Restaurant reviews

Vanilla

helenka — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:24:44 +0000

Vanilla sits on an unassuming stretch of Great Titchfield Street – so unassuming in fact, that you could easily walk right past it, which we, erm….did. Once we realised the error of our ways (is there not a human sat nav plug-in available yet?), we backtracked and found the entrance. After the descent into Vanilla we found the bar too, and were promptly settled into a booth by an attentive waitress. This place is big on contrasts with the bar being decked out in space-pod white, and the restaurant a far more undercover affair with its black tones.

Whilst we sat surrounded by the whiteness of the bar, the cocktail list was of course, placed in front of us. It’s worth a look most definitely, and we chose our cocktails of passion fruit and honey after umming and ahhing with the waitress about our choices. They arrived crushed, shaken and stirred and accompanied by a platter of startlingly presented nibbles. Little glass jars of dips were interspersed with beetroot crisps and sculpted bread sticks. It quite a work of art but we were hungry by that point, so we wrecked the creative presentation and got stuck in.

With a new chef on board, Vanilla has taken quite a unique stand in that it only offers tasting menus as opposed to your ordinary a la carte scenario. Chef Izu Ani, previously of two Michelin starred The Square, has created a series of tasting menus that push your taste buds off the beaten track. There are three menus, which vary in length and price, starting with the four-course ‘Just a taste’ option and ending with the ten-course ‘Journey of taste’ for the extra curious, extra minted types. We tried the four-course menu, which actually ends up as a six-course dinner, when you count the pre-starter and pre-dessert, both of which were a decent size. If you’re worried about eyes-bigger-than-belly syndrome, don’t fret too much as the tasting menus have been suitably portioned, to enable you to get up from the table afterwards.

It’s not as restrictive as a tasting menu might sound either – diners don’t have to follow the menus to the letter, so if you fancy trying something that you’ve spied from another tasting menu, it is possible to chop and change within reason. We had two menus to choose from within the ‘Just a Taste’ menu and made a few requests from the other tasting menus we’d glanced at too.

It’s worth noting that the food here is weird at times, but for the most part wonderful. Highlights included the oddity that is clay-covered potatoes – edible clay, though thankfully not the stuff you get at the Early Learning Centre. The clay wasn’t unpleasant and didn’t taste like a facemask, which is what I had feared. It’s not the kind of thing you would hanker for at four in the morning when your stomach is grumbling, but combined with the spiced seeds and aioli, it made for a good combination. We started with this clay number, according to the waiter because it is refuted to aid digestion. The other courses went down easily with the artichoke, salsify and almond salad tasting beautifully autumnal, and the venison with pear puree melting properly in the mouth as it should. The only thing that didn’t work was the 64°C smoked egg - cooked at 64°C for 45 minutes, to ensure that the yolk and white are both the same consistency. It’s one thing if you’re trying to prove a scientific point, but unfortunately not such a highlight if you have to eat it.

The puddings were a final treat though. Our pre-dessert (which would have been enough, if you’re able to say no to seconds), was brilliant. A tiny indulgent bite of doughnut was accompanied by a huge glass of elderflower and winterberry bubbles. The doughnut was a mouthful of intense sweetness, and the bubbles of fruit foam set it off with their tartness quite perfectly. You know when you gloat quietly over your guest, because your dessert choice was out of this world? This would have been that moment, if either of us had actually chosen it, and we weren’t both eating the same dessert.

Our chosen puddings arrived soon enough, and the butternut squash dessert medley came on a platter in its various guises, including a sorbet, which was subtle but superb. The date cake and vanilla milkshake arrived, with wow factor written all over it. How can a date cake manage that, you might wonder? With it’s frothy, dry-ice milkshake partner, that’s how. The date cake was very good, and the crushed honeycomb was addictively good, but the frothy, dry-ice vanilla milkshake upstaged everything that had been set down on our table that night. It was slightly sci-fi with its volcanic-like eruptions, but once all that had settled down the bubbles turned into a delicious vanilla milk, that my spoon scooped up until the plate threatened to come with it.

It is performance food at Vanilla, so potentially a little frustrating if you haven’t eaten for nine hours and want to sink your teeth into a hamburger. But if you want to be wowed by your food, before and after you devour it – Vanilla definitely delivers.

Tasting menus at Vanilla range from £40 - £75 per head.

Vanilla: 131 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 5BB. Tel: 020 3008 7763.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

108 Marylebone Lane

helenka — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:31:31 +0000

“Yes, the restaurant has a bit of a ‘corporate’ entrance, and we have asked the council about being able to put up plants or something outside to make us more obvious, but they’re not keen on that,” says Ray, the manager of the year-old 108 Marylebone Lane restaurant. I had mentioned over a very refreshing Raspberry Cooler cocktail that, in the dark and despite the awning, we had nearly walked straight past as we came up Marylebone Lane (I hasten to add he had asked me if we’d found it easily enough – I’m not usually that rude).

The bar and restaurant were quiet (we visited on a Monday, so that was to be expected). Apart from ourselves, there were only three other tables of diners, but I was impressed to note that Ray was as attentive to all his guests as he was to us. And he began by explaining that the wholemeal and sour dough bread was made fresh on the premises each day. It was, as my guest (a keen and successful bread-maker) commented, flavoursome and well textured.

There’s far more to 108 than tasty bread. Head chef Ian Howard, transferred here from Rhodes W1 Brasserie just over three months ago, and has continued the restaurant’s tradition of sourcing basic ingredients from local suppliers for his excellent modern European menu. “I’m getting the most out of the local suppliers that I can,” he says. “They’re fab. Biggles Sausages down the road at 66 Marylebone Lane has been run by a husband-and-wife team since 1989, and The Ginger Pig Butchers have a fantastic farm in Yorkshire where they rear all their own cattle. The beef I use is their Longhorn beef, which is fantastic.”

How does he decide his menus? “I’ll usually see what the suppliers have on offer, using as many seasonal ingredients as possible, and then adjust my menu accordingly. No point in requesting some obscure ingredient! Vegetarian food isn’t my forte, though,” he added, “although having a 250-bed hotel above, we have the demand for vegetarian dishes, but we want to be a little bit creative with it.”

He most certainly was with my roasted baby beetroot and bocconcino goat’s cheese salad with walnuts and thin toast. The rich, creamy, brie-like bocconcino combined wonderfully with the textures of the fresh, sweet beetroot and crunchy toast and walnuts. I wasn’t surprised to learn it’s been a very popular starter. My guest’s red lentil and pancetta soup was a little salty, but meaty and flavoursome, and a smooth appetiser for what followed: a stunning, moist honey and soy glazed sliced duck breast with pak choy and Thai vegetables. It was melt-in-the-mouth, and she declared it the best duck she’d ever had. Ginger Pig also did Ian proud with my medium grilled rib eye steak with garlic confit and thyme butter. The steak was succulent and so simply presented with a roasted garlic and rosemary garnish, that it needed little other accompaniment. The smooth side of crushed celeriac that came with it though, was an excellent alternative to potatoes and a good foil for the buttery thyme sauce. Ray’s recommendation of a Bonterra Organic Shiraz 2005, which could easily have been drunk on its own, was a perfect match with the spicy duck, while a full-bodied, punchy Ravenswood Lodi County 2005 was a better accompaniment with the richer steak.

Both of us prefer savoury dishes, but we didn’t regret saving room for 108’s desserts. I chose a selection of farmhouse cheeses: pecorino with truffle, Tomme (a Swiss smoked variety) and gorgonzola, all from near-by La Fromagerie, served with mother-in-law’s tongue flaky wafer bread, radish flakes, grapes and a honey pot. My guest plumped for a rich, smooth, dark Valrhona chocolate mousse with raspberries and honeycomb. The combinations were inspired. My pecorino with truffle was both sweet and tangy, while my dining partner’s mousse was thick, creamy and deeply chocolaty, set off well by the sharpness of the raspberries. A sublime creation.

Presentation was superb throughout, right down to the cutlery from Divertimenti and beautiful flower arrangements from Jane Packer. It’s a worry that this smart, stylish yet welcoming restaurant blends maybe too well into the façade of its host, because anyone foolish enough to pass it by is missing out on a highly enjoyable and thoughtful addition to Marylebone’s excellent catering community.

A three-course meal for two with wine and coffee costs approximately £96.

108 Marylebone Lane: 108 Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2QE. Tel: 020 7969 3900

Reviewer: Bryony Weaver

St Pancras Grand

helenka — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:35:26 +0000

It could be the sheer romanticism of St Pancras International that has a positive effect on its commuters, or perhaps it's that for once, as you set foot inside one of London’s major train stations – there’s somewhere decent to eat. We all know that food affects your mood, which might explain why the caffeine-slugging, burger-munching crowds at Waterloo will quite happily slam into fellow commuters, only stopping for a second try if you don’t fall over the first time.

There is the occasional sense of urgency at St Pancras, as waiting Eurostar passengers realise they should be checking in, instead of necking a glass of Moet at the Champagne Bar, but that’s about it. St Pancras has done well to establish itself as a destination and not simply a train station, so it was only a matter of time before a restaurant like the St Pancras Grand opened up. The restaurant has taken up position slap bang opposite the 96 metre-long Champagne Bar. Understated grandeur is the mainstay of St Pancras Grand with its gold ceiling and booth style seating. If you fancy being noticed, a bar lines the back of the restaurant where you can grab a bar stool, practice perching and watch the waiters as they shake and stir their way through the drinks orders.

We ate at the Grand on a Wednesday night, which was a little quiet at around 7.30pm, but perked up soon enough as groups of diners filled up the booths. British food is very much the focus at this new opening, and a decent amount of love and care has been directed at the menu, which boasts the likes of Lancashire hotpot, Atlantic prawns and cold Ox tongue amidst its line up.

The butcher’s block starter served up the best surprise, with a decent selection of Welsh charcuterie filling up the wooden slab it arrived on. The mustard fruits that accompanied it were wonderful too, but the Welsh salami upstaged everything else. Yes – Welsh salami, and it was good stuff – all sourced from Crealy Farm. Our other starter of smoked salmon and black pudding was satisfyingly savoury and was stylishly presented before my dining partner’s fork made an impact. There were plenty of other things we wanted to try from the menu, but half a dozen Cumbrae oysters and the Sevruga caviar would have meant no room for pudding.

Skate and steak were our main dishes of choice. The Skate arrived beautifully cooked on a bed of lentils, and the steak was rump and big on flavour. We ordered a side dish of greens and even my dining partner (a friend of many years, with an historically strong aversion to vegetables), had to concede that the samphire, despite being a sea vegetable of all things, was delicious. The staff at St Pancras Grand added what so many restaurants lack in bucketfuls – decent service. Perhaps this has something to do with the advice of the Evening Standard’s restaurant critic, Fay Maschler in her position as a consultant for this new opening, but whatever the reason, it’s a welcome find. Our menu quizzing didn’t ruffle their feathers and their recommendations were worth hearing too.

Our desserts, which we thankfully had room for, were brilliantly British. The Scottish raspberry jelly and ice cream rustled up childhood flashbacks, laced with a streak of adulthood in terms of presentation, whilst the autumn fruit pudding was tart, juicy and so, so satisfying. The Eton mess and English sherry trifle were almost spooned onto our plates, but our shirt buttons just couldn’t have taken it.

If you can’t quite face pudding when you’re waiting for your morning train, it’s worth knowing that the oyster bar opens up in the restaurant from 8am. What better way to get your daily zinc intake, than sitting on a bar stool watching someone else doing the shucking for you as you tuck into a couple of bivalves?

Still in the adjustment period of its early opening months, the St Pancras Grand is already ticking most boxes. Perhaps the best seat in the house would be the one that affords you a view of the Champagne Bar, across the way. You could eat your way through a reasonably priced, quite wonderful menu (around £45 per head, including wine), whilst you watch out for Eurostar passengers laying down £6500 for a bottle of Champagne that they don’t have time to finish.

St Pancras Grand: St Pancras International, London, NW1 9QP. Tel: 020 7870 9900.

Reviewed by: Helenka Bednar

Food for Thought

helenka — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:39:28 +0000

This place is a little find, snuggling in between the jewellery and clothes shops that fill up Neal Street. If you shop in and around Seven Dials on a regular basis, the chances are that you may already know about Food for Thought, but if you don’t, it’s a wonderful place to add to your memory bank when you stomach starts growling.

Before you set foot in this vegetarian restaurant, you’ll probably have to tackle some kind of queue, but we’re not talking M25 tailbacks here – more a reassuring sign that the place has a good reputation. It was raining on the day that we visited and we breathed a sigh of relief to get inside this cosy cavern of a place.

The first thing you notice once you’ve got through the throng of hungry people queuing, is the huge slabs of cake sitting, or let’s be honest, weighing down the counter. Everything looked very fresh and inviting and the banana and strawberry scrunch looked seriously good.

With lunchtime reminding us to look away from the cake until we’d contemplated a main meal, we chose our dishes of Russian stew and spinach lasagne. They don’t scrimp on portion sizes here, so bear that in mind before you order everything you see. Space is limited at Food for Thought, but its friendly feel means that rubbing the occasional elbow with other diners, isn’t an issue. Our main dishes came accompanied by huge helpings of salad and would have made for a hearty dinner just as well.

The menu at Food for Thought is purely vegetarian but meat lovers don’t need to despair as there are plenty of hearty options to chose from. For veggies and vegans, well you’re probably in heaven in this place. The menu is also helpfully coded so you can decipher the veggie options from the vegan ones, and keep an eye out for nutty and wheat free dishes too.

Both of our main dishes were lovely, and very comforting with the rain hammering the pavements outside. It was the banana and strawberry scrunch that stole the show though. It had called to us at the beginning of our order, so it only seemed fitting to let it round off the end of our meal. Made from museli (yes, I know – museli) and granola, it was gorgeously topped with lashings of cream and huge chunks of strawberry and banana. Every mouthful was proper halo heaven. It was difficult to move afterwards, it has to be said, but a return journey is on the cards the next time my hunt for shoes takes me to Seven Dials.

Food for Thought: 31 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9PR. (Please note that Food for Thought doesn’t accept credit or debit cards).

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Bistro One Ninety

helenka — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:41:21 +0000

As the bistro is tucked inside The Gore Hotel, it’s the kind of place you could walk past for years, only to fall into it one random evening and curse yourself for not having found it sooner. This place has long been a popular eatery with the audiences and performers that fill up the Royal Albert Hall night after night, and is suitably classy with its Kensington postcode.

We made our visit during the lunchtime slot and filled up on starters of saffron risotto and chicken liver pate. The saffron risotto was creamy and lightly spiced, with generous hunks of squid, mussels, prawns and monkfish, whilst the pâté got smoothed onto home made bread with lashings of home made tomato chutney. Head chef Taher Djeebet has stamped a subtle Moroccan feel on the menu with dishes such as grilled Mediterranean vegetables with couscous and coriander pesto, and steak tartare with duck egg, lime juice and coriander.

For our main meal we tried the Hampshire pork fillet stuffed with apricots and Indian spices, which came with coconut risotto and caramelised bananas. Yes, bananas. Odd you might think – and it was slightly odd to see them resting there on the plate, next to the pork fillet – but surprisingly it worked. The spices helped to bend any culinary rules about pork and bananas (I don’t know if there are any, but you would be more likely to say pork and sage, let’s be honest). First my fork went for a mouthful of juicy Hampshire pork, and then it went for the banana. The little caramelised discs of fruit had been perfectly, perfectly caramelised and shocked my taste buds into admitting that the soft succulence of pork goes very well with, …well, banana. There I’ve said it.

Perhaps the caramelised banana had knowingly primed my palette for the sweet course, and although three course lunches usually mean an afternoon nap ensues, the peppered strawberry cheesecake won me over. And so it should have done. With its white chocolate biscuit base, the mousse-like cheesecake worked a wonder with a smattering of black pepper bringing out the strawberriness of it all. It was light enough to eat all over again, but I didn’t because that would have meant four courses and quite possibly a coma. If this all sounds a bit much, and you’re in far too much of a hurry to eat, it’s worth knowing that the bistro offers a theatre menu in the evenings, whilst the bar at The Gore offers quick bites to eat in the form of a tapas menu.

The Gore itself is a wonderful boutique find, full of quintessential English charm. From the dark leather tones of the bar through to the plush satin finishes in the rooms, the hotel exudes an old world spirit that you just don’t find in more modern boutique haunts. It couldn’t be further away from a corporate hotel if it tried and provides a welcome antidote to the paired down, neutral shades that are showing up everywhere in London hotels. The bar at The Gore is well worth a visit and you could do worse than sip on one of their ‘Miss Poly Rae’ cocktails before you sit down to eat. Incidentally, Miss Polly Rae and the Hurly Burly Girls make regular appearances at The Gore’s burlesque soirees, so if you love nothing better than cocktails, dinner and a bit of burlesque thrown in, look no further.

Bistro 190: The Gore Hotel, 190 Queen’s Gate, London, SW7 5EX. Tel: 020 7584 6601.

Reviewed by: Helenka Bednar

Devonshire Terrace

helenka — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:22:21 +0000

If you can fight your way through the All Bar Ones and city boozers in this area, you will find an oasis of taste of calm in the form of Devonshire Square. A huge atrium gives the impression of being outside without any of the typical disadvantages of the great British outdoors.

As you come past the ubiquitous city Fitness First, Devonshire Terrace sits on the corner of the square. It’s a trendy looking place which has a terrace at the front and a walk round balcony at the back, which accommodates those few smokers left. The ducks in the window were just the right side of tongue-in-cheek kitsch.

When we visited on a Tuesday evening, the bar wasn't full but had a leisurely buzz to it. We ordered a couple of cocktails (the Jacktini comes especially highly recommended and my Devonshiretini had a raspberry floating in a tiny little passion fruit boat, ahh) and had a nibble at some of the bar tapas on offer. The bar tapas fall somewhere in between snack and starter size and are great for ordering with drinks or sharing before dinner. They included the likes of salt & pepper squid, mini chipolatas & mash and the very exciting sounding homemade pork scratchings.

After whetting our appetites with the tapas, we moved to our table for dinner. The menu is a reduced affair in the evening (lunch being the busier time in this neck of the woods), but there was still plenty to chose from. To start we had toasted brioche with poached egg and sautéed wild mushrooms which could have been heavier on mushroom but was otherwise very good, and the Cornish dressed crab with mango, avocado and cherry tomato sauce which was a clear winner, tasting very fresh and light.

I do love to see a market fish of the day on the menu, and when we visited it was mackerel, one of my favourites, which made dinner an easy choice. The mash of the day was truffle – I needn't have looked at the menu at all!! On the other side of our booth, the order was for the 28-day aged sirloin of black angus beef with béarnaise and foie gras, complete with hand cut chips.

The fish was beautiful - simply roasted with a side salad, crispy skinned and meaty fleshed, whilst the mash was so good I could have bathed in it. A perfect autumn dinner in my book. The steak was cooked well although the béarnaise was deemed 'a bit too buttery' (is there such a thing?!).

As we sat back, full to bursting, enjoying the last of our very nice bottle of Devonshire rose and loving the soundtrack (Beachboys mixed with Michael Jackson), our lovely waitress came and tempted us with the pudding menu. I couldn't possibly have fitted another thing in until I noticed the lemon posset with brandy snaps! The chocolate fondant with honeycomb ice cream had been so highly recommended we felt it would be rude not to try it, so we managed to squeeze that in as well. The fondant was rich and oozing and although the ice cream didn't seem to have much to do with honeycomb it didn't really matter. The posset was tangy and creamy and the brandy snaps gave it a delicious crunch. We were so full we could barely manage an espresso, but worried we would be unable to heave ourselves home otherwise! Devonshire Terrace is a great place to eat – run away from the city boys and pop in - you'll be pleased you did.

Devonshire Terrace: Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4WY. Tel: 0207 256 3233

Reviewed by: Tara O’Reilly

Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill

helenka — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:41:54 +0000

Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill keeps good company on Swallow Street, with Veeraswamy occupying this quiet stretch too, just off the main drag. Bentley's is a quintessentially English affair with charm oozing out at every angle from its plush pinstripe seating, and starched white tablecloths.

There is seating outside at Bentley's, but the English weather was standing firm with its "no sunshine here" policy, forcing us indoors for warmth and comfort. You can dine at the bar at Bentley's which wins on atmosphere and showiness, or at one of the tiny seated tables, which means you bypass having to balance on a bar stool, but loose out on leg room. If you have any top secret talks to carry out, or sweet nothings to whisper privately into your loved one's ear, take a seat at the bar, where you have a few more inches of space to play with between you and your neighbouring diners. If the bar staff should pick out the odd word – don't worry- they've probably heard it all before.

Once we'd settled into our seats, we looked through the menu, and deliberated over the specials board which was packed with the likes of steamed monkfish with scallop and prawn dumplings, butter crab with giroles and samphire, and whole roast black bream with cardomom, raisins, pinenuts and basmati. Everything on Bentley's Oyster Bar menu looks tempting, but the fact that everything was listed together, made for confusing reading. Starters and main courses vie for attention in the same list and when we asked how to make sense of the menu, the waiter replied, "It's obvious from the price". So obviously the Jabugo ham, priced at £17.50 was a main course then, despite the fact that it was at the top of the menu, with no accompaniments mentioned, where you'd be forgiven for thinking starters lived.

Our taste buds led us through the confusing menu, and we decided on six Dorset oysters to begin with (it seemed rude not to at an oyster bar), and the fish soup to keep out the cold. The oysters slipped down far too easily and came beautifully stacked on a bed of crushed ice, looking every bit as plump and juicy as they tasted, whilst the fish soup was everything it should have been: rich, velvety and restorative – perfect for the downturn of the seasons.

Our main dishes came in the form of pollack (which was recommended by the waiter and tasted delicious), and the steamed monkfish, which could have done with a little more seasoning, but came with gorgeously succulent scallop and prawn dumplings. Our puddings of Bentley’s trifle and raspberry jelly with lavender and white chocolate put a moreishly sweet-toothed seal on the meal.

If you’re after a little more in the way of leg room, you could always head upstairs to the grill, where the menu serves up a medley of fish, meat and game in elegant surroundings. If you’re after something a little more casual, but with great food very much on the agenda, then stick to the oyster bar where you may feel slightly short changed on space, but will forget about it soon enough because of the uplifting buzz and clamour of the place.

The lovely thing about Bentley’s is that it’s big on atmosphere, and brilliant for quality. Richard Corrigan’s menu turns out classic favourites and intriguing specials with an experienced and accomplished consistency. Team that with a good amount of clatter and chatter, and you’ve found yourself a great restaurant where you’re spoilt for choice with the ocean’s offerings.

Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill: 11-15 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DG.
Tel: 020 7734 4756.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Texture Restaurant

helenka — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:50:07 +0000

If ever a restaurant embodies its name, this is it. A true exploration of taste and, of course, texture. If I were to list all the ingredients from just one dish I would probably exceed my word count. The staff are efficient and courteous, without being over-friendly, the bar is gorgeous: creams and browns of wood and suede with a glamorous edge, and every table in the bar area comes with its own ice bucket in the centre, both convenient – and potentially embarrassing! The focus is champagne at Texture and my house champagne cocktail was delicately infused with lemongrass and ginger, the perfect aperitif. The bacon popcorn we were brought wasn't particularly impressive but the plate of crisps: potato, parmesan, baguette and cod skin, accompanied by a wasabi and lettuce emulsion and a yoghurt dip, was interesting and moreish, and set the tone for the rest of our evening.

The dining area is as coolly sophisticated as the bar, with more pale and dark wood (actual branches included), glass and some gorgeous paintings of fjords at sunset. It pays homage to the head chef's Icelandic background, as does the menu, from the personal introduction written at the beginning, to the ingredients chosen. An enormous bookcase holding wines separates the dining area from the kitchen and while the specialty of Texture is champagne, their wine list is impressive and the sommelier chose a perfect bottle for us.

Texture offers regular, fish or vegetarian tasting menus as well as the option to order a la carte. The care taken with ingredients is clear as soon as we sit down. Our fingers were drawn to the plate hosting some Brittany butter, Italian extra virgin olive oil and the smoothest olive tapenade to accompany the never-ending offerings of bread. From the appetizer of Wing Skate puree, fennel sorbet and fennel salad, every dish included at least three ingredients offering distinctly different experiences in the mouth – hot, cold, crunchy, aerated… While I've eaten meals at other restaurants that add a foam or a drizzle of glaze and seem to believe this makes the meal a masterpiece, the addition of each ingredient seemed well thought out and complementary to the others, melding into one incredible mouthful after another. The only exceptions were the frequent appearance of cress and cashews and some squid and bonito sauce that appeared an odd accompaniment for suckling pig.

It's difficult to select highlights from so many superb courses, but the most memorable included salmon served three ways with wakame, pak choy, a poached quail's egg and so much more; tender pigeon cuts served with sweetcorn, corn mousse and a red wine jus; and a smoking pre-dessert of red and yellow grapefruit, white chocolate and olive oil mousse, lemon sorbet and caramelised olives.

The piece de resistance for me was the tray of petit fours (after two desserts, this is totally my kind of restaurant). We were directed on the order to devour these, starting with the most delicious still-warm madeleines and finishing with fisherman's friend lollipops. Writing this has made me hungry to eat it all over again. I see from their website that less than a week later the menu has already changed a little. I won't have to wait to long to go again for a whole new experience. Excellent.

Texture Restaurant: 34 Portman Street, London, W1H 7BY.
Tel: 020 7224 0028.

Reviewer: Jennifer Earle.

Fifth Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols

helenka — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:51:49 +0000

Just a tip: don’t wear white if you’re heading for the Fifth Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols. With white walls, chairs, and tablecloths, the waiters will never be able to find you as you blend seamlessly into the pale backdrop. We had dressed wisely in shades other than white, and were thankfully spotted by the waiting staff who were, for the entirety of our meal, charming.

The other thing about this restaurant is that you feel a little bit as though you’ve walked onto the set of an Austin Powers movie. Granted there are no swirling carpets, and not a flare in sight, but the illuminated ceiling adds such a shagadelic glow to the pod-like surroundings, that you probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid if Austin Powers did walk in.

We surveyed the wine list, and then gave up deciding when the waiter mentioned that there were 700 wines to choose from. In moments such as these, when the wine list exceeds the number of women that Austin Powers has probably slept with, it’s always a good idea to get the sommelier involved. We relayed our chosen starters and main courses to him and he offered up a bottle of Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc, which had a dry, mineral tang and made us glad we hadn’t tried to pick a winning bottle ourselves.

As far as the other diners go, they’re, well – a mixed bag. No Austin’s that night, but interesting people-watching nonetheless. As far as the food goes, it was outstanding with our starters setting things off well. The smoked scallops were a deliciously savoury bite, and the Joselito ham salad was balanced with sweet mouthfuls of poached and caramelised pear.

Our main dishes hit the mark too and although they looked like modest portions, they were just enough as part of a three course meal. The lemon sole came topped with baby rings of squid, and tasted buttery and moreishly crispy around its edges. The black bream meanwhile, was brilliantly cooked and came flavoured with chilli, lemongrass and ginger.

Our desserts were the highlight, and we congratulated ourselves on still having a slot of room left to devour them. Cherry clafoutis was placed down on the table in the form of high end comfort food, with a gorgeous scoop of cherry beer ice cream. The Manjari chocolate fondant prompted a considerable number of satisfied sounds from my friend, who savoured every spoonful of the weird, but wonderful chocolate and thyme ice cream, and scraped the plate clean of its very adult 64% cocoa content. If it’s possible for chocolate to go straight into the bloodstream, this fondant is a pretty good way to attempt it.

The price tag at Harvey Nichols’ Fifth Floor Restaurant is an expensive one, but you very much get what you pay for here – great service, wonderful food, bizarre people-watching and the strangest feeling that if Austin Powers walked in at any moment, it would seem perfectly normal.

A meal for two with wine will set you back by around £120.

Island Restaurant & Bar

helenka — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:26:30 +0000

As you step out of Lancaster Gate tube station, you could be forgiven for walking past the Island Restaurant, not because it’s an unassuming place, but more because of its surprisingly close proximity to the underground. A purple glow lights up this restaurant, which is sleek enough to lure in the suited and booted after work. When we walked in, the bar was buzzing with a healthy after-work crowd, and the restaurant wasn’t short on atmosphere either.

Although the Island takes up the ground floor of the Lancaster Hotel, it’s marketed as a standalone restaurant and bar. It works for the most part, with the restaurant in possession of its own entrance, so you might never guess its partnership with the hotel. The good thing about the Island is its attitude. It’s sleek appearance could lend its staff an air of haughtines, but they were quite the opposite: efficient and charming, albeit busy.

If you should choose to whet your appetite at the bar, you could start things off with a very decent Lychee Collins and then head on to your table. The menu, created by head chef Jean-ClaudeVydelingum, encompasses modern European cuisine. There are no culinary surprises, but some very well accomplished classic dishes. Roasted vine tomato soup and tuna carpaccio were amongst the starters, but we had decided to allow room for that all-important last course, so tucked straight into dishes of steamed bream fillet, and best end of lamb. At £21.50, you would expect the lamb to measure up to the price tag, and wonderfully, it did. Besides the deft presentation, the lamb was beautifully, beautifully succulent and sat on top of some Moroccan-inspired couscous, with some cucumber yoghurt cutting through the sweet richness of the accompanying apricots and spiced aubergine. The bream looked quite the healthy part meanwhile, and came with a teasing helping of brown shrimp risotto.

We had held out for pudding, and decided on the pineapple tatin and a reliable mix of sorbet and fruit salad. The fruit salad looked far too healthy on arrival, but refreshing with its scoops of sorbet, whilst the pineapple tatin combined sweetness and sharpness deliciously. It won again on the presentation front, with a dried sliver of pineapple making my mouth salivate with its lovely tart tang. The only drawback was the pastry, which tasted good but was stubbornly determined to stay in one piece, announcing just that with a clang, every time my fork tried to prise away a mouthful. It was worth wrestling with though, just to get at the caramelised slices of golden pineapple.

With so many restaurants hell bent on presentation, but falling short when it comes to the food, the Island wins big brownie points. Whilst the restaurant definitely wins on the looks front, it also manages to serve up food that will have you returning, expectantly, for more.

A meal for two with wine will set you back around £95.00.

The Island: Lancaster Terrace, London, W2 2TY. Tel: 020 7551 6070.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

The Cadogan Hotel

Admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:00:26 +0000

We arrived at The Cadogan Hotel, in pursuit of that highly civilised notion that is afternoon tea. You may or may not have noticed that during this (alleged) summer, hotels have been theming their afternoon teas like crazy, in an attempt to add a little extra pizzazz. The Cadogan is no exception and has teamed up with the Kings Road Art Gallery to bring you ‘Afternoon ARTea’. See what they did there?!

As you walk into the hotel’s drawing room, you are privy to an exclusive collection of works from the Kings Road Art Gallery. There is also a price list that accompanies your afternoon tea, in case you fancy taking a painting home with you. Starting from around £3,500 the paintings are a little pricier than the Afternoon ARTea itself, which starts at a quite reasonable £22.50. We went the whole hog and opted for Champagne ARTea, priced at £28.50. Our brimming champagne flutes arrived full of Perrier Jouet as we relaxed back into our plush seats, and despite the bubbly being not quite chilled enough, we raised a toast to whiling away an afternoon in the confines of a salubrious five star hotel. Needless to say, we had glammed up a little for the occasion, and we were feeling suitably indulgent.

Our respective teas of Darjeeling and jasmine pearls arrived in silverware pots and accompanied a plate of finger-sized sandwiches, which were soft, crust-free and light on the tongue. By this point, we had got the art of relaxing down fairly well – there's nothing like eating your way through an afternoon in a lazily indulgent fashion. The only real movements we made were raising refreshment to our lips and leaning forward to pile the odd scone high with jam, and clotted cream. Clotted cream that was so good, I had to test some straight from the pot, just in case the scone had been masking any imperfections. It had not – dairy heaven on a spoon. The scones, which arrived on a cake stand laden with patisserie, were beautifully light and crumbly, (without that hint of rock cake you dread when you make them at home).

Despite the cake stand heaving from the patisserie that decorated it, these sweet treats were remarkably light, making it possible to eat way too much, yet retain the ability to lean forward for rounds two, three and four. The strawberry tarts had a delicate, slightly savoury pastry to offset the sweetness of the fruit and vanilla cream, and went beautifully with our tea. Although afternoon tea is the perfect way for sugar addicts to get their fix, the patisserie wasn’t as rich as it looked, making things easier on your stomach, which is essential if you haven’t booked a room and need to get back to where you came from. As a final artistic flourish, two huge biscuits in the shape of an artist’s palette were set down in front of us, decorated with icing sugar to illustrate the splotches of paint. A lovely little touch, but not one we had room for by then, as we just about managed to lean forward for our last sip of tea.

Afternoon ARTea at The Cadogan is a thoroughly indulgent affair, but it would work just as well without the theming. The hotel is steeped in history - it’s where actress Lilly Langtry lived and is still famed for the moment when Oscar Wilde was arrested for gross indecency in room 118 back in 1895. Team that with its plush interior, charming staff and clotted cream to die for, and afternoon tea at this place becomes anything but plain and simple.

The Cadogan Hotel: 75 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9SG. Tel: 020 7245 0994.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Amphitheatre restaurant

Admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:56:03 +0000

One of the great things about eating at the Amphitheatre restaurant is its location: sitting proud within the confines of the Royal Opera House, you get to marvel a bit on the way to your table. Before any of this happens, you get your bag searched as you check in (no-one searched us on the way out, so smuggling the odd bread roll out in your handbag is a possibility). On your way up to the restaurant, the ascent takes you past the Paul Hamlyn Hall Bar, which incorporates the Perrier-Jouët Champagne Bar, and looks stunning - just the place to meet for drinks.

We settled in at our table on a Saturday afternoon, joining the pre-matinee crowd for lunch. As the Amphitheatre caters predominantly for opera-goers, the menu is short and to the point, but still manages not to compromise on choice with a varied handful of dishes. The a la carte offered the likes of spicy tomato soup, smoked salmon and venison terrine in the way of starters and a similarly mixed bag with its main dishes. With a set menu to choose from and the a la carte, we decided to be difficult and see if we could mix and match. Luckily there was no problem with this as the waiter nodded his head in agreement and went off without so much as a grimace or any sucking of breath.

He returned in a similarly friendly manner with our starters of babaganoush and ham hock terrine. Babaganoush for anyone scratching their head at this point, is an aubergine dip of sorts, and was served up with capers to lend the savoury, light dip a salty edge. It was scooped up and finished almost as quickly as it arrived on the table with large strips of flatbread. The ham hock was good – coarse, textured and just the right size to whet your appetite.

Our main dishes of duck breast and vegetable parpadelle turned up in express fashion, but more by token of efficiency than an attempt to move us along. The kitchen have a relatively short time period to serve up lunch and dinner to most of their guests, due to pending opera slots, so speed is something they’re used to here and it shows in an accomplished rather than hurried approach. The duck was good with its accompanying red cabbage and juniper berries adding some contrasting crunch. But it was the parpadelle that prevailed and had my dining partner making a mental note to visit the local deli in an attempt to re-create the dish at home. Courgettes, carrots, asparagus and rocket entwined themselves around the pasta, with the odd pea snuck in amongst the lot. Served with a light, creamy sauce it was a real lunchtime meal – full of flavour without the threat of promting a post-lunch slump.

It’s worth noting that if you are visiting the Royal Opera House for its foremost offering, the menu is pretty flexible when it comes to opera performances. You can arrive before a performance, leisurely eat your way through your starter and main course, and then return during the interval to round things off with pudding. If you’re coming along purely for lunch then you’ll have to force yourself to eat all three courses in one sitting. Life can be tough.

Portions at the Amphitheatre are very average in size and provide relief in that you can still get up from the table comfortably afterwards. Our puddings of chocolate pavé with raspberries and sherry triffle with ginger, put a sweet seal on the end of our meal, and we headed down to ground level, eyeing up the bar on our descent and realising that we still had room for a drink.

(Please note that non-ticket holders can dine for lunch at the Amphitheatre restaurant from Monday to Saturday. The restaurant is open only to ticket holders during the evening.)

Amphitheatre: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD.

Tel: 020 7304 4000.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Coach and Horses

Admin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:21:39 +0000

It seems as though every pub rushed to capitalise on the gastropub trend, and is now struggling to fill seats when people go out for a quick drink rather than a meal of any description. In this particular annex dining room, the muted drapes of material hang across the ceiling and cleverly strung lights bear no obvious hint to the weatherboard walls and plastic roofing that they mask. When the lights are turned down at around 8pm it's even quite atmospheric.

This would make a great, undisturbed venue for a private dinner party. There's also a lovely little pocket of outdoor tables beyond the dining room. Having a private party might solve the main concern we had with the menu: its brevity. I'm sure the team here would be delighted to work through a menu with you in advance; the passion and knowledge for seasonal British food radiates from the menu and the staff.

It's been a long time since I've found it so easy to select from a menu, but with five starters, four mains and a handful of pub snacks and sharing plates, it took only moments. It wasn't enough for one couple, who after sitting for a few minutes made their exit, stating that there wasn't anything on the menu that suited them tonight. The positives of such a short menu are that it changes often for those seeking variety and spontaneity, and it is full of seasonal ingredients selected fresh daily.

Smoked haddock fish cakes from the snack menu were soft and fluffy inside their crisp coating, served with lashings of lemon mayonnaise. The haddock and clam chowder was seasoned well, but came more as a stack of beautifully cooked potato, fish and clams tossed with finely chopped parsley and kernels of juicy sweet corn sitting atop a milky broth. Not clam chowder as you would usually know it, but a welcome variation.

Peppered fillet of beef came as a plate full of rare-cooked quality meat accompanied by large, buttery, perfectly seasoned runner beans and a big helping of sharp, coarse and creamy horseradish. The steak was a definite winner and tasted as though it had been slapped onto a plate straight from a posh barbeque. The roast mackerel was not so impressive. The fish just didn't deliver on flavour and the accompaniments of warm tomato wedges and small black olives only served to add to the blandness and pungency respectively. All was redeemed with our final course. My perfectly created apple tart came with a delightful butterscotch sauce and thick cream. So simple, but so well executed.

It can be so frustrating when a gastropub hikes up prices and trims down its portion sizes. Not so with the cheese board here, as three huge chunks of local cheeses appeared, served with crackers, chutney and, of course, grapes. This cheese plate for one could easily serve two (or one very happy cheese-lover). The food is reasonably priced for the serving sizes and overall quality at the Coach and Horses. There’s also a real sense that the chef and staff care about the food. If you are looking for a venue for a private party, or want a quiet, simple meal in the city or even a beer in a friendly pub, it's worth stopping by the Coach and Horses.

The Coach and Horses: 26-28 Ray Street, Clerkenwell, London EC1 3DJ.
Tel: 020 7278 8990.

Reviewer: Jennifer Earle

Mien Tay

Admin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:20:56 +0000

Mien Tay is a small restaurant with a cosy feel – indeed the long front table was taken up with a couple of generations of one family when we visited. We were offered recommendations from the menu which featured old favourites such as spring rolls, pork ribs and salt and spicy squid, alongside more traditional dishes like chargrilled quail and frogs legs.

We kicked off by sharing a duck salad with fresh ginger and fish sauce which was beautiful, light and fresh tasting with plenty of duck and cooling noodles. Next came starters of chargrilled quail with honey, garlic and spices and pork balls with dipping sauce. We tucked into both with scant regard for the table or our clothes. The quail came with a small dish of pepper - we were told to squeeze fresh lime into it, which was a revelation. Meanwhile the pork balls were soft and juicy and we could happily have spent all night feasting on them.

The main course menu featured a section on eel & frog as well as goat which you don't see everyday. The waiter recommended that we try the sea bream with fish sauce and mango - I'm not usually a fan of fruit in my dinner but he was very convincing. We also ordered the goat stir fried with galangal, some plain rice and some noodles. When the dishes came out our waiter very apologetically told us that we had the wrong kind of mango, as the right kind hadn't been available that morning.......no matter, what we did have was amazing. The fish was cooked perfectly the sauce was a shock, but a welcome one, to a philistine such as myself. I now have to admit that it is sometimes okay to have bits of pudding in your dinner. The goat was sweet, sticky and dark with sauce – beautiful.

Whilst we were having our starters our new best friend, Van Xia (whose sister and brother in law run the restaurant) came to tell us about a new dish about to go on the menu for August & September. Fish hot pot will be available at £30 for 2 people and I can tell you it looked fabulous. Luckily for us the family were trialling it the night we visited and a large pot of broth was set down on their table, a plate of vegetables and pineapple followed, and then Van Xia showed us the seafood which was going in: a plate of huge raw prawns, scallops, mussels, blue crab and eel, all cooked in the broth at the table. Some poor nephew must have hated us as two bowls shortly arrived for us to test. It was amazing, honestly if you go you really should try it – if we could have we definitely would have ordered it - and where else can you get all of that for £30?

After dinner (and once again stealing from the family as there are no puddings on the menu), we were served bowls of coconut milk and sweet water with riceflour dumplings filled with sweet beans. Another thing which should, in my opinion, make it onto the menu.

Eating at Mien Tay is a bit like going to a friend's for dinner, we were so well looked after. The food was everything you'd want as well as being fantastic value: the most expensive thing on the menu was whole sea bass at £12 and the average price for a main dish was around £6. My advice is to skip the smarter looking places down the road and head straight to Mien Tay.

Mien Tay: 122 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DP. Tel: 020 7729 3074.

Reviewer: Tara O'Reilly

Zilli Fish

Admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:43:06 +0000

There are no airs and graces about the food at Zilli Fish - its the quality of ingredients that should shine, and its here that Zilli delivers. On a summer's evening the Soho restaurant (which looks more like a smart brasserie), was quiet when we arrived. The restaurant only just started filling up when we left at 9.30pm, though it was still light and felt like early evening. Its selling point isn’t its uninspiring outlook over Brewer St, but it could make for some entertaining people watching in the summer.

Presented with the crisp menu, every dish sounded delicious and fresh. Thankfully the waiter delivered us focaccia and grissini with fresh salsa of tomato, anchovy and olive to start us off as we deliberated. We sat in a state of indecision for some time over the abundance of starters, pasta and fish main options (you could also order lamb, but why would you?), and finally requested assistance from the waiter to narrow down our choices.

Every man I've ever dated has been crazy about calamari fritti and, being a person who has always tried food from everyone else's plate, I've sampled quite a lot of it over the years. I never order it myself because it is so often disappointing, but I was pleased when my partner ordered it as a starter because no fish restaurant worth its salt could serve poor calamari fritti. I wasn't disappointed. Tender circles of fresh calamari in the lightest of moreish batters, served on a paper covered chopping block with chilli and a tartare dipping sauce, this served as a promise of more perfectly executed dishes to come. I had my hand slapped away more than once. My own tuna carpaccio, almost ceviche with it's soaking in lemon and drizzled with good olive oil, topped with rocket and parmesan, was equally perfect. Every ingredient was of the highest quality and worked perfectly, well matched to all the other components of each dish.

Our main course comprised the organic farmed sea bass and the tuna steak, and again both were zingingly fresh. One of the team of smart and charming waiters offered to bring the sea bass filleted, and then, when I chose to have it whole he offered to fillet it for me at the table. Ah, service. The recommended wine by the glass, Gavi di Gavi, was refreshing and also perfectly accompanied both of our dishes.

Finally, pudding. Sticking to the Italian theme, it seemed wrong to ignore the tiramisu. Whilst keeping things simple with the first two courses had been successful on the menu, the same strategy wasn't as effective with the desserts, which though well prepared and made with top quality ingredients, didn't deliver on flavour in the way the earlier dishes had.

Zilli Fish is a great venue for a fresh fish supper pre or post theatre. While you can undoubtedly pay less for dishes with similar names in nearby, similarly kitted out brasseries, the quality of the ingredients at Zilli is noticeably superior and well worth any premium. If you're keen on having a Zilli experience at home you can even sign up for Aldo's fish course, but at £300 a head for less than a full day you may prefer to just come back and eat at the restaurant a few more times!

Zilli Fish: 36 - 40 Brewer Street, London, W1. Tel: 020 7734 8649.

Reviewer: Jennifer Earle

Prism

Admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:48:19 +0000

If restaurants had star signs, Prism would be a Gemini with its split personality and love of a good time. As with all restaurants nestling in the midst of London’s financial hub, it’s subjected mid-week, to the swathe of corporate types that skim its leather-bound seats with their pinstriped bottoms, and then forced to endure a ghostly quiet spell at the weekends when everyone does anything but go into the city. Even Prism manages to avoid the weekends in its skittish Gemini way, because it closes to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, opening only to host the odd wedding.

Housed in what used to be the Bank of New York, this city haunt does have a decidedly masculine feel to it. The ceiling climbs imposingly high, and the seats are suitably mannish with their claret leather finish. We turned up on a Friday night – two women, eager to gossip about the virtues of the three-inch heel, rather than the virtues of a hedge fund. Which was fine, because as with all Gemini types (restaurants included), there is always another side to them.

Just as the seats are superbly masculine, the bar is most definitely one for the girls. Spanning the length of the room, its crushed glass top catches the light from all directions, illuminating your cocktail of choice and hopefully you too. And the cocktails are fabulous. If you do make it to Prism for an evening meal, bypassing the bar would be a crime. We supped on a ‘Footsie’ and a ‘Strawberry Fields’, which both looked stunning – the Footsie especially, which came shaken and strained in its own martini glass, accompanied by a shot glass of champagne.

Reluctantly we prised ourselves away from the bar and over to our table, where the menu lured us in with a decent bit of variety and good helping of luxury to boot. Our starters of scallops with cauliflower puree, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce were very, very good, with the scallops arriving all showy on a piece of slate. For our main dishes we decided on the halibut and the ‘poulet noir’. Like the cocktails at Prism, the food is a work of art with each dish arriving piled high with its ingredients looking beautiful and just balanced. The fish was cooked as you would hope, highlighting its succulently meaty texture and crispy skin, and came served with a veritable number of trimmings in the shape of globe artichokes, black olive tapenade and sweet potato & orange purée. The ‘poulet noir’ was equally as good, although we never got to the bottom of whether the chicken was free range or not. You would expect so with its £26.50 price tag, but on asking we were informed it was just “very good”, so who knows.

We washed all of this down with a bottle of well chosen Condrieu, Christophe Pichon 2005 and eyed up the dessert menu with our almost full stomachs. For pudding we had some sort of strawberry and champagne extravaganza, which looked achingly modern when it arrived on its plate, and the blueberry frangipane, which was light but still tasted reassuringly decadent. For a Friday night, the restaurant was almost in wind down mode, which is perfect when you’re discussing the merits of the three-inch heel and whether you need to order a taxi because your stilettos are killing you, or because the last mouthful of the strawberry extravaganza has rendered you immobile. Either way, eating at this place is an indulgent affair – it may well be a much buzzier deal slap bang in the middle of the week, but Prism has both sides to its character working salubriously well.

Prism: 147 Leadenhall Street, London, EC3V 4QT. Tel: 020 7256 3875.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Saki

Admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:57:00 +0000

Apparently there are 60 different varieties of rice used to make sake, and none of them are used for eating. Sake is the Japanese alcoholic drink, often known as rice wine but also compared to the likes of vodka and sherry. Although there is a lot of sake on the drinks menu at this restaurant, Saki (recently named in Time Out's Top 10 vegetarian restaurants in London), means "happiness" in Japanese. Could this be because there’s so much sake to be had?

We were at Saki to sample their vegetarian tasting menu: shojin kaiseki. Given Saki's concurrent plaudits for sushi I was rather hoping to sneak some fish onto the menu too, but alas, our host insisted both my date and I stick to the vegetarian options. I was to have the shojin kaiseki (pure vegan) and they chose substitutes for my dinner date from the vegetarian a la carte menu. This culinary strictness was down to the fact that the stronger flavours of meat and fish would have apparently overshadowed the more delicately flavoured vegetarian dishes.

After my sake education I thought it best to begin with a sake cocktail. My chosen drink, Honoka (meaning subtle), was a refreshing mix of mint, melon, guava juice, lime and passion fruit. The intention of this cocktail was that you should only just be able to identify the sake (the giveaway being the way it warms your throat!).

Once at the table the first order of the meal was to drink more sake: a small glass served cold. This was better than I anticipated, like a blend of vodka and white wine. Time then for the first course: creamy sesame tofu inside a bean curd skin. The no-fish rule make perfect sense here as the dish’s delicate flavour that would have been completely lost amidst any carnivorous bites.

The ingredients in this and our five courses to follow read like a botany magazine: bamboo, tonburi, ume plum, wild garlic leaves, enoki and an edible flower (which came chopped as a salsa, battered as tempura and as a fish replacement in nigiri-sushi) – how versatile! Our charming Italian waiter had great fun making us guess the ingredients in our dishes, and we disappointed him by guessing a handful and shrugging our shoulders when it came to the rest.

Highlights were the perfectly cooked tempura, the almost meaty slow-roasted aubergine with a rich and indulgent red miso sauce, the veggie version of barbequed eel, and the sushi plate. The ume plum and shiso roll in particular, with its inclusion of the sour plum, shone out above the other dishes. Our frustration with the meal was the lag between courses - vegan Japanese food is more like a series of amuse bouche than hearty fare, so we eagerly anticipated each dish. Two additional cups of sake helped to pass the time somewhat, with one made from brown rice. This brown rice based sake had apparently been an experiment back in the day, which initially was thought to have failed. However, on sampling the batch of sake a year later, the brewers discovered it was actually quite good, delivering a sweet and full-bodied wine.

For once we had room for dessert, so my date had the infamous, and delicious green tea tiramisu and I had the lighter vegan option of the plain and strange green tea jelly with aduki beans and "ice-cream". The delicacy in the flavours of each dish won't appeal to the hardened carnivore but it's wonderful to see vegetarians given the same care. If dinner was an example of what they can do with the humble vegetable, it’s worth returning for their full range of sushi…and to have another sake cocktail!

Saki: 4 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9JX. Tel: 020 7489 7033

Reviewer: Jennifer Earle

The Barbican Lakeside

Admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:08:23 +0000

The force behind the new St Pancras Champagne bar and ‘The Gherkin’ have decided to take on summer drinking under the guise of a lakeside bar at the Barbican. Given the amount of sunshine we get it’s an optimistic venture!

The idea is to offer an afternoon and early evening dining venue (the place closes at 8.00pm so as not to upset the neighbours), serving simple food and summer drinks, including champagne. Unfortunately it was rather grey when we ventured down but at least not raining and not too chilly. The waterside area is a little overgrown and looked more like a disused canal than the promised lake but the comfy sofas and huge sun umbrellas distracted us somewhat.

We started with a couple of drinks – Pimms No. 2 (No. 1 was on offer too) and a fresh fruit bellini. So far, so good. The menu is clearly designed for summer afternoons and the idea of bangers and bubbles really appealed. Sausages included merguez and boerewors alongside the more traditional Ginger Pig, Gloucester Old Spot and even vegetarian Glamorgan sausages.

Being unfamiliar with some of the menu I asked our server what a couple of the sausages were – he’d only been working there two days but happily went off in search of the answers for us. He returned to tell us that the main chef wasn’t in the kitchen but the other chef knew that one was pork and the other lamb and that they had ‘some spices’ in there. What the spices were however, was to remain a mystery.

Absolutely loving chorizo, I went for the spicy sausage in artisan bread with rocket, whilst my partner opted for the Creole smoky sausage in a tomato wrap. We also opted for the Indonesian rice salad that was recommended by our waiter. Whilst waiting for our meal to arrive we ordered a bottle of wine, having been delighted to discover an English rose ‘Chapel Down’ on offer. Very nice it was too. Gone are the days of us being considered the laughing stock of wine making.

The plates of food arrived pretty quickly, due no doubt to there only being two occupied tables. The rice salad was very good - coconutty and fresh with a hint of chili. My partner’s sausage in a wrap was sweet and smoky, just as it should have been but I appeared to have the wrong dinner. The sausage was lovely but it was however, just a pork sausage. We called the waiter over who very apologetically whisked it off, only to return with the same thing and to let me know that I was confused and that the chef definitely said this was chorizo…in fact he said he had checked and it came from “a box marked chorizo style sausages” hmmm.

It is an undeniably good idea to create an outdoor space for people to enjoy, with Brits typically donning shorts as soon as the temperature nudges 17 degrees. And goodness knows it is nice to be able to sit outdoors and not in the road, however, I couldn’t help but think that this just slightly misses the mark. One problem is that the Barbican, and there really is no way round this, is one hell of a block of concrete. Putting some outdoor furniture in doesn’t really disguise this and the water being clogged with weeds isn’t really a good look either. That said our waiter couldn’t have been more helpful and it was great to find a good English wine on the menu, but a few things need tweaking before the summer dining concept hits the mark.

The Barbican Lakeside: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS.

Reviewer: Tara O’Reilly

The Lock

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:10:07 +0000

Tottenham Hale is not usually associated with top end restaurants, but that’s what chef Adebola Adeshina has managed to create at The Lock. As a South-of-the-river kind of girl, it takes a half decent reason for me to hop onto one end of the Victoria line and jump off at the other end. Even the travelling wouldn’t have been such a big deal if the Victoria line hadn’t closed on the way back, turning my three-legged journey into a five-legged one. So you may not visit this restaurant every week if it’s not in your immediate comfort zone, but it’s certainly worth making the effort for days when you feel like exploring.

Inside, the restaurant is decked out with dark wooden tables and plenty of art hanging on the walls. When we arrived there were a few tables taken with friends catching up and families taking advantage of the early slot. Although the waiter mentioned that plenty of lunchtime business is made up of working lunches, the evening crowd seemed to be locals that knew the place well and were coming back for more.

We struggled with the menu as most dishes were tempting us – the fish dishes in particular. Fillet of sea bream, pan-fried pollack and roast monkfish tail all looked mouth-watering and after far too much chatting and indecision we decided to go for the latter two. To start, we opted for the corn soup and the breast of lamb served on polenta. Our waiter who thankfully had a sense of humour about our delay in ordering, whisked off the order to the kitchen and promptly came back with our chosen bottle of Gavi for the meal.

The wine was good, and the chatting continued until that is, the starters arrived. We took a mouthful each of the luxuriously buttery corn coup and the perfectly cooked lamb and silence descended. Both starters were seriously good. The soup, which came served in a cup, was light and buttery in colour and richly buttery on the tongue. The breast of lamb meanwhile, arrived on a chopping board of its own, resting on a slice of polenta and tasted just wonderful with a beautifully crispy crackling finish. We had already started to forget about the trek to Tottenham Hale and relaxed into our seats, waiting expectantly for round two.

Our pollack and monkfish were as we’d hoped – brilliantly cooked and falling off the fork. The pollack arrived on top of a tower of sautéed potato gnocchi, artichokes hearts and sun dried tomatoes and was a great tasting balanced dish. The monkfish was served up with a pepper sauce and fat, wholesome Borlotti beans. It was a warming choice with the meatiness of the monkfish and the shards of fennel cutting through the earthiness of the beans. We were heading towards full at this point, so we decided to sit back and fill any gaps with the rest of our Gavi. The waiters were impressively attentive and made regular checks on each table, chatting away to a good few locals.

Adebola Adeshina’s approach to cooking is big on quality and with that goes seasonality. Keen to move onto the next sprouting vegetable of the month, Adeshina is quick off the mark when he introduces timely vegetable produce and sources most of it from Walthamstow market. There’s a sense of responsibility about the menu at The Lock, even down to the Harrogate Spa bottled water that they serve up.

So from responsibility onto indulgence, we rounded things off with the dessert list. The blueberry Clafoutis and the chocolate tart were our choosing, and as we waited for our puddings to arrive, we continued our girl talk. A palette-cleansing scoop of banana & passion fruit sorbet was set down in front of us, covered with beetroot syrup, which woke our taste buds up from their slumber between courses. And then our puddings arrived. The chocolate tart was meltingly good and managed to woo my friend into devouring the lot in record speed. The Clafoutis meanwhile was a little taste of baked heaven. If you’ve ever tried a Czech berry sponge known as ‘koláč’, Clafoutis is a lighter version of this and lusciously good. There’s no other way to describe this light but indulgent tasting dessert, which arrived in its own copper pan and tasted gorgeous. Silence fell for the second time that night, and all talk of life, love and how unreliable London Transport can be, ceased while we scraped our bowls clean.

If you’re South of the river when it comes to London’s layout, then there’s no point lying to you – Tottenham Hale is a bit of a trek when you compare it to walking round to your local restaurant. But, and it’s a big but – the journey is well worth making when you settle in for the evening at a place like The Lock, with a menu so good that it manages to lure die-hard Southern types across the water on a regular basis.

The Lock: Heron House, Ferry Lane, Hale Wharf, Tottenham Hale, London, N17 7NF.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar

Fishworks

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:08:11 +0000

Tucked away on a side road away from the commercial bedlam of Regent Street, Fishworks’ latest opening offers shoppers and scoffers some welcome respite from the land of retail. As we walked down Swallow Street we couldn’t help noticing the crowd noise fade, and as we stepped into the restaurant, the laid back feel of the place distanced us from the chaos of the main drag.

Dark wooden floors and pared down tones serve as an understated backdrop to a huge wine rack, which cut the restaurant in two. We settled into our chairs, welcomed by efficient staff and began eyeing up the black board of specials. It’s worth noting that you don’t have to sit down to dinner if you fancy a bite of something. The champagne and cocktail bar (next to the huge wine rack) serves up bubbles and a dozen oysters for those looking to consume something a little less weighty.

We were hungry though, so oysters were ordered to start along with some fennel and anchovy flatbread. The bread was moreishly addictive and scuppered our plans of saving ourselves for the main course. The oysters tasted great in their shallot vinaigrette, but were let down a little by messy shucking. We scoured the wine list whilst we ate too much bread and decided on a glass each of Fishworks’ very own white blend, which they develop each year to suit their fish rich menu. For fans of an aperitif, Bloody Marys (accompanied by a Fines de Claire oyster) and manzanilla are also available to whet your appetite.

The wine went down well, being refreshingly crisp and a great partner for our starters. The scallops had caught our attention for the main course and the signature dish ‘Zuppa del Pescatore’ looked far too tempting to turn down with its stew of fresh fish, shellfish, thyme and saffron. The scallops were perfectly plump, resting juicily in their shells, covered in garlic butter. The stew, which came to the table in a copper pan was seriously good – it’s light broth balancing out the generously rich mix of mussels, king prawns, clams and white fish. Taste is always what you seek from a dish, but as a bonus every time this one is ordered from the menu, £1 is donated to The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. Our desserts of sherry trifle and crème brûlée were as rich as they were huge and had us feeling as though we should have stopped at our main courses, although the first few indulgent bites were thoroughly enjoyable.

Thankfully there’s that period of rest in between dinner and breakfast when we sleep (or try to sleep) – that period of time that your stomach probably cherishes for a chance to recover from an overly keen appetite. If you’re the kind of person that never tires of a course or two (especially a fish course), Fishworks’ breakfast menu may well satisfy your morning cravings with grilled butter kippers and smoked salmon & scrambled eggs featuring, alongside the temptations of Danish pastries and bacon doorstop sandwiches. Elevenses anyone?

A meal for two with wine will set you back around £75.00.

Fishworks: 7-9 Swallow Street, London, W1. Tel: 020 7734 5813.

Reviewer: Helenka Bednar