New Vietnamese in Surbiton

 One of the five Indian restaurants in Surbiton's "curry quarter" (!) has closed and been replaced after much work by a Vietnamese - Madame Vy.  We tried it out in its first week when there was a discount on food, but it did not yet have a full menu.

So we returned recently to give it a proper check-out.  It's now a stylish place, with a cocktail bar at the front, walls nicely decorated with displays of plates, and a small outside area at the back. There were only a few other tables occupied on a mid-week lunch, so hopefully they do better in the evenings. 

We start with a bottle of Chenin/Viognier at £30, which turns out to be Bee's Knees, an SA wine we get at home from Sunday Times. The range of starter's is interesting, but the main courses are more limited - a number of pho soups and a few goat dishes but only a few stir-fries.

For starters we have the prawn summer rolls and a chicken and pork crispy Vietnamese pancake. The rolls are lovely with fresh herbs and tasty prawns, though the rice paper wrapping is a little stodgy. The pancake is quite large with plenty of filling, though it isn't very evenly distributed. 

For main course we venture to try one of the goat dishes - stir-fried with lemongrass - which came with rice and crispy seabream with mango sauce and vermicelli.  The goat was very tender thankfully, in a rich sauce and enough chilli to be interesting. The sea bream, on the bone, was covered in mango strips that made filleting it more tricky, but it did come away from the bone well. Full of flavour too.  We didn't explore desserts. 

Service has been very friendly, explaining how to pronounce the name (Vee not Vie). We have a second bottle.  There is a 5% "neighbourhood discount" (though we hadn't been asked where we were from) and a further 10% opening period discount, offset by a 10% service charge.  So we end up with a bill of £112. 

It's not a "wow" experience, but perfectly reasonable and a useful addition to the local scene.    

Angela Hartnett at the ROH

 P&M are back in the country, so we meet up for lunch. I'd read reviews of Cicoria, the new Angela Hartnett on the 5th floor of the Royal Opera House, so we head there. It takes us a while to find the lifts, and then it's a little walk back to the restaurant itself, but it's worth it for the view, down over the Covent Garden piazza.

There is a bar terrace as well, but we're booked into the restaurant proper. It's all brightly decorated with plants, and as it's a lovely sunny day it feels all fresh and open. We're promptly shown to our table, by an open window, but P&M had to wait a while to be escorted along. 

We've started off with the house white, from Sicily, at £38, plus sparkling water. This comes swiftly enough, and is then placed just out of reach. Smiley and friendly waitress.

For starter, B has burrata with tomatoes. This is a good sized portion, and the tomatoes are excellent. The rest of us each have the melon and cucumber soup with toasted almonds with a touch of truffle oil. This is very refreshing on a warm day. It's not a very wide-ranging menu, but interesting nonetheless. 

For main course, both B and M have a starter size crab linguine, with a green salad to share. It's billed as coming with chilli, but this is very mild. It's a reasonable sized portion.  P has the chalk stream trout, which comes looking very red - he declares it fine. My selection is "pollo alla diavolo" - this chunk of chicken breast comes with panzanella (croutons), a smallish portion, not very spicy, but good flavour and moist. 

P and I both follow up with the vanilla gelato with chocolate and hazelnuts - very indulgent. 

Service has been very attentive; tables are far enough apart; there's a gentle hum with some very light background music - in all, a calming ambience on a nice day. 

With four bottles of wine and the usual service charge, the total comes to £400. The food was good and the situation very pleasant, so probably fair enough. Only for special occasions I suspect, and mainly in the sunny weather.