Catching up since July

I’ve been a bit remiss these last months, but here is a quick summary of places visited in the second half of the year. I no longer have all the details of what everyone had, and not all the prices, but I still have the memories!

India Club, Strand:  threatened with closure because of re-development, this throw-back to the 60s/70s was granted a reprieve. It used to be a traditional haunt of our Varsity match group, so we went along to celebrate. The room is basic – though the tables are no longer secured to the floor.  Drinks are obtained from the bar on the floor below – don’t expect anything beyond a Kingfisher or gin. Starters are standards – samosa, onion bhaji, plus a remarkably dangerous chilli bhaji. Mains are also fairly standard - lamb, butter chicken, dhal, aloo sag - but with good portions of rice and breads.  At £30 a head, it’s great fun.

Mar I Terra describes itself as “contemporary Spanish tapas”.  We’ve been before in the evening, but on this lunchtime visit after the Picasso exhibition at the Tate, we sit outside in the garden which is very pleasant.  Chilli prawns, crab-stuffed peppers, chicken livers, chorizo and morcilla with beans, chick peas are all good. Bill (with probably two bottles) comes to £92. Excellent – definitely recommend it if you are in the area. On a second visit in the early evening a couple of months later we have garlic prawns, sardines, chicken livers, beef, beans and jambon, chick peas (£75).

Guiseppe’s in Borough High Street has become B’s “go-to” restaurant. We went just the two of us first to research it, then as a group of 6, and then B went again with 4 other ex-colleagues. It’s as  clichéd as an Italian can be, short of candles in Chianti bottles. There are specials on the blackboard and all the traditional dishes you can remember.  Starters have included bresaola, scallops, prawns, calamari. Mains, spaghetti “My Way” (under a photo of Frank), veal Holstein, chicken Milanese with penne arrabiatta.  Good choice of Italian wines; generally around £50-£70 a head. Fine, convenient, but not sophisticated.

Ivy Market Grill . There are loads of Ivy spin-off places now, some of which have had unflatteringly reviews, but I think this in Covent Garden may have been the first one when the original restaurant closed for refurbishment for a while.  We went one lunchtime with S&L, and were sat next to Nicholas Lyndhurst (though he did ask to be moved!).  I had steak tartare followed by sea bass fillets and the bill came to £105 for the two of us. A very good experience. B went back again and that was good too.

Babur Brasserie I have reviewed before, but it remains worth the visit to Honor Oak Park.  Regional dishes feature strongly – this is no ordinary curry house. My meal this time was prawns and gourd to start followed by rabbit. At £106 for two this is good value.

The Oxo Tower Brasserie is a good place for a celebration. This time it was J’s 30^th, and there were 16 of us, on two tables of 8 with good river views. It’s not cheap though, and the wine does make the bill mount up. I had grilled crispy squid followed by chicken breast in a herb sauce and a tart.

Sticks ‘n’ Sushi, Wimbledon has rather less charm than its Covent Garden sister, the room being bigger and more open, with several refectory style tables, but has the same interesting menu and would be a nice reliable place to have on your doorstep. After the usual spicy edamame beans, we had beef tataki, crab croquettes, crudities and miso. Then shrimp rolls, crispy chicken rolls, duck breast and scallop and bacon sticks. With two bottles this is good value for £109

Chez Bruce:   I’ve reported on it several times, but it is still a reliable favourite for a good lunch. The parmesan crisps are still gorgeous and the atmosphere and service top-class. This time I had fishcakes with boquerones, followed by calf’s liver and then a caramel crisp. The set lunch price means this comes to £150 with a good amount of wine (though you have to hunt through the wine list to keep the cost down).

A Wong in Victoria has been around for a while, but though we’ve tried a couple of times we’ve not been able to get into this Michelin starred Chinese. So with S&L we book one evening and take on the challenging menu. It’s hard to decide how much to order, and I think in the end we were a bit conservative  for 4 Choices between us were prawn cracker, crab and prawn fritter;  duck and pancakes, lamb slider; kung pao chicken with peanuts, waygu beef, pork belly, “gold fish” dumplings, abalone, rice. £150 for two with not a lot of wine. Not yet convinced, but worth another try.

Our local tapas bar has been closed for refurbishment, but its sister, Las Fuentes in Selsdon was P&M’s choice for a birthday celebration for around 16 people. B and I had wild boar skewer, kidneys, chorizo, gambas pil pil and mussels. As good as the Purley version, with similar ambience.

After wine tasting we need something to soak up the alcohol, so twice in quick succession we go with T&K to Dim T in Victoria.  Each time we begin with beef wontons, chicken gyoza, edamame beans and various dim sum. The first time we go round again on the dim sum, but on the second visit we move on to firecracker prawns, special chicken stir-fry, chilli beef, pad thai, and Singapore noodles. It’s a big place, so generally no need to book. Coincidentally it cost £80 each time.

My colleagues organise a “round the world” series of lunches and this time we are in Jamaica at Cotton’s, Curtain Rd.   It’s a fairly basic place (though another outlet in Vauxhall is rather smarter) and being a “rum shack” does a good line in cocktails. I have the trio of vegetarian fritters followed by a lunchtime special of oxtail and bean stew with boiled rice. With one cocktail and a modest amount of wine my bill was £25.

Imperial China in Chinatown has become a regular dim sum place. After a wine tasting over in the City, we fetch up and order soft-shell crab followed by steamed king prawns, fillet beef and Singapore noodles. All for £100.

Masala Zone, Covent Garden  is another good place for a celebration, with lots of space and side rooms,  so we fetch up there for our housemate Christmas gathering. The Rajasthani  puppets dangling from the ceiling give it a great atmosphere, and despite the time of year we get good service too. There are 12 of us – any more and you have to have the set menu, but we are allowed to order individually. I have Delhi samosa, followed by Coondapur Duck, black dhal, spinach and steamed rice. With a good amount of wine this is £100 for two.  It would be interesting to try as a couple.

 

Three January birthday celebrations

M&G invited us to lunch to celebrate B’s birthday, and came up with Northbank as a good venue, on the Embankment path just north of the Millennium Bridge.  We’d been there (or its predecessor) before, sitting outside for a drink with the great view, but hadn’t previously eaten in the main restaurant.

We have a bottle of Prosecco between us in the bar to start and then move on in to a surprisingly busy room for a mid-week lunchtime. The clientele is rather corporate-looking, as is the general design of the place – apart from a rather radical wallpaper design, replicated on the menu cover, featuring a mugging, a homeless person and police cars, against a background of London tourist sights!

G orders both some white, the enticingly named Original Sin Sauvignon Blanc, from La Vierge, South Africa, and the equally intriguing red  Saurus Select Malbec from  Familia Schroeder, Patagonia (though there were some votes for “The Idiot Shiraz”).  Both are excellent, though we later as we needed another bottle, we had some debate about whether there was such a thing as a second Original Sin!

For starter I have three excellent scallops served with black pudding and B has a rather simpler smoked salmon served with melba toast.  M’s potted chicken comes with some interesting gherkin pieces, while G’s grilled mackerel is also good. A pretty solid start.

Main courses are even better.  My pork belly has crackling that is perfect, better than any I’ve had – crisp, yet not teeth threatening, and comes with a luscious sauce.  B’s duck breast is also lovely – nicely pink and again with a good sauce. M chooses the fish of the day, whole plaice – another winner. G’s calves liver looks a little over-cooked to me, but he’s very happy with it.

We’re pretty full, but the Malbec remains enticing so we order a plate of cheese between the four of us to provide an excuse. The portions of the four distinctive cheeses (including Yarg) were quite small, but that was fine as they supported the wine excellently.

M&G generously paid (thanks, guys) so I’ve no idea what it cost – not cheap I suspect.  Apart from the slightly corporate atmosphere, this was an excellent place with some of the best food we’ve had in a while.

A couple of days later on a Friday night we find ourselves in Bam-Bou, a Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese restaurant in Percy St, at the junction with Charlotte Street.  It’s a gorgeously decorated place on several floors, with a cocktail bar at the top, which is where we join S for a drink.  We’ve had to book early, as the restaurant had said they were busy, so we’ve fallen in with the doors at 5.30pm. Obviously it’s pretty quiet then, but the bar fills up within half an hour. We each order cocktails (about £10 each) and then a bottle of Chenin Blanc at about £20. We’re joined by A who chooses a Japanese whisky from the extensive (and expensive) list.

We go to our table on the ground floor at 6.30pm – the room is only half full. In fact it never gets really full (though there is some turnover of tables) so we don’t quite get why we had to be there so early.  We make the mistake of allowing A to order the wines – his taste is a little on the pricey side, so by the end of the evening it all mounts up. Nonetheless you can’t say a word against the Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc from Margret River or the Elderton Shiraz/Cabernet from Barossa Valley.

We share starters between the four of us – edamame beans while we order, then soft shell crab, crab and green mango salad, Hanoi ribs and grilled prawns. All were good without standing out, except perhaps the crab salad which was a very good fresh dish.

For my main course I had the slow braised ox cheek.  It was very tender but didn’t have much spiciness. B on the other hand had the very chilli-tasting wok prawns which was very good.  S had crispy quail which had a nice batter, and A had a vegetable noodle bowl, with some grilled aubergine.  We shared a rhubarb parfait and coconut panna cotta for dessert.

The service was very good (efficient and quiet) and the atmosphere excellent – buzzy and oriental.  Because of the cocktails and expensive wines the bill came to a whopping £377, two-thirds of which was booze.  £100 for food for four is not so bad, so more careful diners could manage to get good value for money.

On Monday we’re off to Ronnie Scott’s to see Billy Cobham (no, I hadn’t heard of him either, but he was good and the Guardian review liked him too).  So we try out Nopi, an Ottolenghi restaurant off Regent Street beforehand.

As we’re eating early, the place is nearly empty when we arrive, but we are still shown right to the back – obviously we’re not the beautiful people they expect.  The décor is restrained and relaxing beige, with light wood furniture.  We’ve opted for the main restaurant, though apparently you can eat downstairs to watch the “theatre kitchen”. 

We order some spicy roasted nuts and the cheapest white wine (Savia Viva Classico Blanco, Penedes - £25) while we consider the menu. Like Bam-Bou the wine list shoots up quite quickly (£140 for a Trebbiano anyone?).  Sparkling water is free though.

Like many places now, the approach is small sharing plates, so we order four.  The trouble is that each is the price of a main course in a more down to earth place.  The menu leans heavily on vegetarian dishes but we have two meat, one fish and a cheese dish.

The venison with caramelised yoghurt, blackberries and peanut crumble is very tender and tasty but not as interesting as the ingredient list suggests.  The “twice-cooked baby chicken” with chilli sauce is very moist and melting, with the chilli being a hint of flavour rather than dominating. Stone bass, urid dahl, hot and sour aubergine is similarly good with subtle supporting flavours. Burrata (a very soft light cheese) with coriander seeds and accompanied by blood orange is refreshing and tangy at the same time.

With an extra glass of wine each, this brings the total up to £97, broadly acceptable in the end. As we leave the place is full,  and the display of veggie dishes looks impressive.