March round-up

Busy month!

Veeno, an Italian wine bar in George Street, Croydon has been open about a year. We’ve been a few times, mainly for drinks, though a couple of times for lunch with P&M. On this visit B has the tuna salad (her regular choice here) and I had bresaola panino, which wasn’t toasted enough. With two bottles of Grillo – from a constantly changing supplier – that came to (£61).

Visiting the Don McCullin exhibition at Tate Britain, we knew we would need cheering up afterwards, so I do some local research. We settle on Goya, a tapas bar on Lupus Street, as it looks like it should be relaxing.  There are a couple of other people in there, some propping up the bar all afternoon it seems.  We get the table by the window, so have plenty of people-watching opportunities with the school across the road.  There is a downstairs too, which is more of a restaurant but not open at this time of day.
We choose the El Coto Blanco Rioja (£18.95), then turn to the tapas menu. It’s a fairly long list, but nothing much out of the ordinary. The liver and onion comes with chips; the garlic prawns also have a good chilli hit. Tuna croquettes are a bit different, and the bean casserole comes with ham. I get talked into ordering the garlic bread, as something to have while we wait for the other dishes, but actually it doesn’t arrive until the others do.  It is very squidgy though, with a good mozzarella topping.
With a second bottle of wine this comes to a reasonable £78 (incl just 10% service).  But it’s just an “OK” sort of place, not really worth seeking out unless you are nearby.  It leads us to a debate about “favourite tapas places” – Mar i Terra, Lobos and, sadly no longer open, Bilbao Berria.


Later in the week after the long journey home from a visit to Theydon Bois, since we are catching an East Grinstead train, we decide to call in at the Sanderstead Tandoori.  We have garlic prawns (big butterfly prawns), chicken tikka special (very spicy), tarka dhal, and pilau rice with just one bottle of wine for £48, with a 10% loyalty card discount. Large very tasty portions, so we only manage half and ask to take the rest away.  And very tasty the dishes still are a couple of days later.


In a busy week, we are off to Leyton of all places to meet with S and a big group of her circle to celebrate A’s 30^th.  The Lion and Key at the top of the High Road describes itself as a hotel, though you’d think of it as a pub with rooms. It has been quite modernised, but is very quiet this Saturday lunchtime – perhaps because Orient are playing away.  B and I share the calamari and prawns as starters, then I have a lamb shish and she a chicken skewer. Portions are very large – the kleftiko some people ordered was huge. With a good amount of wine this was £112 for the two of us.




The next week is jazz. Tuesday, Nigel Kennedy at Ronnie Scott’s was excellent, but the food was rather average: chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms with gnocchi, burger with cheese and bacon. Two bottles takes it to £110.  

Then Thursday to Northbank for a tasting menu with a jazz trio – rather elderly it has to be said, but providing a pleasant background.  The 7-course tasting with wine pairings is nominally £65 a head, but we supplement it with a few extra glasses.  We have nduja focaccia, cod’s roe on caviar crackers as an opener, followed by watercress soup. The poached dover sole and cauliflower is pretty small, and the lamb loin with hogget breast ragu not really what you would call a main course – tasty though. Afters run to goats cheese and grapes, rhubarb with sorbet and finally pistachio doughnut. By the time they add the extra wine and service it comes to just over £200.



To wrap the month up, we wander down to Coulsdon to our favourite local Italian, Pulcinella’s. As usual it’s quiet lunchtime, with several specials on the boards. They don’t have our regular Frascati, so we go for the more expensive Italian Sauvignon Blanc – not too fruity. We share garlic bread with mozzarella and goat’s cheese in parma ham to start. B has scallops with black pudding (on the board as a starter, but she has a double portion as main) – excellent smooth black pudding and perfectly cooked scallops.  I choose the seafood pasta which is packed with prawns, mussels, clams and squid – more ordinary but good. £110 with two bottles and service (plus complimentary limoncello).