The Perfect Trough

10 Greek Street

2012-02-28T16:55:00.004Z

Is there anything quite as coveted as a great local restaurant?

Especially in London, where commuting is a rarely a pleasure, W1 at the weekend is handed over to the Home Counties, and ‘villages’ are fetishised within the sprawl, like estate agent’s fantasies.

The problem in this era of inflation, crazy property prices and the resulting necessity to live in East London, is that if you don’t live near a Trullo or a Pizarro, you’re bang out of luck. Step forward therefore 10 Greek Street, a new place with a neighbourhood feel but bang in the middle of Soho.

The food is simple stuff. I’m not sure how specifically it’s pitched or envisaged, but I’d say it was Modern European/British. Each dish has barely 3-4 ingredients and is simply presented.

To start, I had the charcutierie platter (£7) from the bar menu. I loved the vintage china which reminded me of those scamps at Foxcroft and Ginger. Some finocchiona, prosciutto and a darker, smokier ham surrounded a treasure trove of caperberries, cornichons and whole garlic cloves.

The Piglet had a ham terrine invention with crusty bread and some accompaniments. It seemed to be mainly fat.

The mains we ordered didn’t have too much to distinguish between them, both around £16. Here is where the simplicity of the menu led to duplication.

The pigeon breast, served with kale and shallots, was quite undercooked. The breast itself was attractive and plump, and it should be rare but that is why the breast filled are usually removed. When on the bone, rare becomes almost alive and the plate resembled a the scene of a massacre.

Pheasant, served with kale and parsnip puree was a better dish. The pheasant was on the bone but cooked properly, well-seasoned and spatchcocked to enable even charring.

game bird and kale #1

The menu changes frequently though, and a look today shows more variety than our visit, but our friend the kale is still the obligatory green, and there are plenty of dishes consisting of “ingredients 1,2,3 – done”.

Now onto the wine. I’m not quite sure if the person behind the wine list is a charitable, Dionysian soul, or perhaps is oblivious of the going rate of decent plonk in W1, but it’s hugely good value, to the point of cheap.

There are many lovely drops like those Californian Zins that they usually hoard for themselves, Oregon Pinot Noir, and much from across Europe. Loads by the glass at £6 and under, including prosecco and champagne.

game bird and kale #2

The service was a tad scatty early on, but got better throughout the evening, befitting a neighbourhood restaurant. It’s cosy but loud, so Andrew Edmunds will be just fine. The whole place is pretty bloody warm, so in summer up at that bar, you’ll struggle. If they could install big windows that opened out onto the street, that would be brilliant.

Nonetheless we lingered for over 3 hours, plundering the normally aspirational depths of the wine list. I’ll be back and I sincerely hope they stay focused on the food – even if everybody else is too pissed to notice.

And in true Soho style, we skipped dessert and hauled our wino selves down to Gelupo for Central London's best gelato (I still prefer Dri Dri). The lady swore my peach granita and pistachio gelato was a popular combo! I'm not so sure...

Food – 7/10

Drink – 10/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 5/10 (requested twice early on during rubbish service, but carafed and topped up thereafter)

Staff Hotness – 8/10

Salusbury Pizzeria

2012-02-23T12:11:00.001Z

The Salusbury Pizzeria is the night-time incarnation of their deli and café – itself part of quite the local empire. Notwithstanding all scurrilous rumours of wife-swapping, benefaction and fragile partnerships, the two guys who set up these foodie establishments in Queens Park have always been ahead of the curve.

Like little Russell Normans of the North Weezy, they succeed in creating good, buzzy atmospheres and are excellent product buyers (the wine shop has exceptional food, beers and spirits in addition to regular wines and enomatic bar service too).

The pizza here is authentically Italian and yet a bit more contemporary in ambition – toppings such as bresaola, nduja, pecorino and pancetta show a respect for their clientele and a more thoughtful approach to ingredients. Even Pizza Express do a rendition of that naughties favourites of prosciutto, rocket and parmesan I believe.

The “pea n ‘am” – or pancetta, gorgonzola with sweet piselli is a handsome looking chap.

This fellow is a pizza bianca with chicken, pesto and mixed peppers:

And this bad boy sports olives, mixed peppers and spicy, crumbled nduja sausage from Calabria. With a little chilli oil, this pizza had a real zing.

Service is friendly and efficient. Drinks are a little bit lacking considering, but I appreciate they may not want to cannibalise their enomatic bar or pub by offering great wines and beers. It’s a popular hang out – punchily priced at £9-11 for a pizza, but some love and thought has definitely gone into these pizzas. An easy, solid week night option for the area.

Food – 8/10

Drink – 6/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 8/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Osteria Basilico

2012-02-21T14:55:00.001Z

Osteria Basilico is arguably the most well-established of a clutch of Italian neighbourhood bistros on Kensington Park Road, just parallel to Portobello Road.

The area isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Kensington Park Road on a summer night (with this place, Mediterraneo, E&O, Montgomery Place and several others) has a true international buzz to it. It’s certainly one of my favourite little pockets of West London, especially on a balmy evening.

It’s a pretty standard place serving Italian staples and comfort food, ranging from a compendious selection of pizzas and pastas to some serious meat dishes. The menu is a little broad to the point of unwieldy but this place has been here for 20 years so they’ve pretty much mastered it all.

Authentic enough in terms of décor, staff and menu, the buzz is really the draw card here. Loud, smug and sybaritic, it’s a place where the food is familiar and consistently fine, but the boozing and social scene define it. Many will find it hateful, but then they probably wouldn’t find themselves round here anyway.

So what did we even eat? Without going all AA Gill, I was with a group of Mancunians so all I can truly recall is prosecco bottles, house red and a lot of competing with the Notting Hill decibels.

Fritti misti spookily resembled a plate of beachside holiday food. Escapism is no bad thing on such a freezing February evening.

Fettuccine with veal ragout was smooth and creamy, and there was a lot of veal. However I would have preferred this as torn pieces or chunks rather than mince. These days, you can’t move for a duck, pheasant or wild boar ragu, so serving the veal minced seems a retrograde step. I could buy that at Waitrose!

Still it was incredibly satisfying, a big bowl of steaming pasta on these winter nights has to struggle to not hit the spot.

I’m afraid I have no idea what this is:

any clues?

Veal Milanese was huge – two cutlets served with salad and artichokes. Delicious.

Osteria Basilico is a fun little place. If you like your neighbourhood restaurants loud and your wine flowing, it’s definitely for you.

Sure, the clientele are not the most modest you’ll be subjected to and it may not win any awards for originality (should it need to at 20 years old?) but it’s charming, lively and difficult not to have an enjoyable meal here. Notting Hill doesn't get the headline grabbing openings too often, but it's got its fair share of dependable stalwarts.

Food – 6/10

Drink – 7/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 8/10

Staff Hotness – 6/10

52 North

2012-02-17T13:53:00.004Z

52 North is a new bar on Poland Street in the old Amouse Bouche – which was a cavernous, offensively inoffensive champagne bar with ridiculous low tables. That’s about all I can remember of it.

The Match Bar team have certainly transformed the space here. The size is obviously the same, but they’ve worked hard to make it more urban and yet intimate – with monochrome murals of the 52 North typefaces and associated patterns, and a fantastic lighting installation. Yes it’s lot of light bulbs but, no it’s not the old filamenty Polpo chestnuts. They’re smaller and more numerous, sweeping like a catwalk from the entrance to the bar and then off at a sharp right angle.

The premise is supposedly British (hence the name referring to our latitude parallel) but it’s not overly themed or even that obvious. It’s nice not to have wanky concept rammed down your throat and be able to ponder it yourself.

The cocktails are certainly global in scope, and the very accomplished bartenders were challenging us punters (and themselves) by asking what we fancied or liked, and knocking something up. My New York Sour (£7.50) was expertly made and went down a treat. So did the second and third…

chips with 'ninja sauce'

The food here isn’t ground-breaking but it’s not trying to be. I think the idea is that it’s primarily for drinks but then if you get hungry, it just so happens that the kitchen is turning out competent, relatively thoughtful grub.

Ale battered fish & chips (£13) was excellent. Two small fillets of Coley, (which is essentially Pollack so 'fess up), nicely battered in an unspecified ale. Tartare sauce and mushy peas with a slight minty twinge accompany lovely double-fried chips with a bit of skin on.

fish - chips on the side (above)

The Coley fish fingers were even more crispy and salty. Great bar snack for those with a kids' tea craving.

The rest of the quite tightly edited menu features loin of pork with mash, lamb rump, risotto, Caesar salad and some other staples from the higher end of pub grub. A morcilla and egg salad for instance.

No burger or steak though. Which is absolutely fine, but worth noting.

fish fingers

It’s not destination in terms of the food itself, but the drinks are great and the service is keen (Max & OB from Hollyoaks seemed to be enjoying it too). There are loads of beers including on draught but I was in cocktail mode so relatively oblivious.

I imagine it’ll fill up with the after work W1 crowd and also that questionable weekend W1 crowd. It’s a bit like Graphic, but with better food and staff – and you’ve certainly got a better chance of a seat and service than a lot of other W1 venues.

After dinner, we nipped round the corner for a night cap - in this case the almost legendary 'donostia' G&T at Copita. God I love Soho:

Food – 7/10

Drink – 9/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 7/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Ian Brown Food & Drink - Glasgow

2012-02-14T11:18:00.000Z

Who ever said that you couldn’t get modern, intelligent food outside of London, Edinburgh and a few isolated hotspots such as Bray and Ludlow? Ian Brown Food & Drink is the solo venture of the same Mr Brown, who was formerly the head chef at Glasgow’s renowned Ubiquitous Chip.

This isn’t in the West End either, but out in Giffnock which is a salubrious but sleepy area on the South Side. It is also where Whole Foods have just opened a (fantastic) new store, filled with a brilliant mix of Scottish producer and Americana – with a free car park and an intuitive, familiar supermarket layout. And sure enough, people are filling their trolleys and their cars, unlike in W8.

little freebie of beetroot soup

Scots love Scotland, and all things Scottish. At all levels of society. They probably buy as much Scottish rubbish from the souvenir stores as tenth generation American wannbes. The place names and provenance resonate with them and is so important up there.

The restaurant itself is a cosy little place- neutrally decorated enough to be contemporary, but not daring enough to scare away the slightly superannuated crowd comprising the bulk of the punters. Well, everybody except us is 45 plus, and noise levels are somewhere between library and crypt; every clink and throat clear is discernible.

The waitress tells us they’ve never had a 9pm booking before – while most people are finishing dessert. Feeling a tad Royston Vasey at this point...

Yet when the menu comes out, any provincial tweeness goes out the window. It’s keenly priced, Scottish to the max and loaded with tempting choices. As a firm carnivore, I don't have great success with many starters which are often more seafood based, but here I had plenty to choose from.

pig's cheek

Slow braised Perthshire pig’s cheek on a bed of herby polenta was delicate and tender, in a wonderfully gloopy sauce and the polenta cheekily shaped like that champion of Scottish breakfasts, the potato scone.

Salmon three ways was extremely popular and an impressively presented dish.

salmon three ways

Special mention also to the squat lobsters – Scottish langoustines effectively. Which are about a third of the price and equally meaty – served here with a nutty romesco sauce. All starters were about £5-7.

squat lobsters

Slow-cooked shin of Scottish beef with garlic crushed potatoes, carrot puree and honeyed shallots was a lovely dish. The beef was fantastically presented and cooked, staying pink on the inside but crumbling away very delicately, infused with the garlic vapours from the tatties.

beef shin with garlic tatties

Sea bass with a lemon hollandaise was a good bet also (fish and seafood always is in Scotland), again expertly prepared.

sea bass

Stirlingshire venison in a bramble sauce was another great example of Scottish ingredients, with the sweetness of the sauce tenderising and complementing the venison perfectly. Mains were £13-16.

I think we just drank more for dessert.

venison in bramble sauce

Ian Brown was a perfect execution of a local restaurant, but with serious foodie credentials and ambition. The menu is a lot more precise and thoughtful than most, and certainly wouldn’t be out of place in a more uptown location. In fact, the sleepy location must be what keeps the prices so reasonable (compared to Ashton Lane).

Service was attentive and informed yet very friendly, with Mr Brown’s wife an extremely passionate front of house. The young waiter deserves a brownie point too for his enthusing about every aspect of the meal – very well-trained.

I can’t imagine Giffnock is a place many readers of this blog will encounter in their travels, but you could certainly do a lot worse. This isn’t quite at the level of a La Trompette for Glasgow, but it’s not far off.

Food – 8/10

Drink – 7/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 10/10

Tap water tales – n/a - we had sparkling

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (can't have it all!)

Mele e Pere

2012-02-07T09:04:00.002Z

Mele e Pere is a new Italian place helmed by Andrea Mantovani, from a Wild Honey/Arbutus trajectory. Those two restaurants have a fantastic reputation for enabling people to enjoy top class cooking in smart yet unstuffy dining rooms, at very reasonable value. So I was hopeful that this Soho newbie’s offering of Northern Italian cooking with London’s first vermouth bar would deliver a similar ethos. It's an arguably slicker proposition, but it doesn't quite over-shoot.

Refreshingly, they aren’t too lazy to manage reservations and the bar area is as nice a place to wait as you’d need. Especially the high tables across from the bar with the naval swivelling stools, certainly a novelty for Brewer Street anyway. A decent soundtrack would help, never a forte of Italian bars or restaurants...!

Opening week meant a round of zesty prosecco on the house, salute! Staff hotness warrants an early mention – there is plenty of eye candy here which is just as well, as the dining room is a tad sparse otherwise.

Breads come at £2.50 per head which if we’re empathising ourselves into Italian authenticity, is fine as a cover charge. House baked skinny grissini were moist and flavoursome, the best I’ve ever had. Gorgeous focaccia with whole roasted garlic cloves and amazingly deep, fruity olive oil made the bread basket certainly worth it. The grissini led to facile headlines of "Zucca in W1" floating round my head as we waited for our antipasti and primi.

A platter of antipasti meats was a bit steep at £12.50 even if it did include rabbit bruschetta and some wonderfully spicy deep-fried cichetti olives. The pancetta slices were another standout addition.

Spaghetti Carbonara was fantastic, bitey and good value at £7.50 – I’ll always allow a deviation from the Northern Italian blurb for this Roman classic. Made with rich yolk, plenty of pecorino, plenty more pancetta and not a drop of cream in sight, it was perfect.

Beetroot, walnut, pear and Gorgonzola salad (£7.50) was a light, fresh dish, perhaps made that little bit lighter with scant Gorgonzola.

Hand-chopped veal (£9.95) was a brave choice by The Piglet – this was obviously top quality meat and was excellently seasoned. Even though he thought he was eating Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"After them Shredder!"

On to the mains, a clean summery plate of grilled plaice and cannellini beans was simple and top notch (£17).

The rabbit (£17) wasn’t a whole bony carcass as it can be, but several meaty leg and thigh pieces in a tomato jus, replete with olives, pine nuts, tomato, carrots and other pseudo-peasant food accompaniments. Very nicely cooked indeed. I’m still rather shocked I managed to move past a Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

Lamb neck risotto was well put together but could have done with more meat!

We had some lovely digestivi and gelati – Campari and Blood Orange flavour being one highlight, and an exquisite pistachio being another.

Service was bubbly and helpful – our wine could have been topped up a little more but nothing major. More importantly, no glaring food errors which can be harder to iron out. I hope the menu is seasonal if not daily as per the masters of the genre in W6, and that the pastas change accordingly to keep it all fresh. Some slightly inconsistent pricing; some great value to be found but a few stings in there too.

I liked this place but it needs a little time to mature I think. It’s not Zucca – primarily as it’s in the basement rather than boasting floor to ceiling windows - but it's spacious in a way that Soho can’t often provide. Once word spreads, I think this will become a great place just to come for a drink and some snacks too.

At street level, cabinets of beautiful hand-blown glass apples and pears could be an exhibit at the V&A. You wouldn't risk it on Tottenham High Road though.

Although it's far less fusty than the V&A, with the promise of great food and drinks down the old "mele e pere"… *

* early reviewer’s rights to make rubbish obvious gags is reserved

Food – 8/10

Drink – 9/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 9/10 (iced carafe and glasses brought immediately with no prompting)

Staff Hotness – 9/10

West End Coffee Round Up

2012-02-03T15:43:00.011Z

Brief one really, but I thought I'd highlight some of the new cafés and coffee joints which have been springing up recently - three of which are in W1. Curiously recession-defying, especially with West End rents, the London coffee movement does seem to be defiantly marching on against the ubiquity of the chains.

Parisian goodies at Cafe Gourmand

Two of the three are actually second ventures by established coffee heavies, but with different names, vibes and directions. This isn't empire building - Nude, Foxcroft, Tapped & Packed - much as I love you all, take heed.

Sensory Lab is a new place on Wigmore Street by the St Ali team. It's not a huge, brooding undertaking such as theirs resplendent with vertical garden and roastery, but more of a clean, fresh, small outlet with similar coffee provenance. Think Tapped & Packed, but a little smaller. It's at the bottom of Marylebone High St, which actually doesn't have any great coffee beyond Providores, so could clean up.

Speakeasy is sneakily located on one of the alleyways between Carnaby and Newburgh Streets, but the discreet location is belied by what at first appears quite a clinical set up - tall counters, a lot of concrete and white, with very bright lighting. The staff are however extremely sociable and fun, which makes it a more relaxing place. Great food selection as well.

This is from Leather Lane's Department of Coffee and Social Affairs but is a wholly different concept. The basement is a little cosier, but this is more of a take away venue than a wi-fi doss-house.

Café Gourmand is a rather grand looking place - also new and contemporary, but with a classical approach to cakes and fantastic vintage signage, it looks as if it could have been there for years. They specialise in teas also, and this is definitely more of a place to lounge than the other two. It has more of a continental feel to it, with quirky touches inside.

So three new venues all in the same postcode. Tapped & Packed's newish second place up near Warren Street makes four. Big postcode mind.

London's coffee offerings are going from strength to strength, and it's great that people are confident enough to expand and establish new venues - that the desire for meaningful, informed or just plain stylish coffee places has not yet been saturated. The scene is now long past aping and imitating a few Antipodean venues as imports, and only attracting said Antipodeans as customers, and is now proliferating into a London-wide discernment for better.

The girls in my office clutching their Square Mile flat whites have probably never been close to Melbourne or a food blog, and are not what one might call hipsters, but regular people who recognise that the 'coffee-flavoured milk drinks' from the high street are just not cutting it anymore.

Long White Cloud

2012-01-30T09:56:00.001Z

Long White Cloud is quite an innocuous little place in amongst the inner city mix of charm and squalor that Hackney Road juggles so well. Squalor often wins out, so it’s nice to see little patches of ‘loveliness’ emanating out from Columbia Road and Shoreditch High Street.

As the name describes, it’s a Kiwi joint doing coffee and breakfast. It’s not a fancy one by any means and isn’t particularly stylised or slick. The space is long, narrow and cluttered, but with enough varied seating to relax. There were a few people just chilling out on the wi-fi, which you could never do at Lantana for example.

Breakfast offerings are pretty simple. The French Toast with bacon and banana was a fulfilling dish. I’m always torn between fruit compote/blueberries and bacon with my pancakes or French toast. How refreshing to be offered both.

This very attractive plate of food also contained some spinach leaves with a drizzle of oil, adding colour and freshness (and a little healthy virtuousness) to well grilled bacon, generous banana and filling french toast – all made at the grilling station behind the till – American deli style. At £6.50 it comes in at half the price of Bill Granger’s with double the amount of bacon (must get over that) and is definitely more satisfying.

My friend had the muesli which was good quality and piled high with shredded green apple and natural yoghurt. Again, well-priced at £3.50.

Coffee is Monmouth and strong. The wall is lined with local artists’ works, and the back has a few shelves of Antipodean chocolates and other bits for homesick Kiwis.

Another solid breakfast and coffee option for an area with more and more choice. This joins Allpress, Story, Nude and Leila’s, among many others…

Food – 7/10

Drink – 7/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 9/10

Tap water tales – 7/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Iberica

2012-01-25T12:46:00.001Z

I’d wanted to visit Iberica ever since Marina O’Loughlin of Metro fame gave it such a glowing review. I’m a massive tapas fan, as anybody going through this blog’s keywords would quickly realise. The appeal for me is the relaxed buzz and that it takes me back to warm nights in Spain, knocking back cañas and cava, and wolfing all manner of meats and cheeses.

Of course, not all tapas is traditional and safe. El Pirata de Tapas in W2 and Barrafina are both more adventurous and urban, and the recent opening Copita offers another fresh take on it. Iberica is similarly slick with some creative use of ingredients and presentation.

The location is a little staid, being at the very top of Great Portland Street by the eponymous tube station. Its neighbours are the Portland Hospital and not too much in the way of foodie or coffee stuff (save Villandry) so it’s quite alone here.

The space is cavernous. A little disconcertingly so, especially with the lack of music and the bright lights. It does feel a little like it could be in a mall or an airport. Featureless high ceilings and mezzanine levels can do that.

Food itself was good though, a little punchy on the prices but excellent quality. Patatas bravas (£5.65 – eek) came with two options: the more paprika aioli sauce (Catalan?) or the more spicy tomato sauce. I liked this as it’s can be a bit Russian Roulette which one you get sometimes.

Fresh bread was warm and came with a very fruity oil.

Chorizo lollipops with pear aioli were delicious, inventive and fun (£5.60), and the padron peppers were perfect: hot and salty with a little zing. They were very pricey though at £6.90 - I'm used to them being among the cheapest staples on a tapas menu.

Asparagus tosta (bruschetta effectively) with truffle oil was fine and not overpowered. I’m not sure where it came from in December but it certainly wasn’t this hemisphere.

Jamon de teruel (£9.70) was silky and rich. They do many more high-end Jamon Iberico types – as can be witnessed at their deli counter.

The mixed cheese and meats platter (£12.30) gave a little more variety of the usual lomos, chorizos and manchegos – worthy of note was the Spanish blue (first piece alrerady eaten in the pic) which I’d not had before and was excellent.

Croquetas didn’t compare to José, but is there ever such a thing as a bad one? Sprinklings of paprika was a nice touch.

The apricot sorbet, chocolate, olive oil and strawberries was amazing. As was all the booze.

Overall, I liked Iberica but I didn’t love it. The food was thoughtful and well executed, and very carefully presented. The service was a little bit patchy considering the amount of staff on – I’ve been in tapas joints in Spain where one person has run the place with ease. Even though it was fairly busy, it felt quiet and a touch sterile. Lower lighting and decent music would help to bring some much-needed intimacy to the space.

One final event but probably the most memorable, and dare I say authentically Spanish: a couple of old gypsies came in begging at the tables! This goes on in Spain with a blind eye turned, and certainly when sitting outside, but I’d have expected a quicker reaction in London. The staff saw them enter and didn’t rush to evict them or appear very surprised – to the extent of “Oh, them again…”

Maybe the Spanish are a little more tolerant, but the diners were pretty astonished and I can’t imagine many them would return. No matter what kind of person or cuisine it is, you don’t expect beggars in a London restaurant.

Food – 8/10

Drink – 9/10

Service - 6/10

Value – 6/10

Tap water tales – 8/10

Staff Hotness – 8/10

Back to Bill’s

2012-01-18T09:19:00.001Z

Just a brief recap of my second and final trip to Granger & Co. After my previous review I had said that I’d return for the brunch, which is certainly what I’ve been fondest of in my trips to his Sydney eateries. The hotcakes specifically.

I was even asked to come back and try it again by a PR after some teething problems, so I did. Of course, anonymously and self-financed. I don’t need a theatrical performance of redemption and obsequiousness.

It’s still very busy and popular. That isn’t their fault. What is, is a complete lack of any control over their crowd. People were spilling across the entrance, a woman’s handbag was bashing a diner, people were hovering over tables gawping at food. It was appalling. BAA have done better in a snowstorm.

They should make more than about 4-6 people wait outside.

So we waited for ages, but eventually got our table. Ricotta hotcakes (£10.50) were good, silky and rich. The dish became a little repetitive even though the portion wasn’t huge, and they sit quite heavily. But they were good, I can’t deny that.

Like my man Mr. Noodles said, the sweetcorn fritters (£11.90) were decent but a tiny portion. You really have to make that one rasher of bacon sing, a bit like WW2 rations. Although Mr. Granger, we will not meet again...

The Piglet wanted an egg on the side – “Sorry we don’t poach eggs” proclaims the waiter at London’s hottest brunch place. Erm, ok. You must have some mad kitchen skills back there.

Very Fordist I must say – even Burger King lets you have it your way. A consolatory side of scrambled eggs had not seen an iota of seasoning. Bland, like the experience.

tragic

So thanks Bill but no thanks.

I think I’ll keep you as my taste of Sydney – the frenetic profiteering operation in London I can do without. Back to The Providores everyone!

Pitt Cue Co.

2012-01-17T09:38:00.002Z

Pitt Cue is finally here.

I could ramble on about it being the year of the night market/food truck, or indeed the continuation of no reservations – although at about 30 covers when they get their stools, not unreasonable here.

I could mention the “new Meat Liquor”, “queuing at The Cue” or theories about the NY-ification of London’s food scene, and a million other foodie clichés also too.

Many are true, but more are irrelevant. As frankly, Pitt Cue is just damn good.

bourbon with your red wine, sir?

Sometimes I have a flash of clarity and remember that this food blogging game isn’t about science, history or deep social commentary, but the fundamentals of great food and a good time. Copious booze usually supports this too. And Pitt Cue certainly delivers.

Bit of a wait upstairs but nothing major. New York Sour (£6) to get me in the mood - bit heavy on the wine though! The other one wasn't drinking.

Pork scratchings were as they should be; crunchy, fresh and fatty. Although these were a touch cold and I think at least room temperature could be better. We didn't really have time to care though as the big boys arrived pretty much straight afterwards.

brisket and friends

Beef brisket (£9.50 including a side) was nicely cooked; the plentiful strips had a slow cooked taste but a shade of pinkness too. You can really taste the smoke, as the BBQ sauce is generally served on the side.

St Louis Ribs (also £9.50 with side) are pork ribs but big ones, not baby back. Again, the taste is in the meat and the smokey charring. They have a bit of bite too - you have to work for them. For those who prefer them sliding off, drowning in BBQ sauce, Bodean's isn't a long walk! Or you can add your own.

St. Louis ribs

Sides here are also set to be legendary, and really what help set it apart from The Other Place. These are no chips or onion rings, it's all proper down home stuff. Not that it's boring - the amazing mash comes with a lovely topping of burnt ends, and the baked beans are home made, in a rich sauce with proper turtle beans. You also get a hunk of grilled bread, incredible pickles and slaw in your Labour & Wait retro-style tin. It's like a Dirty South bento box.

A side of chicken wings (£4) was a deceptively generous portion of wing nestled in a moderate hot sauce. Very nice, moreish, gloopy and everything they should be. A more Confederate type of wing to the Yankee buffalo with blue cheese dip, but no worse for it.

Desserts are good. Service is friendly, although it'd be hard not to get attention in this tiny space. I guarantee it'll be packed solid for month and months. On being the new Meat Liquor, I think it'll be hugely popular but I don't think it has that rock 'n roll, hedonistic objective to it. It's not a club, and with no NFL in sight either, it's just a great place to grab some ribs and a proper drink.

Like the late great Pat Butcher, they're all about the smoking and the drinking here. Doris and Ethel, the named smokers in the kitchen, have done an excellent job. You can follow them on Twitter.

So once again, another great addition to an area already overrun with options in every price range and cuisine imaginable.

Food – 9/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 9/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 5/10 (not offered, not requested)

Staff Hotness – 8/10

The Lucky Pig

2012-01-13T19:21:00.002Z

No pics and no food.

Not much to go on then, for a review. But I thought I should say a few words about The Lucky Pig, a new cocktail joint in deepest Fitzrovia.

It's ok. Instant reminder of The Worship Street Whistling Shop, but less designed. And it's not trying the whole prohibition thing, but it's not quite clear exactly what they're going for. It's still something of an underground speakeasy. I've since read it might be something New Orleans focused, which I didn't get at all.

Table service was attentive and the staff were generally very affable. The cocktails themselves were quite a compendious lot. These newfangled places usually only have about four on the list, made with weird bitters, tinctures, syrups and tonics you're never heard of. Often medicinal and minging too.

But The Lucky Pig has a solid list of modern classics (not a Woo Woo in sight) as well as some more inventive numbers. I had about five or six, and can't quite remember each one. My favourite, the New York Sour was made correctly, but was a little bit weak. In New York, you'd get some grief for that.

My friends' cocktails also tasted like they'd been assiduously measured to 50ml rather than free-poured. At £10 and up and with 12.5% on top, it's not really in the, er, spirit of things.

The crowd was a W1 fun lot, party people who couldn't be arsed to head to Dalston so early. Special mention to the 80s pop soundtrack which was excellent.

It's a good effort, but I'm still not quite sure about The Lucky Pig. And I don't think it can get away from feeling like a damp basement, rather than the underground den of hedonism. Indeed, their New Year's Eve party was closed by flooding.

And finally, for a bar aspiring to The Lucky Pig's calibre, the £1 charge for coats at about 6:30pm is tacky and rapacious. I could happily have spun around and gone to Riding House. Given that is many people's first impression, it's pretty myopic and frankly dumb. Surely the aim is to be an alternative to the shit West End clubs?

Bleeding Heart Tavern

2012-01-12T14:58:00.000Z

I had a lovely lunch at The Bleeding Heart Tavern just before Christmas, which was a new place for me. I’ve not been to the more formal restaurant either, so I was keen to dip a toe in here. For some reason I was expecting something like The London Dungeon, all blood, guts and pigs' heads everywhere. I was only marginally disappointed, because what I got was a pub cum bistro with great staff and good grub.

It’s an old pub near Hatton Garden, and seems to balance the pub/restaurant dynamic with ease. The vibe is more Edwardian Dining Room of Gluttony than generic gastropub and it has 'great period features' as Foxtons' filth might say.

They own their own vineyard in New Zealand called Trinity Hill which pushes out the house wines; we tried a pinot noir and a shiraz and both were excellent, especially for the price (£4ish). Didn’t ask about the wine miles!

To eat, the bloggers’ nightmare: two people, stubbornly on the same main. It was the bavette steak, well-cooked with excellent chips. Pet peeve (at the risk of repeating myself as it was the same at LesDeux Salons) but the bavette wasn’t sliced to serve. Which I think makes it a bit of a faff as it’s not the easiest cut to slice correctly.

It was in a rich red wine jus, and good value at £12.95. Had some roasted parsnips on the side too, feeling all festive. They were sweet and with those burnt ends I love (£2.95).

Service was attentive and very friendly. The manager was great and topped up our wine – higher than the paid-for level! Of course we left buzzing and raving about the place, cheap dates that we are. Very shrewd!

The menu was extremely varied and there were numerous things I could have ordered – and will definitely go back for, like the rotisserie menu. It’s not as carnivorous as the name and reputation might imply either, and has a decent mix of people and buzz too.

I wouldn’t say it’s a destination place but it’s very solid if you’re in the area. And especially if you fancy a cheap NZ winery tour!

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 9/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 2/10 (not offered and then forgotten on request)

Staff Hotness – 8/10 (couple of French hotties)

Les Deux Salons

2012-01-11T09:20:00.001Z

carrot with your bavette, monsieur?

A quick one on a recent trip to Les Deux Salons, the French bistro which will be known by many as the old Pitcher & Piano by Trafalgar Square. And what a transformation.

The dining room is bold, mature and quite authentically Parisian in style. Or possibly Lyonnais too, I do keep seeing things about Lyon’s culinary scene. Anyway, it’s more simple and less over-stylised like a Café Rouge.

It’s a grand place, with a strong sense of occasion to it. Our meal wasn’t a long one – mains and dessert. And champers, and wine. Fantastic wine list, and I’ll be damned if I can remember what we had but it was certainly good value. Hic!

The rib of beef for two (£22.50) was fantastic. And great value. A generous portion, perfectly charred and even more perfectly pink, and nicely salted. Having had a few lacklustre chateaubriands and sharing steaks in my time, I wasn’t expecting great things, but it was delicious.

Another in our party had the bavette which at £15.50 is approaching the realms of pricier cuts. It inexplicably had a whole, massive carrot which was frankly bonkers.

It was served in a pan with juices aplenty, a thoughtful touch for a cut which usually needs some moisture. Not pre-sliced though, and unless one is a butcher experienced at ‘the grain’, I’ve found bavettes can be less satisfying when you end up mutilating them.

The macaroni with butternut squash and wild mushrooms was creamy, cheesy, rich and indulgent. Veggie tick! And again served in the pan, although punchy at £15.95.

Fries were solid; gratin dauphinois was better (both £3.75). And a luxurious accompaniment to the steak.

At dessert, we had more booze and the cheeseboard. Oh, and the apple tart which was excellent. Nice caramelised apples with some bite left (I hate it too soggy I’m afraid so prefer this style to tarte tatin) and the obligatory scoop of vanilla which cannot fail to enhance a dessert. Much like bacon with a main course.

But this vanilla was a slice and reminded me of that weird astronaut ice cream.

In terms of clientele, it is a fairly mature place and given the location, there are lots of theatre goers, people taking their London-visiting parents, dates, Euros, work dinners….it’s not Duck Soup or Polpo, but not everywhere has to be so sceney. It’s characterful and quite regal considering what it was. Must be one of the best renovations I’ve ever witnessed. It could have been here for years, if the mirrors were a tad smokier!

The bar possibly isn’t being utilised as well as it could be, or maybe it was just a bit quieter when we were in. Walk-ins and theatre dining are encouraged, but more of a cocktail scene would give this place the edge. It’ll certainly be in for a fight in terms of profile when Balthazar lands on these shores, but the excellent food and service should see it do absolutely fine in the longer term.

Food – 8/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 9/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 8/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Copita

2011-12-30T10:03:00.000Z

Let me start by admitting that my pictures of Copita are terrible. So awful that I’m pretty embarrassed to post them up. The food was also largely mauled before I got my chance.

Copita is a tapas bar on D’Arblay Street, right by the corner of Bodeans on Poland Street. It used to be a crap bar, and the makeover is incredible. It looks and feels like an authentic yet modern Iberian drinking den. It’s yellow and sultry, with great tiles and moody low lighting. Hence my rubbish pictures.

a touch of almodovar?

It’s more bar than restaurant, and the stools don’t really encourage lingering mainly due to a lack of back support. Sounds old fogeyish perhaps, but once one person in our group proclaimed their gyp, the rest concurred.

Come here for the drinking. There’s a long list of interesting Spanish wines and plenty of sherries also.

The food is still very good though. As well as great bread & oil, and massive olives like inflated manzanillas, we had grilled iberico pork, served medium rare which was delicious. That seems to be a hugely popular dish for London in 2011 and it’s done well here.

We also had venison which was possibly even tastier. Portions of both of the meat dishes were a little small for the price, especially the venison. Some scallops and a mixed cured meats and cheese platter were also solid. Special mention to the Spanish blue cheese as well as the generous chunks of manchego.

iberico presa

I’m a fan of Barrica, Copita’s elder sibling in Goodge St, but that is better equipped as a restaurant for people to seriously dine in. Copita is different, but it’s in a different area too which it should take advantage of. Service was friendly and Spanish; you really could have been in a bar in Madrid. And I think that is where Copita is best placed in the market.

I don’t think I’d plan to have a big, long dinner here because it’s not overly comfortable but it’s a brilliant atmospheric place for a glass of wine or two and some authentic tapas. Especially with some attention to the music and the bloody furniture (supported barstools?), and if it had Madrid opening hours...

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 8/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Come Dine With Me - Christmas Special

2011-12-29T15:59:00.001Z

What an honour it was to to be invited to join the Come Dine With Me Christmas Special. In a real grown-ups' house in Holland Park! And in such illustrious, erudite company too.

On the menu was trout with a small soup and cornichons and stuff-I-can't-remember salad.
Followed by a massive goose, with all the trimmings.
And finally, a ridiculously rich Yule log.

All washed down with lashings of ging....er, prosecco and red wine. Grammy Awards were held, politics was argued, George Michael managed to pop by, and our resident expert on the Twittersphere and all things celeb educated us about Scousers' jaunts in curlers (recently proven) and rubbing shoulders with Makosi.

Top stuff - I'm ineligible for voting of course, but it was a definite 10. So in the spirit of scoring here at TPT Towers:

Food – 9/10 (bit fishy for this fussy pig)

Drink – 9/10

Service - 10/10

Value – 10/10

Tap water tales – 2/10 (positively Saharan I recall)

Staff Hotness – 11/10 (bonus point for the radiators)

God Jul!

2011-12-29T15:34:00.001Z

Christmas Eve Norwegian Style including pinnekjøtt.
Christmas Day Traditional British.
Boxing Day Hunt-themed Game Spread.

24th:

Special guest: Mr Darcy!

25th:

26th

homemade game terrine on the left


haunch of venison

Le Relais de Venise / L'Entrecote

2011-12-29T10:40:00.000Z

Simple. Brilliant. Lazy. Rude. Boring. Tacky. Naff. Genius.

If I were a Zagat guide, cobbled together with snappy one-liners from ~~sub-editors~~ diners, I might use some of these to describe ‘Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote’, or The Entrecote as I’ve always called it. This is that place where the only meal is a Parisian walnut and mixed leaf salad, drowned in mustard gloop, and then steak and chips. And the gimmick is that; there’s no menu and you’re only asked how you like your steak. Then of course, there’s the irony of a compendious dessert offering. And it seems to be a love-hate place.

So, to declare early, I’m in the ‘love’ camp. The salad I’m not bothered about, but I think the steak frites are great. Nice rare slices of bavette/onglet, drenched in a mystery sauce which is more like chip shop/Chinese curry sauce than anything French I can discern. And completely inundated with hot, crunchy fries, some of the best around. If you like chips, this is the place for you.

Especially if you’re a vegetarian, where the menu on offer is the same, but with extra chips and no steak, and dessert thrown in. The sadist in me loves the lack of concession there.

The venue itself is a pastiche of a Parisian bistro - even though it started in Paris, it’s still a cliché. I’m not sure about the ‘Venise’ element except for the rather horrendously ugly artwork of Venetian scenes which pollutes the walls like 360 degree projectile vomit. I think smoky mirrors and old French adverts might have been a bit better.

boke!

Service is efficient verging on strict, but you get what you need and the whole process is expertly juggled. The maid-uniformed waitresses are experts at serving up the two servings of steak, frites and sauce with their masterful spoon/fork tonging, and are coquettish enough to exonerate a touch of attitude.

Desserts are fine, probably pre-made and frozen but nobody cares. The house wine is drinkable and the atmosphere is quite upbeat. There are hordes of tourists, rich ex-pats with spoilt children and all sorts of other people you might only mix with in airports, but it’s all pretty harmonious. And it never fails to deliver, as the frequent queues attest.


happy face

Food – 8/10

Drink – 7/10

Service - 6/10

Value – 7/10 (salad & steak is £21 but the bill can creep up with booze)

Tap water tales – 6/10

Staff Hotness – 8/10

Cay Tre

2011-12-28T11:34:00.000Z

I must hold my hands up and admit that I’m no expert on Vietnamese food. I’ve always found it palatable, but never as exciting as Thai for example.It’s greener, fresher and more healthy tasting than Thai or Chinese, but doesn’t give me the same exotic frisson at all.

I’ve not been to Vietnam, one obvious explanation I’m sure, and I’ve never been a huge frequenter of the hipster BYO joints on Kingsland Road either. But I have been to Pho a few times, and a couple of places on Melbourne's Victoria Street too and it's never rocked my world. Vietnamese food’s surge in trendiness, mapped with London’s most hipster, faddy area is no coincidence.

But I'm an open-minded pig and having read some good excited comments about Cay Tre on Dean Street, I was keen to give it a go. Service and welcome were friendly, although it was so busy the bar area felt more like a crowded bus shelter at times, especially with everyone’s big coats, scarves and shopping bags.

We started with some various spring rolls and the table-griddled beef: quite a deal at £7 per person for the ceremony of it all. It’s basically making up your own summer rolls, with some slices of beef to grill on a hot plate and the usual accompaniments such as coriander, chilli, lime, onions and some salad. And rice paper to roll it all up into. It’s fun but as the beef isn’t marinated or anything, it needs severe seasoning or some sort of dipping sauce. Quite anticlimactic upon eating.

The Tiu Bowl (£9) was a reasonable dish. Pho noodles and a veritable meat feast (chicken, beef strips and bbq pork) in a stock base, but not enough to be a soup. The amount of meat was generous, but the stock tasted of nothing and lacked the ‘tangy sourness’ described.

Pork loin with vermicelli (£9) was also quite meaty. Small bites of crab and pork spring rolls were a little bonus. The pork loin was subtly but well flavoured. Again, well executed and cooked, but no element of thrill at all.

The staff were effective when it came to a nut allergy thing with a friend. The restaurant itself was like a furnace and so quite uncomfortable. And I found it quite pricey compared to my perceptions. I know it’s a little patronising and unrealistic to expect all Asian food to be good value, but I can’t help it sometimes especially with the precedent of Vietnamese joints in London. This wasn’t exceptional cooking and so the bill didn’t sit quite right. The bottle of prosecco was about £36!

I’m no doubt green and ordered the wrong things, and I happily admit to liking Pho's spicy red soups, but this just did nothing for me. The food was frankly very plain. I know it’s subjective and based on expectations, but one man’s delicate is another man’s bland.

Food – 5/10

Drink – 6/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 3/10

Tap water tales – 7/10

Staff Hotness – 5/10

Zucca

2011-12-13T13:01:00.002Z

What can I really add that hasn’t already been said about Zucca? In a few short years, this modern, neighbourhood Italian has elevated itself to cult status. And not just within the foodie world, but with the wider public too. A weekend evening table here can be as hard to get as at The Ivy, and the food’s better too. The huge windows convey a continuing parade of taxis, with diners piling out, some quizzically wondering where the hell they are.

Anchoring the southern end of Bermondsey Street, Zucca has played no small part in the ascendancy of the area. Even this former dodgy end of the street now has an art-house cinema, great bookshop and farmers’ market, and this is before even touching on Maltby Street. It really is an exciting place to be, but Zucca hasn’t strayed from its earnest, unchanging proposition of quality ingredients, zen-like simplicity, fantastic value and a fresh, clean feel.

To start, some antipasti dishes (all a steal at £3-5) including the legendary ‘Zucca fritti’ Which is exactly what is says; fried pumpkin, and it is absolutely delicious. An underdog contender for Zucca’s most cultish dish, the tempura pumpkin is bountiful, hot, crispy, salty, completely without grease and just an excellent snack.

A plate of San Daniele ham and Milano and ventricina salamis is great value too, and the silky San Daniele sits perfectly alongside the spicy, almost chorizo-like ventricina. Breads are baked in-house and served warm. The olive oil is so richly flavoured, it’s almost enough for a whole meal. They have even rebranded it from Planeta to Zucca’s own brand, so great has the demand been for it. It’s a golden yellow but tastes of a greener unfiltered oil.

My friend goes for the casarecci with pork & fennel ragu, parmesan (£8 or 10, astutely generous differential) which is al dente, meaty, with the fennel so bold that you might think there was a shot of absinthe on the table, and piles of pre-added, quality parmesan and black pepper on top. A great plate of comfort food. It’s just as well Zucca only regularly offer 2-3 pastas, as they’re so irresistible that they can pull a diner away from their secondi. But not quite…

Zucca’s veal chop is about £16 and truly something to behold. A perfectly grilled chop, with charring and nicely pink, is served on a bed of spinach and drizzled with lemon juice. In a West End restaurant, you’d end up blowing another twenty quid on sides, but this doesn’t need anything. It’s massive, juicy and full of flavour. And now one of London’s legendary dishes.

A quick affogato for dessert at Zucca means two massive scoops of creamy, malt vanilla floating in a smooth espresso. Among the best I’ve had.

This is the new London school of Italian, definitely taking more inspiration from The River Café than the red sauce ‘pizza-pasta-rias’ of old. And with others like Trullo, Tinello, Bocca di Lupo and of course Russell Norman’s Polpo dens, we’re really starting to be spoiled.

Service is solid – efficient and informed, young yet passionate, without any Dolmio nonsense. Well, a tiny bit. Just enough. And no service charge is added, which is a rarity these days.

So if you want The River Café gastronomic salivations but without the financial palpitations, get yourself down Bermondsey Street, far cooler - and more central - than the arse end of Hammersmith will ever be.

Food – 9/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 9/10

Tap water tales – 7/10

Staff Hotness – 7/10 (young, engaged Italians)

Dean Street Townhouse

2011-12-07T10:17:00.001Z

Bar snacks are important. And I’m not sure why they aren’t generally better, especially in more classic cocktail and hotel type bars. Southern European places generally have plates of meats, cheeses and picky bits, but cocktail bars don’t usually offer much more sustenance than nuts or olives.

Serious grub, such as this absolutely delicious sausage roll, or the tangy Welsh rarebit below (both £6), will keep a drinker drinking when his appetite kicks in and his potential bar spend is on the wane (cynical much?)

At Dean Street Townhouse, I love sitting at the bar and taking in the Soho buzz. They have a great range of drinks and the service is top notch. I’ve eaten fully here a few times, and sadly have found the menu a little spiritless. I completely appreciate the intention, but there is no flourish, colour or joy with much of it. Cross the road to Bistro du Vin for a more passionate kitchen, but linger here for the booze and the bar accompaniments to soak it up.

Pizarro

2011-12-02T15:13:00.003Z

Sauntered down Bermondsey Street to get stuck in to the soft launch of José Pizarro’s new restaurant – Pizarro. José is the chef who set up José (see a theme here?) on the same street, but was also involved in setting up the Brindisa tapas places. In short, we owe him a lot.

He’s extremely passionate about Spanish food, and this was ever true when I visited, as he was in the open kitchen cheffing away, but also taking time out to meet and greet people. Encouraging to see such a work ethic, as I believe these things are contagious and cascade down.

It’s a full service restaurant, serving classic and modern Spanish dishes rather than tapas, which I think is relatively rare in London. Spanish food is usually synonymous with tapas, so it’s great to see perceptions being changed and something a little different on offer.

Of course the Spanish are great carnivores and know how to cook meat exquisitely, and rumours on Twitter abound of José’s pig cheeks braised in cava, so I was salivating on the walk down. And did I mention this is London’s first cava bar? ¡Me gusta!

It was hugely busy, and after a wait (no reservations of course, it’s 2011!) we had a seat at the bar and a flute of cava. The front of house staff were fantastic; very well organised, friendly (and attractive), managing the crowd of hopeful arrivals with ease. Bill Granger could do worse than talk to José about his hiring policy.

My one concession to tapas was a portion of José’s famous ham croquettes, but they’d run out! I guess they’re pre-made in the afternoon or something. One glitch to watch out for, as they’ll be hugely popular. Also my pig cheeks in cava were missing from the menu.

I heard they’ll be doing charcuterie which is a good idea especially if one is waiting at the bar (maximise revenue from the queue!) but hopefully won't cannibalise José or distract from the goal of taking Spanish food beyond platters of ham and cheese.

Smoked salmon with beetroot salad and egg yolk was an interesting dish. Very fresh tasting and the yolk provided a luxurious richness to the salmon.

The butternut squash was stuffed with blue cheese and pomegranate seeds. Good dish, but the accompaniments provided more of the flavour than the squash itself. Once they ran out, it was a little hard going and dense. So this squash could do with some more friends.

pic doesn't do it justice but the squash was a big boy...

The quail with romesco sauce was fiddly, but extremely tasty. The quail was well cooked, and the romesco was nutty and crunchy (not smooth) with hints of garlic not overpowering the pine nuts. A bowl of that sauce and a loaf of bread would make me a happy man. Delicious.

Lamb with lentils was an ambiguous description of the first main. But we needn’t have worried about a solitary, starved lollipop: the dish was plentiful slices of tender, rare lamb, charred very nicely indeed. The lentils? Barely noticed them I'm afraid as the lamb was so damn good.

The pork (iberica speciale?) with olive oil mash and piquillo peppers was another strong dish. The pork was cooked medium rare (so London 2011) but in small strips so it wouldn’t be a problem for anyone of a nervous disposition, and tasted great. It reminded me of a more grown up, gastronomic version of my beloved pork escalope dish from holidays in Spain – usually with peppercorn sauce and chips!

The peppers were amazing, full of bold Spanish flavour. The mash and the pork itself were a tiny bit too oily however.

Desserts were a rice pudding with some sort of stewed fruits (rich but very good) and two scoops of the freshest, sweetest pear sorbet, swimming in a tumbler of cava. Amazing.

not for sharing!

I had a great time at Pizarro and I’m sure it’ll be hugely popular. Décor is modern, with a cool wooden ceiling, discreetly Iberian tiling and simple, modernist furniture. Toilets have Aesop products.Wine list is good but punchy (scant under £20), with plenty of carafes available. The crowd will no doubt be the usual luvvies and hipsters of Bermondsey Street.

With Zucca next door, it is in very esteemed company but will have no problems holding its own. The simplicity, value and freshness make it like a Spanish equivalent of Zucca, almost.

As with José up the street, Pizarro will no doubt be a great addition to what is already one of London’s most dynamic urban villages.

Food – 8/10 (weighty yet simple - could do with some salads or sides though)

Drink – 8/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 8/10 (ignoring the great 50% soft launch, starters are £6-8 and mains £13-16)

Tap water tales – 10/10 (filtered still and sparkling carafes brought for free!)

Staff Hotness - 9/10

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-01T17:55:00.000Z

Some pics from a recent Thanksgiving banquet I had the privilege of attending:

Food - 8/10
Drink - 7/10
Service - 10/10 (my Mum!)
Value - 10/10 (see above)
Staff hotness and tap water tales - I'll skip...

Flat White

2011-11-30T11:26:00.000Z

Walking down Berwick Street the other day, I peered into Flat White and thought I’d give it a go for a coffee, rather than my usual Foxcroft & Ginger. I’ve always thought that great coffee aside, it was just a little too sceney and judgemental, and preferred the more relaxed space down at F&G.

London’s come a long way when you can even have a conversation about two top quality coffee outlets thrashing it out on the one street. With Milk Bar, Fernandez &Wells (x3), Sacred and several others in the vicinity, we really don’t have to look so far to get a good coffee these days. Where I work in EC1, we’re equally blessed (Dose, St Ali, Caravan, Farm), but most areas are still lacking.

The coffee here is Square Mile (to Foxcroft’s Monmouth) and expertly made and presented. The food on offer is more extensive but less gourmet. They offer the simple staples of an Antipodean brunch, so eggs benedict, Greek yoghurt, tomato on toast etc… rather than fancy sandwiches and cakes. It lacks the aesthetic 'counter of temptation' they have at Foxcroft, but seems to have more of a full service kitchen. I only had a whit-choc and raspberry muffin which was fine, so yeah. Not much to say on that!

I liked Flat White more than I thought. For some reason I’ve always assumed you go to one or the other, and I felt disloyal popping in. But perhaps you can café hop in the same way frequenting different pubs doesn’t bring the guilt. Staff weren't the coffee-snob monsters I'd read about either, both were very sweet.

The more establishments selling decent coffee, the less Starbucks and Costas we’ll see everywhere. Surely that's worth a bit of brotherhood. They’re probably friends anyway, I can picture them now all: “Can I borrow an avo, bro!” - "Yeah sweet as mate, too easy" and so on.

Still posery as hell and feels like a backpackers’s canteen (with iPads), but I’m thankful for it nonetheless.

Kua 'Aina

2011-11-25T13:17:00.001Z

I’ve walked past Kua ‘Aina several times and always thought it looked a bit naff. Not to mention lurid. And what do tiki culture and burgers have in common anyway?

like the real thing...

But one day I had an absolute craving for a burger in the Carnaby area, and it popped into my head - not being a fan of The Diner or Carnaby Burger Co. And so once that was settled, I began to obsess over pineapple burgers.

Of course, it’s not strictly tiki, more classic 60s North Shore Americana. And so the burger connection starts to make more sense. It’s a small place, styled like a surfy beachshack with a very American grill station and no table service. It’s no-nonsense burgers in diner baskets, but they also do loads of great looking sandwiches – teriyaki chicken, clubs and so forth.

I had the pineapple burger with extra cheese (£8) – a 1/3 pound patty cooked medium-rare (I requested this, but they were very pleased to oblige). The meat is from Devon via Smithfield Market, and the same supplier does for John Torode also. It’s good stuff.

I was glad of the paper in the basket, because this baby was juicy. Probably because it was nice and pink. But it could have had a little more charring.

Cheese was American and the pineapple (two rings) was nicely grilled, giving off its own sweet juices into the mix. Bun was a mix of sesame and poppy seeds, which was unusual but worked very well. I love poppy seeds and I devoured the whole lot in about two minutes.

gherkin not included

When I visited, the fryer was off so no fries sadly. They offer sweet potato fries too. I ordered a gherkin which was extra (99p) – perfectly crunchy, tangy and delicious but surely integral to the American burger experience? Just as surprising was the massive carrot piece served with the burger. I ate it of course, but quite random all the same. Music wasn't Beach Boys or surf rock, but curiously The Lion King.

Not much else to say really – a honest, un-gourmet American burger and best within a fairly small Carnaby radius. With added Point Break interior. Mahalo.

pineapple godliness

Food – 8/10

Drink – 7/10 (some wine and Asahi on draft)

Service - 8/10 - food brought to table quickly, no frills and happily so.

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 0/10 (didn't ask, didn't see, didn't get)

Staff Hotness – 3/10 (more Eastenders than Blue Crush...)

Granger & Co

2011-11-17T13:45:00.003Z

Granger & Co is the London incarnation of the new restaurant by Bill Granger, Sydney's favourite foodie son. I am guessing this is due to the existence of a not too dissimilar “Bill’s” café place in the St Martin's Courtyard development. But I imagine there is some marketing spiel for this, like a different brand proposition or market positioning and so forth.

I’d been excited about Bill Granger’s London joint for years. The Piglet and I had once found jet-lagged solace at his Darlinghurst café at about 6am on our Sydney trip – a veritable desert oasis (mainly due to the time of day as we'd been up for about 3 hours already, wicked area usually) and it became one of our meals of legend. Those ricotta hotcakes do deserve their cult status.

Would Bill Granger be able to transfer his vision of breezy and effortless Sydney lifestyle to London’s grey and frantic streets, even at the relatively sedate end of Westbourne Grove?

The man himself was there, greeting some people, chatting to others, but also clearing tables and bringing dishes out. At work, he wasn't all white teeth and smiley, blond Super-Dad, like all those black and white promo pictures of him, but a man under pressure. Which is good to see – as it’s clearly not all photo-shoots and cookbooks.

The interior is a step away from bills. It’s a lot more mature and design conscious. I think the pared-back, stark, wood-and-white thing with the communal dining table would have worked in London too (it’s done plenty elsewhere) but for the premium wining and dining crowd, who’ll be key here rather than the brunch crowd, the urbane details are a sound decision. That said, it’s still laidback – the slatted wood ceiling is a particularly great feature.

Onto the food – some chilli olives in that perfect emerald shade are delicious. We also went for the fritto misto for a starter: tempura battered fennel, courgette and onion rings (£5.60). This was nicely presented but somewhat lacking in flavour – they could have salt-bathed it like at Zucca for example, or maybe had some spice in the batter. But it fell short of the mark a bit.

Still slightly obsessed with my Meat Liquor chicken wings, the chicken wingettes (£7.40) were much more accomplished. Nicely marinated and charred, but with some tender, juicy meat inside. Great sweet and spicy dipping sauce, and some salad and red onion jam to join them. The portion wasn’t as big as Yianni’s, but these were better quality meat.

The parmesan-crusted chicken schnitzel (£10.50) is another dish which reminds me of Sydney. In this case not bills but a place in Surry Hills called Bird Cow Fish where the schnitzel was the best I’ve ever tasted. Bill’s London version was well-cooked and again nicely presented, but again lacked a punch. The parmesan crust wasn’t strong enough and could have done with being mixed with more black pepper and again, some salt.

Seasoning is very subjective, but we’re not salt people (I never add them to chips for example) so I consider my palate at the more tolerant, less salt-hungry end of the spectrum. This wasn’t there. Still a good dish though, and easily remedied in the batter.

The crisp duck with plum sauce and clementines (£15.90) was delicious. A hearty, happy tasting duck leg with some semi-sticky rice and nestled on the sauce. It was the East Asian take on a plum sauce rather than a European one, fragrant with cinnamon and star anise. The clementines added another fruit zing to cut through the duck fat, and complemented the dish well as well as adding colour and juice.

We didn’t stay for dessert or coffee (Allpress of Redchurch, tick!) so that was that.

On to the service, which needs a mention. It’s a huge undertaking in any scenario, but with such high expectations and a great reputation, the pressure must be even worse. And so you would have everything down, surely. It’s been a year in the making. But there were some serious service let downs.

crisp duck

Our waiter didn’t know if we needed to order sides or if there were adequate carbs on two dishes. Such a schoolboy error – know your product! More senior looking members of staff spent more time chatting than helping resolve issues, of which I noticed several. Table issues, cold food and some very long waits for service. Bill Granger himself cleared a table whilst they stood about talking.

We asked one female server for the wine list as we’d finished our carafe as our mains arrived – she said she’d sent someone but nobody came and we had our mains with no wine. Or water – as this wasn’t offered. It was quite a tragic sight – the table was as bare as a canteen, rather than a sumptuous, uptown bistro. The 12.5% added to the bill smarted a little, as it’s not a very Australian thing to do yet somehow this was lost in the cultural exchange. Funny that.

I’m so glad to have Bill and his post-fusion Sydney concept here, but it does need a little tinkering around the service and possibly seasoning. Service in Sydney is the quintessential Australian chilled yet attentive: “too easy!” etc – knowledgeable about product and not missing a trick, yet friendly and laidback. We have the flat white, we now have the food - can we have the service too please? Without NY-quality waiting staff, the hectic thing just won’t work.

I’m pleased something noteworthy has opened in Notting Hill rather than Soho, Clerkenwell or Shoreditch. And teething problems must be allowed for. I’ll definitely be back – the pork shoulder pancakes, the burger and of course the brunch, all need to be sampled. But when you spend your main course without wine, looking forlornly around the room to catch someone’s eye, it's hard to remain so forgiving.

Food – 8/10
Drink – 7/10
Service - 3/10
Value – 8/10
Tap water tales – 4/10 (tap mentioned but their house-filtered option proferred)
Staff Hotness – 5/10 (dapper but dosy)

The Witchery (Edinburgh)

2011-11-15T17:20:00.002Z

I’d been aware of The Witchery for many years but never had the opportunity to visit. So I was very excited, on that misty Edinburgh eve. The city has some great restaurants and a strong food scene, although it can be top-heavy and formal at times. Traditions are important here (as are the tourists looking for them), but it works because quality comes first especially with all things deemed Scottish. And Scots are just as in to Scottish things and Scottishness as tourists. Provenance is important up the road.

The venue itself is right by the castle, and incredibly atmospheric. All wood panelling, louche, dripping candlesticks and moody blood-red walls, it’s definitely marries up a whore’s boudoir with a medieval banquet, retaining an intimacy. The candelabras and teapots could plausibly jump to life and burst into a reprise of ‘Be Our Guest’.

I think some witches were executed here once, or maybe had their coven here or something. In Edinburgh, every second place has a wee ghostie, an execution or some sort of rebellion so you become blasé about it all, which is shameful. I’m aware it’s a touch of a tourist hotspot – but I wouldn’t say ‘trap’, due to the vindication of quality and also the amount of Scots who eat there too. Perhaps one of those places foreign dignitaries are obsequiously feasted before given some naff traditional token.

Dressed crab (£12.50) from Mull is served with a variety of accompaniments: samphire, lardons, quail egg and so on, but is served with a consistency closer to mashed up baby food than a salad. Tasted spot on though, and on a beautiful plate.

Haggis, neeps and tatties (£9.50) was a strong point. They’d be in trouble if it wasn’t! The haggis was good with a high meat content, moist and not dry or mealy like bigger portions can be. Neeps and especially tatties were in short supply, but I guess they're trying to distinguish it and make it a touch nouveau.

Three Little Pigs (£24.50) comprised bacon chop, pork belly and loin. It’s a carnivores’ feast but each component isn’t huge so it doesn’t look as obscene as it might.

Cider parsnips on the side weren’t really enough, so triple cooked chips (£4) were needed. Crunchy, delicious chips – these tasted like traditional chippy chips, despite being triple cooked. Best of both worlds.

Cairngorm red deer loin with a blue cheese and walnut pithivier (£26.00) was so promising and exciting. It was excellently presented and the bitter chocolate oil was an interesting touch. However the venison was a tiny bit tough, despite being visibly well-cooked, and the pithivier (a little puff pastry thing) was a tad dry. It was still very tasty though.

To finish off, as we could barely move we went for the sample of desserts – great value at £10.50. This included a rich chocolate torte, a passion fruit trifle, sorbet, crème brule, biscotto and a few other bits and bobs. All delicious.

The history in Edinburgh is inescapable. Broody, moody grey turrets, speckled with black, spiky monuments and towering hills, and some perfect Georgian crescents. It feels like a place of consequence and you can credibly believe armies and clans battling it out in a way that even The Tower of London doesn’t quite convey.

It’s a great experience; service is attentive and food is solid. It’s a bit expensive and the wine list ascends into the stratosphere very quickly, but there are plenty of bottles below £40. And it’s the town of Harry Potter’s conception (literary, not parental) – so what better excuse for a witchy time?

Food – 8/10

Drink – 7/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 7/10

Tap water tales – 2/10 (not offered but we fancied sparkling anyway)

Staff Hotness – 7/10 (very smart)

Meat Liquor

2011-11-10T12:51:00.001Z

A little tweety bird tipped me off that Meat Liquor (or is it #MeatLiquor?) was doing a soft-opening in advance of the big launch this weekend. Having missed out on the cultish fad of the van and Southeast London pub incarnations of Yianni Papoutsis’s irreverent burgers, I had to see what the fuss was about.

Now I’m an intrepid bloke at times, but just as Frank’s Campari car park was a Southern train too far, equally Meat Wagon/MeatEasy’s pop-up locations in Victorian sewers in Dagenham, or abandoned mental hospitals in Lewisham, or wherever, seemed too much for a just a burger. So thank God he’s now in the West End.

The space includes an indoor pavilion structure, which you could easily envisage as a mosh pit with the music they have on. It’s a big, dark, angry space with some incredible designs and graphics, largely in red, black and white. You seat yourself, but then it’s table service. You could easily be in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side, but it feels like London too.

Some New Cross Negronis started proceedings (£7) in jam jars, fairly punchy but could have been a little stronger, given the small amount of liquid.

Deep fried pickles (£3) are genius. Hot, crunchy batter surrounding proper American-style thick pickle slices – brilliant idea and so addictive. Possibly the perfect beer snack?

rubbish pic of a pickle

Buffalo wings (£5) are off the Richter, as my girl Fergie would say. I adore wings and these are very faithful renditions. Juicy, meaty wings, well coated with some zing, and an absolutely perfect blue cheese dip. Massive portion too for a fiver.

The burgers themselves (£7-8) are obviously also superb. Mine isn’t as pink in the middle as I’d like it, but the meat is so tender, moist and soft, that it doesn’t matter. It just melts into the mouth. It comes with salad, tomato and pickle, and then a spot of mustard, ketchup and possibly burger relish. I can’t quite tell, it’s dark in here. But no sauce is too dominant.

One slight let down is the fries. They’re fine but given the excitement around all the other dishes, they fade into the background. I suppose not everyone can be the star of the show, but perhaps they could look at some premium fries, such as the garlic fries one encounters in hipster-diner type places in NYC.

fries and a better idea of the pickles

I absolutely love this place. It’s like Byron for Satanists. It’s dark, clandestine and rebellious, and makes you feel like you’re in on the secret. But it doesn't ape the Prohibition thing one jot.

I love the anarchic feel, yet you could easily wander round, beer in hand, taking in the designs. Staff are passionate, Yianni himself was walking around making sure things were going well and the whole thing is going to be a massive hit.

If your idea of foodie heaven is in fact Hell, with the highest quality grease-feast, 80s rock blaring out and plenty of booze, then come join me.

Food – 9/10

Drink – 9/10

Service - 7/10 (some long waits for drinks, but early days...)

Value – 9/10

Tap water tales – 0/10 (none offered or seen, cheating!)

Staff Hotness – 8/10 (cute, inked up girls and guys abound if that's your bag)

La Cave à Fromage

2011-11-08T18:32:00.000Z

Some friends treated us to a wine and cheese tasting evening at a fancy fromagerie shop in South Ken, and we held out a little bit for the champagne evening. Four cheese and four matched champagnes – good stuff.

La Cave à Fromage is on that former roundabout opposite South Ken tube, definitely tapping in to the heart of Paris in London. It has a hugely comprehensive range of French cheeses (with a few English goats I noticed, imagine that in Paris!) and plenty of complimentary produce, such as charcuterie, breads and wine. I believe they even do brunch too. It’s a very professional, passionate business and they really know their stuff. They work with artesian cheesemakers across France to commission their own bespoke products too.

We started with a Chaource, which was a bit of an oddity. It’s a two-tone, two-texture cow’s milk cheese, which is soft, creamy and white in the middle and similar to a Brie or Camembert, but it also has a darker, more crumbly framing surrounding the centre. It’s delicious. The wine (this one was a sparkling, not a champagne – hmmmm) wasn’t very fizzy and quite sweet – from Gaillac in the Southwest.

Next was my favourite, the Beaufort. This had a similar look and feel to comte, but was more rich and creamy, rather than nutty. It is matured longer and was very addictive. In fact I ended up buying some. The champagne was also my pick of the night; crisp yet fruity, from a small, rebellious house near Epernay – Daniel Caillez, Cuvee Brut Premiere.

basque blue

The obligatory blue followed, from the French Basque country. This was good, but a bit forgettable sadly because everybody was crowing on about the Beaufort, including myself! I also had an amazing blue at The Oak recently and this wasn’t as deep in flavour. The champagne was from the same house. Daniel Caillez, but their rosé. Interestingly, this was sharper, drier and less fruity than their blanc. I didn’t like it as much, but it certainly went down easily at this point in the night…

some rustic charcuterie

Finally we had some Langres, which had been menacingly oozing its juices in the corner for quite a while, and giving off a punchy whiff. Somebody told me once that the smelliest, most challenging cheeses are actually a lot milder on taste than you’d think. Not the case with this one – it was hardcore and although I soldiered through it, plenty of others couldn’t finish it. It’s a cylindrical, soft cheese and not for the feint-hearted.

The champagne here was La Cave’s own house champagne – a perfectly drinkable, very yellowy drop. It was quite a simple champagne and I think probably chosen to not clash with the strength of the cheese. Also it’s probably the cheapest champagne too, so not as wasteful on the merry, lubricated palates of the crowd, now clamouring for top-ups.

They also put on some charcuterie for us; some excellent smoked beef slices which tasted intense, smoky and almost gamey, and then some slices of white, smoked pork fillet which weren’t as flavoursome. And there was plenty of bread alongside the cheeses (curiously ciabatta rather than baguette) – but no water.

Overall it was a great occasion and something fun I’d recommend anyone to do. It was about £30 and they do all sorts of different themed evenings, detailed on their website.

Food – 9/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 7/10 (4 champagnes basic isn't great, but lots of liberal top ups so ok)

Tap water tales – 0/10 (no water offered or suggested, not too wise for a champagne tasting!)

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (one guy was Parisian chic, the other more 'garlic-round-neck' farmer - very nice though!)

Mooli's

2011-11-07T16:56:00.002Z

I promise I’m not one for blogging drunken kebabs, or night bus chicken burgers or other filth. Honestly.

But there I was, after a lunchtime meeting in Soho and about to jump on a bus to Shoreditch for another meeting, and I was absolutely famished. I try to avoid Pret, and so Mooli’s caught my eye after longingly gazing into Barrafina, and I thought why not.

I’d seen mention of it and some platitudes on some blogs, but genuinely thought it was little more than an Indian burrito joint. It isn’t, but is no worse for it.

My Keralan beef with coconut, salsa and yoghurt (£5) took me quick aback though, which is why it wasn’t photographed in more salubrious surroundings! My quick snack had suddenly become bloggable and tasty; but I’m on the 55 and all of a sudden getting some very odd looks, as the weird guy in smart clothes, eating and photographing his smelly day-time kebab on a bus.

The beef chunks are tender and plentiful. The salad is high-grade stuff, not just watery iceberg. Nice tomatoes and raita through it too. The coconut gave the wrap a lighter, sweeter taste, which was balanced very well from a slight kick from the beef. It wasn’t too spicy by any means, but the warmth lingered a while, which I like.I did keep thinking how this burrito was missing refried beans and cheese though - forgive me.

I checked Urbanspoon out and it turns out Mooli's is fairly revered and rated, and I treated it like a common doner! So I’ll be back to try the other meats (goat, mmmm) and get more of the Mooli’s vibe. I didn't even notice the interior. My apologies for the déclassé pictures. But like burritos, they’re not photogenic stuff and all in the eating.

The Oak - or a tale of pub closures and two, overpriced, Notting Hill pizza joints

2011-11-02T14:47:00.000Z

The Oak is arguably the original Pizza East. It certainly is in the Portobello sense anyway. An old pub (tick) with period features retained (tick) and yet a swish, upmarket menu focusing on antipasto and shared nibbles (tick) and then crowned with a massive pizza oven as a feature (tick tick tick).

The crowd is the same too; loud, chattering and rather annoying types, of whose kin I do not excuse myself. If you don't like hedge fund Yanks, consider Lucky 7 or Crazy Homies next door. Oh wait, they're overrun with them too. You'd better leave Notting Hill in that case...

What The Oak also has, is a cocktail bar upstairs. And a great one it is too. There are busts of famous historical savants, mounted hunting trophies (of the taxidermised kind), beautiful period features such as the fireplace and incredibly high ceilings (is this an estate agents’ blog now?) and the whole space has a warm, Chesterfield-y, Babington vibe. The irony.

It’s part New York, part whiskey room of a posh Scottish country hotel - you could happily nestle in for hot toddies and board games all night. But what they deliver is a great cocktail and wine list, and small tapas plates; formerly Spanish themed but now rather contemporarily dubbed as cicchetti.

stagioni

It’s also so dark and broody upstairs that the photos of our pre-dinner cicchetti came out terribly. Skip the cubes of pork belly which were overcooked. But definitely order the cheese selection though (£11 ish), their blue is so deep with flavour, it almost tastes meaty. Amazing. And the salt and black pepper martini with Tanqueray gin is something special too - £8.50 or so.

Back downstairs, it’s on to pizzas gastro-pub style on obligatory church chairs. Service is a little better than upstairs, probably because we are more visible. Pizzas are good here; they’re huge and toppings are incredibly generous. As they're so crispy and thin in the Roman style, you really could do with steak knives.

The proscuitto, rocket and parmesan pizza is a monster. Slices of tender proscuitto dominate the pizza more so than the cheese or rocket leaves do. Great for a carnivore and priced at a Pizza East friendly £13.50. Ouch.

The stagioni with ham, artichokes and olives was more balanced than the previous ham-fest, but still generous. The tomato sauce was more noticeable too. With the proscuitto pizza, I think it had been applied a little thinly and so became dried in, on baking. Compared to Pizza East’s rich, decadent base, The Oak’s tomato sauce is perfunctory at best.

Pappardelle with duck ragu wasn’t as successful (£13.50). The pasta tasted homemade and was correctly cooked, but the sauce was a little weak and watery.

The seared tuna with salsa verde (£15.50) was an attractive dish: well-cooked and very nicely proportioned.

Overall, I think I prefer The Oak for this type of dining experience in the area. It’s less frenetic and sceney (although not to say that it isn’t guilty of either) and more spacious and relaxing. They don’t take reservations, but they will take your name and fetch you from the bar upstairs. They offer many tempting main courses if you don’t fancy pizza – I guess they’re not pigeon holing themselves by having pizza as their definitive proposition or indeed, in their name.

The cocktail bar certainly helps diversify things. If I didn’t want pizza, I wouldn’t go to Pizza East but you could easily spend a night boozing upstairs here. The private dining area is fantastic too.

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 6/10 (quite steep: with cocktails, wine, snacks, mains and others, bills could nudge £60p/h)

Tap water tales – 8/10 (ice jug brought without asking)

Staff Hotness – 7/10

The Wells Tavern

2011-10-31T16:44:00.000Z

The Wells Tavern is among my favourite pubs in Hampstead. Certainly for food anyway. It’s not really a boozers’ pub like The Garden Gate, or an atmospheric old place like The Hollybush, but the cooking is great.

It’s pubby enough to do a legendary burger (with cheese and bacon – about £12), but on this occasion – bloggers’ worst nightmare – both of us wanted the same dish. It was a lamb rump, with fondant potato, carrot puree, green beans and in a nice jus, at around £16.

And what a thoroughly satisfying dish. The lamb was well-cooked; nicely tender and pink (cautiously yet also assertively so) and generous in proportion. The jus was delicious – very bold and wine-drenched and thick too. Carrot puree and green beans gave the dish a Sunday lunch worthiness, it all felt very wholesome and a true ‘square meal’ in the most old-fashioned sense.

Suffice to say the rosé was also a hit. The vibe was a little bizarre. As mentioned, this is more of a foodie pub, but the upstairs goes even further, acting as a full service restaurant. It did feel a little polished and weddingy up there, but I’ve been to so many boring weddings with boring food, I’d be mighty pleased with this. Service was good too.

more of the same...

Hampstead is a great place, and whilst upmarket and wavering between twee and chic in varying proportions, it doesn’t seem to have the urbaneness in its hospitality and dining options of comparable places. Who would have thought they would found in a backstreet pub, but it certainly is some of NW3’s best food.

Food – 8/10

Drink – 9/10

Service - 8/10

Value – 8/10

Tap water tales – 9/10 (iced jug brought and topped up)

Staff Hotness – 7/10

Rome

2011-10-27T21:35:00.001+01:00

gladiator dungeons tour

Onwards from beautiful Florence, Rome is another foodie’s paradise. Local dishes range from the simple (cacio e pepe) to the luxurious (garlic suckling pig) , via the most fervent nose to tail culture I’ve ever seen. I’m a huge pasta fan, bordering on obsession, but the Roman favourite of rigatoni with pajata – or baby lamb’s intestines – is a little hardcore for me. Even with a nice tomato base.

The Piglet and I toured many places. Unlike Paris, I would say that even in the tourist traps where you pay double to sit outside and have menus in twelve languages, you will still eat pretty well. Of course any food blogger worth his salt would avoid such places – so here are a few of my highlights:


'Gusto: tonnarelli cacio e pepe

'Gusto is a chic place and a fairly contemporary joint for the area – it’s close to the Spanish Steps and shops of the Via del Corso. It’s also a bit of a sprawling empire, with a high-end kitchen shop, a pizzeria, separate restaurant and wine bar. The atmosphere and branding are top notch and the food isn’t too bad either.

'Gusto's panzanella

If you’re in the real Historic Centre, there are hundreds of options and the choice can be overwhelming. I’d say Campo di Fiori is much less tourist trap than Piazza Navona and more locals hang out around there.


pizza at 'Gusto

If you head a little bit further towards the Tiber, you’ll come across Piazza Farnese. This is a quiet square, and the former Farnese dynasty palazzo is now the French Embassy. For an outdoor, piazza dine – try Osteria Ar Galetto. The menu wasn’t particularly daring but Roman classics are what I came for. The waiters are exceptionally jovial and charming, in quite a clichéd Italian waiter way. Fun though, and I bet they pull the odd foreign student.


carbonara at Ar Galletto

Our final night, we wandered into a trattoria for a quick snack, having spoiled ourselves at apertivo hour. Too easily done! It was a cosy place, (La Buca di Ripetta) but very busy and quite touristy. Good though, but my cacio e pepe was far too salty. It made my lips chap the next day!

'Gusto has to get my vote for the cacio e pepe hunt and obsession, as it became. There were many more, unphotographed! It was firm tonnarelli, cooked very al dente (rather than spaghetti) and the pecorino and pepper was more of a sauce, but thick rather than too milky. It was perfect, and about €10.


the cacio e pepe at Buca di Ripetta

So that was Rome. I could have spent weeks there, purely going through the places I had listed. It was warm too, so I was naturally drawn to pasta and wine, or pizza and beer. I'd love to return in winter for some carnivorous, warming, Lazio country feasting.

thick, filling carpaccio

http://www.gusto.it/
http://www.ristoranteargallettoroma.com/
http://www.labucadiripetta.it/intro.html

Penks

2011-10-24T16:37:00.004+01:00

Penks is a diminutive local restaurant on the main drag of Queens Park. I’ve eaten here a few times, and it’s not a bad neighbourhood option. The menu plays it safe although the wine list is quite interesting, and they seem to offer quizzes, happy hours and other events to engage with the locale, and break the oligopoly of ‘The Salusbury’ enterprises.

The starters are a strong area here; as well as a few predictable dishes, they offer some more sociable charcuterie and cheese plates, which suit their passion for unusual wines. A mention also has to go to their carefully edited US craft ales.

spanish charcuterie plate

Rib-eye and chips is a bit disappointing. The meat isn’t a particularly great cut and the chips are quite standard. They could be oven chips, or ‘steak cut’ chips – it comes with a salad garnish including iceberg lettuce and grated carrots! This is Queens Park – drag yourselves into the Naughties, at bare minimum, with some rocket/bay spinach/lamb’s lettuce and vine tomatoes! It had a touch of Harvester about it.

The guinea fowl was a bit more interesting, in rich sauce and with seasonal vegetables. Penks also seem to succeed at fish dishes; there are several starters and mains and these seem exhibit more culinary smarts and daring.

guinea fowl

Although I love the idea of neighbourhood restaurants, I have a few problems with Penks.

I want to like it, and I think they’re missing a few tricks especially given such a prime spot. Queens Park is a chi chi little enclave, and the menu is conversely, quite parochial. There are no specials, not enough localism or provenance and the décor is quite bland. This contrasts with the bonkers music and hideous art to combine quite a bizarre atmosphere. Service is erratic too – it’s nice that this is family run, but it could still be professional in feel.

creamy fish concoction

If I was to recommend a few things for this place, they'd be to shamelessly imitate somewhere like The Electric: brunch drinks and more contemporary brunch offering, a NY/faux Parisian style menu with a strong typeface, good music, lower lighting, more specials (including some pastas), modernise the interior, and try to encourage people to come for, and stick around for, the drinks. The atmosphere is a bit dated and subdued, and they’re missing quite a significant slice of the urbane, flashy, hungry and very thirsty types who populate these sides.

A neighbourhood restaurant could do one of a few things: focus on excellent food (La Trompette, at the highest end), or an intimate atmosphere (Ripe Tomato perhaps) or it could be cheap and cheerful, like Small & Beautiful nearby in Kilburn. But Penks doesn’t excel in any of these fields particularly, which seems like a wasted opportunity.

Food – 5/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 5/10 (the waitress forgot a few things)

Value – 7/10 (£40 a head with wine, reasonable but at the upper end of it)

Tap water tales – 8/10 (cold glasses brought without asking, mineral not proffered)

Staff Hotness – 5/10

Florence

2011-10-22T18:41:00.000+01:00

A quick rundown on my recent trip to Italy and some foodie highlights, starting with Florence. Beautiful city, millions of tourists but a good standard of food across the board, with many gems and a real care for local produce and wine.

La Bussola was right across from our (pretty nice) hotel, the NH Porta Rossa in the historic centre of town. We pretty much rolled out of this place. We sat at the bar – it’s had a refurb since the website pics and is less pastiche-y Italiano trattoria.

The antipasti was amazing, the prosecco was poured to about 250ml...

antipasti - pancetta, salami, pecorino, pear jam

more antipasti - boar salami, fig chutney, another local sheep cheese

The pasta dishes were incredible, and the pizza oven was churning out some amazing looking pizzas to other customers.

wild mushroom pappardelle

Italy on a plate? Basil pappardelle alla caprese.

Of course we had to try Florence’s civic dish – bistecca alla fiorentina. Basically a massive T-bone grilled hot and fast with rock salt, pepper and olive oil. Sadly there’s no picture worth posting as it was devoured in a frenzy.

Il Santino is a tiny little slip of a place across the river, a wine bar attached to a restaurant. We popped in for a quick apertivo and wish we hadn’t had dinner reservations. Expertly staffed by two girls, the wine list was amazing but the salumi and cheeses were really something.

quick snack before dinner...?

We sat at the bar but there were some very cosy seats too. If this place was in London, I’d come all the time. Every area could do with one. Effortless quality with no branding, pride or attitude.

Finally, a great choice right in the touristy area of the Duomo (one street behind in fact) is Coquinarius. It's a small, cosy trattoria and the photos didn't come out very well. But go - great pastas and house wine - I had the homemade pear and pecorino ravioli and it was amazing.

And it wasn't too expensive - and skip dessert and get gelato from Grom on the same street. You know it's good gelato when it's kept in those metallic tube thingys, rather than heaped up in the window with lots of sliced fruit and lurid colours like a peacock.

Great foodie city - next, Rome...

http://www.labussolafirenze.it/home/

Il Santino – Via Santo Spirito, Oltrarno
http://www.coquinarius.it/
http://www.grom.it/eng/gelaterie.php