an alleyway. Padron peppers, seafood (prawn, squid and mussels with chilli), chorizo and morcilla (gorgeous smooth black pudding), herb crusted lamb rack and Iberica ham. One bottle and a couple of glasses of Spanish blend (Silga). £93 incl 12.5% service.  Recommended. Also a branch in Frith Street.

 Bone Daddies is chain of Japanese noodle bars, with a speciality of 20 hour pork bone broth dishes. B’s seen the boss on a TV programme, so after Matisse in the Studio at the RA, we toddle along to Peter St in Soho. It’s busy, but we get to perch on high chairs in the window.  Service is brisk, clearly aimed at those on their lunch break. We have soft-shell crab in ginger sauce (lots of meaty crab), and salmon tartar (very sharp, with wasabi), and the TV special Thai green curry ramen with chicken and egg. All very good indeed, but not a relaxing experience – in and out in under an hour, with only time for one bottle of wine.

 Obia is the smarter of two new Italian restaurants in Purley.  We go there with neighbour K one evening. We pass on starters, and go into spaghetti with lobster, king prawns and scallops and chargrilled tuna, accompanied by chips and zucchini fritti.  All VG.  A couple of semifreddo desserts (yummmmm). With two bottles of Soave at £19.50, we get up to £130 for 3 people.

 

 

Three in May

As we are going to the Sunday Times Vintage Wine Festival at Old Billingsgate, I do some research in advance on places to eat afterwards.  We now have the Gourmet card which gives money off in various places (mainly the chains), so I look at what is nearby on their list, and come up with Ember in Pudding Lane.

We arrive a little ahead of or 3pm booking, and descend into the basement bar/restaurant.  It’s an odd style – they claim it echoes the Great Fire! – more sleazy than swanky. There are still quite a few people in finishing off lunch (well, it was Friday) -  mainly City types. In a small alcove there is a group of four or five – definitely a space for assignations. At another table, three out of four men are in pink shirts and contrasting ties – the other (the mark?) in a dark blue suit. 

The menu is “East Asian fusion”.  Quite a substantial range.   The wine list is a little scary, with nothing under £30 – we go for the Colombard-Sauvignon from Horgelus in Côte de Gascogne at £31.  After over 50 tastings, one bottle is going to be enough!!

We start with the sesame squid with a sweet paprika mayonnaise – this is an excellently cooked dish, with just enough batter and enough bite. With that we have a prawn and coconut ceviche, with lemongrass and a good chilli hit, and a chorizo and prawn gyoza. Following up, there’s an Indonesian beef rendang, which is rich and spicy as it should be. And a luscious Waygu Koji (mushroom) that is just melt in your mouth.  Plus some jasmine rice.

The service is fine – unobtrusive and efficient – without being friendly.  Our 50%-off food offer saves us £29, so the total (with 12.5% service) comes to £75. We may not have had our most sensitive palettes at work (!), but that seemed like very good value for the interesting food and venue. At full price, we might have thought differently.

 

Meeting up with M&G, and C&G, we’re off to Duck and Rice in Berwick Street, right by the market. The restaurant is up a tight spiral staircase (there’s a bar downstairs), and we are seated right at the back – it’s a little cramped and dark.

We order some wine and sparkling water – a Sauvignon from Touraine at £30 and an Argentinian Malbec (La Colonia) at £32.  The waitress is a little dippy – she pours the wine as if she has never done it before, with the smallest amount for tasting you can imagine. She’s even nervous about pouring the water, having brought a bottle of still first.

We decide to order starters first, and then order mains once we’ve had those – that seems to be a challenging concept for our hostess.  There’s a “monthly specials” list, as well as the standards, but this seems to have passed her by – she gets very confused about anything we order off that.  Luckily, most dishes come with three portions, so cutting these in half means everyone gets a taste of everything.

First to arrive, after the edamame beans, are the venison puffs and the pan-fried pork gyoza. The puffs, though small, are delicious. The gyoza come with a frilly fried surround, but are a little gooey, they could have been fried a bit more. The crispy prawn rolls, looking like Shredded Wheat, come with a tasty mayonnaise and the salt&pepper squid with a chilli dip – both very good. Then there are the jasmine tea-soaked rib bau (bun) – the rib is nice, but the bun a bit too much – and a serviceable vegetable spring roll.

Returning to the menu, we order main dishes, again to share. Duck and Rice had to be one. M fancied kimchi pork, as she’d never tried it. B went for wasabi prawn, G2 kung po chicken and I ordered the chicken claypot but that was “off”, so ended up with the crispy shredded beef.  G1 thought that was enough protein so ordered Gai Lan, an oriental broccoli. We then had a debate about how much rice to order – the kimchi pork came with rice as did the duck and rice (obvs). Dippy suggested that the egg fried rice bowls were small, so we ordered two – we didn’t need that many.

Favourites were the kung po chicken, which had a dense flavour and was quite spicy with caramelised red chillies, followed by the kimchi pork and the wasabi prawns. The duck was OK but the shredded beef was, as so often I think, not that interesting.

In all we had 3 bottles of Sauvignon, plus a couple more glasses and some coffees. Just over £300 for 6 of us was pretty fair.

 

 Down to Lymington to meet up with J&E, S&B. We’re booked into Pebble Beach at Barton-on-Sea, which J and B claim we’d been to before, but I don’t recall at all. It’s a lovely sunny day, and we are glad to sit by the door to the terrace, rather than actually outside in the heat.

Most of the others aren’t drinking much, so it’s down to B and me to get through the Kleine Kalze Chenin Blanc  (£21.50).

E has the set 3-course menu at £24.50: smoked salmon, followed by chicken breast and then ice creams. The rest of us go a la carte. Our choices were king scallops (excellent) and beef carpaccio (fine). Others included Breton fish soup with rouille (deemed to be good), and goat’s cheese curd.

Our mains were lemon sole – a neat portion, nicely done – and stir-fried prawns and monkfish in oyster sauce, which was rather too dominant and salty.  J ordered skate wing with “mussel nage”, which turned out to her disappointment be flakes of skate buried under a mound of mussels and clams in a salty soup. B2’s fish and chips (with extra mushy peas) and S’s mussels were both well-received.

Desserts were a chocolate fondant  (hot and gooey, with honeycomb ice cream, and a cheese selection (at £15.40 a bit pricey).  Afterwards we sit outside on the terrace with splendid views of the sea, the Isle of Wight and the Needles. On such a lovely day, it’s a great place to be. We have some more wine and coffees – though I’ve just noticed they forgot to charge us for those!

The service was friendly and efficient and the atmosphere smart without being stuffy. Total for 6 (two bottles of wine, but excluding the extra wine and coffee) was £224. Despite the skate that is excellent value in such a scenic location. Highly recommended.

Two in Oxford

We’re treating ourselves to a night in Oxford.  Arriving at 1pm, we decide to go into Quod for lunch.   I thought it might be full at that time, but it is a large place, so in fact there was plenty of room and we get a table by the window.  There’s also a big terrace at the back, but although the sun is shining it’s not really warm enough to have lunch outside.

It’s an interesting menu, but as we are eating out in the evening as well, we try to be modest.  B has trout salad, which comes with flaked trout rather than fillets, but is otherwise very good. My chicken karahi comes with a mound of rice, raita and a poppadum – OK, not so modest!  This is very tasty, the chicken being a mix of breast and thigh, which brings extra flavour. It’s cumulatively spicy but not over the top.  As we are not driving anywhere, we do indulge with a second bottle of house white (Spanish) at £19 – the prices go up alarmingly after that.  Pleasant, rather than friendly, service.  £78 for two including service.

 Walking around in the afternoon, we stop off at the Folly by the river for a drink. This is a brilliant spot, and must be very busy in good weather.  The restaurant has huge skylights, and there are a number of seats outside. A look at the menu confirms it is pretty interesting – you can even go on a boat ride with a glass of prosecco before your meal! One for another time.

 We’re booked into the Cherwell Boathouse for dinner.  The place is full, and our table is at the back, a little disappointingly.  After we order though, a table by the river becomes free and we ask to move – the cheerful waiter happily obliges us.  It is light for a little longer yet, so this is a nice place to be.

In fact it seems that several tables were booked quite early, perhaps to take advantage of the light, and the place soon becomes much less busy. We start with a kir. None of the starters appeals that much (especially after lunch!), so we skip that and go for the mains. I have the duo of lamb, rump and braised shoulder with potatoes and spinach, the different textures being very appealing.  B has roast duck breast and confit duck leg, with a foam, a puree and kale – also good.

Unusually for us, we then do have dessert.  My banana and pistachio parfait is a bit uninteresting, but B’s “textures of lemon” – posset, meringue ice cream and mousse – is a big hit.  We just have the one bottle of Viognier (it’s been a long day!), and the total is a pretty modest £102 plus tip.

Some in the Midlands

After a grim journey round the M25 – one hour for one junction – we arrive at a regular haunt, the Bell at Clent after the kitchen has closed.  We are directed instead to the nearby Talbot in Belbroughton.  This has a little less character, but does have the virtue of serving food all day.

We are directed to the bar area, rather than the laid up restaurant,  although there are some people in that area already. We take a seat and B orders some wine from the bar.  Then we choose from the menu on the table – lots of dishes marked “NEW” – and I go to the bar to order. There’s no-one around, so our mood is not much improved.  Eventually someone appears and our order placed.

Five minutes later, the chap returns – we’d ordered from an old menu, and they were not doing the Thai fish cakes I wanted any more.  The new menu is identical apart from the fishcakes and the fact that the dishes are not “NEW” any more.  So I order the grilled prawns starter instead, while B has the duck confit salad.  The prawn dish is just three prawns (good size though, so fair enough), while B’s duck leg could have been a main course if served with lentils say.  Both are good, so we start to relax at last.  £49 is perhaps a bit steep though.

 

On the journey south a few days later, we stop at the Shrewsbury Arms in Albrighton, conveniently located near where the A41 meets the M54.  This is a large place, again with separate bar and restaurant areas, though the menu is the same. The restaurant part in particular is splendidly decorated as in an old manor house. It’s quite busy but we get served quickly. B has a starter portion of garlic prawns (a better size) while I choose the Italian “BMT” flatbread with parma ham and salami.  The topping is very nice but the bread really quite thick, so I leave that.  £43 including one bottle of Viognier.

 

We’re staying with D&B2,  and go out to dinner nearby at the Lyttleton Arms near Stourbridge.  This is in the same chain as the Derby Arms in Epsom that I’ve reviewed before, and the menu is virtually identical.  The friendly Ozzie waitress takes our order: chilli squid from the specials menu for me, scallops with pork belly for B and garlic pizzette to start for D&B2.  The squid is good, and B2 raves over it when he has a taste.

Mains are seabass fillets for me (good and moist but firm), linguine with prawns and chorizo for B; duck leg salad for D (better than the Derby Arms) and roast salmon for B2, which he also enjoys. D even has an ice cream and cookie.  £157 for four including two bottles of SB is pretty good, though it felt a little uninteresting.

Easter on the Wirral

EASTER ON THE WIRRAL

We’re visiting G&S on the Wirral, and on Easter Sunday we’ve booked to go to the Burnt Truffle in Heswall, along with L.  B had spotted a review of the restaurant some time ago but this was the first time we’d had chance to go and try it out ourselves.  Chef  Gary Usher is also responsible for Sticky Walnut and Hispi near Chester. Burnt Truffle was launched with the help of crowdfunding – the list of backers is on the wall downstairs, including some well-known names.

We are seated upstairs in a corner area which is almost like a private room - apart from the fact that the waiting staff have to pass by to go to the back-room for wine etc. The place is nice and bright with an odd mix of things on the wall – from a poster of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road to a collection of menus from famous restaurants like the French Laundry.  And a long chalked up wine list.

Service is attentive and friendly, though oddly we are told to order wine from the printed list rather than the board, which is a shame because I’d already selected one. Anyway we go with the Viognier from the Northern Rhone at £29.50, and some sparkling elderflower for L.  The beer list looks good too, with bottles from local breweries.

The set lunch menu has five options per course at £22 a head.  Sourdough bread with an excellent truffle and walnut butter arrives first – we’d commented on the attractive loaves on the way in.  After we’ve ordered I comment that despite the restaurant name, there were no truffles in any of the dishes – so we order an extra portion of truffle chips with parmesan flakes.

For starters, three of us, including me, order wood pigeon breast with beetroot fregola (little round balls of pasta from Sardinia made red by the beetroot).  This is fantastic, just melt in the mouth; the beetroot flavour is very subtle and the pasta light. B has the pork cheek and tongue terrine with Armagnac  prune which is firm and full of flavour, while L has cauliflower soup, a rich, creamy bowlful topped with rocket pesto.

For main courses we split three to two. I have the crispy duck leg with cassoulet.  The duck falls away from the bone, and though crispy is not dry.  The cassoulet contains smoked sausage and pieces of ham, and is warming and filling, a fine example. Truffle chips are good too!  B has the grilled seabream with a pale taramasalata and watercress. Sensible size portions too, leaving room for dessert.

 As always if it’s on the menu I then have crème brûlée.  This comes in a shallow dish, so has a good ratio of brûlée to crème, but is not as vanilla flavoured as some (it’s hard to beat Chez Bruce).  B’s dessert is rather unusual: Tonka bean custard with fromage blanc, dark chocolate and hazelnuts. We had to look up what Tonka beans are – South American beans with a flavour similar to vanilla – nothing to do with Tonka toys. It’s an insubstantial, foamy sort of dish, perhaps not their best.  Other dessert choices were chocolate mousse with honeycomb, and sticky toffee pudding with honeycomb ice-cream.

 We’ve had three bottles of the Viognier, so the bill comes to an extremely reasonable £220 for five before tip.  As well as the good food, the atmosphere and timing of service have been excellent, so we come away feeling well pleased.  I’d certainly put Burnt Truffle as a contender for a Michelin star next year.

 

Other Wirral restaurants

On our first night with G&S we go into Parkgate to Britannia Spice the local Indian.  This has a long list of individualistic dishes, as well as the usual permutations.  B and I just have a mixed kebab and chicken chat to start but G&S insist we try their Britannia

Special too – deep-fried chicken tikka with cheese and omelette, interesting but a little strange.  B has some excellent tandoori king prawns for main, while I try the lamb gobi jaipura, with some channa masala, dhal,  mushroom rice and naan.  We also have a couple of bottles of Malbec between us.  Very good at £90 for four, including generous tip.

 Less successful is Gusto in Heswall.  We’ve booked for 8pm and arrive on time, but are told our table is not ready, and to have a  drink in the bar.  After a while, B decides to chase them up and pesters the greeter, who contacts her manager. This does result in a table being made available, fortunately near the entrance. I say fortunately because the place is heaving and loud, and the low ceilings and dark lighting would have it oppressive further in. Even then the table next to us are very loud and seem to be best friends with everyone who passes by.  We have some edamame beans while we choose what to order.  I start with meatballs (fine but unimpressive) and B with a smoked haddock risotto, a sensible small portion.  My main course pork belly is rather dry, and the crackling rather firm; B’s garlic prawns are OK.  £75 for two with wine.

 The last night is back to Parkgate for Chinese at Chow’s Eating House.  Again we have to wait in the bar for the table to be ready, but this is done much more sensitively. And when we are seated, it is at a nice big round table with plenty of space. The waitress intelligently asks at the start whether we’d like to book a taxi for later, as on a Saturday night it will be busy – and in due course the taxi arrives bang on time.  G&S have hot and sour soup to start, while we share pork and prawn dumplings and a duck spring roll.  For main we have Beijing prawns and Szechuan fillet steak; G&S have scallops in a bird’s nest and Beijing chicken. We’d been told Beijing sauce was hot, but it wasn’t too much – the Szechuan was hotter.  All very good and flavoursome, with friendly waitresses - £174 for the four of us with three bottles of Laughing Giraffe Shiraz from South Africa at £19 each.