Albertine Wine Bar

I quite like Westfield London. Yes I know they’re a terrible company, responsible for the erosion of community and the prolific motorised urban sprawl of suburban Australia etc etc etc… but frankly I quite like the cinema, the eating options and Cos.

The branch of Pho in the food court is a highlight, Wahaca I generally enjoy (and the food court burrito place is good too) and Kitchen Italia is a decent concept despite average food and stingy portions. But sometimes it’s not enough.

And whilst I would never suggest Albertine as existing for the purpose of quality Westfield fodder, for me it is probably the best dining option in the immediate area. Albertine is a wine bar which predates Westfield by many years, and probably provides one of the most interesting places to eat and drink west of Notting Hill Gate.

It’s family owned and the staff are hugely passionate about the wines, offering tasters and happily downselling if they know a better option. I think many of them take buying trips and so really know their stock. As well as the predictable BBC crowd (but it’s true, I saw a pre-Christine Eamonn Holmes here) it has a loyal, local following.

The wine list is extensive and elaborate, strongly focused on France but with plenty from elsewhere too. Our organic Cuma malbec was delicious. They have loads by the glass too, but that wasn't an issue for us! And plenty of people were using it as a take home wine shop which is encouraging in these times of £4.99 average bottle spends.

The cheese board is a thing of local legend – colour coded depending on the animal of origin. Loads of choice and very high quality – and aesthetically destroyed by the time I remembered I should take a pic. £7 for the smallest selection, easily enough for two.

The other food here is also good – a lot of Mediterranean bar food but some bistro classic mains too, and a surprisingly good curry. We had a Spanish charcuterie plate (£7), choricitos (£3.50) and some homemade lemon hummus (£4).

So when you’re done with the Westfield chains or visiting a friend in Shepherds Bush, this might provide a left-field choice. And if you like cosy old fashioned wine bars (it’s not slick or modern by any means, nor does it try to be) then give it a go.

I’d say it’s similar in style to Le Beaujolais off Charing Cross Road, but with less cutesy ‘francois-erie’ and crap hanging from the ceiling. It’s discreet given its positioning and the locals must be very grateful for its existence against an assault of chicken shops, Asian fabric stores and shit pubs – so don’t tell everyone, or half of Chiswick will descend.

Food – 7/10
Drink – 8/10
Service - 8/10 (order at the bar, but very knowledgeable about the wines and tasters encouraged!)
Value – 9/10 (food very ressonable for the quality, plenty of wines under £20)
Tap water tales – 6/10 (on request, room temperature carafe provided) 
Staff Hotness – 8/10 (young, attractive and into their wines = hot)

Foodie bits and bobs - and bills!

Just a bit of news - I haven't seen it all over the net so thought it'd be worth saying on here.

Firstly, congratulations to Manchester who will be getting a L'Entrecote restaurant in the old Armani on King Street - that'll do well there especially considering the secret sauce is ostensibly northern chippy curry sauce.

And more importantly - a bit of giveth and taketh away. I'm slightly miffed that the PIX Pinchos on Westbourne Grove has closed down. The food was never that amazing, but it was fun as a bar. Hot staff too albeit a bit preening. It added a bit of life to that stretch, desperately needed after the Cinephilia West café shut down.

But on the other hand, it is already being refurbished - as bills!

bills of course, (lower case and no punctuation is canon), is the casual but excellent restaurant concept by Sydney's finest Bill Granger. Brings back amazing memories of time spent in Sydney, especially our first morning when we stumbled across it at about 6am. Or the third morning, where we stumbled across another in Surry Hills!

Will be an excellent addition to the area, and West London's dining scene could certainly do with a boost. Can't wait...doubt you'll be able to move for bloggers...

Lunch musings (and Veneticus)

So while I attempt to dine at just a few of London’s hottest places, I actually eat at home more week nights than I don't. And except for the rare occasions I have anything left I am inclined to bring to work, lunch is realistically where most of my eating out happens.

Of course I’m not interested in blogging Pret or Eat (and nobody is interested in reading about them), but I do think there is a place for the upper end of quick, cheap weekday lunch spots. 

Some can be really quite good –the old marketing adage states that of quality, price and time, you can only ever choose two. But I’d disagree, and the lunch trade in London is extremely diverse and sophisticated, and ever improving with more street food, markets and open minds about what lunch can constitute. Yesterday’s sushi is today’s burrito – and sandwiches have evolved into gourmet treats too. 

I’m aware that I do have some rather esteemed company following this blog, to whom I am very grateful. Yet even the blogerati of London’s hotspots surely have boring or at least average lunches for more days that they are nibbling away at spicy pizzette?

Food blogs are as pluralistic as diners and cover many different styles. Some people have a huge talent for theoretical food writing and technical cookery blurb, others integrate their own recipes or do travel excellently. Here at TPT, I’m trying to be a realist and write an honest food blog which represents my life and times (!) rather than exclude 80% of my meals to deceptively present something more aspirational or fantastical. 

So I admit to having ordinary lunches, taking rubbish pictures, drinking too much to remember my meal the next day and I do genuinely look forward to airports so I have an excuse for my bi-annual McDonalds! 

As I said, I won’t be blogging every dodgy sandwich bar in Farringdon but there are some decent eateries worth mentioning, and we all need fuel to last the afternoon. So you could do a lot worse than try Veneticus. It’s a deli near the Leather Lane bit of Clerkenwell Road, and has quite a few tables set up for diners.

fairly pointless picture showing about a quarter of the space

The staff are true Italians; exuberant and passionate about food and company, and the quality here is top notch. There isn’t a menu per se, but you can have panini, ciabatte and focaccie (did I get my plurals right?) made up from all of the fantastic ingredients from the deli counter. The meats are sliced to order, and the bread is baked there too.

the beast - each segment of prosciutto is about three slices thick!

For £4-5, you can do extremely well. My olive focaccia with gargantuan slabs of smoked buffalo mozzarella was packed to the rafters with more San Daniele that you would get at a deli for a fiver. I was astonished – the pic doesn’t do it justice but the whole sandwich had at least ten slices. I almost felt guilty at the amount of meat. But not quite... Accompanied with cherry tomatoes, a spicy balsamic they sell in the shop and so much cheese it spilled out, it was a challenge to finish.

The food store is quite comprehensive for both fresh deli produce and Italian groceries, with an amazing selection of wines (you can also have wine and beer in the café), good coffee and gelato made on site. Not too shabby for a quick working lunch at all…

Hugo's (and CC's)

Hugo’s is a bar/restaurant on Lonsdale Road, Queens Park’s alternative drag which has a decent amount of vibrancy, with a few creative cottage industries as well as a Pilates studio and some workshops.

Hugo’s has been around for a long time but it took me a while to visit. It used to be the Organic Café and was well known for its jazz Sundays. I believe these are still going, but we came for a quick Saturday feed. Well, brunch really – but by brunch, one can also mean burger.  So here it is:

A nice piece of meat, with oozing cheddar that looks almost like hollandaise. It was cooked medium rare to order, but came with quite uninspiring fries. Solid burger though, very rustic and homemade in style with onions through the mince, which I like. I certainly would have loved a portion of the sautéed potatoes instead, which come with the full English.

Nice looking double yolk fried egg, and of course the aforementioned potatoes are a good touch (though could they not have jazzed them up to create ‘home fries’ ?) but a little stingy on the meat elements. And the bacon was a bit tasteless.

Service is a bit off the day we went, and we had to go in and pay our bill. It’s possibly a bit understaffed during the daytime as the apologetic sole barman/waiter/supervisor was pretty rushed. Nice draught beers and a good wine list also, and I’ll probably be back to try dinner. It's a decent neighbourhood place and well priced (breakfasts £6-10, burger about £11, mains £14-18).

CC's counter and menu

CC’s is next door, and owned by the same people. I doubt it warrants its own post but is definitely worth a mention. The wall is a compendious and colourful juice and smoothie menu but they do great organic coffee from their La Spaziale, and some twee baking such as cupcakes and macaroons, as well as pastries and quiches, sausage rolls etc...

There is also a little hatch for takeaway ice cream, which looks amazing. A nice neighbourhood place to have, with Antipodean barista service and some quality food. The space feels a tad sparse, and could be used better to create a more vibrant feel with some additional seating. 

More is given over to prep space than café space and it feels a bit like a woodwork studio – CC’s isn’t that established yet and so with a bit of a space revamp could really compete with the many cafes of Queens Park. It certainly makes the best coffee.

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Value – 7/10

Service - 6/10 (possibly understaffed but maybe unlucky on the day)
Tap Water Tales - 5/10 (requested, iced glass but nothing special)

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (overwhelmed is not a good look!)

Crabshakk (Glasgow)

So if you find yourself in Glasgow, you could do a lot worse than Crabshakk in the West End. It's a low key, but serious outfit and rather obviously specialises in seafood.

The decor is all clean lines and right angles, wood, chrome and glass. There is a champagne bar slightly similar to those at airports, but also tables and booths for proper lunches.

We had so much not covered here, it's hard to recall - but it's all fresh Scottish produce and served in a wide variety of ways; with Asian dipping sauces, quirky ingredients and some more traditional and Mediterranean styles - rather than just plain with a slice of lemon like you might get somewhere inferior.

Squid tentacles are a favourite, despite the unappetising name. I guess it's descriptive but as I'm still relatively squeamish about some seafood, it makes me baulk a bit!

 
Tempura squid with soy and coriander dipping sauce is delicious and fresh.

Scallops (with coral remaining) come out sizzling in their pan juices.

And yes, there's an obligatory steak on the menu - which isn't a forte here sadly. The Butchershop round the corner is your place for that.

Coffee is good and the tablet is a nice local touch.

Prices are all very reasonable (£10-15 mains) but portions aren't massive. Service is friendly and prosecco is £4.50 a glass. Clink!

It's a chic, urbane little slice of Manhattan in Glasgow, which supposedly provided inspiriation Manhattan's gridiron layout a certain Piglet tells me... And if you're here instead of Edinburgh one time (it's not prettier but it's a lot more fun) and don't fancy pakora and cheesy chips, then you could do a lot worse...

p.s. Ker-razy Scottish craft beer rebels BrewDog have a dedicated bar just up the road...