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.