We are heading to the Comedy Store off Leicester Square with B's niece E. As we don't fancy their pizza and don't know what time it will finish we decide to eat mid-afternoon, 4pm. E suggests Japanese, so I do some research and find one with a promising looking menu just round the corner in Panton Street - Machiya.
E is already there when we arrive, drinking a cocktail - yuzu and elderflower. That looks so refreshing on a hot day that I decide to have one too. We also order a bottle of Italian SB at £26. E is vegetarian, but I had checked and there is a wide range of options on the menu - 8 different starters, a mushroom rice bowl and a "large plate" vegetable katsu curry. It's this that she chooses.
We are finding it difficult to choose too. Eventually we settle on glazed chicken skewers with egg yolk, pork belly, and a "large plate" seared duck breast. We also order a Japanese coleslaw and wasabi mayonnaise.
E seems happy with her curry (which she says is not very spicy) which comes with steamed rice, and she has some coleslaw too. The waiter delivers our smaller plates, then arrives with two portions of the duck, so we have to turn one away. The chicken skewers are very dense, and when dragged through the egg yolk very rich. The pork belly is braised (so no crackling) and comes as big dense chunks alongside a boiled egg and spinach. The duck is elaborately presented in a large leaf (houba leaf apparently) with daikon and persimmon - very tender. The coleslaw is good too with a sharp dressing, but we didn't need the rather wishy-washy mayo.
The place is small, simple and cafe-like, but with some interesting decor. The bill says we were on the ground floor, so presumably there is another room downstairs. Waiters were very friendly and chatty.
The bill comes to £95 including 12.5% service. But I see, looking at it now, they only charged us for a small glass of wine rather than a bottle, so it should have been about £20 more. Very reasonable for good, interesting dishes in a very central location.
The following day we are meeting ex-BT friend S. We meet up at the Marquis of Granby for a drink outside in the sunshine before crossing the road to Koba, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Rathbone Street. Tables for four come with the BBQ plate in the middle and a extractor pipe lowered over the top of it. There are tables downstairs for 8.
For starters we order Yook Hwei (raw beef with egg), prawn pan-fried dumplings and calamari. The waitress mixes the beef into the raw egg much like a steak tartare - B reckons it's one of her favourite dishes ever. The marinated beef is in small strips rather than minced and comes with pale-coloured strips which we can't identify - on asking we find they are pear, which was there on the menu. The prawn dumplings were very good too, but the calamari a bit ordinary, despite the Korean dips, in very small pieces.
We have ordered the mixed Korean BBQ for 2, so S decides we need an extra dish and chooses bulgogi, rib-eye beef. We also have the lettuce and spring onion as recommended and some garlic fried rice. We are drinking French Viognier at £26 a bottle.
The plate of BBQ meats arrives, looking massive. I had assumed we would have to manage the cooking ourselves, but in fact the waitress takes charge. First up is some thinly sliced steak. Four pieces are cooked briefly on both sides, then snipped in half with scissors. We put it into lettuce leaves with the spring onion and eat with our hands. Next we have spare rib beef, two long pieces with bone on the edge, again snipped into bite-size once cooked and the bones used as a place to rest meats so they don't overcook. There are pieces of pumpkin and sweet potato there too.
The bulgogi is soy marinated and comes chopped up and sizzles as it is poured onto the BBQ. It's beginning to feel like an awful lot of meat, but the dishes are paced well so I never feel stuffed. The waitress cleans the centre of the BBQ then puts on the pork belly. Then comes the spiced chicken, which is indeed fairly spicy. Finally, after the plate is cleaned again, come the raw prawns and squid pieces. B was surprised these had not come first.
We don't eat all the rice or spring onions, though these were very good. Surprisingly there's not much in the way of dips or sauces - just some light soy sauce and a sesame oil and salt one.
There's a good turnover of people and the staff have been very attentive. We have a second bottle which with 12.5% brings the total to £225, £75 a head. So this is quite a bit more expensive than the Japanese, but for such a vast amount of meat it is a pretty fair price.
