Three recent excursions

 We're meeting up with T&K again, and after some deliberation have settled on El Pirata Mayfair, off Piccadilly, near Shepherd Market. We'd been a couple of times before, but it seems we also went with them after a wine-tasting - which we have no recollection of!

It's very busy again, and I give my name for the booking - only for T to point out he booked it, so is described by the waiter as "the fantastic Mr S" - but we are lucky to be shown to a table by the window. Even downstairs is pretty full - it is very lively. We do manage to flag down a waiter to order some wine - B and I have an SB "Inurrieta Blanco" (£31) while they have a red Tarima Organico (£30). 

We explore the menu and eventually settle on nine dishes plus some bread. In the end, the chipironnes (grilled baby squid with chickpeas stew) is "off",  First to arrive was the plate of 8 anchovies - only T and I tuck into those,  These were soon followed by the two croquettes dishes - ham and chicken - and the asparagus. Croquettes are fine, if not special, but the asparagus with tomato and manchego is really nicely cooked al dente. Next were the mussels and chorizo (small pieces) and two portions of gambas pil-pil (inevitably). Both really good - nicely charred garlic with the pil-pil. Garlic chicken and chorizo in red wine round off the order. The chorizo is good, but the garlic chicken a little dull, in a rather dark sauce. 

After a little pause, we order some more gambas and a plate of cheese, and re-order the bread which hadn't arrived. There are four different cheeses in the selection and it comes with quince jelly and little breadsticks. The garlic dip with the bread is also good. With this we have a second bottle of the red. 

Service is the increasingly common 13.5%. But they didn't charge us for the bread. So we end up with a total of £216. The waiters have been jolly and service pretty good for such a busy lunchtime. Very good lunch.

After a shopping trip to Kingston we head to a Vietnamese restaurant B had spotted online - Pho. This is part of a chain, with a dozen or so in and around London and others across the country.  When we get there - about 2pm on a Saturday - the place is heaving and it's not clear that we'll get a table. As the waitress goes to look, a small group comes in behind us and asks if we have a reservation, as they do. Well, you'll still have to wait. 

We get a table towards the back of the restaurant, near the back window, so quite pleasant. It takes a little while to flag down a waitress to order wine, but it comes fairly quickly after that - a French Viognier at £22.50. There's a very interesting range of starters on the menu - we order the pork meatballs, seafood spring roll and mango salad. But the mango salad is "off" so we have crispy squid instead.  We also order prawn crackers to keep us going.

The meatballs are very tasty, with lemongrass, and the peanut sauce we choose to have with it has a subtle kick that creeps up on you. The squid, as is often the case, is good while still hot, but looses its appeal a bit after that. They are small pieces, nicely cooked in thin batter, not at all rubbery, though I would have preferred garlic in the mayonnaise rather than lime. The spring roll accompanied by Vietnamese fish sauce is the least interesting despite apparently having king prawn and crab in it. The crackers don't appear at first, then the waitress tells us that they were hunting the store-room for sweet chilli sauce to go with them. Shortly later, the chef comes to tell us and the lads at the table next to us that they didn't have the sauce, but offered us a choice of ones he could do. The others choose the sriracha one, so we go with that too. It is very spicy indeed. 

The main course menu is dominated - appropriately enough - by pho dishes, though there are a few stir fries and curries too. B chooses the house version with prawns, chicken and steak, while I go for the steak and garlic one.  They are big steaming bowls of broth with loads of noodles, plus herbs to add to taste, to be eaten messily with chopsticks and a bamboo spoon. Not one for a first date.  The broth is excellent, and there is plenty of protein in both, though a couple of the pieces of steak in mine are rather tough. Far too many noodles to stand a chance of getting through them. 

With a second bottle of wine the bill comes to a bit over £100, including 12.5% service. The service has been good despite the unavailability of a couple of things, so I'm happy to fill in the feedback questionnaire at the end. An interesting lunch.

The following week we visit the Cezanne exhibition at Tate Modern. We're quite late so our favourite tapas nearby isn't open and our researches have not been very successful at finding anywhere else interesting. We settle on The Refinery, round the back on Southwark Street. It's a big place, but not very full when we arrive - though the waiter says they were busy earlier and are fully booked this evening. A good place for work groups I'd imagine - they do lots of cocktails. The wine list is fairly varied, but we just order the South African Chenin Blanc at £24. 

B fancies the venison scotch egg, but they don't have that, so we have the salt and pepper squid and the chicken skewers instead. The squid comes as quite a large portion, with lemon mayonnaise this time but it is rather rubbery.  The skewers come with "hot honey" - with a chilli kick - interesting, but rather too sweet. 

Main courses are crispy duck salad for B and chalkstream trout for me plus a side order of "Roman" fries, with parmesan and truffle. The salad is quite large, with a good amount of duck and a wide range of supplements - beansprouts, wonton and peanuts. But it is more crispy than duck. My trout though is very good indeed. Slightly undercooked perhaps, but with a lovely crust and lots of flavour.   

The service has been good and the music I think you might call "technobeat" - not too loud, though I'd guess it would be louder in the evening. We have a nice table by the window, so the feel has been good. Sparkling water and a second bottle of wine, a 50p charity donation and 12.5% service brings the bill to over £120. Probably the least good value of the three, but a reasonable enough option in an area surprisingly short on mid-range places. 

DECOR OR FOOD?

Meeting up for the first time since lockdown with M&G, we are booked in to the Wolseley.  We had recently read a couple of reviews of the restaurant which were not especially encouraging: this from the Guardian: "People don’t come to the Wolseley for the food." Now while it's certainly true that the dining room is dramatic - high ceilings, massive chandeliers, loads of marble - it's not my number one criterion for choosing somewhere to eat. Owner Jeremy King had also been highly visible on TV recently, arguing about lockdown relaxations and hosting the London Mayor. 

We got there a little early and, after a high-tech temperature check, sat by the bar to wait. Without being summoned, the barman popped up and asked if we'd like a drink. We ordered two glasses of Sauvignon, and he immediately returned with glasses and the bottle (Ardeche Blanc, £28.50), explaining this was their house white wine. We asked to keep the bottle for the table.  

Another non-food treat of the restaurant is celeb-spotting.  On a previous visit,  we'd clocked Michael Parkinson and Melvyn Bragg. This time we see Mr King chatting to two guests, fairly evidently part of the establishment, but not ones we could identify. 

M&G arrive and help us finish off the first bottle of wine. Then we are shown to our table - coincidentally the same one as last time, up on the mezzanine, back left, giving a good view over the assembled diners. Still no celebs. 

Our waiter shares the specials with us - langoustines are "off", the fish of the day is sea trout. The menu is very appealing, much better than we'd expected, though still very "Middle European" with escalopes and choucroute. 

B scored the best dish of the day with her starter Queen scallops oriental. Beautifully presented in their cute little shells on a seafood stand, the nine tiny pieces sat in an oriental, vinegary sauce - effectively a ceviche. Really delicious. I also have scallops but the more standard ones (four) on a shell with mashed potato. G's steak tartare is deemed fine, and M's choice - "croustade" of quail's eggs - is another visual delight. More than that, they are carefully cooked so as to be soft-boiled. 

G had selected a Corbieres (£36), and this was certainly a class ahead of the white. He chose the house special Wiener Holstein (large), the egg a glorious yellow. Shamed to say he couldn't quite finish it. M had the the sea-trout special which came with veg - another colourful dish, which she really enjoyed. B's selection a duck salad - tasty, though she said she could have done with a sharper knife to cut it.  Sticking with the traditional, I went for calves liver and bacon. I know you can get that at your local greasy spoon, but this was certainly a cut above.

We also had some fries, water and coffee, taking the bill to £373 including 15% service, which had been efficient despite us being in a backwater. So not cheap, but it far exceeded the expectations we'd had at the start. Very enjoyable - and the decor was good too.     

Classy tapas off Piccadilly

After a challenging session at the Anthony Gormley exhibition at the RA, we retire to the Chequers Tavern  for a much-need drink. It’s a remarkably quiet haven off Piccadilly, though with the good weather there were a lot of people drinking outside. Here we debate where to go for lunch, as the original interest in Japanese has waned.

 After a bit of Googling we settle on El Pirata, a classic tapas bar, round the back of the Athenaeum.  As we approach, we can see people sitting outside in the sunshine, but the one spare table is reserved. It’s 2pm and inside is packed. You’d have to say it was a “narrow demographic” - even compared with the RA. We are ushered to the sit at the bar (“counter”) which doesn’t really appeal, but it’s the only option. Others, having booked, or regulars known to the management do get tables.

 We order some wine – Paso a Paso, Sauvignon/Verdejo (at £25 near the cheapest on the list) – and consider the menu. There’s a wide range of options, including a special offer 2-dish lunch at £11.50, specials at around £15, paellas, and a tapas selection at £25. Or you could just choose a few dishes, which is what we did.

 The bread and aioli arrives first. Lovely soft bread, that was so tempting to keep dipping into the punchy garlic dip. Next comes the pan-fried medallions of steak in a tasty sauce.  Very tender, though the sauce wasn’t as garlic or peppery as might have been expected. With that is the chick peas with slow cooked aubergine, courgettes & peppers – a little odd, sharp and sweet at the same time.

 Then, both sizzling hot, come the gambas pil-pil and the chicken livers. Both excellent.  We had wondered whether these few dishes would be enough, but we are quite satisfied with them. Plenty of sauces to dip your bread into.

 The place is very buzzy and full, and doesn’t even start to empty out until well after 3pm. The décor is Picasso and Miro prints, with the classic display of spirits behind the bar.  Our neighbour at the bar has ordered dishes from the set menu, but his companion has failed to arrive, despite lots of calls. B decides that she must be very glamorous, as she is quite happy to keep her man waiting. He eats most of the food, but does manage to leave some for her. Eventually, a well-dressed slim Indian lady arrives – with suitcase – picks at the cold sardines and chicken croquettes, before pushing off in a taxi after no more than 30 minutes.

We order another bottle of wine while we survey the comings and goings.  Many of the dishes we’ve seen served look very good – the paella, Iberico ham, sardines, tomato bread; and there were plenty of other things on the menu we would have happily ordered.  

The final reckoning was a pretty reasonable £86 including service, given that £50 was wine.  Service at the bar had been prompt fairly friendly without being over-attentive.  It’s not in the most convenient of locations but in Michelin terms “worth a detour”. We’ll no doubt revisit, but make sure to reserve a table next time.