We'd got into a routine of Saturday being "curry night" at home, including some very nice ones from Cook! But this week we decide to try The Gurkha Kitchen at the Ferry, a local pub. We'd been in for a drink once before, and it seemed like a place full of locals. It's an odd combination of drinkers' pub and tables laid up smartly surrounded by semi-luminous paintings of Nepal.
This time the proportion of smartly laid-up tables is higher and all of them duly fill up, though the small number of local drinkers are making most of the noise, at least until they move outside. The house Shiraz at £18 is very reasonable, and they bring complimentary pappadums and pickles.
The menu is very wide-ranging, with lots of unusual Nepalese dishes. After a little thought, we choose the special platter to share as our starter. This comprises two large portions of chicken tandoori, some chicken tikka, one tandoori king prawn and lamb sekuwa - grilled lamb pieces. It's very tasty, and not at all dry as I might have expected. There is a subtle kick to the lamb and to the tikka, and all the chicken has good flavour.
For mains we have "Everest Lamb", which is in a thick garlic and ginger sauce, and a very attractively presented "Fewa prawn", which four butterflied king prawns in a lobster-shade tomato, yogurt and chilli sauce. Both dishes are very good, though the lamb, despite being "slow-cooked" is a little on the chewy side. We also order a black dhal (a B favourite), which is a bit disappointing - I even wonder whether they'd given us the ordinary dhal instead - and mushroom rice.
With a second bottle - most of which we take away - the bill comes to £83 without service charge. Service has been very efficient and as friendly as you can be when masked up. There has been a nice warm vibe to the place, and the dining tables have been full throughout with a second round of diners. Certainly worth another try to experiment with the wide range of unfamiliar dishes.
At the bottom of our road is the Thames Ditton Marina, which is home a new bar/restaurant called Hideaway, a new venture related to No 97 and Cento Uno in Maple Road. It's in a gorgeous location, with a terrace right alongside the river. We'd been a couple of times for drinks, and it's been very pleasant and welcoming. The menu didn't look especially appealing at lunchtime - more brunch than anything - but the evening was more a "small plates", tapas-style option.
I've emailed and left a voice message to book a table, but no reply as late as 5pm. They are shut on Monday and Tuesday lunchtime, so that's just about understandable. So I ring again and get a rather harassed response - they can't do 7.30 pm but could do 8 pm. They can't guarantee seats on the terrace either - first come first served. It's been a lovely warm day, but we are warned to bring something to wrap up with as it gets cold (here by the river).
There's no-one seated inside when we arrive, and outside looks pretty full. But we do get shown to a table for 3 outside, though it's not directly overlooking the river and more by the marina. We order the house white Trebbiano at £23 - having been stung by £32 for SB on a previous visit - which arrives promptly. As we mull over the menu, the manager comes out and asks us if we would mind moving as he now has a table for 2 by the river, and he has a group of 3 just arrived. Fine by us. It's a lovely spot as the light fades and ghostly lit boats drift by.
We order 5 dishes, which are going to be a struggle to fit on the small table. It's not a huge menu, so the decisions aren't too hard - just 12 proper dishes. Garlic prawns was always going to be a choice - this version comes with roasted corn as well as the garlic and chilli, which are quite modestly represented. Crispy cod comes with a tomato sauce slapped across it, and is a bit limp and uninteresting. The lamb skewer is fine, if a bit small, with the peri chicken livers being the best of the bunch - not heavily sauced as they often are, but with a neat hit of chilli in the peri-peri sauce. The final selection was courgette fritter which comes, not like Italian zucchini fritti, but in a great wodge of fried, grated vegetable - quite good though.
The setting remains super, and it doesn't get too cold. We are a bit distracted by a guy alone at the next table who wants to share his problems with us, but eventually he orders food too (burger and chips) and is then distracted. Service is attentive - and we order a couple more glasses to enjoy the view. Total bill is a reasonable £77 (incl 12.5%) , but although the five dishes have been filling enough, the food itself has been a bit disappointing. As the nights draw in and the weather turns colder, the setting itself will lose its charm, and unless the menu becomes more interesting we may not want to go then. The tapas menu would be fine for lunch perhaps, otherwise I fear for their prospects.
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