Surbiton Thai

 We've been in Surbiton 4 years now, but had yet to try the Thai restaurant, NayThai, preferring the Japanese, Boat, nearby. But we needed to find somewhere that did a range of vegetarian dishes for E who is staying with us, so as the Thai offers a vegetable option for all its soups, stir-fries and curries that seems like a good idea.  

On a Wednesday evening, the place is very nearly full, but we do get a good table. The decor is classically over-the-top Thai restaurant, with lots of elephants, dancing girls, buddhas and lotus flowers, with a typical sound track too.  The Spanish SB is their standard house white at £22. 

We have some the very good Thai prawn crackers, spicy with a sweet chilli sauce. For starters B and I share the Thai fish cakes and the pork and prawn dumplings. Both were a little stodgy, though the fish cakes better than many - not like ice hockey pucks. E has the Tom Yum soup, which is not as hot as she would have liked, despite having two chillies on the menu. This may have been a misunderstanding as she had asked how hot it was and they may have assumed she didn't want it hot. It did have a good interesting lemongrass flavour though.

One of the main courses we chose was the steak salad - though they brought it out along with the starters, and tried to clear it away with them too. This too was marked with two chillies - and it lived up to it, with loads of chilli pieces scattered all through it. Very tender too, with good fresh herbs. Our other dish was king prawns with tamarind - good sized prawns with a punchy dark sauce, plus some jasmine rice. E has noodles with chilli and bamboo shoots - two more chillies, but no complaints this time.

With a second bottle of wine, sparkling water and a modest 10% service (the two little waitresses were very efficient without being particularly friendly, but then it was busy) the bill comes to a very reasonable £135.

The following Saturday after the farmers' market we head to Boat for lunch, but for some reason it is closed. So we return to NayThai as it is so close.  It is quite busy but not as much as on Wednesday. We have the prawn crackers (a goodly sized portion) and the SB again before checking on the menu.

This time we do have a salad as a starter to share - the seafood one, packed with prawns, mussels, squid and the occasional scallop. This again is good and spicy - we need to ask for tap water.  For mains we have the duck with tamarind, a better combination than the prawns probably, but very rich and strong flavoured. We also have the steamed sea bass with loads of ginger, soy sauce, and mushrooms. This is excellent but rather too delicate a taste to be paired with the duck. It's also a very large portion, so we end up asking for a doggy bag to take it away, with some of the duck and crackers too. 

We have rice and two 250ml glasses of SB (priced very reasonably at almost exactly a third of a bottle) and some rice, making the bill a touch over £100.  Very good value for a full-flavoured meal. 

Two good central oriental restaurants

 We are heading to the Comedy Store off Leicester Square with B's niece E. As we don't fancy their pizza and don't know what time it will finish we decide to eat mid-afternoon, 4pm. E suggests Japanese, so I do some research and find one with a promising looking menu just round the corner in Panton Street - Machiya. 

E is already there when we arrive, drinking a cocktail - yuzu and elderflower. That looks so refreshing on a hot day that I decide to have one too. We also order a bottle of Italian SB at £26. E is vegetarian, but I had checked and there is a wide range of options on the menu - 8 different starters, a mushroom rice bowl and a "large plate" vegetable katsu curry. It's this that she chooses. 

We are finding it difficult to choose too. Eventually we settle on glazed chicken skewers with egg yolk, pork belly, and a "large plate" seared duck breast. We also order a Japanese coleslaw and wasabi mayonnaise. 

E seems happy with her curry (which she says is not very spicy) which comes with steamed rice, and she has some coleslaw too. The waiter delivers our smaller plates, then arrives with two portions of the duck,  so we have to turn one away.  The chicken skewers are very dense, and when dragged through the egg yolk very rich. The pork belly is braised (so no crackling) and comes as big dense chunks alongside a boiled egg and spinach. The duck is elaborately presented in a large leaf (houba leaf apparently) with daikon and persimmon - very tender. The coleslaw is good too with a sharp dressing, but we didn't need the rather wishy-washy mayo. 

The place is small, simple and cafe-like, but with some interesting decor. The bill says we were on the ground floor, so presumably there is another room downstairs.  Waiters were very friendly and chatty. 

The bill comes to £95 including 12.5% service. But I see, looking at it now, they only charged us for a small glass of wine rather than a bottle, so it should have been about £20 more. Very reasonable for good, interesting dishes in a very central location. 

The following day we are meeting ex-BT friend S. We meet up at the Marquis of Granby for a drink outside in the sunshine before crossing the road to Koba, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Rathbone Street. Tables for four come with the BBQ plate in the middle and a extractor pipe lowered over the top of it.  There are tables downstairs for 8. 

For starters we order Yook Hwei (raw beef with egg), prawn pan-fried dumplings and calamari. The waitress mixes the beef into the raw egg much like a steak tartare - B reckons it's one of her favourite dishes ever. The marinated beef is in small strips rather than minced and comes with pale-coloured strips which we can't identify - on asking we find they are pear, which was there on the menu. The prawn dumplings were very good too, but the calamari a bit ordinary, despite the Korean dips, in very small pieces.  

We have ordered the mixed Korean BBQ for 2, so S decides we need an extra dish and chooses bulgogi, rib-eye beef. We also have the lettuce and spring onion as recommended and some garlic fried rice. We are drinking French Viognier at £26 a bottle. 

The plate of BBQ meats arrives, looking massive. I had assumed we would have to manage the cooking ourselves, but in fact the waitress takes charge.  First up is some thinly sliced steak. Four pieces are cooked briefly on both sides, then snipped in half with scissors. We put it into lettuce leaves with the spring onion and eat with our hands.  Next we have spare rib beef, two long pieces with bone on the edge, again snipped into bite-size once cooked and the bones used as a place to rest meats so they don't overcook. There are pieces of pumpkin and sweet potato there too. 

The bulgogi is soy marinated and comes chopped up  and sizzles as it is poured onto the BBQ.  It's beginning to feel like an awful lot of meat, but the dishes are paced well so I never feel stuffed. The waitress cleans the centre of the BBQ then puts on the pork belly. Then comes the spiced chicken, which is indeed fairly spicy. Finally, after the plate is cleaned again, come the raw prawns and squid pieces.  B was surprised these had not come first. 

We don't eat all the rice or spring onions, though these were very good.  Surprisingly there's not much in the way of dips or sauces - just some light soy sauce and a sesame oil and salt one. 

There's a good turnover of people and the staff have been very attentive. We have a second bottle which with 12.5% brings the total to £225, £75 a head. So this is quite a bit more expensive than the Japanese, but for such a vast amount of meat it is a pretty fair price. 

Smart Indian at Piccadilly Circus

 Five of us ex-colleagues are having a "Whizzo Wheeze", looking to play bar billiards at the Glasshouse Stores on Brewer Street. Unfortunately, as on the last two occasions, the table is not operational - this time the cues have been stolen. It feels as if the table will be phased out soon. And there aren't many other places left  in London where you can still play bar billiards.

We stay for a couple of pints, then go in search of a curry. I had noticed on arriving at Piccadilly Circus that the fabulous Criterion, right by Eros, was now a branch of Masala Zone, so we head off there. Masala Zone took over the place just last year. The Criterion dates from 1873, and has more recently been home to Marco Pierre White, though it has a chequered financial history since. The decor is consistently opulent. 

Masala Zone has its own pedigree, though only back to 2001, and now has 4 branches in London. We really liked the Covent Garden branch, ideal for groups, with its Indian marionettes hanging from the ceiling. The Criterion Masala Zone is also large and ideal for impressing a group.  The decor now has Indian themes too making it even more dramatic. 

The menu isn't huge but takes a little while to get your head around, as it isn't a standard selection. We order drinks - beers, Kingfisher for me, though sadly only in the 33cl bottles. There's a good selection of "grazing small plates".  We decide to take the short cut of the five item, sharing grazing selection, just for two. The Bombay sprouted lentil bhel is a huge pillar with loads of flavour, crunchy and crispy with pomegranate seeds. There are two lamb sliders, not easy to divide between 5 so I opt out of those. Of the other 3 dishes, one in particular was a very dense dish with spicy sauce. 

We've eaten the starters before we get asked to order our mains. But that's not an issue as they arrive well within the time we'd expect.  Three of the group order thalis - prawn, lamb and chicken - which looked to be good sized portions including two vegetables, dhal, papad, rice or chapattis, with a raita option. P has the veggie "Undihiyo" of nine different veggies including banana, which he described as "Richly spiced, variety of vegetables. On dry side with rather more potatoes than I would have preferred". My choice was chicken mangalore, a 2 chilli option of chicken in thick sauce, which was indeed pretty hot, with chapattis and chana masala; a bit too much really. 

Service has been fine, though I did get twitchy waiting for my second beer. Total was around £250 including service. Probably would have been rather more with wine than just a few beers. The general view of the group was very positive, with some already planning to visit again.  

Return to Soho Vietnamese

 The plan is to meet E and her new squeeze before going to the theatre. But unfortunately he has to work late so it's just the three of us. As one of the options we suggested, E has booked us in quite early (5.30) for dinner at Cay Tre in Dean Street. We had been there some time ago with 131-ers and it's also a possibility for an upcoming reunion.

We arrive a bit early and are shown to our table, though we are warned the kitchen won't open for 10 minutes.  Before we are settled in, E joins us. It's a buzzy place and we are towards the back, where the group area would be. We order a bottle of Chilean SB at £32 and some sparkling water (£2). 

The menu is quite extensive, and includes many vegetarian dishes that will suit E. There's a whole page of pho. After a little discussion about a set seafood dish, we opt to stay with standard starters and mains. 

I have the crispy crab parcel to start. This is quite dense, including pork, prawn and mushrooms as well, but still tasting of crab. It's also very deep fried. B has the salt and pepper soft shell crab. This is a good size, recognisably crab-shaped. She is also impressed with the dressing that comes with it, fresh and bright. E chooses a mango salad with tofu. This seems quite small with not a lot of mango but she is happy with it. 

I'd been trying to decide between the chilli and lemongrass chicken and the "shaking" beef, and eventually settle on the latter. It comes as cubes of beef with fried peppers and onion, and a garlic sauce. The first few pieces are melt in the mouth, but a couple of the later ones had some gristle. B has "one bowl" vermicelli with prawns in chilli and garlic. There are plenty of prawns (shell on) and lots of flavour - she even eats lots of the vermicelli. E chooses the okra and aubergine curry, and we share some jasmine rice (which we don't really need). 

Service has been fine, they are used to rushing people through, so we get away in time for the show. It has been rather noisy, so not sure it's ideal for our group. Other tables have some huge bowls, much larger than B's, presumably the pho. With a second bottle of wine, the bill comes up just short of £180 (13% service again). It works as an interesting pre-theatre place, but not one for an intimate restful dinner.

Sardinian in Victoria

 We are meeting T&K for the first time this year, and as they had liked Olivomare previously they suggest we went to the parent place, Olivo, also in Victoria.  As before, we meet up in the Lord Lucan pub, Plumber's Arms then take the short stroll to Eccleston Street.

We had been there many, many years ago, when the decor featured an internal tent, pastel walls and stencils. Now it is super-modern: black and lumpy like Lego bricks.  It remains a small place, with perhaps 50 covers and is pretty much full when we arrive at 1.30pm. 

The menu has many overlaps with its fishy offspring, and the wine list is the same, so we choose the Sardinian white Karmis again - still the cheapest on the native list at £34.50, only £1 more than when we went two years ago. 

Bread arrives - a mix of the carta da musica and good baguette style.  The menu has a tempting mix of interesting starters, pastas and meat and fish.   K has the small linguine with suckling pig with garlic and chilli - a modest amount of pasta with what she says is a very tasty rich sauce. T has the octopus stew he had at the other restaurant, which he too is pleased with - spicy and tender.  B's starter is Sardinian prosciutto with lots of char-grilled fennel - really full flavoured meat. I choose the white crabmeat salad with spicy dressing - very fresh and light.

B and K have the same main course - veal escalope with sauteed spinach. The large pieces of meat are presented rolled up and standing vertically - quite dramatic. But B isn't impressed, finding it tough as shoe soles. She does manage to eat it all though. T has the sweetbreads ("animelle") with ham and green beans. He is very pleased with that, though it seems he doesn't like beans as he passes most of them to K. I have the most expensive thing on the menu, sliced beef entrecote with spicy broccoli, which is very good - served on the rare side of medium/rare the meat is melt in the mouth and flavourful, while the broccoli is al dente with a good chilli kick. We also have a portion of deep-fried courgettes which gets polished off rapidly.

B and I are tempted to have a dessert - "Sebada" - a traditional Sardinian dish of crunchy, crispy deeply fried pastry filled with cheese and dipped in honey - lovely, surprisingly light. T&K go with a chocolate cake that looks rather heavy.

Service has been friendly and efficient without being intrusive. When serving the second bottle, the waiter said he had better put a couple more in the fridge - quite right! (Though we only have three in fact). Service charge is a whopping 15% - £50 - taking the total to £390 for the four of us. That seems a lot - I had enjoyed it but B less so. 

Busy February

February was a very busy month for eating out, as we went to 10 different restaurants during the month. They were mostly old favourites that I’ve reviewed before, like Chez Bruce (featuring devilled lamb’s tongues), The French Table for Valentine’s Day and Italian Taste (mussels) in Surbiton, The Good Earth, Esher (sizzling lamb) and El Pirata tapas off Piccadilly (very tasty rib-eye).

First up was a fairly new branch of Sticks n Sushi in Kingston, though it has much the same menu as the others.  It is a big place, but was pretty full so we ended up with seats in the window, watching the world go by John Lewis. Wine service was a little slow because of that, though it hadn’t been rapid when we went last time. We had the spicy edamame beans while we considered the order – one of the better examples. Then we had salmon carpaccio (as opposed to tataki, quite thick, very tasty), hot and gooey crab croquettes, seaweed  salad, deep fried prawn bites and tuna tartare bites with avocado.  These were followed at a sensible pace by the iberico pork, duck meatball, and scallop and bacon sticks. Total bill including two bottles of SA Chenin Blanc (at £30) was £150 – pretty good value.

We planned to meet up with A, K and K’s new squeeze C. They suggested Café Rouge upstairs at Victoria station, so we trot along arriving as they do to find that Café Rouge no longer exists. In its place is a take-away with just a couple of basic tables. They negotiate a table and we were just getting our heads round the menu when it transpires they don’t serve alcohol!  So we head off to the Nova complex across the road and fetch up at RailHouse Cafe. The menu here is a little unusual – mainly bowls with add-on skewers plus a few “plates”. I have the chicken schnitzel with mushrooms – a good, sized piece, still moist inside – plus some chips. B has skewers: prawn and chicken skewers with a mixed salad. Our share of the bill was £140 – not cheap for what we had.

J,D and I had a bet on revolution in China – and I lost. So after buying them drinks in Wetherspoons, we head to a Uyghur restaurant for lunch - Karamay Uyghur near Fenchurch St station. It’s an odd little place upstairs, with a stage for a band – presumably a social space for the community. People were leaving as we arrived, so we ended up the only ones in there for most of the time. The dishes feature noodles – described as linguine or spaghetti – and several have serious chilli. I have lamb ribs with noodles and some grilled vegetable dumplings on the side. Very good slightly spicy; J has lamb skewers and D spicy (3 chilli) tenderloin. We each have a couple of bottles of the national beer – Wusu. All this comes to a very reasonable £44 a head.

Although we’ve been there a few times, I haven’t reviewed Giggling Squid in Kingston before. There are branches in Esher, Wimbledon and many others too. We’re meeting D and her new pal J. We order some Chenin Blanc – J is driving so doesn’t have anything – and some of their very good prawn crackers while we consider the menu. They specialise in Thai “tapas”, but we generally also order some dishes from the starters and mains lists too. D and J order curries which come with rice and salad. We have one bite salmon, pork dumplings duck spring rolls followed by soft shell prawns and caramelised pork with rice. Our share including wine comes to a very modest £100. Definitely on the regular visit list.  

Taking advantage of the leap day, we meet up with G at the Ivy City Garden, off Old Broad Street. It’s a huge place, and at 1.30pm is very busy (and noisy) with several work groups. There are loads of plants around and a very odd wall sculpture featuring a lizard eating its tail. We arrive first and order Chilean Viognier (£38). G arrives 5 minutes or so later – and we still haven’t got our wine. After quite a long chat a waiter arrives asking if we’re ready to order, so I ask about the wine and G orders a gin (Monkey 47) and tonic.

The menu has several sections to it – a February specials list, and also an Ivy Asia list, that I focus on. B’s starter is very dramatic: it’s a crab, brown shrimp and avocado tian from the specials list. It arrives served in a silver plated crab-shaped platter, complete with a spicy sauce poured over it, and for some reason a jug of dry ice!  It tastes good too. G has the cheese souffle off the “Ivy Classics” list served in a bronzed pan which she polishes off with relish. My starter is chicken skewers (three) with bang bang peanut sauce, which has loads of nuts and a good chilli kick (effectively an above average satay).

Topping us up with drinks has been erratic, with some empty glasses. But when we order the second bottle the senior waiter seems to get the idea. Or maybe it’s because now, around 2.30pm, the place is starting to thin out a bit.

For main course I have the Keralan duck curry with sweet potato. It’s quite a light, sweet curry, not that hot. But the duck is tasty. B has Mexican-style Flat-iron Chicken (again a February special). This comes with a nice salsa, and quite spicy guacamole.  This is a rather large portion. G simply has a Sirloin steak.

We don’t have room for dessert, finishing our wine while G has a cappuccino. The dessert list does look good though. Service charge is an annoying 13.5% taking the bill up to over £270.  That’s pretty pricey, but the food has been good.

  

Esher Chinese

 We are in Esher for a showing of "The Great Escaper" in the Everyman. Someone had recommended a Japanese place, but that seems to have closed down, so we try the Chinese, the Good Earth. There are other branches in Wandsworth, Knightsbridge and Mill Hill, and a few "Express" outlets too. 

It's a smart place, with lots of red and gold, some classic Chinese pictures on the walls. Although there is only one other couple in, we are asked if we have a reservation, but then given a nice table in the window overlooking the High Street. The chopsticks are elegant, in fancy wrappers, there is a classy glass tray for dishes in the centre of the table (lazy susans on larger tables) and to B's great amusement we are presented with two little buttons, which when doused in hot water expand into hot towels. 

I'd looked at the menu beforehand, and it seemed quite expensive - £20 for soft-shelled crab starter, £25 for sweet and sour pork. The wine list wasn't so bad, so we settle on the French Viognier at £34. Fortunately though, there is also an express lunch menu at £18.80 for two courses and a range of dim sum dumplings at £5 per portion. 

So we decide on a combination of the two. From the express menu we order lettuce wrapped chicken and spicy lamb with lemongrass, egg-fried rice and vegetables. Dim sum dumplings were scallops, and prawn and chive. I also throw in a Dragon's Whiskers prawns from the starters list. 

The lettuce chicken and Dragon's Whiskers come first. The chopped chicken comes with some vegetables and a tasty sauce (billed as plum sauce, but lighter than that). A bit messy to eat, so the hot towels come in handy. DW is large prawns in shredded pastry, also rather messy, but certainly tasty. The dumplings come next. Scallops are really good; the wrapping is a bit heavy on both, so the chilli sauce is welcome. 

Finally the lamb, rice and vegetables, all served on one beautifully decorated plate on the glass tray; our starter plates have been replaced with smart blue and white bowls and plates. The lamb is good and spicy, with clear chilli flakes in it. The rice has identifiable pieces of scrambled egg, and the good range of vegetables (peppers, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms and something that may or may not have been celery) were all fresh and deliciously al dente.  

Unusually for us we treat ourselves to a dessert. Harking back to many years ago we order the toffee bananas. These are gorgeously crispy with sesame seeds; B reckons we should have had ice cream with them, and tells the couple at the next table, who duly order that and agree.

The waiter has been smiley and helpful without intruding; wine glasses topped up efficiently. The place is quite large, but has filled up a little while we were there. No background music.  

With a second bottle of wine, the bill goes up to a bit over £130 - with an odd 13% service charge. That's fine, but I imagine an evening meal from the main menu would be much more. Admittedly, the portions do seem to be quite large from what we saw at other tables, but I think our lunch deal worked pretty well. If the Japanese doesn't open up again, we will probably go back.