Richmond tapas bar

 We're meeting S&S in Richmond again, but this time instead of our usual favourite Chez Lindsay, we going to Tapas Brindisa overlooking the river. We'd been there before in a previous incarnation as Jackson and Rye, but just for drinks. Brindisa is of course a small chain of places that spun off out of it's Borough Market branch and food shop. 

It's a lovely day, and we get a great table in the corner by the window, with fine views of the Thames. It's quite full, and a bit noisy, but overall this feels good. The wine list accelerates rapidly, so we settle for the house Macabeo at £25. 

The menu is wide-ranging, and as always at tapas places the challenge is to guess how many dishes to order. We eventually narrow it down to 7 dishes plus bread. Whether deliberately or not not, they end up serving us them in two courses, which is great as otherwise dishes can go cold, or you stuff yourself trying to eat them before they do.

The first round of dishes consists of the croquettes of the day (prawns), Iberico ham croquettes and gambas al ajillo, along with the bread and oil and vinegar. Both croquettes are very soft and gooey, but also full of flavour, and identifiable protein. The gambas comes sizzling, with loads of garlic slices - the sauce is ideal for mopping up with the bread.  

Next up comes the "pollo picante" - chicken thighs with a spicy sauce and hazelnuts, also good for dipping. Accompanied by the chorizo on toast with peppers and rocket, and two potato dishes. The patatas bravas come with spicy sauce and alioli quite separately so you can decide your preferred proportions.  The other was Huevos Rotos - potatoes with fried eggs. It's supposed also to come with Mallorcan black pig sobrasada (sausage) but that's not in evidence.  The chicken and chorizo are great; the patatas bravas good, and the huevos rotos fine, but a step too far - we couldn't finish that.

After a decent pause, we decide against desserts in favour of the cheese plate. Two ewe's cheese, one goat's and a blue - not enough biscuits. 

Service has been good: attentive, not familiar, alert to our need for another bottle of wine. We manage 4 in all. So with the usual 12.5% service, the bill gets up to £210 for the 4 of us, which seems pretty fair.  Seems we have another Richmond favourite. 

Indian "tapas" in Twickenham

 It's Varsity match day - in April, a major change in tradition. None of the usual gang can make it, so B says she'll come with me - another break in tradition. This means that the normal all-day breakfast at the Wetherspoon's before the game won't hack it, so I research some other options. 

I was looking for tapas, but the only one I could find was Indian "tapas" at Tsaretta Spice at the far end of  chi-chi Church Street.  When we arrive at 1pm, we are the only ones in there - later two other tables arrive. I had expected them to busy on a match day, so was pleasantly surprised to be offered the choice of tables, including ones for four. 

We order a French Viognier at £26 and settle down to choose the dishes. There is a wide selection, tapas and mains. So in the end we settled on just having the chef's meat tapas tasting platter, with a few extra additions - scallops, pappadums, dhal makhani and garlic naan.  

The pappadums come first - smaller, curly ones - with three dips, which are all interesting and quite spicy.  Could happily just munch on those all day. The platter is four dishes - grilled tiger prawns, tilapia fish fingers, fried chicken pieces and lamb meatballs in a particularly spicy and gooey tomato sauce. The scallops are small queen scallops, but served nicely in a shell with garlic lemon and shallots. The dhal is good and thick and creamy, and the naan visibly and nasally very strong on the garlic. 

All very good and served in a good friendly style. It's a modern style place with big windows and it seemed that there would be tables outside in the summer. Modern inoffensive music at low volume.  There's just a 10% service charge, so with a second bottle of wine it comes to £115. Not cheap but worth it. If you were local, then this would be a regular haunt I imagine. 

Quirky, quality local

 No. 97 is just a short walk away, looks interesting and I've often thought we should give it a try. But when I've looked online at the menu, it always seemed rather limited and a bit odd, so we had never actually been there. Then our friend gave us a gift voucher for the place, so we decided it would be a good place to go with another friend D. 

After I've booked a table for three, D says she'd like to ask her friend C along. Naturally, we say fine, but then have to wait a week before C decides whether he is coming or not. But we assume upgrading a table for 3 to one for 4 should be easy enough.  On the day before the booking, we hear that yes he would like to come. I try to modify the booking on Open Table, but it only offers me ones "outside" and much later than our previous booking. I wait until the restaurant opens and ring them up. Indeed, they can't fit us in as a 4 in the restaurant, but can put us in the Conservatory - fully under cover and heated, we are assured. So we go for that. We wonder how tight a squeeze the table for 3 would have been.

Then on the day, C decides that he won't come after all! But we leave the booking as it is. When we go along, the restaurant does seem full and we are walked through, outside a little way and then into the Conservatory, where apparently we will be the only ones there. It has heaters blasting away. The waiter explains it had been cold earlier, but that if gets too much they can turn some off. 

We're a little concerned that being out on our own, the service might not be very good.  But the waiter returns quite quickly with complementary sparkling water, and we can order our wine - a South African Chenin Blanc at £34. This comes quickly too, followed shortly by focaccia slices with flavoured butters - smoked paprika (quite spicy) and caramelised garlic - when he then takes our food order. 

There is a set menu with only three choices per course (in the evening I think there are four choices). D chooses the Barbary duck. This comes as a pink piece of duck breast, together is a sort of croquette of duck leg. Not a large portion, but pretty rich and full of flavour. B has the kimchi cured salmon, with blackened sesame seeds. She is very impressed, and this is a good size too.  She remarks on it when the waiter clears the plates, and he says it's his favourite that had only just been put on the menu. I have the third option - curried sweet potato dhal. This too is full of flavour, with coriander and coconut and a warming lentil taste. I mop it up with the last piece of bread, so it's quite filling too.

One of the three choices for main is harissa aubergine, but that's not hacking it. D and B both have the katsu chicken. This also is pieces of breast together with a croquette, and is served on a bed of cauliflower rice, with pieces of cashew nut. The katsu sauce is a puddle on the side, rather than drenching the meat. B thinks the dish is very good, though she finds the sauce a little salty. I have the pollock topped with caviar, on tenderstem broccoli. The waiter suggested that I order potatoes with it, and he's right, the portion would have been a bit small on its own. The fish is delicate, but just right, the broccoli al dente, but the potatoes are on the soggy side. 

B is too full for dessert, and neither D not I fancy the rhubarb. So we both have the white chocolate with coconut and mango sorbet. The chocolate is OK, and the mango excellent. 

All the dishes have been very attractively presented - ideal for Instagram. The service continued to be good throughout, though for a while the waiter was replaced by a waitress - both were chatty and friendly. When the waiter returned, he explained he'd been called into the "most bizarre" 15 minute team meeting!

We had three bottles of wine, so the bill got up to £220 for the three of us (£27 for 2 courses, £32 for 3).  We have all enjoyed the meals, and they were definitely quality, and unusual. We'd happily go back, but wonder how often the limited menu changes.  The restaurant is part of a small group which includes Hideaway, a small riverside bar at the end of our road with a lovely terrace. That too has an odd menu - brunch dishes ("bennies") and more whipped avocado you would ever need at lunchtime, and a limited range of tapas (small plates) from 5.30pm.  It's also linked to the "Good Life" gin company (get it?) and has a gin bar.  

Definitely glad we got there in the end. 

High in the Sky

 Our friend S had commented that he thought the restaurant at the top of the Gherkin was pretty good, better value for money than the Oxo Tower Brasserie. So when it came to finding somewhere to go for 6 of us for my birthday, I thought it worth a try.  The restaurant is called Helix and is run by Searcey's. The nearest I could get a table was a few days before the actual day, and it then transpired the others couldn't make that date, so I changed it to just the two of us.

At the ground floor reception we have to go through an airport style security check, then take a lift to the 34th floor. There we are relieved of our coats, and take a second lift to the 39th floor. There is a bar on the floor above with a 360 degree view apparently, but we go straight to our table, a nice one by the window. Unfortunately the weather isn't very good, so the view is a bit limited - and the window isn't very clean either, which doesn't help. There are also quite a few tall buildings nearby. Nonetheless, we can see the top of Monument, some of the river and views down to the towers at Nine Elms, and in another direction the Barbican and St Pancras station.

Most of the tables by the window are for two people - there is one for 5. If there had been 6 of us we may have had to sit further inside with less of a view.  When we arrive only two of the other tables are occupied, but there is something about the music playing (upbeat 80's) and the hard surfaces that makes hearing difficult.  But surprisingly as it fills up that seems to improve. It does get very nearly completely full, with all the window tables and most of the second row taken. Many of these are people having afternoon tea and champagne. 

The friendly waiter takes our order for wine - the best I could find was a SA Chenin Blanc (Kleine Zalze) at £46!  He then brings some bread - two rolls, with butter on a slate.  The set menu options are very limited - just 4 dishes a course. So avoiding the heritage beetroot and pumpkin soup, we choose chicken liver parfait (me) and smoked salmon (B). The parfait is unremarkable, coming with "soldiers" of brioche, but B is more impressed with her salmon, which comes with a good sharp horseradish cream.

There's "heritage" on the main course options too - cauliflower with gnocchi. Instead I have the beef and oyster sauce, with some chips (triple cooked, obvs).  The sauce comes in a smart copper jug, with actual pieces of oyster.  There's a nice onion compote too. But the beef itself is seriously unimpressive. It's more like pulled beef or even a tin of braised beef. B has the Goosnargh chicken which comes with lentils and kale. The chicken is tasty and moist, with some good skin. It is however just a simple roast chicken, nothing special. 

So far, so disappointing. But things brighten up with the desserts. My chocolate and malt tart is lovely bitter chocolate on a crisp base, well supported by candied orange.  B eventually chooses the Black Forest pavlova, when she realises it isn't the gateau. This with its kirsch cream and cherries is also a success. 

The set menu is £54 a head (the sparkling afternoon tea is £56), so with a second bottle of wine, the chips and standard 12.5% that brings the bill to a whopping £230.  Staff have been friendly and fairly attentive (though this dropped off a bit as the place filled up - there seemed to be more supervisors than servers).  But overall not value for money I felt, despite the view, and I was glad in the end that it hadn't been the 6 of us.

 

French restaurant in Richmond

 We've been to Chez Lindsay with S&S a couple of times before, but this is our first  visit since before the pandemic.  When we'd booked online there was plenty of choice of dining times, but when we arrive at 1.45pm all the other tables were taken.  There's a nice warm feel, and a definite French atmosphere. Our table is in the middle of the restaurant, but that's fine as there aren't really any views from the windows. They still have the socially distancing screens around the tables, but this isn't an issue either.

We order the Viognier (£26) and ask for some water. The wine arrives promptly, but we have to ask three times for the water.  Very French waiting staff. 

One of the reasons for coming back is that S and B like the crab as a starter. This time everyone but for me orders it. They are seriously sizeable beasts, the body about as big as your hand. Nutcrackers and other tools provided.  All tasty as you'd expect, requiring time and concentration to get all the meat out. I have the fish soup, complete with croutons, rouille and cheese. This is warming and comforting, with a good peppery undertone.

S&B both have sea bass (bar) as main course, having chosen it filleted rather than on the bone. This comes with salad and new potatoes. Very nicely cooked. S2 has the calves liver and bacon with mash and seems very pleased with that. I've pushed the boat out and ordered Tournedos Rossini, the most expensive thing on the menu at £35. I've gone with the waiter's recommendation of "medium-rare", but when it comes I think it should have been more rare.  Still, it is a lovely piece of steak with a (politically incorrect, I know) good piece of foie gras, on toast (not really a crouton as advertised) and a rich but not cloying red wine sauce. Plus good chips. And a bottle of Cahors Malbec (£28) to go with it. We also have some spinach and tomato and onion salad to go with the mains.

We're all quite full, but tradition demands we order a crepes Suzettes to finish. Attractively presented, with flaming brandy poured over it at the table, it is a dramatic and tasty finale. 

The menu also covers lots of galettes and cidres so you don't have to go for the full meal.

The room is nothing special, but the sounds of everyone enjoying themselves and French exchanges between the waiters give a nice atmosphere, untroubled by music as far as I recall. With a second bottle of Viognier and two coffees, the bill comes to just shy of £300 for the 4 of us. Not cheap, and not up with Chez Bruce or TFT, but definitely a fair price for what we had. 

RETURN TO LOCAL CHINESE

 

It’s farmer’s market day and we’re considering where to go afterwards. The last few times at Gordon Bennett were a little disappointing, so it’s a change of scene. We think about Boat, a local Japanese, but we haven’t researched the menu enough to know whether that will suit. So we go to Naturally Chinese, on a corner nearby, where we had eaten only once before.

Now, I’m not against technology per se, though I have been falling behind a bit lately.  Here, they expect you to pull up the menu on your smartphone using a QR code. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. So they lend us a tablet to scroll through the menu – and then write down our order on a paper pad! Technology is fine if it improves the experience: ordering beer from an app in a crowded Twickenham pub was good as you avoided the scrum at the bar; a touch-screen table-top menu was less successful, as it had become greasy. Here, the menu is laid out well-enough, but unlike with a paper menu you couldn’t get a simple overview of what was on offer.

Anyway, we knew we wanted dim sum, which they advertise as a speciality. When we came before, the selection had seemed very limited, but now there is a good choice. We order two classic steamed dumplings - crabmeat and pumpkin, crystal prawn – and also steamed Shang Hai dumplings (pork in a “soup pocket”, with spoon provided). All fresh and interesting, not too much pumpkin. These were preceded by pork spring rolls in rice-paper – more like little sausages – and salt and chilli squid, good and crisp. We also had “thousand shreds” prawn – prawn wrapped in crispy kataifi patry, served with salad cream – which is impossible to eat politely, as you scatter pieces all across the table.

All the dim sum have been good, but we do feel we need a little more. So we decide on Singapore noodles and a beef dish (without looking again at the tablet). The friendly waitress talks us through the beef options, and we opt for ginger and spring onion. The noodles is a large portion, with plenty of chicken and shrimps, and a rather dominant curry flavour.   Beef rather ordinary.

We’ve had a couple of bottles of SA Chenin Blanc (£22.40 each), so the total has crept up to  £120 – a bit more than we’d normally pay for a dim sum lunch. But it has been enjoyable (attentive service, prompt arrival of dishes) so I’ve no doubt we’ll be back.

New Forest country house

 After several recommendations, we've arranged to take J&E to the Pig at Brockenhurst. It's an easy journey by train, and J&E pick us up at the station (it's probably a bit too far to walk). They had been when the place was under different ownership, but hadn't tried the new incarnation, which is part of a growing chain across the South of England . It's an imposing building, with large stone dogs guarding the door, and a bar and lounges off the entrance hall. We've arrived only just ahead of our booking time, so we ask to be shown straight to our table.

The restaurant is a large, multi-roomed affair.  We're shown into what is effectively a conservatory, to an oversized table. We had been offered a table in the room alongside, but that was very dark and dingy. There is lots of greenery about, including a big bed of herbs beside our table.  There is a nice view out to the garden - on a sunny day that would have been very pleasant.  For a Tuesday lunch, it is very busy, very nearly full. 

There's quite an extensive wine list, mostly in the range £30 to £60. I notice the Tabali Viognier from Chile, the same wine we normally order at Chez Bruce - £36. The food menu is a "25-mile" menu, not in length but of locally sourced food (except of course for Scottish salmon, Cornish sardines), complete with a map on the back.  The menu is divided into quirky sections - piggy bits, fishy bits, garden bits; from the garden and polytunnel; Forest and Solent ( 3 veggie options, 4 meat, 3 fish). 

To start J chooses the pork crackling ("Piggy bit"), which is light and golden, crunchy rather than too challenging on the teeth. E has the Cornish sardines  (aka pilchards) - he doesn't comment on these, but they disappear without trace.  B has the "South coast squid", which comes in very puffed up batter, with chunks of chorizo and a lemon mayo - much more batter than squid. I have "From Salt To Smoke Rare Roast Beef" on toast with horseradish. The beef is very nice, a good sized portion, though the horseradish was rather tame.

Both J and B choose skate wing - they are huge, they must have been fabulous beasts in the sea. Both have a nice golden tinge and come with capers. They taste very nice but are so large as to be disheartening. Neither J nor B come close to finishing their fish, not even getting to the point of turning over to the second side.  I'm relieved to see that my sea bass is a more reasonable sized portion.This is a nicely cooked firm fillet with several cockles in a butter sauce and some very wilted chard. E has the pheasant breast with red wine sauce - again quietly demolished. We'd noticed something called "Tobacco onions" on the menu, and asked what that was - sliced onions in a paprika covering, deep-fried. So along with three-times fried chips, we give that a go. Rather disappointing, like the onions you get in Beefeater or somewhere.

For dessert I order a Lemon verbena gin jelly with lemon sorbet - interesting, but rather sweet; E has a selection of sorbets. B and I also order a glass of late-bottled Sauvignon. For some reason the waiter had been keen to persuade us to move through to the lounge for our desserts - maybe they were going for a second sitting. It's a nice room, with doors out to the garden, which looked like it would be nice in the summer. But it's a bit of a dislocation, and I had to chase up the drinks. 

With just a second bottle of wine, some water and coffee, the bill comes to just over £300. Service was friendly and (until the lounge) efficient enough.  It's been a competent and interesting meal without hitting any heights, rather too self-regarding for my liking. It's a cut above most gastro-pubs, but not a fine dining experience - the price reflects that fairly enough.