Smart Italian in Red Lion Street

I’d been to Bacco before just for a glass of wine, when they had been very helpful and provided a basket of interesting bread. B had also been with other friends, so when looking for somewhere for lunch with M&G, we thought this would be a good choice. As we were celebrating their birthdays, we began with a bottle of Prosecco (£36), and then settled into examining the menu.

We wondered aloud what “slightly deep fried squid” might mean, and the waitress hearing us laughingly suggested in her seductive Italian accent it might be that they were still alive when pulled out!  That didn’t work for the similarly described brie though, so she asked her manager. He, also with a strong accent that had M wilting, described how this meant briefly fried in very hot oil.

I don’t know much about Italian grape varieties – they always seem so individualistic – so we settled on the house white, a Trebbiano del Rubicone, from Abruzzo  at a very reasonable £18.90 (the wine list does have plenty of options below£30).  This seemed to go down well so we stayed with it throughout.

M liked the look of the set menu, so began with the soup – an extremely thick mushroom with pesto - it was more like a puree than a soup, but apart from feeling full, M thought it was good. G had mussels – a huge plate in white wine with chickpea cream – also a hit.  B had to try the squid and it was a good as the descriptions had suggested.  My avocado and crabmeat with chilli was a little delayed in coming, and when it did it was on thin, crispy toast rather than the milk rolls advertised.  But it was worth waiting for, a great combination of flavours, and probably all the better for being on toast.

M’s set menu main course was billed as “Chicken Roulade filled w asparagus, four cheese fondue, basil potato mash, gravy”.  In practice the cheese was a background sauce, and the overall effect seemed a little dry, though M said the chicken itself was moist and tasty.  G’s main was the seafood pasta, which came with a surprisingly light but zingy tomato and chilli sauce: there was plenty of seafood, including more mussels.  B had the monk fish medallions cooked excellently and served in a very fresh herby sauce. My cod wrapped in pancetta with red lentils was also very good.

G has a taste for ice cream and sorbet, he chose a selection including some unusual flavours, so I had to keep him company with a tiramisu. Wow, this was so light and melting that it felt like it must be losing you weight!

We had been lingering over lunch, while other tables had come and gone. Bacco is a pretty popular place, so booking is probably a good idea. The whole atmosphere had been relaxed and gentle, with lots of happy and appreciative noises from nearby tables, and the service had been charming and efficient, a fairly uncommon combination.

This excellent meal came to a not insubstantial £250 including service (with 3 bottles of house white, some water and coffee), but for a special occasion represented very good value.

Michelin starred restaurant lives up to its reputation

I’m meeting C for lunch at Chez Bruce, the Michelin-starred restaurant by Wandsworth Common, looking forward to it immensely as I’ve always fancied going there. It’s a lovely sunny day, and the place looks a picture with its pretty window-boxes and elegant design.  Inside it is light and airy, less than half-full at 12.30 on a Thursday.


We order from the set menu (£27.50 for three courses), though with 7 or 8 choices per course, it feels more like a full a la carte.  C isn’t drinking so I go for a carafe of the house white, a Vermentino, from  Pays d’Oc,  which at £11.50 a half bottle is pretty reasonable. As you might expect the wine list goes up to some serious heights but it also has several wines at £30 or less, so your wallet is not necessarily that challenged.

We’re offered a parmesan crisp and then some lovely bread – we both have walnut. The service is alert and attentive, friendly without being intrusive – all it should be.

Starters arrive in decent time – though as we were chatting so much I may not have been paying full attention to the timing.  C has an asparagus and pea parcel with herb vinaigrette and mascarpone. This is deemed to be very good, very fresh and springlike, the parcel being a light pancake.  My salmon sashimi comes with a couple of prawn dim sum and ginger – bright, fresh, sharp.
The restaurant is filling up more now – a good mix of age ranges, a young family, middle-aged ladies who lunch, an older couple and some business types. All seem relaxed and enjoying themselves, as are we.

C’s main course is cod with truffle mash, cabbage, mushrooms and bacon. Perfectly cooked and attractively presented, this is another seasonally appropriate dish –and much approved of.  I’ve chosen the lamb tagine and kofta. The presentation of this is something of a surprise. The tagine is a ring of meat served with harissa aubergine (super) on the main plate; the kofta and bulgar wheat arrive in a separate dish for some reason.  But regardless of this idiosyncrasy, it all tastes wonderful, a mix of textures and flavours that makes each mouthful interesting.

As always when it’s available I choose the crème brûlée. I’m challenged to define what makes an excellent crème brûlée – this seems to be it. First it’s in a wide shallow dish, rather than a ramekin, making the ratio of brûlée to crème much better. Second it’s piping hot. And third it has a good hit of vanilla – and no messy fruit.
C’s dessert seems to be the one less than perfect note -  coconut panna cotta with mango salad, lychee sorbet and lime. It’s a bit of a mess, both of style and flavours, nothing individually wrong of course, but not a great synthesis.  So thank goodness there’s room for improvement!

It’s been a super lunch, and at less than £80 for two excellent value. It’s the sort of place that makes you feel at one with the world, so when back out in the sunshine I take a leisurely and relaxed stroll around the common, watching the ducks. Must go back soon.

Hampton Court bistro – new incarnation

We’re meeting D for lunch in Hampton Court and have yet to decide exactly where.  So we take a look at the menu for the Mitre first (we went there back in July).  The riverside terrace is still closed after the floods and the restaurant menu doesn’t look that special. So we turn our attention to the Mute Swan, now occupying the space where Blubeckers used to be.

Their website describes it as 'English-dining-pub-meets-wine-bar', whatever that means.  We sit in the downstairs “bar” ( as opposed to the tablecloths upstairs), which is all stripped pine and eclectic chairs.  They’ve moved the bar to the other side of the room from before, but the central spiral staircase to the restaurant  and loos is still there.

There are specials on the board – mains, bar snacks (interesting-sounding, with black pudding scotch eggs),  wines and beers (a good range for real ale drinkers).  Service is very attentive, so we get “quick wine” – a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc at £18 – and have to send them away a couple of times before ordering food because we’re gossiping too much.

When I do go to the bar to order, I decide to move on to a French Marsanne Viognier at £19. For starters, D has the chicken liver pate with an odd-sounding rhubarb, apple and ginger chutney. This came as two good-sized slices of coarse pate,  and D thought the chutney was fine. B has seared  scallops with chorizo chips, with some mushy sauce – tasty, well-cooked scallops. My choice is the char sui pork belly which comes with pickled ginger salad. This is served as three attractively displayed chunks of meat surrounded by sauce and salad – very good.

The main course options are a combination of pub classics such as sausage and mash, steaks, and haddock and chips, and some more adventurous dishes like calves liver “saltimbocca”, spicy Vietnamese king prawn and rice noodle salad and open vegetable samosa.   D plays safe with smoked haddock and salmon fishcakes and a side order of mixed vegetables (a rather tedious standard selection).  OK but nothing special.  B goes for the prawn salad which comes with toasted cashew nuts, lime and chilli dressing – very nice, good-sized prawns, with some flavour, crispy noodles and interesting salad.  My five-spiced duck from the specials menu, also came with ginger (well, I like it) but was otherwise rather dry and uninteresting.

We finish off sharing a pudding plate of chocolate and hazelnut tart, salted caramel ice cream, lemon and passion fruit meringue and orange polenta cake, which was the highlight.  It seems we had 3 bottles of Viognier, taking the bill to a tad over £150. Service has been very friendly and attentive, so it was generally a pleasant lunch – maybe not one to win awards, but fine if you’re in the area. (It seems I said much the same about Blubeckers!).

Karaoke restaurant in Horseferry Road

We’d been looking for a good Chinese around Victoria for a while, and apart from the expensive options of Grand Imperial at the Grosvenor Hotel, and Ken Lo in Ebury Street, we’d only found A Wong in Wilton Road. So when Google came up with Firecracker in Horseferry Road I thought we’d give it a try.

A Friday night seems convenient, so we head down to the less interesting end of Horseferry Rd, populated mainly with government offices and the hospital. Firecracker is downstairs, and although we are a little early, I’m daunted by the fact there’s no other punters in there – just family.  We’re shown through towards the back and seated at a pleasant enough table. 

The menu is fairly extensive so while we peruse it, we get some edamame beans with sea salt and spicy Thai crackers to go with the bottle of Argentinian Merlot (£19.50) and some Jasmine tea. As you can tell already this is not strictly a Chinese restaurant, but more an oriental fusion place.

Gradually we begin to realise that behind the glass partitions around us are a number of private rooms, which begin to fill up.  In one is clearly a hen party, a second seems to be a birthday party, and a third room fills up with people in Japanese-style fancy dress.  There are display screens in each, and only slowly do I realise that these are not some evening working sessions, but in fact karaoke.  The rooms are well soundproofed, but occasionally as the doors are opened we get a blast of the music from inside – though not enough to make an X-factor judgement.
From the long list of “small plates” and “dim sum” as starters,  we have a scallop siu mai dumpling – which is tasty but a little sticky – and a chicken and kimchi (pickle) gyoza parcel, which is pretty good.   There are loads of other options that appealed too, so maybe going in a group would give you chance to sample more options.

The main restaurant is starting to fill up a bit now too, mainly with couples, but it never gets all that full.

First choice of mains is a ribeye beef in black pepper sauce served in a hot stone pot.  This is a lovely dish, presented so well; melting beef, spicy sauce, green beans and mushrooms. To go with that we have the garlic chilli prawns. These grilled king prawns with garlic and chilli flakes are a little flabby and tasteless, certainly not a match for the beef. To support these mains we have a duck crispy noodle with beansprouts – a reasonable amount of tasty duck in amongst the carbs.

Service is friendly and attentive and the food comes in good time, especially as we are being entertained by the karaoke rooms.  With a couple more glasses of Merlot, the bill comes to £88, perhaps a little high for the food, but fine if you factor in location and experience.

Useful place for lunch and wine near Borough Market

We’re off to the National Theatre so we head up to London Bridge early to wander around. It’s a sunny Saturday, so Borough Market is heaving – every available space around Southwark cathedral is occupied with people munching their way through their take-aways. We stroll through and make our way to The Wine Wharf, the wine bar part of Vinopolis on the Borough Market side of the building.

Though everywhere else is really busy, the Wine Wharf is pretty quiet surprisingly. Maybe because it’s rather gloomy here indoors when people would rather be taking advantage of the spring sunshine – the window tables are taken too.  Still, the place has a nice character – stripped walls, lots of corks in jars, and upstairs some comfy settees.

There’s a choice of Viogniers, so we go for the Viogner Delas 2011 Pays d’Oc at £25 because it’s served by the glass as well.  The food selection has lots of tapas-style platters and light bites as well as a number of main dishes. We’re in a grazing mood, so we choose the garlic & chilli tiger prawns with char-grilled ciabatta  and the salt and pepper squid, and also take the “build your own platter” option: hummus, aubergine dip and stuffed chillies were our choice. On a whim as I order at the bar, I also go for some smoked almonds.

And I’m certainly glad I did. We’re waiting about half an hour for the food, despite the fact there’s hardly anyone else in the place.  When the food does finally come we’re brought an extra bowl of pitta bread as an apology – whoop-di-whoop!

The prawns were something of a disappointment, being rather cotton-wool, not very spicy and the char-grilled ciabatta made all soft by the oily sauce. On the other hand the squid were very good – a substantial portion, crisp batter and tender squid. The stuffed chillies were also nice and the hummus firm and nutty, though the aubergine was rather oily.

With a couple of extra glasses of Viognier the bill is £57 without service. Service has been friendly and attentive in its way, despite the initial delay.  There are plenty of options around Borough Market, but if you want something reasonable with good wine then the Wine Wharf is a good place to go.

Intriguing Thai-Malay restaurant near London Bridge

Meeting up with S, we’re off to Champor Champor, hidden away round the back of London Bridge station and Guy’s Hospital. It’s actually not that difficult to find, but it’s not a very attractive area.  Once inside you’re overwhelmed by the décor, but unfortunately we were shown to a threesome table rammed up against a wall with little view of the room. Annoying, as although busy the place wasn’t completely full. As well as attractive wall decorations, curtains and plenty of artefacts, apparently there is a wooden booth on a mezzanine level with a romantic table for two.

They don’t claim to be for purists, but the menu is a wide-ranging set of Thai and Malaysian dishes.   The wine list is a mainly combination of Spanish and French with a few Italian and some NZ thrown in at the top end. We choose the Lagarde Viognier from Argentina at £28.50.

There’s some confusion over delivering the starters we ordered – there were two duck options and I think they brought the wrong one initially. The duck was S’s choice – three parcels of shredded roast duck with hoisin sauce rolled up in roti. This was remarkably large for a starter, so it got shared around – and very good it was too.  B inevitably went for the soft shell crab, which was a good example of its kind, with crispy batter, some spiciness and yet some flavour of crab as well. My three scallops with pancetta, and apple salad with spiced lime juice was also really good. The scallops were a good size and very succulent; the pancetta crispy and plentiful; and the apple salad was stand-out excellent – crispy, sharp, spicy.

Main courses carried on at the same high level.  B had the king prawn green curry: plenty of prawns, a strong sauce,  oddly served with discs of butternut squash.  S had the sizzling sirloin with sliced onion and wild ginger: neat strips of tender beef, with a subtle tang. But my beef rendang took the prizes. It came in a huge porcelain pot, and was so delicious and rich – super.  As well as rice and roti, we perhaps unnecessarily ordered stir fried halloumi cheese with chilli and spring onion – a dish in itself – and stir fired aubergine.   Clearly we were defeated and asked for a doggy bag – and I had an excellent lunch the following day.

Nonetheless the ladies insisted on ordering desserts. Chocolate and chilli cheese cake was as yummy and decadent as it sounds. Steam taro and black rice pudding was comfort food but the accompanying mango ice cream really stood out.

It’s S’s treat (thanks, really good of you) and she had a Taste of London card which meant the cheapest of each course was free, a saving of £30 before service.  We just had the one bottle of wine, which meant that the total was a little over £131.  Certainly excellent value for the food – it’s a lovely room, so if you go make sure you get a better table than we did.  

New places in Purley, Covent Garden and Shoreditch

A new restaurant opened up just down the road in Purley in January replacing Napule e’, next door to Buenos Aires. Those poor souls who support Crystal Palace will recognise the name – Speroni’s . And indeed the Palace goalkeeper played host to the whole Eagles team recently. It seems to be a collaboration with Buenos Aires, as we have seen the manager in there during the decorating work – which is perhaps not surprising as Speroni is Argentinian. 

They have done a lot of work on the place, painting the outside, replacing steps and put a lot of effort into the interior decoration. The window display is a series of shelves with kitchen utensils, bottles etc, presumably intended to give a homely feel, but in fact making it look a bit like a hardware store.  When we’d booked for 4 of us on a Friday evening we were told that the best they could was 9.30pm, but fortunately they rang back a day or so later to offer us 7.30 instead. It’s buzzy and lively, if not quite full, and the waiting staff are welcoming.

We’ve gone along with K&I, so we order both a white (Garnacha) and a red (Malbec). Both are nearly the cheapest at £28.50, and the list goes up alarmingly.  B thinks the menu is quite short, but still struggles to choose something she fancies, so goes for a staple, seafood pasta. The choice of pasta turned out to be tagliatelli or penne, when she would have preferred linguine or spaghetti. The only distinctive seafood was mussels, which was a bit disappointing.

I had a “Portobello bruschetta” to start – mushroom on bread with Parma ham and poached egg – very good.  My main was slow-cooked lamb - very tender and tasty but rather odd as it just came with a couple of potato dumplings. I’s starter was salmon gravlax, which looked good, and he had a cod in peppers dish for main course.  K’s chicken dish seemed rather ordinary. K&I ordered churros for dessert which B tried and really liked.

The service was very good, very friendly but efficient. With a second bottle of white, and a modest 10% service charge, the bill was £176 – more than half of it for wine.  B rated it a 7 out of 10, but worth another try. I certainly enjoyed the meal, but we’ll probably just go for house wine next time.

 

After working up in town one day I suggest going out for a meal as I’m all posh in jacket and tie.  B fancied a Chinese but we struggled to find one around Covent Garden or Victoria, so we settle for SticksNSushi in Henrietta Street. B said it was a “café” which makes me dubious (not up to my sartorial elegance!) but it’s far from that. In fact it’s a stylish, dark place with bare walls but comfortable chairs. Rather loud music near the entrance but as we are taken further and further inside it is quieter – in fact it is huge, going right through to Maiden Lane I think.

We’ve been given a table which would seat three,  with one on a banquette (odd arrangement). The menus (plural) are vast, so we order some Journeyman SA Chenin Blanc at £17.50 and edamame beans in a spicy sauce while we have a think.  The wine and beans arrive very rapidly (“quick wine” – excellent, and the beans are tasty too), and we work our way through the choices. There are a lot of set meals, and as I often find with Japanese it seems like either you have small portions or you pay a lot.

As the name implies there are several yakitori skewers with various things, plus a good range of sushi rolls, sashimi and nigri. We eventually (after being asked if we’re ready several times by  the waitress) order three dishes which I think of as “starters” and two “mains” – though of course they are not presented in that way.

Ebi bites are prawns in a very light, almost bubbly batter – a good few of them too for £6.80. We have two tuna skewers (Maguro chilli), which are a little disappointing, being rather dry despite the red onion, teriyaki and chilli topping.  The third “starter” is a skewer of scallops wrapped in bacon with herb butter (hotate to bacon) – excellent.

The two more substantial dishes we’ve ordered are a paper-wrapped duck roll and coal-rice soft-shell crab roll (ie black rice wrapped around pieces of crab). Both are wrapped with avocado and lettuce – and both are really good.

The service has been very good and cheery, if a little fast, but that’s OK as we started late. We have a couple of glasses of a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and that takes the bill (incl 12.5%) to £90. Well worth it for an interesting and tasty meal. With all the choices on the menu we’ll certainly go there again, or to the branch on Wimbledon Hill.

Oh and I almost forgot – it’s a Danish Japanese restaurant! All the staff have T-shirts with Danish mottoes. Not sure what the Danish connection is, but there you go!

 

The team I’m working with on one project has decided we should go out for a team dinner to build up rapport, so we have a table booked at Dishoom in Shoreditch. Not being familiar with this part of town, I allowed myself plenty of time to find the place. So I have a little time to kill wandering around beforehand, taking in the upward mobility of the area.  I walk past Maison Trois Garcons  - a “lifestyle café” (for heaven’s sake!) – and call in the Owl and Pussycat for a swift half.  

This must once have been a classic old boozer, but it has now been totally refurbished and then artfully distressed.  Where once there may have been Red Barrel, there’s now continental beers (and admittedly a couple of real ales). Pork pies have been replaced by “apple dogs” and goat’s cheese salad. The Racing Post by laptops – everywhere.  The clientele are probably refugees from Silicon Roundabout, and deals or business plans are being discussed at each table, though to be fair there was also an Everton supporter bemoaning their performance.

So it’s no surprise to find Dishoom is a stylish place too. Billed as a “Bombay café” (when did “café” change meaning?) this is a large establishment policed by elegant greeters, with a comfortable bar area.  Dark woods and tiles, and comfortable booths and tables are all around, and there’s a good lively vibe even at 6pm.

Only four of our group have arrived on time, so we press on and order a mixture of nibbles. There are no papadums, so we have the colourful and slightly spicy “far far” crisps/crackers, okra fries (excellent, little okra deep fired and dipped in tamarind or chilli), bhel (the puffed rice and tamarind dish), and calamari.

That keeps us going till the others arrive and order more, which comes pretty quickly. We have more okra fries and a keema pau (minced lamb with a sweet bread).  The main dishes I had were some spicy lamb chops (pretty meaty if not that spicy) and a chicken biryani (unexceptional). Others also had matter paneer and vegetable biryani). There were supporting dishes of black daal, raita, dishoom slaw, and gunpowder potatoes as well as plenty of naan bread.

Service has been very good. I have to rush off, so don’t know what the bill came to, but looking online the most expensive dish was the lamb chops at £11.50, and the house wine was £19 a bottle, so I’m guessing it was pretty reasonable.  Certainly worth another try, maybe at their branch next to Stringfellow’s in Upper St Martin’s Lane.