Three in May

As we are going to the Sunday Times Vintage Wine Festival at Old Billingsgate, I do some research in advance on places to eat afterwards.  We now have the Gourmet card which gives money off in various places (mainly the chains), so I look at what is nearby on their list, and come up with Ember in Pudding Lane.

We arrive a little ahead of or 3pm booking, and descend into the basement bar/restaurant.  It’s an odd style – they claim it echoes the Great Fire! – more sleazy than swanky. There are still quite a few people in finishing off lunch (well, it was Friday) -  mainly City types. In a small alcove there is a group of four or five – definitely a space for assignations. At another table, three out of four men are in pink shirts and contrasting ties – the other (the mark?) in a dark blue suit. 

The menu is “East Asian fusion”.  Quite a substantial range.   The wine list is a little scary, with nothing under £30 – we go for the Colombard-Sauvignon from Horgelus in Côte de Gascogne at £31.  After over 50 tastings, one bottle is going to be enough!!

We start with the sesame squid with a sweet paprika mayonnaise – this is an excellently cooked dish, with just enough batter and enough bite. With that we have a prawn and coconut ceviche, with lemongrass and a good chilli hit, and a chorizo and prawn gyoza. Following up, there’s an Indonesian beef rendang, which is rich and spicy as it should be. And a luscious Waygu Koji (mushroom) that is just melt in your mouth.  Plus some jasmine rice.

The service is fine – unobtrusive and efficient – without being friendly.  Our 50%-off food offer saves us £29, so the total (with 12.5% service) comes to £75. We may not have had our most sensitive palettes at work (!), but that seemed like very good value for the interesting food and venue. At full price, we might have thought differently.

 

Meeting up with M&G, and C&G, we’re off to Duck and Rice in Berwick Street, right by the market. The restaurant is up a tight spiral staircase (there’s a bar downstairs), and we are seated right at the back – it’s a little cramped and dark.

We order some wine and sparkling water – a Sauvignon from Touraine at £30 and an Argentinian Malbec (La Colonia) at £32.  The waitress is a little dippy – she pours the wine as if she has never done it before, with the smallest amount for tasting you can imagine. She’s even nervous about pouring the water, having brought a bottle of still first.

We decide to order starters first, and then order mains once we’ve had those – that seems to be a challenging concept for our hostess.  There’s a “monthly specials” list, as well as the standards, but this seems to have passed her by – she gets very confused about anything we order off that.  Luckily, most dishes come with three portions, so cutting these in half means everyone gets a taste of everything.

First to arrive, after the edamame beans, are the venison puffs and the pan-fried pork gyoza. The puffs, though small, are delicious. The gyoza come with a frilly fried surround, but are a little gooey, they could have been fried a bit more. The crispy prawn rolls, looking like Shredded Wheat, come with a tasty mayonnaise and the salt&pepper squid with a chilli dip – both very good. Then there are the jasmine tea-soaked rib bau (bun) – the rib is nice, but the bun a bit too much – and a serviceable vegetable spring roll.

Returning to the menu, we order main dishes, again to share. Duck and Rice had to be one. M fancied kimchi pork, as she’d never tried it. B went for wasabi prawn, G2 kung po chicken and I ordered the chicken claypot but that was “off”, so ended up with the crispy shredded beef.  G1 thought that was enough protein so ordered Gai Lan, an oriental broccoli. We then had a debate about how much rice to order – the kimchi pork came with rice as did the duck and rice (obvs). Dippy suggested that the egg fried rice bowls were small, so we ordered two – we didn’t need that many.

Favourites were the kung po chicken, which had a dense flavour and was quite spicy with caramelised red chillies, followed by the kimchi pork and the wasabi prawns. The duck was OK but the shredded beef was, as so often I think, not that interesting.

In all we had 3 bottles of Sauvignon, plus a couple more glasses and some coffees. Just over £300 for 6 of us was pretty fair.

 

 Down to Lymington to meet up with J&E, S&B. We’re booked into Pebble Beach at Barton-on-Sea, which J and B claim we’d been to before, but I don’t recall at all. It’s a lovely sunny day, and we are glad to sit by the door to the terrace, rather than actually outside in the heat.

Most of the others aren’t drinking much, so it’s down to B and me to get through the Kleine Kalze Chenin Blanc  (£21.50).

E has the set 3-course menu at £24.50: smoked salmon, followed by chicken breast and then ice creams. The rest of us go a la carte. Our choices were king scallops (excellent) and beef carpaccio (fine). Others included Breton fish soup with rouille (deemed to be good), and goat’s cheese curd.

Our mains were lemon sole – a neat portion, nicely done – and stir-fried prawns and monkfish in oyster sauce, which was rather too dominant and salty.  J ordered skate wing with “mussel nage”, which turned out to her disappointment be flakes of skate buried under a mound of mussels and clams in a salty soup. B2’s fish and chips (with extra mushy peas) and S’s mussels were both well-received.

Desserts were a chocolate fondant  (hot and gooey, with honeycomb ice cream, and a cheese selection (at £15.40 a bit pricey).  Afterwards we sit outside on the terrace with splendid views of the sea, the Isle of Wight and the Needles. On such a lovely day, it’s a great place to be. We have some more wine and coffees – though I’ve just noticed they forgot to charge us for those!

The service was friendly and efficient and the atmosphere smart without being stuffy. Total for 6 (two bottles of wine, but excluding the extra wine and coffee) was £224. Despite the skate that is excellent value in such a scenic location. Highly recommended.

Two in Oxford

We’re treating ourselves to a night in Oxford.  Arriving at 1pm, we decide to go into Quod for lunch.   I thought it might be full at that time, but it is a large place, so in fact there was plenty of room and we get a table by the window.  There’s also a big terrace at the back, but although the sun is shining it’s not really warm enough to have lunch outside.

It’s an interesting menu, but as we are eating out in the evening as well, we try to be modest.  B has trout salad, which comes with flaked trout rather than fillets, but is otherwise very good. My chicken karahi comes with a mound of rice, raita and a poppadum – OK, not so modest!  This is very tasty, the chicken being a mix of breast and thigh, which brings extra flavour. It’s cumulatively spicy but not over the top.  As we are not driving anywhere, we do indulge with a second bottle of house white (Spanish) at £19 – the prices go up alarmingly after that.  Pleasant, rather than friendly, service.  £78 for two including service.

 Walking around in the afternoon, we stop off at the Folly by the river for a drink. This is a brilliant spot, and must be very busy in good weather.  The restaurant has huge skylights, and there are a number of seats outside. A look at the menu confirms it is pretty interesting – you can even go on a boat ride with a glass of prosecco before your meal! One for another time.

 We’re booked into the Cherwell Boathouse for dinner.  The place is full, and our table is at the back, a little disappointingly.  After we order though, a table by the river becomes free and we ask to move – the cheerful waiter happily obliges us.  It is light for a little longer yet, so this is a nice place to be.

In fact it seems that several tables were booked quite early, perhaps to take advantage of the light, and the place soon becomes much less busy. We start with a kir. None of the starters appeals that much (especially after lunch!), so we skip that and go for the mains. I have the duo of lamb, rump and braised shoulder with potatoes and spinach, the different textures being very appealing.  B has roast duck breast and confit duck leg, with a foam, a puree and kale – also good.

Unusually for us, we then do have dessert.  My banana and pistachio parfait is a bit uninteresting, but B’s “textures of lemon” – posset, meringue ice cream and mousse – is a big hit.  We just have the one bottle of Viognier (it’s been a long day!), and the total is a pretty modest £102 plus tip.

Some in the Midlands

After a grim journey round the M25 – one hour for one junction – we arrive at a regular haunt, the Bell at Clent after the kitchen has closed.  We are directed instead to the nearby Talbot in Belbroughton.  This has a little less character, but does have the virtue of serving food all day.

We are directed to the bar area, rather than the laid up restaurant,  although there are some people in that area already. We take a seat and B orders some wine from the bar.  Then we choose from the menu on the table – lots of dishes marked “NEW” – and I go to the bar to order. There’s no-one around, so our mood is not much improved.  Eventually someone appears and our order placed.

Five minutes later, the chap returns – we’d ordered from an old menu, and they were not doing the Thai fish cakes I wanted any more.  The new menu is identical apart from the fishcakes and the fact that the dishes are not “NEW” any more.  So I order the grilled prawns starter instead, while B has the duck confit salad.  The prawn dish is just three prawns (good size though, so fair enough), while B’s duck leg could have been a main course if served with lentils say.  Both are good, so we start to relax at last.  £49 is perhaps a bit steep though.

 

On the journey south a few days later, we stop at the Shrewsbury Arms in Albrighton, conveniently located near where the A41 meets the M54.  This is a large place, again with separate bar and restaurant areas, though the menu is the same. The restaurant part in particular is splendidly decorated as in an old manor house. It’s quite busy but we get served quickly. B has a starter portion of garlic prawns (a better size) while I choose the Italian “BMT” flatbread with parma ham and salami.  The topping is very nice but the bread really quite thick, so I leave that.  £43 including one bottle of Viognier.

 

We’re staying with D&B2,  and go out to dinner nearby at the Lyttleton Arms near Stourbridge.  This is in the same chain as the Derby Arms in Epsom that I’ve reviewed before, and the menu is virtually identical.  The friendly Ozzie waitress takes our order: chilli squid from the specials menu for me, scallops with pork belly for B and garlic pizzette to start for D&B2.  The squid is good, and B2 raves over it when he has a taste.

Mains are seabass fillets for me (good and moist but firm), linguine with prawns and chorizo for B; duck leg salad for D (better than the Derby Arms) and roast salmon for B2, which he also enjoys. D even has an ice cream and cookie.  £157 for four including two bottles of SB is pretty good, though it felt a little uninteresting.

Easter on the Wirral

EASTER ON THE WIRRAL

We’re visiting G&S on the Wirral, and on Easter Sunday we’ve booked to go to the Burnt Truffle in Heswall, along with L.  B had spotted a review of the restaurant some time ago but this was the first time we’d had chance to go and try it out ourselves.  Chef  Gary Usher is also responsible for Sticky Walnut and Hispi near Chester. Burnt Truffle was launched with the help of crowdfunding – the list of backers is on the wall downstairs, including some well-known names.

We are seated upstairs in a corner area which is almost like a private room - apart from the fact that the waiting staff have to pass by to go to the back-room for wine etc. The place is nice and bright with an odd mix of things on the wall – from a poster of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road to a collection of menus from famous restaurants like the French Laundry.  And a long chalked up wine list.

Service is attentive and friendly, though oddly we are told to order wine from the printed list rather than the board, which is a shame because I’d already selected one. Anyway we go with the Viognier from the Northern Rhone at £29.50, and some sparkling elderflower for L.  The beer list looks good too, with bottles from local breweries.

The set lunch menu has five options per course at £22 a head.  Sourdough bread with an excellent truffle and walnut butter arrives first – we’d commented on the attractive loaves on the way in.  After we’ve ordered I comment that despite the restaurant name, there were no truffles in any of the dishes – so we order an extra portion of truffle chips with parmesan flakes.

For starters, three of us, including me, order wood pigeon breast with beetroot fregola (little round balls of pasta from Sardinia made red by the beetroot).  This is fantastic, just melt in the mouth; the beetroot flavour is very subtle and the pasta light. B has the pork cheek and tongue terrine with Armagnac  prune which is firm and full of flavour, while L has cauliflower soup, a rich, creamy bowlful topped with rocket pesto.

For main courses we split three to two. I have the crispy duck leg with cassoulet.  The duck falls away from the bone, and though crispy is not dry.  The cassoulet contains smoked sausage and pieces of ham, and is warming and filling, a fine example. Truffle chips are good too!  B has the grilled seabream with a pale taramasalata and watercress. Sensible size portions too, leaving room for dessert.

 As always if it’s on the menu I then have crème brûlée.  This comes in a shallow dish, so has a good ratio of brûlée to crème, but is not as vanilla flavoured as some (it’s hard to beat Chez Bruce).  B’s dessert is rather unusual: Tonka bean custard with fromage blanc, dark chocolate and hazelnuts. We had to look up what Tonka beans are – South American beans with a flavour similar to vanilla – nothing to do with Tonka toys. It’s an insubstantial, foamy sort of dish, perhaps not their best.  Other dessert choices were chocolate mousse with honeycomb, and sticky toffee pudding with honeycomb ice-cream.

 We’ve had three bottles of the Viognier, so the bill comes to an extremely reasonable £220 for five before tip.  As well as the good food, the atmosphere and timing of service have been excellent, so we come away feeling well pleased.  I’d certainly put Burnt Truffle as a contender for a Michelin star next year.

 

Other Wirral restaurants

On our first night with G&S we go into Parkgate to Britannia Spice the local Indian.  This has a long list of individualistic dishes, as well as the usual permutations.  B and I just have a mixed kebab and chicken chat to start but G&S insist we try their Britannia

Special too – deep-fried chicken tikka with cheese and omelette, interesting but a little strange.  B has some excellent tandoori king prawns for main, while I try the lamb gobi jaipura, with some channa masala, dhal,  mushroom rice and naan.  We also have a couple of bottles of Malbec between us.  Very good at £90 for four, including generous tip.

 Less successful is Gusto in Heswall.  We’ve booked for 8pm and arrive on time, but are told our table is not ready, and to have a  drink in the bar.  After a while, B decides to chase them up and pesters the greeter, who contacts her manager. This does result in a table being made available, fortunately near the entrance. I say fortunately because the place is heaving and loud, and the low ceilings and dark lighting would have it oppressive further in. Even then the table next to us are very loud and seem to be best friends with everyone who passes by.  We have some edamame beans while we choose what to order.  I start with meatballs (fine but unimpressive) and B with a smoked haddock risotto, a sensible small portion.  My main course pork belly is rather dry, and the crackling rather firm; B’s garlic prawns are OK.  £75 for two with wine.

 The last night is back to Parkgate for Chinese at Chow’s Eating House.  Again we have to wait in the bar for the table to be ready, but this is done much more sensitively. And when we are seated, it is at a nice big round table with plenty of space. The waitress intelligently asks at the start whether we’d like to book a taxi for later, as on a Saturday night it will be busy – and in due course the taxi arrives bang on time.  G&S have hot and sour soup to start, while we share pork and prawn dumplings and a duck spring roll.  For main we have Beijing prawns and Szechuan fillet steak; G&S have scallops in a bird’s nest and Beijing chicken. We’d been told Beijing sauce was hot, but it wasn’t too much – the Szechuan was hotter.  All very good and flavoursome, with friendly waitresses - £174 for the four of us with three bottles of Laughing Giraffe Shiraz from South Africa at £19 each.

  

 

December outings

After a wine tasting at Tate Modern, we drift round the corner to our new nearby favourite,  Mar I Terra.  I’ve reviewed it before, but again it did not disappoint.  This time we are there on Friday evening, and it is pretty busy, which gives it a great atmosphere. Staff are friendly and welcoming. We start with a garlic bread (to soak up our wine) and then go for garlic prawns, braised beef Riojana, pork belly, and chick peas with spinach and cumin. There’s plenty of garlic around, and a fair bit of chilli too. The beef comes with piquillo peppers, which also have a good kick. The pork belly has a good portion of crackling and is really very succulent.  The Verdejo at £21 seemed good, but maybe our palettes were a little jaded.  At £63 including service, very reasonable indeed.

The following night we are off to a comedy gig at Union St chapel, with H.  Again we re-visit a favourite, La Petite Auberge, I’ve also reviewed before.  As we are eating before the show, the placed is quite quiet, though there is one larger group in. Service is a bit erratic, with no consistent waiter, and they seem more interested in getting the chairs in than actually bringing any wine! For starters I have the crevettes in garlic, which are more tiger prawns than crevettes, but perfectly fine.  B has bacon and chicken liver terrine – which hasn’t stuck in the memory! – and H moules mariniere.  Mains are stuffed guinea fowl for me (a bit claggy), stuffed chicken breast for H (which she thought a bit dull) and B has the gambas as before.  A couple of bottles of  Pays D’Oc Viognier at £24.50 bring the bill up to £130 including service.  But not as great a success as last time.

To complete an indulgent weekend, we are having our “131” lunch, with T&K, H and J, back from her travels.  After further unsuccessful attempts to book Dishoom again – I think I’m giving up on them for good – we are booked into Salt Yard  in Goodge St.  We are in the downstairs room, with a large, but fortunately fairly restrained, group nearby.  The charming waitress is all smiles and helpful, so we rapidly start in on the Campo Flores Verdejo/SB and a Honoro Vera (£25 and £24 each).  A first round of dishes includes grilled flatbread, sweet and spicy guindillas (big green chillies),  smoked almonds, boquerones (juicy) , padron peppers and caperberries. More substantial dishes follow: crab arancini, chorizo picante with chickpeas, marjoram salami, roast salmon, courgettes flowers and burrata. Also pork rillons (pork belly cubes), polenta with mushrooms and leeks, and paprika chicken, followed by a Spanish cheese selection.  With two bottles each of the white and red, and service this all comes to £270 for 6 people – pretty good I’d say.

The next week we meet S&L at Tiles, after their visit to “Spooky” the spiritualist.  This is a really old favourite, from before we were married. It’s midweek, but still pretty busy so we are downstairs with a couple of Xmas party groups.  The Viognier from Languedoc is £23 a bottle, and very creamy.   Starters include a baked aubergine parcel, cauliflower soup, and tuna tartare (my choice – pretty good).  For mains L and I both have pork medallions, which she is unable to finish – rich tasty, with Lyonaisse potatoes.  S has a chicken breast stuffed with roasted peppers and goats cheese and wrapped in pancetta – again too much for her. And B has the fisherman’s platter: deep-fried squid, prawns, salmon and cod with courgettes chips also too much. So we had quite a doggy basket – the portion of chips was unnecessary, but hot and crisp as they should be. Despite being busy the services has been fine – efficient rather than friendly perhaps.  Three bottles of wine and service take the total to £170

The next Monday I have a work meeting near Smithfields in the afternoon, so I stop off at St Bart’s Brewery for lunch first.  The small plates previously advertised on the website are not available in December, and a number of tables are booked for parties, so I end up in a low “comfy” chair.  Although predictably quiet when I get there at noon, plenty of people are coming in on spec, so it gets quite busy by 12.30.  I order the brisket brioche, which comes with a portion of red cabbage slaw and chipotle gravy with a surprising kick. A tin of good skin-on fries goes well. A couple of glasses of Vermentino help things along. £22 in total.

Next day we are meeting M&P in Sutton for lunch. It’s an ASLEF strike day on Southern, so it has to be a cab, which in the end means we get there early and stop off in the Old Bank for a drink first.  We catch up with our friends as we reach the restaurant – a classic-style Italian called Casa Nostra, one of their old favourites.  As well as an extensive standard menu, there is a good list of blackboard specials, which apparently contain regular dishes.  M&P don’t drink, so I order a bottle of Frascati, and B says she’ll have one too – the cheeky waiter brings both together! M&P both have the crab and avocado salad starter, which looks good, but perhaps has too much dressing on it. B has the garlic king prawns (obvs), which do seem very good, and I have squid ripieni (ie with black pudding and bacon on a bed of spinach), which is excellent – rich, flavoursome with the squid al dente. Filling though.  For main P has the turbot steaks off the specials board, M has sea bass fillets which she asks for with a passata sauce, and B has skate with lemon butter and capers off the specials too. My veal saltimbocca (with sage and parma ham) is excellent, in a good white wine sauce.  All the mains come with a selection of vegetables (aprt from B who opted for salad) which include some good sauté potatoes. Paying for the wine and splitting the food means we end up with £129 for the two of us.  It’s only Sutton and with few pretensions, but that’s still good value for what we had.

Thursday sees us at the M&G organised ex-BT Xmas gathering at the Morgan Arms  in Bow.  There are 18 of us, so we are at three tables, with strict instructions from M for the men to move around between courses.  Surprisingly that works quite well.  We have had to pre-order our food (fair enough), but the placecards have got mine and B’s confused.  She has game terrine to start, while I have confit duck leg (with red cabbage and juniper) which is close to being a full main course. For main, B has sea bass, while I have the venison steak, with sprouts and good roast potatoes. The venison is OK, but a little chewy, and again a large portion, so I fail to finish it.  For dessert I have the chocolate mousse (very runny, but tasty) and B has the trifle, which comes in a smallish glass.  I don’t know how much wine we consumed, but our share of the total came to a very reasonable £130.

As there’s another ASLEF strike on. I can’t get to a meeting on Friday, so we indulge again in a lunch in Purley at Mekan.   There’s a big table laid up for a party, but we manage to get one by the window, a little way away. The group doesn’t arrive till we’re about to leave anyway.  As usual, we have lamb’s liver and spicy sausage to start. And B has her usual Mediterranean prawns in garlic and white wine to follow. After some indecision, I opt for the lamb iskender barbequed lamb with yoghurt and pitta bread. They are out of our usual NZ SB, so instead we have a couple of bottles of Gavi at £23.  The waiter is very stern and unsmiling, but the waitress much more pleasant.  £80 all in.

We’ve no other meals planned before Xmas, though I expect we’ll fit in the tapas bar and a curry some time during the week.  So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS (if there are any!).

Busy couple of weeks

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with trips to several new places and some old favourites re-visited.  

IMPERIAL CHINA

G&S are down staying with us, so after the compulsory trip to our favourite local Vietnamese, Cat Ba Island, the next day we decide to go to Dishoom  in Upper St Martin’s Lane.   We’d tried to get in before but not been able to face the queue, so we think around 4pm on a Sunday afternoon should be OK.   I go ahead to grab a spot in the queue. As I approach it doesn’t look too bad, but when I ask the chap how long the wait will be, he says an hour! And 30 minutes before we even get inside to wait at the bar!! I don’t think so.

 So we decide on Chinatown for dim sum. Our previous favourite, Harbour City, has been taken over by New Loon Fung, but they too are full, with a half-hour wait. So we go round to Lisle street and into Imperial China.  This is an attractive place, tucked away in a courtyard, approached by a little bridge over a stream, by a waterfall and a pond full of huge koi carp. Chinese lanterns complete the look.

 The dim sum is a fairly standard selection of dumplings and rolls. But they are fresh, spicy and hot.  Service is friendly (for Chinatown!) and efficient. With three bottles of wine it comes to £180 for four.

 

CHEZ BRUCE

Next day the four of us went to Chez Bruce, probably our “go-to” favourite. The set lunch is £32 for 3 courses, which is very good value, though B was not impressed with a £6 supplement for the venison that both she and S had as main. The parmesan crisps were excellent as usual, and the service still very friendly and unstuffy, but we had a surprisingly long wait for our starters. My selection was duck tagliettelle (wonderful!) followed by  sea bream, and then their super vanilla créme brûlée . Wines at £26 for Viognier, £28 for Syrah (both Chilean). Total £287. Afterwards reflected on the fact that normally Michelin-starred places give you an amuse bouche, but apart from the parmesan crisps, there was nothing at Chez Bruce.  Still, it remains up there for us.

 

HOUSE OF Hô

B has booked us, with T&K,  into House of Hô after the Tesco wine tasting at Olympia. It’s only at the last minute we realise that it is not the place in Old Compton St we had been to before (which has now closed), but in Percy Street, Fitzrovia, on the site of Bam Bou, which we used to like.

There is an attractively priced set brunch menu available on a Saturday, but instead we decide to choose from the a la carte.  The menu is predominantly starters, sushi and sashimi, with just a few mains, so we treat it basically as dim sum.  The waiter explains that some of the dishes come with just three pieces, and offers us the chance to make them up to four to share.  I wonder if this is a sly trick to make more money, but to be fair when the bill comes the extra piece is charged pro rata. We have some edamame beans in chilli while we decide what to order.

First up come the skewered spicy prawns, and the chicken dumplings. The prawns have a good flavour, though are not that spicy, and the dumplings good but nothing special. Next come the duck spring roll (very good), and “imperial roll” (large) and some crab and prawn croquettes (excellent).  Then the Vietnamese scotch egg (interesting), duck and watermelon salad (quite large and tasty),  and spare ribs (falling off the bone) arrive.  We discuss whether we are full and decide we can manage some more. We order another duck spring roll and some prawn dumplings (good but more standard) for three of us, while K has a dessert – Asian banana crumble, which she says is wonderful.

Service has been good and attentive, and the place gradually filled up towards 4pm, giving it some atmosphere – the décor is not as dramatic as Bam Bou used to be.  Three bottles of Chilean SB at £28 each takes the bill up to just over £200 – given the quality of what we had, and how full we feel that seems pretty good.

 

THE CLOVE CLUB

M&G are generously taking us out for lunch, on behalf of M’s late mother, at the Michelin-starred Clove Club in Shoreditch – not an Indian as many people assumed.  We have a drink first in a quirky Shepherd Neame pub – the Prince Arthur – with a very chatty barman, who insists we look at the upstairs bar before we leave. There is a real fire, candles, and a strange mix of Regency cartoons and Gonzo prints on the walls.

Then on to the restaurant at Shoreditch Town Hall. It has a bar at the front but we get shown in to the main room at the back.  There is a huge brigade of staff, outnumbering the diners by two to one.  The chef featured recently as “young chef of the year” in the Observer food review – and looks about 14.

We opt for the five-course tasting menu at £65 (rather than the nine-course one!), with the complementary wine pairing at £50. But we start with some kir, champagne and a Bourbon cocktail.  We did though decide against the extra scallops course at £18.

The meal starts with a selection of “snacks” - iced beetroot with crème fraiche, crab tartlet (lovely), haggis balls (in a sweetish brioche-like bun, not as peppery as you might expect) and fried chicken in pine needles (“an up-market KFC” – much nicer).

The first course of the meal proper was tartare of hake which came with an Alsace Pinot from a magnum. The hake is an interesting idea but doesn’t taste of a great deal.  Next up is a soup course – three of us have opted out of the oysters.  Again, not that special.

The cod with beetroot and  fermented cabbage was more of a success - firm, tasty fish and some intriguing accompaniments.  I also liked the “main course” venison loin and venison sausage, though B was less impressed. 

We then opted for one portion of the extra cheese selection, which came with a Sauterne and a fino sherry.

Dessert courses were a delicate layered cream and ice cream pot,  and a rather sturdy tarte tatin – more of an English apple tart really, but good all the same.

Service was friendly and with such a big staff very efficient. The sommelier was chatty and knowledgeable.  Of the other customers, two were Silicon roundabout hipsters eating alone, four slightly older business types (still with beards), and a pair of elderly gentlemen.

As I said M&G were very generously treating us, so I don’t know the exact cost, but it must have been seriously expensive.  It had been a great experience, but at those prices I doubt we will rush back.

 

MARKET BRASSERIE

Meeting up with ex-BT colleagues, S and L, we decide to go to Shepherd Market for lunch.  Interesting French colonial African pictures on the walls.  Buzzy little place, with a strange porcelain head on one table – “watching over us” said the waiter.

L has the orecchiette with tomato and broccoli, and S the Atlantic cod (which looked like a small portion).  I go for the duck breast with Lyonnaise potatoes off the specials board – very good.  As S is off to a meeting we just have the one bottle of Chilean SB at £21.  Just under £30 a head in total including service. Not a “wow” place but pretty sound and handy to know of if you’re in the area (though of course there is plenty of choice around there).

 

DRAKE AND MORGAN, KING’S CROSS

K has stayed over with us after the party yesterday, so we go with her to King’s Cross to see her off back home. Pancras Square, round the back of the station, now has quite a range of eateries, but we settle on Drake and Morgan.

It turns out to be a huge place, done out in industrial chic, with exposed pipework.  It is pretty busy as we fetch up about 1.30pm on Sunday, but we have booked so that’s OK. We are shown to our table, miles away down the far end of the restaurant, overlooked by a huge picture of a grumpy cow.

Despite the waitress being attentive, our drinks take a while to arrive – Chenin Blanc (£18) and ginger smoothie for K.  For starters (which do arrive quickly) we have crispy squid (quite spicy) and ham croquettes (nice crispy exterior, but rather gooey insides). 

I had seen a Thai green coconut curry (with either chicken or prawns) on the website menu, but they’re not there on the day – maybe because it’s a Sunday, with roasts.  K orders the Waygu burger, but is told they’ve sold out, so she settles for a cheeseburger instead – very dense and filling. B has gone for a starter Cobb salad with chicken as main – specifically making it clear that she didn’t want a larger one. When it comes it is huge, but to be fair they only charge us for a small one - it would be far too much as a starter. I have the tuna with ginger and soy sauce, plus some chips – very good and pink, but a bit cold.

K has an espresso martini to follow, while we have a couple more glasses of wine.  £135 for three of us (2 bottles of wine) seems good value.

Late summer catch-up

Noble Rot

Five of us fetched up at Noble Rot wine bar in Lamb’s Conduit St on a hot summer’s day.  As we were shown to our table at the back of this maze of a place, our eyes gradually became accustomed the gloom, such a contrast to the weather outside.  It’s a charming spot for a winter’s day, or perhaps an illicit assignation. 

 

We settled on a bottle of Picpoul (£22) from an extensive, but not cheap, wine list. The charming young waiter explained the specials to us, including Thai Stingray.  He was unclear whether it was a starter or a main course, and insisted it wasn’t fish – I think the kitchen had been teasing him.  So after some confusion we manage to order.  I had cod and samphire to start, a smallish portion, but nicely done; others had smoked eel gazpacho (interesting) and mackerel.

 

For mains I had venison haunch, others had turbot and the Stingray – skate of course.  Three bottles of wine and £4 for some (admittedly, nice) bread took the bill up to £260 including service – which perhaps felt a little steep for a wine bar.  But it was a welcoming venue and well-produced food, so worth a visit if you’re in the area.

 

Oka

In Kingly Court, off Regent Street, near Senor Ceviche which I’ve reviewed before, the two of us decide to try the “Pan-Asian” sushi bar, Oka, for lunch. It’s a small, basic place, but the staff were very helpful and welcoming, finding us a nice table by the window. Sauvignon Blanc was £25.50, for a very nice NZ Marlborough, again perhaps a bit steep. We first ordered the spider roll, tuna tataki and the beef fillet with chimichurri sauce.  All excellent.  We followed up with the tiger king prawns, marinated salmon and some rice – again all good.  At £128 (2 bottles of SB), it again wasn’t cheap for an unpretentious place, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Tough call whether I prefer Senor Ceviche, but a good option for a change.

 

Brasserie Vacherin

I’ve reviewed our local French restaurant before and the service has sometimes been a bit mixed, but as they had (and still have) a 15% off food offer, we thought we’d give it another go.  Their Viognier from Languedoc was £24.50, but there are cheaper options available.  For starter, B had the Atlantic prawns – a sizeable portion of good-sized prawns, with garlic and parsley – while I had the reliable tuna tartare with wasabi.  Mains were lemon sole and fillet of sea bass, both good, fresh and simply done. The discount amounted to a little over £8, so the total with service was a just over £100.

 

The Refinery

After some culture at Tate Modern (Georgia O’Keefe, as you ask), we settle on The Refinery in the Blue Fin building round the back for a late lunch.  It’s a huge barn of a place, in the “industrial chic” style, and although there was one group of office workers in, we felt quite alone in the big back area.  The waitress was friendly, but after asking us for our order before we were ready then went AWOL.  We had managed to order a bottle of Chenin at £17.95 though, so it wasn’t a complete disaster.

 

For starters we had a flabby chicken satay with no oomph, and some weird prawn lollipops. The mains were a bit better – my chargrilled tuna was cooked competently, and B’s coconut prawn curry had some flavour. But overall not somewhere we’d rush back to. £79 (just one bottle and two glasses) was a fair price perhaps, but maybe it’s more somewhere to go for a regular quick lunch rather than a destination in itself.

 

Ken Lo’s Memories of China

Meeting up with S and L, we go first to the Grosvenor Hotel at Victoria station for a cocktail in their swish bar.  We’ve thought about going to about Ken Lo’s famous restaurant for many years, but now we have finally got round to it.  For a Tuesday night, it’s nicely busy and buzzy without feeling stressful; service is charming and helpful.

 

We order the Viognier at £27, and then our starters: prawn dumplings (standard), courgettes with prawns (super), smoked chicken (just OK), and a scallops, prawn and chicken in black bean sauce (excellent).  Mains are monkfish with asparagus, double cooked pork (my choice – very nice), medallions of beef, French beans and Singapore noodles.  A good, but perhaps not sensational, selection.  Just two bottles of wine means we get away with just £190 for the four of us  (13% service charge for some reason), so it feels like good value.  Worth another visit.

 

Richoux, St John’s Wood

We were at Lord’s for the climax of the County Championship (Middlesex v Yorkshire), and take a break for lunch. The Lord’s Tavern is fully booked, so we make our way to St John’s Wood, and decide on Richoux, with seats outside in the late September sun.  It’s only a light lunch, but both my “elegant rarebit” (ie with bacon) and B’s steak salad are super; the house fries were good too. (Oddly, a lady at another table also ordered the salad and had something quite different which she wasn’t very happy with).  With a bottle of Trebbiano at £17, we come away paying £44, and feeling very content – and Middlesex ended up winning.

 

Mar I Terra

After more culture at Tate Modern (the Philippe Parreno exhibit in the Turbine Hall, with moving boards, flashing lights and ambient music – what’s that smell? BS) we look at Gordon Ramsay’s Union St café, but decide against. Instead we find this little tapas bar tucked out of the way by the railway line. It perhaps seats about 30, and there were a dozen or so in.

 

The Volteo white (Verdejo-Sauvignon) at £19.50 is sharp and interesting.  The waiter recommends five dishes between two, so after some dithering over the pork belly, we decide on chick peas and spinach,  garlic prawns, grilled sardines, chicken livers and the criollo sausage off the specials menu.  Very enjoyable – the prawns had a good kick of chilli, the sardines were fresh with the flesh coming off the bones easily,  the chicken livers very intense in sherry and the chick peas with cumin; the special sausage was tasty but a little chewy.

 

Two bottles of wine takes us up to £95, including service.  This is likely to become a regular after Tate Modern visits.